The Spectator
Thursday
The Coffee House Debate
Welcome to a debate between Tim Montgomerie, editor of Conservative Home, and Matthew d’Ancona on how the Tories should respond to the Brown challenge. Tim Montgomerie starts things off: Dear Matt,I’m glad to be doing this exchange of thoughts with you again and many congratulations on the Coffee House blog. It’s quickly become essential reading.Brown
Coming soon, the Tory reshuffle
Shadow Cabinet members are being told that David Cameron’s reshuffle will happen next week, and that it will likely match Brown’s new team man for man (or woman). So David Davis may end up losing prisons after all – I guess the old Home Office has been split into three, if you count Tessa Jowell’s
Spice up your life
To mark the Spice Girls getting back together we have dug out of the archive Simon Sebag Montefiore’s celebrated interview with them from the Christmas 1996 issue of The Spectator. Click here for the Spice Girls views on Europe, Tony Blair and moral philosophy.
What Miliband means
The Miliband appointment shows that he’s one of the winners from the deputy leadership contest. If Benn had run an impressive campaign the job would have been his. Miliband will be viewed as the cabinet’s senior Blairite but on the Middle East he has very different views than his patron. As The Guardian reports this
Sons of the manse
International aid is the new imperialism. Seriously. The same Christian zeal which inspired the first colonialists-cum- evangelists is back now with two politicians whose fathers were Church of Scotland ministers – Gordon Brown and Douglas Alexander. Wee Dougie is his long-serving disciple, so his being sent to DFID is very important. Here’s why. The bible our
3 to go
Benn to environment, Hoon as expected will be Chief Whip and by my count all we’re waiting for is Northern Ireland, Defence and Chief Secretary to the Treasury. But likely some surprises to come with the minister of state appointments. As Darling boasted on the Today Programme this morning, “I think you will see when
The last few posts
The Guardian is tipping Blears for transport, James Purnell–interviewed in this week’s magazine–gets Culture. Still no word on Ruth Kelly’s fate.
Anybody Home?
Update: Jacqui Smith, the BBC is reporting, will succeed John Reid The big question is who is going to Home. John Denham some are saying, but I can’t imagine he’d be on board with Brown’s more hard core proposals on terror. Both Blears and Hutton are staying in the Cabinet and haven’t been given jobs
Brown as Nidgett
Strength, energy, service, change, trust, steadfastness, change, resolution, purpose, change … Has anyone noticed how like Peter Simple’s Lieutenant General Sir Frederick ‘Tiger’ Nidgett Gordon Brown sounded yesterday? In November 2005 Nidgett brought his great strategic mind to bear on the seemingly intractable problems of the Middle East, problems that Mr Brown will have to
The world of Miliband
David Miliband to the foreign office, the youngest holder of that office since David Owen. It is a huge job. In the words of Sir John Coles, former Permanent Secretary to the FCO: “The job comes as a terrible shock to them, just the sheer amount of travelling, for example, and the enormous range of
Unspun Brown
At least for the first couple of days Gordon Brown got both the style and substance absolutely right – no repudiation of the past but an absolute commitment to moving on. And it is clear what the new direction of travel will be. A more personally responsive health service, free from the straightjacket if targets.
A motto to live by
‘I will try my utmost’ promised Gordon Brown on the steps of 10 Downing Street yesterday, quoting his old school motto. They’re funny things, school mottoes. Single sex schools tend to fall into different camps – boys’ tending towards the bellicose (Sons of Heroes / Wellington School) or self-aggrandising (Floreat Etona / David Cameron’s Eton
Cui bono
Why do we have to pay between £3.50 and £5.40 to book tickets for the theatre on the internet? Most people are unable to turn up in person to book seats — the only way to avoid the extra cost. If a theatre has, say, 600 seats, and over half are filled by people booking
A not so talented precedent
Our new Prime Minister does like a bit of history so, in the course of unveiling his new administration today, he may wish to reconsider his soundbite “government of all the talents”. This refers to the “ministry of all the talents” appointed by Lord Grenville (1759-1834) after the death of Pitt the Younger. George III
Wednesday
Can Blair bring peace to the Middle East?
Douglas Davis has done a fantastic piece for us looking at the likelihood of Blair bringing peace to the Middle East in his retirement. In short, don’t hold your breath.
How we saw the day
Scroll down for our analysis of events on the blog. But we’ve also got some great articles on what happened today including a review of Blair’s last act and Brown’s matinee by the Spectator’s theatre critic Llloyd Evans, an essay on what it was like growing up under Tony Blair by Clemency Burton-Hill, a look at whether business
What on earth was the BBC thinking?
So the Prime Minister of 10 years standing is answering his final question at PMQs and what does the BBC do? Cut away to a trailer and then the tennis. This is a complete abdication of its public service responsibilities. It has denied viewers the chance to witness a historic moment. Indeed, it is hard
More grist for the defection rumour mill
Iain Dale reports that William Hill have stopped taking bets on a Tory defection.
Reshuffle will be official at lunchtime
Just back from the first lobby briefing with Michael Ellam, the new Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (except he’s dropped ‘official’ so he’s just PMS). His hands were slightly shaking, the poor thing, and I can’t really blame him. The room was packed, and a few of us are proudly sporting little red badges saying ‘Feral