The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Who could object to a statue of Mandela?

From our UK edition

Earlier today, the great and the good were gathered a stone’s throw from the Spectator offices for the unveiling of a statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square. Journalists thrive on disagreement, controversy and dissent, but this statue of a historic figure strikes me as one of those rare things: An Undeniable and Incontrovertible Good. However, in typing those words, I am instantly aware of my naiveté. Who do Coffee Housers predict will be the first prominent person to object to Mandela’s presence in the heart of Westminster? A bottle of champagne to whoever gets it right.

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The tragic fall of Amy Winehouse

From our UK edition

There is something more than usually grotesque about the slow-motion downfall of Amy Winehouse being played out daily in the media. As the singer and her appalling husband holiday in St Lucia, their respective parents are fighting a shameful proxy battle at home, with her father-in-law, Giles, calling on Amy’s fans to boycott her records until she cleans up. She looks pitifully skeletal in the latest pictures, hollow-eyed and miserable. The worst of it is – beyond the horror of watching a human life collapse like a frame-by-frame car crash – is that she is, quite simply, one of the best soul singers of all time, possessed of a voice that bewitches, infiltrates the heart and defies emotional gravity. This is not just another Britney or Li-Lo celebrity rehab story.

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The importance of what Bush is saying about Iran

From our UK edition

President Bush’s statement to the American Legion  that “I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities” is understandably getting a lot of ink this morning. But this is far from the first time that Bush has warned Iran of the consequences of its actions in Iraq. Back in January, he told the American public: “Iran is providing material support for attacks on American troops. We will disrupt the attacks on our forces. We'll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria. And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.

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Paul Keating regrets

From our UK edition

APEC--the group which brings together the countries of the Pacific Rim including the US, Russia, Japan and China--is meeting in Sydney next week and to mark the occasion former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, one of the organisation's creators, gave a speech and an interview lamenting its failure over the last ten years to turn into a regional security organisation. He makes some good points especially about the toxic relationship between China and Japan, which if anything is worse than when he left office ten years ago. Read the whole thing.

Tuesday

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Cameron’s next test

From our UK edition

As Matt, Fraser and Tim Montgomerie have all argued things are looking up for Project Cameron. Peter Riddell in Wednesday’s Times is more cautious but he still thinks that “Cameron and the Tories are no longer retreating” which is progress considering how Brown has swept all before him these past few months. But if this momentum is to be maintained, David Cameron will have to show great political skill in handling the forthcoming John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith-authored policy review on the environment. Already word has leaked out that they are proposing a halt to all airport expansion in the UK. This is a barmy idea and is sure to spark off a firestorm of protest: Iain Dale has already blown a gasket.

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How Cameron can mend the broken society

From our UK edition

Was the Rhys Jones murder just a crime, or the result of a new phenomenon? The answer splits left and right. We’ve heard strikingly little from Gordon Brown – and little wonder. The idea of there being a “broken society” undermines his credo. Has Britain not benefited from ten years of a Labour government dedicated to making things better for the worse off? What about all those child tax credits, those being (ahem) “lifted out of poverty”? Surely these people are all better off? During the Labour years, violent crime has more than doubled. Youth unemployment is higher than under the Tories, lone parenthood is at a record high. These are the three symptoms of what Charles Murray identifies as an underclass.

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What to see this Autumn

From our UK edition

If you want to know what’s coming up in the arts this autumn a good place to look is today’s G2, where critics have chosen the ‘50 hottest acts’. The film Atonement, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, opens on 7 September (I’ve seen a preview and loved it). Other recommendations include: the Royal Opera House’s Iphigénie en Tauride (with Simon Keenlyside and Susan Graham); lots of Sibelius in Manchester and London; Millais at Tate Britain and Renaissance Siena at the National Gallery; and Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse at the National Theatre.

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Boris leads primary race by 60 percent

From our UK edition

Conservative Home’s monthly survey of members reveals that Boris is well ahead of the pack in the race to become Mayor of London. Amongst London members, Boris has 70 percent support while his nearest challenger Andrew Boff is on 10 percent. Of course, the primary is open to non-Tories too. But one has to assume that Boris’s lead will only grow when they are taken into account: his high-profile and maverick reputation means that he must be favourite to sweep up most of those votes.

Monday

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Was Gordon’s 10 point lead a blessing in disguise for Dave?

From our UK edition

John Rentoul points out in a typically sharp column in today’s Independent that Gordon Brown has benefited from the low expectation surrounding his arrival at Number 10. There had been so much said about Brown’s weaknesses that the commentariat had almost forgotten about his strengths and totally underestimated how adept Brown would prove at turning "his pathologies into assets.” However, the tide may have turned with the poll that put Brown ten points ahead. It has become a benchmark that subsequent polls are being measured against. So, today’s poll which shows Labour up by five—which is not bad, considering that the Tories were leading by five in the same poll at the end of May—is being treated as a bit of blow for Brown.

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A consequence of withdrawal

From our UK edition

Newsweek’s investigation into the hunt for bin Laden makes for excellent reading. It gives you a real sense of the trade-offs involving in trying to capture him while not losing large numbers of US troops or destabilising Pakistan. It is a surprise to find Don Rumsfeld who was so gung-ho in his Iraq war planning, acting as the voice of caution here. One detail in the piece should guide us in the Iraq debate. Newsweek reports that: “President Musharraf was wary of his American allies in the War on Terror. In 2002, he told a high-ranking British official: "My great concern is that one day the United States is going to desert me. They always desert their friends." According to this official, who declined to be identified sharing a confidence, Musharraf cited the U.S.

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Advantage Cameron | 27 August 2007

From our UK edition

David Cameron will surely be relieved by the finding in today's Guardian/ICM poll that Gordon Brown's lead has narrowed already to five points. But the much more significant figures are the Tories' leads on crime and health. Turn to this morning's Daily Mail, where a survey conducted for Hillary Benn's Environment Department shows that crime and health are now the voters' main priorities. Last week, Mr Cameron finally found his voice on law and order, matching his concern for the causes of crime with a new, unambiguous commitment to robust punishment of offenders. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister persists with his mantra that "education is my passion, health is my priority".

Sunday

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Our outrage should give us hope

From our UK edition

The more you read about the murder of Rhys Jones, the more shocking it becomes. The combination of a BMX—a symbol of childhood fun—and a brutal shooting brings home just how brutalised our society has become. Jon Swain’s piece in The Sunday Times comparing Liverpool to the war zones he has reported from painfully details this point. But the sheer level of outrage this pedal-by-shooting has generated should give us hope; especially if this outrage can be harnessed to effect a substantive change in our culture. Before moving back to London last year, I lived in Washington for four years where the kind of incident we saw in Croxteth Park on Wednesday night was tragically common but hardly dominated even one news-cycle.

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What the statistics don’t show

From our UK edition

In my Sunday Telegraph column today, I argue that statistics cannot reflect cultural sensibilities, especially in the wake of a horror such as Rhys Jones's murder. But if crime statistics are to be brandished at such a time let them at least be accurate. The Sunday Times reports that - contrary to Jacqui Smith's claim that gun crime is falling - Home Office figures (which exclude incidents involving air weapons) show a fourfold rise since 1998. As David Davis says in his letter to the Home Secretary: "One clear fact on gun-related violence is that if you don't count it, you won't be able to tackle it.

Saturday

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Letters to the Editor | 25 August 2007

From our UK edition

Sir: Jeremy Clarke’s interpretation of J.S. Mill (‘Can working men’s clubs survive the smoking ban?’, 18 August) is, I fear, pretty ropey. His first point, that a non-smoker forced to breath in tobacco fumes is in effect under attack and legislation may be needed to defend him, is easily disposed of. Run of the Mill Sir: Jeremy Clarke’s interpretation of J.S. Mill (‘Can working men’s clubs survive the smoking ban?’, 18 August) is, I fear, pretty ropey. His first point, that a non-smoker forced to breath in tobacco fumes is in effect under attack and legislation may be needed to defend him, is easily disposed of.

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Naipaul on Walcott

From our UK edition

V.S. Naipaul’s essay on Derek Walcott, the great St. Lucian poet, in today’s Guardian review is as eloquent and insightful as one would expect. What caught my eye is a point that Naipaul makes about the whole idea of the  Caribbean as an island paradise. As he writes, that idea of the beauty of the islands (beach and sun and coconut trees) was not as easy as the poet thought. It wasn't always there, a constant. The idea of beach and sun and sunbathing came in the 1920s, with the cruise ships. (Consciously old-fashioned people, like the writer Evelyn Waugh, born in 1903, refused to sunbathe.

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A travesty of justice

From our UK edition

On Tuesday, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, claimed that, in the case of Philip Lawrence’s murderer, Learco Chindamo, ‘we were misled by the system’. That is true: it is monstrous that the 26-year-old Chindamo, who stabbed the head teacher to death in December 1995, will now escape deportation to Italy, the country of his birth. On Tuesday, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, claimed that, in the case of Philip Lawrence’s murderer, Learco Chindamo, ‘we were misled by the system’. That is true: it is monstrous that the 26-year-old Chindamo, who stabbed the head teacher to death in December 1995, will now escape deportation to Italy, the country of his birth.

Friday

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On the road with Sarkozy

From our UK edition

For any politician to allow someone full access to them so that they can write an 'on the campaign trail with' book is always a risk. It says something about Nicolas Sarkozy’s confidence then, that when the French playwright Yasmina Reza suggested doing this Sarkozy accepted without hesitation. Reza’s account is sympathetic to Sarkozy but also details his impatience and arrogance. The book also reveals that Sarkozy’s wife was never with him during the election campaign. Inevitably, Reza was asked by the press if Sarkozy had tried to seduce her. Her answer to the question was wonderfully French, as the IHT reports: "No, he wanted to seduce France.

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The East End Way

From our UK edition

I spent part of this morning on a delightful walk down Brick Lane in east London with the artist and historian Rachel Lichtenstein, recording a piece for the Today programme next week. Rachel, who is a match for anyone in the field of psycho-geography, has a new book out entitled On Brick Lane, which is a majestic oral history of the area, and the first of three planned books on London streets, the next of which will explore Hatton Garden. Rachel’s specific thesis is that social change and middle class entryism has brought to an end a deeply-rooted tradition in this part of the capital city, a tradition that must be recorded for posterity before it disappears. But this is not only a book for those (like me) who are interested in east London history.

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An opportunity to fix the broken society

From our UK edition

When trying to understand the impact of events like the shooting of Rhys Jones, turn to the tabloids. Their readers are the ones who suffer from the "broken society" and are most at risk from the violent crime epidemic and think "it could be my son next". The Sun is at its best today. It declares in a superb page long editorial that this is the time for a fundamental rethink. In the Daily Mail, Iain Duncan Smith provides a compelling analysis. Social breakdown, the putrid oases of deprivation in a booming Britain, has been nurtured by Labour policies. The Sun is using David Cameron's phrase "anarchy in the UK" to sum this all up. As Brown asks what went wrong, the Conservatives must now step forward with the solutions. Their analysis best explains how we have come to this point.

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Hamas’s mask of moderation slips

From our UK edition

Osama Hamdan is the supposeldy moderate face of Hamas. The organisation’s representative in Beirut, he has met with Michael Ancram and is viewed as the kind of man we can—and should—do business with. Alastair Crooke, formerly the EU’s fixer in the Middle East who now runs an influential think tank advocating engagement with groups like Hamas, wrote a very positive piece about Hamdan for Prospect last year. After talking to him, Crooke concluded that Hamas “will be pragmatic in signalling that it seeks a state on land occupied in 1967 and is not pursuing any destruction of Israel.” Yet, this was not the message that Hamdan was giving out in an interview with the Iranian Arabic channel Al-Kawthar.