The public still doesn’t trust Labour and Ed Miliband on immigration. His speech last year — admitting ‘the last Labour government made mistakes’ — was aimed to draw a line under the past and start afresh. How helpful for him to have two key figures of the New Labour era popping up again to remind
The government is trying to pick up steam on High Speed 2 (again) by wheeling out Michael Heseltine to make the case for the project. Tonight at the Royal Town Planning Institute, the former Transport Secretary will argue that the new line is about spreading prosperity and doing ‘the right thing’ for our country: ‘HS2
The blob strikes again. A video called Gove vs Reality is doing the rounds, taking pot shots at Michael Gove’s education policies, or ‘challenging his assumptions and the evidence he advances to support his approach’ as the producers put it. It’s had nearly 50,000 views so far, but is there any truth in it? With
Is Nigel Farage’s magic disappearing? On Question Time last night (his 15th appearance in four years) the Ukip leader was taken to task by an audience member who asked him to ‘stop scaremongering the majority of people’ — followed by the kind of rousing cheer that Farage himself used to draw. The Tory defence minister
Today, the Spectator hosted our 27th Parliamentarian of the Year awards at the Savoy Hotel in London in an austerity-free ceremony to give gongs (and replica Spectator covers) to those who had fought the good fight. And some who’d fought a bad one, but annoyingly well. Boris Johnson, our former editor, was handing out the
Are young people in Britain now duller than their parents? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Spectator editor Fraser Nelson discusses why Britain is now full of young puritans, compared to the Absolutely Fabulous generation who are living life to the full. Do pensioners buy more alcohol than young folk? Are those attending university
In association with Harrods. Does Britain need to do more to encourage tourists and students to visit our country? In this special View from 22 podcast, chairman of Press Holdings Media Group Andrew Neil discusses whether George Osborne’s recent changes to our visa system — including a VIP service and only needing to apply once
Does addiction actually exist? It’s an issue we’ve examined before at The Spectator and I’m delighted to announce it will be the topic of our next debate. On the 21 November at the Royal Institution in London, we’ll be looking at whether addiction is really a disease or simply a form of behaviour we need
HS2 was given an emphatic vote of no confidence at The Specator’s debate last night, where Matthew Parris and Nigel Farage led their respective teams into battle. This was the debate that Westminster will not have (all parties are officially agreed on the project) which is all the better for us. Farage claimed he loves
Should pupils in free schools and academies be taught by teachers without Qualified teacher status? This question has become the latest game political ping-pong involving all three parties. So much has been said it’s difficult to know what everyone believes. Here is a summary of where all the key players stand: Tristram Hunt (and Labour)
Has David Cameron lost the countryside? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Spectator columnist Melissa Kite debates Renewal’s David Skelton on whether the Tory grassroots supporters have been abandoned by the urban elite who run the party. Have the previously hardcore Tories in the Countryside Alliance flocked to Ukip? Will this be a deciding
Up north, there’s an intriguing battle going on between the local press and Newcastle United. The football club has declared war on three local newspapers over their coverage of a rally this weekend, protesting at the club’s management.In an extraordinary press release, Newcastle United’s head of media stated because ‘the turnout at the march renders
Tristram Hunt is on a crusade — to find Labour an education strategy. In today’s Daily Mirror, the new shadow education secretary takes a punt by offering up some fresh ideas, including a pledge to bring back the Education Maintenance Allowance for 16 to 19 year olds in further education. When it was canned in
The Daily Mail appear to be avid readers of The Spectator but we’re pleased that they now follow our weekly podcast, the View from 22, just as closely. It yesterday ran a story based on the comments of one of our podcast guests, Professor J Meirion Thomas, saying that £200 NHS levy on foreigners ‘will attract more
Ministers are increasingly aware of an uphill struggle on HS2. Next week, they will try to make the case for the line again, in the face of increasing opposition, with the publication of the Department of Transport’s strategic case paper, which will respond to criticisms from the Public Accounts Committee and National Audit Office on
Will the government’s plans to tackle abuse of the NHS by foreigners make any difference? The surgeon who first blew the whistle on health tourism, Professor J. Meirion Thomas, believes they aren’t going far enough and may even have a negative impact. He first spoke out in the pages of The Spectator and gives his verdict
Are the police wasting too much time on Twitter instead of catching criminals? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Nick Cohen looks at what Britain’s fall in crime has done to policing methods. Is the fall responsible for the police’s heightened in what people say on social media? What does this mean for our civil
‘When this paper reported a senior surgeon’s warning that health tourism could be costing the NHS “billions”‘, begins today’s leader in the Daily Mail on the government’s efforts to clamp down on treating foreign nationals. That’s one (rather cheeky) way of putting it. Another way is ‘When this newspaper reported a piece that appeared in
Newcastle upon Tyne Andrew Adonis is not your conventional ‘retired’ politician. The sprightly 50-year-old shadow infrastructure minister remains more influential than his current job title suggests. After running Tony Blair’s policy unit at No. 10, Adonis kick-started the academies programme and paved the way for Michael Gove’s education revolution. Under Gordon Brown he rose to
This morning, I was honoured to attend the official opening service and ceremony of the Kings Priory School in Tynemouth. As I’m sure regular Coffee House readers are aware, I’ve followed the creation of this academy in my home region with much interest. Despite Labour’s initial plans to sabotage the merger of the private King’s
