Douglas murray

After David Cameron’s whole God thing last week, there was a discussion on the radio this morning about whether religion is necessary for morality. Clearly there’s nothing to stop atheists being as moral as religious people, and as atheism grows in more advanced, literate countries, almost by definition the least corrupt and venal societies also have the lowest levels of religious belief.

We're almost at the end of 2013, so here's our extended special of  The View from 22 podcast. We're delighted to bring together the best of The Spectator's family and friends to discuss their highlights of this year and predictions for 2014. This is what they had to say: Nigel Farage on what Ukip will do next year: 'I haven't entered this as part of a popularity contest. I'm in this to shake the whole thing up. Ukip now has the ability to realign British politics' Rory Sutherland on the evolution of technology : 'The next great advances will be in psychology. All the technology in the world is no use at all unless it is along the grain of human nature. I think we've made a lot of mistakes there so far.

To read Douglas Murray's cover story from this week's edition of the magazine (subscribe!) you might think the British government is not only losing the battle against Islamist extremism and Jihadism in this country but that it wants to lose that struggle. I think this is weak but pretty pernicious sauce. But it is the sort of thing that will appeal to some. Especially those with a mania for betrayal. Only the strong and the vigilant and the this-is-how-it-is-chum brigade are tough enough to see the pathetic and craven weaklings currently staffing the government, the legal profession and the civil service for what they really are: the next worst thing to traitors. It is a myth and a bullshit one at that.

With further reports today that Bashar Assad is deploying chemical weapons in Syria, the prospect of intervention looms larger than ever. The EU is talking about lifting its arms embargo (at Britain's insistence) and France's foreign minister talks about "stronger and better substantiated indications of the local use of chemical arms". Barack Obama has indicated that the use of chemical weapons would trigger American military action - but he'll be aware that intervention in Syria is deeply unpopular in America. He'd have not much to gain, and rather a lot to lose. But should the West go ahead anyway? On Monday 24 June, The Spectator will hold a debate at Savoy Place in London to discuss.