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Fraser Nelson rssFraser_Nelson

Fraser Nelson is the editor of The Spectator. He is also a columnist with The Daily Telegraph, a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Social Justice and the Centre for Policy Studies.

Reformists in Tehran believe that, to their amazement, they have won. Picture: Getty images

What on earth went right? Iranians come to terms with a landslide election

15 June 2013 21:12

The victory of Hassan Rouhani has stunned pundits, and it seems even Iranians can’t quite believe it. He is a moderate (if not, quite, a reformer) who defeated five conservatives. He… Continue reading

63 Comments
IRAN BREW: Hassan Rouhani, showing Iranians a version of a gesture he learned in Glasgow.

Made in Glasgow: the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani

15 June 2013 9:34

It’s official – Hassan Rouhani has been declared the new President of Iran with 51pc of the vote. He’s a cleric, a moderate and a polyglot (speaking English, German, French,… Continue reading

109 Comments
US-POLITICS-OBAMA-LGBT

After Obama’s intervention, will level playing fields in Syria become level killing fields?

14 June 2013 10:37

Now that Barack Obama has decided to arm the ‘good’ rebels in Syria, it’s more likely than ever that Britain will follow suit. The G8 summit next week in Northern… Continue reading

23 Comments
Tim Yeo, as filmed in a sting by the Sunday Times.

Tim Yeo “steps aside” as committee chairman. But will he now sue himself for libel?

10 June 2013 21:42

From the moment that the Sunday Times caught Tim Yeo offering to advise energy companies for cash, it was clear that his chairmanship of the energy and climate change select committee was untenable.… Continue reading

46 Comments
Labour Party Conference Focuses On Economy

Ed Balls is right: it’s time to think again about pensioners

10 June 2013 10:02

You can accuse Ed Balls of a great many things (and we do), but he doesn’t do gaffes. His interviews are always worth paying close attention to, because every soundbite… Continue reading

86 Comments
Billy Bragg: power to the people, vote Tory! Photo: Getty Images.

Billy Bragg may not like it, but the Conservatives are the new workers’ party

6 June 2013 11:37

Ed Miliband argued this morning that the Labour party ought to be more focused on people working. ‘The clue’s in the name,’ he said. The irony is that Labour gave… Continue reading

90 Comments
Any ideas for David Cameron?

Competition: any ideas for David Cameron’s new Policy Unit?

2 June 2013 10:26

Jo Johnson is now in situ, Christopher Lockwood has started his two-year sabbatical from the Economist and David Cameron’s new policy unit is in in place and ready to go… Continue reading

99 Comments
US-WEATHER-NYC

The case for making the government marriage-neutral.

31 May 2013 12:47

Does marriage matter anymore? Not so long ago, David Cameron was foremost amongst those giving an unfashionable ‘yes’ to this question. It became his signature theme, the closest he had… Continue reading

14 Comments
Our spies are doing a pretty good job with the powers they already have.

Britain doesn’t need a Snooping Act, or another new terrorism committee

26 May 2013 21:18

I would have loved to have been in the room when David Cameron’s advisers were thinking of an acronym for the new anti-terror committee. Something that sounded scary enough, but… Continue reading

105 Comments
The Spectator. When you absolutely need the best information - and the funniest cartoons - accept no substitutes. Mockup: Carla Millar

Rupert Murdoch: Cameron’s in trouble – I read it in The Spectator

25 May 2013 20:32

From his base in New York, Rupert Murdoch knows where to get the best analysis of British politics: The Spectator. He has just Tweeted that David Cameron is in trouble,… Continue reading

61 Comments
Investigations Continue Into The Brutal Street Killing Of A British Soldier

Woolwich eyewitness: one of the men fired a gun, but it backfired and he lost his finger

23 May 2013 8:25

The reporting of yesterday’s murder was driven not by journalists, but by eyewitnesses quickly able to share what they saw. Here is one extraordinary chain of tweets by a rapper,… Continue reading

68 Comments
#NotIslam

‘Not in our name’ – British Muslims denounce the Woolwich attack on Twitter

22 May 2013 20:39

The Muslim Council of Britain has denounced the Woolwich murder and has been joined by hundreds of Muslims who have taken to Twitter to voice disgust over the idea that… Continue reading

0 Comments
Comrade Gove is delivering what Attlee dangled. Image: Carla Millar.

Exclusive: Clement Attlee backs Michael Gove’s free schools

22 May 2013 16:49

Great news for all progressives: a private school has been effectively been nationalised. Queen Elizabeth Grammar in Blackburn, founded in 1509, is to enter the state sector as one of… Continue reading

13 Comments
Space captures ministerial imagination in a way that the military doesn't.

Britain can now afford to send a man into space. Pity we can’t afford a proper navy

20 May 2013 9:01

HMS Ark Royal leaves Portsmouth for Turkey today to be dismantled and sold for scrap; the Harrier jets she once carried are being sold to the Americans for spare parts.… Continue reading

51 Comments
The influence of Emmelie de Forest's Scottish mentor, Fraser Neill, could be heard from the first note of her winning Eurovision entry

Scotland’s 2013 Eurovision triumph

19 May 2013 12:18

Last night’s Eurovision was, as always, a collision of music, culture and politics. As always, the official British entry was dire – but, as always, the invisible hand of Britain’s… Continue reading

89 Comments
An original swivel-eyed loon

Andrew Feldman denies calling Tory activists ‘swivel-eyed loons’

18 May 2013 17:52

What a strange day. Lord Feldman, the Tory co-chairman, appears to have identified himself as the unnamed Cameron ally reported by several newspapers as referring to party activists as ‘swivel-eyed… Continue reading

113 Comments
Fees

Britain’s great university rip-off

16 May 2013 6:34

The mis-selling of higher education is one of the least remarked-upon scandals of our time, but anyone under 40 should be familiar with the concept. You’re told, at school, that… Continue reading

35 Comments
Shaun Bailey, whose friend says he felt 'frozen out' by the No10 Etonians.

How Cameron’s only black adviser was ‘frozen out,’ by his ‘friend’…

10 May 2013 23:01

The Daily Telegraph has an interesting splash tomorrow. Its headline reads: ‘Shaun Bailey, the Prime Minister’s only black aide, was ‘frozen out by David Cameron’s clique’. It quotes a ‘friend… Continue reading

142 Comments
The Claw Fountain at Stanford is surrounded by the names of donors. They have been a better friend to American universities than government has to British ones.

To stay in the global race, British universities may have to go private.

10 May 2013 18:53

If the devil were to conduct an experiment into mankind’s ability to resist temptation, it would look something like Stanford University. It is built in one of the world’s most… Continue reading

85 Comments
Peter Hain explains how much more debt the country needs. Photo:Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Peter Hain wants more debt — another policy stolen from the Tories

7 May 2013 22:52

Peter Hain is pessimistic about Ed Miliband’s chances, in spite of what the bookies say*. ‘If a general election was held tomorrow, Labour wouldn’t win a majority,’ he writes in… Continue reading

50 Comments