The Spectator

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

16:05: So, how does Cameron intend to make British law supreme? 16:06: We cannot hold a referendum to stop this treaty any more than we can stop the sun rising in the morning. And now Cameron lets rip. He points out that the betrayal was Blair's and Brown's, ably supported by the LibDems. The Conservatives have been consistent. 16:08: The Tories will reform the European Communities Act to ensure that such a betrayal never happens again. Every treaty and European reform will be placed before the people. Here is Cameron's Lincolnian paradign, that dominated his Confernece speech again - power for the people is his mantra. It confims his avowed Euroscepticism without declaring war on the EU. There is however doubt about the need for further treaties post-Lisbon.

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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The cow has had it too easy for too long. For years we humans have been jetting across the world, guiltily clutching complimentary snacks, shamed by the feeling that every minute of our flight was damaging our planet’s fragile climate. Our bovine friends, meanwhile, have been openly flatulent, emitting devastating global warming gases without fear of reprisal. Thank goodness then for Lord Stern of Brentford, the New Labour climate change guru who this week has finally focused the nation’s opprobrium where it is deserved. Of course it’s not quite true that every time a cow farts, a baby polar bear falls through the ice, but Lord Stern does have science on his side.