The Spectator

Tuesday

The Spectator

The Downing Street divide

This front page story in The Guardian about the Blair Brown relationship is essential reading for anyone who thinks that the whole Blair Brown feud is something got up and exaggerated by the ‘feral’ media. It has yet more examples of just how dysfunctional the relationship at the very top of the government was and more on Cherie Blair’s dislike of Gordon. My favourite quote in the article is this one from Brown, relayed by Clare Short, about Blair’s supposed offer to hand over the premiership if Brown would let him take Britain into the euro: “"It's improper and anyway he breaks his word".

Monday

The Spectator

Why we laughed

The death of Bernard Manning marks the end of an era in comedy and will force liberals once again to wrestle with the question: why was a man who ought to have been offensive so bloody funny? Answer: Because he was bloody funny. That’s it. That’s all there was to it. Those who think he was obsessed by race – his prejudice, such as it was, reflected his age, rather than his inherent nastiness - simply underestimate the comic brilliance and range of the man. Try: "I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included." Or: “I went to see Pavarotti sing last week. Terrible, miserable man. He doesn't like you joining in, does he?” RIP.

The Spectator

The shame of Abu Ghraib

This New Yorker piece by Sy Hersh on the Pentagon's indifference to the investigation into the Ahu Graib torture scandal makes for depressing reading, although the general in charge of it does come out as a honourable man. Donald Rumsfeld’s total contempt for reality still has the capacity to shock despite all that we already know about his arrogance and incompetence. One also wonders how we've ended up, and I say this as someone who thinks that the motivations behind the Iraq War were essentially noble, in a situation where we’re reading sentences like this, “[Major General] Taguba said that he saw “a video of a male American soldier in uniform sodomizing a female detainee.

The Spectator

Citizen Cameron

Why Tooting Broadway? Of all the places in London, why would David Cameron choose this decaying corner of South London to launch his new agenda? It is in the public memory thanks to the opening credits of Citizen Smith, where Wolfie Smith started out shouting “power to the people”. And just a few yards away, the man introduced by Francis Maude as “Britain’s next elected Prime Minister” stood to give us his thoughts. Inside the hall (from where I am blogging), almost everyone is white. Outside, almost no one is.  I was actually approached in the street when I walked past, by an usher who reasonably deduced that white people in suits were lost journalists.

The Spectator

Throwing the baby out with the bath water

It seems that as part of the Cameroon mid-course correction, they’ll no longer be talking about being the heir to Blair. I think this is a big mistake, but I accept that I’m probably the only person outside W11 to believe this. Gordon Brown will ruthlessly demagogue any Tory plan for public service reform as really a scheme to privatise /disband / eviscerate the NHS/ state schools / the welfare state (delete as appropriate), the heir to Blair rhetoric provided crucial insulation against these charges and mitigated against the fact that the electorate still don’t really trust the Tories on these issues. It also put the ball firmly back in Brown’s court; challenging him to prove that he wasn’t the ‘roadblock to reform’ etc.

The Spectator

The dangers of doing policy in public

David Cameron’s rebalancing speech is getting strong reviews from Conservative Home, The Telegraph and Iain Dale. The speech is certainly more conciliatory towards his party than much of what Cameron has said recently. There’s no ‘swallow your medicine’ passage in it while the emphasis on marriage will be music to the grassroots’ ears. But I still think there’s trouble ahead for the Tories. Throughout the speech, Cameron emphasises that the policy groups will report soon: this is when the problems will start.

The Spectator

Cameron’s new pitch

A big day for David Cameron. His speech on what divides the Conservatives from Gordon Brown is billed in the Telegraph as the speech of his leadership. Their political correspondent has plenty of advance material, the most interesting line of which is ''We get the modern world, he [Brown] doesn't". This is Dave's strongest pitch: not that he is the "heir to Blair", or that Gordon is a control freak (both of which may be true) but that this young Tory leader has a stronger instinctive feel for what modern Britain needs and wants than his veteran opponent. It's a smart pitch.

Sunday

The Spectator

The pro-European case against a Constitution

Denis Macshane, Blair’s former Europe minister, has an interesting piece in the Observer making the pro-European case against a grand constitutional-style treaty. He argues that Europe is working as it is and that an endless debate about structures will destroy this momentum. His conclusion: “If Blair's last European hurrah is the production of a neat amending treaty, smaller in implication than any of the EU treaties Margaret Thatcher or John Major signed and ratified, he will have done his country, his Europe and Labour's hopes of staying in power a final service.

The Spectator

A special failure

With only ten days to go, the great mystery of the Blair era remains the PM's failure to push Bush harder - or at all - on post-war reconstruction in Iraq. I gather Hillary Clinton regards this is a completely inexplicable failure on the part of her old ally (while understanding his need to stay at Bush's side). The Observer has a good account of what Blair did and didn't know.

Saturday

The Spectator

Letters to the Editor | 16 June 2007

Blair’s conscience Sir: Charles Moore may be correct that Mr Blair wishes to become a Catholic on relinquishing office (The Spectator’s Notes, 9 June). Whether this is appropriate or not is another matter. Throughout his time in Parliament Mr Blair has failed consistently to follow the unequivocal teaching of the Church — on the protection of the unborn child, for instance, on experimentation on human embryos and on civil partnerships. His government was particularly vicious in handling the hierarchy and Catholic adoption agencies over the Sexual Orientation Regulations.

The Spectator

Blair for president of Europe?

The FT has a story today about how Nicolas Sarkozy is touting one A. Blair as a possible president of Europe. I actually think this is distinctly unhelpful for the government, it will be much harder for it to resist calls for a referendum if it looks like Blair is one of the big beneficiaries of the agreement. The whole narrative of a conspiracy against the people will be strengthened by the suggestion.

The Spectator

A novel knighthood

Salman Rushdie's knighthood is bound to be criticised in some quarters, but, in its way, it is a historic moment, a collective rite of recognition for an author who paid a terrible personal price for his readiness to write candidly about the problems, confusions and vibrant possibilities of our post-colonial, mixed-up, multi-faith world. Midnight's Children is still the best exploration of the pressures of these themes, and The Satanic Verses tackled the phenomenon of Islamism long before 9/11 and starred a Bollywood actor long before Shilpa won Big Brother. Click here for an article in which I argued that the Rushdie Affair was the moment the long war really began. Arise, Sir Salman - and congratulations.

The Spectator

Are we bothered?

In describing his relationship with the press, Thomas Jefferson said that he had been ‘used as the property of the newspapers, a fair mark for every man’s dirt’. Yet the third President of the United States was also a zealous champion of press freedom. ‘Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government,’ he wrote in 1787, ‘I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.’ It is safe to say, on the basis of his speech at Reuters this week, that Tony Blair does not share Jefferson’s analysis. The outgoing Prime Minister has been at his most impressive when phlegmatic and philosophical about the media.

Friday

The Spectator

How will Harry Potter end?

Slate has a fun, little piece up on a possible ending to the final Harry Potter story. I expect we’ll see a lot more of these before the book comes out on the 21st of July. Indeed, William Hill are even running a book on who might kill Harry Potter with Voldemort the favourite at 2/1. Personally, I have a suspicion that Harry might just make it through.

The Spectator

Don’t throw the Iraqis to the wolves

In the whole debate over Iraq, this number struck me as important: 77% of Americans think that it is likely they’ll be all out civil war in Iraq if US forces leave. The strongest argument against leaving Iraq is that civil war would follow and it is reassuring to see that the US public accept the danger of it; there is nothing so irresponsible as the argument that the coalition can leave without there being any adverse consequences. Yet, I fear that we’re moving towards a, who cares let’s leave anyway moment—37% of Americans support immediate withdrawal, so already a significant number of people are happy to leave even if it means civil war.

The Spectator

Translating the Merkel Memo

The indispensable OpenEurope has just done a guide to the leaked Merkel memo which appears in The Times today. So it’s official: this is a stitch up. The German presidency makes clear the substance of the old constitution will be enacted, but under different language. As I say in the cover piece, this is a nightmare for Gordon Brown. Whatever is agreed next week will be finalised in October, requiring his signature. If he intends to deny the British public the vote we were promised two years ago, he’d better come up with clear reasons why not.  The British public is firmly and defiantly against further integration of the EU project – just look at the EU’s own research. We’re easily the most Eurosceptic country in the Union.

The Spectator

Johnson is the man to beat

Having finally caught up with the Labour deputy leadership Question Time, I think that the bookies have it right: Alan Johnson must be the favourite. He was head and shoulders above the other candidates last night with the possible exception of Hazel Blears, though her 1st year Hermione Granger-style enthusiasm could grate with voters in a general election campaign. Like Matt and Fraser, I’ve been quite impressed with Jon Cruddas but last night he came across as not quite ready for prime time. Hilary Benn would be a very safe choice but I can’t see him bringing any more votes into the Labour fold. Harriet Harman is a touch too prickly, note how riled she got when Dimleby asked her if she was Brown’s patsy.

The Spectator

The delights of summer opera

Garsington Opera on a warm, damp Thursday evening. I've been chairing a pre-performance talk on La donna del lago between the conductor David Parry and Rossini scholar Philip Gossett, and now I've been given a seat in the orchestra pit to watch the show, as the auditorium is completely sold out. Somewhere behind me, out of view, David Mellor is having a good time - we know this as he says so, boomingly and often, during the interval. Jack Straw is less forthcoming. Down in the engine room you get a thrilling, if very skewed view of what’s going on. The stage is above you and extremely close, the singers looming overhead. I’ve moved from the brass section, fearing for my ears, and am now in with the string players.

The Spectator

How will the violence in Gaza end?

It is hard to see anything good coming out of this brutal civil war in Gaza right now. But Martin Indyk, US ambassador to Israel under Bill Clinton, sketches out a positive—and possible—end-game in the Washington Post today :Whatever transpires, Gaza has become Hamas's problem. It's a safe bet that the real attitude of Abbas and Fatah is: Let Hamas try to rule Gaza, and good luck.This turn of events would free Abbas to focus on the much more manageable West Bank, where he can depend on the Israel Defense Forces to suppress challenges from Hamas, and on Jordan and the United States to help rebuild his security forces.

The Spectator

Contemporary Labour, nice

For some time, New Labour has been looking for a fresh-sounding name for the post-Blair era. I have heard "New New Labour" (too daft), "Neo-Labour" (too close to "neo-con"), "New Labour-Plus" (David Miliband's formula), "Real Labour" (code for "Old Labour") and even just "Labour" (code for "can we stop all this branding stuff please?"). On last night's Question Time special, the Deputy Leadership contenders wrestled with the ideological trajectory of the party and Spectator favourite, Jon Cruddas, came up with the brilliant "Contemporary Labour". I like to think of Jon in the Fast Show's Jazz Club sketch, wearing a polo neck, Gitane in hand, introducing Gordon and his Neo-Endogenous Hepcats with the whispered word: "Contemporary".