James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The military success of the surge in Iraq now seems to be paving the way for political reconciliation and the prospects for Iraq look more hopeful than they have in a long time. However, this does not mean that withdrawal any time soon would be a good idea as the Iraqi Defence Minister made clear
Today at Centreright.com, Matthew Elliott flags up a truly shocking fact: “by 2009, each person working in the private sector will be paying more each month into the pension of a civil servant than they will into their own pension.”
Rachel Sylvester has a typically eloquent and perceptive piece on the political ramifications of nationalising Northern Rock in the Telegraph today. As Sylvester points out the government has to come up with a solution before the end of February when the six month period for state aid mandated by the European Union runs out. The
Today, John McCain will either take a massive stride towards winning the Republican nomination by winning the Michigan primary or a triumph for Mitt Romney will scramble the contest still further. McCain is the candidate with the wind at his back. His victory in New Hampshire has vaulted him into a considerable lead in the
Ayleet Waldman has a sure to be controversial piece in this week’s New York Magazine arguing that the reason society is so keen to jump on bad mothers like Britney Spears is because mothers are acutely aware of their own failings. As Waldman writes, “The single defining characteristic of iconic Good Motherhood is self-abnegation. Her
The idea that George Osborne and Peter Hain’s funding issues are somehow equivalent is absurd. One is a case of confusion over how many times something should be declared and the other is an issue of complete non-disclosure. Hain’s use of the Progressive Politics Forum to donate to his campaign is a scandal in and
Gordon Brown’s interview with the Sun this morning displays one of the least attractive qualities of his premiership, his tendency to pass the buck. So, Peter Hain is praised but the possibility of him being forced to stand down is conceded. Surely, though, if Brown thinks Hain has done nothing intentionally wrong he shouldn’t be
The Clinton-Obama fight is turning increasingly nasty and personal. In Washington, there is much talk about how the party can be put together again after the primaries. Tensions have been raised still further today with a prominent black supporter of the Clintons, the prominent entrepreneur Bob Johnson, appearing to raise both Obama’s youthful drug use
David Cameron turned in a strong performance on the Andrew Marr show this morning pushing back firmly and effectively against Marr’s suggestion that there was somehow equivalence between Peter Hain and George Osborne’s funding issues. However, as always, the questions about Lord Ashcroft’s status haunt the Tories. The key message that Cameron wanted to communicate
Fraser wrote the other day about how public attitudes seemed to be moving decisively in favour of welfare reform and new poll numbers,flagged up by Conservative Home, back up this argument. 82% back the new Tory policy that those who have been on unemployment benefits for two years should have to do work in the
In the British version of the 2008 US election, Gordon Brown is Hillary Clinton: the less talented half of a tempestuous political marriage who attempts to make up for shortcomings with a Stakhanovite work ethic. David Cameron is Barack Obama: the supremely confident speaker who has risen to the top in record time and who
After Hillary’s remarkable come from behind victory in New Hampshire there have been a lot of jokes about how we can now expect Gordon Brown, and every other ambitious politician, to start choking up in public. Somehow, I can’t see Brown doing this or pulling it off if he tried. However, there is one thing that
Ben Brogan has an absolute must read post on this whole business of Peter Hain and the donations. As Ben writes, “For the moment Downing Street’s confidence remains solid, in part because if he goes then so do Harriet Harman and Wendy Alexander. But can Mr Brown, with all his talk of new politics, afford
Sam Coates, over at his splendid new blog, writes that the Tories have been indulging in some clothes stealing by adopting the Lib Dem idea for a pupil premium for poorer children. I’ve no doubt that Sam is right about what motivated the timing of the announcement, but it is my understanding that this has
The debate over why the polls in New Hampshire were so wrong is still raging on this side of the Atlantic. An agenda-setting op-ed by the top pollster Andy Kohut in the New York Times says that it is all about race, while others think that it is all to do with gender. To my
Washington, DC The Michigan primary coming up on Tuesday will determine whether Mitt Romney can remain a credible candidate. If he can’t win in a state where his father was a popular governor, it is curtains for him. By contrast, if McCain can repeat his 2000 triumph here he will establish himself as the Republican
The debate over whether the reluctance of white voters to support a black candidate once in the privacy of the voting booth is what explains Obama’s loss is raging here in New Hampshire. First Read lays out the case, “we can only think of three races in which the public polls and the final result
Hillary Clinton’s comeback win took everyone, including her own campaign, by surprise. The theories are flowing as to how she pulled it out. Some are claiming it is because people tell pollsters that they’re planning to vote for the black candidate then in the privacy of the ballot box don’t. This is certainly the simplest
To say that there is shock at tonight’s result would be an understatement. Every poll was predicting an Obama win–the internal numbers of both campaigns had him up by double-digits, his crowds were bigger and more energised and his press coverage was far more favourable. In short, every metric that one could use to try
John McCain’s commanding win here makes him, remarkably for a candidate who was written off for dead last summer, the favourite to be the Republican nominee in November. To be sure, he still has obstacles to come most notably his difference with the Republican base on immigration and the distrust that some of the more
