James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
Time magazine has a very fun story in this week’s issue about the importance of birth order. Apparently, elder children are smarter and earn more while younger ones are funnier and more inclined to take risks. Time even has the scientific data to back this up. “In June, for example, a group of Norwegian researchers
On the Today programme this morning David Miliband contended that there was no need for the referendum that Labour promised in its 2005 manifesto as “the constitution is dead, last night marked the end of the constitution”. This argument is flawed on two levels. First, this treaty is–as pretty much every European leader other than
As the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucuses grow ever closer, the 2008 nominating contests are heating up. Today, word came that Sam Brownback—a standard bearer for religious conservatives—is to quit the Republican race. Brownback’s campaign has never caught on as many pundits thought it would and he simply doesn’t have the money or
Obviously, the vote in the Turkish Parliament yesterday authorising incursions into northern Iraq to combat Kurdish terrorists threatens to undercut much of the progress that has been made in Iraq recently. But the security success of the surge in recent months has been quite remarkable as this sniper from Joe Klein’s Today in Iraq slot
David Ignatius’s column today on the dangers of a nuclear attack by al Qaeda is absolutely essential reading. Ignatius, who is neither a scaremonger nor a shrill but an experienced journalist with incomparable intelligence sources, lays out the reasons to worry about what al Qaeda has up its sleeve. Perhaps, the greatest puzzle of the
Nick Clegg scores the endorsement of the most impressive Lib Dem in public life, Paddy Ashdown, this morning. Writing in The Guardian, Ashdown argues that Clegg is the man to take the Lib Dems to the next level and the candidate the Tories fear. Chris Huhne, the main threat to Nick Clegg’s, has given interviews
“So I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.” Lots of people will recoil at Bush’s Texan directness, one might almost say glibness, on this point. But there’s no getting
It is hard to think of two more different politicians than Dick Cheney and Barack Obama. But it turns out that they are actually eighth cousins. To borrow Richard Littlejohn’s catchphrase, you couldn’t make it up.
Nick Clegg is clearly the bookies and the Westminster favourite to succeed Ming but there are reasons to believe that he might be the wrong choice for the Lib Dems. Unlike the two main parties, Lib Dem leaders have to earn their media. Charles Kennedy and Paddy Ashdown were successful at doing this because they
Tim Hames has a typically sharp column in The Times this morning about the Lib Dems decision to dump Ming. He argues that the polls are so volatile at the moment that the Lib Dems would have done better to wait until Christmas before pulling the trigger as by then they would have been certain
Simon Hughes and Vince Cable have just announced that Ming Campbell has resigned as leader of the Lib Dems. Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne are both expected to run for the leadership, with Clegg starting as the favourite. The timetable for the leadership contest will be announced on Tuesday. The immediate beneficiary of Ming’s departure
The military progress of the surge in Iraq continues to be encouraging. As The Washington Post notes today, In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed
Andy Burnham saying that “marriage is best for kids” and that it is “not wrong that the tax system should recognise commitment and marriage” is a victory for common sense. But it is also another example of the Brown government’s cynical opportunism and lack of any new ideas. As recently as the Labour conference, Gordon
This week’s Spectator Intelligence Squared debate about whether we shouldn’t be reluctant to assert the superiorty of Western values is an absolute cracker. To listen to David Aaronovitch, Tariq Ramadan, Ibn Warraq, Charles Glass, Douglas Murray and William Dalrymple tackle this question click here.
If you’re kicking your heels until the rugby gets under way, do read this preview of the weekend’s semi-finals.
The dream scenario for the Gore supporters who’ve kept the faith was that Al would pick up the Nobel, return to national acclaim and a draft Gore movement and then—like a modern day Cincinnatus—reluctantly return to public life for the good of the Republic. I’ve always been rather sceptical about this scenario. Gore still has
When it looked like there was going to be an autumn election, Ming Campbell’s position was safe for the simple reason that there wasn’t time to replace him. But now with no election likely until 2009, the Lib Dems have time to pick a new leadership team and bed them in before the next election. The
Toby set tongues wagging with his post about whether David Cameron was Muhammed Ali to Gordon Brown’s George Foreman. (Do see Clive’s post on why Gordon is really Sonny Liston) So, here–at Toby’s suggestion–is yesterday’s encounter between Cameron and Brown and the combination of punches from the Rumble in the Jungle that Toby thought that
Do read Mark Mardell’s piece on Gordon Brown’s meeting with Jose Manuel Barroso. Particularly interesting, is his account of Brown’s European vision. “I’m told he argues that there are three phases in the European Union project to create stability on the continent. The first was establishing democracy and prosperity after the war. The second was
One of the many things that undermined John Major’s authority was the idea, first put about by Alastair Campbell, that the PM tucked his shirt into his underpants. Now, it looks like the same is being done to Ming Campbell. Here’s Kevin Maguire in this week’s New Statesman: “Does Ming the Merciless wear sock garters?