What on earth went right? Iranians come to terms with a landslide election
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
Made in Glasgow: the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani
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
Tim Yeo “steps aside” as committee chairman. But will he now sue himself for libel?
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
Ed Balls is right: it’s time to think again about pensioners
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 may not like it, but the Conservatives are the new workers’ party
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
Competition: any ideas for David Cameron’s new Policy Unit?
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
The case for making the government marriage-neutral.
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
Britain doesn’t need a Snooping Act, or another new terrorism committee
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
Rupert Murdoch: Cameron’s in trouble – I read it in The Spectator
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
Woolwich eyewitness: one of the men fired a gun, but it backfired and he lost his finger
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
‘Not in our name’ – British Muslims denounce the Woolwich attack on Twitter
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
Exclusive: Clement Attlee backs Michael Gove’s free schools
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
Britain can now afford to send a man into space. Pity we can’t afford a proper navy
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
Scotland’s 2013 Eurovision triumph
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
Andrew Feldman denies calling Tory activists ‘swivel-eyed loons’
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
Britain’s great university rip-off
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
How Cameron’s only black adviser was ‘frozen out,’ by his ‘friend’…
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
To stay in the global race, British universities may have to go private.
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 wants more debt — another policy stolen from the Tories
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

