Tonight, Spectator.co.uk broadcasts the latest debate in the Spectator / Intelligence Squared series. From 6:45pm, listen to John Redwood, Nigel Lawson, Tim Harford, David Rieff, Eric Bettellheim and Frances Cairncross discuss whether carbon trading can combat climate change without hurting economic growth. You can listen to the debate here and have your say by voting in our
We’ve just posted a great piece by Martin Vander Weyer on the dangers to capitalism of the kind of huge pay-offs that the departing boss of Merrill Lynch is set to receive. You can read it here.
First we had the Saudi King declaring that Britain had not done enough to tackle the threat of terrorism which may be true but considering Saudi Arabia’s continuing role in exporting extremism, the King might want to consider the log in his own kingdom before going looking for specs in other countries. Now we have
As I predicted yesterday, Michael Gove’s speech to the Bow Group this morning was a belter: as trenchant and subtle an analysis of Gordon Brown’s politics as any Tory politician has yet made. The Gover launched his attack more in sorrow than in anger – and it was all the deadlier for that. Look at
Steve Richards, one of the unmissable voices of the centre-Left, has an interesting column in today’s Indy in which he takes issue with Fraser over immigration. If those on the Right who welcome immigration concede that more and better public services will be required, asks Steve, surely we are conceding the Left’s point that more
Have we had the full story about foreign workers? Peter Hain has admitted the figure of those arriving here since 1997 is 1.1 million, not 800,000, and Caroline Flint said on the radio she would like to “acknowledge” that this makes up 8% of the workforce. As many newspapers observe today, this means of the
There is much upset over the news that the government underestimated by 300,000 the number of immigrants working in this country. Yet, this is hardly surprising considering the appalling quality of official statistics when it comes to migration. The International Passenger Survey, one of the key metrics that the governments uses, was based in 2004
Jim Hacker, immortalised forever in the classic BBC comedies Yes, Minister and Yes Prime Minister prepares to deliver a Prime Ministerial televised address to the nation. But what, if anything, should he say? And how should he say it? Plus, reflections on media management, clothing, make-up and much much more in this classic clip. Verily,
Megan on the horrors of travelling in the United States these days: You know, I never really understood why making the trains run on time was so important for Mussolini, but after last week, I can understand how that became one of fascism’s main selling points. She kids, of course. I’ve always thought, however, that
If you want to see how real the danger of the West losing Turkey is, examine these poll numbers. The United States’s favourability rating is down to 9%- from 52% in 2000. The European Union’s favourability rating has fallen from 54% in 2004 to 27% today. Turks are now more hostile towards Westerners than either
Bruce Anderson rides to David Cameron’s support over foreign policy in today’s Independent. In the piece, he writes that two key members of the shadow cabinet, Liam Fox and Michael Gove, are among the half-dozen or so neo-cons who still exist in British political and journalistic life. But this seems to ignore the shadow cabinet’s
A very good speech on demography from Cameron, I thought. Perhaps, the clearest and widest-ranging one delivered by any frontbench politician so far. “Demographic change” is better than the I-word (as Jon Cruddas says). The “atomisation of society” is a major factor in housing pressure, and shows the relevance of his pro-family stance. It was
Huge excitement at Tory HQ over a speech which Michael Gove will deliver tomorrow on Gordon Brown’s politics. It is meant, I am told, to be seen both as the “definitive” take on Gordon-so-far and as a companion piece to David Cameron’s speech on immigration today – a measure of how (justly) high Gove’s stock
Nicolas Sarkozy walking out of his interview with 60 Minutes when asked about relations with his then wife Cécilia is creating waves. It is tempting to see the incident as a classic example of the culture clash between the prying Anglo-Saxon media and the Gallic belief in a public figure’s right to privacy. But what it
Two big movies on release at the moment – Michael Moore’s Sicko and the thriller Rendition – have in common a deep strand of American self-loathing. Say what you like about Moore: his films are awesomely powerful and well-constructed. And who can doubt that his target this time – the US health system – is
I had thought David Cameron would shy away from immigration. That the scars of the 2005 campaign would keep him away from it just as Letwin’s 2001 disaster left him too traumatised to ever consider tax cuts again. Yet today at 11.15am at Policy Exchange, Cameron will give a keynote speech on immigration – the
The latest revelations from the Anthony Seldon book reveal just how much Tony Blair was weakened by his diminished majority following the 2005 election. The Times reports that not only was Blair forced to abandon his plans to reform the Treasury and possibly move Gordon Brown, but also saw John Prescott and others thwarting his
This New York Times piece by Eric Asimov has, for British readers, a certain charm. It’s rather like seeing the world through alien eyes. My what strange yet wondrous habits you quaintly old-fashioned humans have: I WAS sitting at a noisy bar on a beautiful fall afternoon, watching the bartender work, and she was indeed
Well, who’d have thunk it? According to today’s New York Times: Obama Promises a Forceful Stand Against Clinton In classic NYT fashion here’s something a little Pooterish about the headline of course. But still, it’s somewhat remarkable that just eight weeks before the Iowa caucuses the leading challenger has to be prodded and cajoled into,
Via Arthur Goldhammer – curator of the excellent French Politics blog which has become an invaluable resource for keeping up to speed with Sarko et al – comes this splendid illustration of the benefits of a Harvard education. As Mr Goldhammer says, “Note the translation of Hautes Etudes”: Mr Goldhammer also draws one’s attention to