James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
It is a definite coup for David Cameron that John McCain saw him as well as Gordon Brown today. It was a significant statement that a President McCain expects to have to deal with both men when in office; he clearly expects Cameron to be PM before 2012. But McCain can help Cameron in policy
There’s a fun but revealing story in the FT today about a row within the Cabinet about what kind of cars they should all be driven round in. The split is between those who favour Ministers travelling in the eco-friendly Toyota Prius and those who think it is important that they use a car made
An intriguing item in the Ephraim Hardcastle diary in The Daily Mail this morning suggests that cash for honours will soon come back to haunt Gordon Brown: “LORD Levy’s book about being Tony Blair’s Middle East envoy-chief party fundraiser – and the ‘cash for coronets’ police inquiry in which he was twice cautioned and questioned
The controversy over the racially divisive sermons of Obama’s friend and pastor Jeremiah Wright was the biggest challenge that Obama has faced in the campaign so far as it threatened his whole political identity. His speech today on the issue was both impressive and significant. If he had flubbed it, it could have reinforced doubts
If you want to get a handle on just how cheaply Bear Stearns was sold, consider this, David Beckham’s contract with the LA Galaxy is worth more than what JP Morgan paid for ailing investment banker. JP Morgan has already realised one big advantage from its purchase: its moving into the Madison Avenue HQ of
The controversy over Barack Obama’s pastor and his racially divisive views just keeps getting worse for the Obama campaign. Today, Obama will attempt to move past the story by giving a speech on race in America. The challenge for Obama is to explain why somehow who presents himself as a candidate who can help heal
The Guardian has just posted the headlines figures from its new poll which shows the Tories with a 42-29 lead over Labour. The poll also finds that David Cameron and George Osborne have an eight point lead on the question of who do you most trust with the economy.
Jonathan Powell’s new book and in particular his thoughts on talking to terrorists have been making waves in recent days. But the Guardian news story accompanying the paper’s serialisation of his book demonstrates the flaw in this thinking: “Powell said it was right to make concessions to Sinn Féin. ‘We certainly believed there was every
Over at Centre Right, Harry Phibbs points to a new poll in The Standard that shows Boris with a 49 to 37 lead over Ken. Boris also leads on second preferences.
Tucked away in today’s YouGov poll is a rather amusing question about who voters think would make the best Chancellor if Alistair Darling were to step down. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the current anti-political mood, the politicians don’t do particularly well. Sir Alan Sugar tops the list at 21 percent, followed by Sir Philip Green at
Two new polls this morning offer real encouragement to the Tories. YouGov for the Sunday Times has them 16 points ahead of Labour at 43 percent, if replicated in a general election these figures would give them a three figure majority. ICM for the News of the World has the party on 40 percent, nine
Some cabinet ministers are not fully reconciled to the Brown era if a few lines of verse supposedly written by a cabinet minister that have been doing the rounds in recent days are anything to go by. “At Downing Street upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t Blair, He wasn’t Blair again
Last week, The Spectator called on the House of Lords to apply the Salisbury convention in reverse to the Lisbon treaty and use its power to force the government to honour its manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the treaty formerly know as the Constitution. This morning, Lord Strathcylde, the Tory leader in the
Today both George W. Bush and Barack Obama find their faith under scrutiny. A new book questions Bush’s conversion narrative and suggests that Bush is highly aware of the political benefits of his faith. While Obama is under fire for some extreme statements from his preacher. I must admit that reading an extract from the
New polling data reveals that 53 percent of Americans now believe that the United States will ultimately achieve its aims in Iraq compared to 39 percent who think it will fail. As The Politico points out, this is the highest level of support for the war since the summer of 2006. This shift in opinion
One of the great scandals of this government is how many obstacles there are to people moving up the economic ladder. The Red Book (page 62) reveals that more than 1.8 million people are caught in a 60 percent marginal tax rate—as they earn more they lose access to tax credits and welfare benefits and
Here is a selection of our Budget coverage, do check back tomorrow for more analysis and if you want to read our thoughts as they unfolded through the day just keep scrolling. Matthew Elliott and Corin Taylor explain why the Budget will just make things worse Matthew d’Ancona reveals the private Tory response to
You would have thought that by now the Labour front bench would have learned not to heckle David Cameron as one of Cameron’s strengths at the Despatch Box is his ability to put down a heckler. At his first Prime Minister’s Question Time some shouting from Hilary Armstrong, the then Labour chief whip, gave Cameron
Today’s Budget made clear that we are in for a protracted period of political trench warfare. Darling’s speech was cautious in the extreme while the Tory response was hardly bold. However, the Tories have to be cheered by the contrast with last year’s Budget when Brown felt confident enough to try and kill off the
I suspect that the government will be quite pleased if this Budget is nothing more than a one day story. There was no headline-or-vote-grabbing initiative in it. Instead Darling chose to raise taxes on the safest of targets, drinkers. Darling must be hoping, though, that by hopping on the Mail’s ban the bag bandwagon, he