Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Thursday

Ed West Ed West

Convince a generation that Ukip resemble the Nazis and you can make them do anything

There was something genuinely frightening about the disturbance aimed at Nigel Farage and his family this weekend; what’s scary is that there seem to be so many people in our country who think a man having lunch with his family is a legitimate target for such a stunt because of his views. If you’re prepared to do that in front of people’s kids, you can likely do anything. Their self-justification was telling; as one protester put it, Farage was a target because he ‘othered’ people. In my experience people who use the word othered are quite quick to ‘other’ anyone who disagrees with them. Likewise when another one of the

Steerpike Steerpike

Has Ed Miliband been spending £10,000 a day on Obama debate coach?

Tonight Ed Miliband and David Cameron will be interviewed by Jeremy Paxman in two separate interviews, after Cameron declined to do a head-to-head interview with the Labour leader. Now, Mr S hears that the prospect of a Paxman grilling has been keeping Miliband up at night. Word reaches Steerpike that Miliband has hired the help of American public relations guru Michael Sheehan to prepare him for the interview. Sheehan – who has worked closely with Barack Obama – has been trying to help Miliband improve his public speaking ahead of tonight’s event. This is not the first time Ed has tried to emulate Obama, he previously enlisted the help of David Axelrod, one of the president’s most senior

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Revealed: Julian Lewis’ email on the ‘unworthy manoeuvre’ against John Bercow

William Hague has given today’s vote that will set up a secret ballot on the re-election of the Speaker as a ‘leaving present’ to Tory MPs. But not all of them are happy with the way this vote is being carried out. Here is an email from Julian Lewis, passed to Coffee House, about what he calls an ‘Unworthy Manoeuvre’. Other MPs are pleased that this could lead to a new speaker in the new Parliament, talking already about ‘Speaker Hoyle’. From: “LEWIS, Julian” Date: 26 March 2015 00:09:46 GMT Subject: An Unworthy Manoeuvre by the Leader of the House Dear Colleague, At the start of this Parliament, the Procedure

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: Cameron’s second coalition dream and the problems of the sharing economy

David Cameron is secretly planning for a second coalition, according to the new Spectator. In this week’s View from 22 podcast, James Forsyth and Miranda Green discuss the possibility of another Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition after the general election. Would it be more difficult than it was five years ago to strike a deal? Will the Conservative party back Cameron if he falls short of a majority and decides against a minority government? And why is 30 MPs the magic number for the Liberal Democrats to enter into another coalition? Fraser Nelson and Alex Massie discuss our interview with Alex Salmond and his plans to hold Ed Miliband’s feet to the fire. Instead of doing a coalition deal with Labour,

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Alex Salmond sets out his terms for Ed Miliband

‘Would you like a glass of pink champagne?’ asks Alex Salmond at 3.30 p.m., sounding very much like a man settling down for the afternoon. It’s Monday and Scotland’s former first minister has cause to celebrate. He spent the previous day musing on television about the price he’d demand for the SNP supporting Ed Miliband in the Commons, and his thoughts dominate the front pages. There’s plenty of outrage at the idea of the SNP toying with England, and outrage is just what he wanted. So champagne it is. He has found himself an unlikely star of the Tory election campaign; the party this week released a cartoon showing him

James Forsyth James Forsyth

He’ll never admit it, but David Cameron is already plotting another deal with Nick Clegg

David Cameron is honest to a fault — or so he told us this week. While cooking lunch in the kitchen of his Oxfordshire home, he was asked, in terms, whether this is the last election he’ll fight as party leader. Yes, he said, it was. He was then kind enough to name three potential successors. And when shortly afterwards broadcast journalists grew greatly excited by this, he said he had done nothing more than give a ‘very straight answer to a very straight question’. But there is another question to which he will not give a straight answer: is he preparing for another coalition? The Prime Minister knows the

Peter Oborne

Lord Freud: the man who saved the welfare system

It was mid-October and Downing Street was in a panic. Lord Freud, the welfare minister, had been secretly recorded suggesting that disabled people could be paid less than the minimum wage. Labour demanded Freud should go. The No. 10 press office was briefing journalists that he would be out within hours. Craig Oliver, excitable Downing Street director of communications, advised the Prime Minister that Freud was finished. There was talk of the return of the nasty party, and days of dreadful headlines. In the end David Cameron stayed loyal. Within 48 hours the story was forgotten. Welfare reform is the coalition’s most important achievement. Universal Credit is at the heart

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

How Ukip became the incredible disappearing party

The establishment drive to marginalise Ukip has been under way for three months now, and it has having its effect. You will not read anything about Ukip in your newspapers unless it is a negative story — some half-witted candidate’s office fraudulently claiming expenses, or a disappointed member explaining that they’re all vile people and so on. The papers have, by and large, cottoned on to the fact that Nigel Farage saying something a little gamey about race is not, actually, a negative story. Whenever the Ukip leader mused in moderate terms that he found it uncomfortable to sit on a train where he was the only person speaking English,

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

David Cameron’s VAT pledge spells disaster for Labour’s new poster campaign

Ed Miliband had a disastrous PMQs today after the Labour leader claimed the Tories would raise VAT, only to have David Cameron deny that he would increase the tax. Besides leaving Miliband lost for words, Cameron’s pledge has also left a massive hole in Labour’s election campaign. It was only yesterday that Ed Balls unveiled a snazzy new poster, which contained a big ‘VAT’ swinging into a warning about the Tories’ plans. With their key line now discredited, will someone find a landfill stuffed with Labour posters in a few days time?

James Forsyth James Forsyth

David Cameron tells Tory MPs: Defend our record on the NHS and fighting poverty

David Cameron has just addressed the last meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers in this parliament. He was given the traditional desk banging reception. Indeed, the loyal, pre-election tone of the meeting was set when John Baron, for a long time viewed as Ukip defection risk by senior Tories, announced that he had put money on a Tory majority. After paying tribute to the Tory MPs who are stepping down at this election, Cameron began his pre-election rallying call. He told the MPs, don’t let people forget the mess that he inherited. He then, to the surprise of some in the room, talked about the health service in

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs sketch: Oily backbenchers, superwonks wrong-footed and a Tory wall of noise

Cameron expected to walk into a firestorm of mockery at PMQs following his retirement bombshell. Quitter. Lame duck. Get yer pipe-‘n’-slippers. But barely an audible jibe was flung from the Labour benches. The Tories on the other hand greeted Ed Miliband with a roar that scared the pigeons in Parliament Square. Miliband and his superwonks had conceived a brilliant plan. Well, brilliant if you’re a superwonk. All available questions would be used to amass a Great Pyramid of Betrayals out of the PM’s broken promises over five years. Pointless really. Strictly for the bubble. No hope of making ‘the Six’. And Cameron wrong-footed Miliband. Asked to promise not to hike

Steerpike Steerpike

Are the Lib Dems now trolling their own leader?

Cracks within the Liberal Democrats began to surface this week after Vince Cable publicly denounced Tim Farron as a future party leader. Now things have got even stranger. An excruciating mash-up video featuring Nick Clegg, and set to the tune of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, has been released. Mr S was surprised to see that the source of the video was not a rival party or a disgruntled former employee, but rather the party’s official Facebook page. Could it be that the Lib Dems have finally realised that their leader is not the electoral asset he once was, and are doing everything they can to diminish his standing before they kick him out

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Is it really surprising that people think Ed Miliband is more of a toff than David Cameron?

The most remarkable poll of the week was the one which suggested the British public find Ed Miliband more of a toff than David Cameron. It takes something to out-toff an Old Etonian with a patrician air and liking for green wellies. But is it so very surprising? Ed has, after all, just shown himself to be on the friend of wealthy idlers, by hinting that the brunt of tax rises in a Labour government would fall instead on those who work for a living. Ed Miliband began well in the last Prime Minister’s Questions before the election. He noted David Cameron’s direct answer to James Landale’s direction question on his future as

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: Miliband jumps straight into Cameron’s final trap

In the final PMQs of this session, David Cameron scored his most comprehensive victory. Challenged by Ed Miliband to rule out raising VAT, Cameron got to his feet and simply said ‘yes’. At that point, Miliband’s fox was shot. Cameron then moved from defence to attack, repeatedly challenging Miliband to rule out an increase in National Insurance contributions something that Miliband was not prepared to do. By the end of the exchanges, the Labour benches looked glum and the Tory ones jubilant. In truth, the Labour leader had been set up. The Tories had been planning to rule out raising VAT for some time and had been busy calculating when

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

If students can’t cope with clapping, how can they deal with clubs, festivals and protests?

Organisers at a National Union of Students Women’s Conference have asked that those attending the event use ‘jazz hands’ instead of clapping, because it is ‘triggering anxiety’. Nona Buckley-Irvine, a general secretary at the London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSE SU), was reported as saying that ‘jazz hands are used throughout NUS in place of clapping as a way to show appreciation of someone’s point without interrupting or causing disturbance, as it can create anxiety.’ So clapping is to be replaced with a mute form of applause. What I want to know is whether this fear of clapping among British students (which presumably reflects a broader fear of loud noises and big

Steerpike Steerpike

The winter of Ed’s discontent

Never one to miss a dig, hats off to the PM at the final PMQs of this parliament for managing to shoehorn a gag about Ed Miliband into a spurious point about the Battle of Bosworth. Responding to a question regarding Richard III from self-noted historian Chris Skidmore, Cameron couldn’t help himself: ‘Of course, this is the last time someone did in one of their relatives to take the top job and the country ended up in chaos.’ The old ones are the best…

Zachary Spiro

PMQs highlights: the best of Cameron vs Miliband

As the current parliament draws to a close, we’ve reached the final PMQs fixture. It seemed the perfect opportunity to reflect on some of the highlights from recent PMQs. Here’s Coffee House’s pick of the best moments from both David Cameron and Ed Miliband. It’s been one hell of a ride. David Cameron: ‘Calm Down, Dear’ listen to ‘Best of PMQs: David Cameron – Calm Down Dear’ on audioBoom

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Exclusive: Alex Salmond says SNP will back Labour unconditionally

“Would you like a glass of pink champagne?” asks Alex Salmond at 3.30pm, sounding very much like a man settling down for the afternoon. It’s Monday and Scotland’s former First Minister has cause to celebrate. He spent the previous day musing on television about the price he’d demand for the SNP supporting Ed Miliband in the House of Commons, and his thoughts dominate the front pages of the newspapers. There’s plenty of outrage at the idea of the SNP toying with England, and outrage is exactly what Salmond wanted. So champagne it is. Salmond has found himself an unlikely star of the Tory election campaign; the party this week released

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Tory party’s attitude towards Scotland is as stupid as it is cynical

I preferred Grant Shapps when, as Michael Green, he was just another loathsome internet huckster peddling obviously quackish get-rich-quick schemes. He did less damage then. That is, he played a smaller number of people for fools back then. This morning Shapps, the Conservative party chairman, made the remarkable claim that “Alex Salmond is threatening to undermine a government chosen by the British people”. (Note to Mr Shapps: the Scottish people are British too. We had, as you may recall, a vote on this. Quite recently.) I assume Shapps is the member for Codswallop-on-Stilts because this is nonsense. Worse than that, it is dangerous nonsense. Which in turn means it is hard to

Sebastian Payne

Today could be the last time David Cameron and Ed Miliband ever go head to head

PMQs at midday today essentially marks the end of this Parliament. Although Parliament won’t formally dissolve until Monday, very little of consequence will happen in the next few days.The main topics for debate at today’s PMQs not hard to predict: the PM’s gaffe about not serving a third term, the booming economy under this government, the NHS and, if we are lucky, ‘two kitchens’ all are going to come up. For the first time in recent weeks, Miliband has the opportunity to put Cameron on the back foot. As one Labour insider told me yesterday, the talk of a Tory leadership contest has presented Labour with the opportunity to show that the Prime Minister is