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. Fraser Nelson says that Labour is working towards a decade in Opposition. James Forsyth believes that David Miliband should join the shadow cabinet or quit British politics, and explains why education is becoming such a success story for the coalition. Peter Hoskin provides
Folly in Libya Sir: Congratulations to Andrew Gilligan and Hugo Rifkind (‘Oh, what a silly war’, 4 June) . You’ve shown exactly what the allied effort in Libya is — an expensive exercise in futility and a farce. Almost nobody outside a narrow band within the political-media class can see the point of having singled
Suicide country The BBC is to broadcast a documentary featuring a man committing suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich. Where else in the world can assisted suicide be carried out without attracting a murder charge? Netherlands: prosecutions for voluntary euthanasia effectively ceased in 1973, after an agreement between doctors and the government. Formally legalised
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, gave five ‘guarantees’ about the National Health Service, including a pledge not to endanger universal coverage and to increase spending on the NHS. He also said that hospital doctors and nurses would be involved in new consortiums to plan and buy care, not just GPs. Wayne Rooney, the 25-year-old
If Blake were writing ‘Jerusalem’ today, he would find an easy contemporary equivalent for his ‘dark, satanic mills’. If Blake were writing ‘Jerusalem’ today, he would find an easy contemporary equivalent for his ‘dark, satanic mills’. In our attempt to build a welfare state, we have created a national disgrace: welfare ghettoes, which scar every
Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: Fraser Nelson looks at the latest efforts to fix Britain’s economic dysfunction, and explains George Osborne’s fiscal flexibility. James Forsyth says that David Cameron is a leader in need of a People, and argues that the coalition’s u-turns come at a price.
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 is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. James Forsyth welcomes the government’s moves to stop the sexualisation of children, and thinks that Downing Street’s political operation is in danger of faltering. Peter Hoskin reacts to the foundation of the New College of Humanities, and laments the return of the signatories
Spectator readers respond to recent articles Target practice Sir: It is simply wrong to say — as an anonymous officer claimed in your magazine (‘Target Men’, 28 May) — that every facet of the Metropolitan Police is now dominated or disfigured by targets or quotas. However, if we are to be truly accountable, there must be some
This wek’s Barometer Crime lords — Lord Taylor of Warwick was jailed for 12 months for fiddling his expenses. He is the fourth peer of the realm to be jailed, after Lord Archer (jailed for four years in 2001 for perjury), Lord Watson of Invergowrie (16 months in 2005 for setting light to hotel curtains
This week’s Portrait of the week Home The Court of Appeal ruled that Sharon Shoesmith had been sacked unfairly in 2008 as head of children’s services in Haringey after the death of baby Peter; asked if she blamed herself for the child’s death, she said: ‘I am not into the blame game. I don’t do
When you put your loose coppers in an Oxfam tin, it is tempting to think that they will be going towards a bag of grain for a drought-torn African village. When you put your loose coppers in an Oxfam tin, it is tempting to think that they will be going towards a bag of grain
The Spectator’s supplements on Travel, since June 2011 The Spectator’s supplements on Travel, since June 2011 The Spectator Guide to Cruises — Autumn 2011 View online version | View print version 17th September 2011 The very idea of a cruise holiday sends shivers down some spines — and not necessarily shivers of excitement. There’s something
Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson has been reminded of the proximity of evil. James Forsyth asks if FIFA really matters, and reveals the extent of Ken Clarke’s crimes. Peter Hoskin reveals the scale of Britain’s debt crisis, and notes that Clegg has ermine troubles. David
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the Bank Holiday weekend. James Forsyth says you couldn’t make the Wayne Bishop story up, and wonders if Sarah Palin is about to launch a bid for the Republican nomination. David Blackburn reveals the unlikely triumvirate opposing the government’s energy policy, and argues that the
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
Clarity? New Labour? Sir: I read with growing disbelief your leader ‘Lost Labour’ (14 May), but I now realise that it must have been intended as joke. ‘The tragedy of the Labour years was that so many good ideas were mooted…’; ‘The New Labour years can now be regarded as… a moment of clarity…’ You
Irish quarter Is there any such thing as a US president without Irish roots? The US genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts has researched the origins of all US presidents and concluded that 20 of the 44 US presidents had some Irish family connections. Half of these, however, have been within the past 50 years. — Until
Home President Barack Obama arrived in Britain for a state visit, having fled Ireland a day early lest the ash cloud from the Grimsvötn volcano in Iceland engulf his aeroplane. In Ireland he met his eighth cousin at Moneygall, where he drank a pint of Guinness, said ‘I’ve come home to find the apostrophe we