Politics

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

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

Rethinking the rethink

Could it be? Has Brown admitted that he needs to rethink his approach, that he needs to change?  Has he – in a roundabout way – apologised?  It was starting to look that way earlier today, with the publication of an article by the PM in the Parliamentary Monitor.  The subhead of that article: “The world has changed so much since New Labour came to power that it makes sense at this conference to rethink the way we govern Britain, writes prime minister Gordon Brown.”  And it contains such calls to change as: “I believe that Britain is well placed to withstand the shocks that these transformations bring, but if we

Peter Hoskin

Labour to attack the “same old Tories”

One of the major recent debates within the Labour party has been over how best to attack David Cameron and the Tories.  Well – if a briefing obtained by the Guardian is anything to go by – that debate has pretty much resolved itself.  It suggests that Labour should portray the Tories as a wolf in sheep’s clothing – as a nasty party lurking beneath a veneer of compassionate conservatism.  This passage should give you a taste of what it’s about: “Occasionally the mask slips [from Cameron’s Tories] and we see the dangerous, old- fashioned Tory rightwing instincts hidden underneath. They believe in unfettered free markets, cuts in public services to fund tax cuts for the

Monday

Peter Hoskin

Will the Cameroons accept the gift of British “special status”?

You could say that pragmatism won out at today’s Global Vision / Daily Telegraph conference on the future relationship between Britain and Europe.  On the one hand, you had the pro-Europe voice of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing arguing that Britain should more or less be able to pick ‘n’ mix what parts of the EU agenda it subscribes to. And, on the other, you had a largely (moderate?) Eurosceptic panel arguing that – well – Britain should more or less be able to pick ‘n’ mix what parts of the EU agenda it subscribes to.  Of course, there were differences of emphasis.  Giscard d’Estaing thought that Britain’s “special status” should be enshrined

Daniel Korski

The future of Tory foreign policy  

David Cameron’s recent visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan received relatively little press attention; showing just how exceptional the amount of coverage that Cameron’s statements on Georgia and trip there garnered were. In his address in Pakistan, Cameron once more set out his ‘liberal conservative’ agenda. Here’s the key passage of the speech: “A liberal Conservative approach…recognises that democracy must be built around the institutions, habits and culture of each country. Democracy should be the work of patient craftsmanship and not of a uniform mass production line, if the final product is to be of a quality that endures.” In other words, states are not built; they develop over time. The

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The scale of Brown’s broken economy

Two analyses of the economy today, one fanciful and one spot-on. Gordon Brown says “I am confident that we can get through these difficult times and meet these challenges a stronger, more secure and fairer country then ever before.” Why is he confident? The cure for this will require the precise opposite to his policies – and this is what he shows no sign of beginning to grasp. The UK economy has buckled under the weight of the debt Brown has rung up. The speech of recovery will be dictated by how debt-burdened countries are going into recession. Britain starts – starts – with a 3% deficit, and this may

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them…

…here are some of the posts made over the weekend at spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson picks apart the British reaction to VP nominee Sarah Palin and shows how another Brown critic gets struck by lighning. James Forsyth questions whether Nick Clegg’s tax plans will appeal to his party’s supporters and shows that Stephen Carter won’t go without a fight. Peter Hoskin thinks Harriet Harman might have found a better way to quell leadership speculation and wonders whether Labour have any alternative to Brown. Clive Davis maintains that opposition to Palin is not necessarily sexist. And Americano looks at Sarah Palin’s pragmatism and explores Obama’s plans for education.

Sunday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Ivan Lewis pays the price

Poor Ivan Lewis. Previously we only heard from this health minister when he cropped up to criticise Gordon Brown through some coded newspaper article. Now he’s on the front page of the Mail on Sunday, exposed for sending inappropriate texts to a former female aide. So where did this story come from? Strikingly absent from the Mail on Sunday’s story is any detail from the woman’s side. No text message is reproduced, or any basic content alluded to. If she had sold her story (and the Mail on Sunday has the deepest pockets on Fleet Street for this kind of thing) you’d expect some personal detail even if not in

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

A lesson in how not to end leadership speculation

Here are the last few lines of the interview with Harriet Harman in today’s Times: “Is it not time for another woman British leader? Does she want the job if Gordon Brown is ousted? Ms Harman looked flustered and consults her briefing paper. ‘I cannot remember the answer to that.'” Ok, so it’s a probably a joke, a sign that she’s taking all the Westminster chatter with good humour. But I’m sure No.10 would have preferred something a little more unequivocal…

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s sinking, but where are the alternatives?

The story’s familiar by now. A poll comes out; it puts the Tories 20-ish points ahead of Labour; and it contains a whole load of below-the-headline findings which are personally damaging for Gordon Brown. Today’s Independent/ComRes poll certainly follows that pattern. It has the Tories on 44 percent, Labour on 25 percent and the Lib Dems on 17 percent. But the sting for Brown is in findings such as that 20 percent of people like Labour but not him, whilst only 8 percent like him but not his party. And that 34 percent of Labour voters say that they’d vote Labour in spite of Brown, and only 3 percent say

Theodore Dalrymple

In defence of David Southall

One of life’s difficulties, I have found, is that it keeps throwing up questions to which there is no indubitably correct answer. This means that the exercise of judgment is perennially necessary: and there is hardly a moment’s respite from this burdensome imperative. Alas, where there is judgment there is error, or the possibility of error. No one can be right all the time. Of nothing is this truer than the vexed question of child abuse. Not to see it where it exists has terrible consequences for the child; to see it where it does not exist has terrible consequences for the parents or the others accused of it. I

The Spectator

Make your excuses and go

Politicians, like novelists, are obsessed by posterity. Practitioners of the here and now — tomorrow’s headline, the latest poll, the next electoral hurdle — they nurse secret and often vainglorious hopes that their greatest plaudits will come in the future. Before New Labour swept to power in 1997, senior Blairites used to joke about the need to get ‘their betrayals in early’. Now, 11 years later, as the government disintegrates painfully and publicly, Cabinet ministers are rushing to get their side of the story across, to make excuses, and to pass the buck. Few political interviews have been parsed so closely or caused such an instant storm — financial and

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Honour amongst plotters

Meanwhile, back in Blighty, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke says Gordon Brown is toast and the PM should “stand down with honour”. Just what Labour needed as the conference season looms! Iain Martin’s column in the Telegraph today is an entertaining survey of the current, hapless state of the Labour Party: adrift on the high seas, all faith in the skipper lost, but no idea how to organise a mutiny, let alone brave the consequences of such an insurrection: In their plotting, the PM’s internal enemies have adopted one of their target’s worst traits: procrastination. If Brown declines the opportunity to resign with honour, then Clarke promises that “we” –

Peter Hoskin

Have the energy companies damaged Brown’s hopes even further?

Could the news that the Government won’t give cash handouts to those struggling with rising energy bills be another nail in the coffin of Brown’s premiership? The spin he’s putting on it is that there were never plans to offer “short term gimmicks and giveaways”. But the widespread assumption is that the opposite is true, and that the energy companies – rightly fearful of a windfall tax – blocked Brown’s designs. Now the PM’s peddling the message that “long term efficiency” is the solution to people’s energy problems; i.e. that homes should be made more energy efficient, thereby – in Brown’s words – “reducing bills not just temporarily, but permanently”.

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

“The outstanding politician of this era”?

Amid all the Labour backbiting and leadership speculation, there remain some – almost comically enthusiastic – voices of support for Gordon Brown.  Here’s Tony Lloyd, chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party, speaking to the BBC earlier: “The truth is most Labour MPs, the overwhelming majority, want Gordon Brown to be the one who delivers the policies, makes sure that they are implemented …. Anybody  who would have taken Gordon Brown on [in last year’s Labour leadership contest] would have been crushed … he continues to be the outstanding politician of this era.” Of course, it’s part of the PLP chairman’s role to both promote and create the impression of unity. 

Peter Hoskin

Is a snap reshuffle coming on Monday?

Just to point out Iain Dale’s post suggesting that Brown will be holding a snap reshuffle on Monday.  The feeling around Westminster is increasingly that one’s coming sooner rather than later.  But aside from whether and when it might be, the other major question is what’s going to happen with Alistair Darling and David Miliband.  The speculation that they’d be swapped with each other has died away, and the safest bet now is probably that they’ll remain where they are.  As I wrote the other day, it’s certainly problematic for Brown – if he doesn’t make some drastic changes, then there’s the chance a reshuffle will be greeted with a collective shrug from the general public.  But is

Peter Hoskin

Grieve responds

Here are Dominic Grieve’s answers to the questions put forward by Coffeehousers: Alex R “Do you understand that your views on the ECHR are in contradiction to those of the huge majority of conservative supporters and potential conservative supporters. Do you understand why many people believe this should disqualify you from ever being Home Secretary in the next conservative government?” I disagree on both counts. I fully support the protections set out in the European Convention on Human Rights as does the Conservative Party. But, I also believe that the government’s approach to human rights – including the Human Rights Act – has created unnecessary uncertainty in Britain, whilst failing

The Spectator

Are Labour the new nasty party?

Have Labour become the new nasty party?  Ross Clark certainly thinks so, and he outlines his reasons why in this week’s Spectator cover piece.  You can read his article here, but – as a taster of what to expect – here’s an extract: “It used to be backbench Tory MPs who made up the ‘hang ’em and flog ’em’ brigade. Watching the crime debate at Conservative conferences used to be an excruciating business as one spotty activist after another tried to trump all who had gone before him by devising a still crueller and more unusual punishment. I have yet to hear Jacqui Smith or Jack Straw demand the return

Daniel Korski

The real war

A few days after the EU summit to discuss Russia’s aggression in Georgia, debate across Europe is dividing into two camps. Not between those who back Russia and those who are baying for conflict, although this dividing line exists and is well-reported. The real division is over the meaning of the war for the future of European politics – and it’s likely to be even more aggressively contested. On the on hand, there are those who believe that this summer’s crisis is a political earthquake, signifying – finally – the end of the 1990s and many of the tenets upon which Europe built its post-Cold War world: continued (if slow)

Peter Hoskin

Clarke’s not done yet

Charles Clarke certainly didn’t say all he wanted to in his New Statesman article yesterday. He’s just filled in some of the gaps, and spelt things out more clearly, with a punchy interview on the Today programme. Sure, we know he’s not keen on Brown, but the severity of what he said was surprising nonetheless. Here’s a selection: “There are many, many people now who are concerned about his ability to win the election. That is an almost universal feeling. But there is no clarity about a course of action …. The first [option] is for the performance of the government needs to improve significantly or, the second is for