Missing in Egypt Sir: Your pundits on the Egyptian crisis (‘The Egyptian explosion’, 5 February) left out one major consideration. The ballast for a solid democracy depends more than anything else on the commitment of a professional, educated middle class with a stake in stability as well as human rights. In the Arab world, this
Whose cultures? David Cameron declared multiculturalism a failure last week. But where does the idea come from? — In the late 1960s the Canadian government set up a Royal Commission into ‘Bilingualism and Biculturalism’ to unite the English- and French-speaking parts of the country. It suggested a policy to champion other ethnic groups, too. Prime
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, called for Islamist extremism to be countered by ‘a clear sense of shared national identity that is open to everyone’. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, he said that ‘under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives’. About 1,500 supporters of
It is a curious fact about modern Britain that while we romanticise marriage and stable families as never before, our government still bribes us to split up. There has been much nonsense talked this week of the perils of introducing a ‘marriage bias’ into the tax system. But the truth is that a distinct and
Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson witnesses the first bout of Osborne versus Balls, and worries that Mervyn King’s credibility is faltering. James Forsyth unpicks Lord Oakeshott’s exit, and praises Project Merlin. Peter Hoskin reveals the doubts that remain over al-Megrahi, and explains why the government
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. Quentin Letts gives his bluffers guide to Egypt. Fraser Nelson says that No.10 needs to get a grip. James Forsyth defends Cameron’s muscular liberalism speech, and hopes for an orderly transition of power in Egypt. Peter Hoskin asks how much we spend on
The route to Westminster Sir: Andrew Neil is admirably fair in his article on the over-representation of Oxbridge types and the privately educated in both the Labour and Conservative parties (‘The fall of the meritocracy’, 29 January). In my view, this even-handedness is a missed opportunity, as it is surely more to the discredit of
Long-serving leaders Hosni Mubarak entered Egypt’s crisis as one of the world’s longest-serving political leaders. Here are five others: Leader
Home The Health and Social Care Bill, which changes the organisation of the National Health Service, passed its second reading by 321 votes to 235. Lawyers opined that the European Court of Human Rights required the government to give prisoners in Scotland and Wales the right to vote in May’s elections or risk claims for
Does it matter if prisoners are allowed to vote or not? Save for in the odd council ward in Brixton or on Dartmoor, some 84,000 prisoners — among an electorate of 46 million — are unlikely to have a material effect on the outcome of British elections. Does it matter if prisoners are allowed to
Our shortage of well-trained workers — and how to fix it Click here to view the supplement in your browser (requires Flash). Subscribers to our iPad edition are also able to view the supplement within the Spectator app. Click here to download the app.
Experts debate what happens next in Egypt and the countries around it In his retirement, Dwight Eisenhower admitted that the biggest foreign policy mistake of his presidency had been not supporting Anthony Eden over the Suez crisis. How right he was. If Arab nationalism had been strangled in its cradle in 1956 by the vigorous
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson treads the road to recovery. James Forsyth reports on the wheeler dealing over the AV bill, and bemoans the strange consensus at PMQs this week. Peter Hoskin gives 10 things you need to know about the IFS’ Green Budget, and
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 on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson fears for the outcome of the Egyptian protests, and says that jihadis thrive on Islam’s lack of definition. James Forsyth says that Andrew Lansley needs to explain his reforms better, and watches the situation in Egypt turn from revolt to revolution.
The scale of the loss Sir: You state that ‘the British army was defeated in Basra’ (leading article, 22 January) as though it were a re-run of Alamein or Waterloo. Would it not be more true to say that the undermanned and under-resourced segment of the army in Basra was insufficient to cope with the
No such thing as society The government’s ‘Big Society’ project is partly inspired by a desire to undo the damage created by a remark made by Mrs Thatcher in an interview with Woman’s Own on 31 October 1987. Here are some extracts from the transcript: ‘I think we have gone through a period when too
Home The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom shrank by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2010 compared with that quarter the previous year, according to initial figures from the Office for National Statistics. Home The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom shrank by 0.5 per cent in the last quarter
David Cameron has said he is determined not to lead a cuts-only coalition. He has spoken about promoting entrepreneurship, rightly hailing small businesses as the engine of Britain’s economic recovery. At the last Tory party conference, he paid homage to ‘the doers and the grafters, the inventors and the entrepreneurs’. He was fully behind these