Politics

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

Friday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Why Boris Johnson doesn’t want a Tory leadership contest this year

Even though Boris is building up support for his leadership campaign, he doesn’t want to have to stand in one this year. He needs David Cameron to remain Prime Minister after the General Election, and, as James reported recently, then take over following an EU referendum. That’s perhaps why the Mayor seemed quite keen on an earlier vote than the 2017 one that Cameron has officially promised. But a 2015 leadership contest, which the Mayor would certainly participate in, would come too early, partly because Boris still needs to shore up his support from MPs, and partly because he would still be Mayor. In an interview with the Evening Standard,

Steerpike Steerpike

Conservatives invite Dubai prisoner David Haigh to attend Tory campaign day

Conservative HQ might want to think a bit more carefully in the future when it comes to the guest list for their events. Mr S only makes the suggestion after they asked a businessman who is currently in jail in Dubai to attend an event happening this Saturday. A tweet from the Conservative’s Team 2015 account saw them reach out to David Haigh asking him to RSVP to the campaign day in Elmet and Rothwell for Alec Shelbrooke MP. It will be hard for Haigh to attend tomorrow. At present he is in a cell in Dubai after he was accused of a £3m fraud. The former managing director of Leeds United was arrested last year when he attended

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Maybe HSBC was too big for even Stephen Green to manage

Stephen Green — the former trade minister Lord Green of Hurstpier-point, who became this week’s political punchbag— was always a rather Olympian, out-of-the-ordinary figure at HSBC. This was a bank that traditionally drew its top men from a corps of tough, non-intellectual, front-line overseas bankers typified by the chairmen before Green, Sir John Bond and Sir Willie Purves. As the dominant bank in Hong Kong and a market leader throughout Asia and the Middle East, it was habituated to dealing with customers who took big risks, hoarded cash when they had it, and did not necessarily regard paying tax as a civic duty. But if ethics were rarely discussed in

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: The last full measure of devotion

From ‘Prohibition in Scotland during the war’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: WE note with great interest the movement which is gathering strength in Scotland in favour of prohibition during the war. Let us say at once that, provided a well-marked majority of the representatives of the Scottish constituencies support the movement, we not only see no reason why their wishes should not be fulfilled, but we see good reason why the Government, at a time when there is plenty of Parliamentary leisure, should take up the matter and let Scotland have what she wishes. If demanded, a Referendum clause could and should be added to the Bill, for clearly

Thursday

The Spectator

What Samsung’s new TVs owe to Jeremy Bentham

Watching brief Samsung warned users of its voice-activated televisions that what they said in front of the TV could be transmitted to other people. The story attracted comparison with the telescreens in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, but the principle of keeping a population under control by surveillance was foreseen a century earlier by Jeremy Bentham. — In 1791 he came up with the idea for a Panopticon, a circular prison with one-way observation holes which would allow a single gaoler to patrol several hundred prisoners, none of whom could tell whether they were being watched at any one moment. — Bentham saw the government’s eventual rejection of the scheme as

Peter Jones

What Cicero knew that David Davis doesn’t

The MP David Davis has lamented that the British seem to prefer laws that protect their security rather than guard their liberty. But the first duty of the state is to protect its citizens. If it could not do that, argued Thomas Hobbes, citizens had the right to disobey. The Latin for state is res publica, ‘the people’s property/business/affairs’, and the Roman statesman Cicero took the view that the res publica was best served by laws whose sole aim was the republic’s ‘security and common interests’ (salus atque utilitas rei publicae). The 17th-century thinkers Hobbes, Locke and Spinoza and 18th-century Americans such as the key republican ‘founding father’ John Adams

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: Tories confront Lynton Crosby over ‘barnacles’ distracting from election message

Last night’s meeting of the 1922 Committee was, I hear, not a particularly well-attended affair. This is odd because the speaker was Lynton Crosby, whose confident briefings tend to cheer Tory MPs up no end. But sources who were there say there no more than about 30 MPs in attendance. Crosby gave a short presentation in which he urged backbenchers to return every discussion they had in broadcasts and on the doorstep to the economy, but was then confronted by John Redwood over what the senior backbencher felt was a failure of message discipline from the government. Redwood complained that ministers were repeatedly distracting from the economy at the same time

Steerpike Steerpike

PinkVanGate: Harriet Harman denies telling Karen Danczuk to join Girls Aloud

Yesterday Harriet Harman claimed that Labour’s pink ‘Woman to Woman’ van is not patronising after a public backlash saw the feminine choice of colour ridiculed online. Now the deputy leader faces further backlash, after Karen Danczuk accused Harman of patronising her when they first met. The Labour councillor and wife of Simon Danczuk claims that Harman told her she was too pretty to be in politics and instead suggested she join the pop band Girls Aloud. When I first met Harriet Harman she said I was far too pretty to be interested in politics & should be in Girls Aloud. KD — Cllr Karen Danczuk (@KarenDanczuk) February 11, 2015 Harman has now come out to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Is this back to basics for financial affairs?

This morning, there was much Westminster chatter about whether Ed Miliband would repeat his accusation made at PMQs yesterday about the ‘tax avoidance activities of Lord Fink’. But shortly before Miliband spoke, Fink himself gave an interview to The Standard in which he said, ‘I didn’t object to his use of the word “tax avoidance”. Because you are right: tax avoidance, everyone does it.’ Instead, Fink claimed that his objection was to the implication that he was one of the ‘dodgy donors’ that Miliband was talking about. Now, Fink’s letter of complaint to Miliband yesterday didn’t mention the word ‘dodgy’. After his speech today, Miliband tellingly refused to call Fink

Sebastian Payne

Nigel Farage kicks off Ukip election campaign with slogan ‘Believe in Britain’

Voting Ukip is a state of mind, according to Nigel Farage. At his first major speech of 2015, and the campaign, in Canvey Island, Essex, Farage set out his stall for the election with the slogan ‘Believe in Britain’ — following on from his article in today’s Telegraph. He hit out at the ‘endlessly negative’ and ‘boring’ campaigns from the other political parties and promised to do things differently — especially now that he believes Labour and the Conservatives live in ‘fear’ of Ukip. There were few details in the speech of what Ukip’s manifesto will contain, just general themes: Ukip are the only party ‘redefining capitalism’ against the ‘corporatism’ of big government and

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Miliband: I stand by what I said about Lord Fink

Ed Miliband has now repeated what he said about Lord Fink in the Commons. At the end of his speech, he said: ‘Yesterday Conservative donor Lord Fink challenged me to stand by what I said in the House of Commons, that he was engaged in tax avoidance activities. I do. And believe it or not, now today he confirms it as well as he has just said, and I quote, I didn’t object to his use of the word tax avoidance, because you’re right, tax avoidance, everyone does it. ‘Now David Cameron must explain why he appointed a treasurer of the Conservative party who boasts about engaging in tax avoidance

Steerpike Steerpike

Confirmed: Inside the Commons will reveal ‘rift’ between John Bercow and Robert Rogers

Speculation has been rife that John Bercow’s decision to let cameras into the commons for a BBC documentary will backfire on him. Reports have claimed that the Speaker of the Commons is to be depicted in a negative light in the series, Inside the Commons. Given this, Bercow has so far got off remarkably lightly in the first two episodes. However, Mr S hears that this should all change by next week, with the documentary maker Michael Cockerell confirming that Bercow’s ‘rift’ with Sir Robert Rogers will be explored in depth. ‘You will have to watch the series, but you wouldn’t expect me as a journalist not to deal with a fascinating story that happened on our watch. We

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Miliband appears to win tax battle as Lord Fink backs off legal threat

So it looks as though that Ed Miliband has won his battle with Lord Fink. The Tory peer has given an interview to the Evening Standard in which he says he did use ‘vanilla’ tax avoidance measures. He told the newspaper: ‘The expression tax avoidance is so wide that everyone does tax avoidance at some level.’ Fink then says he doesn’t want to sue Miliband for saying that he ‘did ordinary tax avoidance’, but that he ‘took exception to’ the suggestion that he was dodgy and that he had questions to answer. This means that Miliband can quite easily repeat the specific comment he made about Fink in the Commons

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour denies Miliband sees Fink fight as a ‘Milly Dowler moment’

Nick Robinson had an extraordinary claim (see update, below, for his clarification) in his blog last night that ‘the Labour leader’s aides say that he sees [his allegations about Lord Fink] as another Milly Dowler moment’. If Ed Miliband’s aides have really said this, they are exhibiting a crass, disgusting way of looking at politics. I asked his spokesman whether this is true. He said: ‘Ed is not comparing this to a Milly Dowler moment. This is about standing up for what is right, not making comparisons.’ I went back to the spokesman as this was not what Robinson had said. His blog had said that Miliband’s aides see this as

The Spectator

Peter Oborne: Ed Miliband is the most accomplished opposition leader since the war

[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_12_Feb_2015_v4.mp3″ title=”Peter Oborne and Dan Hodges discuss Ed Miliband” startat=1343] In this week’s Spectator podcast, we put a Labour and a Tory supporter next to each other to debate the virtues of Ed Miliband. The difference being that Peter Oborne is a passionate defender of the leader, and Dan Hodges his most vocal critic. Peter explains to Sebastian Payne that while he is a conservative journalist, his job is to tell the truth, and put political prejudices to one side, which leads him to conclude that Ed Miliband is a man of incredible accomplishment and bravery, whose efficacy is demonstrated by the ferocity of the press backlash against him.

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: why modern love is rubbish and is Ed Miliband an honourable opposition leader?

In the age of Tinder and online dating, is modern love rubbish? On this week’s View from 22 podcast, Melissa Kite, Cosmo Landesman and Camilla Swift discuss this week’s Spectator cover feature on why romance is being killed off by digital dating. Is it more brutal or reflective of real life to ruthlessly chase someone on their looks alone through apps and websites? Is it a tragedy that young romantics are missing out on the art of courtship? James Forsyth and David Skelton also discuss the Tories’ gamble to woo working class voters ahead of the election. Would extending the ‘right to buy’ properties to housing associations bring back voters who haven’t voted Conservative since 1992? Or is it too late to engage in such a radical proposition? Plus, Peter Oborne and Dan

Steerpike Steerpike

Lord Cashman inherits his late partner Paul Cottingham’s estate

After Paul Cottingham passed away last year following a battle with cancer, Ed Miliband led the tributes for the long-term partner of Lord Cashman. Miliband, who described the pair as the ‘Posh and Becks of the Labour Party’, said that he felt deeply privileged to have known Cottingham, who was a human rights activist. Now Mr S can disclose that Cottingham left an estate worth £75,000, according to figures released by the probate office in London. As there was no will, Cottingham’s civil partner Lord Cashmam will inherit his estate under the rules of intestacy. The pair met in 1983 after Cashman’s EastEnders co-star Barbara Windsor, introduced them and after twenty years together, they became civil partners in March 2006. Speaking at the PinkNews Awards

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories are coming to believe in David Cameron’s election hunch

‘You did this,’ David Cameron repeatedly declared to Tory donors as he reeled off a list of the government’s achievements at the Black and White ball on Monday night. Three months before the general election, the atmosphere at this lavish fundraiser at the Grosvenor House Hotel was self-congratulatory and more upbeat than perhaps it should have been, considering the polls. As guests made ever larger bids in the fundraising auction, the mood was one of confidence that the Tories would be in office again after May. By the end of the evening, there was heady talk of a Tory majority. But it is not the donor class who will determine

Peter Oborne

Ed Miliband’s critics hate him for his success

[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_12_Feb_2015_v4.mp3″ title=”Peter Oborne and Dan Hodges discuss Ed Miliband” startat=1343] Listen [/audioplayer]Most political commentators consider Ed Miliband a useless leader. In a narrow sense they are right. He is not very good at getting a positive press or eliciting the support of important outside voices in the media and the business community. Even small stories of no consequence have the potential to turn into minor nightmares for Mr Miliband. The latest of these is his education spokesman Tristram Hunt’s innocuous remark about nuns, transformed by a voracious press into a minor scandal. Mr Miliband’s bacon sandwich is a far more damaging example of the same phenomenon. But let us

Sinclair McKay

EastEnders wanted to show Thatcher’s Britain. These days it would make Maggie proud

Albert Square full of Thatcherites? You ’avin a larf? No, it’s true. EastEnders, conceived 30 years ago partly as a means of enraging the Conservative party, has blossomed into a Tory commercial. Iain Duncan-Smith could watch all the wealth-creating activity in Albert Square with a syrupy smile; George Osborne could visit Phil Mitchell’s garage in a hi-vis jacket and look perfectly at home (Boris Johnson has already had a cameo pint at the Queen Vic). EastEnders portrays small businesses built up through hard work; it implies that turning to the state won’t get you anywhere; they even sent swotty teenager Libby Fox to Oxford. Never mind the affairs and addictions,