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The Spectator
Saturday
Letters | 10 March 2012
BlowbackSir: Matt Ridley’s article ‘The Winds of Change’ (3 March) says that the government has finally seen through the wind energy scam. If this is the case, it is most welcome news to those who have been fighting on all fronts to keep Britain’s countryside clear of unwelcome, unnecessary and inappropriate wind farms. In Mr Ridley’s own county, Northumberland, the amount of wind farm capacity planned and already with planning permission exceeds that in any other English county by several times.
Barometer | 10 March 2012
Catch a falling starAstronomers appealed to anyone who might have found a small, polished piece of rock: the remains of a meteor spotted as it streaked across Britain. Being hit by a meteorite has become a byword for an unlikely event, but just how unlikely is it? — One of the last cases of reported damage to property from a meteorite strike was in Park Forest, Chicago in 2003, when a meteorite shower caused damage to roofs, windows and cars. — The last death reported from a meteor strike was a cow in Venezuela in 1972. — The last credible report of a direct hit on a human was a woman injured in Alabama, in 1954. — But there is the potential for a catastrophe. In 1908, a large asteroid exploded in Siberia, burning 2,000 square metres of forest.
Portrait of the week | 10 March 2012
HomeVince Cable, the Business Secretary, said in a leaked letter that the coalition lacks a ‘compelling vision’. He proposed that RBS be split up and half turned into ‘British business bank’. Earlier he had said that there was a ‘broad understanding’ in the coalition that, if the 50p tax rate was removed, it should be replaced by a tax on wealth such as a ‘mansion tax’. House prices fell by 0.5 per cent in February compared with January, according to a survey by the Halifax. Engelbert Humperdinck, aged 75, was chosen to represent the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Azerbaijan. Lord St John of Fawsley, the former Conservative MP sacked by Margaret Thatcher in 1981 after two years in the Cabinet, died, aged 82.
Osborne’s duty
Vince Cable has a point. The government does, alas, lack a ‘compelling vision for the economy’ but the Liberal Democrats see this as an opportunity, not a defect. They regard George Osborne’s agenda as a blank slate on to which they can write all sorts of policies: a mansion tax, capital gains tax, even a state bank which would bring to corporate Britain the sub-prime loans that triggered the financial meltdown in America. With the budget looming, open negotiations have begun. It has been a festival of bad ideas, which have prospered in the absence of a Tory agenda. The risk of the Cameron project was not that voters would be appalled that the Prime Minister went to Eton or that his Chancellor is the heir to a baronetcy.
Bookbenchers: Patrick Mercer MP
A military flavour this week, as Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP for Newark, tells us what’s on his shelves — and on his mind. It should come as no surprise that a former colonel in the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters would rescue the regimental history from the burning British Library. He is also a historical novelist. His latest short story, Dr Watson’s War, is about post-traumatic stress disorder in Victorian Britain. He wrote about the subject earlier this week. 1) Which book is on your bedside table at the moment? I am currently re-reading John Masters’ The Nightrunners of Bengal. I am reading not only for enjoyment, but also for the fact that Slightly Foxed has asked me to review it.
Friday
The week that was | 9 March 2012
Here is a selection of articles and discussions from this week on Spectator.co.uk... Most read: Fraser Nelson praising Theresa May for her police revolution. Most discussed: Melanie McDonagh on the case against gay marriage. And the best of the rest... Fraser Nelson thinks Ed Miliband doesn't get globalisation and David Cameron should listen to Mitt Romney. James Forsyth examines a significant moment for the 1922 committee, and believes the Lib Dem's spring conference will be a nervous time for Clegg. Peter Hoskin asks where Abdo Hussameldin is defecting to and spots Ed Balls sidling up to the Lib Dems.
Tuesday
The Matt Ridley Prize is open to everyone
The 2013 Matt Ridley Prize is now open. Click here for more details. We've already had some entries for the £8,500 Matt Ridley Prize for Environmental Heresy, and an inquiry as to whether it's open to non-British residents. Misunderstanding of science and environment is, alas, a global phenomenon and CoffeeHousers hail from all over the world. So it's open to everyone. The condition is a piece of 1,000 to 2,000 words which gores one of the sacred cows of the green movement — using facts to confront myths, and science to confront pseudo-science. The winning article will be published in The Spectator. Read Matt Ridley's piece, laying out the scope of the prize, here.
Monday
Just in case you missed them… | 5 March 2012
...here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson says Theresa May is showing Andrew Lansley how reforming public services should be done and explains Alex Salmond is following the Brownite economic path. James Forsyth says Steve Hilton's return depends on Cameron's radicalism and examines the Prime Minister's pitch to women voters. Peter Hoskin discusses Vladimir Putin's dilemma. Jonathan Jones says private policing is nothing new and questions which tax cuts the public want. Alex Massie sees that dinosaur Labour is back in Scotland. The Spectator Book Blog features Keith Simpson as its latest Bookbencher.
