Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

James Forsyth

Can Theresa May satisfy both Boris and the EU?

We are only six days away from Theresa May’s big Brexit speech in Florence. But it is far from certain what will be in it, as I say in The Sun today. The biggest domestic challenge for May, insiders say, is squaring Boris Johnson. I’m told that ‘there is quite a lot of nervousness about

Martin Vander Weyer

The iPhone X could be a feelgood deal

Am I ready to shell out £1,000 for an iPhone X with its exciting new ‘Face ID’ feature? Of course not. Readers may recall I was keen to take several tech-steps back to the retro Nokia 3310 that was relaunched in March — but when I finally plucked up courage to take my unloved iPhone

Nick Cohen

The Thames Water monopoly needs to be challenged

Enough has been written about a Conservative government that knows its electoral success depends on Britain remaining a property-owning democracy, yet offers nothing beyond token gestures to stop the young being priced out of home ownership. Enough, too, has been said about graduates being overcharged, pensioners soaking up the largesse of the tax and benefit

Katy Balls

Ministers told to ‘think carefully’ about Tory conference

With no majority and disagreement rife about what went wrong for the Conservatives in the snap election, next month’s party conference presents Tories with the perfect opportunity to discuss new ideas and ponder the big challenges facing the party. However, don’t expect members of government to partake in the soul-searching. Coffee House understands that everyone from

Katy Balls

Explosion on the Tube – police confirm ‘terrorist incident’

An explosion has been reported on the London Underground this morning. Passengers fled from Parsons Green in panic after a device exploded on a District Line tube at 8.20am. Witnesses at the scene report seeing a fireball hurtle down the carriage – thought to have come from a bucket left on the tube. A number of people are injured,

How to reform the civil service – so it can cope with Brexit

This is the Speaker’s Lecture delivered by Francis Maude on the subject of ‘The Future of the Civil Service’. I’m going to start with two quotes.  One is from a leading civil servant; the other from a politician. First: Our system of a permanent politically impartial Civil Service is one of the jewels in Britain’s

Steerpike

Philip Davies leads by example on equality

In the last Parliament, Philip Davies received a lot of flak after he was elected on to the Women and Equalities Committee. As Davies has vigorously campaigned for men’s rights to be given a better hearing and raised doubts about the intentions of some feminists, some questioned his intention. However, at least Davies remains committed to the committee –

The age of the unicorn question

I’ve been in Los Angeles for the last week, and it takes a special set of occurrences for someone to return to the UK from LA and think that Britain is getting a bit weird. Yet we appear to have managed it. While I was away there was the row about Jacob Rees-Mogg expressing his

Nick Hilton

The Spectator Podcast: Playing the race card

On this week’s episode, we ask whether Theresa May is jumping on a bandwagon by playing the so-called ‘race card’. We also look at the coalitions within our political parties which are being stretched to breaking point, and consider whether doping is the real lifeblood of professional sport. First up: Next month, Theresa May is expected to

Theresa May’s phoney race war is dangerous and divisive

Next month, Theresa May is expected to launch her long-awaited audit into racial disparities in public services. We are being prepared for the worst. Unnamed Whitehall insiders say that they have been ‘shocked’ by the picture it reveals of racial discrimination in the UK. All this suggests the scene is being set for another bout

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn is getting better at political point-scoring

This week marks two years since Jeremy Corbyn was announced as the Labour leader. When he took over, he promised to shake up the way Prime Minister’s Questions was done, to make it more about the voters and less about the political point-scoring. But interestingly, he has now settled into a rather effective political routine.

Steerpike

DUP bat for the other side

Trouble in paradise? After the DUP voted with the government last night to ensure they won a crucial vote that gives the Tories a majority on key committees which scrutinise legislation, today the Conservatives got a taste of what it’s like to really be in the minority. In the opposition day debate on NHS pay, the

Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: Policy pay, child poverty, and Brexit

The news was bad at PMQs today. Gosh, it was terrible. Layla Moran started by announcing that Brexit would jeopardise thousands of jobs in Abingdon and wreck the local economy. Theresa May told her to stop spooking the voters with imaginary pessimism. ‘It’s what they’re telling me!’ shouted Ms Moran. Daniel Zeichner said the scourge

James Forsyth

Yet another no-score draw at PMQs

Jeremy Corbyn has improved at PMQs to the extent that he now touches on the topics that will cause the Prime Minister the most embarrassment. So, today public sector pay and tuition fees both got an outing. But Corbyn isn’t a good enough—or forensic enough—parliamentary performer to really makes these points tell. Theresa May for

Steerpike

George Osborne’s ice-cold revenge

Oh dear. Although George Osborne appeared to offer Theresa May an olive branch in Tuesday’s Evening Standard with a leader praising her work on modern slavery, there’s reason to believe all is not well. In an Esquire profile of the former chancellor, Ed Caesar lifts the lid on Osborne’s plans to use the paper to

Steerpike

Evgeny Lebedev’s peace offering to Theresa May

Since taking on the editorship of the Evening Standard, George Osborne has discovered that revenge is a dish best served daily – rarely missing an opportunity to attack Theresa May and her government. So, Mr S was surprised to see that today’s edition of the paper, not only doesn’t attack the Prime Minister – but

Katy Balls

Labour MPs rebel as the government’s EU repeal bill wins Commons vote

After David Davis warned that MPs opposing the government’s EU repeal bill would be voting for a ‘chaotic’ exit from the EU, the Brexit secretary can take heart that the majority of Parliamentarians took his advice onboard. This morning MPs voted in favour of the government’s EU (withdrawal) bill at its second reading by 326 votes to 290,

Nancy Hatch Dupree, 1927-2017: the preserver of Afghan culture

Nancy Hatch Dupree died in Kabul on Sunday, 10 September.  Nancy Hatch Dupree is sitting in the Gandamak Lodge, the Foreign Correspondents hang-out in Kabul. Most of the other diners, and almost all those propping up the bar, are shaven-headed, gym-going young men in their twenties and thirties: a scrum of adrenalin-surfing hacks and cameramen