Politics

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

Sunday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another calamity for Clegg

The last thing that Nick Clegg needed this morning was the claim in The Independent on Sunday that if all the votes had been counted Chris Huhne would have been elected leader. Clegg won the leadership by 511 votes but the paper claims that if the 1,300 postal votes which arrived after the voting deadline had passed had been counted then Huhne would have won.  On Sunday AM, Clegg dismissed the story as having “no foundation or fact whatsoever.”  But by suggesting that he is not the legitimate leader it undermines his position at the end of a disastrous week for him.  Clegg’s GQ interview is continuing to cause problems

Peter Hoskin

Voters look to the Tories as the credit crunch bites

Another encouraging poll for Team Cameron today. The latest ICM / Sunday Telegraph poll puts the Tories on 43 percent (up 6 from last month); Labour on 32 percent (unchanged); and the Lib Dems on 18 percent (down 3). Below the headline figures, there’s some suggestion that the credit crunch is starting to hit people in the pocket. Around 22 percent of voters have had to cut back their personal spending “a lot” over the past year, whilst 37 percent have done so “a little”. The worry is that things will only get worse. Our latest cover story paints a bleak picture for home-owners. And – thanks to Gordon Brown

Saturday

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s notes | 5 April 2008

If Boris Johnson wins the contest to become Mayor of London on 1 May, he will not inherit an impartial civil service of the sort to which British national politicians are accustomed. There has only been one Mayor of London so far and he, Ken Livingstone, has made sure that London officials reflect his views. So if Boris wins, he will immediately be confronted by the politically motivated hostility of the bureaucracy. It is good to know that he promises to deal with this, less good to hear that he proposes to keep on leading figures like the commissioner of Transport for London, Peter Hendy. The left-wing Mr Hendy is

Peter Hoskin

A period of family meltdown?

The attacks against this Government are becoming angrier and more widespread by the day.  Now a senior judge wades into the fray, blasting Labour for not preventing family breakdown.  Here’s what he had to say:  “We are experiencing a period of family meltdown whose effects will be as catastrophic as the meltdown of the ice caps … as big a threat to the future of our society as terrorism, street crime or drugs …  What is certain is that almost all of society’s social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life … I am not saying every broken family produces dysfunctional children but I am saying that almost

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Can Clegg recover?

Nick Clegg has had a disastrous week. His comments about the number of women he had slept with have made him into a laughing-stock while his party’s position on the Lisbon treaty becomes more incoherent by the day.  Clegg’s interview with The Times  this morning shows how difficult it is going to be for him to get past the Clegg-over business. Helen Rumbelow and Alice Miles press him repeatedly on the issue and you have to imagine that every other interviewer is going to do the same for the foreseeable future. Clegg does, though, say one interesting non Clegg-over related thing. When asked about coalitions he replied, “I don’t think about

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Watch the Tories sidling up to the Lib Dems: the foundations for a post-election pact

Now that Francis Maude is no longer lurking around Conservative headquarters dampening any high spirits he might encounter, bubbles of optimism are allowed to float with impunity around Team Cameron. For the last three weeks, the Tories have enjoyed double-digit opinion poll leads. The consensus in Westminster is that the Conservatives (or, more accurately, Boris Johnson) will capture London next month. Some bookmakers are now predicting an outright Conservative victory at the general election, whenever Gordon Brown deigns to hold it. The end of opposition appears, at last, to be in sight. In the absence of Mr Maude, the cure for Tory euphoria lies in the other dismal science: psephology.

The Spectator

The real immigration lie

Yet again, New Labour’s predilection for spin and misleading statistics has landed the government in trouble. Ministers have long been fond of making the argument for immigration on the basis that it increases the country’s GDP. But as the House of Lords Economics Affairs Committee rightly points out in its new report, adding more people to the population will lead — barring a recession — to a higher GDP. So this is hardly a clinching argument for immigration. After all, the fact that Turkey’s GDP is larger than that of Switzerland scarcely means that the Turks are better off than the Swiss. The report also concluded that immigration does little

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 4 April 2008

Nick Clegg answers CoffeeHousers’ questions.   James Forsyth points out how bad things are looking for Gordon Brown.   Peter Hoskin questions the Government’s eco-town policy.   Fraser Nelson says we should dispense with the bureaucrats.   And Matthew d’Ancona suggests that Hillary Clinton should cool it with the Rocky comparisons.

Peter Hoskin

Who spent what?

The expenses claims of nineteen MPs – including Blair, Brown and Cameron – have been released today.  Nothing in breach of the rules, but still some cause for eyebrow-raising.  For instance, John Prescott claimed £4,000 in 2003/04 for groceries (would it be cruel to say it showed?)  And Blair had his TV license-fee paid for. Despite the lack of Derek Conway-style revelations, the release is welcome – if only because it’s one in the eye for Michael Martin.  But – for good or ill – things still aren’t as transparent as they could be.  Martin continues to fight against the release of “receipt-by-receipt” breakdowns; a battle that will be adjudicated in the

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown does cool. Fails

As it’s Friday, here’s some entertainment – the interview Gordon Brown gave to Radio One’s Newsbeat last year (newly added to YouTube). The interviewer, Rajini Vaidyanathan, specialises in leftfield questions and often gets hilarious results. After asking if he was a “grumpy, dour backstabber” (he was prepared for that one) she asked the then Chancellor where he would take her on a date. What film would they watch? United 93, he said. Not very romantic, she replied. He tried again: Hotel Rwanda. And his music? He likes “mod..moder…moder…modern groups” Here is a wee transcript (forward to 1’40): Rajini Vaidyanathan: Let’s pretend I’m on a political dinner date with you. Would

Peter Hoskin

The Great Gordo

Michael Heath’s illustration for our Brownies posts (so far we’ve covered Inflation and The Lisbon Treaty) deserves to be showcased. So here’s Brown the magician, in all his glory:

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Blair dividing line

Most of the press attention on Tony Blair’s speech last night has concentrated on what he said about faith, and understandably so. But to my mind, the most interesting section was when Blair talked about what he sees as the new dividing line in politics today:  “The world is interdependent today, economically, politically, even to a degree ideologically. The divide, then, is between those who see this as positive – the opening up offering opportunity; and those who see it as threatening and wish to close it back down. As you can see from the Presidential race in the U.S., there are new questions that cross traditional Party lines: free

Peter Hoskin

Clegg responds – Part II

Here are Nick Clegg’s answers to the last five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers.  For his first five responses click here. Q: MPs were already a devalued currency with the public following years of labour spin, expense fraud etc. Would you agree that their stock has diminished even further following the refusal of the government, helped by your party’s abstention, to give a referendum on the Lisbon constitution? Can you understand why people are put off politicians by this cynical game of MPs putting party before country? – Pete A: People are fed up with politicians – but for a lot of reasons, not just one. That’s why I’ve said

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

More Balls

Is it a bigger scandal that six state schools are asking parents for voluntary contributions or that 100,000 children do not get into their first choice school? Ed Balls clearly thinks it is the former as he has gone into full Laura Spence-outrage mode over it, naming and shaming the schools involved. One can’t help but wonder what Balls is up to in trying to turn this into a big story. As Conor Ryan, who used to advise Blair and Blunkett on education, writes, “The problem with turning the issue into a cause celebre is that it alienates many of the good school leaders that this government needs if it

Peter Hoskin

Taxing times for Brown

As James said earlier, things aren’t looking great for Gordon.  And now – as Ben Brogan points out – our Prime Minister’s got a revolt on his hands.  What makes this one particularly damaging is that it’s over matters economic.  Says Brogan: “Bad news for Gordon. At last count 26 of his MPs have signed an EDM calling on Alistair Darling to review the scrapping of the 10p rate of tax … When Mr Brown was Chancellor the idea of a revolt by Labour MPs on tax was nigh unthinkable. Times have changed.”   

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Fixing it

The appalling story of how the Tory Party fixes its MEP candidates is told on ConservativeHome. This won’t be picked up on Fleet Street, as MEPs are such a boring business. But it raises serious questions about the Conservatives’ commitment to localism in running the country, if this is how they treat their own party members.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labouring on

Peter Riddell is not a man prone to hyperbole so when he writes that “The malaise is real and it is widespread. The Brown Government is in deep trouble” we should sit up and take notice. As Peter notes, much of the problem stems from the teething troubles surrounding the arrival of new people at Number Ten who have not meshed with the old team. One of the oddest things about Stephen Carter’s new hires is why they keep talking to PR Week, hardly a subtle venue for strategic leaking. Philip Webster reports one Minister irritably asking, “What is going on here? Do people think they can go running to

Peter Hoskin

Clegg responds – Part I

Here are Nick Clegg’s answers to the first 5 questions put forward by CoffeeHousers:   Q: If the Lib Dems hold the balance of power in 2010, which Cabinet portfolios are you after, and who would fill them? – Peter   A: That’s just not something I think about.  The Liberal Democrats are an independent party, focused on providing a programme for government across the portfolio areas.  Speculating about coalitions is not a game that I am interested in playing.   Q: You have made rather anti-government spending noises recently. Is there a figure for spending as a %age of GDP which you would regard as roughly about right –

Peter Hoskin

Closer than we thought?

Another poll lead for Boris this morning, but it’s significantly shorter than those 10 and 12 point advantages he’s enjoyed recently. This Guardian / ICM poll – which they’re hawking as “the only one to be carried out by a national newspaper using established techniques” – has Boris as the first choice of 42 percent of voters, compared to 41 percent for Ken. When second preferences are allocated, Boris’s lead increases slightly – 51 percent to 49 percent. He’s winning the battle for the hearts (and votes) of Paddickites. Whilst any lead for the Spectator’s man is encouraging, this latest shows there’s still a lot of work to be done

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Storm in a Taoiseach…

We knew everything we needed to know about Bertie Ahern from the moment his mentor Charlie Haughey declared that of all the young thrusters in Fianna Fail, Ahern was “the most skillful, the most devious, the most cunning of them all”. It’s tempting to conclude that this endorsement provided sufficient grounds for barring Ahern from public office. Then again, the Irish electorate seems to prefer its leaders crooked. There’s a fine old story – only possibly apocryphal – in which a little old lady tells a journalist that no, she wouldn’t dream of voting for Garret Fitzgerald: how can you trust a man who lives in the same small house