The blame game Sir: While I do not flinch from looking on the Clinton era as a disaster for its neglect of the threat to global security posed by bin Laden et al and the tacit encouragement of Enron-style corporate accounting, I think blaming the Democrats for the credit crunch may be going a little
Nominations continue to roll in for the inaugural Spectator’s Readers’ Representative. This week saw several MPs nominated for their campaigning work. Richard Hamilton proposes Nadine Dorries. Hamilton commends Dorries for addressing the issue of term limits for abortion with a ‘tenaciousness and passion that caught the public’s attention in a remarkable way’. He applauds her
The Spectator on the Government’s £50 billion bailout Though largely forgotten now, the headlines ten years ago this week had an uncanny resemblance to those of the past few days. There was an emergency bail-out, demands to slash interest rates, bankers warning that the world’s economic system was in danger of systemic collapse — countered
Andrew Neil reveals what Russia hope to gain from a deal with Iceland. Matthew d’Ancona reports on “That one”-gate, and observes that George Howarth has cemented the truce. The Skimmer takes on Gordon Brown for his delusions of grandeur. Theo Hobson argues that the Archbishop of Canterbury outclasses the atheists. Fraser Nelson gives his reaction to
We’ve uploaded a Web Exclusive report by Lloyd Evans on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate: “Heathrow needs a third runway”. You can read it here.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Matthew d’Ancona reveals that Peter Mandelson consulted Tony Blair about his return to government. Theo Hobson defends the Church of England. Fraser Nelson highlights an encouraging poll for the Tories, and asks whether the Mandelson gamble will pay off for Brown. James Forsyth looks
The Church is culpable too Sir: Will Rowan Williams start his call for ‘fresh scrutiny and regulation in the financial world’ (‘Face it: Marx was partly right about capitalism’, 27 September) by glancing at the institution he heads? I am told that the 2007 Church of England target for its investment arm was 6 per
Nominations for the inaugural Spectator’s Readers’ Representative award are now open. The entries received so far show that there are at least some elected officials who have earned both the trust and respect of their constituents. Oliver Mitchell puts forward Dr Julian Lewis, part of the shadow defence team. Mitchell, 19, met Lewis at the
The latest news in the financial crisis is that, after weeks of blame-calling by all parties — generally misdirected, as Dennis Sewell argues in our cover story — a single culprit has at last been identified. It is human nature — that incorrigible force which makes us want too much of a good thing when
We’ve uploaded a Web Exclusive report by Lloyd Evans on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate: “Georgia and Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato”. You can read it here. Matthew d’Ancona says that David Cameron’s speech was that of a Prime Minister in waiting, and gives his take on Peter Mandelson’s astonishing return to
Is Damian McBride paying for the shambolic handling of the Ruth Kelly resignation? The FT are reporting that he’ll be replaced by Justin Forsyth as the PM’s political and press adviser. Then again, McBride is to remain as part of the No.10 team, so the influence he wields could still be considerable.
There is to be a new department dealing with energy and climate change which will be headed by Ed Miliband. This reshaping of the government will force Cameron into at least a mini-shuffle to create a shadow for this new department.
The BBC is reporting that he turned down another job in government.
Ben Brogan is reporting that Damian McBride, blamed by many for the briefings against various cabinet ministers, is standing down. Nick Brown, an ardent Brown loyalist, is moving to Chief Whip.
More soon
Politically the place a lot of members of the House of Representatives probably wanted to be yesterday was voting against the Paulson plan but it passing anyway. There is little public enthusiasm for bailing out Wall Street, both Obama and McCain are now making a concerted effort to call it a rescue plan not a
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson reports from the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. He gives his first impressions of the conference; applauds Boris Johnson’s speech; and analyses George Osborne’s plans for an Office for Budget Responsibility. James Forsyth claims that indiscipline should worry the Tories as
Storing up more trouble Sir: Your leading article (20 September) calls for a ‘kick up the backside’ to the banking industry. That kick should be aimed elsewhere. The British and American governments have not merely permitted this crisis to happen, but positively created it by a deliberate relaxation of monetary controls. Worse still, they have
For all its stunts, vacuities and plain deceptions, there was something undeniably compelling about Gordon Brown’s conference speech in Manchester. Here was an old stager, battered and bruised, giving his all to what may be his last such performance as Labour leader and Prime Minister. Even as he claimed to deplore the cult of political