Politics

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

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 3 January 2019

Lords reform Sir: How astonishing that the historian Robert Tombs (‘Beyond Brexit’, 15 December) should think that the Lords might ‘at last be seriously reformed’ after more than a century of schemes that foundered in the Commons. MPs have an unthreatening upper house; they will never agree on substantial changes that would increase its power. They will leave the Lords to implement its own sensible plans to cut its numbers to 600 by bringing party strengths into line with those in the Commons over the next few years. Those interested in radical Lords reform should study the detailed proposals for a federal constitution drawn up by an all-party group chaired

Daniel DePetris

Why Donald Trump will step up his feud with the EU this year

For Angela Merkel, the chief guardian of Europe’s centrist politics, 2018 was a year of tribulation – and she admits it. In her New Year’s speech, the German chancellor acknowledged the hardship of the last twelve months while begging her countrymen to unite in the year ahead. “We will only master the challenges of our times if we stick together and collaborate with others across borders,” Merkel told the German people in what can only viewed as a call for the country to come together. Merkel’s words, however, don’t only apply to Germany. Europe as a whole is entering 2019 with many people agnostic about the European Union, exhausted with the familiar

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Theresa May struggles to keep her DUP promise

When Conservative MPs tabled a no confidence vote against Theresa May last month, the Prime Minister had to make a number of big promises in order to survive it. She pledged not to fight the next election, to find a legally binding solution to the Irish backstop – and to get the DUP back on side. This afternoon we were offered a reminder of how difficult it will be for May to keep that last promise. Following a lunchtime meeting with May, the DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds issued a statement making clear that his party’s ‘principled objections’ to the withdrawal agreement have not been resolved. He said that the

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why Jeremy Corbyn won’t back a second referendum yet

Jeremy Corbyn has come under pressure this week to back a second referendum after a YouGov poll found that seven in ten Labour members wish for it to be party policy. So far, Corbyn has resisted such calls for a so-called People’s Vote. In this week’s Spectator, I explain why the Labour leader is reluctant to go near one – at least for the time being. With the Tories in turmoil over Brexit, it’s quite possible — some cabinet members believe probable — that the government may soon collapse with a new general election called. This is Labour’s great hope – and Corbyn hopes to trigger a snap poll by

Matthew Goodwin

Railway nationalisation could be Jeremy Corbyn’s route to power 

Few things can kill the Christmas spirit as effectively as news about rail fare rises. This was demonstrated again this week as an annual announcement, which feels more predictable than some of my local trains, revealed that the average cost of tickets is up 3.1 per cent. The news has already generated countless vox pops with angry commuters and public protests across the country. Jeremy Corbyn was quick to brand the hike a ‘disgrace’ and said: ‘Our railway system should work for the interests of everybody, not just the profits of a few’. The Labour Party revealed new research, claiming that our trains have never been so packed. There is

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will 2019 be Corbyn’s year?

It’s hard to think of a time when an opposition leader has had such a promising start to the new year. Jeremy Corbyn finds himself up against a prime minister who barely survived a confidence motion, with more than a third of the Conservative parliamentary party voting against her. The Tories have no majority of their own and have fallen out with their partner, the DUP. That same government is facing a make-or-break Brexit vote in two weeks’ time. It’s quite possible — some cabinet members believe probable — that it may soon collapse with a new general election called. All Labour needs is to be ready. In parliament, Corbyn’s

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

A seven-year winter or a pleasant surprise? Your guess is as good as mine

A friend reminds me that she sold her house last summer because I warned her 18 months ago that Brexit chaos would loom over every aspect of life by the beginning of 2019. I got that horribly right, and I was right too that the dismissive attitude of Westminster politicians towards the Irish border problem — call it ‘the Barnier trap’ if you prefer, but I can tell you I heard grown-up Irish voices trying in vain to alert UK ministers as long ago as September 2016 — would come back to baulk the entire negotiation. But would I care to make any sort of prediction for the three months

Geoffrey Wheatcroft

The way we were

‘The Spectator, having quite recently been a very bad magazine, is at present a very good one.’ Those gratifying words began a full-dress leading article in the Times on 22 September 1978, headed ‘On the Side of Liberty’. Its occasion was this magazine’s sesquicentenary, which we celebrated with a grand ball at the Lyceum Theatre, and much else besides. Although I can’t possibly be objective, I think that the praise was deserved. The revival of The Spectator 40 years ago was wonderful: it assured what had been the very insecure future of the paper, and it was the time of my life. Founded in 1828 by the Dundonian Robert Rintoul

Wednesday

Morgan Meaker

The first amendment and the internet’s free speech clash

For Silicon Valley, 2018 was defined by one impossible question: should there be limits to free speech on the internet? The first amendment is hardwired into the (American) CEOs of the big three social media sites: Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. Each platform grew its user-base with a “words can never hurt me” attitude. Back in 2012, Twitter defined itself as the “free speech wing of the free speech party”; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended his users’ right to be wrong – even for Holocaust deniers. For years, social media platforms allowed posts that could arguably inspire real-life violence in the US, Germany and in Myanmar. But now things are

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Five reasons Brexiteers should learn to love the backstop

Westminster conversation about Brexit often suffers a time lag. MPs frequently speak with surprise about things that actually happened months ago and which are regarded as old, established facts in Brussels and policy wonk-world. The backstop is the best example: outlined in the December 2017 Joint Report of the UK and EU negotiators, its meaning and necessity still came as a novelty to some MPs – resigning cabinet ministers included – in June; and to others in November. (The 2017 election result is another instance: it took many Tory MPs at least a year to realise it meant there could be no Commons majority for the hardest form of Brexit; some still

Robert Colville

Nationalisation isn’t the solution to fixing Britain’s railways

It’s the New Year, which must mean that railway fares are up again – this time by an average of 3.1 per cent. Jeremy Corbyn has said the latest price hike is a ‘disgrace’, and commuters forced to shell out more for their journeys are likely to agree. No one – not even Chris Grayling – is pretending that Britain’s railways are perfect, or that the system that they operate under does either. The Transport Secretary has in fact explicitly stated this week that ‘the franchising model cannot be the path for the future’. But at the same time, there’s something that’s not said often enough, or even at all: Britain’s

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The good news about Britain’s economy you might not have heard

Britain is, of course, in a Brexit-driven recession of its own making, while other EU countries are powering on ahead without us. Or so we keep being told. The ideas is that we are distancing ourselves from European markets – and concerned manufacturers will move production to factories elsewhere in the EU. While this gloomy analysis appears to be confirmed every time the CBI, IMF and others publish their forecasts, it is becoming increasingly hard to square with the economic data. This morning, IHS/Markit published its monthly Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing – a measure of business activity which leads official government statistics on the economy. The survey takes

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jeremy Hunt’s Singapore pitch rubs up colleagues the wrong way

It’s a new year, a new dawn, a new day – and for many Brits a fresh start. Unless you’re Theresa May. The Prime Minister begins 2019 with things much the same as they were in 2018. Her party is at war over Brexit, she still has a hugely unpopular piece of legislation to pass and her rivals are circling – attempting to boost their appeal to the Tory membership in anticipation of an eventual leadership contest. After a briefing war between No.10 and the Home Office over the Christmas period – which saw details of leadership frontrunner Sajid Javid’s luxury holiday wind up in the papers – it’s now

Tuesday

Robert Tombs

Brexit is about renewal, not just leaving the EU. And there’s no time to waste

None of us can predict the potential fallout from Brexit, good and bad. What began as a vote of confidence in our institutions has shown them to be dangerously fallible. A country where people usually rub along together is now marked by a cultural and emotional rift. If Brexit does continue to dominate our politics for years, will it mean a reform of our institutions, or a battening down of the hatches by a beleaguered elite? Will the House of Lords, having alienated its natural defenders, at last be seriously reformed? Shall we try to restrain the dangerously capricious powers of prime ministers? Shall we empower local government? Both Brexiteers

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Women with Balls podcast: Dame Helena Morrissey interview

Dame Helena Morrissey has been described as the UK’s own superwoman thanks to the fact that she balances a high-flying City career as a financier with bringing up nine children. She’s also a rarity in the finance sector as a proud Brexiteer. So, I’m delighted to have Helena as my guest on the latest episode of Women with Balls. In the interview, Morrissey talks about what it is like being a lone voice on Brexit in her industry: ‘I, maybe naively, had taken the logical extension of the work I’d done on encouraging diversity in the boardroom to mean that diversity of thought on issues like the EU referendum was to

Sunday

Steerpike Steerpike

The 10 worst political interviews of 2018

2018 has hardly been a year which has inspired faith in our political class. From the bungled Brexit negotiations to botched resignations, at every turn our elected representatives have managed to outdo themselves in bids to prove how useless they can be. Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the numerous political interviews viewers and listeners have been subjected to. To see off the year, and to remind readers of how bad things were, Mr Steerpike has rounded up the ten worst (or best) interviews of 2018: 1. Alastair Campbell caught out  Following the ‘People’s Vote’ march in October, Remainer-in-chief Alastair Campbell was in a triumphant mood. After all, when

Steerpike Steerpike

The top 40 horrors lurking in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal | 30 December 2018

We’re closing 2018 by republishing our ten most-read articles of the year. Here’s No. 2: Steerpike on the many problems with May’s Brexit deal: Theresa May’s government has teetered on the point of collapse over her proposed Brexit deal. The withdrawal agreement between the UK and Brussels led to Dominic Raab and Esther McVey resigning in protest. However, May’s remaining ministers have since attempted to rally around her at least in the short term. Speaking on Friday, Liam Fox – the International Trade Secretary – gave a speech in which he declared ‘a deal is better than no deal’. This is rather different to May’s old claim that ‘no deal is

Saturday

Anthony Browne

Why Britain decided to leave the EU – but other countries haven’t | 29 December 2018

Why us? Why is the UK the first – and only – country to decide to leave the EU? Greenland, Algeria (when it was part of the French empire) and the French Caribbean island of St Barthélemy have all been in the EU and are no more, but the UK is the first full member country to hold a referendum and decide ‘enough’. Why us, and not one of the many other members nursing doubts about the EU? There are many reasons, none of which are to do with us being more inward looking or racist. We are an island, but arguably the most outward looking EU nation. We do

Steerpike Steerpike

Why John Redwood won’t be May’s knight in shining armour  

With Theresa May’s Brexit agreement set to return to the Commons in January, rumour had it that the government – increasingly desperate to convince Brexiteer MPs to support the deal – was considering doling out knighthoods and honours to get them to change their mind. Lo and behold, the New Year’s honours list for 2019 was announced yesterday. Just two MPs were nominated for knighthoods at the start of the year, one of which was arch-Eurosceptic and vociferous opponent of May’s deal, John Redwood, for political and public service. Pro-EU voices were quick to suggest this was another attempt at Brexit bribery, but whether or not May’s team were making

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Why MPs should not stop legal aid reform

There is never more excitement on the Left than when a Tory MP recants and concludes that his heartless party and its callous social policies are wrong. So it was on Friday when Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley, announced that he had had a ‘road to Damascus conversion’ and realised that David Cameron’s legal aid reforms – which reduced the eligibility for legal aid – had made life harder for those who found themselves on the wrong end of a court case. It wasn’t pure altruism which had led him to this conclusion – Evans himself was acquitted on nine charges of sexual assault in 2014. While the case