Solidarity with the strikers Sir: As a member of the English working class I write to express my approval of and agreement with Rod Liddle’s article (‘Would the working class vote Labour now?, 7 February). I would compare the action of the strikers with those of the shipyard workers of Gdansk in 1980 whose actions
Not all bankers are bad people. Not all banks are surviving only with the support of the billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Not all bankers’ bonuses are rewards for failure. It is important to state these things, obvious though they may be, because Downing Street has undoubtedly poured petrol on the bonfire of rage
Fraser Nelson launches the Spectator Inquiry into the causes of the recession, and reveals where British jobs are going. James Forsyth remembers when Cameron faced down Paxman, and thinks the bankers should learn from Profumo. Peter Hoskin gives his take on the Geert Wilders controversy, and reports on white collar jobs for white collar workers.
We’ve just uploaded David Blackburn’s Web Exclusive report on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate – ‘The era of American dominance is over’. You can read it here.
Head over to Faith-Based, the Spectator’s religion blog, for Theo Hobson’s take on the ‘Red Toryism’ espoused by Philip Blond.
We’ve just posted Theo Hobson’s latest on Faith-Based, an explanation of why Theo views the late John Updike as a spiritual failure.
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 – provided 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
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Martin Bright has joined Spectator.co.uk. Read his introductory post here, and his post on creating a modern New Deal here. Fraser Nelson highlights an important voice on African development, and discusses how government can track taxpayers’ cash. James Forsyth says it’s time for
A failure of fairness Sir: Rod Liddle’s defence of the BBC (Liddle Britain, 31 January) does not stack up. Of course people with close connections to Palestinians, those fully aware of their sufferings and traumas, were in the forefront of calling for the BBC to air the charity’s appeal. How could it be otherwise? Yet
As Britain awoke to the stunning snowscapes of Monday morning, the nation could not make its mind up whether it was on the set of a huge Richard Curtis film, congratulating itself on its social cohesion and snowball-throwing geniality — or whether we were all suddenly locked in a post-apocalyptic nightmare in which no amenities
Fraser Nelson thinks that the Tories’ education policy is transformative, and suggests that we shouldn’t ignore the poverty in our own country. James Forsyth says that the bad war is coming good and the good war is going bad, and gives his take on the Carol Thatcher controversy. Peter Hoskin wonders whether David Miliband has in
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 – provided 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
Israel fuels anti-Semitism Sir: I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians and have participated in every one of the national demonstrations against Israel’s brutal onslaught against Gaza. I have never heard the slogans ‘Hamas, Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas’ and ‘Death to the Jews’ that Douglas Davis (‘The terrible warning of
When an institution is plagued by internal feuds, a loss of public trust and a muddled sense of mission, the elevation of an internal candidate to its helm is rarely a matter for celebration. But the appointment of Sir Paul Stephenson to be the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is an exception to this generality.
Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson reveals how Brown’s fiscal stimulus will destroy jobs, and writes on the neglected war. James Forsyth reports on Brown’s cry for help, and analyses the latest opinion polls. Peter Hoskin picks up on an air of uncertainty at the IFS
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 – provided 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
Daniel Yates provides a British soldier’s view of Operation Cast Lead. Fraser Nelson says Harman’s cunning plan could hit her own side, and wonders whether the green brigade will enjoy this recession. James Forsyth claims that nationalising the banks would just create new problems, and asks: how bad will this get? Peter Hoskin thinks that “cash for amendments”
Islam and the Nazis Sir: Charles Moore touches on an important point when he ascribes a Nazi–Hamas continuum of interests (The Spectator’s Notes, 17 January). While helping Europe Minister Denis MacShane write his recently published book, Globalising Hatred — The New Anti-Semitism, I was numbed by the depths of the relationship between radical Islam and
It is a rich irony that the true audacity of President Obama’s inaugural address was its dampening of hope. Having campaigned under a banner emblazoned with the slogan ‘Yes We Can’, the 44th President’s first act of government was to administer a stiff dose of realism. He had been expected, with good reason, to emulate