From our UK edition
With the Lib Dem party conference kicking off this weekend, Lloyd Evans has written a Web Exclusive preview of what the main party leaders can expect over the next few weeks. You can access it in the Essays section of the site, under the Spectator tab in the navigation bar, or by clicking here.
From our UK edition
We've revamped the design of Spectator.co.uk. There are technical tweaks and improvements aplenty, but three will be of particular interest to CoffeeHousers. First, you can now register for comments by following the instructions here. If you register, it means that any comments you make on Coffee House, and on other blogs, will appear instantly. You can still make comments without registering, but they will enter the moderation queue as normal. Once registered, you can sign-in using the "Login" button at the top right-hand side of any Spectator.co.uk page. Second, we're delighted to welcome Rod Liddle on board as a blogger.
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. Fraser Nelson believes the politics of decline are back. James Forsyth argues that the government’s child protection initiative does more harm than good, and wonders if Brown will last until December. David Blackburn finds Lord Myners not toeing the party line over cuts, and thinks John Denham’s Mosley intervention sensationalised race tension. Martin Bright asks if John Denham should shut up about right-wing extremists. And Melanie Phillips laments Obama's acceptance of Iran’s offer of talks.
From our UK edition
The Afghans would be entitled to feel a little aggrieved at the way the West has criticised their ‘fraudulent’ elections. Doubtless Hamid Karzai rigged the system to get the result he wanted, but in doing so, he was following a fine European tradition. The United Nations are suspicious that Karzai’s share of the vote was, in some areas, 100 per cent. But wasn’t this precisely same result Gordon Brown achieved when he was ‘elected’ Labour party leader after his character assassins had dissuaded all potential rivals from standing? Karzai may well have more support in his country than our leader does in ours.
On the anniversary of the 11 September attacks, Britain has learned just how close it came to its own version. The trial of the Heathrow plotters, three of whom were convicted this week, shows how developed the jihadi menace had become in our country. They planned to bring down six aircraft, in all likelihood killing far more than the 3,017 slain in New York and Washington eight years ago. Given how many of the perpetrators would have been British, it would have been calamitous not just for Britain’s trade but for our reputation in the world. The trial threw up many sobering facts. Britain has, for reasons which we still struggle to understand, the biggest Muslim extremist problem in Europe.
Don’t bank on Osborne Sir: Reinforcing your article on City doubts about Osborne’s economic credentials (Politics, 5 September), a City contact of mine, technically expert in a matter of finance and taxation of central interest to any Chancellor, had a meeting with Osborne a few months back. He found Osborne not only badly briefed and largely ignorant, but disengaged and uninterested in the subject. Neither was he the first, I believe, to have found Osborne arrogant and barely civil. Apart from a very evident need to bone up on economic and City matters, someone in CCHQ clearly needs to make him a present of Dale Carnegie’s famous little book.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts that have been made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: James Forsyth analyses Jon Cruddas's intervention, and reports on Alistair Dalring's public spending speech. Peter Hoskin says it's mission accomplished for Cameron's cost-cutting speech, and claims that Labour will struggle to outflank the Tories on reform. Daniel Korski wonders what will happen next in Afghanistan. Martin Bright says that Labour leadership speculation is back with a vengeance. Clive Davis delivers a Beginner's Guide to Birther-ism. Alex Massie has a question for supporters of the death penalty. Melanie Phillips watches BBC Newsnight plumb new depths of bigotry. And Cappuccino Culture spots a listener-viewer divide.
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 over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: James Forsyth highlights a devastating assessment, and reports that Unite isn't united in its support for Labour. Peter Hoskin wonders whether Alistair Darling will have the spending gauntlet thrown back in his face, and gives his take on the news that Nick Griffin has been invited on to the BBC's Question Time. David Blackburn claims that Jack Straw is contradicting himself over al-Megrahi, and says that Gaddafi is the magnet which sent the government's moral compass awry. Clive Davis reveals Boris's advice. Alex Massie says that Scotland just faces deferred disappointment. And Cappuccino Culture reveals how you can have an arthouse cinema in your living room.
From our UK edition
There’s one present a parent can give a child in modern Britain that they will prize above all others. It’s not a Playstation or a puppy or even an iPhone. If a boy today has any sense, he’ll instead insist on having a certificate diagnosing him with the popular personality syndrome Attention Deficit Disorder. This has evolved from an excuse to behave badly in the classroom to the real-life equivalent of one of Willy Wonka’s golden tickets.
From our UK edition
So who to believe? Saif al-Gaddafi, son of the Libyan dictator, has said that the release of Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi was ‘on the table’ during trade talks with Britain. Lord Mandelson, who was holidaying with the young prince of Tripoli in Corfu a few weeks ago, says such a suggestion is not just wrong but ‘quite offensive’. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, insists it is a ‘slur’ even to suggest that the release of the only man convicted for the Lockerbie bombing would be raised. As this squalid story has unfolded in the last few weeks, it is becoming all too clear that Megrahi was indeed ‘on the table’. The Libyans were told that Gordon Brown personally wished that Megrahi should not die in a Scottish prison.
From our UK edition
For evil to triumph Sir: As screenwriter of the recent film Good, I was interested by the references to it in Kate Williams’s thought-provoking piece (‘We are forgetting great evils’, 22 August). For my part I think the recent spate of films about Nazi Germany has less to do with an ‘obsession with Hitler’ or a desire to ‘excuse those who committed the atrocities’, as Williams would have it, and more to do with events in America during the first decade of this century.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk this week. James Forsyth believes that the government’s handling of the al-Megrahi affair was colossally incompetent, and suggests that a live election debate might be a lifeline for Mr Brown. Peter Hoskin argues that Brown’s fightback is marred by negative stories, and sees some evidence that the Treasury may finally be getting to grips with spending. David Blackburn reviews the Lockerbie documents, and insists that governments tackle illegal immigration. Daniel Korski makes a convicing case for remaining committed in Afghanistan. Martin Bright says that the game is up over the release of the Lockerbie bomber. Clive Davis on the psychology of rage. Alex Massie asks why the SNP did it.
From our UK edition
...here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the bank holiday weekend. Peter Hoskin says the Sunday Times’ revelations about a Lockerbie deal for oil leave the government in very hot water, and thinks that the Tories will have to raise taxes. David Blackburn believes Labour must come clean over al-Megrahi’s release, and urges a future Conservative government to appoint a minister for Afghanistan. Daniel Korski says the Tories must articulate a clear policy on Europe. Clive Davis ponders the existence of God whilst looking at a tray of radishes. Alex Massie delves into the Sunday Times’ revelations about a Lockerbie deal for oil. And Cappuccino Culture watches agog as Tony Blair condemns the pursuit of material wealth.
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
Senator Edward Kennedy lived in the shadow of Chappaquiddick, but his life deserves just as much celebration as it does censure. Like his brothers, he exemplified his clan’s customary mix of vice and virtue, he was irrepressible and impossible to predict. Though a Rabelaisian figure — a great playboy and drinker — he was disciplined and hard-working in the Senate. Though he was born to one of the wealthiest families in America and became a great celebrity, he nonetheless championed the poor and referred to health-care reform as ‘the cause of my life’. Despite being a devout and practising Catholic, he endorsed same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to abortion.
From our UK edition
In contrast to Gordon Brown’s dull and worthy holiday working as a volunteer on community projects in his constituency, there is something rather refreshing about Lord Mandelson’s taste for extravagant vacations on Corfu in the company of wealthy moguls. Moreover, his holidays are a godsend for deskbound journalists in London struggling for a good political story in the otherwise dead month of August. Three weeks ago the business secretary enjoyed a dinner with David Geffen, a wealthy Hollywood producer who along with others in the industry has campaigned against internet piracy. Upon his return to London, Lord Mandelson effected an about-turn on the government’s policy towards internet piracy.
From our UK edition
The Afghan toll Sir: Jonathan Foreman’s article (‘Britain’s forgotten casualties’, 22 August) highlights how the focus on the death toll in Afghanistan eclipses a much wider human and economic cost arising from those many seriously injured soldiers who will require help for the rest of their lives. If you include those who are subsequently affected, often long after their service, by mental health problems arising from what they have endured, the human and economic costs are even greater. However, while it is clear that the government needs to ensure that it responds effectively to this legacy arising from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, it should not be assumed that those soldiers are abandoned at the point where state provision ends.
From our UK edition
Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, on compassionate grounds has caused controversy around the world — in America and also in Britain. Kenny MacAskill’s decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, on compassionate grounds has caused controversy around the world — in America and also in Britain. But though he has deplored the rejoicing on the streets of Tripoli, at the time of writing Gordon Brown had still refused to comment on the affair other than to say that it was not his place to interfere. But while Downing Street maintained its silence, the British public was happy to speak out.