On the brink of a planned national postal strike, Royal Mail announced it was recruiting 30,000 temporary staff to deal with the existing backlog and the normal Christmas rush, twice the number usually taken on. The Financial Services Authority published rules to make mortgage lenders assess strictly the ability of borrowers to make repayments, and
Race is still an issue Sir: I do not share Samir Shah’s flawed assumption that Britain is no longer a racist society (10 October). How many people of ethnic minorities are members of the current cabinet? How many vice-chancellors are non-whites? Would it be possible, in the current climate of religious prejudice, racial discrimination and
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson says that the BNP defines itself by race – that distinguishes it from every other party, and asks whether it is legitimate to discuss the strength of the link between HIV and Aids. James Forsyth wonders why the BBC allowed
The latest issue of the Spectator is released 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 now. Five articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: The unions are
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 posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson says that the horror story of the BNP’s success is not over, and argues that current Tory health plans are backward-looking and reactionary. James Forsyth reports on the end of a convenient fiction, and thinks the Tories have found the right way to
No Sants-culotte Sir: I was disheartened but, in these days of sloppy journalism, hardly surprised to read Charles Moore’s snide remarks (The Spectator’s Notes, 10 October) about Hector Sants’s apparently palatial house in Oxford. I have no particular opinion as to whether, as chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, Mr Sants should be paid
Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is to pay back £12,415.10p that he claimed in expenses between 2004 and 2008 Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is to pay back £12,415.10p that he claimed in expenses between 2004 and 2008; he had received a letter, along with all other MPs, on the day Parliament returned
It seems that marriage and success go together as surely as love and marriage. A new study by the Office for National Statistics suggests that married men are 33 per cent more likely to find another job after being sacked than men who are single or divorced. Given that unemployment is 2.47 million and rising,
No sooner did parliament return than it was embroiled in the latest instalment of the expenses saga. The scandal is, by now, wearily familiar — but it has lost none of its capacity to shock. It is understandable that MPs feel aggrieved by the retrospective rules applied by Sir Thomas Legg on how much can
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson debates the politics of growth. James Forsyth believes that the broken society must be rebuilt from the bottom up, and sees Russia pocket Obama’s concession and move on. Peter Hoskin has a feeling of déjà vu, and wonders what the
The latest issue of the Spectator is released 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 now. Four articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: The political left
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 illuminates who is affected by Brown’s double hit. James Forsyth asks why the Pakistani Taliban are being given another opening and argues that Brown remains divorced from voters. Peter Hoskin thinks that No.10 will welcome Alan Johnson’s backing and says that
Let’s hope that Gordon Brown was too busy trying to hex Cameron this week to notice the story about the Sainsbury’s staff member who refused to sell a pregnant customer cheese. Let’s hope that Gordon Brown was too busy trying to hex Cameron this week to notice the story about the Sainsbury’s staff member who
Power, or the expectation of it, has a transformative effect on political parties. It was draining from the Labour party at its conference in Brighton last week, just as obviously as it was rushing towards the Conservatives in Manchester this week. Gordon Brown sounded angry and shrill, saying nothing about how he would tackle the
Invest in the state Sir: David Cameron will never be a revolutionary if he follows your advice and concentrates only on government spending (‘Is Cameron a revolutionary?’, 3 October). He needs to completely rethink taxation, too. You say that taxes must rise. But putting up taxes now, as conventional wisdom suggests, will increase the government
Among austerity measures outlined by Mr George Osborne, the shadow chancellor of the exchequer, at the Conservative party conference in Manchester was that the pensionable age for men should rise to 66 no earlier than 2016, instead of by 2026. He also promised a one-year pay freeze for public-sector workers, apart from the million who
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week Fraser Nelson praises Cameron’s revolutionary speech, and believes that the Tories’ welfare plan doesn’t go far enough. James Forsyth argues that the Tories cannot be matched, and says that the Europe won’t go away fot the Tories. Peter Hoskin witnesses a job
The latest issue of the Spectator is released 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 now. Three articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: James Forsyth reveals