Not black and white Sir: Marian L. Tupy deserves thanks for his excellent article (‘Mugabe is the Mobutu of our time’, 22 March), despite one seeming inaccuracy and an omission. Tupy says, ‘It was 1980 and Zimbabwe had just gained independence from Britain… the first ever multiracial election gave Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union a
The Spectator on the Government’s handling of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill To date, the government’s hand-ling of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill has resembled what might be called ‘Vicky Pollard politics’. Challenged to grant MPs a free vote on these far-reaching and ethically contentious proposals, the Prime Minister’s officials sent hugely confusing signals: ‘Yeah but
Revealed: the ten questions that CoffeeHousers will pose to Nick Clegg. James Forsyth says the Tories need to get serious about Iraq. Peter Hoskin assesses Nick Clegg’s first 100 days as Lib Dem leader. Fraser Nelson highlights a swathe of Brownies at PMQs. And Matthew d’Ancona asks you to comment on
Here are some of the posts made over the Easter weekend: Nadine Dorries MP criticises the Embryology Bill. Fraser Nelson warns Team Cameron that the Government may outflank them on education reform. Peter Hoskin suggests that Britain will benefit from a new nuclear power agreement with the French. The Skimmer assesses the response of brain-dead
Key question Sir: Debt, debt everywhere. Britain really is in trouble if — as Fraser Nelson suggests (Politics, 15 March) — the Conservative opposition is shying away from the ‘obvious strategy’ of proposing to freeze public spending or cut taxes. There is a sensible ‘bottom up’ approach for our leaders to take, namely to start
Five years after the invasion of Iraq, Gordon Brown is right to concede the need for a full-scale inquiry into the war. He is wrong, however, to postpone the investigation on the grounds that it might ‘divert attention from supporting Iraq’s development as a secure and stable country’. There have already been four limited inquiries
A downloadable podcast of last night’s Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate – “The West is provoking a new Cold War with Russia” – is available here. Lloyd Evans’ web exclusive report on the debate can also be accessed here.
The latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate – The West is provoking a new Cold War with Russia – starts at 18:45. Speaking for the motion are the journalist Anatole Kaletsky; the award-winning historian Norman Stone; and Alexei Pushkov, the anchor of the popular Russian TV programme Post Scriptum. They will be opposed by the
A reminder that the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate – The West is provoking a new Cold War with Russia – takes place at 18:45 today. Speaking for the motion are the journalist Anatole Kaletsky; the award-winning historian Norman Stone; and Alexei Pushkov, the anchor of the popular Russian TV programme Post Scriptum. They
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend: Peter Hoskin is impressed by David Cameron’s Spring Forum speech, and asks whether we should talk with terrorists. Fraser Nelson highlights Britain’s welfare ghettos. James Forsyth writes about the Tories’ commanding poll lead. And, over at Americano, James also reveals how John McCain wants to define his
Martial virtues Sir: In his article about his film of the Haditha killings (‘The burden of guilt at Haditha’, 8 March), Nick Broomfield subscribes to the tired cliché that, in war, ‘everyone is a victim’. This has been the prevailing assumption of film-makers since at least the 1970s, and I had hoped a Spectator article
How much better it might have been if Alistair Darling had heeded the advice of the director-general of the CBI, Richard Lambert, and kept his first budget speech to no more than six simple paragraphs. On a day that began with news that central banks around the world had just pumped £100 billion of emergency
Here are some of the posts made over the past week: Nick Clegg asks CoffeeHousers for their questions. Peter Hoskin on why school-leavers shouldn’t have to swear allegiance. James Forsyth charts the bitter back-and-forth between Team Clinton and Team Obama. Matthew d’Ancona tells the Government to stop meddling with schools. Andrew Neil takes on Gordon
We’ve just put up two articles by Ian Mulheirn, the Chief Economist at Social Market Foundation. The first is on mortgages, and can be found here. The second, on green taxation, is here.
With Alistair Darling delivering his Budget speech at 12:30, Coffee House is shifting into live coverage mode. Expect frequent updates, as well as analysis from Matthew d’Ancona, Fraser Neslon, Martin Vander Weyer and others. Click here for our live coverage
Tune into Coffee House tomorrow for live coverage of Alistair Darling’s Budget speech from 12:30pm. Throughout the day, we’ll have anaylsis from Matthew d’Ancona, Fraser Neslon, Martin Vander Weyer and several guest contributors.
Education revolution Sir: Fraser Nelson (‘Made in Sweden’, 1 March) is right to highlight the importance of Sweden’s independent state schools for the debate on school choice and diversity. The successful Swedish experience strongly influenced New Labour reformers as we sought to introduce independent state-funded schools into England. However, it doesn’t need the Conservatives to
One of the most compelling arguments for the existence of the House of Lords is what political scientists, borrowing the language of biologists, call ‘redundancy’. We have two eyes and two kidneys in case one malfunctions. In the case of the repackaged EU Constitution — now called the Lisbon treaty — the House of Commons
A reminder that – after all your suggestions – Coffee House has begun its detailed analysis of Brownies, those little lies that our Prime Minister constantly tells. The introductory post is here. And Fraser’s breakdown of Brownie No.1 – Inflation – is here. Also, Coffee House will be starting its Budget coverage this weekend. Before,
A podcast of last night’s Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate – “Britain should have a referendum on the EU Treaty” – is available here. Lloyd Evans’ web exclusive report on the debate can also be accessed here.