Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

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

Charles Moore

The UK must avoid the backstop trap

Theresa May, William Hague and others say that the EU will not want to trap Britain in the backstop because it is not in its interest. It will want to move to a free-trade agreement for its own benefit. If that is so, why is the backstop the thing above all others upon which the

Katy Balls

Is the May-Corbyn television debate pointless?

Theresa May has two weeks to sell her deal to MPs ahead of the meaningful vote on Tuesday 11 December. The fact that Philip Hammond used an interview this morning meant for selling the deal to state that at present there was no consensus in favour of it tells you everything you need to know

Nick Cohen

The quack doctors of Brexit ignore the cure to Britain’s strife

The British are like patients with an incurable illness. Thinking and worrying can do no good, but those who understand Britain’s sickness can think of nothing else. Rationally, we understand there is nothing we can do about Brexit until and unless the balance of forces shifts in Westminster. No one knows what will happen next.

Steerpike

The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards, 2018

Once again, it’s been another eventful year in Westminster, with 14 Cabinet resignations, a seemingly endless negotiation process with the EU, and more than one attempted coup. After making it through mostly unscathed, politicians headed en masse this evening to the Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the year awards, to celebrate their achievements – or lack thereof. Liz

Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2018: the winners

The Spectator’s 32nd Parliamentarian of the Year awards took place at the Rosewood Hotel in London this evening. The awards were presented by Liz Truss. Here are the winners: Backbencher of the year – Maria Miller Speech of the year – Margaret Hodge Minister of the year – Geoffrey Cox Campaigner of the year – David

Steerpike

The Guardian’s fight against a ‘class-ridden society’

In a strident editorial yesterday, the Guardian newspaper made the case for hiring people from a wider range of backgrounds: ‘Divisions between academic and vocational education are symptomatic of our class-ridden society’ the left-wing paper preached from its pulpit. The article then tutted that ‘Four out of the last five education secretaries went to the

Best Buys: Regular savings accounts

Regular savings accounts mean you have to commit to paying in a certain amount every of month – but they can also offer higher rates than most other current or savings accounts. Here are some of the best ones on the market at the moment, from data supplied by moneyfacts.co.uk.

The ‘Islamophobia’ problem | 27 November 2018

This is a good time to bury bad news. And sure enough it turns out that a cross-party group of MPs and peers that includes the failed MP Baroness Warsi has chosen this moment to try to persuade the government to adopt their own definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Long-time readers will know that I have no

Steerpike

Watch: Nigel Dodds’s fury at May

Theresa May has managed to anger quite a few MPs in recent weeks with her withdrawal agreement, but none more so than the DUP, who are livid that it creates regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. And judging by the reaction of one DUP MP in the chamber today, it doesn’t look to

Katy Balls

Watch: Theresa May apologises for queue-jumping comment

When Theresa May stood up at the CBI conference earlier this month and declared that under the new Brexit immigration system, EU nationals would no longer be able to ‘jump the queue’, she met a hostile reaction. The rhetoric led to fellow leaders, MPs and voters going on the offensive over the comments. Today Theresa May

Full text: Theresa May defends her Brexit deal in the Commons

At yesterday’s Special European Council in Brussels, I reached a deal with the leaders of the other 27 EU Member States on a Withdrawal Agreement that will ensure our smooth and orderly departure on 29th March next year; and, tied to this Agreement, a Political Declaration on an ambitious future partnership that is in our

James Kirkup

A Brexit deal between Tories and Labour is just common sense

Despite – or perhaps because of – the fact that I’ve spent most of my adult life writing and talking about politics and politicians, there are still things about politics that I just cannot, on a fundamental level, understand. Top of the list is tribalism, the “my party right or wrong” stuff that reduces public

Theo Hobson

Does Theresa May’s Anglicanism explain her muddled Brexit?

Ever since ‘Brexit’ was first breathed, there have been comparisons with Henry VIII’s break with Rome. At first such comparisons seemed a bit far-fetched, for there are some big differences between the Catholic Church and the EU, and between Protestantism and zeal for Brexit. But now they seem uncannily apt. For it looks as if

Katy Balls

What happens next? Five Brexit scenarios

Theresa May’s deal has been approved by the EU27 but now the difficult part begins. No.10 must work out a way to get the EU withdrawal agreement through the Commons. Given that the number of Tory MPs who have said they won’t support it is past the 80 mark (see the full list here), that

Robert Peston

Will Theresa May’s Brexit deal end up in the dustbin?

Because Theresa May’s Brexit deal has been so long in the coming – almost two and a half years – and has been so comprehensively trailed and leaked, yesterday’s formal ratification of the terms of our departure from the EU and the shape of our possible future relationship with the EU feels like the mother

The trouble with drawing Jeremy Corbyn

‘What would happen if somebody ever came to power that you actually agreed with?’ It’s not a question that troubles most people, but spare a thought for the left-wing satirist who is used to lacerating Tory, Labour and coalition governments with equal ferocity. Yet while I am sometimes asked this question, any party – in government or

Ross Clark

How Macron became the modern day Marie Antoinette

Imagine if David Cameron, at the height of the riots in August 2011, had abandoned London to embark on a speaking tour of foreign capitals to lecture the rest of the world on how European civilisation could help save the rest of the world from ‘chaos’. You now have an idea of what it must

Brendan O’Neill

It is time we civilised the Sentinelese people

John Allen Chau behaved immorally and recklessly when he approached North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal last week. A Christian from Washington in the US, Chau apparently wanted to convert the Sentinelese people to Christianity. The Sentinelese are a neolithic tribe that has had virtually no engagement with modernity. They’re notoriously hostile to

The Gibraltar ‘capitulation’ is nothing of the sort

What has just happened with Gibraltar? The Prime Minister of Spain had threatened to “veto” Brexit but now says he has received assurances – suggesting that something happened this weekend. It did, but it was more about politics than substance. Spain’s PM, Pedro Sanchez, leads a minority government facing important elections next month. His position is weaker

Brexit deal: Martin Howe QC responds to No. 10’s ‘rebuttal’

10 Downing Street has published a ‘rebuttal’ to my article in this week’s Spectator looking at the legal implications of the Withdrawal Agreement. Regrettably, its responses to my critique go beyond making a best case for the treaty. Instead, No. 10 seeks to take advantage of the legal complexities to misrepresent the legal effects of