The Spectator

The government has promised that from next year everyone aged between 40 and 75 will be offered an ‘MOT’ of their health. The patient most in need of a health check, however, was 60 this week: the NHS itself. To a limited extent the government has recognised the inadequacies of what for its first three or so decades tended to be called ‘the envy of the world’ by using the anniversary to publish the NHS Next Stage Review, written by Lord Darzi, a junior health minister and eminent surgeon. The document is less celebratory than defensive, effectively admitting that the patient has often become lost in an organisation which is one of the world’s largest employers after China’s Red Army.

Some highlights of the week on Spectator.co.uk: George Osborne wants your questions. Maurice Gerard reports on the aftermath of the presidential election in Zimbabwe. Fraser Nelson says that Ken Clarke has watered down the West Lothian Answer , and congratulates Kylie on her OBE. James Forsyth thinks Ed Balls has failed the laugh test, and gives his take on the waterboarding debate. Peter Hoskin observes how Gordon Brown is turning to the Blairites, and wonders whether Alistair Darling is set to axe the 2p rise in fuel duty. Stephen Pollard describes his encounter with a TV producer. Melanie Phillips gives her thoughts on the BNP. Clive Davis tracks the Ray Lewis business. Trading Floor wishes we had a Department for Bad Ideas.

We've added a new linking button to Coffee House - one which takes you through to the latest CoffeeHousers' Wall.  It's about halfway down on the right of any Coffee House page.  Should make it easier to head over to the Wall, and have your say on the week's events. Alternatively, you can find this week's CoffeeHousers' Wall here.

This week's CoffeeHousers' Wall is here. Head over there to have your say on the week's events and to let us know what you'd like to see on Coffee House.

This week's CoffeeHousers' Wall is here. Head over there to have your say on the week's events and to let us know what you'd like to see on Coffee House.

... hare are some posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Maurice Gerard reports on race relations from inside Zimbabwe. Fraser Nelson analyses the "meltdown" that Gordon Brown could face in Scotland, and claims that Wendy Alexander was not up to the job. Peter Hoskin marks Robert Mugabe's disgraceful victory in Zimbabwe's presidential election, and outlines where CoffeeHousers think it all went wrong for Brown. And Clive Davis gives his thoughts on gun legislation in the US.

This week's CoffeeHousers' Wall is here. Head over there to have your say on the week's events and to let us know what you'd like to see on Coffee House. And remember that the CoffeeHouser who makes the best contribution to the wall this week will win a bottle of bubbly.

Hard-won liberties Sir: In an otherwise well argued leading article (‘The old order changeth’, 21 June), you repeat the claim that ‘poll after poll has suggested strong popular support for the 42-day extension’. Well, up to a point Lord Copper! Certainly, the public has been more than happy to support the idea that ‘suspected terrorists’ (a loaded phrase in and of itself) should be ‘held for questioning’, rather than released to wreak havoc on the innocent populace. Why would they not? After all, surely only the guilty have anything to fear from this and similar measures?

This week's CoffeeHousers' Wall is here. Head over there to have your say on the week's events and to let us know what you'd like to see on Coffee House.

A downloadable podcast of last night's Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate - Tax the rich (more) - is available here. James Forsyth's web exclusive report on the debate can also be accessed here.

We've started posting economic analyst Graham Turner's answers to readers' questions on Trading Floor.  You can view Graham's responses here.