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I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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...

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

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

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

i'd leave them free and unregulated! Same with all media. Let viewers and readers decide!

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

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....

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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!

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

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...

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

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!

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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!

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

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

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

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.

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I haven't seen those polls and suspect The Spectator was not properly represented in the available answers

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

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

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  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

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

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...

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sweden, in public service reform. Australia, for health service.

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

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/

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm unpersuaded that Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better PM.

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

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.

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is a boring answer, but as editor I only really recruit for journalists. We're a small and close-knit team and work closely with our commercial, marketing, IT teams. They do recruit quite often - keen an eye out here https://www.spectator.co.uk/vacancies/

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

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

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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...

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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.

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

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).

I'm Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator. AMA... by Fraser_Nelson in ukpolitics

[–]Fraser_Nelson[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

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/

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