The Spectator

Saturday

The Spectator

The terracotta PM

From our UK edition

Number Ten has been sending a steady stream of visitors to the British Museum to see its exhibition of the First Emperor of China and his terracotta army. Quite right, too: the show is simply stunning, one of the wonders of our time, and an experience you dare not miss (see Andrew Lambirth's review here and go here to book tickets). Rudy Giuliani was at the exhibition last week, no doubt planning his own terracotta Delta Force should he become President. And I have no doubt that Gordon Brown, who opened the show, has found much to admire in Qin Shihuangdi (r.

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Douglas Alexander admits Cameron is asking some of the right questions

From our UK edition

                  In a Guardian interview this morning, Douglas Alexander let something interesting slip. Amidst the usual rubbishing of the opposition, Alexander says this about David Cameron: “Over the past 18 months he raised a lot of expectation by asking a lot of questions that people in Britain are asking, but in the past few weeks he has disappointed by failing to answer those questions with credible policies." What’s interesting about this is that Alexander is essentially admitting that Labour is vulnerable on various issues. The challenge for the Tories is to come up with the kind of policies that can capitalise on these weaknesses.

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Ian Gilmour RIP

From our UK edition

Less than a year since the death of Frank Johnson, the Spectator has lost another of its family. Last night, the death of Ian Gilmour, who was our proprietor and editor from 1954 to 1959, was announced, and all at the magazine grieve for his passing and send our condolences to his family. In later life, Ian was best known as a staunch and eloquent critic of Thatcherism, whose book, Dancing with Dogma, impressed even those, such as myself, who disagreed with its central thesis. But he was also a crucial protagonist in the history of the Spectator and his carpet - worn down by the pacing of Alexander Chancellor - was a feature of the editor's office for many years.

The Spectator

There may be trouble ahead

From our UK edition

Extraordinary measures are sometimes necessary to quell the madness of crowds. When Diana, Princess of Wales’s mourners threatened to vent their angry grief on the institution of monarchy itself, it became necessary for the Queen to speak directly to her people. Extraordinary measures are sometimes necessary to quell the madness of crowds. When Diana, Princess of Wales’s mourners threatened to vent their angry grief on the institution of monarchy itself, it became necessary for the Queen to speak directly to her people. As the run on Northern Rock gathered momentum on Monday and panic-stricken depositors threatened to vent their anger on the government, there were only two possible responses.

Friday

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Labour conference coverage on Coffee House

From our UK edition

From Sunday, Coffee House will have extensive coverage of the Labour Conference. Jon Cruddas, who ran such a strong campaign for the Labour deputy leadership, will be writing a conference diary for us; giving us his thoughts on what's going on in the hall and on the fringe.  We’ll also have reports on all the developments in Bournemouth from Matthew d’Ancona and Fraser Nelson and a review of Gordon’s big speech from Lloyd Evans.

The Spectator

Who should carry the can for the bank run?

From our UK edition

If you’re trying to figure out who should be blamed for the whole Northern Rock debacle, do read Martin Vander Weyer’s column today. As Martin argues, Northern Rock is in large part responsible for the mess it got itself into to while the Financial Services Authority also deserves blame for sitting on its hands after it became aware of the potential problem. But the crisis has also demonstrated that the regulatory system that Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling set up in 1997 is not fit for purpose.

The Spectator

Will Brown go early to avoid the voters’ verdict

From our UK edition

Andrew Porter has a must-read story on the chances of an early election in the Telegraph this morning. He reports that Brown will not decide whether to call an early election until after the Labour conference. Interestingly, Labour advisers seem to believe that an election called this year would be a ‘mandate poll’ which would allow Brown to run on his plans for the future. While if Brown delays, he’ll have to fight a verdict campaign that would require him to defend Labour’s record in office since 1997. I’m not sure that the split is this neat but it does seem that the chances of an early election are once more on the rise. If the Labour lead is in double digits after Bournemouth, then the speculation will reach fever pitch.

Thursday

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US Defense Secretary doesn’t know if it was right to invade Iraq

From our UK edition

If you want an idea of how far the Iraq debate has shifted since 2003 consider this exchange between David Brooks, The New York Times columnist, and Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defence appointed by President Bush in late 2006 after he finally got rid of Donald Rumsfeld: “I don’t think you invade Iraq to bring liberty. You do it to eliminate an unstable regime and because sanctions are breaking down and you get liberty as a byproduct,” [Gates] continued. I asked him whether invading Iraq was a good idea, knowing what we know now. He looked at me for a bit and said, “I don’t know.” This is an interesting shift as it used to be an article of faith for the Bush administration that it would do it all over again.

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Ming places Lib Dems decisively to the left of Labour

From our UK edition

 Ming Campbell’s speech to conference just now removed any doubt about where the Lib Dems fit on the political spectrum. In a passage criticising Gordon Brown he charged that “New Labour remains Blue Labour” and throughout Campbell sought to place himself to the left of Labour. Overall, the speech was strong with well-delivered jabs at both Brown and Cameron. His joke about Cameron that “Margaret Thatcher would have to concede: He turns if you want him to. The laddie's all for turning” should get him some good play on the evening news. While his litany of Brown’s failings was powerfully delivered.

The Spectator

What Cameron is missing

From our UK edition

It was great to see Baroness Thatcher on such good form at the Rudy Giuliani dinner last night and with some choice words about the decision to bail out Northern Rock. I suspect David Cameron is quite pleased she doesn’t do public speaking any more. She told me a few months ago that “you can’t have stability without tax cuts,” a wonderful inversion of the current Tory mantra. Notice how Giuliani (and Fred Thompson) crosses an ocean to be pictured with The Lady an opportunity which Mr Cameron has conspicuously failed to avail himself of. His loss. When I saw Conservative Home’s Tim Montgomerie amongst the dinner guests, I decided not to rush to blog. As I suspected, his entries tell you all you need to know about the evening.

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Has Britain failed Zimbabwe?

From our UK edition

On Wednesday night, The Spectator and Intelligence Square hosted a debate on the motion of whether or not Britain has failed Zimbabwe. You can listen to the whole debate via this link and have your say by voting here. The motion in the hall was carried by 455 votes to 203. The Spectator’s theatre critic Lloyd Evans reviews the debate here.

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THE SPECTATOR VERSUS THE GOVERMNENT: NOW HAVE YOUR SAY

From our UK edition

It has always seemed to me that the controversy over the EU Reform Treaty and the Government’s refusal to hold a referendum was more about honesty and transparency than sovereignty and European integrationism. That was the essence of The Spectator’s call last week for a popular vote, under the headline “Vote for Honesty”. I am amazed that a Government so supposedly committed to restoring trust and building a “new politics” based on consultation, dialogue with the electorate and Citizens’ Juries can be so cavalier about ditching its pledge in the 2005 manifesto to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Listen live

From our UK edition

You can now listen to the inaugural Spectator / Intelligence Squared debate via this link. The motion is ‘Has Britain failed Zimbabwe.’ Update: At the debate the motion was passed by 455 votes to 203. You can vote here.The Spectator's theatre critic Lloyd Evans reviews the debate here.

The Spectator

Gordon has reason to fear Cherie’s pen

From our UK edition

Following on from Fraser: if I was Gordon, the news that Cherie is writing her memoirs would be one pre-conference headline I would not be happy about. The Campbell diaries were quite openly and systematically edited to avoid embarrassment to Prime Minister Brown. I would be amazed if Tony Blair’s autobiography is an exercise in score-settling. First, as I wrote in my Sunday Telegraph column at the weekend, the two men are getting on better than they have for many years. The arch-Brownite Ed Balls, once a ferocious critic of the ex-PM, has been telling colleagues that he hopes his new report on the prospective economic regeneration of the Palestinian territories will be of help to “Tony” in his new role as Middle East envoy.

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Coming soon: Cherie Blair’s memoirs

From our UK edition

You have to hand it to her. Cherie Blair has beaten her husband to it, and signed a book deal. Blair hasn't event started writing up his memoirs, but there's cash to be had so the "bolshie scouser" (copyright T. Blair) is wasting no time. Read all about it at The Bookseller. Can any Coffee Housers help her our with possible chapter headings?

The Spectator

Join the debate

From our UK edition

Tonight, The Spectator and Intelligence Squared are hosting the first in a series of debates. This evening’s topic is Zimbabwe and an all star cast of speakers will be debating the motion ‘Britain has failed Zimbabwe’ at the Royal Geographic Society here in London.  If you can’t make the debate in person, never fear. We’ll be broadcasting it live on the site via this link from 6.45 pm onwards and a recording of the debate will be available to listen to from 9pm. Lloyd Evans, The Spectator’s theatre critic, will also be penning a review of the event which we’ll be posting on the site later this evening. Once the debate has finished, you can have your say by voting in our poll on the question which is available here.

The Spectator

These polls really are awful for the Tories

From our UK edition

The details of the polls this morning make for even grimmer reading for the Tories than the headline figures. Populus reports that, astonishingly, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling’s lead over David Cameron and George Osborne on the economy has actually grown in the past ten days from 34 points to 38. While the ICM poll finds that Labour is now ahead on all nine key issues. The lead on the economy is a whopping 25 percent and the Tory advantage on health, which was always more a function of dissatisfaction with Labour’s handling of the NHS than anything else, has now disappeared to be replaced by a 13 point Labour one. To round things off, anti-Tory sentiment still persists.

Tuesday

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Tories down by eight in new ICM poll

From our UK edition

The latest poll news isn’t good for David Cameron. ICM has the Tories eight points behind Labour and Cameron with the worst personal ratings of all the party leaders. The Lib Dems will be cheered to find themselves hitting that psychologically important 20% mark while Labour will be buoyed by reaching the 40% level. Grim as this news may be for the Tories, and the word is that there is more bad news to come, there is no need for panic. The Northern Rock crisis has probably killed off any remaining prospect of an Autumn election—if the Tories couldn’t make the idea that Brown is going now because everything is about to collapse stick after the events of the past few days then they don’t deserve to win—which means that politics becomes a long game once more.

The Spectator

What to read in The New York Times

From our UK edition

As Clive noted earlier, the whole of the New York Times will be free online from midnight tonight. I’d thoroughly recommend that you take the opportunity to start reading David Brooks, his column runs on Tuesday and Fridays.  As well as being America’s most perceptive conservative commentator, Brooks writes absolutely fascinating stuff about the brain. Here’s something from this Friday’s column on the declining importance of IQ: “One of the classic findings of [how IQ can be affected by the social environment] was made by H.M. Skeels back in the 1930s. He studied mentally retarded orphans who were put in foster homes. After four years, their I.Q.'s diverged an amazing 50 points from orphans who were not moved.