Tony Blair possessed many of the qualities of a good – perhaps even great – Prime Minister. He was clever, brave and held deep convictions. My complaint against him – which amounted to a fundamental and continual criticism of his ten-year premiership – was that his convictions were not those of a social democrat. He
Andrew Roberts is nothing less than the jewel in the crown of the Daily Mail, and he has written a very funny piece for that paper about what the world would be like if Britain still ruled America. According to Andrew, it would be a much happier place than it is today. There would have
Fabulous piece by P.J. O’Rourke on Adam Smith as inventor of the web. “I wonder if the know-it-alls at Wikipedia realize that the Internet was fully described and completely understood more than 200 years ago by Adam Smith, founder of free market economics. And Smith, I’m almost certain, knew less about computers than I do
Isabella Blow passed away on Monday morning and took with her much of what made London a fashion capital. She was original and funny and the antithesis of Philip Green – London’s new and unlikely face of fashion. She was interested in the people who made and wore clothes beautifully – she wasn’t interested in
‘Radically pragmatic, rather than dogmatic’, is the way Oliver Letwin, Conservative head of policy, described the new Tory approach this week. Speaking at Policy Exchange, Letwin was hoping to ‘rebut’ critics who say they’ve not seen much in the way of substance since David Cameron became leader of the party eighteen months ago. Joking that
Today’s Sun has the scoop on the choreography behind Blair’s resignation as Labour leader. Apparently, he’ll travel up to Sedgefield and announce his departure in an “emotional resignation speech” at noon. I share Matt’s view that it will be a spectacular performance. Remember how his conference speech did leave them wanting more. He ended that
If, like me, you’re trying to get your head round the radical changes in the online world – and the revolution usually called “Web 2.0” – then check out Seth Godin’s post on the battle between longer and shorter content. Godin is one of the world’ great marketing gurus, which probably sells him short, as
Nicolas Sarkozy was taken in by a phone prankster claiming to be the Canadian PM on Sunday night. No damage done, though. Sarkozy said nothing controversial, merely some boiler plate about being a “big fan of Canada and our bilateral relations are excellent.” The line that eventually tipped him off wasn’t exactly subtle: “Since you
This week’s New Yorker has a fascinating profile of the graffiti artist Banky. He’s one of those people you either love or hate. This quote gives you a flavour of where he’s coming from: “I don’t think art is much of a spectator sport these days,” he began. “I don’t know how the art world
At 9p.m. last Thursday, while over 15 million American households were tuned in to “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC, 1.7 million were watching the first Republican primary debate on the cable news channel MSNBC. Yet despite these paltry viewing figures (only 2.2m tuned in to the Democratic debate the previous week), the media twitter means that
Peter Hain was on the Today programme this morning doing a victory lap for the resumption of devolution in Northern Ireland. But he gave the game away when he predicted that this deal would stick as there are no political forces more extreme than those in government. The consequence of the Good Friday agreement, or
The Scottish Parliament is often reported by London newsreaders as a proxy for Scottish public opinion. In truth, it’s an institution held in wide contempt – and the desultory 52% turnout (in what was a knife-edge election) speaks volumes. This is the first fact to consider when judging the problems which Alex Salmond is facing
Tony Blair’ send his congratulations–or should that be félicitations–to Nicolas Sarkozy.
“Barzini’s dead. So is Phillip Tattaglia — Moe Greene — Strachi — Cuneo — Today I settle all Family business.” Remember that scene in The Godfather, where Michael Corleone tells his soon-to-be-executed brother-in-law that the Corleones have settled all their vendettas in a bloody spree of vengeance? That’s what Westminster feels like this morning. The
Truly extraordinary scenes at the Salle Gaveau in the eighth arrondissement of Paris tonight. Shortly after the official exit polls announcing Sarko’s victory, thousands of his supporters sang the Marseillaise, with thousands more joining in from outside. After a long ride through Paris, his Renault Limousine surrounded by least 20 media motorcycles, Sarko arrived at the
Anything other than a Nicolas Sarkozy win this evening would be a huge upset. The latest polls show him with a 10 point lead over Ségolène Royal (pictured left). The only crumb of hope for Royal is the high turnout with 75% of voters having already cast their ballots by late afternoon; this might be
Strange kind of love Sir: Liam Byrne’s breathless panegyric (‘Rise up, Englishmen’, 28 April) on the glories of being British must have left some of us pretty punch drunk. This is a man who eagerly serves a government that has spent a decade transferring the rights of the British to govern themselves out of Britain
Thursday wasn’t only election night here, but also the first Republican primary debate of 2008. Over at Comment Central Daniel Finkelstein has a typically astute post on whether Republicans shouldn’t have an abortion litmus test for their presidential nominees keying off the trouble Rudy Giuliani got in to when asked about whether he supported the
If you’re enjoying Coffee House, I do hope you’ll take a look at Stephen Pollard’s new blog and Clive Davis’s—which come complete with a photograph by PooterGeek.
Good news from Paris. No, not the capital of France which, it seems likely, will tomorrow crown Sarkozy its President. I mean the Hilton heiress, who was sent to jail yesterday for 45 days for driving while disqualified. There are so many cheap jokes one could make about the new Los Angeles Hilton and the
