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Friday

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The week that was | 20 November 2009

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson congratulates Michael Heath, and introduces Britain’s AWOL ally. James Forsyth praises Chris Grayling’s commitment to elected police commissioners, and finds an example of corruption that is shocking even by the standards of the Karzai government. Peter Hoskin says that Brown has misjudged the Afghan waiting game, and sees Ed Balls dump Gordon Brown into another lose lose situation. David Blackburn argues that Gordon Brown has been hoist by his own petard, and challenges the liberal centre to engage with the BNP. Mark Bathgate explains just quite how inexperienced this government is at economic management. Lloyd Evans reviews a paper thin Queen’s speech.

Thursday

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In this week’s Spectator | 19 November 2009

The latest issue of the Spectator is released today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online now. Five articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: Con Coughlin believes that Barack Obama’s increasing disregard for Britain’s views is no way to treat an ally whose troops have fought side by side with America since September 11. Obama has become our absent ally; he is practising a very special form of disrespect.

Monday

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CoffeeHousers’ Wall 16 November – 22 November

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.

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Just in case you missed them… | 16 November 2009

...here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson praises Jeremy Hunt’s plan for the BBC, and answers your questions. James Forsyth sees the government commit another u-turn, and argues that Obama’s Afghan position is pennywise but strategically foolish. David Blackburn believes that the BNP remain a party of racists, and finds Gordon Brown at the heart of Labour’s emerging election strategy. Susan Hill says that teenagers living in rural areas are left with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Rod Liddle can’t understand how Britain has become the global capital of busybodies. And Alex Massie condemns a betrayal of justice and common sense.

Saturday

The Spectator

Spelling it out

Sympathy for Gordon Brown is not a common emotion in Westminster, but this week only the coldest heart could fail to feel for the Prime Minister. It is mortifying to have misspelt the name of a fallen soldier, even if the mistake was minor. To have his misery played out in front of the national media, complete with a taped conversation of him being berated by the soldier’s mother, can only have been devastating. But the power of this sorry episode lies in the truths it represents. Jacqui Janes, whose Grenadier Guardsman son Jamie, 20, was killed last month, was richly entitled to berate the Prime Minister for the lack of equipment in Afghanistan. It was his decision to fight two wars on a peacetime military budget.

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Can Cameron deliver?

There is something about ‘compassionate conservatism’ that infuriates the Labour party, as if the very phrase were a deceitful contradiction in terms. The notion sends Gordon Brown into apoplexy. He can handle the Tories talking about economic efficiency or immigration, but he regards concern for the poorest as a subject purely for Labour. And for too many of the last 20 years, it has been. As a result Labour has incubated, through its dysfunctional welfare state, the most expensive poverty in the world. From the beginning of David Cameron’s leadership, he has focused on this outrage.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 14 November 2009

Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said that British forces would be fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan until at least 2014, by which date the Afghan National Army would ‘be able to take the lead on security across the country’. Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff, said that British forces would be fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan until at least 2014, by which date the Afghan National Army would ‘be able to take the lead on security across the country’. In a ComRes opinion poll, 63 per cent said they wanted British troops withdrawn as soon as possible. Sections of the press criticised Mr Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, for orthographic errors in a letter of condolence to the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

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Letters | 14 November 2009

Good relations Sir: Timothy Garton Ash writes (‘I was the man from Spekta’, 7 November) that Britain had a good name in central Europe. Perhaps the British Council played some small part in that. Uniquely in communist countries, the Council in Poland worked independently of the embassy, and with the encouragement of many Polish academics and others and — for all the compromises that had to be made — helped to keep alight the flame of independent cultural relations which are intolerable to totalitarian government. Poles were also grateful to Margaret Thatcher for creating the Know-How Fund. The Council was well placed to help quick and widespread progress to be made with that.

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Christmas Books I | 14 November 2009

Marcus Berkmann I tend to read non-fiction for review or research and fiction to keep me sane. This year I have rarely been more than two books away from another Georges Simenon. I started late last year with three old Maigrets I found on a shelf (fortunately my own), then progressed to the romans durs, fantastically bleak, unforgiving portrayals of psychological collapse, recounted in the old rogue’s characteristically flat, unemotional prose. The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By (Penguin, 1938) is justly revered; Monsieur Monde Vanishes (1952) has recently reappeared under the NYRB imprint; but I particularly admired The Little Man from Archangel (1957), which is out of print and shouldn’t be.

Friday

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The week that was 

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson says the city expects George Osborne to do his duty, and explains why Harriet Harman is the parliamentarian of the year. James Forsyth charts one of the worst weeks in Gordon Brown’s political career, and argues that Brown is in a nigh on impossible position over Afghanistan. David Blackburn says that the government’s immigration proposals do not address the issue that made the BNP popular, and believes that Ken Clarke must serve in a Cameron government. Mark Bathgate argues that the government made two elementary fiscal mistakes that have left the economy not waving but drowning. Lloyd Evans reviews PMQs and sees a parallel universe. Daniel Korski discloses the helicopter reality.

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Spectator/Threadneedle Parliamentarian Awards

As promised, here is the video footage from yesterday's awards ceremony at Claridge's. Politicians, journalists, legendary broadcasters and the Spectator's most prestigious writers attended. You can watch Fraser Nelson's speech and each of the winners' acceptance speeches, including James Purnell's very dry observation that his career has nose-dived ever since this magazine started to back him. Anyway, we hope you enjoy it.

Thursday

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In this week’s Spectator | 12 November 2009

The latest issue of the Spectator is released today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online now. Five articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: A week after David Cameron ruled out a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, hardly a squeak of protest has been heard from Eurosceptics in his party. It’s not because they have accepted defeat, says Fraser Nelson, but because they are deadly serious about victory. After a good meal, Tory MPs like to play a game: guess the first resignation from David Cameron’s Cabinet. One name comes up more frequently than any other: Dominic Grieve. Grieve is not a typical shadow minister.

Monday

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CoffeeHousers’ Wall 9 November – 15 November 

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… | 9 November 2009

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson sees Brown’s Tobin tax proposal for what it is – rank desperation. James Forsyth welcomes a healthy policy development, and ponders a question of dates. David Blackburn thinks that Gordon Brown is scorching the earth beneath him, and says that there is no reason for anyone under the age of 25 to vote Labour. Susan Hill believes that funerals are not what they once were. Alex Massie struggles to see common ground between the EU and the USSR. Melanie Phillips says that Jihadi Denial Syndrome has reached epidemic proportions. And Cappuccino Culture condemns the decline of our war memorials.

Saturday

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Brown’s bank job

It is a shame that Gordon Brown said in parliament that he ‘saved the world’ when he meant to say ‘saved the banks’, because the latter proposition is the more preposterous. It is a shame that Gordon Brown said in parliament that he ‘saved the world’ when he meant to say ‘saved the banks’, because the latter proposition is the more preposterous. After more than a year of throwing our money at the banks, the Prime Minister has fixed nothing. He simply stopped a run on the banks by putting the British taxpayer on the hook for all of their losses.

The Spectator

Trick and Treaty

David Cameron has been a Conservative long enough to know defeat when he sees it. After years of bribing, cajoling and bullying, the European Union has won. It will soon have the powers it asked for when drawing up its constitution five years ago. It has ignored the ‘no’ votes in France and the Netherlands, renamed the Lisbon Treaty, couched it in language so technocratic that even lawyers cannot bring themselves to read it. Its weapon has been utter brazenness that has staggered even Europhiles like David Miliband. It is not ashamed, in the least, by its abject lack of democratic legitimacy. So to hold a British referendum on a Treaty that has been passed, as some Tories still advocate, would be the height of petulance and futility.

The Spectator

Portrait of the Week – 7 November 2009

Mr David Cameron, the leader of the opposition, had to explain why a ‘cast iron guarantee’ by the Conservatives to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would no longer be possible, now it had been ratified. Mr David Cameron, the leader of the opposition, had to explain why a ‘cast iron guarantee’ by the Conservatives to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would no longer be possible, now it had been ratified. The Royal Bank of Scotland will sell 318 branches and the Lloyds banking group more than 600 in a move demanded by the European Commission to avoid a breach of competition rules. Lloyds announced a £13.5 billion rights issue, the biggest ever attempted in Britain, in an attempt to free itself from the government’s asset protection scheme.

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Letters | 7 November 2009

Self-destructive policies Sir: Congratulations to Melanie Phillips (‘The clash of uncivilisations’, 24 October) for exposing the hypocrisy and appeasement at the heart of the out-of-touch, politically correct liberal establishment, particularly among the media and mainstream politicians. New Labour’s self-destructive policies of open borders and multiculturalism are an explosive cocktail, which seem designed to undermine British culture, and have driven frustrated voters into the arms of parties such as Ukip and the odious BNP. Having recently retired from 20 years working in the Middle East, I can verify that the liberal Muslim governments are much more vigorous in pursuing Islamic extremists and are baffled by our weakness.

Friday

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The week that was | 6 November 2009

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson knows that Brussels fears only one thing. James Forsyth says that Cameron hasn’t broken a pledge on Europe, and expects the return of the Tory Euro-wars if Cameron cannot deliver his European reforms. David Blackburn argues that public contempt for political elites extends beyond the expenses scandal, and ponders the lessons of the Nutt affair. Lloyd Evans asks how much longer must we wait. Martin Bright hears a cheer go up in the Foreign Office. Susan Hill urges the Archbishop of Canterbury to address anti-Semitism. Rod Liddle derides the congregation at the Church For Very Sad Polar Bears. Alex Massie thinks that Rod Liddle’s education policy is antediluvian piffle.

Thursday

The Spectator

This week’s Spectator

The latest issue of the Spectator is released today. If you are a subscriber you can view it here. If you have not subscribed, but would like to view this week’s content, you can subscribe online now. Five articles from the latest issue are available for free online to all website users: Walking the corridors of Westminster at the moment is like gate crashing a wake, except for one reason. James Forsyth reveals that the expenses scandal has delighted the Tories – it has kept Gordon Brown in power. The Soviets and the Labour party had one thing in common – to keep the forces of conservatism at bay. This engendered mutual co-operation throughout the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties.