The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 18 January 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson is relieved to see George Osborne talking sense. James Forsyth asks if Mandelson has won a lasting victory, and says that Nick Clegg has one great policy but he doesn’t know how to sell it. Peter Hoskin observes the insiders biting

Letters | 16 January 2010

Gangster paradise Sir: Owen Matthews’s article (‘Something rotten in the state of Russia’, 9 January) brilliantly encapsulates and explains the condition of Russia today. But he omits to mention that the subversion of the judicial system and pervasive corruption have been in evidence for a long time, which does raise the question of whether Hermitage

Portrait of the week | 16 January 2010

A failed attempt by Mr Geoff Hoon and Miss Patricia Hewitt to provoke a ballot on the Labour leadership was not mentioned at the next meeting of the Cabinet meeting, Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister said. Instead he had urged ministers to apply a ‘laser focus’ on Britain’s problems, such as the weather. A

Our real supreme court

It is tempting to cheer the European Court of Human Rights’s ruling in the case of Kevin Gillan and Pennie Quinton. They have been awarded £30,000 in compensation on the grounds that the powers used by the police to detain them at a protest outside an arms fair in Docklands six years ago were illiberal.

Cold hearts

Perhaps the least fashionable cause in Britain is the welfare of our elderly. At least 35,000 old men and women will die from the cold this winter: a staggering, scandalous figure. We are a rich country, there are many ingenious and inexpensive ways to heat a house, yet every August, when the number of ‘excess

The week that was | 15 January 2010

Fraser Nelson congratulates Ross Kemp for giving both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian debate. James Forsyth believes that Jon Cruddas may be Labour’s coming man, and scents Labour’s plotters gathering to oppose international jurisdiction. Peter Hoskin is stunned to hear Ed Balls say the same stuff differently, and praises the Tories sensible re-think of their marriage tax

In this week’s Spectator | 14 January 2010

The latest issue of the Specatator is published today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online here, or purchase a single issue here. A selection of articles from the latest issue is available for free

CoffeeHousers’ Wall 11 January – 17 January

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… | 11 January 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson reveals the full horror of the Brown administration, and analyses David Cameron’s performance on the Andrew Marr show. James Forsyth argues that Darling’s intervention is a very significant moment, and argues that the Cabinet’s lack of love for Brown is a

Letters | 9 January 2010

Freedom fights fanaticism Sir: John Deverell (Letters, 19 December) is right to draw attention to the precarious position of Christians in the Middle East: though the implication seems to be that if we keep quiet about the Islamification of Europe, the Islamists penetrate further into Europe; while if we speak out, the Islamists tighten their

Portrait of the week | 9 January 2010

Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, called a meeting in London on Yemen at the end of the month after al-Qa’eda claimed that it was responsible for the attempted destruction of an airliner approaching Detroit on Christmas Day. Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, called a meeting in London on Yemen at the end of

Leave Brown to the voters

One must almost admire the optimism of Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt. Their call to arms — asking Labour members to rise up and topple their leader — is entirely logical. Gordon Brown is easily the Tories’ biggest asset: without saying ‘no more Brown’, their message on the doorsteps would lose much of its impact.

A golden age for fascism

The re-emergence of fascism in Britain is highly inconvenient for our political parties, it is a distraction from the election campaigns they are all so overly keen to begin. They deal with the BNP by ignoring it, by banning MEPs from parliament to make sure no one has to pass Nick Griffin in a corridor.

The week that was | 8 January 2010

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson watches the Labour party lose the plot, and thinks that David Cameron is cowering in the face of Labour attacks. James Forsyth reveals what we have learnt from the failed H&H coup, and argues that any action that wounds Brown

CoffeeHousers’ Wall January 4th – January 10th 

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…<br />

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the New Year period. Fraser Nelson asks David Cameron not to take voters for fools, and wishes everyone a boozy New Year. James Forsyth reflects on the Detroit bomber’s radicalisation, and debates the tensions in the Cameron circle. Peter Hoskin says that the Tories are

Jet-set jihadi

A Nigerian Islamic fanatic flies to the Netherlands and tries to blow up a plane bound for Detroit in Michigan — and yet there was something grimly inevitable about the fact that it was Britain where police were scrambled and London where the fanatic’s accommodation was searched. A Nigerian Islamic fanatic flies to the Netherlands

Letters | 2 January 2010

In the wrong hands Sir: It simply will not do for Ed Balls to dismiss the loathsome pamphlet written by Farah Ahmed, head teacher of the Hizb ut Tahrir-linked school he supports and funds, on the grounds that it is ‘not evidence of extremist views actually being taught in the classroom’ (Letters, 12 December). In

Apologies | 29 December 2009

We have been experiencing techinical problems at Spectator.co.uk today and some readers may have been unable to access the site. We hope that the situation will be fully resolved shortly.

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 28 December – 3 January

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