James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
Airlines these days seem to be finding any number of ways to squeeze some extra cash out of us. Some are now charging to check a bag, others for priority boarding. But as Phillipe Reines, who has taken more plan flight this year than most of us have had hot dinners in his role as
From our UK edition
After an embarrassingly drawn out selection process with potential candidates dropping out or refusing Prime Ministerial entreaties to enter the fray, Labour has a candidate in Glasgow East, Margaret Curran who is currently a Glasgow MSP. But there’s a problem: she’s not the only Curran in the race. There is also a Frances Curran who
From our UK edition
On TV today, John McCain joked that the only way he could trump Barack Obama’s plan to deliver his acceptance speech not in the hall at the Democratic convention but at a 70,000 seat football stadium would be to parachute into the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St Paul. But there is something else he could do:
From our UK edition
There is a lot of chatter at the moment about the idea that Israel might use the gap between the US elections in November and the inauguration of a new president in January to strike a blow against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But as Bob Kaplan points out there is a good reason to think this
From our UK edition
There is a quite remarkable item in Londoner’s Diary today: RUMOUR reaches the Londoner that the reason Boris Johnson’s office failed to pick up on the fact former Deputy Mayor Ray Lewis was not a Justice of the Peace is that it conducted a background check on a different Ray Lewis who is a Justice
From our UK edition
Over on his blog, Ben Brogan dissents from the conventional Westminster wisdom that Glasgow East is make or break for Brown, arguing that the polls post-conference will be more important: But even if Labour do lose – and I don’t think they will (gulp) – I’m not so sure it will trigger the kind of
From our UK edition
A friend of Coffee House is in touch to point out that the numbers from the ICM poll for Peter Oborne’s Dispatches programme last night, show that a plurality of Muslims under 35 are in favour of there being some parts of the UK where elements of Sharia are introduced. Here are the numbers: “Would
From our UK edition
Skimming the interview with David Blunkett in G2 on the Tube on the way home last night, this grabbed my attention: “In my time in politics, the soundbite on television has fallen from 25 seconds to six.” When you think about it, this does chime with the difference between TV news reports from the ‘80s
From our UK edition
There is a fantastic chart on page 7 of The Times today (annoyingly, I can’t find it online) which shows just how deeply and personally unpopular Brown is. Here are his personal ratings on a series of ‘gut check’ questions with Cameron’s in brackets. Strong 29 (57) Or Weak 67 (33) Winner 21 (60) Or Loser 74 (31)
From our UK edition
The Daily Mirror launches a predictable attack on David Cameron today, claiming that in his Glasgow speech yesterday he blamed the poor, the unemployed and the fat for their own problems and that “he has gone from hug-a-hoodie to kick-a-granny.” The rest of the press reaction, though, is fairly positive. Cameron is playing for big
From our UK edition
Normally the news that the Tories had fallen and Labour had gained in the polls would be met with cheers in the Brown bunker but the latest Populus poll might actually hasten the Prime Minister’s exit. The poll shows that opinion has hardened against him and that at least some of the Tory’s new-found support
From our UK edition
What should keep the McCain campaign up at night is not Obama’s financial advantage or even his poll lead but his ability to command the news agenda almost at will. Two events in recent days have underlined what a potent tool this is going to be for Obama between now and November. First, there is
From our UK edition
Conservative Home is worrying about how the press might report Cameron’s Glasgow speech, fearful that it might be presented as a ‘nasty party’ attack. But to my mind, the Tories don’t need to worry: this dog won’t hunt. First of all, Cameron has detoxified the Tory brand enough and spent so long portraying himself as
From our UK edition
One of the most frequent conversations that Fraser and I have is about whether politicians can change the moral weather. Fraser thinks they can’t, I think they can. If you agree with me, then David Cameron’s speech today in Glasgow is one of the most important of his leadership to date. Here is the key
From our UK edition
Peter Oborne’s Dispatches programme about Islamophobia in Britain is already making waves. (To get a sense of Peter’s argument, read this piece he did for the Mail). Peter is undoubtedly right that the press sometime do report rumours and urban myths about Muslims as fact which can contribute to a disturbing, anti-Muslim atmosphere. He is
From our UK edition
I’m not sure how to describe on a family-friendly blog what people in the know say the mood in Downing Street is like. But Sam Coates has a great example of just how bitter things are over there and how tense relations are between Jeremy Heywood, permanent secretary at Number Ten, and Stephen Carter: On
From our UK edition
To many in conservative circles, the less said about Tory health policy the better. The Tories have seemingly decided that the best they can do is neutralise the issue politically and so have shied away from doing anything other than trying to win over the British Medical Association. To be fair, this strategy has worked
From our UK edition
The Glasgow-East by-election is going to dominate the news for the next few weeks. The Westminster Village has concluded that if Labour can’t hold its 25th safest seat under Gordon Brown then the Labour party will move to get rid of him. Although, The Guardian reports this morning that one cabinet member believes that Brown
From our UK edition
I’m not much of a tennis fan but even I was gripped by the men’s final. Every time you thought it was going to end, the player on the brink of defeat seemed to find another gear. Astonishingly, despite how long the match went on—it was the longest final in the tournament’s history—the quality of
From our UK edition
There’s plenty to read between the lines in The Sunday Times interview with Tony Blair. This aside from Blair is particularly interesting: “One thing you could say about me,” he says with a shrug, “is that I have no problem moving on.” And then as an afterthought: “I still talk to David and to Gordon.”