We’ve just uploaded the content from the special, Christmas double issue of the magazine. Here are some of the many highlights: Rod Liddle laments the state of festive health and safety. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor delves into the language of the Christian story. Matthew d’Ancona talks to Lily Allen about celebrity culture, growing up and her
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Lisa Hilton says there are no more puffs in Paris. Fraser Nelson reports on an election with the X Factor. James Forsyth wonders about a poll puzzle, and asks the £250,000 quuestion. Peter Hoskin asks: if taxpayers’ money is to be spent in clunking
Silence over Mumbai Sir: If Britain is still a safe haven for Lashkar-e-Taiba and Deobandi sympathisers (‘The global force behind Mumbai’s agony in our midst’, 6 December), this must place a big question mark on the government’s policy of dealing with home-grown terrorism. The current policy seems to rest on two assumptions: namely that home-grown
It is one of the oddities of politics that a Labour government can sometimes get away with announcing policies which, had they come from the mouth of a Conservative minister, would have provoked howls of anger. So it is with welfare reform. Whenever Mrs Thatcher’s government proposed to make benefit claimants actually do something for
Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson reveals the true extent of Britain’s debt, and says the government is squeezing the poor through Northern Rock. James Forsyth outlines the case for merit pay, and wonders whether Peter Mandelson is an idoelogical Blairite. Peter Hoskin stresses the importance
Last night, The Spectator and Barclays Wealth held a launch party for the online Spectator Book Club. We’ve uploaded photos of that event, which you can see here. Or click here to access the Book Club itself.
Just to remind CoffeeHousers of our Q&A with Theresa May. We’ll keep it running until Thursday, before selecting the best questions for the shadow leader of the Commons. You can submit your questions by heading over here.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson writes on tackling the giant evil of idleness, and outlines how CCHQ is being affected by the credit crunch. James Forsyth asks whether a fourth term Labour government would take Britain into the Euro, and speculates whether a Cabinet minister thought
Nancy and the Keynesians Sir: Nancy Dell’Olio is a Keynesian (‘John Maynard Keynes, my hero’, 29 November), but if Keynes were alive today, he would be revising his doctrine. In the 1930s government expenditure was a much smaller proportion of GDP than it is today. So was the tax take. Then, with the private sector
‘I was excited and delighted by it in that first Bombay minute,’ says the narrator in Gregory David Roberts’s great novel Shantaram. ‘I was excited and delighted by it in that first Bombay minute,’ says the narrator in Gregory David Roberts’s great novel Shantaram. ‘I know now that it’s the sweet, sweating smell of hope,
Here is a selection of the posts made on Coffee House this week: Fraser Nelson reports on how the Speaker simply passed the buck on who was to blame for letting the police search Damian Green’s office and sets out the cases for fiscal autonomy for Scotland. James Forsyth speculates that David Davis might soon
Over at the Book Club, Spectator editorial staff have put together a list of recommended books to read over Christmas. You can see their suggestions here.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson says that the system overreach must come to an end. James Forsyth speculates on what’s really behind the arrest of Damian Green, and wonders what’s next for Gordon Brown after the political failure of the PBR. Peter Hoskin asks Alistair Darling how
Diplomatic bag Sir: Michael Nicholson’s story of a boat-owner finding contraband aboard from the previous owner (Letters, 22 November) reminded me of being compromised in Paris. As leader of a teenage school party, I suspected one or more of them of being in possession. As staff we searched suitcases and bedrooms with fingertip detail and
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Pre-Budget Report (PBR) was one of the most arresting political events of modern times. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Pre-Budget Report (PBR) was one of the most arresting political events of modern times. Alistair Darling’s delivery was as flat as ever, but what he had to say was truly dramatic:
Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Coffee House has edited a video to highlight Brown’s borrowing binge. Matthew d’Ancona responds to the Mumbai Atrocities, and says that the Pre-Budget report was a thin offering. Lisa Hilton delivers the latest society news, and commemorates another Johnson triumph. Fraser Nelson
Just to remind CoffeeHousers that today’s the last day for you to submit questions to the shadow housing minister, Grant Shapps. Just head over to this post to submit one. And we’ll pick out the best this evening.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson says Gordon Brown is blasting out his false message, and surveys the prospects for Reykjavik on Thames. James Forsyth asks whether Brown’s political positioning on VAT is any good, and outlines the coming Tory attack on Brown. Peter Hoskin reports on a
The problem with Pakistan Sir: It is preposterous that Elliot Wilson pleads for the bailing out of Pakistan (‘Britain can’t afford a failed Pakistan’, 15 November). The country is not facing a natural disaster; its economic meltdown is self-inflicted — it insisted on acquiring nuclear weapons and cosying up to Islamic terrorism. Pakistan, both politically
From the economic and psychological bedlam of the global downturn has emerged a particularly dangerous false dichotomy: namely, that there is somehow a choice for ministers over the next few years between economic reconstruction and the repair of Britain’s broken society, and that the government (whether Labour or Conservative) must prioritise the former at the