The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 4 February 2016

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, made a speech in Wiltshire about a letter from Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, on Britain’s demands for renegotiating terms of its membership of the European Union. Mr Cameron said: ‘What we’ve got is basically something I asked for.’ In the House of Commons, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition, said: ‘It’s rather strange that the Prime Minister is not here…’ instead of ‘…in Chippenham, paying homage to the town where I was born.’ Mr Tusk proposed that in-work benefits for migrants might be subject to an ‘emergency brake’.

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Cameron’s “deal” has backfired – badly. So what will he do now?

Throughout his negotiations with the European Union, David Cameron was fatally undermined by his own lack of resolve. He was never going to recommend an ‘out’ vote in his referendum, as the other leaders knew. He promised a referendum three years ago, not from any great sense of conviction, but as a ploy to stop his party talking about Europe until after a general election which he half-expected to lose. Then, in May last year, he found himself with a majority — and in a position to renegotiate. But not in a position to win, and for a simple -reason: the other side always knew that he’d say yes, no matter what.

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The Spectator Podcast: Eurosceptic chaos, Trump’s campaign and the inaugural What’s That Thing? Award

[audioplayer src="http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3" title="Fighting over crumbs: Eurosceptics and the EU deal" fullwidth="yes"] Listen [/audioplayer]In this week’s issue, political editor James Forsyth asks whether David Cameron has somehow managed to dish the Eurosceptics for good. In the wake of the publication of the draft EU deal this week, James suggests the current climate ought to have whipped up the perfect storm for Eurosceptics. Amidst the migrant crisis plaguing the continent and widespread dislike of the EU in Britain, those backing Brexit could not have dreamed of a better scenario. But instead the Eurosceptic campaign is in chaos.

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What to do with Syria?

From ‘The future of Syria’, The Spectator, 5 February 1916: We say with all the emphasis at our command, and without the slightest fear of contradiction, official or otherwise, not only that we do not want Syria for ourselves, but that nothing would induce us to take it. Englishmen of all parties; or political schools of thought — as we ought now perhaps to call them — are agreed that the British Empire is quite big enough already, and that at the close of the war the danger will be, not of our getting too little, but of our getting too much — of getting, that is, more territory than we shall have the man-power or financial strength to manage and develop properly.

Tuesday

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David Cameron’s draft EU Deal: full text

The following document has been released by the European Commission: The Heads of State or Government of the 28 EU Member States meeting within the European Council, whose Governments are signatories of the Treaties on which the EU is founded, DESIRING to settle, in conformity with the Treaties, certain issues raised by the United Kingdom in its letter of 10 November 2015, INTENDING to clarify in this Decision certain questions of particular importance to the Member States so that such clarification will have to be taken into consideration as being an instrument for the interpretation of the Treaties; intending as well to agree arrangements for matters including the role of national Parliaments in the EU and managing the consequences of the establishment of.

Thursday

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Letters | 28 January 2016

Levelling the cricket pitch Sir: As a cricket addict and believer in state education, it pains me to agree with Michael Henderson’s assertion that the future of England’s Test side rests in the hands of private schools (‘Elite sport’, 23 January). The high-performing, 1,700-strong school where I am the head teacher has a grass area for sport that is not large enough for a rugby pitch, let alone a cricket square. As far as the coaching, equipment and pitch maintenance required to play our summer game properly, money talks. While we receive £4,000 a year from the government for each sixth-former we educate, at a local independent school parents are charged over £5,600 per term even before ‘extras’ such as exam entry fees are added in.

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Barometer | 28 January 2016

So near and yet so far Henry Worsley died in a Chilean hospital of peritonitis after being airlifted from Antartica, 30 miles short of what would have been the first solo unaided crossing of the continent. How does this compare with Britain’s other heroic failures? — Scott and his two surviving companions died 11 miles short of their one tonne food depot, but were still 140 miles short of their journey’s end, having travelled just over 700 miles from the South Pole. — George Mallory was last spotted 800 vertical feet from the summit of Everest in his 1924 expedition. It is possible he reached the summit, but even so would have failed in what many regard as an essential part of conquering a mountain:  getting back down again.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 28 January 2016

Home Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, prepared a paper on the four areas of concern between Britain and the European Union, as formulated by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, for the EU to chew on at a summit in February. Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said that to hold a referendum on the EU in June would be ‘disrespectful’ to elections being held in Scotland. Tony Blair, the former prime minister, said he thought Scotland would leave the Union if the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. Lord Parkinson, who as Cecil Parkinson was party chairman when the Conservatives won a landslide in 1983, died, aged 84. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Worsley died aged 55 after being rescued from his attempt to cross Antarctica unsupported.

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‘In’ trouble

David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start campaigning next month — and many of his allies are at it already. Opinion polls show a large number of undecided voters. So this may very well be a campaign where a great many are open to persuasion and hoping for a high-quality debate. They will have been disappointed so far. The ‘in’ campaign has been up and running for months, and recently secured large donations from Goldman Sachs and other American megabanks.

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Why does EU ‘in’ campaign insist on insulting voters’ intelligence?

David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start campaigning next month — and many of his allies are at it already. Opinion polls show a large number of undecided voters. So this may very well be a campaign where a great many are open to persuasion and hoping for a high-quality debate. They will have been disappointed so far. The ‘in’ campaign has been up and running for months, and recently secured large donations from Goldman Sachs and other American megabanks.

The Spectator

The Spectator Podcast: Melanie Phillips on gender, Simon Barnes on bad sport and James Forsyth on Europe

In this week’s issue, Melanie Phillips writes on the issue of gender. She argues that not all children are gender fluid and that it can be dangerous to try and persuade them otherwise. On this week's podcast, Isabel Hardman is joined by Melanie and trans activist and civil servant Jacqui Gavin to discuss whether we should be telling children that they can be whatever gender they want. And is the game over for sport? Simon Barnes argues that, with scandals embroiling tennis, athletics and football, amongst others, the sporting world is in trouble as never before. He says there is a danger that spectators are losing trust and beginning to walk away. Simon is joined by Alex Massie to discuss whether 2016 will be the year that sport finally dies.