The Spectator

  There was a time when the British could look upon the French, and their monstrously big government, with a sense of superiority: not any more. There is now a horrible similarity to our political predicaments. We both have political leaders who have failed to kick-start an economic recovery, in spite of repeated promises. We both have old-school socialists as opposition leaders, riding worryingly high in the polls while touting high-taxing policies that would not have sounded out of place in the 1970s. Meanwhile, national debt is rising on both sides of the Channel, albeit twice as fast in Britain as in France. But Britain does have the pound sterling. A country with its own currency can print money and keep debt artificially cheap.

Here is a selection of articles and discussions from this week on Spectator.co.uk... Most discussed: Andrew Adonis on moving the Lords to Manchester. Most read: James Forsyth on the civil service coup. Most shared: Sebastian Payne on Michael Gove's historical conundrum. And the best of the rest... Fraser Nelson speaks highly of Anders Borg and believes there is a looming schools crisis. James Forsyth examines the depth of feeling over House of Lords reform and asks if newly created jobs are going to British people. Peter Hoskin reports on Galloway's return and thinks QE has returned to the fore.  Jonathan Jones writes on America's own tax debacle and finds there is no 'poll shock'.