The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Anderson’s outburst and Biden’s ceasefire prediction

From our UK edition

Home Lee Anderson, a former Conservative party deputy chairman, had the whip withdrawn after responding to an article by Suella Braverman that said: ‘The Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now.’ He said: ‘I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of [Sadiq] Khan and they’ve got control of London, and they’ve got control of [Keir] Starmer as well.’ He later added: ‘They are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.’ Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said the comments were ‘not acceptable. They were wrong’.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Hunter’s big day in Congress

Hunter Biden, the Biden family’s Mr. Worldwide, spent much of today behind closed doors in the Capitol for a deposition in front of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees. The younger Biden accused Republicans on the committee of peddling lies and operating on the “false premise” that his father, President Joe Biden, had any involvement with his foreign business dealings, a focal point of the GOP’s impeachment inquiry.“I did not involve my father in my business,” Hunter said. “Never.” The first son has been on an image rehab tour, recently sitting down with Axios to discuss how his continued sobriety is essential in the “fight for the future of democracy.” Today’s deposition was a substantial departure from Biden’s previous Capitol Hill trip.

hunter biden

Monday

The Spectator

Ronna McDaniel hits the eject button

Ronna Romney McDaniel confirmed months of reporting on Monday by officially announcing her resignation as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. She will step aside on March 8, a few days after the Super Tuesday primary contests.  “I have decided to step aside at our Spring Training on March 8 in Houston to allow our nominee to select a chair of their choosing,” McDaniel said in a statement. “The RNC has historically undergone change once we have a nominee and it has always been my intention to honor that tradition.” Given that former president Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee — and that he has received McDaniel’s endorsement — he will choose her successor.

Friday

The Spectator

Trump’s unlikely ally in the NYC case

Former president Donald Trump is getting support from an unlikely ally: former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush. Bush co-wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday arguing that the judgment in the New York civil fraud case is an example of “dangerous judicial rulings” against the left’s political opponents.“The unusual New York law Ms. James used to investigate and sue Mr. Trump didn’t require her to prove that he had intended to defraud anyone, or even that anyone lost money. The Associated Press found that of the twelve cases brought under that law since its adoption in 1956 in which significant penalties were imposed, the case against Mr. Trump was the only instance without an alleged victim or financial loss,” Bush wrote.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: Rishi’s ‘road tour’ is not a good idea

From our UK edition

Navy to the fore Sir: In Eliot Wilson’s stimulating article highlighting the lack of capability within our armed forces (‘Losing battle’, 17 February), he comments on the reduced size of the army and the fact that it would be pressed to contribute a brigade to any conflict in the near future. This reminded me of the strategic debate before the first world war and Professor Julian Corbett’s well-argued view that, as an island nation dependent ultimately on the sea lanes, the British role in a European conflict should be to keep maritime supply lines open for the Allies. British resources should therefore focus on the navy. The land battle should be left to the armies of our more numerous continental allies.

The Spectator

Does any country allow children to vote? 

From our UK edition

Baby voters The Lib Dem Polly Mackenzie proposed giving people the right to vote from birth, with a proxy vote going to the under-tens. Does any country allow children to vote? – No country has a voting age lower than 16, although Iran allowed 15-year-olds to vote until 2007. Those countries that do allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote are not all necessarily the most democratic. 16 Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Nicaragua, Scotland (not UK general elections), Wales (not UK general elections) 17 East Timor, Greece, North Korea   Holiday homes Which areas of England and Wales have the highest proportion of properties used as second homes/holiday lets?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Labour wins by-elections, Navalny dies and Eiffel Tower closes

From our UK edition

Home Labour called for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza for the first time since the attack by Hamas in October. Earlier, at a Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow, Sir Keir Starmer said that a ‘ceasefire that lasts’ must ‘happen now’. The Prince of Wales called for an end to the fighting and the release of hostages, saying that ‘too many have been killed’. The ‘very small recession’ may already be over amid ‘distinct signs of an upturn’, Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, told a Commons committee. Provisional figures for the last quarter of 2023 had shown a 0.3 per cent fall in GDP, following a 0.1 per cent fall in the quarter before.

The Spectator

Citizens’ assemblies are a dreadful idea

From our UK edition

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party is a government-in-waiting desperately searching for ideas. It says much about the leader of the opposition that arguably the biggest proposal he’s put forward comes not from him but from his chief of staff, Sue Gray. She, it seems, is enthused about the idea of citizens’ assemblies, and wants more of them to look into issues such as constitutional reform, devolution and housing. That is one step on from Tony Blair’s focus groups, with randomly selected members of the public placed one step closer to power and adopting the role of government advisers.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Trump backs the GOP establishment

Former president Donald Trump helped out the GOP establishment with his latest round of congressional endorsements — including one particularly notable one where he passed over a guy he endorsed in the last election cycle.Just two years ago, Trump endorsed Darren Bailey for governor of Illinois, snubbing the state’s GOP establishment, which had been firmly behind Aurora mayor Richard Irvin. Bailey blew Irvin out of the water in the primary — thanks to additional support from Democrats who successfully meddled in the primary —and was dismantled by J.B. Pritzker in November.This time around, Trump is backing Congressman Mike Bost, who’s been fending off a primary bid from Bailey.

John Mole

Punch and Judy Revisited

From our UK edition

for Anna Punch has made up with Judy and put his big stick away. He’s happy to cuddle the baby. He’s a new man as from today. A husband on best behaviour. A loving father restored. But preferring him as raver the audience feels cheated and bored. Bring back the Judge and the gallows the chorus of children cries We want to be chilled to our marrows. Bring back the shock and surprise! But Anna approves of these changes as she sits there nodding her head. This is so much more like it she says. No one wicked or punished or dead!

Friday

The Spectator

Trump hit with mega fine in fraud case

Judge Arthur Engoron handed down a $355 million judgment against former president Donald Trump in his civil real estate fraud case in New York. Engoron held that Trump inflated the value of his assets in obtaining bank loans.The case seemed doomed from the start for the former president as Engoron, before the trial began, accepted a valuation that determined Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort was only worth $18 million. This was a laughably absurd assertion, as Mar-a-Lago sits on wildly attractive oceanfront property in Palm Beach, Florida — the land value alone would be worth far more than $18 million.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: no wonder Gen Z-ers don’t want to fight

From our UK edition

The many not the few Sir: Your leading article (‘The people problem’, 3 February) fails to get to the heart of this issue. Yes, more needs to be done to reform welfare to encourage people back to work. But nowhere do you mention the need for employers to be more open-minded in their recruitment. There is a large pool of ‘underemployed’ – particularly among the over-fifties – who find it very difficult to get any job at all, many of whom are perfectly familiar with the discipline of regular employment. Polling suggests that more than 60 per cent of nearly all ages, social classes and regions think the country is already overcrowded. A greater percentage think the government should consider how to address the resulting challenges.

The Spectator

How many countries are led by an octogenarian?

From our UK edition

Gerontocracies How many countries are led by an octogenarian? – Out of 187 states assessed in March last year, 10 had heads of government aged over 80. The oldest – who is still in power, is the president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, who celebrated his 91st birthday this week. – The median age of a world leader in March last year was 62, with 18% in their forties, 22% in their fifties, 35% in their sixties and 18% in their seventies. – Countries classified as ‘free’ (as defined by the thinktank Freedom House) tend to have younger leaders, with a median age of 58. Leaders of ‘partly free’ countries have a median age of 61 and those which are ‘not free’ a median age of 69.

The Spectator

The Tories are too weak to capitalise on Labour’s failings

From our UK edition

The polls suggest that Labour is in line for a general election victory later this year which could match or even exceed Tony Blair’s landslide of 1997. Yet the party exudes none of the confidence and maintains none of the self-discipline which it did 27 years ago. On the contrary, were the Conservatives not in an even worse state themselves, Keir Starmer’s party could well be in deep trouble. For Labour to contrive to lose a safe seat in the current circumstances is remarkable. But that is exactly what the party has done with its failure to vet properly Azhar Ali, the candidate chosen to fight the Rochdale by-election following the death of the sitting MP Tony Lloyd. Comments made by Ali shortly after the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israel last year were indefensible.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Labour struggles, unemployment falls and peers announced

From our UK edition

Home Labour withdrew support from Azhar Ali, its candidate in the Rochdale by-election to be held on 29 February, after a recording was published of him claiming Israel had ‘allowed’ the deadly attack by Hamas gunmen on 7 October, which had given them ‘the green light to do whatever they bloody want’. He was suspended from the party pending an investigation, but electoral law made it impossible to remove his name and party from the ballot paper. At first Labour stood by him when he said he wished to ‘urgently apologise to Jewish leaders for my inexcusable comments’.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Mayorkas impeached by House GOP. Now what?

House Republicans successfully impeached Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a 214-213 vote on Tuesday after an initial failed attempt last week. Mayorkas is the first cabinet official to be impeached since 1876. Speaker Mike Johnson said Mayorkas “deserves to be impeached,” arguing that Mayorkas lied to Congress, refused to comply with federal immigration law and violated his oath of office. Impeachment articles accused Mayorkas of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”To say it is extremely unlikely that Mayorkas would be convicted by the Democrat-controlled Senate is an understatement. This serves as more of a symbolic measure for Republicans.

Monday

The Spectator

Trump name-checks Nikki Haley’s husband

Former president Donald Trump caused quite the stir over the weekend when he decided to launch a new attack against his one remaining GOP primary opponent, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. During a rally on Saturday, Trump repeatedly asked where Haley’s husband was, which on its face seemed to be a question regarding why Major Michael Haley is not on the campaign trail with his wife.“Then she comes over to see me at Mar-a-Lago. ‘Sir, I will never run against you.’ She brought her husband. Where’s your husband? Oh, he’s away. He’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone! He knew. He knew,” Trump said.

The Spectator

Did Rishi Sunak need to introduce a smoking ban?

From our UK edition

To the surprise of some, the Prime Minister used his conference speech in Manchester last year to announce a New Zealand-style lifelong ban on the sale of tobacco products to anyone born after a cut-off date of 31 December 2008. The ban, which has since been announced in the King’s Speech as the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, could apply to all tobacco products: cigars, pipe and heated tobacco included. The Bill also introduces restrictions on the sale of vapes, though not an outright ban. Is the ban necessary, is it practical, and what are the political motivations behind it? This was the subject of a roundtable discussion held at The Spectator’s offices, sponsored by Philip Morris International.