All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
On this week’s episode of The Spectator Podcast, we look at China’s new veneration of President Xi Jinping. We also discuss the unusual practices of the Palmarian Catholic Church, stars of Dan Brown’s new novel, and wonder why good girls fall for bad boys. First, the Chinese Communist Party has convened in Beijing this week
Deal or no deal? Whatever type of Brexit Britain ends up with, the government should take the prospect of walking away with nothing seriously, says the Daily Telegraph. Yet the postponement of the EU withdrawal bill, which may not now come before Parliament for several weeks because of a looming Tory rebellion, does not bode
It’s no secret that insurance premiums are rising. It’s also no secret that some insurance firms drive customers around the bend by trying to avoid paying claims. Too many won’t offer their best renewal price to existing customers, unless they’re prepared to call up and haggle. Oh, and then there are those sneaky admin fees
So the government has finally worked out that it isn’t a good idea to charge benefit-claimants 55 pence a minute to listen to piped music while they wait for someone to deal with their claim. But how ridiculous that no-one saw it coming, and that it look so long to correct a problem that should
Earlier this week, the New York Times introduced social media guidelines for its journalists. The rules were designed to ensure the paper’s ‘reputation for neutrality’ isn’t damaged by anything its writers might say on Twitter. Is it time for the Economist to do the same? Mr S. only asks because one of the magazine’s Brexit-bashing
PMQs is mostly about parliamentary morale. The general public doesn’t watch it and while they might see or hear the odd clip, the real benefit for a leader from a good performance is keeping their own troops happy. Theresa May’s performance today will have done little to cheer up the Tory benches. Jeremy Corbyn, who
You can see divisions hardening in Britain, like rigor mortis spreading through a corpse. Joints are stiffening everywhere you look. If you doubt me, turn your eyes to the right and notice how politicians and commentators speak as if they are reading from a script, which allows no debate or argument about detail. No Brexiter
Poor old Ian Blackford must have skipped eating his Weetabix this morning. At PMQs, the SNP MP and leader of his party in the Commons took to his feet to quiz the Prime Minister on the government’s approach to Brexit. But when it came to actually saying the ‘B’ word, it seems Blackford had another
Ah yes, our top Brexit negotiating team… Sack Boris! Sack Spreadsheet Phil! Don’t bother sacking Theresa because she’s already had the real P45 from her colleagues as well as the joke one from the prankster; she just hasn’t been asked to leave the building yet. That leaves David Davis as the last man standing but
So far the Government has been acting as if the Brexit negotiations stand a chance of success and that everything hinges on how we approach the discussions and the skilfulness and tact of our negotiators. Only in the last day or so has it reluctantly contemplated the possibility of failure. They could have learnt a
With the Labour party currently leading in the polls, it’s easy to think that the party’s problem with anti-Semitism must have been resolved. However, Andrew Neil was on hand this week to remind the public that this is not the case. In the keynote speech at the Holocaust Education Trust dinner in London, Neil launched
Wednesday’s Opposition Day debate calling for the universal credit rollout to be paused offers a lesson in how quickly Theresa May’s minority government can become unstuck. In an attempt to kill off a Tory rebellion on the issue of the ill-fated universal credit roll out, David Gauke kicked off his morning announcing DWP is scrapping
The enduring image of the fall of Kirkuk is the Humvee. The advancing Iraqi forces rolled into the Kurdish-held city in them and the outflanked Peshmerga clambered aboard them to flee. The US-manufactured military truck is the vehicle of choice for America’s friends in conflict with America’s other friends. Humvees retail for £170,000 but the
Monday night’s Brexit dinner was ‘constructive and friendly’, both sides have insisted. Yet it’s hard to tell what purpose the discussions involving the Prime Minister and Jean Claude-Junker actually served, says the Daily Telegraph. The ‘deadlock’ remains firmly in place, and ‘the best Mrs May managed to extract was that negotiations would “accelerate” in the
A fixed rate bond does guarantee your rate of return – but you have to be prepared to lock up your cash for a set amount of time. Here are this week’s best buy four-year and over fixed rate bonds. Data provided by Moneyfacts.
Amber Rudd had been admirably disciplined on Brexit. She was a passionate Remainer, who performed herself with distinction in the referendum campaign – but then, supported the Prime Minister. Things have been fraught since, and the new dividing line is whether Cabinet members can support the Prime Minister’s official position that ‘no deal is better
Oh dear. About this time last year, as part of its series of predications about how the sky would fall in after the Brexit vote, the NIESR predicted that inflation would hit 4 per cent. This was way out of line with the the consensus, higher than other economist was forecasting. But in the rather
The ultimate purpose of a university is, without fear or favour, to pursue the truth, and in furtherance of that ideal I try, as an historian, to go wherever the evidence leads me. That some folks – even some academic colleagues – may not feel comfortable with the end results is of absolutely no consequence.
Hate crime is up – and Brexit is to blame. It’s a familiar story and one doing the rounds again today following the publication of Home Office statistics on the level of hate crimes last year. The numbers do seem troubling: these offences rose by a third last year, and there was a spike in
Following a weekend crammed with ever more salacious revelations about Harvey Weinstein, hundreds of thousands of women have now taken to social media to share their own experiences of sexual harassment. This is called the ‘#MeToo’ movement, and it’s gone viral, in the way that these things do. According to Twitter, this reveals ‘the magnitude
Theresa May is under pressure from the European Union to spell out more details on what Britain will pay as part of its Brexit divorce bill. The PM has said the UK will honour its commitments – but the EU wants more meat on the bones about what this actually means. So far, the Prime
John Bercow is a big fan of a sporting freebie. The Speaker is a regular fixture in the Royal Box at Wimbledon, and last year Bercow enjoyed thousands of pounds worth of prime tickets to cheer on his beloved Arsenal. Old habits die hard, it seems, with Bercow wasting no time this season claiming some more
Fairtrade or ‘Fairer Trade’? Who knew that the use of a comparative could cause so much fuss? What with Sainsbury’s dropping the Fairtrade label from its own-brand teabags in favour of a ‘Fairer Trade’ label, that’s exactly what has happened. Ignoring the fact that Sainsbury’s actually announced this move back in May, certain commentators (including
At a dinner on Tuesday 26th September at the Spectator’s offices, sponsored by Philips, entrepreneurs, doctors and healthcare experts discussed how new technology could ease pressure on the NHS – and whether the health service was equipped to take advantage of it. Guests included: Naushard Jabir, founder and CEO of Vida, Paul Bate, Director of
No matter how much disruption people might claim that Brexit is bringing to the British economy, in Newmarket at least, the markets don’t seem too bothered. Newmarket is the horse racing capital of the UK, if not the world. And every October thoroughbred yearlings – that is, horses who are classified as being one year
Theresa May heads to Brussels this evening for supper with Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier and Martin Selmayr. The good news for her is that this meeting can hardly be more disastrous than the last time she dined with this trio. Then, a very unflattering account of the meal appeared in the German press and led
Although Theresa May has found herself in a more vulnerable position since her disastrous conference speech – which featured a collapsing set, prankster and bad cough – the Prime Minister can take heart that her MPs are willing to put on a show of solidarity. At today’s Autumn Reception of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
The exit bill keeps going higher and higher. No progress has been made on the Irish border, and not much on citizens’ rights. The talks are deadlocked, and you need an extraordinary level of optimism to imagine that Theresa May talking directly to Emmanuel Macron or Angela Merkel is gong to make much difference to
Oh, the glorious hypocrisy of it all – the dozens of actresses, UN goodwill ambassadors among them, who have come forward to make accusations against Harvey Weinstein – and yet whom said not a word between them when they were on the make and he was in a position to help them with their careers.
The Spectator is hiring. We’re looking for our first full-time social media editor, but one with a difference. We are looking for someone who understands The Spectator’s voice and can present our articles on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms. The social media editor’s responsibilities will include: Developing The Spectator’s social media strategy. Projecting The Spectator’s voice on all forms of
Eat your heart out, Kim Jong-un. As of today, the tubby North Korean tyrant is no longer the most youthful leader on the planet. Sebastian Kurz, fresh-faced champion of the Austrian People’s Party, has won 31 per cent of votes in yesterday’s national election, making him the leader of Austria’s largest party, and the country’s
Sally Jones was a waste of space. The principal purpose of the former British punk rocker turned Islamic extremist was to titillate the British tabloids, who dubbed her the ‘White Widow’ and gleefully reported her juvenile threats to bring death and destruction to the streets of her native London. She did no such thing before
No deal is better than a bad deal – and it’s also better than a Corbyn government, says the Daily Telegraph in its editorial this morning, in which the paper says that if Labour oust the Tories, Britain would ‘become an inward-looking, statist, high-taxing country that would scare away international investors’. The ‘historic opportunity’ gifted
Ever since Labour won over young voters at the last election, the Conservatives have been trying to work out how to do the same. Tory MPs have scrambled around for ideas. Various suggestions have been mooted, ranging from a Tory Glastonbury and a Tory Momentum to lowering taxes for young voters, scrapping historic student debt