The Week

Leading article

Leader: Gaddafi’s revenge

Not even a month ago, it looked as though Colonel Gaddafi was going the way of Mubarak and Ben Ali — a bloodier process, certainly, but a seemingly irreversible one. Gaddafi’s revenge Not even a month ago, it looked as though Colonel Gaddafi was going the way of Mubarak and Ben Ali — a bloodier

Portrait of the week

Portrait of the week | 12 March 2011

Home Special forces accompanying British intelligence officers in a nocturnal visit by helicopter to territory near Benghazi were detained by the Libyan opposition before being taken off by the frigate Cumberland. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, told the Commons he had known of the mission but not of the operational details. George Osborne, the Chancellor

Ancient and modern

Ancient and modern | 12 March 2011

As the governor of the Bank of England wades into the fray, it does not seem too much to ask of bankers to make it clear they are spending a portion of their bonuses on the Big Society. Those who already are must overcome their modesty and let us know about it. Euergesia — ‘benefaction,

Barometer

Barometer | 12 March 2011

The first bureaucrat David Cameron described bureaucrats in the Civil Service as ‘the enemy within’ and vowed to get their backs off business. It has been a very long battle. The term ‘bureaucracy’ was coined by the French economist Jean Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay (1712–1759). Son of a wealthy merchant in St Malo, Vincent

Letters

Letters | 12 March 2011

Funny idea of fairness Sir: Congratulations to Ed Howker and The Spectator (‘The alternative story’, 26 February) for lifting the lid on the Electoral Reform Society, an organisation that appears to thrive from a conflict of interests. It was our misfortune to encounter the ERS during a controversial campaign at the Royal Geographical Society in