A better class of tourist — The Seychelles tourism industry received a boost with the announcement that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to spend their honeymoon there. — Like many island states in the tropics, tourism is a huge part of the economy: just over half the country’s GDP and 70 per cent
Home Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader and deputy Prime Minister, said: ‘People want a louder Liberal Democrat voice in government,’ after his party did very badly in local elections and saw its proposal of the alternative vote defeated in a national referendum. Mr Clegg said there would be ‘substantial and significant changes’ to the
When disabled activists converged on the House of Commons this week to protest against welfare reform, they wanted to remind the Tories of what happened the last time a reforming government tried to tackle disability benefits. That was December 1997, when Tony Blair was talking as fervently about welfare reform as Iain Duncan Smith does
Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. Coffee House has an A to Z of the coalition’s first year in office. Michael Thomas Duffy, a veteran of charter schools in the US, gives his exclusive insights on the free schools programme in England. And Ed Howker reveals that some
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
…here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson rails against the Tories’ intellectual dishonesty over the NHS. James Forsyth explains why Nick Clegg will get his way on NHS reform, and lists the winners and losers from last week’s elections. Peter Hoskin reports on Chris Huhne’s latest difficulties, and
The Queen and I Sir: I did not expect Andrew Roberts (‘The meaning of a marriage’, 23/30 April), to agree with my New York Review of Books article on the royal family but, since he quoted from it, I would have thought he might have read it all the way through. True, the piece begins
Rules of engagement The strike on bin Laden has been widely celebrated in the US, even though there are strong grounds to regard it as illegal. — Section 5(g) of Executive Order 11905 signed by Gerald Ford in 1976 states ‘No employee of the United States government shall engage in or conspire to engage in
Home Prince William was created Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathhearn and Baron Carrickfergus on the morning of his wedding to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey. The Duchess’s dress was designed by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen. It did not rain and a million or so people cheered in the streets, with 25 million in
David Cameron visited Scotland only once during the battle for its parliament’s elections. David Cameron visited Scotland only once during the battle for its parliament’s elections. Hadrian’s Wall is becoming a forbidding obstacle for the Conservatives: a boundary with an unfamiliar, inhospitable land redeemed only by opportunities for deer stalking and trout fishing. Ed Miliband
Q. A friend of ours went with his nephew to a funeral. The nephew is an absolute maniac driver. They flew up to Scotland and all the way our friend was terrified because the nephew was renting a car at the airport and then proposed to drive 50 miles. What to do? Just as the
Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson listens to John Humphrys inadvertently make the case for No2AV, and reveals that this week’s Spectator considers life after bin Laden. James Forsyth says that electoral calamity may lead to concessions for Clegg, and explains the significance of this week’s
….Coffee House carried extensive coverage of the Royal Wedding and the death of Osama bin Laden. In addition to those stories, here are some of the other posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the Bank Holiday weekend. Fraser Nelson believes that a degree of separation will strengthen the coalition. James Forsyth argues that the Gaddafi family
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
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the bank holiday weekend. James Forsyth reveals that it will be a long time until Cameron and Clegg play tennis again, and worries that the ill-feeling between the coalition partners will be permanent. Ed Howker has a question for Chris Huhne, and reveals further conflicts
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
Rubio for President? Sir: Richard Littlejohn’s idea of a President Rubio (‘Who will fight Obama?’, 16 April) is little more than wishful thinking. The Florida senator is at most a lukewarm conservative, which will become increasingly obvious over his six-year term. (Obama is only the second man in 50 years to go directly from Senate
Easter day The late date of Easter this year has rekindled one of Britain’s lengthiest political debates: the implementation, or rather non-implementation, of the Easter Act 1928. The act was to fix the date of Easter on the Sunday following the second Saturday in April — meaning that it would wander between 9 and 15
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, made a joint statement on Libya with President Barack Obama of the United States and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, saying that ‘so long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations’. British and French military officers were being sent to Libya to
‘It’s not the voting that’s democracy,’ says Dotty in Tom Stoppard’s play Jumpers, ‘It’s the counting.’ Dotty is right, of course. ‘It’s not the voting that’s democracy,’ says Dotty in Tom Stoppard’s play Jumpers, ‘It’s the counting.’ Dotty is right, of course. Counting may be boring, but it is crucial. Nick Clegg knows this well.