In November 1966 the chief Beatle went to an exhibition at the avant-garde Indica gallery in London and met the Japanese artist Yoko Ono for the first time. Clambering up a set of step ladders, John Lennon used the magnifying glass provided by Ono and read the single word she had fixed to the ceiling. […]
This is the weekly newsletter from Iain Martin, editor of CapX. To receive it by email every Friday, along with a short daily email of our top five stories, please subscribe here. Thirty years ago this week, the transatlantic Live Aid televised concert for Africa took place in London and Philadelphia. This is not a […]
Never dismiss Britain’s Liberal party. It has recovered from previous slumps, when it had hardly any MPs, and it is perfectly possible that the Liberal Democrats will regroup after their recent defeat and become a serious force again at some point in the next few decades. But, and there is a but, they have a […]
Stephen Bush of the New Statesman has revealed news that has sent shockwaves through Westminster. Jeremy Corbyn MP – Alexis Tspiras played by a sociology lecturer attending an Incredible String Band concert – is apparently in front in the race to become the next Labour leader. This adds to the sense that Labour is having a […]
Sorry to be a party pooper, when it seems that everyone is in raptures about the maiden speech made this week in the UK parliament by the SNP’s Mhairi Black. She is the youngest MP since “nineteen canteen”, as we say in Paisley, and her debut was rhetorically impressive. She paid tribute to the defeated […]
Some of my best friends are Scottish Nationalists, so what I am about to say is said with the full knowledge that the SNP has many decent people within its ranks. Until the fox hunting farce, its group of 56 MPs had made a highly positive start at Westminster. Of course, there is much I […]
Praising Harriet Harman is not standard CapX fare. I suspect that the acting leader of the Labour party does not much like popular capitalism, or think that markets need defending. Despite that, I’m going to come right out and say it. Harriet Harman has been absolutely terrific for her party in recent months. When her […]
In the final hours of a summit, or a crisis meeting, a deal can often come quite quickly. The negotiators are tired. The ground shifts. Everyone wants to go home, the watching journalists included, and when the outline is announced at dawn there is usually considerable relief. These smoke and mirrors moments always make me […]
The Tories in Britain are revving up for an assault on the BBC. The Culture Secretary has appointed a panel, featuring leading critics of the state-owned broadcaster, and the government is letting it be known that everything is under scrutiny, including the question of BBC impartiality and the excessive size of the Corporation. This will […]
This is the weekly newsletter from Iain Martin, editor of CapX. To receive it by email every Friday, along with a short daily email of our top five stories, please subscribe here. It must feel good to be pure. While others make messy compromises, the hardened ideologue, convinced he or she at all times has […]
Well, this is awkward. If you are British you might remember that energy plan that Ed Miliband had before the election. The plan for a price freeze and a market reset? The one that attracted considerable derision from the Tories and some criticism from pro-market commentators such as, er, me? That’s it, yes. David Cameron […]
It has long been a contention of Euro sophisticates that Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is the bee’s knees and the cat’s pyjamas. Diplomats coo over her pronouncements. In Brussels she is regarded as the Queen of Europe and whispers about what she really thinks are traded like precious pearls of wisdom. While I can certainly […]
It looks like a clear “no” from the Greek voters, although as I write not all the votes have been counted. What is most striking is the grumpy reaction – so far – of the Europhiles. The Greek people have spoken and it seems to have infuriated fans of the Euro who are taking a […]
This is the weekly newsletter from Iain Martin, editor of CapX. To receive it by email every Friday, along with a short daily email of our top five stories, please subscribe here. There is a moment in a serious crisis when the question of blame becomes almost secondary, although ultimately blame is still relevant. We […]
Thirty or more Britons are murdered on a beach. These were men and women who had travelled abroad in search of rest, recreation and recuperation, only to end up dead at the hands of an Islamist terrorist. Back home, tributes are paid to the fallen, and then, almost incredibly, as if to underline the diminished […]
With the Greek crisis building and the aftermath of the attacks Tunisia in dominating the agenda in Britain, the latest PMQs in the House of Commons was pretty small beer. There was a “can we all go on holiday yet?” feel about the occasion. But there was one notable area in which Cameron made an […]
Germany – industrial powerhouse, cultural behemoth – is terrific and there is no need to reiterate all the reasons why here. There is a problem, however, with the country’s attitude to the debts of others. To hear German policy-makers and voters now, one would imagine that the stern teutonic attitude towards spendthrift Greece was rooted […]
It is customary for pro-EU sophisticates to be highly critical of David Cameron’s leadership on the European question. They ask why has he backed himself into a corner on this in-out referendum. Why can’t he explain exactly what he wants – specifically – from renegotiation? What does he want? Does he even know? Some of […]
This is the weekly newsletter from Iain Martin, editor of CapX. To receive it by email every Friday, along with a short daily email of our top five stories, please subscribe here. In the latest attacks on Kobane, ISIS reportedly killed 146 civilians on Thursday. In Tunisia, at least 28 people lost their lives on […]
And so the backing off begins. The BBC reports that the Prime Minister accepts treaty change may not be possible (Whitehall speak for impossible) before the UK votes in a referendum on membership of the EU referendum. Nick Robinson says: “The PM has argued instead for an “irreversible lock” and “legally binding” guarantees that EU […]
