This week’s Portrait of the week HOME William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said there was ‘not a remote possibility’ of using force against Syria, even with United Nations backing. The Commons defence committee said that cuts to the Armed Forces might prevent their doing whatever was needed after 2015. Mike Clasper, the chairman of HM
Syria – the wisdom of restraint Sometimes it is braver to do nothing; more courageous for a politician to admit openly that he cannot save the day than it is for him to call for immediate action. Too many of our leaders are too quick to cry ‘something must be done’, without worrying about whether
Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk during the past week: The Spectator publishes its summer reading list, featuring the revelation that David Cameron reads books backwards. Fraser Nelson says that the ghost of Gordon Brown still hovers over the 50p tax debate. Peter Hoskin reveals which government department could be replaced with
As the headline suggests, what follows is a list of summer reading recommendations from Spectator staff members and writers — with more to come shortly. Although, it must be said, there is one contributor who doesn’t really count as a Spectator staff member or writer… David Cameron: I’ve been reading a book called Skippy Dies
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
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Peter Hoskin notes that the public is behind Ed Balls on cutting VAT, gives some context to the death penalty debate, and wonders if the Mili-wounds are healing. Daniel Korski says that Egyptian revolution is still on track. Alex Massie asks if the
The royal family has been accused of a great number of things, from extravagance to vulgarity. But to blame the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for limiting UK economic growth in the second quarter to 0.2 per cent — as the Office of National Statistics did this week — is a bit rich. If an
