Coffee House The Spectator Blog
Has Gordon got the solution?
Gordon Brown has come out of hiding to give Adam Boulton a quick interview, and his (belated) take on the Queen’s Speech. It’s all about setting out long term views,… Continue reading
0 CommentsTortured thinking
The debate over torture in the US has descended into tragic farce. Some on the right are so determined to always take the toughest position possible on any war on… Continue reading
3 CommentsMore to Lord Drayson’s resignation than just fast cars
The real reasons behind the timing of Lord Drayson’s resignation are beginning to seep out. Writing for Comment is Free, Robert Fox reveals that Drayson had intended to stay until… Continue reading
0 CommentsWill Lord Carlile have the Lib Dem whip withdrawn?
Nick Clegg went on Political Betting this morning to answer questions from the site’s users. Most of his answers were fairly standard, but he did hint that Lord Carlile might… Continue reading
0 CommentsLabour and the Lib Dems raise concerns over Ashcroft
The row over the influence of Lord Ashcroft takes another turn with a story in The Guardian this morning about whether or not Lord Ashcroft has returned to the UK… Continue reading
0 CommentsMan of the Year
Time magazine are inviting people to vote for their person of the year. The shortlist is Al Gore Hillary Clinton Hu Jintao Steve Jobs Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Barack Obama General Petraeus… Continue reading
0 CommentsLib Dem fight turns dirty
For all their woolly policies, the LibDem are dirty fighters, as anyone who has seen them campaign will attest. So it was only a matter of time before its leadership… Continue reading
0 CommentsThe case for Obama
Andrew Sullivan’s Atlantic essay making the case for Obama is well worth reading. His key point is this, Unlike any of the other candidates, he could take America—finally—past the debilitating,… Continue reading
1 CommentCan’t get no Respect
The internecine warfare at Respect just took another turn with George Galloway denying that he has left the party. There now seems to be a bitter dispute between Galloway’s faction… Continue reading
0 CommentsWhy so green?
I regularly enjoy Camilla Cavendish’s pieces, but to keep doing so I have to skip over anything she writes about the environment. It spoils it. How can a commentator who… Continue reading
0 CommentsThis time with feeling
Tara Hamilton-Miller has a great little blind item in this week’s New Statesman: A shadow secretary of state, who shall remain nameless, decided to sing and briefly weep to a… Continue reading
0 CommentsPolitics regained?
Joe Klein, the legendary American journalist and author of Primary Colors was in town last night to talk about the US election. TimeWarner threw a champagne-soaked gathering with the great… Continue reading
0 CommentsRespectable behaviour
Respect is finally collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. Daniel Finkelstein reports that George Galloway has kicked out the Socialist Workers. However, this is only the beginning of… Continue reading
0 CommentsBrown backs away from a fight over 56 days
It was supposed to be the big day when Gordon Brown put the case for detaining terror suspects for up to 56 days and took on his backbenches. Instead he,… Continue reading
0 CommentsThe Lord Malloch-Brown story
Don’t miss a very important piece in tomorrow’s magazine by James and the distinguished US journalist Claudia Rosett on the star of Gordon’s “ministry of all the talents”, Mark Malloch… Continue reading
0 CommentsWhat will it take for Sir Ian Blair to quit?
The Met have been convicted of breaching of Health and Safety Laws, the London Assembly has passed a vote of no confidence in him but still Sir Ian Blair clings… Continue reading
0 CommentsRace for the White House hots up
Today is a big day in the race for the Republican nomination with both Rudy Giuliani and John McCain (pictured) rolling out major endorsements from influential Christian conservatives. Giuliani wheeled… Continue reading
0 CommentsLord Drayson resigns
I don’t mean to sound like a kill-joy but doesn’t it suggest a rather warped set of priorities for a minister in the Ministry of Defence to quit his post to… Continue reading
0 CommentsBrown fails to seize the agenda
The reaction of three of the most influential commentators on the left to the Queen’s speech is instructive. Michael White in The Guardian suggests that it was less important than… Continue reading
0 CommentsMrs Brown
Michael White’s diary for Guardian Unlimited is always worth reading and today it has a fascinating little tit-bit that I hadn’t heard before. Apparently, it was Sarah Brown who persuaded… Continue reading
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