The Spectator

Saturday

The Spectator

Letters | 7 January 2012

From our UK edition

Russian resolutionSir: Anne Applebaum (‘Russia’s new dissidents’, 31 December) welcomes the Moscow protestors’ challenge to a smug and venal elite. We can all agree with that. But she asks if they are developing into an opposition — and the simple answer is ‘no’. Alexander Navalny, the Moscow protest leader, cries out against ‘villains and thieves’. He represents genuine resentment at swindlers in power and a desire for a clean-up, but is not an opposition as such. Russia’s ‘opposition’ comprises some decidedly unpleasant trends, from recidivist communists to nationalists who make the BNP look moderate. And who’s to say the ‘middle class’ are a bastion of open democracy anyway?

The Spectator

Barometer | 7 January 2012

From our UK edition

State of uncertaintyThe Iowa caucuses create much excitement in the US presidential race but the winners do not have a good record of winning the presidency. — In the nine contested Democratic caucases since 1972, when they first marked the beginning of the presidential race, only two winners, Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008, have gone on become president. — In the five contested Republican caucuses only George W. Bush in 2000 has gone on to win the White House. — The man responsible for moving the Iowa caucuses to January, George McGovern in 1972, came second in Iowa, went on to win the Democratic nomination and to suffer the heaviest defeat of any modern presidential candidate, losing all but two states. Right to bear arms?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 7 January 2012

From our UK edition

HomeGary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty, on the evidence of blood and fibre traces, of the murder of Stephen Lawrence at Eltham in 1993. Dobson had been acquitted of the crime in 1996, but the law changed to allow a new trial to consider new evidence. A 20-year-old man charged with murdering Anuj Bidve, an Indian student, by shooting him dead in Salford on Boxing Day, when asked to confirm his name in court, said that it was ‘Psycho Stapleton’. A man shot a woman, her sister and niece in a house in Peterlee, Co Durham, and then shot himself. One policeman was sacked and 154 faced disciplinary action over their use of Facebook between 2008 and 2010.

The Spectator

Save the union

From our UK edition

‘Saving the union’ is unlikely to rank highly on David Cameron’s list of new year resolutions. Scotland is becoming a land about which most Westminster politicians know little and care less. It is being handled in 10 Downing St by Ed Llewellyn, who specialises in foreign affairs, yet neither he nor anyone else has the faintest idea what to do about Alex Salmond. The Scots around Cameron regard their motherland as a distant memory, a place where they lived before seeking political asylum in England. The Edinburgh parliament, its arguments and dynamics, are a mystery to the Prime Minister and his aides. And yet somehow he needs to fight and win a referendum on independence. The longer he ignores this problem, the worse it will become.

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 6 January 2012

From our UK edition

Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: Fraser Nelson highlights the plight of Christians in Nigeria, and says that poverty should concern us more than race. James Forsyth previews the coming battle over the undeserving rich, and says that Lord Glasman's target was the other Ed. Peter Hoskin says that it's getting worse and worse for Ed Miliband, and reveals why Tom Baldwin reckons Labour shouldn't give up on their leader. Jonathan Jones looks at the losers from this week's Iowa caucus. Melanie McDonagh says that Lord Falconer has the wrong ideas about assisted suicide. Nick Cohen laments the inconsistencies of The Economist. Rod Liddle reckons that Ed Miliband should listen to Lord Glasman.

Monday

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 2–8 January

From our UK edition

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers' Wall. For those who haven't come across the Wall before, it's a post we put up each Monday, on which — providing your writing isn't libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency — you'll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there's no need to stay 'on topic', which means you'll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There's also no constraint on the length of what you write — so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything's fair game, from political stories in your local paper, to chat about the latest football results.

Saturday

The Spectator

Letters | 31 December 2011

From our UK edition

Chiller appSir: Niall Ferguson (‘On being called a racist’, 17/24 December) says that ‘the freedom of the press does not extend to defamation’. This is an odd idea, but one which Ferguson shares with the governments of those countries in which journalists are routinely imprisoned for insulting the powerful. In England, defamation is a civil offence and claims of libel must be won through reasoned argument, not simply asserted. He claims that, in the London Review of Books review of Civilisation, Pankaj Mishra accuses him of racism. He says that ‘expressions of racism are now defined as criminal acts in Britain’. They are not.