Coffee House The Spectator Blog
Another panic-induced u-turn
Andy Burnham is a talented minister but his interview in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph represents yet another ignominious U-turn by this Government in response to Conservative pressure. For almost two years,… Continue reading
3 CommentsNo lead, no loyalty
Loyalty only lasts as long as your opinion poll lead. Mutinous Labour voices liven up the Sunday press and an ICM poll for the Sunday Telegraph gives the Tories a… Continue reading
0 CommentsAre Labour wedded to stealing every Tory idea?
Andy Burnham saying that “marriage is best for kids” and that it is “not wrong that the tax system should recognise commitment and marriage” is a victory for common sense.… Continue reading
4 CommentsWeekend Listening
This week’s Spectator Intelligence Squared debate about whether we shouldn’t be reluctant to assert the superiorty of Western values is an absolute cracker. To listen to David Aaronovitch, Tariq Ramadan,… Continue reading
0 CommentsAllez les Blancs
If you’re kicking your heels until the rugby gets under way, do read this preview of the weekend’s semi-finals.
0 CommentsIf Al Gore really wants to stop Hillary this is what he’ll do
The dream scenario for the Gore supporters who’ve kept the faith was that Al would pick up the Nobel, return to national acclaim and a draft Gore movement and then—like… Continue reading
3 CommentsDave is back–he hasn’t been Terminated
A few weeks ago I was reliably informed by an adviser to Arnold Schwarzenegger that the Governator, as a consummate “image man”, had cancelled his trip to the Tory Party… Continue reading
2 CommentsPulling back the curtain
The drama of the last week in politics defies analogy – but one celluloid parallel has stuck in my mind. As it is Friday, I thought I’d share. This clip from… Continue reading
7 CommentsGoing for a song
Twenty years ago when I worked at Our Price Records the thing we shop assistants dreaded most were customers who would march up to the counter and announce that they’d… Continue reading
1 CommentA worthy winner
Most of the media seemed determined to turn Doris Lessing into a sweet old lady who had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, as it were, in a fit of… Continue reading
0 CommentsHow Barroso and Brown could stitch up the press
If I were Barroso, I would pick a huge, fake fight with Gordon Brown before the EU constitution, sorry, treaty is signed. His plea today that Britain should not be… Continue reading
4 CommentsFrom Oscar to Nobel
I think I am right that Al Gore and George Bernard Shaw are the only two people ever to have won both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. Can Coffee… Continue reading
7 CommentsHow long can Ming hang on?
When it looked like there was going to be an autumn election, Ming Campbell’s position was safe for the simple reason that there wasn’t time to replace him. But now… Continue reading
2 CommentsBlood Sports
Toby set tongues wagging with his post about whether David Cameron was Muhammed Ali to Gordon Brown’s George Foreman. (Do see Clive’s post on why Gordon is really Sonny Liston)… Continue reading
3 CommentsThings worth seeing
Anyone who missed Sky News’ Adam Boulton giving Jacqui Smith a kicking over the election last Sunday can now see it again on their excellent revamped website Boulton & Co.… Continue reading
1 CommentBrown’s Euro-vision
Do read Mark Mardell’s piece on Gordon Brown’s meeting with Jose Manuel Barroso. Particularly interesting, is his account of Brown’s European vision. “I’m told he argues that there are three… Continue reading
3 CommentsIs this the new ‘John Major tucks his shirts into his underpants’?
One of the many things that undermined John Major’s authority was the idea, first put about by Alastair Campbell, that the PM tucked his shirt into his underpants. Now, it… Continue reading
2 CommentsWhat Darling really did with Inheritance Tax
I was too harsh on the Treasury. I derided their inheritance tax con, saying it may fool TV news but would be shredded by the press. This was not the… Continue reading
20 CommentsThe Muhammad Ali of British Politics
Has David Cameron rope-a-doped Gordon Brown? “Rope-a-dope” was the phrase coined by Muhammad Ali to describe the strategy he used to achieve his famous victory over George Foreman in the… Continue reading
5 CommentsGet ready for a row over Europe
After being pummelled at PMQs today, the last thing Gordon Brown wants is an escalation of the row over the so-called EU Reform Treaty, what used to be called the… Continue reading
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