Stay with Coffee House tonight for all the latest on the local elections. Expect frequent updates, as well as analysis from Matthew d’Ancona, Fraser Nelson, Mary Wakefield, James Forsyth and Peter Hoskin. In the meantime, you can always flick through the briefing that the Electoral Reform Society has put together. When are results coming in? Where are the key battles being fought? Find all the answers in its well-informed pages.
Few questions have divided opinion as much as this one in recent years, Tonight, Spectator.co.uk broadcasts a debate on this topic featuring an all star set of speakers. Arguing for the motion are Matthew Parris, Will Self and John Gray. Opposing it are Simon Schama, Howard Jacobson and Martin Amis. You can listen to it live from 6.45pm, by clicking here.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend: Matthew d’Ancona reflects on how the Carole Capln story could so easily have been about Tony not Cherie. Boris Johnson should urge his supporters to give their second preferences to Brian Paddick argues James Forsyth. A new poll of battleground seats has the Tories on course for a comfortable majority reports Fraser Nelson. And on The Spectator’s 180th anniversary blog, Pete Hoskin fishes an article by Siôn Simon, now a Labour MP, out of the archive which calls on Tony Blair to sack Gordon Brown.
United State of Europe Sir: Your musings (‘England Rides Again’, 19 April) upon the complexity of being English, Scottish or British have, I fear, the relevance of the archangels upon the proverbial pinhead. This is because we are all being ineluctibly subsumed into the coming United State of Europe. This process will accelerate impressively after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, aka the EU Constitution. That is the whole point of the exercise; if you do not believe me, read the text. The rise and rise of the European State must be matched by the decline and decline of its natural and deadly foe, the Nation State; whether that be called Britain, England or Scotland.
Gordon Brown’s dramatic and humiliating climbdown on the abolition of the 10p tax rate averted at least one disaster: the Prime Minister was facing a knife-edge Commons vote next Monday over Frank Field’s amendment of the Finance Bill, and one that might have spelt oblivion if the government had lost. With a panicked series of compensatory measures, and a desperate plea for mercy from his parliamentary party, Mr Brown was able to see off this particular mutiny. But there is still plenty for him to worry about. Next Thursday, the PM faces another vote of confidence in the elections to 135 English local authorities, all Welsh councils, and the London assembly — not to mention the gripping contest between Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.
The Spectator 180th Anniversary blog has been launched. Visit it here. Fraser Nelson confronts the striking teachers, and charts how Labour has hurt the poor. James Forsyth questions the moral authority of the Brownites, and considers the revelation that an Israeli strike on Syria was targeted at a nuclear reactor. And Peter Hoskin observes the feud between Charles Clarke and Ed Balls, and thinks Brown is running scared from further rebellions.
Hillary Clinton scored a solid victory in the Pennsylvania primary. How is Team Obama going to react? Find out over at Americano.
With polls in Pennsylvania having opened - and with everyone expecting a Clinton victory - do check out Americano's guide to how to interpret her winning margin.
Here are some of the posts made over the weekend: Andrew Neil thinks that the abolition of the 10p tax band could cause major problems for the Government. Fraser Nelson points out why Brown has the ex-factor. James Forsyth suggest that Stephen Carter's salary could exacerbate tensions, and asks what you have to do to be sacked by Gordon Brown. And Peter Hoskin thinks that David Miliband and Ed Balls' recent calls for Labour party unity could actually cause divide.
Ad libs Sir: Rory Sutherland provides at least one reason why admen shouldn’t be allowed to run the show (‘Mad Men are taking over the world’, 12 April): they believe too strongly that all behaviour boils down to choice and not constraint. They work in contexts where the choices of people are flexible, trivial and differ little in terms of personal cost, such as buying a bag of oven chips. This is not the norm in policy questions. Most people cannot choose the time they go to work or drop their children off at school, so trying to persuade them to drive an hour later is rather naive. Economists are better at recognising that people make choices under constraints, so perhaps there is a role for them yet in policy-making.
Melanie Phillips makes three allegations about the UK Drug Policy Commission in her 22 May Spectator Blog, “Britain's Drug Wars”. First is that we are a “bunch of self appointed busybodies of no status or authority whatsoever”. As a charity we may be self-appointed but a quick look at our web-site would have shown that our Commissioners are people of significant stature and reputation in their respective fields. Second is that we are “intent on bringing about the legalisation of drugs”. This is an absolute travesty and a wilful misrepresentation of our work which is aimed at supporting a more informed public and political debate about addressing issues of drug policy and practice in the UK through the use of sound evidence.
To celebrate St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday, The Spectator asked some leading public figures for their answers to this vexing question. Here are their sometimes uplifting, sometimes nostalgic replies Joan Collins It’s the politeness that I miss — the civility that was at one time the Englishman’s (and woman’s) global trademark. I took it for granted as a child that men tipped their hats, stepped aside and held open doors for ladies. English people shook hands when they met (gently, not with the enthusiastic bone-crushing squeeze of today) and certainly never hugged or kissed on the cheeks someone they had just met.
On 19 February 2005 The Spectator’s cover bore the arresting headline: ‘Goodbye England’, and the sombre silhouette of a lone huntsman. The issue attracted much attention, capturing, as it did, the sense of something ancestral and precious being needlessly slaughtered, as hunting with hounds finally became a criminal act. This was a feeling that spread far beyond the hunts themselves: a fear that New Labour’s bizarre fixation with a single pursuit symbolised what Roger Scruton so eloquently describes in his book England: An Elegy as ‘the forbidding of England’: the repudiation of its particular institutions, emblems and customs, usually by municipal authorities and liberal elites. Much has changed in the last three years, however.
Fraser Nelson charts Brown's Stateside errors, and implores the Tories to reward the strivers. Matthew d'Ancona claims Harrison Birtwistle's The Minotaur is a chilling masterpiece. James Forsyth points out the shared values of the UK and the US. And Peter Hoskin asks whether purdah only applies to bad news.
Here are some posts made over the weekend: Matthew d'Ancona thinks Gordon Brown is his own worst enemy. Fraser Nelson charts Brown's reign of error. Peter Hoskin tracks the growing sentiment that our Prime Minister won't make it to the next election. And James Forsyth stresses the importance of May 1 to the Government, and reports on the effort to curb Iranian influence in Iraq.
With the headlines dominated by Chinese action in Tibet, Issac Beech's new Web Exclusive article - Reporting from Tibet's cocoon - is essential reading. You can access it here.
Crowded isle Sir: You spell out the complexities of the immigration issue clearly in your leading article of 5 April, but the overriding problem, the nettle that simply has to be grasped, is its effect on the overall size of our island’s population. At more than 60 million it is already uncomfortably large, but a projection of its present growth trend puts it at more than 85 million by 2081! So where on earth is it going to end? Courageous decisions will have to be made by those political leaders whose love of this country is genuine.
A German economist visiting Britain was recently said to have declared himself baffled that a report about rising house prices was deemed to be good news. In Germany, he retorted, inflation in house prices, like inflation in food or energy prices, would be considered quite the opposite. By implication, there is an intellectually respectable case for interpreting favourably this week’s news that the Halifax house price index has plunged by 2.5 per cent, the biggest monthly fall since the depths of the last recession in 1992. House prices in Britain have been horribly overvalued for several years — by 30 per cent in the opinion of the IMF.
Matthew d'Ancona reports on the schools battle. Fraser Nelson identifies Brown's five steps to denial. Peter Hoskin suggests that relations between Britain and Iraq may be at a low ebb. James Forsyth points out how bad things are getting for Brown. And, over at Americano, James also sifts through John McCain's thoughts on Iraq.
Head over to Trading Floor for the latest on the credit crunch, including: Fraser Nelson on the UK's shaky economic framework. And Michael Millar on why it's not all doom-and-gloom in the housing markets.