James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The clunking fist will be swinging for David Cameron today at PMQs. Gordon Brown will see yesterday’s Tory decision not to pledge to match Labour’s spending plans for 2010-11 as his chance to paint them as both clueless and heartless. David Cameron should reply to Brown’s inevitable tirade about ‘Tory cuts’ with something along these
It won’t get as much attention as it should because of today’s announcement on spending by the Tories, but Michael Gove’s speech this evening pledging to allow state schools to choose alternative exams to GCSEs and A-Levels is important. It offers a way away from the race to bottom in examination standards that has so
One of the underappreciated factors in Obama’s success is that his campaign was not based in the Washington area. This meant there were fewer journalists around, fewer bits of gossip were picked up in bars and restaurants and those who moved to Chicago to work for the campaign were focused on getting Obama elected and
Today’s news that the Tories will no longer pledge to match Labour’s spending plans will, I’m sure, be welcomed by CoffeeHousers. The word on the street is that there will be more announcements coming soon that will indicate a more robust Tory approach on the economy. But it is worth noting that it is also confirmation of
David Brooks has a typically masterful column in the New York Times this morning on the social consequences of recessions. His warning about the possible impact on people’s perceptions of democracy and the market system in developing countries are particularly worth paying attention to. But it was this statistic about the US that jumped out
Mike Allen reports the latest on the Hillary for Secretary of State story: “Team Obama, after all but offering SecState to Senator Clinton, is expressing EXASPERATION with the Clinton camp for the difficulty in getting a clean vet on President Bill Clinton’s many entanglements. “The ball is very much in her court, but the president’s
I know this will be anathema to most Coffee Housers, but I can’t help wondering if Peter Mandelson will become a much-loved figure once he leaves the political stage. Tony Benn proves that even the most controversial political figures can work their way into the nation’s affections once they are out of power. The thought
If anyone doubts that the Labour spin machine is once more firing on all cylinders turn to pages 2 and 3 of The Sun today. On page 2, under the headline ‘Hans off PM’s car’, Sun readers are informed that ‘Gordon Brown has snubbed German car maker BMW and insisted his new bomb proof limo
Jonathan Dimbleby’s essay in The Sunday Times about the kind of king Prince Charles would be suggests that the monarchy will be in for a turbulent time if and when Charles ascends to the throne. Dimbleby reports that Charles intends to move away from the strict silence on political issues of his mother and instead
David Kilcullen is one of the intellectual forces behind the Petraeus strategy in Iraq which has transformed the situation there. It was Kilcullen, an Australian and an anthropologist by training, who grasped the pre-eminent importance of population security. So, Kilcullen’s thoughts on Afghanistan, relayed to George Packer of the New Yorker, are well worth reflecting
There is yet more speculation in the papers today about whether Osborne will be moved from his role as Shadow Chancellor. But it is almost certain that he won’t be. If David Cameron were to shift him he would be handing Labour, the press and his internal critics a major scalp. It would demonstrate that,
Jenny McCartney’s column on the appalling arrogance of Haringey Council is essential reading this morning. Her conclusion is absolutely spot on: “Various commentators have said that there is little point in demonising Haringey council and the employees concerned. Well, no one is calling them demons, but there is surely every point in conducting a relentless,
The Guardian reports today on the horrific state of child protection. The evidence it has uncovered suggests that the failings that led to no one intervening to protect Baby P are hideously common. “More than 80% of children who are killed or seriously injured as a result of abuse or neglect are missed by the
Labour has, predictably, accused George Osborne of “talking down” the pound for his comment that Brown’s reckless borrowing risks a run on sterling. Gordon Brown, doing his best father of the nation impersonation, says that he regrets the “partisan talk from the opposition”. But the truth is that Osborne’s warning is right; what Brown is
A week into the Obama honeymoon it is debatable who has the bigger headache, the Democrats, who have been celebrating every day like it’s election day, or the Republicans, who have to work out how to rebuild their party. How and how quickly the GOP rebuilds at both the state and federal level will have
Ever since the Parliamentary Commissioner began his inquiry into Caroline Spelman she has been in an odd political limbo land, neither sacked nor acquitted. Now, Sam Coates reports that we might not know the commissioner’s verdict until the New Year. One thing that has changed during the inquiry is the desirability of Spelman’s job. A
Mike Allen has the latest on the rumour that Washington is obsessing over: “Even officials who like the idea threw up strong “caution” flags. Fresh off his electoral triumph, Obama does not feel he needs the Clintons. The president-elect has never liked the idea of former President Bill Clinton as a back-seat driver. The former
The case of Baby P is stomach-turning, it is hard to conceive of how anyone could do such things to a child. It is a tragic illustration of more general problems, though. There is the incompetence and seeming unaccountability of the local authority and the whole issue of how society reached a place where something
The conversations going on in Republican circles right now about what the party should do next sound very familiar to British ears, they are similar in tone and content to the Tory discussions post 1997. Now, there are obviously limits to what the Republicans can take from the Tories efforts to return to being a
A telling stat from NBC’s First Read and an illustration that the real author of this Republican rout was not John McCain but George W. Bush: with the exception of Missouri, Obama won every state where Bush’s approval rating was below 35%, and he lost every state where Bush’s approval was above 35%.