Spectator

Wednesday

Ed Howker

Exclusive: Gove’s free school policy gets Labour support, finally

This week’s Spectator reveals the rather tantalizing fact that Peter Hyman, Tony Blair’s former director of strategy, is setting up a Free School in East London. This – I kid you not – is a very good thing. Newham School 21 will teach kids between the ages of 4 and 18 – an ambitious span of ages – and will open its gates in September 2012 if all goes to plan. Whatever you think about Blair, Hyman is a quietly impressive figure, coining the phrase “Education, Education, Education” and then leaving Downing Street in 2003 to become a teaching assistant. Now, as the deputy head of a school in Ealing,

Monday

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 9 May — 15 May

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 9 May 2011

…here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson rails against the Tories’ intellectual dishonesty over the NHS. James Forsyth explains why Nick Clegg will get his way on NHS reform, and lists the winners and losers from last week’s elections. Peter Hoskin reports on Chris Huhne’s latest difficulties, and wonders which Lib Dem will be rudest about the Tories. Jonathan Jones highlights a promising underdog in the race for the Republican nomination. David Blackburn reports on the latest political convulsions in Northern Ireland. Hamish Macdonell watches Alex Salmond see out his rivals. Martin Bright says that Vince Cable is the saddest politician in England.

Friday

Peter Hoskin

From the archives: Nick Clegg and Margaret Thatcher

Here’s a game of Spot the Difference for you. Compare Nick Clegg’s comments today — “…there are some very strong memories of what life was like under Thatcherism in the 1980s, and somehow a fear that that’s what we’re returning to…” — with the latest shot from The Spectator archives: Can Nick Clegg sing the blues? Fraser Nelson, The Spectator, 13 March 2010 Nick Clegg’s office already has a Downing Street feel to it. Since becoming leader of the Liberal Democrats, he has had it redecorated so that portraits of old party leaders hang on the staircase up to his room, as portraits of former prime minsters do in No.

Thursday

Fraser Nelson

After bin Laden

In this week’s Spectator, on sale today, we have an outstanding lineup on bin Laden’s death and its aftermath. I thought CoffeeHousers may be interested a preview of what’s in this week’s mag. Our lead feature is written by Christina Lamb of the Sunday Times: she has been writing about Pakistan for 24 years and is now based in Washington — so is ideally qualified to write about the changing relationship between the two countries. Bin Laden’s urban lair fits a trend, she says: other jihadis have been found in similar urban compounds near the Pakistan military. The country is playing a double game, she says. Dana Rohrbacher, a Republican

Monday

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 2 May – 8 May

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The world’s most wanted man becomes the world’s most wanted photograph

Will we see pictures of the dead Bin Laden? When Saddam’s sons were killed, pictures of their corpses were released by the American military, on the grounds that it was crucial for Iraqis to believe they were no more. This time, we’re told that Bin Laden has already been buried at sea, the Saudis having refused to repatriate his body. The CIA say they have pictures from yesterday’s assassination, and that the pictures of Bin Laden circulating right now (which have been picked up by some of the British media) are fake. It’s unclear whether they intend to release the real pictures. Bin Laden’s body was identified by some members

Monday

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 25 April – 1 May

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

Friday

Peter Hoskin

From the archives: the Queen’s Birthday

It was, I’m sure CoffeeHousers noticed, the Queen’s 85th Birthday yesterday. So here, as a belated commemoration, is an item from the archives that is a even more archival than usual. You see, it’s an article that was written on the event of the Queen’s 80th Birthday in 2006 — and it looks back at the issue of The Spectator that was published when the Queen was actually born, in 1926. Mary Wakefield, our deputy editor, is the author: The week the Queen was born, Mary Wakefield, The Spectator, 8 April 2006 It was press day at The Spectator when Queen Elizabeth II was born. The printers had set the

The Spectator

The week that was | 22 April 2011

Here are some of the posts that were published on Spectator over the past week: Fraser Nelson makes an appeal for Easter reading suggestions. James Forsyth reveals that Ed Miliband will hire tails for the Royal Wedding, and says that there are more attacks on Clegg to come. Peter Hoskin watches the NHS furore rumble on, and notices Nick Clegg reaffirming the coalition’s wedding vows. Peter Hoskin and Jonathan Jones compare Osborne’s and Obama’s cuts. David Blackburn says that tuition fees are set to spoil the government’s summer, and reports on the latest EU budget row. Daniel Korski argues that the Libya intervention needs to be stepped up. Rod Liddle

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

Cameron and Clegg pay tribute to their elders

As you’ve no doubt deduced from the cover image on the left-hand side of this page, the latest Spectator is out today — and it’s a soaraway double issue for Easter. By way of peddling it to CoffeeHousers (buy it here, etc.), I thought I’d mention one article among many. It’s a celebratory list of some of the country’s “most inspiring and influential over-80s,” and it includes tributes to them from some rather notable under-80-year-olds. So we have Matt Ridley on David Attenborough, Alex Salmond on Sean Connery, Ian Rankin on P.D James, and plenty more besides. Anyway, there are two entries that CoffeeHousers might care to see in particular,

Wednesday

Tom Giles

Through a different camera: the source of Melanie Phillips’ discontent

It is unfortunate that Melanie Phillips based her allegations of BBC bias in its reporting of Israeli actions on a video by CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), and not on the original programme as broadcast.  The CAMERA video is a misrepresentation of Jane Corbin’s Panorama ‘A Walk in the Park’.   Following a complaint from CAMERA, this Panorama was thoroughly investigated for any evidence of bias and/or inaccuracy by both the Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU) of the BBC and the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) of the BBC Trust. In both cases, the film was completely exonerated and no bias found. The ECU is entirely independent

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

An appeal for reading suggestions

Inspired by Cameron, I’m off on an EasyJet holiday to Spain this week — and would like to make an appeal to CoffeeHousers for Easter reading suggestions. When I did likewise before, the suggestions were good enough to keep me in reading material for the rest of the year (especially The Sixty Minute Father, which I now keep close-to-hand in case I ever believe what it says is The Fundamental Lie: that “a quieter time is coming”). Anyway, I’m on a political (and digital) detox session, and I’ve read almost every Scandi crime book going — so suggestions outside of that would be appreciated. As it stands, I’ve already packed

Sunday

Fraser Nelson

The heir and the spare

Nick Clegg has announced a review into male primogeniture, but subscribers to The Spectator will – as so often – be already well-briefed on the subject. We ran a piece on this in Thursday’s magazine by Rachel Ward, the firstborn of the younger brother of an earl. This in itself will be enough to earn her a ribbing from some commentators on this blog, I imagine, but her thoughts on the subject are fascinating. Here’s a sample: “At the reading of the will after my father’s recent death, I was firmly reminded of my place by certain clauses bestowing his ‘residuary estate’ ‘upon trust for my first son “A” during his

Saturday

Fraser Nelson

The threat to Christianity

Is secularism now a greater threat to Christianity than Islam? This is the title of our next Spectator debate, to be held at 29 June, and it grows more topical by the week. In tomorrow’s Mail on Sunday, we learn that a Christian electrician could be sacked after displaying a crucifix in his white van. His name is Colin Atkinson, and he works for Wakefield and District Housing Association who ordered him to remove the cross because it may offend non-Christians. They picked the wrong guy. Mr Atkinson is a former soldier and thinks this is a battle worth fighting for. He tells the newspaper, “The treatment of Christians in

Friday

David Blackburn

From the archives – the Khmers Rouge’s debt to 1950s France

It is 13 years to the day since Pol Pot died in mysterious circumstances while in exile on Cambodia’s remote western border with Thailand. Where did Pot and his maniacal fellow travellers acquire their politics. There are a number of candidates from the megalomania of the 20th Century, but Michael Sheridan, the Sunday Times’ former Asia Editor, notes that France, or more exactly aspects of French culture at the end of the colonial era, played its part. He explained why to the Spectator. Pol Pot and Chardonnay, Michael Sheridan, 21 September 1996 Not long ago, the Americans found in their archives in Washington a long-forgotten film about Cambodia, made by

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

From the archives: 50 years of human spaceflight

Here at Coffee House, we normally exhume a piece from The Spectator archives on Fridays. But we thought we’d make an exception, today, for the fiftieth anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s ascent into space. The piece below is actually the only one that the magazine ran at the time, and is by the politician/journalist/author Desmond Donnelly. If you can get past the dubious generalities about “less sophisticated peoples” and “magic carpets” — which themselves say something about the shift in what public figures may and may not commit to print — there are some thought-provoking and quite prescient points to be found within it:   The Magic Carpet, Desmond Donnelly MP,

Monday

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 11 April – 17 April

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them….

…here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson says that George Osborne needs to make his case for growth, and reviews Niall Ferguson’s latest triumph. Peter Hoskin reports on the latest recommendations from the Vickers Banking Commission, and compares the politics of debt in the UK and in the US. Daniel Korski observes a union boss blaming MI5 for violence at the recent anti-cuts protests. Martin Bright remarks on Nick Clegg’s nudge towards social mobility. Nick Cohen wonders how angry Conservatives are going to be at the result of the AV referndum. Alex Massie says that even goons should be allowed to burn books. And The

Friday

Jonathan Jones

From the archives: Nigel Lawson on the Euro

13 years ago, The Spectator carried an interview with Nigel Lawson in which he gave his views on the EU’s Economic and Monetary Union – views that seem especially prophetic today. ‘It’s going to be very nasty’, Christopher Fildes, The Spectator 2 May 1998 The Nigel Lawson Diet now seems to suit its inventor. Gone are the days when I had to defend him as chancellor against his girthist critics. Then he fell out with Margaret Thatcher – at first, over Europe. He wanted to put the pound into the exchange rate mechanism: she would not hear of it. Now I catch up with him at the House of Lords,