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
Here are some of the posts made during the past week on Spectator.co.uk: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, writes that Marx was partly right about capitalism. Jon Cruddas continues his Labour conference diary. You can read parts 5 and 6 here and here, respectively. Theo Hobson outlines the Creationism debate. Matthew d’Ancona gives his
We’ve just uploaded Michael Henderson’s culture picks. You can read them by clicking here.
COFFEE HOUSE CHALLENGE WINNER: A few weeks ago, we asked CoffeeHousers to “sell” a Cabinet. The winning entry is the post by ‘Ian’. Congratulations to Ian – to claim the prize of a bottle of champagne please send an email to phoskin @ spectator.co.uk. And here are some of the posts made over the weekend at spectator.co.uk:
Reports of my death Sir: I was astonished to read in John Michell’s review of Michael X: A Life in Black and White (13 September) that I died 35 years ago. Michell states that I went to Trinidad to investigate the murder, by henchmen of Michael X, of my sister Gale Benson, and that later
Detached amusement might describe the reaction of many people to the sight of well-paid Lehman Brothers employees being escorted off the bank’s premises, carrying their personal possessions in champagne boxes tucked beneath their arms. Displaying either greed or financial acumen to the last, one newly unemployed banker managed to buy himself 30 bananas to use
Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson thinks that Brown’s rollercoaster fall may be stabilising for now, and shows how Nick Clegg’s tax cuts are a con. James Forsyth explains why the Tories need to face up to some tough tax decisions, and advises the Labour rebels
Quotes have been released from the Sky News interview with the Prime Minister tonight, and one catches my eye. He talks about City firms misbehaving. Kay Burley asks him how. He answers: “What we are discovering is that there were large off balance sheet activities that were being run by some of the major companies in the
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