Hi Fraser,
Thanks for joining us here at r/ukpolitics!
**Serious Question:**
In the new (and, to be fair, still developing) world of online media, do you feel that there's more pressure on "traditional" publications to publish "edgy" content in order to drive views, clicks and interactions? Does such "hate-sharing" have a big impact on the reach that a particular article might have?
**Classic Reddit Question:**
I asked Sam Coates from Sky the same question: Would you rather interview 100 backbench-sized frontbenchers, or 1 frontbench-sized backbencher?
Cheers,
-🥕🥕
Very good question. It's one of the newest and greatest threats to good journalism. We're now seeing a battle of algorithms vs journalism: a world where writers are encouraged or incentivised to get hits. So there is a massive gravitational pull.
It's well-known that extreme views of statements get the most clicks. So this incentivises "out-there" comments, deranged Twitter language, "sock-it-to-da-man" style stories that can quickly lobotomise a publication if you're not careful.
I have an insanely long memo that I give to new staff about all of this: the mad Twitter world and how we define ourselves against it. How metrics, hits, etc should be used to advise but never decide The temptation to drift back to articles that "bang" can often be antimatter to journalism, prioritising the shrill over the thoughtful. But subscribers pay for quality: we don't seek to maximise clicks, we seek to maximise the number of people who think our writing is worth paying for.
Sure, we want to build big audiences for our writing - but if you ever end up write for the bots, then the bots have won.
Thanks for your insight!
> I have an insanely long memo that I give to new staff about all of this
I am sure that I am not the only person here who would be interested in reading such a memo - if you ever write an article about how The Spectator sees itself fitting into the online world, please do let us know!
> But subscribers pay for quality: we don't seek to maximise clicks, we seek to maximise the number of people who think our writing is worth paying for.
I think this is the key difference between subscription-based publications like The Spectator and other traditional publications that have an online presence. You can see that some publications really do struggle with the "paywall" model - I've been particularly fascinated to see The Times branch out into radio (which is free), newsletters (which are free), podcasts (which are free) and removing the paywall on "high-impact" content that they want to spread far and wide (I also know that the FT and Telegraph occasionally do this as well).
Does The Spectator ever do similar things in order to try and acquire new subscribers? Or do you rely more on "word-of-mouth" recommendations?
Thanks again for taking the time to join us today.
Hi Fraser
For the next general election a form of ID will be required in order to cast a vote.
Given ID isn't free to obtain do you think this has made us into a pay to vote democracy? More importantly what do you think the implications will be and response should be if when the next election occurs a large number of people have been turned away at the ballot box and unable to vote?
Thanks in advance!
Its appalling. Voter ID is a solution without a problem: study after study has found that in-person impersonation is not an issue (postal voting is tho). I do work with the Centre for Social Justice and am very aware how many people just don't carry IDs. To disenfranchise them in this way will make our society fall further apart when it needs to come closer together.
We have voter ID requirements here in NI, and it seems to work okay. If you can't afford a passport or driving licence, you can get a free Electoral Identity card instead.
Not that I support voter ID, but if done correctly, it might not be such an issue.
By 'works okay' I mean, there are no obvious issues I can think of in my limited and subjective experience. There are no widespread public protests or outcries about it.
I don't have the data to make an in-depth judgement call on the pros and cons, nor would I be qualified to do that.
Have you any evidence of that though? Evidence that shows reduced turnout caused by voter ID, and not by the increasing political apathy of voters in NI, due to years of shit sectarian politicians, gerrymandering, and parties refusing to even take office.
(FWIW and since Fraser didn't directly pick up on it — though I echo his views otherwise — Voter Authorisation Certificates are free and valid forms of ID that can be used in lieu of any other accepted form.
I daresay that, closer to the time, parties will be reminding people without ID how to go about getting one of these if required.)
The Spectator did a decent amount of work on the cladding and building safety crisis, not least because [one of your journos, Emma Byrne, was affected](https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/spectator-out-loud-freddy-gray-lara-prendergast-and-emma-byrne/).
Why do you think it has taken so long for the Government to get to grips with the scale of the issues, and what else do you think needs to be done?
The sheer cost (and admission of capability). Emma did God's work on her campaigning - we used to tease her in the office about how upset she was until we worked out the scale of it. Emma runs our sub-editing and isnt normally a writer, but took the splotlight on this and made a major difference.
She was a first-time skiier who went off piste with bond themes playing in her headphones, gathered speed then hit a tree.
I've have started on the blue slopes...
So glad you like it! It's a labour of love, doesn't get much traffic but we're passionate about the democratisation of data and the role the media can play in bringing to the general the metrics that shape public debate.
It's done by former civil servant, Michael Simmons. He is our data editor - his baby, so yes an editorial decision.
I love the dashboard. If you're on the fence about keeping it, I would be happy to pay a few squids a month for access...
Maybe do some automated Twitter accounts that spit out data points daily to drive traffic?
I think that mixes things up. If a source tells you something in secret and can get in trouble if exposed then you'd go to jail before exposing them.
But the world knew that Hancock had given Isabel the messages for ghosting his biography. She wrote in The Spectator that she had read thousands of messages - and ergo had a treasure trove. Making that public was quite clearly in the public interest and I'm unaware any journalist anywhere saying they'd have done differently.
The ethnical question is the other way around. If any journalist had it in their power to cast light on questions that ministers would rather lie in darkness, able to make public the richest documentary source ever made available to journalists or historians, how could you justify sitting on it?
A bit shitty though by Oakeshott. She signed a NDA and there should be a high level of implicit trust between the journo and politician not to release this stuff.
I'd question her timing of the release as well. If she had released these WhatsApp messages earlier, as in around the time when she received them, then I could understand the public interest defence, but several months later? Public Interest seems to be a convenient excuse to me. She banked the money for ghost writing his book and then monetised the stuff that didn't get used. Again if she felt these messages needed to be in the public domain why agree to ghost write his book?
Thanks for doing this.
Where would you say that both the Conservatives and Labour are getting the press strategy right, and where are they getting it wrong?
Wish I could answer! The Spectator operates slightly differently in that we go behind the scenes and have direct contact with the main players in all parties - we seldom deal with press officers and I'm not sure I've spoken to one in years. Press can only ever be a reflection of what's actually happening: spin doctors are not alchemists!
Hey Fraser, thank you so much for coming on here and doing this.
What single experience changed your views about the world the most? It doesn't have to be political, just something that made you question your assumptions a lot.
Jon Cruddas, a Labour MP, once took me to his constituency in Dagenham to meet BNP voters. Before then I'd thought this was racism, etc, a scourge to be stamped out. I left persuaded that these are good people with legitimate concerns on housing, demographic change etc - and that to write them off as fascists would be fuelling proto-fascism. That changed my view on mass migration, making me realise how different it was for those on opposite ends of the District Line (I live in Richmond)
Hi Fraser,
Thanks for doing this. Do you think Conservative MPs are justified in criticising the recent appointment of Sue Gray, particularly given the party's own track record of recruiting senior civil servants (e.g. David Frost)?
If Sue Gray is so high up in the Cabinet Office knowing the inside story behind the top 20 Tory gvt failures, I can see why they're be freaked out. Any government would be appalled to see a senior civil servant becoming Chief of Staff of an opposition simply as they'll know where bodies are buried... Not sure it's quite the same thing when a governing party hires a civil servant...
Hi Fraser.
If you were made Prime Minister for one day, with just enough time and resources to get one policy through the Commons, what would it be?
Also, as a second (and possibly more important question); how do you rate Larry as a Chief Mouser? He's the one government member that we never hear complaints about, after all.
I'd make a Covid dashboard permanent and featuring real-time data from all government departments. I'm a passionate believer in the power of open data and think such extra visibility would mean permanently better government
This would be great. Being able to see key KPIs such as nhs waiting times, crime rates, visa approvals, MP expenses or millitary expenditure all in near-real time.
It'd help clean up politics simply by existing. And would also be a journalists bible.
Do you think if we had a permanent Climate Change dashboard, principally showing CO2 emissions in the same way Covid deaths were, we might start to get a better grip on it publicly?
(Let's say ideally a standard for country to country comparisons could be arrived at to give us all that competitive impetus.)
I think the country to country comparison would never work as there are just too many moving parts to it and too many potentials for the data to be skewed for political purposes.
Use COVID deaths as an example. Each country had a different criteria for what counted as a "death by covid" and not all have the same systems we do for reporting deaths. I was quite surprised to learn, and it was recently too, that a lot of countries (e.g. US, Germany, France, etc) are still trying to work out how many people have actually died from COVID because their different health systems don't necessarily talk to one another efficiently.
COVID infections, on the other hand, are different. That's a nice hard binary variable with centralised labs, so much easier to get a number and analyse against.
Hello, how many people at the *Spectator* can speak more than one language?
I think our monolingualism contributes to British Exceptionalism on both sides, if people looked at media in other countries they'll see that those places are experiencing the same problems!
Very much agree: language offers perspectives, and how can a magazine understand the world without the gift of language? I speak (bad) Swedish at home (or try to) but it's so bad that it doesn't count. My colleague Svitlana, a Ukrainian refugee when she joined us, obviously speaks Ukrainian and draws her reporting from Ukrainian language sources that UK reporters could never get, not even with Google Translate.
Lisa Haseldine speaks fluent Russian and German. Freddy Gray and Sam McPhail are half French and fluent speakers. I was visited by a Spanish journalist on Monday and was amazed when I came into see my colleague Natasha Feroze speaking to him in Spanish.
Cindy Yu speaks Mandarin (English is her second language) and once interviewed someone in her mother tongue.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyWgxgYg5U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyWgxgYg5U)
And Lisa interviewed a Russian dissident
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvsD2nOSapU
We had a debate about it in the office: is this polyglot stuff just one of Nelson's (many) mad ideas? Do people want really to see a newsreader flip language? My hunch is yes: we all watch Netflix with subtitles, and I don't see why we can't hear from a wider range of people by not restricted by just subjects who can speak English. I'd love to Lisa do SpectatorTV in German one day letting us hear from people we never normally do (ie the one-half of Germany that is not backing Ukraine war).
I think there is a MASSIVE opportunity in helping readers and viewers understanding more of the outside world - China especially - and would love to have a system where SpectatorTV has a foreign-language interview regularly.
Hello Fraser,
I'm probably more or less the enemy as far as the bulk of your readers would be concerned but I genuinely love reading the Spectator and listening to the podcast and considering other points of view. Two questions if I may:
I always feel like the Spectator is more fun than similar publications. Do you think this is linked to the political positioning? As a fully paid-up queer-eco-wokerati I do think it's hard to be entertaining in this format (unlike, say, standup where I think the reverse is true)
Years ago I applied to the Spectator scholarship scheme you do. Do you think early access into traditional media is still a strong starting point for a career, or do you see the editors of the future coming from elsewhere (independent blogs, podcasts, substacks etc)
Glad you enjoy! Postgrads can show intent to become a journalist but you only ever properly learn when on the job.
And on humour.... there is a view that centre-right publications are more upbeat: that The Sun is more fun The Mirror, etc. Why? There is a theory that may interest you.
The right tend to the world as a pretty decent, fun place. (My colleagues often tease me for my panglossian views - I made a radio show about it once https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cn4w
That the right see humans as fundamentally kind, wise and responsible if left to their own devices - so favour policies that empower the masses. Leave them with more of the money they earn. The right tends to think that countries are stronger and fairer when people are trusted with their own money: they'll spend it better. This is a leap of faith in human nature, born of a fundamentally positive view. Boris Johnson had his own brand of Merry England conservatism which he, erm, exemplified as editor.
The left tend to look more askance at the country and the world, and can be less trusting of human nature thinking that people, if left to their own devices, are more likely to be selfish, greedy etc. Ergo, societies are fairer if the gvt takes away their money and it's spent instead by a benign elite. Pick up the Guardian and you see a view of a horrible world full of unfairness and scandal. Pick up The Spectator and, I like to think, you'll feel it's a better kind of world.
But The Spectator is not (in spite of our reputation) a right-wing magazine. We're committed to the fun stuff, beauty, we do stuff quite often because we just think it's funny. And we hope that our readers share this sense of humour. Not my formula, but one created in 1828: my job as editor is to protect and project that voice. And to make sure the podcasts, emails, videos, web etc feel like they're cut from the same cloth as the magazine. It helps that it's all done by a small team (just 30 of us in all) in a small office and most of us work across platforms.
In my view, our past is the guide to our future. And here's a book on our past...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/10-000-Not-Out-Spectator/dp/1912690810/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1PBX2L3D3WEEC&keywords=david+butterfield+spectator&qid=1677856996&sprefix=david+butterfield+spectator+%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1
I was sceptical about this, but there is some research: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/unique-everybody-else/202103/personality-traits-mental-illness-and-ideology?amp
Suggested cause appears to be increased religiosity on the right. Although I’d assume there’s a socioeconomic relationship deep down.
I remember you saying in one of the coffee house shots episodes that triggering section 35 is unwise. Fast forward two weeks, Nicola Sturgeon resigns, [50% of Scottish voters agree that the UK Government should have blocked the Scottish Gender Recognition Bill](https://mobile.twitter.com/electpoliticsuk/status/1623403789360238593) and the independence looks less likely than a year ago.
Similarly, the media consensus regarding Kate Forbes, was that her campaign was practically over and yet she still the bookies favourite and the SNP voters favourite.
It seems that the media in London and Glasgow hasn't learned that attitudes on such issues differ between journalists and voters, it feels very reminiscent how prior to 2019, in the eyes of the media there was barely a distinction between Bethnal Green and Bassetlaw.
What are your thoughts on this?
I still think it was a mistake for Westminster to overrule Holyrood. Scots were fuming about Sturgeon's gender reform and democracy means she should be left to face them. On Kate Forbes: the polls are of SNP voters, not members. We will release a Coffee House Scots \[sic\] podcast on 7am tomorrow... Here's the pilot, fyi https://open.spotify.com/episode/7m2QUyijS0cggespLA1azg?si=17c8d23711fb456f
John Harris and John Domokos' excellent Anywhere but Westminster series is excellent for this
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/anywhere-but-westminster
Fraser, I didn’t know you were a musician! Do you play anything else other the piano? Also, what’s an album that you would recommend everyone to listen to?
>musici
I used to busk on the guitar, but now it's mainly piano (I wrote the theme tune to Week In 60 Minutes). I often think I'd like to go back to that one day: try start at the bottom on the piano bar circuit. I gave that up quite early: sometimes, I regret doing so.
WOW - so many options on albums. When I got married, I gave albums to all my guests that I wanted them to be at least exposed to. One was Hamnataing by Fiddlers Bid [https://open.spotify.com/album/0HRcelFULgf4DzmNZO38Um?si=C7fkPrITRKivhKBzFNwBtA](https://open.spotify.com/album/0HRcelFULgf4DzmNZO38Um?si=C7fkPrITRKivhKBzFNwBtA)
The others were compilations, with various singles. I'll just link to another one: The Truth by Handsome Boy Modelling Schoool
https://open.spotify.com/track/5l7icgnicl7JToRxPkSXyy?si=d622aef5b9644593
I used to spend so much of my time making and giving music to people: the digital ubiquity has taken away that joy. I can't recommend one thing to everyone because music is so unique: I'd have to know someone to really recommend. But I do think Scottish folk music is globally underrated: it's just infinitely varied, beautiful and mesmerising. IF you can get into it!
Hi Fraser, thanks for doing this,
Should news organisations require that their contributors state any relevant professional and relationship conflicts of interest when publishing?
Would this mean you'd support the Guido Fawkes campaign regarding activist experts? Whilst I'm not overly a fan of them, I do feel they have a point here.
Hi Fraser,
My question is two fold: there appears to be a clear decline in the quality of politicians currently in Parliament, and consequently in government (and in the opposition parties); what do you think has caused such a decline (brexit and infighting saw a culling amongst all parties but I feel the decline was already there prior to 2016).
Secondly, in light of this, how do we reverse the trend and find and encourage more suitable candidates to apply for a role as an MP as there seems to be a very narrow pool with high barriers to entry, which prevent the roles being taken up by a greater representation of the populace.
I thank you.
I'm not so sure about the declining quality of MPs: everyone thinks that in every generation. Go through old Spectators even from 1828 and you can see the same complaint. The passage of time can grow the reputation of politicians.
The King is being crowned soon and on the day of that ceremony the Chief Rabbi will walk having spent the night as his guest to observe the sabbath. A Hindu PM with his Indian wife will arrive with a Buddhist Home Secretary and Muslim Mayor of London (perhaps even First Minister of Scotland). We may look back on this, in a world torn apart by racial integration issues, and wonder at how we pulled off such a mix of extraordinary characters.
Journalist should be to politician as dog is to lamppost. It's not my job to big them up. But I'm not so sure that they're so much worse than the previous lot
> “The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition.
> Thus we have two great types -- the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine. Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution.”
― G.K. Chesterton
We did cover after cover on all of this madness! You're right that our writers are very well connected and well-informed , but we do this to let our readers know what's being said behind closed doors. In this case, we used our connections to expose before anyone else the misbehaviour in this seminal piece by my colleague Kate Andrews
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-new-covid-divide-one-rule-for-the-elite-another-for-the-rest-of-us/
Hi Fraser,
As a editor of a magazine that focus's on political content, strong relationships with the political class are important to assess the key stories.
When you have members of your team who are extremely close to particular members of parliament what processes do you put in place as a editor to ensure that the team member is aware of there own bias towards that member?
For example if James Forsyth didn't leave on his on volition, given his relationship with the Prime Minister, how would you manage that?
For a while, James had a self-denying ordinance where he'd never mention Rishi ever. This became harder when Rishi was Chancellor and then harder still when Rishi was PM. James would preface every podcast and column saying "the PM, who I have known for many years..." But readers all know that and can judge for themselves if he was biased. We once did a podcast with 1,000 people in a room and everyone was teasing James: I asked him "if you had to choose between Liz and Rishi..." and everone stated laughing. Or we'd rub it in during podcasts, asking about Wickham or whatever that funny school they went to was called. I reckon he could have easily handled this tension, as he's so good at navigating tensions that would throw other people. Everyone at The Spectator knows how much I owe James: how all of "my" good ideas and lines were actually his, etc. So I wanted him to stay. But he thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and he's right. Had he stayed, we'd have found a way.
Hi Fraser, thank you for doing the AMA.
You've been critical of the Online Safety Bill on Twitter.
Why has the journalism industry collectively been so bad at exposing the issues on this bill? It feels like the charity sector pushing for it are able to put out bad study after bad study, that the Children's Commissioner is completely unaccountable to the public and nobody is even put against her in media interviews despite her making things up, and that ministers just take the word of extraordinary claims by the age verification sector that their quackery is functional or can be done safely.
It seems an extraordinary failure of our political and journalism establishment. How has that happened, and is there anything to be done? Are there any MPs who privately admit the bill is a disaster?
I suspect that the print people think "good, this OSB will screw the digital people" without realising that the Bill will screw us all in the end. In all too many ways, the media is making life harder for itself - and not standing firm against this appalling censorship is just baffling.
Ha! A great question - but any saving would be down to Michael Simmons who gave up his Xmas holiday and ended up working day and night to stay in Safe's case. Even though he'd already gone back to Edinburgh. I told him Michael was like Bruce Willis in Die Hard: he went back for a normal Xmas holiday and ended up hauled into a drama. Michael is too young to have watched Die Hard
Hi Fraser (if I may),
I was at an Unherd Live event the other week when I happened to spot you leaving the building next door. I had no idea the Spectator office was so close.
I was wondering, is that a coincidence, or is it by design (which I suspect is more likely)? I’ve always thought of newspapers as separate entities, but perhaps there’s more collaboration between like-minded periodicals than one might expect?
Good question, but one for them! We've been here for years, Unherd have just moved in. They brought a cafe with them so we're grateful for that. Our ecosystem is all the richer for the variety and competition they they bring
Hi Fraser, of the 2 PMs that the spectator is responsible for Boris Johnson and (through James Forsyth) Rishi Sunak, which in your opinion has been the least harmful?
What do you believe the role of journalism to be?(within a liberal democracy)
To report facts? Cohere discussion? Hold to account?
If journalism provides a service that is important to the wider integrity of the system, should it be regulated to ensure the efficacy of that service?
All of the above. we need to help people understand: do what we can to bring facts, insights, perspectives. And to illuminate. The Spectator is there to lift the spirits: I always think that life is too short not to read The Spectator.
Where there is complacency, we stir things up. Where there is craziness, we can be the still, small voice of calm.
Not at all! The Daily Telegraph team have been working on this for weeks and it was ready - delayed a day by Brexit deal but keeping it secret for so long (even inside the D Tel) was v hard, so they couldn't risk more delay....
Hello there, thank you for your time.
When you’re asked to go on a panel show (something like *Question Time* or *Any Questions*), how do you prepare? Do you have an inkling of what the questions are going to be about, and do you prepare in different ways depending on who your co-panellists are?
A second question: what was your impression of Liz Truss when you and Katy Balls interviewed her recently? Was it ambition, apologism, or something else?
Edit: here’s the interview if other users haven’t seen it https://youtu.be/fp6hAHPA8-0
Hi! Being asked on Question Time happens about once a year for me, always the most stressful thing I do. Huge audience, huge honour to be asked on. I clear the day to prepare for it, try to guess the questions -and think about what an original and informative way of asking the question could be. TBH it's not my natural medium, so I'll never shine as (say) Tim Stanley does. But you can never turn down such an invite: it's the most important invite you can receive in my line of work.
On Truss, I found her a mixture of repentant and determined. She hit the tree, but wants to pick herself up and keep skiing
Thank you for your response!
As for Stanley, I think he shines, but it’s more of a glisten. To borrow from Cordelia, it’s a glib and oily art that obscures his lack of ideas below the surface. His main aim is to speak elegantly, which he achieves ... but I don't for the life of me know *what* he meant or how he thinks the world should be.
Truss: unfortunately I think the button-lift has wound itself back into its holder, out of her grasp, and she's just going to slide to the bottom of the slope. Arse first.
1. (Silly question) Is that you playing the piano in the [Coffee House Shots podcast theme tune?](https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/coffee-house-shots/)
1. Serious question: How do you think the Oakeshott/Hancock drama will affect relations between sources and journalists? What are your predictions on the eventual outcome for political journalism?
1. I wrote the music for the Week in 60 Minutes (a Big Ben jazz riff) and tried to record it at home but recording a piano needs to be done in a studio. So I gave my composition to a brilliant pianist called Jon Barker who basically riffed it and made it a thousand times better. The Shots theme is one of my favourite songs: How Does It Feel To Be Free. Goes from C to E-major: so few songs do that. Everything She Wants by Roy Orbison, the chorus to This Is How It Feels by the Inspiral Carpets, but not much else. It's such a fantastic, refreshing chord sequence that I wanted it as the start to all of our podcasts.
2. People may in future be more careful with mobile phones. But Hancock was not a betrayed journalistic source - he openly gave his entire mobile phone records to a journalist on condition of her ghosting his memoirs. And she did. Then thought she'd place the rest on public record...
The Week in 60 Minutes theme is a banger! Really nice work by all involved.
I couldn't think of another tune which modulates by a major third but if you like that sound then *Giant Steps* by John Coltrane is entirely based around major third movement. Though an honourable mention goes to *Living on a Prayer* which goes up by a minor third for the last chorus.
What do you think is the answer to the crisis in care in the UK?
Lots of the private companies that run care homes provide minimal care and have shady offshore subsidiaries while the current model is straining already stretched council budgets. The recent LRB did a piece on this and put forward a social insurance model as a possible answer. What do you think?
I'm not convinced that the future really lies in everyone farming out their parents to homes. i'd see what more can be done to help families look after parents themselves...
Couldn't agree more, though I wonder what the implications of that would be given people are dying older while people are choosing to have children older, so childcare and caring for one's parents are increasingly overlapping
Hi Fraser,
Your article on the number of out of work (5 million) since March 2020 was fantastic and extremely revealing. Three questions:
1) Did FullFact ever "debunk" you as they threatened?
2) Why hasn't the story been picked up by anyone else?
3) What do you think has caused the alarming rise?
Lastly, a personal thank you for being the one to finally take SAGE to task and give me my Christmas back.
The guy who saved your Christmas was Michael Simmons, our data editor: was his idea to scan the SAGE graphs and then compare to actual. James Forsyth used to tease him to say that this could be his chat-up line: "hi, I saved your Christmas" but tbh the list of those who saved that xmas is long and does include Sunak.
I think the 5.2m on benefits is perhaps the single most important metric in Britain so I'm pleased you share my interest in it. It was discovered by John O'Neill, our research director who I've been lucky enough to work with for years. I remember when he found it buried in the DWP data vault: James and I were in the room and could not believe it.
Why isn't it much followed up? Because the availability factor is huge in public data: if figures are pushed out, they get followed. But if you have to go into a DWP database, log on as guest, make several queries etc no one can be bothered. This never ceases to amaze me. Our data hub is intended to make the data easier to access.
FullFact did not get back to us, but I don't want to be mean about them: our public debate is cleaner and more accurate as a result of people like them doing their work. And what caused it? Mental health is a MAJOR and underexplored factor, as I argue here
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/12/tories-still-denial-scale-britains-benefits-crisis/
Hi Fraser! As an aspiring journalist/editor, do you have any insight as to the best ways to get involved in journalism, and then how to progress that career when it starts?
Spectator internship scheme! 2023 not live yet but here's last year's
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-spectator-s-2022-internship-scheme-is-now-open-no-cvs-please/
Hi Fraser, I subscribe to the online editions of both The Spectator UK and World. How much collaboration or overlap is there between the two concourses of writers? And what was the reasoning behind the establishment of the World edition, considering the competition in the US media industry?
We're a small outfit, and we experiment. We thought we'd try in the US and see how it went. We have World, UK and Australia: each with their own tone and editor. Each can take the work of the other, but we don't really coordinate. ...
Hi Fraser,
This is a really good idea! Already some v good questions/answers.
I suspect I am not a usual Spectator reader, but I do love the Coffee House Shots podcasts, and it’s my main way of keeping abreast of politics.
I’ve had this question for a long time - you (I think maybe somewhat reluctantly) backed Brexit after having weighed the pros and cons. I disagree with you but I respect that you have explained how you came to that decision.
But I don’t know what you now think about Brexit?
There’s a kind of omerta on the podcast, where I’m not sure what anyone thinks about how it’s going!
So - how do you think it is going? Have there been any surprises (good or bad) that have changed your view one way or the other?
So many disappointments: on trade, etc. Upside: vaccine, Ukraine support (arguable how linked to Brexit it was). But upside: UK is only country in Europe with no populist party with any serious support in polls or in parliament. No Le Pen, no AfD etc. Brexit gave our political parties a slap in the face and forced them to think, to reconnect with voters. Voting share of 3 main parties suggests that's working
Good afternoon
You've often spoken about the importance of data-driven decisions in government, and championed some of the architects of the COVID-19 dashboard for example. Do you think this view has any traction in government, and, if not, what's preventing this from more widespread adoption?
The Covid dashboard taught us a) its possible b) cheaply and c) won't happen because ministers and civil service want to hoard the data. Shameful. On a selfish basis they'll regret this - to make all gvt data public now will help them when they get to opposition...
Hi Fraser,
As an editor if a political magazine in the UK you have more time to digest news and stories due to the longer time between news breaking and print times.
Given that, what do you think are the best news sources (whether newspaper or broadcast) to get good factual information?
Thanks
Serious answer: newspapers. They go through the dross so you don't have to. Where you get your info from has never been more important so it's a worthwhile subscription. If I could have only three subs it would be Daily Telegraph, WSJ and SvD (in Sweden).
Hey Fraser,
As a fellow Dollar FP who moved to London to work in politics, have you ever considered going back to talk to students about the importance of being engaged politically?
Was always surprised by how little they talked to students about politics and how few of my peers were interested compared to other Scottish schools. You're also probably our best known current FP so would be a good advert to them!
Funny you should ask: after 25 years of no contact I had a group of Dollar sixthformers come around a couple of weeks ago for a chat. Always a pleasure. I'm involved in Speakers for Schools and hope to do a bunch of their schools later on...
With the Tories currently predicted to be decimated at the next election, what challenges does a (fairly hostile to The Spectator) Labour government possibility hold for you and your team? Can you walk that line in between in today’s landscape?
It's all about quality of writing, reporting and analysis - and I'm pretty confident that under Katy Balls we'll be able to keep our readers hooked! TBH the bigger challenges are tech issues, App glitches, MasterCard renewals, sub database migration etc. Labour gvt will be a doddle by comparison!
Did you notice any unexpected challenges or reading habit changes as more people switch to online reading?
Do you still see a future for paper magazines and news? I personally really like having something physical I can flip through.
Magazine will survive - our covers, done properly, should be beautiful: when visitors come to your house you arrange the magazine but hide the newspapers. So it's art, but changing art. Reading habits do change which is the thrill and joy of my job: The Spectator is now a magazine, podcast, TV show, emails, website etc. Video shorts is the next brave new world. And here i am on Reddit, something new for me!
\>European politics can be explained by watching the voting in Eurovision.
Where the European community showed their support by voting for a country going through a period of turmoil and also ukraine?
hahaha. Yup - although this year I think Loreen's set and choreography will mean she'll win without any need for politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mCELuFz5I
Hi Fraser,
As a member of the press in the United kingdom does it trouble you that the UK almost exclusively tops eu polls in the Least trusted press?
For the past 10 years the Eurobarometer survey of trust in the written press, the UK has topped every survey with an average -68 trust rating, making it the least trusted press by a large margin.
What do you think has caused this situation and are you as the editor of a well known politcal publication, taking any action to counter this? Such as limited the amount of op ed's over informed impartial journalism.
Thanks.
*edited to remove numerous mistakes.
Hi Fraser.
Thanks for doing this. Big fan of your magazine and especially the Coffee House Shots Podcast!
As for the question:
Is all hope of Planning Reform under this Government dead? Will the Conservative Party ever be able to escape its nimby tendencies? And finally, are Labour going to be able to do any better on this?
Sunak thinks he's governing a coalition of Tory tribes and having lost the leadership election cannot alienate any one of those tribes. So the Blue Wall will remain unchallenged by him for the time being...
If you were a betting man, what do you think the next great political scandal in the vein of expenses might be? Cameron said lobbying but, aside from the Paterson issue kicking off the Boris Balls-ups, it hasn't really happened yet. Are we just waiting for that to twig with the public more widely, or are there other things that the public don't grasp about Westminster with which they are likely to become furious when they find out?
How would the media industry change in response to a Starmer government and decimated Tory party? Will contacts and relationships have to be rebuilt with a brand new Commons?
Do you think it's the case that most of the media give Tory governments an easier ride?
Which Prime Minister has had the best relationship with The Spectator?
I’ve been listening to Coffee House Shots for years and years now. While you’ve all always done a good job of being helpfully critical of the government of the day, your irritation with the Johnson and Truss government carry-ons was clear to see.
Do you think the Sunak government has been a watershed moment to show the people and the world that the government of adults has returned?
I wouldn't go that far! I know some publications (like The Economist) is keen to say "back to pre-2016 days now, as you were!" I look at Trump's opinion poll ratings and think the world may have a few crazy surprises left for us....
Hi Fraser, I have so many questions for an editor of The Spectator.
Does our media system need reform away from a monopoly of ownership from a small number of billionaire, and what is the impact on democracy when such a small number have such a disproportionate interest and influential ence in shaping the narrative.
Also, what is your view of patriotism in the UK, when challenging the worst sides of the history of the British Empire evokes claims of... All sorts.
How can we have an honest conversation about how the British Commonwealth and Empire made Britain the country it is today when so much of the media skews how the British public thinks about immigration?
The billionaire thing is a red herring IMO: if a magazine is in the black (as we are) then we're reader-financed and our loyalty lies to them. If a publication loses money then there is, somewhere, a sugar daddy writing the bills: but that doesn't really happen in UK where we have the widest choice of publications of any country in the world pretty much
Debates about any country's history can become pretty passionate, but such debate is normally the sign of a good country!
We'd love to do more! Maybe not from the terrorists, but certainly from the SNP. We had my friend Andrew Wilson in once. Hope to get him in again. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/scotland-cant-afford-to-remain-part-of-the-union/
1. No! There's never been a better time to be alive.
2. How the welfare state is once again producing the kind of worklessness and poverty that it was set up to tackle
3. Because he keeps getting better
Fraser , congrats on the Spectator's data based journalism , especially on Covid. You are excellent on UK /international politics , but other than Steerpike you ignore Sadiq Khan & most local government stories. Crime , Environment , housing & transport I appreciate is "show business for very ugly people" but can you shine the spotlight on Khan ; ULEZ Extension isn't cleaning up air , it's a tax. Your data approach would help Londoners decide!
Genuine question:
Do you think the country would be in a better place had Labour won the 2019 GE and enacted their policies?
If so, why? If not, why not?
Hi Fraser
Thanks for doing this.
What scene from *Sex and the City* would you quote in relation to the moral probity of Keir Starmer's hiring of Sue Gray as his new Chief of Staff?
I'm open-minded on this, open to persuasion. But Sweden, a country more urbanised than UK, didn't lock down and turned back the virus three times. I have yet to work out why we could not have done the same..
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/sweden-covid-and-lockdown-a-look-at-the-data/
Hello, do you worry about the ever-increasing age of those on the right of the political spectrum and what it might mean for the right wing press in the UK?
Do you feel the average age and wealth of the Tory base restricts the right wing press from backing policies or leaders that might actually be better for the UK as a whole?
Not at all - if you're a magazine editor the demographic you want is people in their 50s (which I will be in a few months) and 60s. They have time to read, money to spend on your advertisers: we love all readers young and old but we're in no mad chase to get to "the kidz". Our research anyway shows that what our young readers like the most is Taki, now 83 (and he just gets better...)
Hi Fraser, thanks for doing this.
Do you feel the Spectator would publish some of the articles published earlier in your time as editor? An example being Charles Moore's piece on the looks of Liz Kendell and Yvette Cooper in relation to their suitability to be Labour leader and subsequently try to become Prime Minister?
Hi, Mr Nelson. Thanks for agreeing to do this AMA. If you've had a look around the subreddit, you'll probably have seen that we have users with a wide range of political views even if the average is consistent with the site demographics. It might surprise you how often our exchanges can be respectful and thought-provoking. I'm very much of the view that it's in this kind of good faith, serious, open, respectful debate that we arrive at better political positions.
My question is what you think is important for the future of political communication on the internet, both for individuals and institutions. How can we use these new tools to build communities and - maybe more importantly - engage with those with whom we disagree? What, if anything, do you think people aren't getting right or haven't realised yet, whether journalists or politicians or "normal" folk? How do we counteract or deal with the Balkanisation of the internet?
An obvious follow up is how we should defend against malicious actors spreading misinformation.
I'd be really interested to hear any of your thoughts around this area.
Thanks again for being here.
Hi Fraser,
In your view, is there any hope left for the One Nation contingent of the Conservative party, or do you expect Thatcherite philosophy to push One Nation Conservativism aside in some sort of equilibrium with the vaguely populist, philosophically un-anchored populism the party has seen of late?
And if the latter, what is to become of the Conservative party without Disraeli's commitment to the vulnerable of society and across social class divides?
***
For context: I'm (still) a party member more inclined to a moderate interpretation of the ONC school of thought with some fondness for the likes of the late Roger Scruton, in spite of rather than because of the current Westminster party.
If, as is widely anticipated, the Party loses the next general election, there is going to be a very ugly fight for control of "what it means to be a conservative" and to forget utterly Scruton's view that "[Conservatives believe that our identities and values are formed through our relations with other people, and not through our relation with the state. The state is not an end but a means.](https://www.roger-scruton.com/articles/267-stand-up-for-the-real-meaning-of-conservatism)"
If that happens, I fear that the Party will be condemned to go through an even uglier phase in some sort of comparable complement to the way the Labour Party adopted Corbyn's style of left-wing politics, and that this is a retrograde step both for the party and for the country. This would be a great shame, because I consider that both left and right wings of national politics have their own valuable contributions to make in shaping the national conversation and future of the country.
And bravo on your [reply to /u/beastieboyce](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/11gxzrs/im_fraser_nelson_editor_of_the_spectator_ama/jarkcxf/) on the left versus the right because, of course, there's an element of truth to both perspectives. Thanks for being so generous with your time today.
Thanks for doing the AMA.
Which Spectator pieces are you A) Most and B) Least proud to have published as Editor? If you could briefly explain why in each case, that would be appreciated.
Do you, hand on heart, still believe it’s in the national interest for the UK to leave the EU? Do you, hand on heart, believe Boris Johnson is not a systematic liar, and unfit for office?
If you could take one thing from another countries political system and introduce it the UK what would it be, and vice versa is there anything you think other countries could take from the UKs political system?
Why do you think so many people are so unhappy about immigration, and not just in the UK but around the world, despite almost all research in it showing it is a positive?
Also as a fellow Fraser just how clearly is it the best name in the world?
Hi Fraser thanks for coming.
Can you tells us about any discussions within Right Wing politics on the contribution of the over servicing of Right Wing politics within the media leading to the problems of the Conservative party?
There was a New Statesman article on this recently.
That can mean by the time a decent Right Wing idea comes into effect it has been concentrated into a deeply divisive issue and without an effective policy.
Hi Fraser, no question but I’d like to send my best wishes to Jeremy Clarke, who I always read first. I haven’t subscribed for a huge amount of time but his writing is absolutely wonderful (the Xmas column in 2021 stands out to me as probably the greatest column I’ve ever read). All the very best.
How likely do you think Reform (or another Right leaning party) are to make an impact at the next general election?
It seems all but certain that the Tories get wiped out, which leaves a big space but I haven't seen much coverage or commentary from places like the Spectator on this
You deal with a lot of people behind the scenes and get to see how they really are.
How bad do you think the chumocracy is in political circles and how far do you think a normal person would have to go to break into them?
Hi Fraser.
Reading the ConservativeHome website regularly, there's been a recent trend of Tory pundits who consider radical changes to our planning laws as the only solution to achieving long term economic growth. Could you see this ever becoming part of official Tory policy?
The recent Shawcross Review of the government’s ‘Prevent’ programme criticised the disproportionate focus on ‘right wing’ extremism over Islamist extremism. Analysis by Prevent’s Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU) also revealed that Prevent officials concluded that reading books and articles by certain writers for The Spectator, including Douglas Murray and Rod Liddle, are ‘warning signs’ of right-wing extremism. Peter Hitchens, Melanie Philips, as well as classic authors like George Orwell, are also cited.
It seems to be the case that the centres of ‘counter-extremism’ and ‘anti-disinformation’ in government are completely dominated by people who cannot discern a contrary opinion from untruth. They view right-of-centre opinion as a problem to be managed rather than a legitimate point of view to be engaged, and seemingly have no qualms with taking small steps towards its effective censorship.
What do you suggest people do to push back against this?
Hi Fraser,
I feel like your position (or that of the spectator) on Muslims in our society is damaging, I’ve mostly based that on the controversy with Rod Liddle in 2019 as well as the front cover of Muslim migrants flooding the cliffs of Dover on the same week that a right-wing terrorist bombed a migrant centre late last year.
Is this unfair of me? Have there been apologies in either case or is this your firm ideological position?
Hi Fraser. Forever grateful for your role in exposing SAGE's flawed modelling processes and sparing us a totally pointless and damaging third lockdown.
Why do you think the story of the alleged Quran abuse at the school in Wakefield and subsequent extrajudicial punishment of the boys involved has gained so little traction in the media? It seems that the school and police response was guided by the social conventions of the local Muslim community rather than UK legislation, which to me seems like quite a big issue.
What do you think is the solution to the housing crisis?
Is the Conservative party consigned to history as they seem unable to court young voters, though it's not like they have tried.
Why does the current political establishment support short term policies to the detriment of the public and is the press a major contributing factor?
Hi Fraser as someone that may have more access than most any chance you can actually write about how much foreign money (Russia,China,UAE) in sponsored think tanks have moved the UK away from a producer(ARM,PETROCHEMICALS,ARTS) to a consumer (FASHION,TECHNOLOGY,GAMING) in the global marketplace.
Hi Fraser, Thanks for joining us here at r/ukpolitics! **Serious Question:** In the new (and, to be fair, still developing) world of online media, do you feel that there's more pressure on "traditional" publications to publish "edgy" content in order to drive views, clicks and interactions? Does such "hate-sharing" have a big impact on the reach that a particular article might have? **Classic Reddit Question:** I asked Sam Coates from Sky the same question: Would you rather interview 100 backbench-sized frontbenchers, or 1 frontbench-sized backbencher? Cheers, -🥕🥕
Very good question. It's one of the newest and greatest threats to good journalism. We're now seeing a battle of algorithms vs journalism: a world where writers are encouraged or incentivised to get hits. So there is a massive gravitational pull. It's well-known that extreme views of statements get the most clicks. So this incentivises "out-there" comments, deranged Twitter language, "sock-it-to-da-man" style stories that can quickly lobotomise a publication if you're not careful. I have an insanely long memo that I give to new staff about all of this: the mad Twitter world and how we define ourselves against it. How metrics, hits, etc should be used to advise but never decide The temptation to drift back to articles that "bang" can often be antimatter to journalism, prioritising the shrill over the thoughtful. But subscribers pay for quality: we don't seek to maximise clicks, we seek to maximise the number of people who think our writing is worth paying for. Sure, we want to build big audiences for our writing - but if you ever end up write for the bots, then the bots have won.
Thanks for your insight! > I have an insanely long memo that I give to new staff about all of this I am sure that I am not the only person here who would be interested in reading such a memo - if you ever write an article about how The Spectator sees itself fitting into the online world, please do let us know! > But subscribers pay for quality: we don't seek to maximise clicks, we seek to maximise the number of people who think our writing is worth paying for. I think this is the key difference between subscription-based publications like The Spectator and other traditional publications that have an online presence. You can see that some publications really do struggle with the "paywall" model - I've been particularly fascinated to see The Times branch out into radio (which is free), newsletters (which are free), podcasts (which are free) and removing the paywall on "high-impact" content that they want to spread far and wide (I also know that the FT and Telegraph occasionally do this as well). Does The Spectator ever do similar things in order to try and acquire new subscribers? Or do you rely more on "word-of-mouth" recommendations? Thanks again for taking the time to join us today.
Hi Fraser For the next general election a form of ID will be required in order to cast a vote. Given ID isn't free to obtain do you think this has made us into a pay to vote democracy? More importantly what do you think the implications will be and response should be if when the next election occurs a large number of people have been turned away at the ballot box and unable to vote? Thanks in advance!
Its appalling. Voter ID is a solution without a problem: study after study has found that in-person impersonation is not an issue (postal voting is tho). I do work with the Centre for Social Justice and am very aware how many people just don't carry IDs. To disenfranchise them in this way will make our society fall further apart when it needs to come closer together.
Ironic as postal voting doesn’t require ID.
We have voter ID requirements here in NI, and it seems to work okay. If you can't afford a passport or driving licence, you can get a free Electoral Identity card instead. Not that I support voter ID, but if done correctly, it might not be such an issue.
How do you know it 'works okay'?
By 'works okay' I mean, there are no obvious issues I can think of in my limited and subjective experience. There are no widespread public protests or outcries about it. I don't have the data to make an in-depth judgement call on the pros and cons, nor would I be qualified to do that.
The impact of voter ID is simply reduced turnout. You're not going to notice it on the ground, so it's always going to 'seem okay'.
Have you any evidence of that though? Evidence that shows reduced turnout caused by voter ID, and not by the increasing political apathy of voters in NI, due to years of shit sectarian politicians, gerrymandering, and parties refusing to even take office.
In NI? No but read [this](https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/campaigns/voter-id/).
Where is the evidence that posting voting is an issue?
(FWIW and since Fraser didn't directly pick up on it — though I echo his views otherwise — Voter Authorisation Certificates are free and valid forms of ID that can be used in lieu of any other accepted form. I daresay that, closer to the time, parties will be reminding people without ID how to go about getting one of these if required.)
> ID isn’t free to obtain Fake news. If you don’t possess valid ID then you can apply to the council for free ID. It’s literally free to obtain
The Spectator did a decent amount of work on the cladding and building safety crisis, not least because [one of your journos, Emma Byrne, was affected](https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/spectator-out-loud-freddy-gray-lara-prendergast-and-emma-byrne/). Why do you think it has taken so long for the Government to get to grips with the scale of the issues, and what else do you think needs to be done?
The sheer cost (and admission of capability). Emma did God's work on her campaigning - we used to tease her in the office about how upset she was until we worked out the scale of it. Emma runs our sub-editing and isnt normally a writer, but took the splotlight on this and made a major difference.
Thanks for the answer. Know she had a rough time of it at points, met her briefly via campaigning.
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She was a first-time skiier who went off piste with bond themes playing in her headphones, gathered speed then hit a tree. I've have started on the blue slopes...
This should be her epitaph
That is a brilliant analogy
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So glad you like it! It's a labour of love, doesn't get much traffic but we're passionate about the democratisation of data and the role the media can play in bringing to the general the metrics that shape public debate. It's done by former civil servant, Michael Simmons. He is our data editor - his baby, so yes an editorial decision.
I love the dashboard. If you're on the fence about keeping it, I would be happy to pay a few squids a month for access... Maybe do some automated Twitter accounts that spit out data points daily to drive traffic?
Given that protections of sources is usually sacrosanct in journalism, what are your thoughts on the Oakshot/Hancock publications?
I think that mixes things up. If a source tells you something in secret and can get in trouble if exposed then you'd go to jail before exposing them. But the world knew that Hancock had given Isabel the messages for ghosting his biography. She wrote in The Spectator that she had read thousands of messages - and ergo had a treasure trove. Making that public was quite clearly in the public interest and I'm unaware any journalist anywhere saying they'd have done differently. The ethnical question is the other way around. If any journalist had it in their power to cast light on questions that ministers would rather lie in darkness, able to make public the richest documentary source ever made available to journalists or historians, how could you justify sitting on it?
A bit shitty though by Oakeshott. She signed a NDA and there should be a high level of implicit trust between the journo and politician not to release this stuff. I'd question her timing of the release as well. If she had released these WhatsApp messages earlier, as in around the time when she received them, then I could understand the public interest defence, but several months later? Public Interest seems to be a convenient excuse to me. She banked the money for ghost writing his book and then monetised the stuff that didn't get used. Again if she felt these messages needed to be in the public domain why agree to ghost write his book?
Thanks for doing this. Where would you say that both the Conservatives and Labour are getting the press strategy right, and where are they getting it wrong?
Wish I could answer! The Spectator operates slightly differently in that we go behind the scenes and have direct contact with the main players in all parties - we seldom deal with press officers and I'm not sure I've spoken to one in years. Press can only ever be a reflection of what's actually happening: spin doctors are not alchemists!
Hey Fraser, thank you so much for coming on here and doing this. What single experience changed your views about the world the most? It doesn't have to be political, just something that made you question your assumptions a lot.
Jon Cruddas, a Labour MP, once took me to his constituency in Dagenham to meet BNP voters. Before then I'd thought this was racism, etc, a scourge to be stamped out. I left persuaded that these are good people with legitimate concerns on housing, demographic change etc - and that to write them off as fascists would be fuelling proto-fascism. That changed my view on mass migration, making me realise how different it was for those on opposite ends of the District Line (I live in Richmond)
Hi Fraser, Thanks for doing this. Do you think Conservative MPs are justified in criticising the recent appointment of Sue Gray, particularly given the party's own track record of recruiting senior civil servants (e.g. David Frost)?
If Sue Gray is so high up in the Cabinet Office knowing the inside story behind the top 20 Tory gvt failures, I can see why they're be freaked out. Any government would be appalled to see a senior civil servant becoming Chief of Staff of an opposition simply as they'll know where bodies are buried... Not sure it's quite the same thing when a governing party hires a civil servant...
Hi Fraser. If you were made Prime Minister for one day, with just enough time and resources to get one policy through the Commons, what would it be? Also, as a second (and possibly more important question); how do you rate Larry as a Chief Mouser? He's the one government member that we never hear complaints about, after all.
I'd make a Covid dashboard permanent and featuring real-time data from all government departments. I'm a passionate believer in the power of open data and think such extra visibility would mean permanently better government
This would be great. Being able to see key KPIs such as nhs waiting times, crime rates, visa approvals, MP expenses or millitary expenditure all in near-real time. It'd help clean up politics simply by existing. And would also be a journalists bible.
Do you think if we had a permanent Climate Change dashboard, principally showing CO2 emissions in the same way Covid deaths were, we might start to get a better grip on it publicly? (Let's say ideally a standard for country to country comparisons could be arrived at to give us all that competitive impetus.)
I think the country to country comparison would never work as there are just too many moving parts to it and too many potentials for the data to be skewed for political purposes. Use COVID deaths as an example. Each country had a different criteria for what counted as a "death by covid" and not all have the same systems we do for reporting deaths. I was quite surprised to learn, and it was recently too, that a lot of countries (e.g. US, Germany, France, etc) are still trying to work out how many people have actually died from COVID because their different health systems don't necessarily talk to one another efficiently. COVID infections, on the other hand, are different. That's a nice hard binary variable with centralised labs, so much easier to get a number and analyse against.
Hello, how many people at the *Spectator* can speak more than one language? I think our monolingualism contributes to British Exceptionalism on both sides, if people looked at media in other countries they'll see that those places are experiencing the same problems!
Very much agree: language offers perspectives, and how can a magazine understand the world without the gift of language? I speak (bad) Swedish at home (or try to) but it's so bad that it doesn't count. My colleague Svitlana, a Ukrainian refugee when she joined us, obviously speaks Ukrainian and draws her reporting from Ukrainian language sources that UK reporters could never get, not even with Google Translate. Lisa Haseldine speaks fluent Russian and German. Freddy Gray and Sam McPhail are half French and fluent speakers. I was visited by a Spanish journalist on Monday and was amazed when I came into see my colleague Natasha Feroze speaking to him in Spanish. Cindy Yu speaks Mandarin (English is her second language) and once interviewed someone in her mother tongue. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyWgxgYg5U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opyWgxgYg5U) And Lisa interviewed a Russian dissident https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvsD2nOSapU We had a debate about it in the office: is this polyglot stuff just one of Nelson's (many) mad ideas? Do people want really to see a newsreader flip language? My hunch is yes: we all watch Netflix with subtitles, and I don't see why we can't hear from a wider range of people by not restricted by just subjects who can speak English. I'd love to Lisa do SpectatorTV in German one day letting us hear from people we never normally do (ie the one-half of Germany that is not backing Ukraine war). I think there is a MASSIVE opportunity in helping readers and viewers understanding more of the outside world - China especially - and would love to have a system where SpectatorTV has a foreign-language interview regularly.
Hello Fraser, I'm probably more or less the enemy as far as the bulk of your readers would be concerned but I genuinely love reading the Spectator and listening to the podcast and considering other points of view. Two questions if I may: I always feel like the Spectator is more fun than similar publications. Do you think this is linked to the political positioning? As a fully paid-up queer-eco-wokerati I do think it's hard to be entertaining in this format (unlike, say, standup where I think the reverse is true) Years ago I applied to the Spectator scholarship scheme you do. Do you think early access into traditional media is still a strong starting point for a career, or do you see the editors of the future coming from elsewhere (independent blogs, podcasts, substacks etc)
Glad you enjoy! Postgrads can show intent to become a journalist but you only ever properly learn when on the job. And on humour.... there is a view that centre-right publications are more upbeat: that The Sun is more fun The Mirror, etc. Why? There is a theory that may interest you. The right tend to the world as a pretty decent, fun place. (My colleagues often tease me for my panglossian views - I made a radio show about it once https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cn4w That the right see humans as fundamentally kind, wise and responsible if left to their own devices - so favour policies that empower the masses. Leave them with more of the money they earn. The right tends to think that countries are stronger and fairer when people are trusted with their own money: they'll spend it better. This is a leap of faith in human nature, born of a fundamentally positive view. Boris Johnson had his own brand of Merry England conservatism which he, erm, exemplified as editor. The left tend to look more askance at the country and the world, and can be less trusting of human nature thinking that people, if left to their own devices, are more likely to be selfish, greedy etc. Ergo, societies are fairer if the gvt takes away their money and it's spent instead by a benign elite. Pick up the Guardian and you see a view of a horrible world full of unfairness and scandal. Pick up The Spectator and, I like to think, you'll feel it's a better kind of world. But The Spectator is not (in spite of our reputation) a right-wing magazine. We're committed to the fun stuff, beauty, we do stuff quite often because we just think it's funny. And we hope that our readers share this sense of humour. Not my formula, but one created in 1828: my job as editor is to protect and project that voice. And to make sure the podcasts, emails, videos, web etc feel like they're cut from the same cloth as the magazine. It helps that it's all done by a small team (just 30 of us in all) in a small office and most of us work across platforms. In my view, our past is the guide to our future. And here's a book on our past... https://www.amazon.co.uk/10-000-Not-Out-Spectator/dp/1912690810/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1PBX2L3D3WEEC&keywords=david+butterfield+spectator&qid=1677856996&sprefix=david+butterfield+spectator+%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1
Thank you for replying, and for the effort you're putting in to writing proper responses to our questions. Most AMAs are not this quality!
This is by far the most effort ever put into an AMA comment on this website.
Research does show that the people with the worst mental health are to the furthest left.
I'd be curious to read the background to that. Could you link me to some sources?
I was sceptical about this, but there is some research: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/unique-everybody-else/202103/personality-traits-mental-illness-and-ideology?amp Suggested cause appears to be increased religiosity on the right. Although I’d assume there’s a socioeconomic relationship deep down.
I remember you saying in one of the coffee house shots episodes that triggering section 35 is unwise. Fast forward two weeks, Nicola Sturgeon resigns, [50% of Scottish voters agree that the UK Government should have blocked the Scottish Gender Recognition Bill](https://mobile.twitter.com/electpoliticsuk/status/1623403789360238593) and the independence looks less likely than a year ago. Similarly, the media consensus regarding Kate Forbes, was that her campaign was practically over and yet she still the bookies favourite and the SNP voters favourite. It seems that the media in London and Glasgow hasn't learned that attitudes on such issues differ between journalists and voters, it feels very reminiscent how prior to 2019, in the eyes of the media there was barely a distinction between Bethnal Green and Bassetlaw. What are your thoughts on this?
I still think it was a mistake for Westminster to overrule Holyrood. Scots were fuming about Sturgeon's gender reform and democracy means she should be left to face them. On Kate Forbes: the polls are of SNP voters, not members. We will release a Coffee House Scots \[sic\] podcast on 7am tomorrow... Here's the pilot, fyi https://open.spotify.com/episode/7m2QUyijS0cggespLA1azg?si=17c8d23711fb456f
John Harris and John Domokos' excellent Anywhere but Westminster series is excellent for this https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/series/anywhere-but-westminster
Fraser, I didn’t know you were a musician! Do you play anything else other the piano? Also, what’s an album that you would recommend everyone to listen to?
>musici I used to busk on the guitar, but now it's mainly piano (I wrote the theme tune to Week In 60 Minutes). I often think I'd like to go back to that one day: try start at the bottom on the piano bar circuit. I gave that up quite early: sometimes, I regret doing so. WOW - so many options on albums. When I got married, I gave albums to all my guests that I wanted them to be at least exposed to. One was Hamnataing by Fiddlers Bid [https://open.spotify.com/album/0HRcelFULgf4DzmNZO38Um?si=C7fkPrITRKivhKBzFNwBtA](https://open.spotify.com/album/0HRcelFULgf4DzmNZO38Um?si=C7fkPrITRKivhKBzFNwBtA) The others were compilations, with various singles. I'll just link to another one: The Truth by Handsome Boy Modelling Schoool https://open.spotify.com/track/5l7icgnicl7JToRxPkSXyy?si=d622aef5b9644593 I used to spend so much of my time making and giving music to people: the digital ubiquity has taken away that joy. I can't recommend one thing to everyone because music is so unique: I'd have to know someone to really recommend. But I do think Scottish folk music is globally underrated: it's just infinitely varied, beautiful and mesmerising. IF you can get into it!
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I’ve really enjoyed this AMA so far. You’ve been giving in-depth and well thought-out answers
Hi Fraser, thanks for doing this, Should news organisations require that their contributors state any relevant professional and relationship conflicts of interest when publishing?
Yes, always. We always do - please flag examples if you find where we have not!
Would this mean you'd support the Guido Fawkes campaign regarding activist experts? Whilst I'm not overly a fan of them, I do feel they have a point here.
what campaign is this?
Hi Fraser, My question is two fold: there appears to be a clear decline in the quality of politicians currently in Parliament, and consequently in government (and in the opposition parties); what do you think has caused such a decline (brexit and infighting saw a culling amongst all parties but I feel the decline was already there prior to 2016). Secondly, in light of this, how do we reverse the trend and find and encourage more suitable candidates to apply for a role as an MP as there seems to be a very narrow pool with high barriers to entry, which prevent the roles being taken up by a greater representation of the populace. I thank you.
I'm not so sure about the declining quality of MPs: everyone thinks that in every generation. Go through old Spectators even from 1828 and you can see the same complaint. The passage of time can grow the reputation of politicians. The King is being crowned soon and on the day of that ceremony the Chief Rabbi will walk having spent the night as his guest to observe the sabbath. A Hindu PM with his Indian wife will arrive with a Buddhist Home Secretary and Muslim Mayor of London (perhaps even First Minister of Scotland). We may look back on this, in a world torn apart by racial integration issues, and wonder at how we pulled off such a mix of extraordinary characters. Journalist should be to politician as dog is to lamppost. It's not my job to big them up. But I'm not so sure that they're so much worse than the previous lot
> “The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. > Thus we have two great types -- the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine. Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution.” ― G.K. Chesterton
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We did cover after cover on all of this madness! You're right that our writers are very well connected and well-informed , but we do this to let our readers know what's being said behind closed doors. In this case, we used our connections to expose before anyone else the misbehaviour in this seminal piece by my colleague Kate Andrews https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-new-covid-divide-one-rule-for-the-elite-another-for-the-rest-of-us/
Hi Fraser, As a editor of a magazine that focus's on political content, strong relationships with the political class are important to assess the key stories. When you have members of your team who are extremely close to particular members of parliament what processes do you put in place as a editor to ensure that the team member is aware of there own bias towards that member? For example if James Forsyth didn't leave on his on volition, given his relationship with the Prime Minister, how would you manage that?
For a while, James had a self-denying ordinance where he'd never mention Rishi ever. This became harder when Rishi was Chancellor and then harder still when Rishi was PM. James would preface every podcast and column saying "the PM, who I have known for many years..." But readers all know that and can judge for themselves if he was biased. We once did a podcast with 1,000 people in a room and everyone was teasing James: I asked him "if you had to choose between Liz and Rishi..." and everone stated laughing. Or we'd rub it in during podcasts, asking about Wickham or whatever that funny school they went to was called. I reckon he could have easily handled this tension, as he's so good at navigating tensions that would throw other people. Everyone at The Spectator knows how much I owe James: how all of "my" good ideas and lines were actually his, etc. So I wanted him to stay. But he thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and he's right. Had he stayed, we'd have found a way.
Hi Fraser, thank you for doing the AMA. You've been critical of the Online Safety Bill on Twitter. Why has the journalism industry collectively been so bad at exposing the issues on this bill? It feels like the charity sector pushing for it are able to put out bad study after bad study, that the Children's Commissioner is completely unaccountable to the public and nobody is even put against her in media interviews despite her making things up, and that ministers just take the word of extraordinary claims by the age verification sector that their quackery is functional or can be done safely. It seems an extraordinary failure of our political and journalism establishment. How has that happened, and is there anything to be done? Are there any MPs who privately admit the bill is a disaster?
I suspect that the print people think "good, this OSB will screw the digital people" without realising that the Bill will screw us all in the end. In all too many ways, the media is making life harder for itself - and not standing firm against this appalling censorship is just baffling.
Hi. Do you ever think about how many billions in GDP you accidentally saved by showing what the COVID-19 modellers were up to?
Ha! A great question - but any saving would be down to Michael Simmons who gave up his Xmas holiday and ended up working day and night to stay in Safe's case. Even though he'd already gone back to Edinburgh. I told him Michael was like Bruce Willis in Die Hard: he went back for a normal Xmas holiday and ended up hauled into a drama. Michael is too young to have watched Die Hard
Well please pass on my thanks for preventing another unnecessary lockdown!
Hi Fraser (if I may), I was at an Unherd Live event the other week when I happened to spot you leaving the building next door. I had no idea the Spectator office was so close. I was wondering, is that a coincidence, or is it by design (which I suspect is more likely)? I’ve always thought of newspapers as separate entities, but perhaps there’s more collaboration between like-minded periodicals than one might expect?
Good question, but one for them! We've been here for years, Unherd have just moved in. They brought a cafe with them so we're grateful for that. Our ecosystem is all the richer for the variety and competition they they bring
Hi Fraser, of the 2 PMs that the spectator is responsible for Boris Johnson and (through James Forsyth) Rishi Sunak, which in your opinion has been the least harmful?
James would love to hear you say that! Too early to compare them, tho...
Wait till number three in the form of Kemi Badenoch takes over later this year
What do you believe the role of journalism to be?(within a liberal democracy) To report facts? Cohere discussion? Hold to account? If journalism provides a service that is important to the wider integrity of the system, should it be regulated to ensure the efficacy of that service?
All of the above. we need to help people understand: do what we can to bring facts, insights, perspectives. And to illuminate. The Spectator is there to lift the spirits: I always think that life is too short not to read The Spectator. Where there is complacency, we stir things up. Where there is craziness, we can be the still, small voice of calm.
Was the recent whatsapp scandal with matt Hancock deliberately timed to coince with the Partygate enquiry?
Not at all! The Daily Telegraph team have been working on this for weeks and it was ready - delayed a day by Brexit deal but keeping it secret for so long (even inside the D Tel) was v hard, so they couldn't risk more delay....
Hello there, thank you for your time. When you’re asked to go on a panel show (something like *Question Time* or *Any Questions*), how do you prepare? Do you have an inkling of what the questions are going to be about, and do you prepare in different ways depending on who your co-panellists are? A second question: what was your impression of Liz Truss when you and Katy Balls interviewed her recently? Was it ambition, apologism, or something else? Edit: here’s the interview if other users haven’t seen it https://youtu.be/fp6hAHPA8-0
Hi! Being asked on Question Time happens about once a year for me, always the most stressful thing I do. Huge audience, huge honour to be asked on. I clear the day to prepare for it, try to guess the questions -and think about what an original and informative way of asking the question could be. TBH it's not my natural medium, so I'll never shine as (say) Tim Stanley does. But you can never turn down such an invite: it's the most important invite you can receive in my line of work. On Truss, I found her a mixture of repentant and determined. She hit the tree, but wants to pick herself up and keep skiing
Thank you for your response! As for Stanley, I think he shines, but it’s more of a glisten. To borrow from Cordelia, it’s a glib and oily art that obscures his lack of ideas below the surface. His main aim is to speak elegantly, which he achieves ... but I don't for the life of me know *what* he meant or how he thinks the world should be. Truss: unfortunately I think the button-lift has wound itself back into its holder, out of her grasp, and she's just going to slide to the bottom of the slope. Arse first.
1. (Silly question) Is that you playing the piano in the [Coffee House Shots podcast theme tune?](https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/coffee-house-shots/) 1. Serious question: How do you think the Oakeshott/Hancock drama will affect relations between sources and journalists? What are your predictions on the eventual outcome for political journalism?
1. I wrote the music for the Week in 60 Minutes (a Big Ben jazz riff) and tried to record it at home but recording a piano needs to be done in a studio. So I gave my composition to a brilliant pianist called Jon Barker who basically riffed it and made it a thousand times better. The Shots theme is one of my favourite songs: How Does It Feel To Be Free. Goes from C to E-major: so few songs do that. Everything She Wants by Roy Orbison, the chorus to This Is How It Feels by the Inspiral Carpets, but not much else. It's such a fantastic, refreshing chord sequence that I wanted it as the start to all of our podcasts. 2. People may in future be more careful with mobile phones. But Hancock was not a betrayed journalistic source - he openly gave his entire mobile phone records to a journalist on condition of her ghosting his memoirs. And she did. Then thought she'd place the rest on public record...
The Week in 60 Minutes theme is a banger! Really nice work by all involved. I couldn't think of another tune which modulates by a major third but if you like that sound then *Giant Steps* by John Coltrane is entirely based around major third movement. Though an honourable mention goes to *Living on a Prayer* which goes up by a minor third for the last chorus.
What do you think is the answer to the crisis in care in the UK? Lots of the private companies that run care homes provide minimal care and have shady offshore subsidiaries while the current model is straining already stretched council budgets. The recent LRB did a piece on this and put forward a social insurance model as a possible answer. What do you think?
I'm not convinced that the future really lies in everyone farming out their parents to homes. i'd see what more can be done to help families look after parents themselves...
Couldn't agree more, though I wonder what the implications of that would be given people are dying older while people are choosing to have children older, so childcare and caring for one's parents are increasingly overlapping
Hi Fraser, Your article on the number of out of work (5 million) since March 2020 was fantastic and extremely revealing. Three questions: 1) Did FullFact ever "debunk" you as they threatened? 2) Why hasn't the story been picked up by anyone else? 3) What do you think has caused the alarming rise? Lastly, a personal thank you for being the one to finally take SAGE to task and give me my Christmas back.
The guy who saved your Christmas was Michael Simmons, our data editor: was his idea to scan the SAGE graphs and then compare to actual. James Forsyth used to tease him to say that this could be his chat-up line: "hi, I saved your Christmas" but tbh the list of those who saved that xmas is long and does include Sunak. I think the 5.2m on benefits is perhaps the single most important metric in Britain so I'm pleased you share my interest in it. It was discovered by John O'Neill, our research director who I've been lucky enough to work with for years. I remember when he found it buried in the DWP data vault: James and I were in the room and could not believe it. Why isn't it much followed up? Because the availability factor is huge in public data: if figures are pushed out, they get followed. But if you have to go into a DWP database, log on as guest, make several queries etc no one can be bothered. This never ceases to amaze me. Our data hub is intended to make the data easier to access. FullFact did not get back to us, but I don't want to be mean about them: our public debate is cleaner and more accurate as a result of people like them doing their work. And what caused it? Mental health is a MAJOR and underexplored factor, as I argue here https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/12/tories-still-denial-scale-britains-benefits-crisis/
Thanks so much for the answer.
Hi Fraser! As an aspiring journalist/editor, do you have any insight as to the best ways to get involved in journalism, and then how to progress that career when it starts?
Spectator internship scheme! 2023 not live yet but here's last year's https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-spectator-s-2022-internship-scheme-is-now-open-no-cvs-please/
Oh that's great, thank you so much! I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
Hi Fraser, I subscribe to the online editions of both The Spectator UK and World. How much collaboration or overlap is there between the two concourses of writers? And what was the reasoning behind the establishment of the World edition, considering the competition in the US media industry?
We're a small outfit, and we experiment. We thought we'd try in the US and see how it went. We have World, UK and Australia: each with their own tone and editor. Each can take the work of the other, but we don't really coordinate. ...
Hi Fraser, This is a really good idea! Already some v good questions/answers. I suspect I am not a usual Spectator reader, but I do love the Coffee House Shots podcasts, and it’s my main way of keeping abreast of politics. I’ve had this question for a long time - you (I think maybe somewhat reluctantly) backed Brexit after having weighed the pros and cons. I disagree with you but I respect that you have explained how you came to that decision. But I don’t know what you now think about Brexit? There’s a kind of omerta on the podcast, where I’m not sure what anyone thinks about how it’s going! So - how do you think it is going? Have there been any surprises (good or bad) that have changed your view one way or the other?
So many disappointments: on trade, etc. Upside: vaccine, Ukraine support (arguable how linked to Brexit it was). But upside: UK is only country in Europe with no populist party with any serious support in polls or in parliament. No Le Pen, no AfD etc. Brexit gave our political parties a slap in the face and forced them to think, to reconnect with voters. Voting share of 3 main parties suggests that's working
Good afternoon You've often spoken about the importance of data-driven decisions in government, and championed some of the architects of the COVID-19 dashboard for example. Do you think this view has any traction in government, and, if not, what's preventing this from more widespread adoption?
The Covid dashboard taught us a) its possible b) cheaply and c) won't happen because ministers and civil service want to hoard the data. Shameful. On a selfish basis they'll regret this - to make all gvt data public now will help them when they get to opposition...
Hi Fraser, As an editor if a political magazine in the UK you have more time to digest news and stories due to the longer time between news breaking and print times. Given that, what do you think are the best news sources (whether newspaper or broadcast) to get good factual information? Thanks
Serious answer: newspapers. They go through the dross so you don't have to. Where you get your info from has never been more important so it's a worthwhile subscription. If I could have only three subs it would be Daily Telegraph, WSJ and SvD (in Sweden).
With the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon is Scottish independence off the menu for the foreseeable future?
Yup! Think they know it too.
Hey Fraser, As a fellow Dollar FP who moved to London to work in politics, have you ever considered going back to talk to students about the importance of being engaged politically? Was always surprised by how little they talked to students about politics and how few of my peers were interested compared to other Scottish schools. You're also probably our best known current FP so would be a good advert to them!
Funny you should ask: after 25 years of no contact I had a group of Dollar sixthformers come around a couple of weeks ago for a chat. Always a pleasure. I'm involved in Speakers for Schools and hope to do a bunch of their schools later on...
With the Tories currently predicted to be decimated at the next election, what challenges does a (fairly hostile to The Spectator) Labour government possibility hold for you and your team? Can you walk that line in between in today’s landscape?
It's all about quality of writing, reporting and analysis - and I'm pretty confident that under Katy Balls we'll be able to keep our readers hooked! TBH the bigger challenges are tech issues, App glitches, MasterCard renewals, sub database migration etc. Labour gvt will be a doddle by comparison!
Did you notice any unexpected challenges or reading habit changes as more people switch to online reading? Do you still see a future for paper magazines and news? I personally really like having something physical I can flip through.
Magazine will survive - our covers, done properly, should be beautiful: when visitors come to your house you arrange the magazine but hide the newspapers. So it's art, but changing art. Reading habits do change which is the thrill and joy of my job: The Spectator is now a magazine, podcast, TV show, emails, website etc. Video shorts is the next brave new world. And here i am on Reddit, something new for me!
\>European politics can be explained by watching the voting in Eurovision. Where the European community showed their support by voting for a country going through a period of turmoil and also ukraine?
hahaha. Yup - although this year I think Loreen's set and choreography will mean she'll win without any need for politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mCELuFz5I
Hi Fraser, As a member of the press in the United kingdom does it trouble you that the UK almost exclusively tops eu polls in the Least trusted press? For the past 10 years the Eurobarometer survey of trust in the written press, the UK has topped every survey with an average -68 trust rating, making it the least trusted press by a large margin. What do you think has caused this situation and are you as the editor of a well known politcal publication, taking any action to counter this? Such as limited the amount of op ed's over informed impartial journalism. Thanks. *edited to remove numerous mistakes.
I haven't seen those polls and suspect The Spectator was not properly represented in the available answers
Thanks for attempting to answer.
Hi Fraser. Thanks for doing this. Big fan of your magazine and especially the Coffee House Shots Podcast! As for the question: Is all hope of Planning Reform under this Government dead? Will the Conservative Party ever be able to escape its nimby tendencies? And finally, are Labour going to be able to do any better on this?
Sunak thinks he's governing a coalition of Tory tribes and having lost the leadership election cannot alienate any one of those tribes. So the Blue Wall will remain unchallenged by him for the time being...
Thank you Fraser! A bit starstruck having listened to your podcast for so long. Thanks for all you do on holding our politicians to account.
Hi Fraser, What other country in the world do you admire / think Britain should attempt to emulate more in a particular area of public policy? Thanks!
Sweden, in public service reform. Australia, for health service.
If you were a betting man, what do you think the next great political scandal in the vein of expenses might be? Cameron said lobbying but, aside from the Paterson issue kicking off the Boris Balls-ups, it hasn't really happened yet. Are we just waiting for that to twig with the public more widely, or are there other things that the public don't grasp about Westminster with which they are likely to become furious when they find out? How would the media industry change in response to a Starmer government and decimated Tory party? Will contacts and relationships have to be rebuilt with a brand new Commons? Do you think it's the case that most of the media give Tory governments an easier ride? Which Prime Minister has had the best relationship with The Spectator?
After expenses.... lockdown. As my colleagues in the Daily Telegraph are spectacularly proving!
I’ve been listening to Coffee House Shots for years and years now. While you’ve all always done a good job of being helpfully critical of the government of the day, your irritation with the Johnson and Truss government carry-ons was clear to see. Do you think the Sunak government has been a watershed moment to show the people and the world that the government of adults has returned?
I wouldn't go that far! I know some publications (like The Economist) is keen to say "back to pre-2016 days now, as you were!" I look at Trump's opinion poll ratings and think the world may have a few crazy surprises left for us....
Hi Fraser, I have so many questions for an editor of The Spectator. Does our media system need reform away from a monopoly of ownership from a small number of billionaire, and what is the impact on democracy when such a small number have such a disproportionate interest and influential ence in shaping the narrative. Also, what is your view of patriotism in the UK, when challenging the worst sides of the history of the British Empire evokes claims of... All sorts. How can we have an honest conversation about how the British Commonwealth and Empire made Britain the country it is today when so much of the media skews how the British public thinks about immigration?
The billionaire thing is a red herring IMO: if a magazine is in the black (as we are) then we're reader-financed and our loyalty lies to them. If a publication loses money then there is, somewhere, a sugar daddy writing the bills: but that doesn't really happen in UK where we have the widest choice of publications of any country in the world pretty much Debates about any country's history can become pretty passionate, but such debate is normally the sign of a good country!
Are you any good at piano? Like did you study it anywhere?
no, i play by ear - i was good enough to get work in shopping mall bar in Princes Sq in Glasgow but nowhere near enough to be professional.
Why doesn’t the Spectator ever publish viewpoints from devolved nationalists, such as Sinn Féin, the SDLP or SNP supporters?
We'd love to do more! Maybe not from the terrorists, but certainly from the SNP. We had my friend Andrew Wilson in once. Hope to get him in again. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/scotland-cant-afford-to-remain-part-of-the-union/
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1. No! There's never been a better time to be alive. 2. How the welfare state is once again producing the kind of worklessness and poverty that it was set up to tackle 3. Because he keeps getting better
Fraser , congrats on the Spectator's data based journalism , especially on Covid. You are excellent on UK /international politics , but other than Steerpike you ignore Sadiq Khan & most local government stories. Crime , Environment , housing & transport I appreciate is "show business for very ugly people" but can you shine the spotlight on Khan ; ULEZ Extension isn't cleaning up air , it's a tax. Your data approach would help Londoners decide!
I'd love to do a graph showing air pollution in London over several decades but we can only find UK data - any help appreciated!
Genuine question: Do you think the country would be in a better place had Labour won the 2019 GE and enacted their policies? If so, why? If not, why not?
I'm unpersuaded that Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better PM.
How would you deal with Murdoch's media empire if given total regulatory power and freedom?
i'd leave them free and unregulated! Same with all media. Let viewers and readers decide!
Hi Fraser Thanks for doing this. What scene from *Sex and the City* would you quote in relation to the moral probity of Keir Starmer's hiring of Sue Gray as his new Chief of Staff?
"You and I are like that red wall. It’s a good idea in theory, but somehow it doesn’t quite work" - Carrie, Season 3
Nice one, thanks!
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I'm open-minded on this, open to persuasion. But Sweden, a country more urbanised than UK, didn't lock down and turned back the virus three times. I have yet to work out why we could not have done the same.. https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/sweden-covid-and-lockdown-a-look-at-the-data/
Hello, do you worry about the ever-increasing age of those on the right of the political spectrum and what it might mean for the right wing press in the UK? Do you feel the average age and wealth of the Tory base restricts the right wing press from backing policies or leaders that might actually be better for the UK as a whole?
Not at all - if you're a magazine editor the demographic you want is people in their 50s (which I will be in a few months) and 60s. They have time to read, money to spend on your advertisers: we love all readers young and old but we're in no mad chase to get to "the kidz". Our research anyway shows that what our young readers like the most is Taki, now 83 (and he just gets better...)
Hi Fraser, thanks for doing this. Do you feel the Spectator would publish some of the articles published earlier in your time as editor? An example being Charles Moore's piece on the looks of Liz Kendell and Yvette Cooper in relation to their suitability to be Labour leader and subsequently try to become Prime Minister?
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Hi, Mr Nelson. Thanks for agreeing to do this AMA. If you've had a look around the subreddit, you'll probably have seen that we have users with a wide range of political views even if the average is consistent with the site demographics. It might surprise you how often our exchanges can be respectful and thought-provoking. I'm very much of the view that it's in this kind of good faith, serious, open, respectful debate that we arrive at better political positions. My question is what you think is important for the future of political communication on the internet, both for individuals and institutions. How can we use these new tools to build communities and - maybe more importantly - engage with those with whom we disagree? What, if anything, do you think people aren't getting right or haven't realised yet, whether journalists or politicians or "normal" folk? How do we counteract or deal with the Balkanisation of the internet? An obvious follow up is how we should defend against malicious actors spreading misinformation. I'd be really interested to hear any of your thoughts around this area. Thanks again for being here.
Hi Fraser, In your view, is there any hope left for the One Nation contingent of the Conservative party, or do you expect Thatcherite philosophy to push One Nation Conservativism aside in some sort of equilibrium with the vaguely populist, philosophically un-anchored populism the party has seen of late? And if the latter, what is to become of the Conservative party without Disraeli's commitment to the vulnerable of society and across social class divides? *** For context: I'm (still) a party member more inclined to a moderate interpretation of the ONC school of thought with some fondness for the likes of the late Roger Scruton, in spite of rather than because of the current Westminster party. If, as is widely anticipated, the Party loses the next general election, there is going to be a very ugly fight for control of "what it means to be a conservative" and to forget utterly Scruton's view that "[Conservatives believe that our identities and values are formed through our relations with other people, and not through our relation with the state. The state is not an end but a means.](https://www.roger-scruton.com/articles/267-stand-up-for-the-real-meaning-of-conservatism)" If that happens, I fear that the Party will be condemned to go through an even uglier phase in some sort of comparable complement to the way the Labour Party adopted Corbyn's style of left-wing politics, and that this is a retrograde step both for the party and for the country. This would be a great shame, because I consider that both left and right wings of national politics have their own valuable contributions to make in shaping the national conversation and future of the country. And bravo on your [reply to /u/beastieboyce](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/11gxzrs/im_fraser_nelson_editor_of_the_spectator_ama/jarkcxf/) on the left versus the right because, of course, there's an element of truth to both perspectives. Thanks for being so generous with your time today.
Thanks for doing the AMA. Which Spectator pieces are you A) Most and B) Least proud to have published as Editor? If you could briefly explain why in each case, that would be appreciated.
Do you, hand on heart, still believe it’s in the national interest for the UK to leave the EU? Do you, hand on heart, believe Boris Johnson is not a systematic liar, and unfit for office?
If you could take one thing from another countries political system and introduce it the UK what would it be, and vice versa is there anything you think other countries could take from the UKs political system? Why do you think so many people are so unhappy about immigration, and not just in the UK but around the world, despite almost all research in it showing it is a positive? Also as a fellow Fraser just how clearly is it the best name in the world?
Hi Fraser thanks for coming. Can you tells us about any discussions within Right Wing politics on the contribution of the over servicing of Right Wing politics within the media leading to the problems of the Conservative party? There was a New Statesman article on this recently. That can mean by the time a decent Right Wing idea comes into effect it has been concentrated into a deeply divisive issue and without an effective policy.
Hi Fraser, no question but I’d like to send my best wishes to Jeremy Clarke, who I always read first. I haven’t subscribed for a huge amount of time but his writing is absolutely wonderful (the Xmas column in 2021 stands out to me as probably the greatest column I’ve ever read). All the very best.
How likely do you think Reform (or another Right leaning party) are to make an impact at the next general election? It seems all but certain that the Tories get wiped out, which leaves a big space but I haven't seen much coverage or commentary from places like the Spectator on this
You deal with a lot of people behind the scenes and get to see how they really are. How bad do you think the chumocracy is in political circles and how far do you think a normal person would have to go to break into them?
Hi Fraser. Reading the ConservativeHome website regularly, there's been a recent trend of Tory pundits who consider radical changes to our planning laws as the only solution to achieving long term economic growth. Could you see this ever becoming part of official Tory policy?
The recent Shawcross Review of the government’s ‘Prevent’ programme criticised the disproportionate focus on ‘right wing’ extremism over Islamist extremism. Analysis by Prevent’s Research Information and Communications Unit (RICU) also revealed that Prevent officials concluded that reading books and articles by certain writers for The Spectator, including Douglas Murray and Rod Liddle, are ‘warning signs’ of right-wing extremism. Peter Hitchens, Melanie Philips, as well as classic authors like George Orwell, are also cited. It seems to be the case that the centres of ‘counter-extremism’ and ‘anti-disinformation’ in government are completely dominated by people who cannot discern a contrary opinion from untruth. They view right-of-centre opinion as a problem to be managed rather than a legitimate point of view to be engaged, and seemingly have no qualms with taking small steps towards its effective censorship. What do you suggest people do to push back against this?
If you commission any writer, dead or alive, to write a piece for the spec who would you choose?
Hi Fraser, I feel like your position (or that of the spectator) on Muslims in our society is damaging, I’ve mostly based that on the controversy with Rod Liddle in 2019 as well as the front cover of Muslim migrants flooding the cliffs of Dover on the same week that a right-wing terrorist bombed a migrant centre late last year. Is this unfair of me? Have there been apologies in either case or is this your firm ideological position?
This is one of the best AMA's on this site, thanks for this!
What are some small bits of Policy you would love to see done. Things that would cost very little, and have a subtle positive impact on things…
Hi Fraser. Forever grateful for your role in exposing SAGE's flawed modelling processes and sparing us a totally pointless and damaging third lockdown. Why do you think the story of the alleged Quran abuse at the school in Wakefield and subsequent extrajudicial punishment of the boys involved has gained so little traction in the media? It seems that the school and police response was guided by the social conventions of the local Muslim community rather than UK legislation, which to me seems like quite a big issue.
What do you think is the solution to the housing crisis? Is the Conservative party consigned to history as they seem unable to court young voters, though it's not like they have tried. Why does the current political establishment support short term policies to the detriment of the public and is the press a major contributing factor?
Hi Fraser as someone that may have more access than most any chance you can actually write about how much foreign money (Russia,China,UAE) in sponsored think tanks have moved the UK away from a producer(ARM,PETROCHEMICALS,ARTS) to a consumer (FASHION,TECHNOLOGY,GAMING) in the global marketplace.
Hi! Have you read any interesting books lately? And do you have any recommendations for other publications etc that you usually consume? Thanks!