Fracking2
‘Why do I always fall for bad boys? He’s a fracking engineer.’
The Spectator
Thursday
Metamorphosis
‘Don’t come in! I’m changing.’
Fracking 4
‘You’ve been supergluing yourself to other women!’
Boadicea
‘Here comes another equal pay request.’
Badgers 4
Surround
Surround sound
Clipboards
Syria: A war without a purpose
There is something deeply disturbing about switching on the television and finding Jack Straw talking about the need to take military action against a Ba’athist dictator who is using weapons of mass destruction against his own people. Tony Blair has also popped up to urge moral purpose. And all this before the UN weapons inspectors
Let Osborne finish the job
Upon taking office, David Cameron promised himself that he would resist the temptation to sack ministers in response to every scandal. He would have a major reshuffle halfway through his government and another one before the election. That would be all. He is now understood to be weeks away from deciding who should go where,
Portrait of the week | 29 August 2013
Home The nation settled down to watch the Paralympic Games on television. Some 2.5 million tickets had been sold for events. The government reconsidered building a third runway at Heathrow after all. Grant Shapps, the housing minister, said that ‘all options should be considered’, even though the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, whose constituency is under
Barometer | 29 August 2013
One-legged wonder The Paralympic Games began in 1960 and can trace its origins to the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, held for ex-servicemen at Stoke Mandeville hospital in 1948. Before that, however, a disabled German-American gymnast, George Eyser, put in a remarkable performance at the 1904 Olympic Games in St Louis. — Eyser, who emigrated to
Letters | 29 August 2013
Reasons to try a tyrant Sir: The premise of Douglas Murray’s otherwise compelling essay (‘Dictating terms’, 25 August) is mistaken. He doubts whether the conviction of malevolent dictators by the International Criminal Court acts as a deterrent to other wicked leaders. Of course it does not. Nothing will deter a monster from iniquity. The principal
Letters: Peter Hitchens vs Nick Cohen, and the case against the middle class
Piggies in the middle Sir: Your feature ‘The strange death of the middle class’ (24 August) assumes that young people who do not attend fee-paying schools cannot have access to the same opportunities as those who do. I attended my local comprehensive in the first decade of this century. Despite the variable teaching quality, I
Books and Arts – 29 August 2013
Barometer – 29 August 2013
Your name here Supporters of Merthyr Town Football Club objected to having their ground renamed the Cigg-e Stadium in a £60,000 sponsorship deal with a manufacturer of electronic cigarettes. Some more unappealing football sponsors: Northern Rock Still sponsoring Newcastle United in 2009, two years after the bank run Wonga Newcastle’s new sponsors Cambridge Pet Crematorium
Audio coverage of the Syria debate in House of Commons
Welcome to Coffee House’s rolling coverage of the Syria debate in the House of Commons this afternoon. We will be detailing the best speeches in favour of and against the motion below, with full quotes and audio clips. Jump to speeches: David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Jack Straw, Liam Fox, David Davis, Andrew Mitchell, Ming Campbell,
Wednesday
The Government’s motion on Syria – and Labour’s amendment
Government motion: This House: Deplores the use of chemical weapons in Syria on 21 August 2013 by the Assad regime, which caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries of Syrian civilians; Recalls the importance of upholding the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons under international law; Agrees that a strong humanitarian response
Audio: politicians mull intervening in Syria
Their holidays interrupted, MPs are trying to decide what they think about Syria as they return to Westminster for tomorrow’s House of Commons debate on military action. For those trying to make up their minds, and work out what everyone else thinks, Coffee House has compiled a helpful briefing of audio clips from across the political
David Cameron and Barack Obama’s latest call on Syria – a readout
David Cameron and Barack Obama spoke last night again about the situation in Syria. Below is a readout of the call from Number 10: ‘The PM spoke to President Obama last night to further discuss the serious response to last week’s chemical weapons attack in Syria. ‘Ahead of today’s NSC, it was an opportunity for