Politics

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

Sunday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tories accuse Reckless of lying

The Conservatives have decided that the best way to respond to Mark Reckless’s defection to Ukip is to accuse him of lying. On first glance, this may seem like a slightly crude strategy: of course the man was going to lie until the point of his defection, rather than say ‘yes, I am thinking of going over, but don’t mention it to anyone if you can’. But the reason this works is that it rather undermines Reckless’s claim to be a man of principle, or at least, the Tories clearly hope it will. He registered and paid for this Tory party conference, and told his whip three days before the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories think that Mark Reckless is beatable — and they have the anger to fight

The Tory Party is angry. Making my way into the conference centre, every Tory Minister and MP I bumped into wanted to vent about Mark Reckless. Unlike with Douglas Carswell, there is no personal warmth towards him and there is a real sense that Reckless lied repeatedly about his intentions. Grant Shapps gave voice to that frustration in his speech. In an extended attack on Reckless, he declared ‘We have been let down by somebody who has repeatedly lied to his constituents and to you’. He then added, ‘He lied and he lied and he lied’. listen to ‘Shapps: Reckless ‘lied and lied and lied’’ on audioBoom

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory conference: Bitter jokes at the Tax & Spend Inn

The Conservative conference pub is back again this year, with its usual bitter jokes about Labour. Mr Steerpike had an exclusive peek at the posters they’re using to poke fun at Ed Miliband’s party. The pub this year is called the ‘Tax & Spend’. Funnily enough, they’ve decided to remind the Labour leader of the deficit, just in case he’s forgotten: Perhaps someone could set up a Campaign for Real Deficit Reduction.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron: I’ll put immigration at the heart of my EU negotiating strategy

If David Cameron needed reminding of how his conference agenda had been stamped on, it came on the Marr show. The Tories’ conference curtain-raiser of reducing the benefit cap, limiting access to benefits for the under 21s and creating more apprentices was eclipsed by Syria, the Reckless defection, the EU renegotiation and Cameron’s Royal gaffe. listen to ‘Cameron: ‘Immigration will be at the heart of my renegotiation strategy’ with the EU’ on audioBoom

Saturday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Mark Reckless: The away day row that made me lose my faith in David Cameron

What made Mark Reckless decide to defect? Coffee House earlier revealed the timeline that led to the Tory MP standing on the conference stage in Doncaster today, but after his announcement, he sat down with a small group of journalists and explained why he’d decided that Ukip was the right party for him. It started with a row in Oxfordshire. Before explaining, Reckless first refused a glass of wine, and when it was pointed out that sipping water was a little unusual for a Ukipper, he told the group that ‘I’m not a big drinker’, adding sheepishly ‘I had an unfortunate incident some time ago as some of you will

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brooks Newmark quits after sending explicit photos of himself in paisley pyjamas

The Tory MP Brooks Newmark has quit the government – after having been tricked into sending “inappropriate messages” on WhatsApp to a journalist posing as a 20-year-old Tory activist. As the Sunday Mirror puts it:- As part of a series of exchanges, he sent a graphic picture exposing himself while wearing a pair of paisley pyjamas No laws were broken and the paisley pyjamas at least show that some Tory traditions are being upheld. He’s not standing down as an MP – as we know, sending such pictures need not end a political career (Labour’s Chris Bryant says this increased his majority). But it doesn’t help a ministerial career: Newmark is out as civil society minister.  He

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

How The Spectator stopped Mark Reckless from reaching parliament in 2005

When Mark Reckless stands for election as a UKIP candidate for Rochester and Strood, The Spectator will be against him. But we were against him when he stood as a Tory in 2005. Indeed, in that general election The Spectator backed the Conservatives (as you’d expect) but made a specific exception for Reckless, running for what was then Medway. Peter Oborne, then political editor, went so far as to draft a campaign statement for Bob Marshall-Andrews, the Labour MP whom Reckless was trying to depose. Marshall-Andrews, Oborne argued, was the true Conservative candidate. Peter Oborne’s leaflet was distributed very widely during the campaign and Reckless was defeated by a fairly narrow margin (213 votes). So we’re bold enough to think

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tories ready for tough by-election fight

When Douglas Carswell defected, many Tory MPs were quick to say that an aggressive campaign against him would be counter-productive. There is none of that talk today. listen to ‘Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects to Ukip’ on audioBoom Listening to Tories this afternoon one is struck by how so many of them view the Reckless defection as different to the Carswell one. They point out Carswell didn’t regularly deny that he was going to defect in the way that Reckless did. Reckless’s timing is also far more clearly designed to hurt the Tory party than Carswell’s was. Judging by the conversations I’ve had this afternoon, the whips won’t find it

Sebastian Payne

Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects to Ukip

Mark Reckless dropped a bomb on the Ukip conference in Doncaster today, announcing his surprise defection from the Tories. In this View from 22 special, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss why Reckless switched sides, how Ukip managed to keep the news secret, what it means for the upcoming Conservative Party conference and whether we can expect to see any more defections before May 2015. listen to ‘Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects to Ukip’ on audioBoom

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How Mark Reckless’ defection happened – exclusive details

Mark Reckless has been talking about moving to Ukip for months, those who know him say. It was only in the last two weeks that he decided he was definitely defecting, and only in the past few days that more people working for the party knew what was happening. Still, they managed to keep it under wraps to the extent that some journalists had gone home early, dismissing the reports of defections as overexcited chatter. The hall was gobsmacked when he appeared. listen to ‘Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects to Ukip’ on audioBoom

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Mark Reckless’s stunning defection to Ukip is further proof of the great Tory split

The defection of Mark Reckless is the best possible end for Nigel Farage’s party conference, and the worst possible start for David Cameron’s. Tomorrow’s newspapers will lead on the story of Tory split, with Reckless and Douglas Carswell only the first two – I will be surprised if there is not a third before the election. Yes, Ed Miliband has had a dreadful party conference but every opinion poll and every bookmaker still has Labour on course to win the next general election. Why? Because there has been a great reversal in British politics: the left is now united and the right is split. listen to ‘Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Breaking: Mark Reckless becomes second Tory MP to defect to Ukip

Mark Reckless has just left the Conservative Party and joined Ukip. He is announcing his defection on the stage at the party’s conference to huge cheers. listen to ‘Podcast special: Mark Reckless defects to Ukip’ on audioBoom Reckless says it is the leadership of the Tory party that is holding the country back — Isabel Hardman (@IsabelHardman) September 27, 2014 This is horrendous for the Tories — Isabel Hardman (@IsabelHardman) September 27, 2014 More to follow…

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tories to offer discounted homes to first-time buyers

The Tories have begun to roll out their conference offer to voters. Today, they’ve announced that if re-elected, first time buyers under 40 will be offered properties to buy at a 20 percent discount. There will be a 100,000 houses available under this scheme, all built on brownfield land. The discount will be achieved by exempting the construction of these homes from various taxes and levies.   Tories win elections when they extend home ownership and this idea will have some resonance with aspirational voters worried about how they’ll ever afford a home There will, though, be those on the right who worry about this extension of Help to Buy,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tory plan to force through EVEL advances

As reported earlier this week, a group of Conservative MPs are keen to get English votes for English laws sorted as soon as possible. Bill Cash has sent William Hague a change to the standing orders of the House of Commons which would enforce this principle immediately. He has also written to party colleagues asking for their support on this, and says he has heard sympathetic noises from the party leadership on the idea too (although it depends who you talk to as to how sympathetic the noises sound). Cash told Coffee House that it was imperative that the government avoided bringing in EVEL through legislation as it would almost certainly

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Mumsnet risk wrath of ‘Mrs Clegg’

First we had Mrs Miliband redefining her role from elusive lawyer to political campaigning wife; now we have another once shy ‘leader’s wife’ tweaking their public profile. The Liberal Democrats get very grumpy if you refer to Miriam González Durántez as Mrs Clegg, but the Dechert LLP lawyer is described as the ‘wife of Nick Clegg’ by Mumsnet for the launch of their Mumsnet Book of Animal Stories. None of the other contributors to the book – including Anthony Browne, the former Children’s Laureate and Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts – have been defined by their spouse. Brave…

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Nigel Farage blames Labour for Rotherham abuse scandal

Rotherham is only a few miles down the road from the Ukip conference, and looms large in the hall. Every speaker so far has managed to mention the scandal of 1,400 children abused and ignored by the authorities. Jane Collins’ speech has riled Labour so much that Labour has accused her of being defamatory, while Nigel Farage devoted a furious section of his speech to accusing the party. He said the child abuse was a ‘direct result’ of Labour’s policies and commitment to political correctness: ‘What we have seen in Rotherham in particular – but there have been other examples of it too – what we have seen within the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Commons vote for strikes against IS in Iraq

By 524 votes to 43, the House of Commons has voted to support air-strikes against Islamic State in Iraq. The margin of victory is not surprising given how limited the motion was, it rules out ground troops and makes clear there’ll be another vote before any action in Syria. But in a sign of the unease of some on the Labour side, Rushanara Ali, who represents George Galloway’s old seat of Bethnal Green and Bow, has resigned from the front bench over Labour’s support for the motion. Indeed, the first estimates are that 24 Labour MPs voted against while just five Tories opposed. The question now is whether, and when,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Nigel Farage concedes Ukip won’t win Heywood and Middleton by-election

Not long after John Bickley had appealed to Ukip delegates to help him win in Heywood and Middleton, Nigel Farage conceded that it wasn’t going to happen. In a briefing with journalists after his speech (the Ukip leader is very generous with his time for the London-based media establishment, far more so than any other leading politician), he said: ‘I think it’s too big a mountain to climb in that short a space of time, and I think the Labour party is saying that because they’ve got a very divided local party, they’re not happy with the candidate, they can’t get anyone out to canvass, and when they put the

Ed West Ed West

Multiculturalism makes Isis a threat to Britain

So we’re back to bombing Iraq again, by the looks of things, for the third successive decade – this time to destroy the Islamic State, or Isis or whatever they’re called. David Cameron, asked by an MP whether Isis was a ‘threat to the British people’, answered ‘yes’ and said: ‘This is about psychopathic terrorists who are trying to kill us. Like it or not they have already declared war on us. There isn’t a walk-on-by option.’ But has Isis declared war on us, and is it actually a threat to us, and if so why? Isis certainly poses a grave threat to its neighbours, and as with all militant