Coffee House The Spectator Blog
Top Tory calls party activists ‘mad swivel-eyed loons’
Insulting your own side is a dangerous thing to do in politics and in the current circumstances for any prominent Tory to do it is positively incendiary. But one ‘senior… Continue reading
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Spectator Play: what’s worth watching, listening to or going to this weekend
It feels like the only film anyone’s been talking about recently is The Great Gatsby. Given that even the release of the films’ multiple trailers created international news stories, it… Continue reading
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Hammond on manoeuvres? The other Tory MPs who fancy a crack at the leadership
There’s plenty of speculation in Westminster today that Philip Hammond is busy positioning himself as a future leadership contender. Last night he had some pretty strong words about the Government’s… Continue reading
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What Gove should know about Singapore schools
Excelliarmus! Why do East Asian children feel they can relate to Harry Potter? Because he wears glasses, like so many of them do. The fascination with British wizarding students extends… Continue reading
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Labour is the party that should be worrying about its record on cities
Last month, in a rare and refreshing piece of pre-local election commentary written outside the Ukip prism, author and urbanist Leo Hollis stated that the government does not understand cities.… Continue reading
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EU shopping list tips from Ben Goldsmith, Bill Cash, Nancy Dell’Olio and Matthew Elliott
Ben Goldsmith, Partner at WHEB Partners and signatory to Business for Britain In the private sector, every business must provide regular and accurate accounts. Yet when you try to look into… Continue reading
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Why was Nigel Farage so rattled on the radio?
Nigel Farage seemed rather rattled when discussing his Edinburgh escapade on Good Morning Scotland today. You can listen to the full clip below, which culminates in the Ukip leader announcing… Continue reading
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Nate Silver on predicting the 2015 general election
I’ve interviewed one of the heroes of last year’s US elections — forecasting expect Nate Silver — for the books blog, but I thought CoffeeHousers might be interested in what… Continue reading
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Turnips, bread-throwing and public weighing: the life of an MP
MPs don’t always enjoy the best of reputations with the voters they represent. In fact, if an MP is notorious and disliked, then at least they are doing better than… Continue reading
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Ministers aren’t just preparing for Coalition divorce, they’re organising arguments with their partners too
Reports today that the Conservatives are wargaming end-of-Coalition scenarios in the event of the Lib Dems leaving early won’t come as a surprise, given the bickering over the past few… Continue reading
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It’s not just older women. Where are the BBC’s black female presenters?
Harriet Harman missed something on this morning’s Radio 4 Today programme. Yes, the paucity older women appearing on British television remains a very relevant one, since the BBC axed Moira… Continue reading
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High Speed 2 is needed to bring Britain’s infrastructure into the 21st century
The National Audit Office has slammed High Speed 2 today, citing a £3.3 billion ‘black hole’ in the funding plans while suggesting the construction timetable is ‘over-ambitious.’ Not exactly an… Continue reading
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What does Cameron actually want back from Brussels?
If you ask what’s the problem with David Cameron’s European strategy, a cacophony of voices strike up. But it seems to me that most of their complaints are tactical when… Continue reading
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Sandcastles, lettuce and a big train: where Ukip won and why
Anyone who watched the latest episode of Mary Queen of the High Street will have been mildly amused to see the retail diva encounter the good burghers of Margate. Urbane,… Continue reading
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The Tory Blame Game
Who is to blame for last night’s Tory uprising on Europe? It’s more entertaining to pin the blame on everyone, rather than one person, and in this case, it’s wrong… Continue reading
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Refusing to bang on about Europe has brought about even more banging on than before
The BBC loves nothing better than a narrative in which Tory anti-European eccentrics split their party, and a bewildered public votes Labour. It is certainly the case that some of… Continue reading
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Never accept meat from strangers
Never accept meat from strangers. That seems to be the lesson of the horsemeat scandal – at least for the ex-commercial director of Freeza Meats. In September 2012, an Environment Health… Continue reading
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The View from 22 – Nigel Farage debates future of Ukip, the return of Nadine Dorries, Eurovision and a Boris for Paris
Does David Cameron have a plan for dealing with the EU? In this week’s Spectator magazine, James Forsyth reveals that No.10 has little idea of how they will actually renegotiate… Continue reading
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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
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130 MPs support Queen’s Speech amendment on EU referendum
So 130 MPs have backed the Baron/Bone amendment to the Queen’s Speech. There will be Labour and other parties in this group, but reasonable estimates suggest that 100 Tories went… Continue reading
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