From our UK edition
Stephen Pollard and the Spectator apologise for the unintended and false suggestion in a blog published on 15 July 2008 that Islam Expo Limited is a fascist party dedicated to genocide which organised a conference with a racist and genocidal programme. We accept that Islam Expo's purpose is to provide a neutral and broad-based platform for debate on issues relating to Muslims and Islam.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson reveals the war being waged against schools reform, and hears Mark Hoban become the first victim of New Labour’s landmines. James Forsyth says the coalition has five lessons to learn, and reports on the truce between IDS and George Osborne. Peter Hoskin rounds up the double dip predictions, and explains how the coalition can build its case for fairness. David Blackburn considers Labour’s DfID problem, and says that George Osborne will beat IDS. Eamonn Butler wants care for the elderly to be a family thing. Patrick Nolan explains how the spending review will affect welfare. And Alex Massie asks what Ed Miliband knows of liberalism.
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.
From our UK edition
… here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. James Forsyth says that the Lib Dems are preparing for a stormy conference, and observes Nick Clegg’s alternative view on the alternative vote. David Blackburn notes that Nick Clegg is not in David Cameron’s league as a performer, and analyses Nick Clegg’s desperate interview with the Telegraph. And Alex Massie introduces some more weekend country.
From our UK edition
What the PCC is for Sir: While I really do not wish to react humourlessly to Douglas Murray’s thoughtful piece on society’s collective sense of humour failure (‘Why can’t anyone take a joke any more?’, 14 August), I would like to clear up a couple of his points about the Press Complaints Commission. He says that we encourage people to ‘claim an offence’ if they do not like something they read. Not quite true. The PCC deliberately makes no judgment on taste or decency, and actively discourages people from complaining on the grounds simply that they have been offended. We encourage people to complain about accuracy and intrusion and the like, but that is surely to be expected.
From our UK edition
Mr David Cameron, the Prime Minister, got no further than Buckingham-shire on his summer holiday before Mr Nick Clegg, the deputy Prime Minister, cast doubts on replacing Trident. ‘It’s going to be difficult for someone who is going to receive less housing benefit,’ he said, if the government spent ‘huge, huge amounts of money in a hurry on replacing Trident in full’. Dr Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence, had suggested that the numbers of civil servants and senior officers in the armed forces would be notably reduced. Mr Iain Duncan Smith, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, was said to have had a ‘blazing, shouting, grade-A row’ with Mr George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, over the funding of his welfare reforms.
From our UK edition
It was refreshing of Lord Pearson to admit, as he resigned as leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party on Tuesday, that he is ‘not much good at party politics’. If only other party heads were so candid. Most politicians are too scared of making a gaffe to say anything so interesting. They would rather prevaricate than commit the political sin of looking bad on television. Not so Lord Pearson, who, in the run-up to the general election earlier this year, admitted to the BBC that he had not read all of Ukip’s manifesto. Lord Pearson’s unusually frank style means that he has been dismissed in the media as an old-fashioned eccentric with kooky right-wing opinions. Yet far from being a dotty old peer, he is in fact a successful businessman and philanthropist.
From our UK edition
Nick Clegg’s triumphant performance in the first televised leaders’ debate has already faded in the public imagination. Back then, Lib Dems spoke breathlessly about overtaking Labour as the nation’s second largest party. But a general election in which they lost more seats than they gained has dampened that optimism, and recent opinion polls have all but extinguished it. Were an election held tomorrow, it is suggested, they would stand to lose a further two thirds of their seats. No longer an insurgent force acting against the Conservatives, Mr Clegg is presiding over a party which fears disappearing altogether. It’s easy to mock Nick Clegg — it was David Cameron’s favourite pastime in the days when they were in competition, not coalition.
From our UK edition
Fraser Nelson has a Coffee House exclusive on Gordon Brown's public speaking career. James Forsyth reveals what Leon Brittan's appointment tells use about the state of politics, and highlights Clegg's dilemma. Peter Hoskin outlines this Parliament's key dividing line, and previews an important fortnight for Nick Clegg. David Blackburn surveys the coalition's first hundred days, and watches George Osborne emerge from the shadows. Susan Hill wonders whether to study from home or away. Alex Massie says that Tories need a good Labour party. And the Spectator Arts Blog marks the fifth anniversary of the Billy Elliot musical.
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.
From our UK edition
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. James Forsyth charts the university funding debate, and reports that the coalition is preparing to attack the new Labour leader. Peter Hoskin welcomes the appointment of Alan Milburn as social mobility tsar, and thinks that Simon Hughes has a hold over the coalition. David Blackburn argues that all eyes have turned to Liam Fox and the MoD budget, and notes that Ken Livingstone is playing red again. And Alex Massie praises Barack Obama’s magnanimity.
From our UK edition
Vive le TGV Sir: I was surprised to read about the vexations of Ross Clark on the TGV (‘Train à Grande Vexation’, 7 August). My experiences on this train have always been excellent. Last winter I was able to buy a return ticket between London and Avignon for only £110. Changing trains in Lille was perfectly easy, as the platforms were adjacent. And I find it a particular blessing that passengers are not allowed to use mobile telephones in the carriages. Rail passengers are far more likely to encounter problems in France when they are using ordinary trains, particularly those travelling from east to west or vice versa.
From our UK edition
Mrs Anne Milton, the Health Minister, tried to abolish free milk for children under five in nurseries, as it costs £50 million a year and ‘there is no evidence that it improves the health of very young children’, but Downing Street said that Mr David Cameron, the Prime Minister ‘did not like the idea’, so it would not go ahead. Mrs Anne Milton, the Health Minister, tried to abolish free milk for children under five in nurseries, as it costs £50 million a year and ‘there is no evidence that it improves the health of very young children’, but Downing Street said that Mr David Cameron, the Prime Minister ‘did not like the idea’, so it would not go ahead.
From our UK edition
For anyone still clinging to the idea that we have brought democracy and human rights to Afghanistan, the latest news from the country should come as a shock. The Taleban seem to be growing in confidence and influence. First there was the shooting of aid workers in Badakhshan; now a widow accused of becoming pregnant after the death of her husband has been flogged 200 times, then shot in the head. Rather than mobilising troops to rescue the woman, the local security chief simply condemned the punishment as ‘very severe’. Now that both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have signalled their intention to withdraw troops, it is as if the Taleban consider they have won the war and are preparing for power. But we cannot abandon Afghanistan yet.
From our UK edition
Just occasionally, a government comes up with a proposal that is so sensible it makes the opposition’s kneejerk criticism seem pathetically misjudged. So it is with David Cameron’s plan to use data from credit agencies to trap benefit cheats who are stealing £5.6 billion annually from the taxpayer. Opponents will have to do better to explain why this is an incursion on civil liberties when exactly the same information is used on a routine basis by banks and retailers to judge customers’ creditworthiness. If a benefit claimant is spending £2,000 a month on his credit card while supposedly unfit to work, it is the government’s duty to pick this up.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. James Forsyth argues that the government must resist the EU's latest attempt to raise tax, and says that IDS’ resignation would be a catastrophe. Peter Hoskin welcomes the government’s transparent approach to worklessness, and introduces the questions surrounding Cameron’s benefit crackdown. David Blackburn prepares to be nudged, and says that the Bank of England’s growth revisions needn’t worry Osborne. Susan Hill is opposed to bull-fighting. Rod Liddle hits out at the self-confessed ‘Bag Nazis’. And Alex Massie remembers Jimmy Reid.
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.
From our UK edition
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Peter Hoskin explains the Treasury’s cutting difficulty, analyses the politics of the Lib Dem conference, and praises David Cameron’s presentation of cuts. David Blackburn says that opposing social housing reforms looks like a marginal issue, and argues that David Cameron cannot become known as ‘The Milk Snatcher’. Rod Liddle notes that MPs have joined the huddled masses against bureaucratic sententiousness. Alex Massie ponders the Ground-Zero mosque. And Melanie Phillips considers Jihadiwood and America’s auto-immune disease.
From our UK edition
Neocon Coughlin Sir: Con Coughlin’s article (‘How we lost the war’, 31 July) criticising David Cameron’s supposed disenchantment with our bogged-down campaign in Afghanistan confirms him as the Henry Newbolt of our day. He does not see this conflict in terms of a cost-benefit analysis in relation to the security and wealth of the United Kingdom, but in terms of moral obligation — ‘a mission’. But why should Cameron, as the Prime Minister of a Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition in 2010, be morally bound by a commitment unwisely entered into in 2001 by Tony Blair in the aftermath of 9/11?
From our UK edition
Mr David Cameron, the Prime Minister, and Mr Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, rather oddly wrote a letter to the rest of the Cabinet. ‘Deficit reduction and continuing to ensure economic recovery is the most urgent issue facing Britain,’ they said. Mr George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that banks had an ‘obligation’ to increase their lending: ‘Every small and medium-sized company that I have visited in recent weeks has had some problem with their bank,’ he said. The profits of HSBC, which took no money from the government during the financial crisis, doubled for the first half of the year to £7 billion. Lloyds, 41 per cent of which is owned by the taxpayer, made £1.