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We've just uploaded Lloyd Evans's Web Exclusive report on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared event - Howard Jacobsen discussing his novel 'The Act of Love' with Peter Florence. You can read it here.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk... Fraser Nelson asks whether Cameron's VAT plan is legal. James Forsyth claims that the Office of Budget Responsibility could be a useful political shield for the Tories, and points out that the real economy will soon be hit by the crisis. Peter Hoskin suggests that the Cameroons need to be blunter, and asks what to make of Phil Woolas's immigration claim. Clive Davis reports on Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. Melanie Phillips writes on Winston Smith's Britain. And Americano wonders whether the financial crisis has catalysed the globalisation process.
Our story Sir: Your political editor writes (‘Peter v. George is the key battle’, 11 October) that Peter Mandelson’s conversation on Corfu where he ‘dripped pure poison’ about Gordon Brown was leaked to the press within hours and only later became front-page news. In fact only one paper broke the story initially, the Sunday Times. This is an interesting example of what is known in the trade as the Watergate defence. Everyone ‘knew’ American presidents authorised bugging so Woodward and Bernstein’s stories were no stories at all. There may be a difference in the scale of the revelations but the same principle applies. A scoop is a scoop.
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Coffee House is offering internships to students and recent graduates. Successful applicants will be able to write for Coffee House, work on the website, and experience behind-the-scenes life here at The Spectator. For more information contact phoskin @ spectator.co.
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States with their respective electoral college votes — 270 votes are needed to win Click here to download the map which featured in the US Election supplement. Nevada:This has been the fastest- growing state in the union since the second world war. McCain used to have a comfortable lead here but with almost half of voters saying that the economy is the most important issue, Obama has surged. McCain needs this state to come back into his column before election day. Colorado: The Rocky Mountain west is regarded as the emerging battleground of American politics. The Democrats cleverly decided to hold their convention in Denver, winning acres of positive local press coverage and since the convention, Obama has begun to pull away.
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The financial crisis is affecting the nominations for the inaugural Spectator Readers’ Representative with Vince Cable receiving more support than a semi-nationalised bank. Dr Peter Roberts sums up the sentiments of many when he proposes Cable on the grounds that he is ‘the only British politician who has emerged with any credit from the recent (and continuing) debacle’. A. Warmington nominates that supposed man of the hour Gordon Brown for ‘the deft footwork and brazen chutzpah whereby he now is claiming credit for fixing the banking crisis and being the Great Helmsman guiding us through these choppy waters — whereas in reality he is saddling us all with mountainous debts for decades to come’. Daniel Hannan, MEP, has his supporters.
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From their vantage point in the celestial senior common room, John Maynard Keynes and John Kenneth Galbraith must be observing current events, if not with pleasure, then at least with the satisfaction of those whose ideas have unexpectedly been retrieved from history’s wastepaper basket. Having watched financial markets repeat the spiral of recklessness, delusion and collateral damage that he first observed in 1929, Galbraith will no doubt have recalled his condemnation of ‘the euphoria of self-conceit’ and his view that free-market economics were never more than a rationalisation of vested interests by a greedy elite.
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Fraser Nelson reveals Gordon Brown's new plan to bring down national debt, and begins the illustrated guide to the Brown bust. James Forsyth asks whether there'll be a manifesto commitment to privatise the banks, and reports on the demise of 42-day detention. Daniel Korski says the appointment of Sir General David Richards as head of the British Army is a good thing. Stephen Pollard laments the awful West End. Melanie Phillips analyzes the culture war for the White House. Clive Davis imagines Gordon Brown as Sonny Liston. Trading Floor writes on environmental crime. And Americano asks whether John McCain's performance in the latest Presidential debate was too little, too late.
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As Iain Martin says you couldn’t make up the fact that the Audit Commission has £10 million in Icelandic banks. Oxford University also has £30 million in Icelandic banks, the BBC reports.
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We’ve just posted up Lloyd Evans’s review of Thomas Friedman’s talk at Intelligence Squared last night on his new book, Hot, Flat and Crowded. Why the world needs a green revolution and how we can renew our global future. It is well worth reading.
The blame game Sir: While I do not flinch from looking on the Clinton era as a disaster for its neglect of the threat to global security posed by bin Laden et al and the tacit encouragement of Enron-style corporate accounting, I think blaming the Democrats for the credit crunch may be going a little too far (‘Clinton is to blame’, 4 October). The politically correct housing agenda described in Dennis Sewell’s article was not conducted in secret, or if it was it would be difficult to imagine that the post-Watergate right-wing media in the US would have allowed it to be secret for long.
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Nominations continue to roll in for the inaugural Spectator’s Readers’ Representative. This week saw several MPs nominated for their campaigning work. Richard Hamilton proposes Nadine Dorries. Hamilton commends Dorries for addressing the issue of term limits for abortion with a ‘tenaciousness and passion that caught the public’s attention in a remarkable way’. He applauds her for explaining how the 1967 legislation has resulted, against the intent of the original act, in half a million abortions being carried out each year and for her courage in carrying on in the face of hostility from her opponents. Iain Duncan Smith is nominated by Adrian Fry.
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The Spectator on the Government's £50 billion bailout Though largely forgotten now, the headlines ten years ago this week had an uncanny resemblance to those of the past few days. There was an emergency bail-out, demands to slash interest rates, bankers warning that the world’s economic system was in danger of systemic collapse — countered by disgusted voices warning that nothing good would come of using taxpayers’ cash to prop up failed financiers. The only difference was the scale. The bail-out of the collapsed hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management in 1998 cost US taxpayers $2.3 billion. This week’s bail-outs will cost US taxpayers $700 billion and British taxpayers £50 billion.
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Andrew Neil reveals what Russia hope to gain from a deal with Iceland. Matthew d'Ancona reports on "That one"-gate, and observes that George Howarth has cemented the truce. The Skimmer takes on Gordon Brown for his delusions of grandeur. Theo Hobson argues that the Archbishop of Canterbury outclasses the atheists. Fraser Nelson gives his reaction to PMQs, and has a list of questions about the Government's bailout package. James Forsyth predicts that Brown won't be smiling for long, and claims that Tory economic thinking isn't discredited by the current crisis. Peter Hoskin says the early signs aren't promising for Brown's get-out plan, and praises Nick Clegg's performance in PMQs. Stephen Pollard highlights some British understatement.
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We’ve uploaded a Web Exclusive report by Lloyd Evans on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate: “Heathrow needs a third runway”. You can read it here.
From our UK edition
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Matthew d'Ancona reveals that Peter Mandelson consulted Tony Blair about his return to government. Theo Hobson defends the Church of England. Fraser Nelson highlights an encouraging poll for the Tories, and asks whether the Mandelson gamble will pay off for Brown. James Forsyth looks into Peronigate, and rails against the salary being paid to the head of Newham council. Melanie Phillips gives her take on the departure of Sir Ian Blair from the Met. Clive Davis details how not to behave on a train.
The Church is culpable too Sir: Will Rowan Williams start his call for ‘fresh scrutiny and regulation in the financial world’ (‘Face it: Marx was partly right about capitalism’, 27 September) by glancing at the institution he heads? I am told that the 2007 Church of England target for its investment arm was 6 per cent above Bank of England base rate. It should have been clear to the Archbishop that this could not be achieved without the Church getting involved in the murky world of City finance. The Church of England was made to look even more ridiculous when the Archbishop of York called short-sellers ‘bank robbers and asset strippers’.
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Nominations for the inaugural Spectator’s Readers’ Representative award are now open. The entries received so far show that there are at least some elected officials who have earned both the trust and respect of their constituents. Oliver Mitchell puts forward Dr Julian Lewis, part of the shadow defence team. Mitchell, 19, met Lewis at the Festival for Heroes event and was touched by the interest that Lewis took in him. Mitchell concedes that his view is biased but says ‘were more MPs able to make so positive an impression in one chance meeting, the faith in politicians of the public and armed forces might be restored’. Gary Powell nominates Anne Milton, the MP for Guildford.
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The latest news in the financial crisis is that, after weeks of blame-calling by all parties — generally misdirected, as Dennis Sewell argues in our cover story — a single culprit has at last been identified. It is human nature — that incorrigible force which makes us want too much of a good thing when it is within easy reach, and makes us dangerously complacent about risk when the going is good. It was human nature that made bankers behave irresponsibly when their judgment was warped by the temptation of giant bonuses; it made homebuyers and credit-card holders overreach themselves when they were offered too much cheap credit; it made politicians overborrow and encourage market folly when they thought it would buy them electoral popularity.
From our UK edition
We’ve uploaded a Web Exclusive report by Lloyd Evans on the latest Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate: “Georgia and Ukraine should be allowed to join Nato”. You can read it here. Matthew d’Ancona says that David Cameron’s speech was that of a Prime Minister in waiting, and gives his take on Peter Mandelson’s astonishing return to Government. Fraser Nelson details your secret £67,300 second mortgage, and claims that Damian McBride’s removal from the frontline will leave Gordon Brown weaker. James Forsyth reviews the glowing press coverage of Cameron’s speech, and suggests the Tories need a top-quality politician to shadow Ed Miliband.