Amid the wreckage of this week’s floods the most depressing comment came from a government scientist who called for a national register of bridges. If we had a register, he argued, the relevant authorities might in future be better able to predict which bridges are likely to go the same way as Workington’s two went
Having been reprimanded by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom for a clutch of on-air errors, this report is just the most recent evidence that the Corporation is now form-filling when it should be programme-making. At times it is as if the viewers are receiving a service that incorporates all that is undesirable: a costly administration unable
It is now 12 years since the Queen was first obliged to enter the Palace of Westminster and deliver a speech studded with the most awful New Labour clichés. Over the years, Her Majesty’s dismay during the state opening of parliament has become steadily more visible — and little wonder. As Labour ekes a fifth
Sympathy for Gordon Brown is not a common emotion in Westminster, but this week only the coldest heart could fail to feel for the Prime Minister. It is mortifying to have misspelt the name of a fallen soldier, even if the mistake was minor. To have his misery played out in front of the national
There is something about ‘compassionate conservatism’ that infuriates the Labour party, as if the very phrase were a deceitful contradiction in terms. The notion sends Gordon Brown into apoplexy. He can handle the Tories talking about economic efficiency or immigration, but he regards concern for the poorest as a subject purely for Labour. And for
It is a shame that Gordon Brown said in parliament that he ‘saved the world’ when he meant to say ‘saved the banks’, because the latter proposition is the more preposterous. It is a shame that Gordon Brown said in parliament that he ‘saved the world’ when he meant to say ‘saved the banks’, because
David Cameron has been a Conservative long enough to know defeat when he sees it. After years of bribing, cajoling and bullying, the European Union has won. It will soon have the powers it asked for when drawing up its constitution five years ago. It has ignored the ‘no’ votes in France and the Netherlands,
The cow has had it too easy for too long. For years we humans have been jetting across the world, guiltily clutching complimentary snacks, shamed by the feeling that every minute of our flight was damaging our planet’s fragile climate. Our bovine friends, meanwhile, have been openly flatulent, emitting devastating global warming gases without fear
The perfect political U-turn is so subtle that it goes almost entirely unnoticed, as David Cameron demonstrated this week. He realised, well before the press, that a full-scale revolt was brewing in the Conservative party over his ill-conceived plan for all-women shortlists. So he abandoned the plan on Tuesday, but he did so using the
The readers’ dinner held at Spectator headquarters last week was, as might be expected, a sparkling, bibulous affair. The readers’ dinner held at Spectator headquarters last week was, as might be expected, a sparkling, bibulous affair. The only cloud was the realisation that, unfortunately, many subscribers had not received the latest issue of the magazine,
Nick Griffin has won an important victory just by being invited to appear on Question Time. To secure such a slot on prime-time television represents the greatest single accomplishment in the history of the fascist and neo-fascist movements in Britain. Oswald Mosley may have once filled the Albert Hall, but that granted him an audience
It seems that marriage and success go together as surely as love and marriage. A new study by the Office for National Statistics suggests that married men are 33 per cent more likely to find another job after being sacked than men who are single or divorced. Given that unemployment is 2.47 million and rising,
No sooner did parliament return than it was embroiled in the latest instalment of the expenses saga. The scandal is, by now, wearily familiar — but it has lost none of its capacity to shock. It is understandable that MPs feel aggrieved by the retrospective rules applied by Sir Thomas Legg on how much can
Let’s hope that Gordon Brown was too busy trying to hex Cameron this week to notice the story about the Sainsbury’s staff member who refused to sell a pregnant customer cheese. Let’s hope that Gordon Brown was too busy trying to hex Cameron this week to notice the story about the Sainsbury’s staff member who
Power, or the expectation of it, has a transformative effect on political parties. It was draining from the Labour party at its conference in Brighton last week, just as obviously as it was rushing towards the Conservatives in Manchester this week. Gordon Brown sounded angry and shrill, saying nothing about how he would tackle the
It was a poetic coincidence that the week the Labour party made its defiant last stand in Brighton, the newspapers reported a story that sums up precisely why this country so urgently needs another government. The case of the two policewomen who have been ordered by Ofsted to stop their sensible, reciprocal babysitting arrangement, under
David Cameron will be Britain’s new Prime Minister by next summer — this was the main conclusion drawn from the Labour party conference. David Cameron will be Britain’s new Prime Minister by next summer — this was the main conclusion drawn from the Labour party conference. It did not need to be announced formally, but it suffused
The Bishops of England and Wales have excelled themselves in their efforts to promote the Church of England’s ‘Back to Church’ day (this Sunday). The Bishops of England and Wales have excelled themselves in their efforts to promote the Church of England’s ‘Back to Church’ day (this Sunday). The Bishop of Sheffield has recorded a
The Labour party typically disembowels itself after an election defeat, but this time it hasn’t waited to be beaten. The Labour party typically disembowels itself after an election defeat, but this time it hasn’t waited to be beaten. The party which gathers in Brighton next week is already at war, and many of its brightest
The news that union members at the TUC Congress are eager to ban high heels in the workplace, for health and safety reasons, confirms a number of our long-held theories. First, that dreaming up health and safety hazards is more of a hobby than a job for union officials. Rather than focus on real risks,