The Spectator

Letters | 26 November 2011

Economy pack Sir: Of your ten suggested remedies for the UK economy (‘Get it right, George!’, 19 November), not one mentions the obvious answer: recognise that communications technology is transforming every business and social model on the planet and accelerate Britain’s dozy and halfhearted commitment to invest in its communications infrastructure — broadband and mobile.

Barometer | 26 November 2011

Cook’s recipe Shares in Thomas Cook fell 60 per cent after the tour operator entered talks with its banks. — The company’s name has been synonymous with package tours since 1841, when Leicester cabinet-maker and temperance campaigner Thomas Cook took 500 supporters on a day trip to Loughborough on the newly opened railway line for

Portrait of the week | 26 November 2011

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said: ‘Getting debt under control is proving harder than anyone envisaged.’ In a speech to the Confederation of British Industry he blamed in part ‘paralysis in the eurozone’. His words came a week before the Chancellor was due to make his autumn statement, and the Office for Budget Responsibility

The technocrats’ coup

Just a few weeks ago, calling someone a ‘technocrat’ was a soft insult. The word meant, in effect, an efficient dullard. Now, technocrats appear to be inheriting the earth. They represent a new global elite, and they have recently added Greece and Italy to their empire. When Egypt’s military faced riots on the streets this

The week that was | 25 November 2011

Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: The Spectator Book Blog interviewed Tottenham MP David Lammy about the riots. Fraser Nelson says that George Osborne has chosen more debt over more cuts, and asks: how ambitious is Cameron on Europe? James Forsyth pinpoints Ed Miliband’s opportunity in the economic

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 21-27 November 2011

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which — providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency — you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no

Just in case you missed them… | 21 November 2011

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson thinks Nigel Lawson’s right: blaming ‘global imbalances’ for our economic problems does no one any good, and says a good many in the British establishment will be worried about what Saif Gaddafi may reveal. James Forsyth says we can’t forget the