Politics

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

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ukip says slaughter policy is not aimed at Jews but ‘aimed at others’… ‘you know what I mean’

Ukip’s foray into animal rights campaigning is going well. After the Jewish Chronicle pointed out that Nigel Farage boasted to them that he had done a great deal of work to protect shechita, the party’s agricultural spokesman Stuart Agnew told the paper: ‘This isn’t aimed at you – it’s aimed elsewhere – it’s aimed at others. ‘You’ve been caught in the crossfire; collateral damage. You know what I mean.’ If you didn’t know what Ukip meant when it announced it would oppose non-stun slaughter of animals, then at least you know now. This isn’t so much a dog whistle as a foghorn. Who else could Agnew possibly mean when referring

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Hague’s attempt to resolve West Lothian raises even more questions

It doesn’t seem that William Hague has offered a decisive answer to the West Lothian question today. Indeed, judging by the reaction of the SNP and Tory MPs, the proposal that the Conservative Leader of the House has set out is encouraging many more questions. These questions include ‘just how much havoc can the SNP still wreak in Westminster’ – something that Tory MPs are asking but one the SNP will surely be voicing in private too. Or ‘how much more devolution can we wrangle from Westminster?’ – something the SNP is saying quite publicly, with Stewart Hosie saying ‘until income tax – for example – is devolved in full,

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Another day, another UKIP dog whistle. Fancy that!

You will recall that when Talleyrand died, Metternich is supposed to have asked ‘What did he mean by that?’ Say this for Nigel Farage: he’s no Talleyrand. Subtlety is not part of the UKIP genome. Take, for instance, a Kipper press release issued this afternoon. I confess I had not hitherto been aware of UKIP’s alliance with the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association. So it was good to discover that Mr Farage’s party is calling for a ‘ban on the non-stun slaughter’ of animals. I wonder what they mean by that? Oh. You see: “We find the government response to this issue is [sic] weak, lazy and bordering on spineless. It

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The mitochondrial debate seems suspiciously short for a topic few MPs are experts on

MPs are currently debating changing the law to allow mitochondrial donations. This is a very complex area that few people understand, and that raises strong emotions on both sides, from those who say this will prevent 150 children a year suffering from life-threatening illnesses to those who predict it will put the UK on course to be the first country that allows ‘designer babies’ and certainly allows ‘three-parent babies’. You might therefore expect that MPs might want to spend a fair bit of time debating the legislation and discussing the ethical implications of it. But the Commons has been given just 90 minutes for this issue. At the start of

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Unless something changes soon, Scottish Labour is doomed

The headline figures in today’s YouGov poll for The Times are brutal for Scottish Labour. Labour (27 percent) are still 20 points behind the SNP (48%). But that’s the good news. Because everything else is even worse. Consider this: 95 percent of SNP supporters think Nicola Sturgeon is doing a good job. That’s impressive or, if you prefer, slightly terrifying. But, hark at this: 39 percent of Labour supporters think Nicola is performing admirably. Her net approval rating amongst Labour voters is just -4. Jim Murphy’s net approval rating amongst SNP supporters, meanwhile, is -54. Or this: 67 percent of SNP voters say there is no chance they will change their minds before the election but

Steerpike Steerpike

Former chairman of Pizza Express: Labour ignorant of way capitalism works

‘The Labour Party is looking to appoint a Business Relations Administrator’ according to their website. Is this the toughest job in Westminster? After a vicious onslaught from Tory sympathising CEOs like Boots’ boss Stefano Pessina and former M&S chief Stuart Rose, and more attacks expected in the run up to polling day, only those with a thick skin need apply. The lucky candidate will have to tackle allegations that Labour’s ‘business-bashing’ could harm the economy and that Ed Miliband is a ‘1970s throwback’. Another key part of the job will be ‘ensuring that the business relations database is kept up-to-date’. For all their hard work the lucky candidate will be remunerated to the tune of £26,131. Whoever gets the job can put

Douglas Murray

Why does the battle for gay rights stop at the borders of Islam?

You can tell when a battle has been won.  Read the Pink News or any other gay news site and you will see that there are almost no stories left to report.  A politician in Northern Ireland may be caught expressing an opinion on gay marriage which was the view of all mainstream UK political parties ten years ago.  There might be some gossip about various celebrities (so no different from any other newspapers).  But otherwise gay news sites are reduced to tentatively wondering if Transgender rights are the same as gay rights (the jury is out) and otherwise running mainstream politics stories which strangely favour the Lib Dems while

Steerpike Steerpike

How does he do it? Nick Clegg finds time to party with Prince in Camden

With party press officers keen to prevent scenes similar to the cringe-worthy moment of elections past when Gordon Brown dubiously declared his love for the Arctic Monkeys, Mr S notes that today’s politicians are sticking to musicians closer to their own age. First David Cameron declared his love for 70s crooner Bryan Ferry in a radio interview, and now Nick Clegg has been spotted moshing at a Prince gig at KOKO in Camden. Clegg somehow found time out of his election campaign to party alongside the likes of Naomi Campbell, Noel Gallagher and Jimmy Carr. It’s not the first time the Deputy Prime Minister has championed the 80s singer. However, in an interview in 2010 Clegg said

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Is William Hague giving a ‘decisive’ answer to the West Lothian question?

When David Cameron stood outside Downing Street the day after the Scottish independence referendum and said that the ‘West Lothian question deserves a decisive answer’, he was thinking mostly of the trouble that this answer would cause Labour. But now, as William Hague announces what that answer is, the trouble seems to be more Tory than Labour. The answer itself might not be definitive, either, as it does not offer the full English votes for English laws where Scottish MPs would be banned from voting on English-only matters that some in the Conservative party had been pushing for. Instead, it is an ‘effective veto’, with a new committee stage for

Monday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Freezing the education budget won’t hurt pupils. Here’s why

David Cameron has today been refreshingly honest about his plans for school funding in England: budgets will be flat, which (when you factor in inflation) will mean a drop of 7 per cent over the next parliament. Cue much mockery from Labour. But what will this mean for the future of education quality? Not very much, if the experience of the Labour years is anything to go by. Under Blair and Brown, school spending more than doubled while England hurtled down the world education performance tables. So if doubling the budget didn’t help, then why should freezing it hurt? The strange thing about education is that it’s not so responsive to cash. A brilliant teacher

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Is fear of Mandelson holding Labour back on tuition fees?

Patrick Wintour has a fascinating piece in The Guardian on Labour’s dilemma on tuition fees. Particularly striking is that Ed Balls is deeply concerned about how Peter Mandelson might react to any new policy. Wintour writes: ‘Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, also knows there are serious figures in the party, including the former business secretary Lord Mandelson, who will voice their concerns if a half-baked policy emerges that might damage the status of UK’s world-class universities. Mandelson made a technical criticism of the plans for a mansion tax, but supported the concept of a wealth tax. He will be less restrained if he thinks the revised tuition fees policy damages

Sebastian Payne

Labour is still not trusted to run the country

Labour may be level with the Conservatives in the polls but it is still not trusted by the public. Lord Ashcroft’s latest national poll has the two main parties on 31 per cent of the vote — both down one point from last week. 59 per cent say they have already made up their minds about they’ll vote on 7 May. There aren’t many positive views in this poll about the Labour Party. Although roughly half think the policies of the last few years have failed, a majority don’t think Labour has the answers. According to Ashcroft’s poll, 58 per cent think Labour has ‘not yet learned the right lessons from

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Which party has the strongest message?

One interesting nugget from Lord Ashcroft’s latest batch of polling is what his focus groups in two seats – Sutton and Cheam, and Elmet and Rothwell – had to say about the parties’ messages. Here’s a quick summary: Conservative: ‘Finish the job and get back on track’. Labour: ‘Vote Labour to save the NHS’, possibly adding ‘and stop the cuts’ or ‘and tax the rich’. Liberal Democrat: ‘Vote Lib Dem to balance the extremes – to split the difference’. Ukip: ‘Leave the EU and control immigration.’ Greens: ‘Vote Green to save the planet.’ Ashcroft was also struck by the cut-through achieved by the Greens’ now-defunct policy of decriminalising membership of

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

There’s an ethical debate to be had about ‘three-parent babies’ but nobody seems keen

There doesn’t seem much doubt about which way the Commons vote today on ‘three-parent babies’ will go, does there? A combination of dismissive metaphors, characteristically British sentimentalism and morally astigmatic scientists seems likely to do the trick. Today in the Telegraph, Lord Winston, IVF supremo, opined that the thing was no more problematic than a blood transfusion. In the Times, Matt Ridley, dismissed the importance of mitochondrial donation (the ‘third parent’ bit) as no more important to us than our gut bacteria. A Daily Mail journalist on the Westminster Hour last night brusquely observed that the technique was rather like changing a spare tyre. Add to the mix a photogenic would-be beneficiary of

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Osborne uses meeting with Greek finance minister to tell people to vote Tory

Even though he wasn’t quite prepared in the sartorial stakes for the visit of Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, George Osborne was ready to use the meeting between the two as another messaging moment. Following their discussions, the Chancellor has released this quote: ‘It’s clear that the standoff between Greece and the Eurozone is fast becoming the biggest risk to the global economy, and it’s a rising threat to our economy at home. In Europe as in Britain now is the time to choose competence over chaos. I urged the Greek finance minister to act responsibly, but it’s also important that the Eurozone has a better plan for jobs and

Steerpike Steerpike

Meet the people who really, really, really like Ed Miliband

It’s not the narrative we have come to expect: a bunch of people who really like Ed Miliband. Yet Mr S was surprised to find such group exists. EM4No10 may sound like a dodgy chemical used to make sweets, but it’s actually the rallying banner for a unique clique of Labour Party devotees who think Ed is bloody brilliant. This loyal clan spend all day sharing supposedly inspirational quotations on social media, each trying to outdo one another with their photoshopping skills and love of the dear leader: The king of this niche online subculture is a chap called Jon Swindon. He describes himself as a c0-founder of the hashtags #webackEd

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

History will be kind to our modern sensibilities because we intend to rewrite it

Should we pardon all homosexuals who, in the past, were convicted under laws prohibiting sodomy or indecency or soliciting? The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell thinks we should: ‘Pardon all convicted gay men, not just (Alan) Turing’ is the headline of his latest press statement. It certainly makes more sense than simply pardoning Turing, retrospectively, simply because he was quite handy with a computer. I simply don’t understand how Turing can be pardoned when others, convicted in the same period, will still have the crimes written against their names. It is grotesquely unjust. But then I’m not sure about this pardoning business, full stop. It is a product of the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband proves he can be normal

What do you say when asked what life experience you have as a politician? Probably not ‘I was an economic adviser in the Treasury’ and ‘I taught at Harvard’. But to be fair to Miliband, his answer to one of the trickiest questions levelled at him this morning on Sky wasn’t much different to the one the other party leaders would give, which is essentially ‘not much’. A political Four Yorkshiremen skit wouldn’t be particularly competitive. listen to ‘Ed Miliband discusses his qualifications for being PM’ on audioBoom

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Two U-turns in one morning: Greens drop citizens’ income and hug-a-jihadi policy

Natalie Bennett has just been taking questions as part of the Sky leaders’ debates for younger voters, and delivered the second Green U-turn of the day, this time on terrorism. After struggling on the Sunday Politics to explain why her party thinks that membership of a terrorist group alone should not be a crime, the Green leader decided to say that actually, her party thought that it was: ‘Obviously [Islamic State] and al-Qaeda are hideous terrorist organisations that advocate and support violence. If you are involved in them, support them in any way, then you are participating in inciting violence, that’s a crime, rightly, and should be pursued to the

Dennis Sewell

If Cameron wants an ‘all-out war’ on mediocre schools, why did he get rid of Gove?

It is odd to hear David Cameron promise an ‘all-out war on mediocrity’ in education. An admirable sentiment, but it’s hard to reconcile with the fact that he demoted the very person who was working so successfully for that precise aim. Here’s what he intends to say in a speech later today: ‘So this party is clear. Just enough is not good enough. That means no more sink schools – and no more ‘bog standard’ schools either. We’re waging an all-out war on mediocrity, and our aim is this: the best start in life for every child, wherever they’re from – no excuses.’ When a politician says ‘this is clear’