Books and Arts – 3 April 2014

listen to ‘Tristram Hunt’s speech + Q&A at Spectator’s schools conference’ on Audioboo Free Schools, For-profit Schools and the Swedish Slide Thank you. It is, as ever, a great pleasure to speak from the platform of England’s oldest continuously published magazine. And especially so on education, which has always been one of its uppermost concerns. Indeed,
This is a live blog for tonight’s debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage, kicking off at 7pm. We’ll be adding in audio from the debate below. This page will automatically update every minute. Comments from James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson
Under the shadow of the Crimean situation, Harry Cole travelled to Washington DC to find out what American conservatives really make of Putin. He asked attendees of this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPac) who is worse — President Obama, or President Putin?
In a speech given at Tilbury Port in Essex, Chancellor George Osborne hailed cuts to business and personal taxes this week as the ‘biggest in two decades’ – and committed to ‘fight for full employment in Britain’. Here’s what he said:- Thank you for coming here to Tilbury Port, this morning. We’re all here at
‘I want you to tick all the boxes’
‘It’s Zok here from the “human abduction team”. Do we have disabled access facilities?’
‘Men — they’re all the same.’
‘I make it 8.36.’
‘Anti-smoking propaganda has really hardened.’
‘And verily I say to you, go forth and multitask.’
‘I do wish you wouldn’t look at the outside world — you know it only upsets you.’
‘Night, night. Sleep tight.’
‘I’m bravely taking a make-up-free selfie.’
‘Dad, can I borrow the pension pot for the weekend?’
‘I’m in for assaulting Ant, but it’s a case of mistaken identity — I thought it was Dec.’
‘We’ll start with a pub and a bingo hall.’
‘Congratulations! It’s a jobless young person.’