James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
This is the story leading The Guardian web site: House prices: Nationwide reports fastest fall since 1991 Nationwide are reporting that house prices fell 2.5 percent month on month and the price of the average home has dropped 4.4 percent compared to last year. (To put that in perspective though, the average house price is still
Guido flags up David Hencke’s story in The Guardian which reveals that Labour has only five weeks to find £7.45 million to pay off bank loans and money owed to some of the donors recruited by Lord Levy. Just to compound the problem, if Labour can’t find the cash then various individuals—including Gordon Brown and
Scott McLellan was an awful White House press secretary. As you watched him get beaten up day after day by reporters you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He was a Bush loyalist promoted way over his head. When McLellan stepped down in April 2006, few expected to hear much more from him. But
Clive has a nice little musical tribute up to mark the tenth anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s death—and no, it is not someone singing My Way. Do check it out.
Lawrence Wright’s essay in The New Yorker on the ideological divisions within the Islamic extremist movement from which al Qaeda emerged is essential reading. It really is long-form magazine journalism at its very best. One anecdote in it is particularly interesting from a British perspective. Zayyat reports that Zawahiri called him in March of [1997], when Zayyat
On The World at One this lunchtime, Alistair Darling strongly hinted that the government is preparing yet another u-turn; this time over the planned 2p rise in fuel duty. “I will return to the issue nearer the time – I will take into account what is happening in the oil market and see what is
The TV cameras trooped in to film the beginning of Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s meeting with various oil big-wigs this morning. After Brown thought they’d stopped filming, he announced: “Well that was an unreal start to a meeting… Now we can relax!” This really is Potemkin politics. It is hard to imagine that many
Kevin Maguire was widely tipped to be Gordon Brown’s Alastair Campbell but in the end the Mirror man stayed at his paper rather than heading to Downing Street. His columns, though, have always been fairly supportive of the Brown government which is what makes his piece today—“Gordon Brown must make sweeping changes”—so interesting. Maguire wants
Gordon Brown wants you to blame somebody—anybody—else for the rise in the price of fuel. So, this morning he takes to the pages of The Guardian for some OPEC-bashing hoping that aggrieved motorists will curse this cartel rather than Brown when they see how much it costs to fill their tank. Later today, Brown and
When the planes flew into the Twin Towers many rushed to declare it the end of the end of history. But it was not. All the plans that emerged immediately afterwards about how to remake the Middle East were premised upon the assumption that history was at an end; that the world was moving inexorably
One of the many good things about Ken Livingstone’s defeat in the London mayoral election is that Islamic extremists will no longer be feted at City Hall. One person who should never have been invited and praised by the Mayor was Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was not—as Livingstone claimed—someone “who preaches moderation and tolerance to all faiths throughout the
Over on Americano, thoughts on the VP candidate who might tip the scales in Obama’s favour and an explanation of what McCain is up to with his suggestion that he and Obama go on a trip to Iraq together. Plus, a link to some video of a more relaxed Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail—she’s
Tom Bower, who wrote a rigorously researched and extremely critical biography of Gordon Brown, delivers a devastating summing up of Brown’s record to date in today’s Evening Standard: “Thatcherism and Blairism were easily defined but what exactly is Brownism? Obsessed that the state knows best, Brownism can best be described by its dubious achievements: record
Jack Straw has emerged from his self-imposed purdah to offer his support to Gordon Brown on The World at One. Straw declared “I’m absolutely convinced that Gordon Brown is the very best person to lead the Labour party and the government through these difficulties and beyond.” He went on to say that, “Nothing that has
At the risk of drawing a sneering response from the Rail Minister Tom Harris, I’d like to have a little moan about my train journey yesterday. I spent the Bank Holiday weekend up in the Lake District and seeing as it takes an absolute age to get down the West Coast line on a Sunday
William Hill have just sent through their latest odds on Brown’s prospects. Brown is 6/4 to go before the next election 7 to 2 to leave this year 15/8 to be replaced in 2009 11/10 to go in 2010 The small odds on Brown going before the next election suggest that the punters are more
The Mirror and The Sun both devote their lead editorial to arguing against the planned rise in vehicle excise duty and the rising cost of fuel. The Mirror—which is the one reliably pro-Brown paper in Fleet Street—leader will cause particular concern among jittery Labour MPs. It warns that the “rebellion…has the potential to be more
Jon Cruddas, the Labour backbencher who came third but with the most first preference votes in last year’s deputy leadership contest and is tipped by many as a good outside bet to be the next Labour leader, has an interesting piece in The Independent this morning. He argues that the calls for an instant change of leader
Jackie Ashley’s column in The Guardian today shows just how downhearted those who yearned for a Brown premiership now are. It is an admirably frank piece. One point in it, though, needs rebutting. Ashley rather dolefully writes that: When one looks at the success and popularity of Boris Johnson in London, it seems obvious that
Stephen has a good piece in today’s Times arguing that the way to deal with the current wave of knife crime is not to pass yet more laws but to enforce fully the ones that are already on the books. As Stephen notes, In 2006, only nine of the 6,314 people convicted of carrying a