Chaos and confusion are mounting in Egypt tonight, where the country’s constitutional court has ruled that laws governing parliamentary elections are invalid. It follows that the Egyptian parliament must be dissolved, by the interim government led by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. And the constitution must be rewritten before the presidential run-off on
George Osborne will formally unveil the government’s banking reforms in a speech at Mansion House later this evening. The reforms are in line with the recommendations of Sir John Vickers’s Independent Banking Commission (ICB), as laid out by the Treasury, which published this White Paper earlier today. For those who’ve forgotten, Vickers suggested splitting retail
David Cameron was visibly rattled by Robert Jay QC, Counsel to the Leveson Inquiry, earlier today. Counsel was examining the relationship between the PM and Rebekah Brooks. Counsel concentrated on the text that Mrs Brooks sent Mr Cameron on the eve of his 2009 party conference speech. Mrs Brooks’s use of Cameron’s phrase ‘in this together’, which he
History was made in the House of Commons this afternoon when two MPs spoke openly of their mental health problems; the first time that MPs have done so in the House. I’m indebted to Andrew Sparrow’s invaluable politics live blog at the Guardian, which carries the statements. Labour’s Kevan Jones on his depression: ‘Like a
Pornography is in the news, and Martin Amis has been thinking about pornography. Those two facts are not related, not necessarily. Tomorrow’s issue of the Spectator contains an interview with Amis, who is on vintage form. Pornography, he says, is an attack on love; it is the repudiation of significance in sex. Pornography has, he
A firestorm has torn across Westminster overnight, since Nick Clegg instructed his MPs to abstain from today’s opposition motion demanding that Jeremy Hunt be referred to Sir Alex Allan, the ministerial standards supremo. Numerous Tory backbenchers have taken to the airwaves to condemn their perfidious coalition colleagues. The Mail has the most complete record of
There was, as Freddy has said, something inevitable about the Church of England’s response to the imminent prospect of gay marriage. A convinced Anglican, who also has intimate knowledge of constitutional law and decoding legislation, recently told me in no uncertain terms that the government’s plan could force the church to schismatic ends because, for
Stephan Shakespeare has a fascinating article on Con Home today, comparing which words voters associate with the terms ‘right-wing’ or ‘left-wing’. The results aren’t too surprising: the language of the left is, generally, softer than the language of the right. Shakespeare’s article is entitled ‘Fairness versus selfish’, which gives you an idea of how voters
Earlier today, the government, in the form of Eric Pickles, announced that it was launching new incentives to encourage local councils to improve the lives of 120,000 families, identified as ‘troubled families’ by the Social Exclusion Task Force in 2007. Those incentives are: A). £3,900 for each family whose children attain 85 per cent attendance at school.
George Osborne has much to ponder this morning. First, there is the small matter of his evidence to the Leveson Inquiry later today (assuming that someone can check Gordon Brown’s loquacity), which will prove diverting for those who remain gripped by those proceedings. Then there is the larger matter of the £80bn Spanish bank bailout.
George Osborne was relaxed as he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry. He was succinct and focused, in contrast to Gordon Brown in the morning session. He was affable, joking about his ‘difficulties in Corfu’ — a reference to the infamous Deripaska affair. His confidence was such that he even said the inquiry was walking
Football dominates the newspapers this morning, with England due to begin their European Championship campaign tomorrow. But the issue of racism in Ukraine, and to a lesser extent Poland, is a major feature of the coverage, with some commentators suggesting that players should refuse to play if their teammates are subjected to abuse. Ruud Gullit,
Theresa May has been in the news recently, as she introduces plans to stop spouses coming to Britain unless they have savings of £18,000 and an additional £2,400 for each foreign born child they bring with them. The Home Secretary told Andrew Marr earlier this morning: ‘It is important that we say you should be
The Labour Party has a problem with education. On the one hand, it recognises that the academies programme which it inaugurated is very popular with parents. But on the other hand, it knows that the unions, upon which it depends financially, are opposed to reform. This creates tension where policy is concerned: how can the
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said that ‘some foreign players’ are provoking opposition to the Assad regime while ‘demanding the international community take decisive steps to change the regime’. He also reiterated that Russia ‘will never agree to the use of force in the UN Security Council’, which would seem to impede Lord Owen’s plan
It’s a slow news day in the political world, as we wait for the Spanish government to take its cap to Brussels. There are, however, some brilliant opinion pieces in the papers today to keep you entertained. First, Spanish author Carlos Luis Zafron has penned a visceral attack (£) on the self-appointed elites who have
Matthew Parris has launched a critique on the charitable status of public schools in this morning’s Times. Matthew is not opposed to private education, just to the arrogance of the bastions of privilege that sell a lifestyle and connections as well as an education. Echoing the government’s social mobility Tsar, Alan Milburn, Matthew argues that
You are reading this article thanks to the greatest invention of the last 50 years: the internet. The web is often regarded as a panacea for absolutely everything. It is revolutionising the world’s economy. It is changing leisure and entertainment. And it is also a political tool that can liberate oppressed people. Jared Cohen, a
Gordon Brown, Sir John Major, Ed Miliband, Harriet Harman, Alex Salmond, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and David Cameron will appear before the Leveson Inquiry next week, for what will be the inquiry’s last week of evidence. All eyes, of course, will be on Cameron, who is due to appear on Thursday. He will be embarrassed
The internet is democratising and enriching the world, right? It’s happening now in the Middle East, isn’t it? No it isn’t, says Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion, not as such. The Spectator has an interview with him over at the books blog (spectator.co.uk/blogs/books). He spoke to us about those liberal westerners, many of whom are close to