Spectator books of the year: Marcus Berkmann on two perfectly-pitched comedies
Nothing makes me happier than a perfectly pitched comic novel, and this year I chanced upon two. Kate Clanchy’s Meeting the English (Picador, £16.99) introduces a young Scottish Candide into...
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Coffee Shots: Merry Christmas from Jeremy Corbyn
It’s happened. Jeremy Corbyn has released his annual Christmas card. The Labour leader has refrained from following the traditional MP format by including a photo of himself on the card — and has...
View ArticleThe Lords back down on votes at 16 for the EU referendum
The House of Lords has tonight rejected a Labour amendment that would have given 16 and 17 year olds the vote in the EU referendum. This removes the largest potential obstacle to getting the EU...
View ArticleThe sacred mother-baby bond is being eroded by an overzealous state
These figures should send a chill down the spine of anyone who values basic human dignity: in England in 2013, 2,018 newborn babies were taken from their mothers and put into the care of the state....
View ArticleBrexit is gaining momentum, according to two new polls
Two new opinion polls suggest that support is growing for Britain to leave the European Union. Today’s Daily Telegraph reports on an ICM survey which shows that half of voters back Brexit, if the...
View ArticleWatch: Tory MP’s ‘deleted’ video outburst over fake death threat
Since Lucy Allan was accused of faking her own death threat online, the Tory MP has gone underground — deleting her Twitter and changing her privacy settings on Facebook. Last night she made a brief...
View ArticlePay rises go further: inflation is (just above) zero.
Anyone hoping for an inflation-linked pay rise in the new year can forget it. The only good news in today’s data is that, at least it won’t be a pay cut: Britain is out of deflation – prices rose by...
View ArticleDear Mary: How can I remedy an insult to my bookshop customers?
From Nicky Dunne, Heywood Hill bookshop Q. A much admired actor rang our bookshop to send a hardback copy of Don Quixote, with an appreciative handwritten note, to a very distinguished fellow...
View ArticleCan Cameron convince people to trust him on the EU referendum?
David Cameron will be relived that his European Referendum Bill is finally on its way to Royal Assent, after weeks of threats from Labour peers. But Europe being Europe, there are a whole heap of...
View ArticleWhy isn’t David Cameron’s EU referendum strategy working? (Because it’s stupid)
Expediency is usually just trouble deferred. That’s the first thing to remember about David Cameron’s ham-fisted approach to his european referendum problem. The second thing to remember is that it is...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne is outmanoeuvring Labour with his devolution revolution
George Osborne has been busily signing more devolution deals today, with five pilot schemes moving power over health policy and spending from Whitehall to London boroughs. It’s part of the...
View ArticleThe new benefits trap: why I’m proposing an amendment to the Welfare Bill
One of the government’s big achievements has been helping people off benefits and back into work. But the latest stage in the reforms – the proposed changes to the Employment and Support Allowance...
View ArticleSpectator books of the year: Matthew Parris on a rattling great history of...
Simon Bradley’s compendious yet rattling The Railways: Nation, Network and People (Profile Books, £25) achieves magnificently a difficult double. Learned and deeply researched, it will not only...
View ArticleEvery journalist should have the courage to betray his party. Does Owen Jones?
You know what’s tough these days? Being a left-wing polemicist, that’s what’s tough these days. You don’t need to take my word for this. Just ask Owen Jones. Here he is, complaining about the “unfree...
View ArticleJohn Major: leaving the EU would push Britain into ‘splendid isolation’
David Cameron is heading off to a European Council meeting tomorrow, where talks will continue on reforming Britain’s relationship with Brussels. But this will not yield results instantly, according...
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Sarah Vine reveals her Christmas wish: separate bedrooms
Buying a present for a loved one at Christmas can be a difficult and time-consuming task, so luckily Sarah Vine has made her husband Michael Gove’s job easy thanks to her column in today’s Daily Mail....
View ArticlePMQs: Cameron tries to bring Christmas cheer to the Commons
The last PMQs before Christmas will not live long in the memory. After last week’s rather entertaining Eagle Osborne clash, it was back to the Cameron and Corbyn show. The Labour leader has now...
View ArticleThere’s one very good reason why space travel isn’t a waste of money
Why is it that the sight of a huge, thrusting rocket ploughing through virgin space at 25,000 kmph makes me feel so good? As for seeing a real astronaut with a Union Jack on his arm, how can anyone...
View ArticleDonald Trump vs Alex Salmond: it’s a shame they can’t both lose
Let it be understood that, in the realms of pressmen everywhere, the sight of two blowhards hammering away at one another is worth the silent stoicism of a thousand sensible folk. Let it also be...
View ArticleIs Christmas really the right time for the church to ‘man up’?
A vicar called Paul Eddy has argued, in the Oxford church newspaper, that carol services should be more manly. For there are many men who only get this annual glimpse of church, and they should be...
View ArticleHow Cameron quoted a ‘supporter’ at PMQs who was actually criticising him
Today at Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron quoted Gary Porter, the Tory chair of the Local Government Association, praising reforms in the spending review that will allow councils to raise...
View ArticleJeremy Hunt makes peace with James Naughtie
Today marked James Naughtie’s last day in the presenting chair on Today after 21 years. To honour his time as a presenter on the programme, John Humphrys played some of his highlights from over the...
View ArticleJulia Hobsbawm’s tips for a merry Christmas
As a good (secular) Jewish girl, I adore Christmas. Top of my favourite ritual is listening to the King’s Carol Service on Radio 4 at 3.00pm on Christmas Eve. Although my husband is the cook, I am...
View ArticleThe Donald must be thrilled to be name-checked by David Cameron
Corbyn was back on drone duty at PMQs. He monotoned his way through six questions about NHS funding and gave the impression that a winter crisis would really make his Christmas. Ed Miliband had the...
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Peace in our time? Jeremy Corbyn befriends hacks at Labour Christmas bash
It’s safe to say that Jeremy Corbyn’s relationship with the mainstream media (MSM) can hardly be described as a harmonious meeting of minds. In fact, ever since Corbyn was elected as Labour leader he...
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