Finally, it’s here. I’m delighted to announce The Spectator magazine app is available for all Android devices. We’ve been beavering away for the last few months to get it right. Now, you can download The Spectator app for Android (available on over 4,000 devices) through the Google Play store. You can read this week’s fantastic issue
Are there any upsides to climate change? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, author and columnist Matt Ridley discusses the economic impact of global warming with Fraser Nelson, and whether there are any benefits to a rise in temperatures. Will there be a tipping point for disastrous effects? Are we taking the right precautions to
I will fight for the rights of ordinary backbenchers! I make people admire this mother of all Parliaments once again! I am friendly with a sense of humour! I am professional! Each of the speeches given by the candidates for Deputy Speaker at hustings this afternoon consisted of this guff. As one candidate Gary Streeter
Is immigration still a taboo subject? The debate may have opened up for politicians but voters are still anxious about discussing it, as a new poll from Sky News demonstrates. 42 per cent stated they think the current debate about immigration is being unfairly ‘shut down’ by accusations of racism, compared to just 24 per
Should the government simply give up on Middlesbrough, Burnley, Hartlepool and Hull? In a leader titled City slickers, The Economist argues that these towns are trapped in a spiral of decline and attempts to ‘save’ them are futile: ‘Middlesbrough, Burnley, Hartlepool, Hull and many others were in trouble even before the financial crisis. These days
Len McCluskey is doing Conservative HQ’s work for them. The emboldened Unite leader is welcoming the return of socialism under Red Ed. Last night at the annual Jimmy Reid lecture, McCluskey spoke passionately of Miliband’s bold new agenda: ‘Ed Miliband’s speech to the Labour conference was – some would say – the most genuinely radical
Brian Leveson has no opinions on press regulation, apparently. It just took him three hours to repeat this to MPs, over and over again, peppering his increasingly exasperated answers with ‘with respect’, when he appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee this morning. Leveson did his upmost to get through the whole session without
Does Britain have an obesity problem? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Fraser Nelson discuses the bizarre steps taken by the NHS to deal with our growing weight problem. Do we have such a thing as a ‘fat gland’? Why is Britain’s changing size so rapidly? And according to Fraser, Nottingham is the ‘fattest’
Peter Oborne thought David Cameron’s speech was well delivered with a new sense maturity, while James Forsyth believes the blandness will reignite the Tories. Isabel Hardman reckons it was less exciting than last year and Iain Martin thinks the Tories are now perplexed by Ed Miliband. Guido Fawkes thought Cameron outshone his rivals and Dan Hodges thinks the Tories have held their
Isabel Hardman thinks David Cameron’s speech was very well delivered but lacking in any actual news, while James Forsyth believes it was given to draw a clear dividing lines between the Tories and Labour. In this special View from 22 podcast, we analyse whether the Prime Minister’s speech achieved what it needed too, struck the right tone and
Eric Pickles has a vivid imagination. He set out to remind the Conservative faithful today the dangers of letting Labour back into office, and why they, not the Tories, are the real nasty party. He painted a picture of where Britain might be if we were living under a Labour coalition: ‘Labour would have quickly
Every morning throughout party conference season, we’ll be providing our pick of the fringe events on Coffee House. It’s the third day of the annual Tory conference in Manchester and like yesterday, today is jam packed with tens of fringes with interesting party members, MPs and the like. Here’s the best, ignore the rest: Title
William Hague is the man with a plan to deal with Ukip at next year’s European elections. At a fringe event hosted by the Conservatives in the European Parliament group this evening, Hague urged the assembled MEPs to take a tough message to the country, making sure they know what the Tories have done to
Normally you might lump Nigel Farage and Bill Cash together on the political spectrum. But today there wasn’t much love lost between them, judging by their almighty clash at a Bruges Group fringe today. The Ukip leader aimed both barrels at Cash, who had asked Farage not to fight Tories in marginal seats: ‘I have
Fraser Nelson thinks it was the ‘language of someone happy with the economy’. James Forsyth saw it as renewed hope for leading the Conservative party. On this special View from 22 podcast, we analyse George Osborne’s speech to Tory conference this morning; whether the economic measures mentioned were sensible and what it says about the
Every morning throughout party conference season, we’ll be providing our pick of the fringe events on Coffee House. It’s the second day of the Conservative conference today in Manchester and the fringe is in full swing. As Grant Shapps noted when he kicked things off yesterday, the Tories’ is the largest party conference in the
Will any Tories except Cameron and Osborne applaud the Help to Buy mortgage scheme? At an IEA fringe event this evening, discussing lessons to be learnt from the recession, all the members present of the Free Enterprise Group of Tory MPs all conveyed their concern at the plans the Prime Minister has accelerated this weekend.
As it boomed, whistled and shouted its way past Manchester Central this afternoon, the TUC’s Save Our NHS march seemed reasonable enough. If they want to disagree with the Conservatives on key policy issues, then so be it, that’s government for you. But when I decided to watch and photograph what I thought was a peaceful
Every morning throughout party conference season, we’ll be providing our pick of the fringe events on Coffee House. The Tories’ annual bash kicks off today in Manchester with plenty of cabinet ministers and interesting figures popping up, mostly later in the day. Here’s our selection of the must-attend fringes: Title Key speaker(s) Time Location How
Boris Johnson sure knows how to make the front pages. His interview in the latest FT Weekend Magazine — with the cover quote ‘for the first time in years, I wished I was in Westminster’ — is a prime example of his strategy. He wants to remain in the public consciousness without revealing anything new.
