Throughout the French presidential campaign Nicolas Sarkozy was lambasted by his critics as an American neo-con with a French passport. This description was excessive, but there’s little doubt that Sarkozy is more pro-American than the average French politician and his acceptance speech on election night sounded some distinctly neo-con notes about the universality of human freedom.
Good to see Paul Wolfowitz taking my advice. In a way the whole story’s about bad timing. For him, in the sense that a relatively insignificant and disputable allegation of misconduct caught him out at a time when an unstoppable tide was running against the ideological clique of which he’s a leading light. And bad
The last Bush-Blair press conference marks the end of an era. However, close the relationship between Bush and Brown turns out to be—and I expect it will be closer than people expect—there won’t be the same level of bonhomie that there has been between these two. Nor will Gordon Brown speak American as fluently as
It is the worst kept secret in Washington—and that is saying something—that Al Gore and Hillary Clinton don’t get on. Many DC insiders have long claimed that Gore would get in to the Democratic race if he thought that was the only to stop her. So these comments he made to the New York Times
What are museums for? I wish I’d never asked the question but I did once unfortunately in a Douglas-Home-Memorial-Prize-winning essay which caused a bit of a stink in the increasingly PC museums and galleries sector, and which I’m now going to have to justify in a debate starting at 6pm tonight at Merseyside Maritime Museum
It is hard to utter the phrase “glorious summer of sport” with a straight face today thanks to the grim drizzle that is our lot but the sporting summer is now officially under way with England taking on the West Indies at Lords. Spare a thought for the Windies, though. Not only have they fallen
So Alex Salmond has become Scotland’s first minister, with no majority. If he can’t legislate, his administration may be the best Holyrood has had yet. Its hard to think of one Scottish Parliament bill which has been any use since 1999. And easy to think of appalling misgovernment. Jack McConnell’s old slogan was ‘do less
In politics, as in life, destiny is a capricious business. Andrew Mackinlay, the Labour MP for Thurrock, must have assumed that it was his bleak fate to be remembered as the politician who hectored the wan Dr David Kelly and called him “chaff” at a Commons select committee meeting in 2003. This evening, however, history
Is it just me, or is David Willetts largely right in the great Tory grammar school row? Ah yes, it would appear to be just me who thinks so. That is if the Conservative blogosphere is anything to go by. I have just bumped into Mr Willetts, who appears remarkably calm for a man responsible
Now, I am as much a fan of reality television as the next man, but there are limits. It’s one thing to take inspiration from Golding’s Lord of the Flies – as all reality shows do – and quite another to try to recreate that masterpiece, as Variety reveals CBS now proposes to do. The idea
We’ve just posted our editorial which is a strong attack on the Tories for their anti-grammar school stance. Scroll down for further comment on the subject from Matthew d’Ancona and James Forsyth. Update: Iain Martin argues that this might be Cameron’s Clause 4 moment below and David Willetts defends himself on ConservativeHome.
In yesterday’s Guardian, there was a literally smokin’ hot piece lpiece by David Hockney (because our greatest living artist was pictured wreathed happily in cigarette smoke to accompany the piece) inveighing against the smoking ban. I read and enjoyed the article, and thought Hockney made a reasonable point, that smoking does not necessarily lead to
Broadly speaking, I’m impressed by the Cameroon project: Dave is right to face down his critics and stick with his strategy to “decontaminate the brand”. Yes, we in the Westminster village are already chewing our arms off in boredom, but it is at precisely such moments that you know a message might – just might
For those counting calories, there’s a website just for you: www.walkit.com not only gives you written directions plus map on how to walk from A to B (central London only) but also tells you how many calories you have burned up in the process. So when you next walk to a restaurant you will be
There is something phenomenally depressing about the relish with which the Tories are burying grammar schools. Here are the most effective implements of social mobility this country has ever had—by 1969 they had pushed Oxford’s intake from the state sector up to 62 percent, far higher than today’s 55 percent which is achieved in party
If you wondering what the above row is all about here’s Melissa’s orginial Sunday Telegraph piece, Iain’s comment on it and Alan Duncan’s remarks.
Tory blogging is close to death, I can announce. It’s been in intensive care for some time thanks to the meanderings of Iain Dale and the endless pronouncements of ConservativeHome but now the Cornerstone has launched a blog and, mind crushingly dull as it is, it can only be a matter of time before these
This titbit from The Sun is too good not to pass on: One of Jack Straw’s aides currently assigned to make Gordon Brown personable has come up with a rather novel way to make GB remember to smile more. He has stickered all of Brown’s notes, his briefcase and even his car with bright yellow
Gordon Brown’s retro opponent will be John McDonnell as Michael Meacher has dropped out. So Gordon will get to spend the next few months explaining why Labour’s 1983 manifesto is not a platform for a fourth election victory. Seeing as McDonnell has always been against the war his candidacy will at least give us a window
The New York Review of Books has a fantastic piece by Tim Garton Ash on the Stasi, pegged to The Lives of Others, which is one of the best explorations of Germany’s “paradoxical achievement” I have ever read.