The Spectator, Author at The Spectator

Saturday

June 25, 2011

Gove’s moves Sir: If Michael Gove (‘On the edge of his seat’, 18 June) really wants to do something about exams, then he would bring back O-levels in place of GCSEs. But that would entail denouncing the Prime Minister who made the change, formerly the education secretary who closed more grammar schools than were left at the end of her tenure. Can you name her? I think you can. David Lindsay County Durham Sir: Michael Gove has no answer for how to revive the fortunes of the Conservative party in Scotland: ‘I don’t think there is any single thing that can be done.’ But might I suggest that better Tory candidates — like, say, Mr Gove himself — running north of the border would help?

The Spectator

Barometer | 25 June 2011

From our UK edition

Phreaks and geeks Police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of hacking into the government computers containing data from the entire 2011 census. — Hacking evolved in the 1960s from phone ‘phreaking’, manipulating telecom systems to gain free calls. In 1972, one John T. Draper succeeded in accessing US telecoms systems by transmitting a 2600 hertz tone down the wires, obtained from a whistle given away with breakfast cereal. He was caught and put on probation. — The first hacker convicted (for theft), was Ian Murphy, who in 1981 changed clocks in US phone company computers to make daytime calls on a late-night tariff. Pirate gold Three Britons were sentenced to 15 years in Somalia for the illegal import of £2.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 25 June 2011

From our UK edition

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, reversed the suggestion by Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, that prisoners who had pleaded guilty at an early stage should have their sentences halved. Earlier he had said that he saw no reason why Britain should be ‘dragged in’ to support a Greek bailout. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, proposed that Greece should be allowed to default and to leave the EU. Air Chief Marshal Sir Simon Bryant, in a briefing for MPs leaked to the press, said that the RAF’s capacity for future missions was under threat if Britain’s intervention in Libya continued beyond the summer. In response Mr Cameron said: ‘There are moments when I wake up and think “You do the fighting, I’ll do the talking”.

The Spectator

Leading article: Opportunity in crisis

From our UK edition

How we all miss the drachma! If Greece still had a sovereign currency, that currency would probably have halved in value, thereby providing cheap holidays for the rest of us. Greece would then have defaulted on its debt, in a way that would have inflicted minimum financial damage on its neighbours. A few banks would have been burned, deservedly. Like Russia in 1998 and Argentina in 2002, Greece would have got over the pain quickly. Calamitously, though, Greece joined the eurozone — so it remains in crisis, unable either to repay its debts or to devalue its currency and export its way to recovery. Britain has the great luxury of watching this from a distance. We were never fooled by the idea of monetary union, or the claim that the euro would somehow mean more jobs or lower prices.

The Spectator

Advertisement Feature: Heart of the home

From our UK edition

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Friday

June 24, 2011

The Spectator

The week that was | 24 June 2011

From our UK edition

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. Fraser Nelson dispels the myth of cuts. James Forsyth explains when U-turns matter, and watches Mark Hoban wobble in the House of Commons. Peter Hoskin witnesses Cameron muscle Ken Clarke from the stage, and listens to Michael Gove re-affirm his faith in free schools. David Blackburn says that the World Service’s reprieve is a reaction to foreign policy failures. Jonathan Jones reveals that public opinion on international development is not where David Cameron would like it to be. The Taxpayers' Alliance and the proponents of high-speed rail do battle. Daniel Korski notes that some countries still want to join the euro.

Monday

June 20, 2011

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 20 June – 26 June

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.

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 20 June 2011

From our UK edition

...here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson gives his take on David Cameron's attack on bad dads. James Forsyth reveals that George Osborne is throwing his weight behind education reform, and says that enshrining the military covenant in law might not be a good idea. Peter Hoskin reports on Michael Gove's plan to fix the exam system, and looks into a rumour about private sector pensions. Daniel Korski watches the latest war of words over the Falklands. And Faith Based charts the rise of the Mormons.