James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The transfer of Anbar province to Iraqi control marks another step forward in Iraq. The transformation in Anbar has been quite incredible. Two years ago, no one sane would have predicted that the then heartland of the Sunni insurgency would be peacefully and voluntarily handed over by the United States at the end of August
Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, of the Abu Dhabi United Group—the new onwers of Manchester City, has said that he is planning a £135 million, yes one hundred and thirty five million pounds, bid for Cristiano Ronaldo. This strikes me as absurd: Ronaldo—whose big game temperament remains in question—is not worth anywhere near that much; City are
From the Southeastern Railways timetable: Retimed trains during the leaf fall period From Monday 13 October 2008 until the end of the timetable, some morning services in this timetable (Mondays to Fridays only) will be subject to retiming. This is part of our plans to overcome delays that occur during the autumn leaf fall period.
The news that stamp duty is to be axed on houses costing less than £175,000 is rather underwhelming—the Tories proposed abolishing it on homes under £250,000 last year but is indicative of the problems that the government is going to have with its re-launch. The best chance for a successful re-launch would have come from
When David Miliband wrote his infamous Guardian piece and then further stoked the controversy with a series of provocative media appearances many of us expected the Brownites to knee-cap him. After all, vicious party in-fighting is what they do best. But the Brownites—reportedly because of Stephen Carter’s intervention—backed away. At this point, the air of
Jackie Ashley’s column is, as always, well worth reading this morning. Perhaps, the most significant thing in it is the suggestion that Gordon Brown might admit to his own mistakes at conference: “Brown, who has been talking a lot to former Blair advisers, is said to be drafting a speech that will go further than he has
The Independent on Sunday’s report that Stephen Carter has been demoted is hugely significant. If it is right, and I have no reason to think it is not I just haven’t independently confirmed it, it suggests that a change in strategy is coming; that the Brownites are going to adopt a more bare-knuckle approach. In
It seems rather Jo Mooreish to be discussing the political implications of Hurricane Gustav as people are forced to evacuate their homes but with the hurricane expected to make landfall as the Republican convention gets under way and with the legacy of Katrina there is an unavoidable political angle to this story. As Fraser notes,
At first blush the selections of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin appear to have little in common. Obama went for an experienced Washington insider with a ton of national security experience, McCain went for a first term governor whose previous statements on foreign policy hardly suggest a great deal of knowledge about the subject. But
Talking to those Democrats who didn’t get the first flight out of Denver one picks up two conflicting emotions about the Palin pick: relief and fear. They are all happy that McCain has so neutered his attack on Obama’s experience; yes Obama was a state senator just four years ago but the person that John
A few weeks ago I was talking to a Republican who fretted that McCain wasn’t far enough behind. His worry was that the McCain campaign wouldn’t realise just how many risks it has to take to win. Well after McCain has tapped the young, inexperienced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin no one can make that argument
On a night which will live long in the memory, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president. His acceptance speech was in parts stridently populist but in others presented Obama as the great conciliator. The speech as a text was not one of Obama’s best but it was delivered with the passion that he
The McCain campaign used to rail against the media’s obsession with Obama but now it feeds it. It has jumped into the conversation through a series of ads mocking Obama and tough charges all of which has helped turn the election into a referendum on Obama. (This shift from a referendum on the Bush years
The expectations for Obama’s speech tonight are a mile high. I’d be tempted to say they’ll be impossible to match but, as First Read points out , Obama has never yet failed to deliver on one of these set piece occasions. Obama speaks as the first African-American nominee of a major American party on the
Joe Biden did go after John McCain tonight, drawing contrasts between McCain and Obama. His solution to the question of how you attack a man with McCain’s record of service was to paint McCain as a good solider at a time when America needs a wise leader. The contrasts Biden drew were effective and the
Bill Clinton’s speech is going to be the dramatic focal point of the night. Whether it is an emotional rapprochement with Obama, a lukewarm endorsement or a reflection on the prosperity of the Clinton years it will be news. The nervousness among Democrats here in Denver about the speech will only have been increased by
Another day in Denver, another day of Clinton stories. The extent to which the Clintons are dominating this convention really is quite remarkable. This morning, the news shows have three new angles to keep them busy. First, Bill Clinton is not attending Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday—a snub and a half. Second, The New York Times
Hillary Clinton did what her duty compelled to do in terms of supporting Obama and attacking McCain in her speech. But it didn’t inflict lasting damage on McCain; she attacked him on the issues you would expect a Democrat to and praised Obama on the issues you would expect her to. The 3am genie she
Everything this year seems to have aligned for the Democrats. The incumbent Republican president is deeply unpopular, more than three quarters of voters think the country is on the wrong track, the economy is in trouble and the conservative coalition is fracturing. But still the presidential race is tight; there aren’t more than a couple
Day two and again what the press want to talk about is the Clintons. Tonight Hillary speaks and, to be fair, she is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. If she takes it to John McCain, the pundits will say look what the Democrats are missing. But if she talks more about