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.
If you want to understand Rudy Giuliani do read this gripping piece from New York magazine on his relationship with his third wife, Judith. Considering how much of a vulnerability his personal life is among socially conservative Republicans, it is bizarre how keen Giuliani is push her forward—volunteering that she’d be allowed to attend cabinet
On Sunday-AM this morning Helena Kennedy and I were the warm up act for Rufus Wainwright and Gordon Brown. Both men are on tour at the moment so it was interesting to compare their respective acts. Gordon mustered the best performance of his campaign so far, not least because he had a good story to
Britain should come first Sir: Reading Clemency Burton-Hill’s ‘Cameron is taking on Brown — in Rwanda’ (5 May) I felt my blood boil. I have every sympathy with the people of Rwanda but surely Conservative MPs’ time would be much better spent grappling with the issues facing ordinary people in Britain? As Andrew Mitchell, Hugo
Simon Hoggart’s always excellent Saturday column in the Guardian has this great snippet about the publishing phenomenon that is Harry Potter: The other day a friend of mine signed up with a new literary agency, which also handles the author of Harry Potter. The chap who looks after him took him on a tour round
It ends, as it began, with a political conjuring trick. The splicing together of Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness must, by any standards, rank as one of the most extraordinary achievements in recent politics, and reflects, among other things, the sleepless kinetic force that was Tony Blair’s greatest asset. It was the same force that
I’ve never seen Gordon Brown smile for so long as he did throughout his speech today. Well-groomed, hair under control, red tip swapped for a blue one (shame about the media handling disaster) but he has raised his game. And here are his rules. There will be constitutional reform: a binding vote on going
