The Spectator

More misery ahead for consumers

Head over to Trading Floor for an update on consumer prospects.  As Fraser reports, food inflation’s getting worse, whilst Pete picks up on a similar story for energy prices. And – on a different note – what do Russians think they need for making a fortune?  According to a new survey – highlighted by James – the

Just in case you missed them… | 12 May 2008

…here are some of the posts made over the weekend: Fraser Nelson is amazed at how quickly the public are turning against Gordon Brown, and highlights the Blairites’ coordinated effort to undermine the Prime Minister. James Forsyth wonders how the Blairs will fit into the next general election campaign. And, over at Americano, James also

Letters | 10 May 2008

Israel and Palestine Sir: Melanie Phillips (‘Happy 60th birthday, Israel’, 3 May) denies Israel one of its greatest successes over the last 60 years by deliberately ignoring its status as a regional military and economic superpower. The image of Israel as a David to an Arab Goliath is massively outdated. Arab states have long since

Brown is not the problem

In September 2006, as Tony Blair was forced to bring forward his departure date by backbench rebellion, The Spectator predicted a Labour civil war. It was not clear when this conflict would erupt, only that its coming was inexorable. This week, battle commenced. In the wake of disastrous local election results and the loss of

The week that was | 9 May 2008

David Cameron answers your questions Matthew d’Ancona wonders whether Brown has broken the New Labour pact. Fraser Nelson serves up ‘Brownie No.3 – Gordon Brown’s “transitional” 10p tax rate’, and gives the word from Scotland on Wendy Alexander’s call for a referendum. James Forsyth suggests that Gordon Brown should embrace the fight over the Union,

The Spectator 180th anniversary party

The champagne was flowing freely at this week’s party in celebration of the The Spectator’s 180th anniversary.  We’ve just put up exclusive footage of the bash on a special corner of the website – new.spectator.co.uk/party.  Check it out for red carpet access, celebrity interviews and all the happenings from behind-the-scenes.

Letters | 3 May 2008

Call that a crisis? Sir: Ian Hay Davison (‘How to rescue a bank’, 19 April) is right that the Northern Rock episode was far from unprecedented. But there is much more to say. The difficulties of a number of relatively minor institutions in the early 1990s, including National Mortgage Bank (to which he refers), were

Mayor Johnson

Scroll down for full Coffee House coverage. Here are some selected highlights: Matthew d’Ancona congratulates Boris. Mary Wakefield reflects on how Boris and Ken came to like each other during the campaign. Can Brown change or is he doomed to go down to defeat asks James Forsyth. Pete Hoskin points to the moment that summed

An inconvenient truth

In its 6 October 2007 edition, The Spectator reported on Israel’s air-strike on Syria exactly a month before. We noted that the 6 September raid ‘may have saved the world from a devastating threat’ and revealed that a senior British ministerial source had told us that: ‘If people had known how close we came to

The week that was | 2 May 2008

Peter Hoskin reports from Israel on life in the town of Sderot, and on efforts to forge peace with Syria. James Forsyth says Gordon Brown has spectacularly failed his first electoral test, and suggests that Cameron is walking into trouble over the 42-day detention plans.   And Fraser Nelson keeps track of the Prime Minister’s Brownies, and highlights

Introducing Apollo Muse

We’ve just launched Apollo magazine’s Muse blog.  It’s a new and exciting destination for news and topical comment on the latest debates, controversies and happenings in the art world.  It will also feature a weekly competition, the first of which can be accessed here.

Local elections 2008: live coverage

Stay with Coffee House tonight for all the latest on the local elections.  Expect frequent updates, as well as analysis from Matthew d’Ancona, Fraser Nelson, Mary Wakefield, James Forsyth and Peter Hoskin.   In the meantime, you can always flick through the briefing that the Electoral Reform Society has put together. When are results coming in? Where are

Listen Live: Has America lost its moral authority?

Few questions have divided opinion as much as this one in recent years, Tonight, Spectator.co.uk broadcasts a debate on this topic featuring an all star set of speakers. Arguing for the motion are Matthew Parris, Will Self and John Gray. Opposing it are Simon Schama, Howard Jacobson and Martin Amis. You can listen to it

Just in case you missed them… | 28 April 2008

Here are some of the posts made over the weekend: Matthew d’Ancona reflects on how the Carole Capln story could so easily have been about Tony not Cherie. Boris Johnson should urge his supporters to give their second preferences to Brian Paddick argues James Forsyth. A new poll of battleground seats has the Tories on

Letters | 26 April 2008

United State of Europe Sir: Your musings (‘England Rides Again’, 19 April) upon the complexity of being English, Scottish or British have, I fear, the relevance of the archangels upon the proverbial pinhead. This is because we are all being ineluctibly subsumed into the coming United State of Europe. This process will accelerate impressively after

Brown’s weakness is his strength

Gordon Brown’s dramatic and humiliating climbdown on the abolition of the 10p tax rate averted at least one disaster: the Prime Minister was facing a knife-edge Commons vote next Monday over Frank Field’s amendment of the Finance Bill, and one that might have spelt oblivion if the government had lost. With a panicked series of

The week that was | 25 April 2008

The Spectator 180th Anniversary blog has been launched.  Visit it here. Fraser Nelson confronts the striking teachers, and charts how Labour has hurt the poor. James Forsyth questions the moral authority of the Brownites, and considers the revelation that an Israeli strike on Syria was targeted at a nuclear reactor. And Peter Hoskin observes the