Buying the Big Issue magazine is never an act of charity. Its content is well worth the cover price, especially when John Bird, its founder, writes on social issues. His cover story this week is an open letter to Gordon Brown (not online, buy the mag!). It exposes how Labour sees homelessness as a financial
So farewell, George Melly. There isn’t much fun left in jazz any more; it takes itself so seriously. George didn’t — always having fun, listening to his favourite Bessie Smith records. He was one of the last generation of jazz musicians to enjoy his work and to convey that feeling to his audience; he
“The English people believes itself to be free; it is gravely mistaken; it is free only during election of members of parliament; as soon as the members are elected, the people is enslaved; it is nothing.” So wrote Rousseau of our system of parliamentary representation. It is to address this sense of absolute disenfranchisement in
No more than a formality, of course, and the least I can do as the great man’s successor in the Editor’s chair. As a Londoner, I know he would do a brilliant job, and the awesome city state that is 21st Century London needs a man of his stature at the helm, not a
Nick Robinson doesn’t take fliers. The more calls I make on this Boris for London story, the more true it seems: wheels are indeed in motion. Perhaps what he needs is encouragement. He’d certainly have my full support – no prizes who’d win a Red Ken v Steve bleeding Norris contest. So what do Coffee
The late David Halberstam—author of The Best and the Brightest—has a posthumously published essay in Vanity Fair on Bush’s misuse of history. He charges that the Bush administration lives in “a world where other nations admire America or damned well ought to, and America is always right, always on the side of good, in a
Nick Robinson is suggesting that Boris Johnson may run for London mayor. I can tell you that Boris was unofficially sounded out at the Tory summer party last year, and resolved he didn’t want to give up his superb, safe and beautiful Henley seat (which they told him he’d have to do). As of last
Strange to see Gordon Brown dropping the phrase “war on terror” while asking (through today’s Sun) that we all fly Union Flags to show war-style defiance against terrorism. I admire his spirit, but he can’t have it both ways. Flags grew out of the walls in America post 9/11, and it is this spirit which
Further to my post on John Simm, it seems to me that Doctor Who, once the home of Daleks and wobbly cardboard scenery, is now becoming the nation’s cultural showcase of all the talents. The news that Kylie is to feature in the Christmas special could be dismissed as a one-off gimmick to drive up
Gordon Brown’s constitutional proposals receive a generally good press this morning. Interestingly, everyone has decided to concentrate on the bits they like rather than the bits they don’t: The Sun fronts Brown’s call for the flag to be flown from public buildings, Jonathan Freedland praises the radicalism of the proposals while Simon Heffer is impressed
Much has been said, and rightly, about the battle of the titans over schools and children’s policy which will now ensue between Ed Balls and Michael Gove, elevated to the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet respectively in the past week. Ed, as well as being Gordon’s right-hand man, is an impressive act himself with a serious
“As many as four of the NHS terror cell suspects were already known to security services, it emerged last night,” reports The Daily Mail this morning. This revelation is bound to set off a debate about whether MI5 has bungled or not. But before you jump to conclusions, consider what Fraser Nelson wrote after it became public that
Asim Siddiqui has a powerful op-ed in the Guardian today on the futility of blaming foreign policy for terror attacks. As he writes: “And once we’ve left Iraq, will they be satisfied? Of course not. Their list of grievances is endless: Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Burma … so long as the world is presented as
My apologies to George Osborne. Daniel Finkelstein’s blog points out that young Gideon does have election experience from his days in the 2001 campaign, not none as I unkindly said. I still think Douglas Alexander is a formidable counterpart as election maestro: I’ve never had a conversation with wee Dougie that hasn’t involved election mechanics.
It’s a bit rough out there. Every day brings a flood and dry cleaning bills. Anglican bishops taking time off from gay-obsessions tell us the rain is all our fault and God’s judgement on our careless ways. For which relief much thanks go to Bishop Jones of Liverpool (and the Mersey Delta). But it was
Gordon Brown’s justification for his constitutional meddling is that “the best answer to disengagement from our democracy is to strengthen our democracy.” Which begs the question of why are people disengaged from politics? If I had to take a stab at explaining why, I’d say it is some combination of the following: the lack of
If anyone was wondering what the political parties think the key battleground of the next few years will be, just look at the people taking on the children, schools and families brief. Gordon Brown has placed his right-hand man Ed Balls in charge of this new department. Shadowing him will be Michael Gove, the pick
Today’s Sun report on the after party for the Diana concert, says that: “Harry became one of the first people in the country to break the new smoking ban—as he lit up in the indoor VIP arena less than 24 hours after the law came in.” All of which begs the question, who will be the first
Visit the website of Press TV, Iran’s new global news channel. The Guardian has a good review of the, how shall we put this, idiosyncrasies of the site’s coverage here.
If Coffee House has not slaked your thirst for reshuffle analysis, Conservative Home and Iain Dale both have comprehensive takes on it.