Today’s speech by George Osborne attacking Gordon Brown’s record for economic competence is an important development in the rolling out of Tory strategy. The charge that Gordon is not up to the job is not new, of course, but this is the first time it has been put at the heart of the Conservative attack.
Peter Mandelson’s dig at Gordon Brown for his botched, theatrically half-hearted signature of the Lisbon Treaty is more than the latest chapter in the 13-year-old feud between Blairites and Brownites. It is also (yet another) uncanny echo of the John Major era. The Grey One tried his best to plot a middle course on Europe
The night before I meet Christian Slater I am lazily channel-surfing and, a little spookily, on comes True Romance, the 1993 Tarantino-scripted love story and gangster movie that cemented the actor’s stardom. There is much to enjoy in the film: Brad Pitt as a stoner, Gary Oldman as a scary white pimp who thinks he
The word “disgrace” is used too liberally, not least by journalists. But no other word will do justice to the cross-examination today of Sir Miles Hunt-Davis, the Duke of Edinburgh’s private secretary, at the Diana Inquest. As Martyn Gregory’s admirable despatches in The Spectator have shown, the whole circus is an embarrassment, giving airtime to
Twenty seven years after it was grounded by sudden death, the Zeppelin flies once more – and none of us can quite believe it. The three surviving members of the ultimate rock group – Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones – take to the stage at London’s O2 Centre, joined by Jason Bonham,
There is more than enough dumbing down in modern education without seeing it where it doesn’t exist. The new Ofsted report complaining that under-11s are being taught too much Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Spike Milligan is especially wrong-headed. For a start, it is impossible for anyone of any age to have too much Milligan:
The review on penal policy by Lord Carter of Coles is unbelievably depressing, giving, as it does, further respectability to the idea that sentencing should be driven by the supply of prison places rather than the demand created by the courts and successful prosecutions. This orthodoxy within the criminal justice system has twin roots in
Amanda Platell, a must-read columnist as well as a hugely experienced former editor and political adviser, hits the nail on the head today with her piece on New Labour’s ‘trustafarians’. She applies the term to the privileged younger generation of Government ministers who have never had to struggle in Opposition or fight for the privilege
As Robert Lindsay demonstrated unforgettably as Wolfie, leader of the Tooting Popular Front in Citizen Smith, anyone who shouts ‘Power to the People!’ can end up looking a prize idiot. So let me throw caution to the wind and say that this is precisely what the web, new media and mobile technology offer us, if
As James has noted, there is a yawning gulf of ideas opening up between the Tories and Brown on foreign policy. Read this piece by David Aaronovitch in The Times today for a fascinating exploration of the subject. While I am still not sure that Gordon embraces liberal interventionism with the same ardour as Blair
Following my Sunday Telegraph column yesterday, I debated the Government’s plans to extend the pre-charge detention period from 28 days with Henry Porter at the end of the Today programme this morning. I was for, Henry was against. I don’t like any restriction upon liberty, but I do not think this extension is being sought
This is the text of the remarks that Matthew d’Ancona, editor of The Spectator, delivered at the Spectator Threadneedle Parliamentarian of the Year awards lunch at Claridge’s Hotel. My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to the 23rd Threadneedle/Spectator Parliamentarian Awards. Yes, once again, this is the big one: the Oscars of Westminster,
You may not have heard of Janet Paraskeva, but she is one of the most important people in Whitehall and also one of the most highly regarded. She is private both by temperament and by design, enjoying the freedom this gives her to get on with her job as First Civil Service Commissioner: head of
‘Anyone in the building under 40?’ asks Johnny Rotten. Yes, I am (just): and, by the looks of things, about 20 others among 3,000-odd punters at the Brixton Academy, come to see the Sex Pistols in their middle-aged prime. Punk isn’t dead. It just drives a people-carrier these days. But age cannot wither these amazing
Don’t miss a very important piece in tomorrow’s magazine by James and the distinguished US journalist Claudia Rosett on the star of Gordon’s “ministry of all the talents”, Mark Malloch Brown. Although plenty of people expressed concern about Lord Malloch Brown’s appointment to a senior ministerial post at the Foreign Office and his early remarks,
I was lucky enough to see Shadowlands at the Wyndham’s Theatre this week and, if you haven’t been, you really should. William Nicholson’s play, originally a TV drama now best known for the movie version starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, is powerful stuff, a demanding distillation of C.S. Lewis’s personal battle with the problem
As I predicted yesterday, Michael Gove’s speech to the Bow Group this morning was a belter: as trenchant and subtle an analysis of Gordon Brown’s politics as any Tory politician has yet made. The Gover launched his attack more in sorrow than in anger – and it was all the deadlier for that. Look at
Steve Richards, one of the unmissable voices of the centre-Left, has an interesting column in today’s Indy in which he takes issue with Fraser over immigration. If those on the Right who welcome immigration concede that more and better public services will be required, asks Steve, surely we are conceding the Left’s point that more
Huge excitement at Tory HQ over a speech which Michael Gove will deliver tomorrow on Gordon Brown’s politics. It is meant, I am told, to be seen both as the “definitive” take on Gordon-so-far and as a companion piece to David Cameron’s speech on immigration today – a measure of how (justly) high Gove’s stock
Two big movies on release at the moment – Michael Moore’s Sicko and the thriller Rendition – have in common a deep strand of American self-loathing. Say what you like about Moore: his films are awesomely powerful and well-constructed. And who can doubt that his target this time – the US health system – is