The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 23 April 2011

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, made a joint statement on Libya with President Barack Obama of the United States and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, saying that ‘so long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations’. British and French military officers were being sent to Libya to

Leader: No alternative

‘It’s not the voting that’s democracy,’ says Dotty in Tom Stoppard’s play Jumpers, ‘It’s the counting.’ Dotty is right, of course. ‘It’s not the voting that’s democracy,’ says Dotty in Tom Stoppard’s play Jumpers, ‘It’s the counting.’ Dotty is right, of course. Counting may be boring, but it is crucial. Nick Clegg knows this well.

The week that was | 22 April 2011

Here are some of the posts that were published on Spectator over the past week: Fraser Nelson makes an appeal for Easter reading suggestions. James Forsyth reveals that Ed Miliband will hire tails for the Royal Wedding, and says that there are more attacks on Clegg to come. Peter Hoskin watches the NHS furore rumble

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 18 April – 24 April

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… | 18 April 2011

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson urges you to have a look at this week’s Spectator, and says that the Bank of England needs to listen to Andrew Sentence. James Forsyth wonders of the coalition will declare war on the enemies of enterprise, and explains Vince Cable’s

Letters | 16 April 2011

Short memories Sir: Matt Cavanagh’s razor-sharp analysis (‘Operation Amnesia’, 9 April) chimes with the anecdotal evidence borne by friends returning from Afghanistan. But it is not just the soldiers who have made mistakes. Their political masters bear primary responsibility for initiating, in the first place, the unfunded strategic overstretch which goes beyond Afghanistan. The result

Barometer | 16 April 2011

Prince of cars It was revealed that Audi has been enticing royal customers with 60 per cent discounts. It is not the first car company to target royalty to build its image. — In 1898 the Daimler Motor Company of Coventry offered the Prince of Wales the use of five cars on a visit to

Portrait of the week | 16 April 2011

Home Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who flew to Britain on 30 March, made a televised speech in Arabic, saying that Libya could be another Somalia if it was allowed to sink into civil war. He then flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for an international contact group meeting on Libya’s future. Officers

The bank job

It suits a great many people to blame the banks for the financial crisis. It gets everyone else off the hook. How, asks Gordon Brown, was a mere Prime Minister to know that banks were doing such fiendishly complicated things? How, asks George Osborne, was an opposition expected to detect what the government could not?

The week that was | 15 April 2011

Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. CoffeeHousers reveal their choice for Gordon Brown’s greatest mistake. Fraser Nelson urges policy makers to blame the schools system, not Oxford. James Forsyth says that Cameron needs to tread with care, and explains why the Vickers review won’t harm London’s global competitiveness.

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 11 April – 17 April

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….

…here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson says that George Osborne needs to make his case for growth, and reviews Niall Ferguson’s latest triumph. Peter Hoskin reports on the latest recommendations from the Vickers Banking Commission, and compares the politics of debt in the UK and in the US. Daniel

Letters | 9 April 2011

Expensive manners Sir: Ivor Roberts says that Oxford University is ‘taking the very best, whatever their background’ — and is not to blame if state schools no longer produce the very best (‘Oxford under siege’, 2 April). And yet studies have found that state-school pupils perform better at Oxford than their privately educated peers, relative

Portrait of the week | 9 April 2011

Home Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, told the Commons that the government was delaying plans to reform the National Health Service that would give GPs responsibility for commissioning health services. ‘It is not just a question of presentation,’ said Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister. ‘This is also a question of making substantive changes to

Leader: Schools out – for ever

Anyone who has recently bought a house next to a good school — they typically command a £20,000 premium — has good reason to loathe Michael Gove. Anyone who has recently bought a house next to a good school — they typically command a £20,000 premium — has good reason to loathe Michael Gove. The

Advertisement Feature: Beauty and the Beast

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Advertisement Feature: The King’s Ginger Liqueur

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The week that was | 8 April 2011

Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. Fraser Nelson calls for the schools revolution to be reinforced. James Forsyth lists the runners and riders in a possible reshuffle, and wonders why Clegg didn’t complain about Lansley’s reforms earlier. Peter Hoskin reveals who has won and who has lost, and

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 4 April – 10 April

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