No call for a referendum Sir: Your leading article overstates the case for a referendum in the UK (15 September). It would be interesting to know how many newspapers thought there should be a referendum on the decision to go to war with Iraq, or other far-reaching decisions that Parliament takes, such as on counter-terrorism
Number Ten has been sending a steady stream of visitors to the British Museum to see its exhibition of the First Emperor of China and his terracotta army. Quite right, too: the show is simply stunning, one of the wonders of our time, and an experience you dare not miss (see Andrew Lambirth’s review here
In a Guardian interview this morning, Douglas Alexander let something interesting slip. Amidst the usual rubbishing of the opposition, Alexander says this about David Cameron: “Over the past 18 months he raised a lot of expectation by asking a lot of questions that people in Britain are asking, but in the past few weeks
Less than a year since the death of Frank Johnson, the Spectator has lost another of its family. Last night, the death of Ian Gilmour, who was our proprietor and editor from 1954 to 1959, was announced, and all at the magazine grieve for his passing and send our condolences to his family. In later
Extraordinary measures are sometimes necessary to quell the madness of crowds. When Diana, Princess of Wales’s mourners threatened to vent their angry grief on the institution of monarchy itself, it became necessary for the Queen to speak directly to her people. Extraordinary measures are sometimes necessary to quell the madness of crowds. When Diana, Princess
From Sunday, Coffee House will have extensive coverage of the Labour Conference. Jon Cruddas, who ran such a strong campaign for the Labour deputy leadership, will be writing a conference diary for us; giving us his thoughts on what’s going on in the hall and on the fringe. We’ll also have reports on all the developments in
If you’re trying to figure out who should be blamed for the whole Northern Rock debacle, do read Martin Vander Weyer’s column today. As Martin argues, Northern Rock is in large part responsible for the mess it got itself into to while the Financial Services Authority also deserves blame for sitting on its hands after
Andrew Porter has a must-read story on the chances of an early election in the Telegraph this morning. He reports that Brown will not decide whether to call an early election until after the Labour conference. Interestingly, Labour advisers seem to believe that an election called this year would be a ‘mandate poll’ which would
If you want an idea of how far the Iraq debate has shifted since 2003 consider this exchange between David Brooks, The New York Times columnist, and Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defence appointed by President Bush in late 2006 after he finally got rid of Donald Rumsfeld: “I don’t think you invade Iraq
Ming Campbell’s speech to conference just now removed any doubt about where the Lib Dems fit on the political spectrum. In a passage criticising Gordon Brown he charged that “New Labour remains Blue Labour” and throughout Campbell sought to place himself to the left of Labour. Overall, the speech was strong with well-delivered jabs at
It was great to see Baroness Thatcher on such good form at the Rudy Giuliani dinner last night and with some choice words about the decision to bail out Northern Rock. I suspect David Cameron is quite pleased she doesn’t do public speaking any more. She told me a few months ago that “you can’t
On Wednesday night, The Spectator and Intelligence Square hosted a debate on the motion of whether or not Britain has failed Zimbabwe. You can listen to the whole debate via this link and have your say by voting here. The motion in the hall was carried by 455 votes to 203. The Spectator’s theatre critic
It has always seemed to me that the controversy over the EU Reform Treaty and the Government’s refusal to hold a referendum was more about honesty and transparency than sovereignty and European integrationism. That was the essence of The Spectator’s call last week for a popular vote, under the headline “Vote for Honesty”. I am
You can now listen to the inaugural Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate via this link. The motion is ‘Has Britain failed Zimbabwe.’ Update: At the debate the motion was passed by 455 votes to 203. You can vote here.The Spectator’s theatre critic Lloyd Evans reviews the debate here.
Following on from Fraser: if I was Gordon, the news that Cherie is writing her memoirs would be one pre-conference headline I would not be happy about. The Campbell diaries were quite openly and systematically edited to avoid embarrassment to Prime Minister Brown. I would be amazed if Tony Blair’s autobiography is an exercise in
You have to hand it to her. Cherie Blair has beaten her husband to it, and signed a book deal. Blair hasn’t event started writing up his memoirs, but there’s cash to be had so the “bolshie scouser” (copyright T. Blair) is wasting no time. Read all about it at The Bookseller. Can any Coffee
Tonight, The Spectator and Intelligence Squared are hosting the first in a series of debates. This evening’s topic is Zimbabwe and an all star cast of speakers will be debating the motion ‘Britain has failed Zimbabwe’ at the Royal Geographic Society here in London. If you can’t make the debate in person, never fear. We’ll
Andrew Neil’s blog (Daily Politics) Archbishop Cranmer Bagehot’s Notebook Benedict Brogan Ben Smith Boulton and Co. Comment Central (£) ConservativeHome Conservative Voices Dizzy Thinks EU Referendum Euroseptic FP Passport FT Westminster Blog Guido Fawkes Harry’s Place Iain Martin John Redwood, MP John Rentoul Jonathan Martin LabourList Left Foot Forward Marbury Mark Steyn Muse, the Apollo
The details of the polls this morning make for even grimmer reading for the Tories than the headline figures. Populus reports that, astonishingly, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s lead over David Cameron and George Osborne on the economy has actually grown in the past ten days from 34 points to 38. While the ICM poll
The latest poll news isn’t good for David Cameron. ICM has the Tories eight points behind Labour and Cameron with the worst personal ratings of all the party leaders. The Lib Dems will be cheered to find themselves hitting that psychologically important 20% mark while Labour will be buoyed by reaching the 40% level. Grim
