James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
David Cameron’s interview in The Guardian this morning once again demonstrates his skill at political positioning. By citing Barack Obama as the inspiration for his call for people to take responsibility for their own actions, Cameron is moving to ensure that his message is not seen as old-fashioned Tory moralism but rather associated with the
The economist Richard Thaler — a favourite of the Cameron and Obama camps — talks to James Forsyth about the power of ‘nudging’: small transformative acts of persuasion No one likes to be pushed, prodded or shoved. But no one objects to a nudge in the right direction. The idea that people can be nudged
Sam Coates of Conservative Home fame is to join David Cameron’s speechwriting team. Anyone who has the pleasure of knowing Sam knows him to be a man of integrity and intelligence. He is a strong addition to the speech writing team.
Gordon Brown has no chance of improving Labour’s poll ratings let alone winning the next election unless Labour can close the gap on the economy. The Tories currently have a 13 point lead on this subject according to Populus while back in September 2007 Labour were 23 points ahead on this issue. A lot of
The Daily Mail sets about Jacqui Smith in its editorial today. It declares that: “This sorry little cameo only confirms that this Home Secretary is so hopelessly out of her depth that she makes a predecessor such as Charles Clarke seem like a Colossus. Surely, amid rising violence and mayhem in the streets, the public
Paul Waugh’s scoop about Shahid Malik agreeing to chair a meeting held at the Commons by the Moonies suggests that Malik—or his staff—should do a bit of research before agreeing to things. But far more worrying is what Dean Godson reveals in The Times this morning about Malik’s desire to attend Islam Expo even after
Barack Obama holds most of the aces in this presidential campaign. His supporters are more enthusiastic than McCain’s, he is out fund raising his opponent and he can control the news agenda almost at will. But McCain still has one significant advantage that is keeping him in with a chance: Americans are far more comfortable with
One of the big puzzles of the Brown premiership is the complete absence of policy innovation. There was a belief among both Brown’s critics and supporters that he would wheel out a whole set of big ideas in his fist year in office. But now I doubt that most people could name off the top
Bastille Day always reminds me of how jealous I am of the French national anthem. La Marseillaise is a splendidly, rousing song. There is nothing quite like hearing a crowd belting it out with passion. This scene in Casablanca when Victor Lazlo leads Rick’s Cafe Americain in a stirring rendition of it is, to my
Before every European Union summit the British government briefs the press on a set of red-lines which it promises to stand firm on. These are self-imposed tests which the government knows it will pass but as the summit goes on, the line is spun that the red line are under attack. But it always works
Train travel in this country can be pretty awful, especially on the weekends. But it is still shocking to read Andrew Gilligan’s account in today’s Evening Standard of his journey from Birmingham to London: “I was physically assaulted, called a f***ing c*** and a prick, and left stranded after the last train back to London
Considering the amount of chatter there is about a possible Tory reshuffle, Philip Johnston’s Telegraph column is a good reminder that the skills that make someone a good opposition spokesman are quite different from those that make a good Cabinet Minister. As Johnston points out only one of the shadow Cabinet have been in an
The American press is significantly freer than the British one because of the free speech guarantee enshrined in the First Amendment. In the US unlike in the UK, the burden of proof in libel cases is on the plaintiff not the defendant; making it far harder for the powerful to use the threat of libel
Last week, the Bank of England held interest rates at 5 percent because inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, was 3.3 percent—above the Bank’s 2 percent target. Today’s Daily Mirror reports that the CPI will rise to 3.6 percent—the highest it has been since 1992—when new figures are announced on Tuesday. The Mirror
Obama supporters hope that his comfort in talking publicly about his religious beliefs will both help Obama bridge some of the cultural gap that separates him from large chunks of the electorate and help him make inroads into the evangelical vote. This strategy suffered a huge blow with the Revered Wright affair which tied Obama’s
‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ is one of the great political soundbites. Sadly, though, Tony Blair’s government never managed to put both parts of into action. Any long term solution to the current spate of violence is going to require us to do both simultaneously. I’d urge all Coffee Housers to
There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks that Israel was stepping up its preparations to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. But Jim Hoagland, The Washington Posts’s foreign affairs commentator, suggests that the Americans have persuaded the Israelis to back away from the military option to give coercive diplomacy another chance: “The most significant
The latest YouGov poll for The Sunday Times shows no change in the Labour and Tory numbers—the Tories are still 22 points ahead, 47 to 25. The good news for the Tories is that the longer this lead remains stable, the more voters will adjust to the idea of a Tory government. The leadership speculation
Gordon Brown’s effort to give up biting his nails just received a boost with the release of an ICM poll of Glasgow East which shows Labour 14 points ahead, 47 to 33 ahead of the SNP. This poll will create a strong expectation that Labour will hold the seat and probably put a stop to—or
We should be wary about getting overexcited about a single opinion poll but the new Newsweek poll will be causing some heartburn among Obama supporters. Last month’s Newsweek poll put Obama ahead of McCain 51 to 36 but in this month’s poll the gap has closed to Obama 44 McCain 41. The McCain camp can