It was the Gordon and Alistair show today, rather than the Brown press conference. And Darling did far more than the intro. He jumped into answer questions, with his message – that HMS Britain was built by Labour to weather a world economic storm. He detailed meetings with world leaders, as if to try and
As in Iowa, you can’t help but notice the enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats. This morning Obama drew 3,000 people and no one seemed to mind the event starting an hour late or that a large chunk of the audience had to be located in an overflow room. The majority of the crowd were
Hoggartian paradox The result has been the Hoggartian paradox of programmes that managed to be both, in Simon’s words, ‘scaringly revealing’ and largely covering ‘old and well-travelled ground’. Hoggartian paradox The result has been the Hoggartian paradox of programmes that managed to be both, in Simon’s words, ‘scaringly revealing’ and largely covering ‘old and well-travelled
For the answers to the Impossible Quiz, click here. For the answers to the Impossible Quiz, click here.
An apology Yesterday the Spectator experienced production problems with this week’s issue. This has unfortunately resulted in some errors: namely that the last two words ‘Middle East’ are missing from the William Shawcross article and the Michael Gove article, as featured on the front cover, was not included. Please click on this link to view the
The year 2008 marks the 180th anniversary of The Spectator. The original Spectator, founded by Addison and Steele, ran only briefly from 1711 to 1712, although its spirit lives on in our Coffee House blog. Today’s Spectator was founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, in 1828, and we shall be inviting readers to a series of
Analysis coming up.
The Spectator asked a select group including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Charles Moore, AC Grayling, Jonathan Aitken and Christopher Hitchens if they believed in the Virgin Birth. Christmas is not just about shopping and flirting, eating and drinking, anger and remorse. It is also about the Incarnation. But how many people believe
The awesome mystery of Christmas is contained in the dual nature of the infant Jesus: the knowledge of His almighty power, juxtaposed with the spectacle of His absolute vulnerability in the crib. At this season, we celebrate the birth of the Saviour. But we also ponder the helplessness of the newborn, and the gravity of
Thanks to a special Christmas offer, you can get—or give—a six month subscription to The Spectator for just £39. That’s half the normal price. To take advantage of this offer, click here.
If you’re wondering what to read, see and listen to this Christmas, do check out Clemency Burton-Hill’s sugggestions.
We now have the full audio of last night’s Spectator / Intelligence Squared Iraq debate available. Whatever your opinion on Iraq, it really is worth listening to, the speakers were eloquent exponents of their positions and the questions from the floor were in the finest, robust traditions of British public debate. Also, do read Lloyd
Today’s headlines about how one in five kids is born to a foreign mother overlooks a rather interesting fact. In London, it’s one in two. And these newcomers conform better than natives to what we like to call “traditional” British values – in that far more of them are born inside marriage. When researching my
You can now listen to the Spectator / Intelligence Squared Iraq debate from Methodist Central Hall by clicking here. The cast of speakers is stellar and includes William Shawcross, Sir Christopher Meyer and Tony Benn.
From 6:45pm, listen live on Spectator.co.uk to a Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate on the future of Iraq. William Shawcross and Lt Peter Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom, will propose that the surge is working and let’s win before we leave. Ali Allawi and Sir Christopher Meyer will argue for a staged withdrawal
The US needs the UK Sir: David Howell is certainly correct (Letters, 1 December) in pointing to the massive shift of wealth to Asia and oil producers, a development to which I have repeatedly called attention in my columns for the Sunday Times, most recently this past week. But that, so far, has little to
This is our positively final offer for Christmas, and it’s terrific. Thanks to Lay & Wheeler we have half a dozen French classics, all of which would be very welcome on the Yuletide dinner table, or at a memorable party. What’s more, every one is generously discounted. They are not cheap wines, but they are
‘Sleaze has been the dominant factor throughout,’ declared the opposition, ‘and sleaze has been the end issue. Nothing better encapsulates what people think of this government. Sleaze will be one of the things that brings this government down.’ The opposition in question was New Labour and the government was Conservative. A decade on, with poetic
Nick Robinson has a great little story about when Gordon Brown’s photo shoot with the fashion photographer David Bailey. My favourite story of the week comes from the studios of David Bailey where the daddy of all photographers was taking pictures of the PM for the magazine GQ. “Do you use ever use digital instead
Bob Kagan, one of the smartest and most influential American foreign policy thinkers, has a compelling piece on how to deal with Iran in the Washington Post. Here’s how he starts: “Regardless of what one thinks about the National Intelligence Estimate’s conclusion that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003 — and there is
