Bernie 25
The Spectator
Saturday
Barometer | 8 October 2011
Late winners The Nobel Prize is not usually given posthumously; but an exception was made this week for Ralph Steinman, a cancer scientist who, unknown to the Nobel committee, had died three days before being awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine. He is in good company in being honoured posthumously. Peter Finch, George Gershwin and
Portrait of the week | 8 October 2011
Home George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told the Conservative party conference in Manchester that the Treasury would spend billions buying bonds from small and medium-sized businesses in an exercise called ‘credit easing’. He announced a freeze on council tax for a second year, saving householders an average of £72. He also remarked: ‘We’re
Leading article: The Osborne doctrine
What with all the excitement over Italian courtroom dramas, not enough attention was given to a radical statement by George Osborne at the Conservative party conference. It was one of the few important pronouncements made in Manchester this week. He declared: ‘Let’s at the very least resolve that we’re going to cut our carbon emissions
Letters | 8 October 2011
Boris and the Johnsons Sir: Toby Young speaks of ‘the (Johnson) family’s roots as Turkish immigrants’ (‘Plan B’, 1 October). Though I’m always amused by what Toby writes, I have to point out that he is not always accurate. These are the facts. My paternal grandfather, Ali Kemal, was married to my grandmother, Winifred Blum. Winifred’s
Friday
The week that was | 7 October 2011
A selection of posts from the past seven days at spectator.co.uk Fraser Nelson explains Cameron’s debt U-turn and says that party conferences are now more for lobbyists than activists. James Forsyth says the Tories knew the importance of Boris’ speech and that Cameron did enough in his. Peter Hoskin says Gove’s school reforms provided the
Thursday
We need your vote | 6 October 2011
It’s that time of the year again. The nights are drawing in and the Spectator is choosing its parliamentarian of the year. As in previous years, we’re asking you to vote for a readers’ representative. So, which politician has excelled in the noble art of politics in the last twelve months? Think carefully, there must
Monday
CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 3 October – 9 October 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… | 3 October 2011
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson asks if the health budget is falling, and writes a short history of George Osborne and tax cuts. James Forsyth watches David Willetts introduce the three Ds, and reports on Cameron’s tricky interview with Andrew Marr. David Blackburn considers Andrew Lansley’s
Saturday
Letters | 1 October 2011
Europe’s guilty men Sir: What exactly do Peter Oborne and Frances Weaver (‘The great euro swindle’, 24 September) think the pro-euro camp must be called to account for? Apparently for being on the losing side in a debate which they never showed much sign of winning anyway, not least because the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Portrait of the week | 1 October 2011
Home Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour party, asked its conference: ‘Are you on the side of the wealth creators or the asset strippers?’ He criticised ‘predatory’ companies, and said that when it came to social housing we should not ‘treat the person who contributes to their community the same as the person who
Leading article: Who’s afraid of Labour now?
The Conservatives are granted only two tickets to Labour party conference: a shame, because there could have been no better morale booster for Tory troops. The merger between Labour and their union paymasters has become so advanced that shadow ministers speak about the joint ‘movement’ rather than the party. Dethroned Cabinet members are still wandering
Barometer | 1 October 2011
Up in smoke A coroner in Galway has passed a verdict of spontaneous human combustion on a 76-year-old pensioner whose body was found burned in a house otherwise largely undamaged by fire. Not everyone will be convinced, however — any more than they were in 1763, when Jonas Dupont published De Incendis Corporis Humani Spontaneis,
Friday
The week that was | 30 September 2011
A selection of posts from the past seven days at spectator.co.uk James Forsyth dissected Ed’s conference speech and urged Cameron to seize the opportunity for a showdown with Brussels. Fraser Nelson reviewed Miliband vs. Predator and asked whether the leader of the opposition is a (fellow?) Glee fan. David Blackburn reported on Labour’s bid
Monday
Just in case you missed them… | 26 September 2011
…here are some of the posts made on the Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. James Forsyth is impressed by the Labour leader’s performance pre-conference and thought his brother put on a nice show too. Fraser Nelson’s take on Ed Miliband’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show: cuts are ok now. David Blackburn isn’t surprised as Medvedev names his successor and,
CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 26 September – 30 September 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
Saturday
Letters | 24 September 2011
Euro bonds Sir: In your leading article, ‘A new deal with Europe’ (17 September), you argue that as Brussels will not agree to radical reform and massive deregulation, the only remaining options are to renegotiate our membership of the European Union or ‘pull out entirely’. However, we must be clear that unilateral withdrawal is out
Barometer | 24 September 2011
Objects in space — The six tonne US Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was due to fall to Earth, with Nasa calculating that it has a one in 3,200 risk of striking a human. It poses less of a risk, however, than the 75 tonne Skylab did when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in 1979. In
Portrait of the week | 24 September 2011
Home The International Monetary Fund reduced its growth forecast for Britain this year from 1.5 per cent to 1.1 per cent and for next year from 2.3 to 1.6 per cent. A debate rumbled on in government about whether to spend more money on public infrastructure works as dark financial clouds loomed. ‘What I will
Leading article: Labour’s opportunity
By now, Ed Miliband should be feeling upbeat about next week’s Labour party conference. No matter what happens in Liverpool, it can’t be more debasing than the spectacle the Liberal Democrats laid on in Birmingham. The Lib Dems’ decision to insult their coalition partners did nothing to enhance their standing. If the Tories are, as