Paris

Wednesday

Sebastian Payne

Public backs David Cameron on Syrian airstrikes, according to new poll

From our UK edition

The terrorist attacks in Paris appear to have shifted public attitudes on both refugees and airstrikes. According to a new poll from the Times/YouGov, 20 per cent think we should accept more refugees — down 16 points from September — while almost half said we should accept fewer or none at all, which is a 22 point increase from September. Other factors may have played into this shift in opinion but what has happened in Paris will surely have played a big part in it. The poll also reveals that the public backs the decision to to kill Mohammed Emwazi, aka Jihadi John, via a drone strike. 76 per cent said it was the right decision to kill Emwazi, compared to 11 per cent said it was wrong and 13 per cent were unsure.

Tuesday

Simon Barnes

The England vs France match was a glorious response to terrorism

From our UK edition

Ain’t it rum? Last week sport was morally bankrupt, finished, no longer worthy of taking up an intelligent person’s time for a single minute. This week it’s shining out as one of the glories of the human spirit. And yet sport can cope with the contradiction quite effortlessly. It’s hard to know the worst thing in athletics right now, but it’s either the fact that Russia has been implicated in a state-run doping programme or the possibility that the former president of the sport’s world governing body is accused of taking bribes to cover it up. In football the acronym of Fifa, football’s world governing body, means corruption: nothing more, nothing less.

Sebastian Payne

Labour MPs attack Stop The War and Corbyn’s views on terrorism

From our UK edition

Labour MPs appear to be just as annoyed by Jeremy Corbyn’s links to the Stop The War coalition as they are about his comments on shoot to kill. In the questions following David Cameron’s Commons statement on the Paris attacks, several MPs used the opportunity to make coded attacks on Stop The War for a blog it published, titled 'Paris reaps whirlwind of western support for extremist violence in Middle East'. It has been since been removed (cached version here) and Corbyn said he was glad it was deleted — but he has yet to condemn the fact it was published in the first place.

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron: Britain needs to take action against Islamic State in Syria

From our UK edition

Senior politicians have so far been rather cautious in their response to the Paris attacks. But today David Cameron gave a much more robust and intentional statement on the British reaction to what happened on Friday night. He used his slot in the Commons to re-state the case for British involvement in military action against Islamic State in Syria, and said that he would be setting out in detail his strategy and reasons for getting involved in the coming days. It is clear that the Prime Minister wants to push for a vote on this soon, and given he will not bring a vote to the Commons unless he believes he can win, he’s going to pour considerable effort into convincing MPs to back him.

Freddy Gray

By opposing shoot-to-kill, Jeremy Corbyn has shown he is a serious politician

From our UK edition

There is nothing wrong with Jeremy Corbyn saying he 'isn't happy' with a shoot-to-kill policy. On the contrary, it shows once again that he is a man of principle. We may not agree with, or like, his principles -- but can we at least recognise that, unlike his opponents, he is not bending to the national mood? He is not willing to ditch his integrity in order to ease the public's fear and sate our lust for a violent response to terror. For Corbyn's haters on the Labour right, his position proves once again that he is not a 'serious' person. For one of his shadow cabinet, his position even makes him a 'f---ing disgrace' Why? Corbyn may well be right. It's certainly not disgraceful to oppose a policy of legal killing.

Monday

James Forsyth

Theresa May: the Paris attacks ‘have nothing to do with Islam’

From our UK edition

On a day when Jeremy Corbyn has been making clear his concerns about both the government’s use of drones and any shoot-to-kill policy for terrorists on British streets, Theresa May’s statement on the Paris attacks was striking for the level of cross-party agreement. Andy Burnham paid generous tribute to the Home Secretary and pledged Labour’s support for her anti-terror crackdown. The only discordant note came on the question of police funding. Burnham aligned himself with Bernard Hogan-Howe’s warning that cuts of more than 10 percent to police funding would make it harder to keep the streets safe. May set out how the police here would ‘intensify’ their approach to big events in an attempt to prevent a Paris-style attack here.

Isabel Hardman

Burnham attacks May over police cuts at Home Office questions

From our UK edition

It was inevitable that Theresa May would face demands to rethink police cuts at Home Office questions this afternoon. And Labour did indeed make this its main line of attack in the Commons, with Andy Burnham urging the Home Secretary to reconsider reductions in police numbers that might be being considered in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Burnham has pursued this issue with some gusto since taking the Shadow Home Secretary brief, as it is the one matter where he can be reasonably tub thumping and Burnhamish. Today he was sombre, but it was clear that May was aware that the Paris attacks have made an extremely difficult set of cuts even more difficult for ministers to defend. Her answer was careful, arguing that it wasn't just about numbers but training too.

Sebastian Payne

Nigel Farage: after Paris, we need to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of Muslims in Britain

From our UK edition

Nigel Farage will tonight claim British Muslims are 'conflicted' in their loyalties to the UK, and there is a battle to be won for their 'hearts and minds'. In his response to the Paris attacks, the Ukip leader will say: 'According to research it is clear that the UK Muslim population are conflicted in their loyalties between loyalty to the UK, its way of life and its institutions and what elements within their organised faith are telling them. This conflict with the UK Muslim population suggests that there is all to play for and we can win the battle of hearts and minds.

Sebastian Payne

Podcast special: the Paris attacks and what happens next

From our UK edition

How will Britain and Europe react to the terrorist attacks in Paris? In this View from 22 special podcast, The Spectator's Douglas Murray, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman analyse what politicians have said and done in response to Friday's attacks and the plans being formulated in Westminster and Brussels. Are Jeremy Corbyn's views on military action going to cause a split with Labour MPs? What will David Cameron propose in response to the attacks? Does this spell the end of Schengen?

Theo Hobson

Islamic State are clear about their values. Are we clear about ours?

From our UK edition

Here we go again. The same mantras are dusted down: we must be more assertive of our values, less tolerant of extremism, we must challenge Muslim separatism more effectively, demand better integration. And in my opinion the same root question is somewhat evaded: what exactly are our values? It is easier to assume that this is obvious – and it gives an impression of toughness. For example Boris Johnson today: ‘This is a fight we will one day inevitably win – because in the end our view of the human spirit is vastly more attractive and realistic than theirs.’ But what is our view of the human spirit? What is our ideology, our creed? There are various words we can reach for – freedom, democracy, liberalism, maybe enlightenment.

Isabel Hardman

Cameron sees ‘hopeful signs’ of political agreement on Isis

From our UK edition

After the attacks in Paris, what has changed? Islamic State is still a threat that world leaders don't seem to know how to deal with, and for Britain, the House of Commons still hasn't approved British involvement in air strikes against the terror group in Syria. But today David Cameron hopes that things have changed enough in the last few weeks that a political solution on Syria may be closer. The Prime Minister is trying to broker a deal with President Putin in which Russia agrees to work with those fighting Isis in Syria in return for a promise that Russian interests in the country will be protected. The Prime Minister told the Today programme: 'There have been some hopeful signs - and I hope to have a positive discussion with Vladimir Putin this morning.' https://soundcloud.

Sunday

Fraser Nelson

France bombs Islamic State bases in Raqqa. But will it make much difference?

From our UK edition

Yesterday, Francois Hollande promised "merciless" retribution against the Islamic State. This evening, armed with American intelligence, the French Air Force dropped 20 bombs on two Isil positions in Raqqa – in what tomorrow’s newspapers will almost certainly portray as a swift and dramatic act of vengeance. But in fact, it won’t be much different to what the French have been doing in the last few weeks as one of the United States’ partners in what has been a year-long bombing campaign (along with the Saudis, Turks and Aussies). It's a campaign that doesn’t seem to have been too effective in holding back the Islamic State. The French targeted an Isil command centre, an arms depot, a recruiting post and a training camp.

Damian Thompson

Exclusive translation: the Pope says Paris attacks are part of a Third World War

From our UK edition

An Italian religious TV station, TV2000, has posted this audio clip of Pope Francis – sounding distressed and tearful – expressing his horror at the murders in Paris. The Pope says he's moved and saddened, and praying for every one of the victims and their families; he feels close to 'the beloved' French people. The Spectator has had it translated from the Italian:- Q: Holy Father, how do you feel about the tragedy of Paris? A: I feel deeply touched and grieved. I don’t understand. But these things are hard to understand; things done by human beings. That’s why I am deeply touched, grieved and I pray. I am very close to the beloved French people, I am close to the relatives of the victims and I pray for all of them.

Douglas Murray

Nine conclusions not to draw from the Paris attacks

From our UK edition

A huge number of nonsense goes around after atrocities like those in Paris. The media and social media are full of them. I thought it might be helpful to list the worst. 'This attack has nothing to do with Islam’: obviously not true. See here. ‘Islam means peace’: Very obviously not true. Incidentally the word actually means ‘submission’. Again see here. 'This attack was an attack on Islam’: No. It was an attack on the people of Paris who were going to watch a football match or a concert or eating in a restaurant. ‘MuslimsAreNotTerrorists’: Today’s leading hashtag on Twitter. Again, clearly wrong. While nobody thinks all Muslims are terrorists all the terrorists detonating at the moment are Muslims.

Isabel Hardman

Politicians give cautious reactions to the Paris attacks

From our UK edition

Unlike political Twitter, which was full of armchair experts extolling their own surprisingly untapped talent while the Paris attacks were still taking place on Friday night, senior politicians have today been rather cautious in their responses to the massacre. Theresa May repeatedly told the Marr Show that there were ‘lessons to be learned’ from the attacks, but that it was ‘too early to tell’ what the fate of the Schengen agreement would be. She also said that there needed to be political consensus on British action against Isis in Syria.

Fraser Nelson

Paris massacre: ten developments, as of Sunday morning

From our UK edition

Barack Obama flies into Turkey for a G20 conference now likely to have the Islamic State as its theme. Here are ten developments. The death toll has risen to 129, with 352 others wounded, 100 critically. Five Britons are feared dead, and another five injured. A passport found near the body of one attacker was that of a 25-year-old Syrian migrant, according to French investigators. The Greek government said he had been registeredat the Aegean island of Leros on 3 October. Another attacker has been identified as a 29-year-old Frenchman who had been on a jihadi watch list. His father and brother are being held by police for questioning Another jihadi had a ticket for the France vs Germany football game, but was intercepted by security guards in Stade de France.

Saturday

John R. Bradley

The Islamic State goes global

From our UK edition

When the creation of a new caliphate was announced last year, who but the small band of his followers took seriously its leader’s prediction of imminent regional and eventual global dominance? It straddled the northern parts of Syria and Iraq, two countries already torn apart by civil war and sectarian hatreds. So the self-declared caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, appeared to be just another thug and opportunist ruling over a blighted no-man’s land, little known and still less revered in the wider Islamic world. He was surrounded by a rag-tag army of jihadis, whose imperial hubris seemed to reflect only a warped genocidal fanaticism.

Qanta Ahmed

The Paris attacks are an act of war – against Islam itself

From our UK edition

UPDATE: Watch Dr Ahmed discuss this article on CNN here  The appalling attacks in Paris last night were, as Francois Hollande said, an act of war. They were Islamism’s declaration of war on free society – but, crucially, they represented something else. An act of war, by Islamists, upon Islam itself. As Douglas Murray says, it is lazy and wrong to argue that these attacks had nothing to do with Islam. The repugnant creed of the Islamic State is certainly related to Islam - but it is also inimical to Islam.

Fraser Nelson

“The first of the storm” – translation of Islamic State statement after Paris attacks

From our UK edition

This morning, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks - the first time it has laid claim to any attacks in Europe. It released a rambling statement in French, referring to a music concert as a "profligate prostitution party". It also seemed to reference Charlie Hebdo. Here is an English translation:- In the name of Allah, the All Merciful, the Very Merciful. The Very High All Said: “It is He who expelled the ones who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture from their homes at the first gathering.

Freddy Gray

The strange relationship between Islam, violence and French football

From our UK edition

It is not so surprising if the jihadists in Paris were targeting an international football match. There has for years been a strange relationship between football, Islam and violence in France. The French football team, les bleus, have long been held up as an emblem of harmony and hope in an otherwise bleak multicultural landscape. The world cup winning team of 1998 consisted largely of the children of African immigrants and was celebrated as a great symbol of how the modern multicultural fifth republic could work. Zinedine Zidane, a Muslim boy from Marseilles, was the star of that tournament.