Politics

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

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

At this rate Labour won’t even be a debating society in five years time

The phoney war continues. While Labour searches for its next Michael Foot, the party’s stand-in boss, Harriet Harman, seems keen to lose the 2020 election as soon as possible. Some argue Ed Miliband has already performed that task. Either way, defeat is the only thing Labour does efficiently nowadays. Ms Harman attacked the PM’s plan to abolish a policy that many hail as Gordon Brown’s Worst Ever Idea: tax credits. These mean that thousands of Whitehall scribblers deposit cash with workers who then return the money, via thousands more scribblers, to the government which never owned it in the first place. Labour loves the N Korean ambience of this system

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: some revealing exchanges from Cameron on tax credits, broadband and ‘the vow’

In PMQs today, there was no sense of the drama going on outside in Central Lobby as disability campaigners attempted to enter the Chamber. But the exchanges were far more revealing than usual. Harriet Harman asked Cameron about his plans to cut tax credits. Revealingly, Cameron didn’t deny that tax credits were going to be cut or tell Harman to wait until the Budget on July the 8. I think we can take that as something close to confirmation that tax credits will be cut as part of the government’s effort to make £12 billion of savings from the welfare Budget. Indeed, Cameron even endorsed the idea that tax credits

Steerpike Steerpike

Mrs Clooney causes a stir in Westminster

Amal Clooney has been giving Westminster an unusual touch of glamour this week, with the world’s most famous female barrister putting them away in the Red Lion pub on Monday night. In a pub normally dominated by spotty parliamentary researchers and ale swilling trade unionists, it wasn’t hard for the human rights barrister to cause a bit of a stir. ‘I played it cool,’ says Mr S’s spy in the watering hole. While Steerpike hears the woman that managed to tame Hollywood heart throb George Clooney, has been appearing at the Supreme Court, on Parliament Square, today she has found time to visit the House of Commons to see PMQs: Amal Clooney is in the

Michael O'Connell-Davidson

Labour’s response to #ToriesForCorbyn shows they really have lost the plot

There’s a lot to admire about Jeremy Corbyn. For one, you can’t fault his conviction. While his entire party falls over itself to adopt as many Tory policies as possible, Corbyn remains a stalwart voice of the left. The ideological antithesis of Kendall and the Blairites, Corbyn appears to want to finish the job that Ed Miliband started: bringing Labour back to the left. It’s no wonder, then, that Toby Young and a cadre of other Conservatives want to see Corbyn win. After all, Miliband led Labour to its worst defeat since 1983; he achieved the seemingly insurmountable by appealing to the electorate less than Gordon Brown. To witness that

Sebastian Payne

Alan Milburn finally confronts Labour with the hard truth about Tony Blair

Alan Milburn has told Labour something it does not want to hear: Tony Blair was as great for the party as Margaret Thatcher was for the Tories. At a breakfast with the Centre for Social Justice this morning, the former health secretary argued that  Labour ‘could not have got it more wrong’ at the last election and urged the party to snap out of its ‘self-delusion’ that New Labour and Blair were all bad: ‘Great leaders always have a big purpose. For Churchill it was victory in war, for Thatcher victory against a stifling state. For Blair it was victory against old-fashioned attitudes and institutions that held our country back. Today, to

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris Johnson has his ‘Joe Biden moment’ at LBC debate

Last night Boris Johnson took part in his final State of London debate with LBC host Nick Ferrari, before he finishes in his role as Mayor of London and focuses on work as an MP. Mr S can’t see him forgetting this debate anytime soon, however, after the blundering politician had an awkward encounter with a man in a wheelchair. After a number of audience members stood up in City Hall to quiz Johnson on the lack of affordable London housing, Uber’s threat to black cab drivers, and the noise pollution that could be caused by airport expansion, Ferrari and Boris became involved in a spat about nuclear weapons. When Boris asked the LBC host what

Sebastian Payne

Will the Calais crisis create another EU headache for David Cameron?

The crisis at Calais has once again raised the issue of UK border security. Some of the 3,000-odd illegal migrants residing at the port took advantage of yesterday’s ferry workers strike by attempting to board the delayed vehicles. The immigration minister James Brokenshire told the BBC this morning the situation is ‘hugely regrettable’ and the government will be taking steps to ensure Britain’s border security is beefed up: ‘It is hugely regrettable that we’ve seen these incidents occurring as a result of industrial action in France. ‘We are putting additional resourcing into the port of Dover to enhance screenings and detections there so that we’re looking at this on both sides of the Channel. ‘We have

Tuesday

Sebastian Payne

Tim Farron strengthens his position in the Lib Dem leadership race

While the media has been focused on the Labour leadership contest, the Liberal Democrats are also shuffling closer to choosing their new leader. The ballot papers are being sent out tomorrow and the winner will be announced three weeks from now. The Libs have a choice between Norman Lamb, the former care minister who is energetically defending the Lib Dem’s record in office, and Tim Farron, the party’s former president who is arguing a lot needs to change. Farron and Lamb appeared on the Victoria Derbyshire show today for a gentle debate, both admitting there was ‘not a lot’ they disagree on. Both defended the Liberal Democrats’ decision to enter into coalition with

Steerpike Steerpike

Michael Gove defends his grammar rules

Lord Chancellor Michael Gove was criticised over the weekend for issuing a set of grammar rules for civil servants. The list, which appeared on the Ministry of Justice intranet, warned staff to refrain from beginning sentences with ‘however’ and using the words ‘ensure’ and ‘unnecessary’. It also encouraged civil servants to avoid excessive use of hyphens. Not everyone was enamoured by his guidelines; the Guardian likened him to a Harry Enfield character, while Oliver Kamm claimed in the Times this morning that his grammar rules were simply nonsense. Appearing on today’s World at One, Gove attempted to downplay his guidelines: ‘When I was at the Department for Education, I sent a note round with

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Is Home Rule the only realistic alternative to independence for Scotland?

‘Is Home Rule the only realistic alternative to independence?’ was the question posed at a Spectator debate, sponsored by Brewin Dolphin, in Edinburgh last week. In one sense the question is redundant since, no matter how much some nationalists claim otherwise, there is no reasonable or realistic scenario in which it is possible to envisage the United Kingdom government scrapping the Scottish parliament. Some measure of Home Rule, therefore, is indeed the only realistic alternative to independence? But what is Home Rule? As the panel agreed (not least since this has long been obvious) there is no agreed or even satisfactory definition of Home Rule. Is it, as the journalist

Sebastian Payne

Constituents give Zac Goldsmith ‘permission’ to run for Mayor of London

Zac Goldsmith is in the race to be the Tory candidate for Mayor of London. After announcing his intention to seek the nomination last week, Goldsmith balloted his constituents in Richmond Park for their permission: 79 per cent of those who responded said he should run, while 18 per cent said no. Although the turnout was just under 26 per cent, it’s still a victory for Goldsmith’s brand of direct democracy. In response to his local referendum, Goldsmith said he’d work ‘tirelessly to repay my constituents’ loyalty’: ‘I am hugely grateful to the residents of Richmond Park and North Kingston for taking part in the ballot, and am overwhelmed by the mandate

James Forsyth James Forsyth

‘No’ campaign coordinator pushes idea of two referendums

Dominic Cummings is the man drafted in to put together the putative No campaign for the EU referendum. Cummings has a tendency to surprise and he has done that today with a piece that pushes the idea that the No campaign should say that there would be a second referendum if Britain votes Out. This second vote would be on the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU. Cummings’ thinking is that this would de-risk voting No. People would be simply rejecting the deal that David Cameron had negotiated rather than voting to leave outright. Cummings sums up the advantages of a second referendum for No thus: This approach might allow NO to

Steerpike Steerpike

Rachel Johnson lifts the lid on Newsnight

Rachel Johnson has never been shy of using her Notting Hill neighbours as a source of ‘inspiration’ for her series of chick-lit Notting Hell books. Her latest book Fresh Hell is no exception. It follows a character rallying against a major basement conversion in a storyline not dissimilar to Johnson’s own efforts to oppose her neighbour’s plans for such underground developments. However, another plotline in the book has caught Mr S’s eye. The novel follows Notting Hill journalist Mimi going on Newsnight – the current affairs programme which Johnson has appeared on in the past – to name and shame her basement digging neighbour. In the book, Newsnight is edited by a man called Josh Kurtz, whose name bears some resemblance to

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Greece: The devil will be in the detail

The Greek economy minister Giorgos Stathakis has told Robert Peston in an interview that the deadlock between Athens and its creditors has been broken, that $7.2 billion of funds should soon be released enabling the IMF to be paid at the end of the month. But this judgement seems distinctly premature. First of all, the technical negotiations have yet to take place — and it is all too easy to see how a deal could fall apart then. While the IMF tends to take a tougher line than the European Commission and so might not sign off on this deal. It is also worth remembering that there have been times

Douglas Murray

A trip to Greece might make Charlotte Church fear national debt

It is amazing what some people are willing to listen to on a Saturday.  I have just watched Charlotte Church’s speech to the small fringe of ‘anti-austerity’ activists in Westminster at the weekend. And my reaction is very much ‘Coo!’  Of course I knew how humourless this portion of the left can be, with their beliefs that Ukip is a ‘fascist’ party and that the current government is secretly selling off all schools and hospitals.  But even I didn’t think that they would wish to spend their weekends hearing lectures on David Cameron’s ‘neo-liberal vernacular’ from Charlotte Church.  Yes, she actually used that phrase in her speech. Highlighting one of the problems of the

Steerpike Steerpike

Miliband welcomed back to Twitter

Ed Miliband is clearly struggling to find his place in a post Ed Miliband world. Despite MPs from his own party suggesting the former Labour leader was ‘hanging around like an awkward relative at a funeral’, Miliband has not shied away from Westminster. Given the comprehensive thumping Ed took at the ballot box, he took a bold decision today to take to Twitter to slam the Prime Minister – remember that guy who beat him last month. A brave decision, if not a wise one. The response was quick and ruthless, and you’d have to have a heart of stone not to laugh: https://twitter.com/DJYems/status/612985229507198976 https://twitter.com/Chav68898982/status/612985260511526912 https://twitter.com/mephistofish/status/612982532448079872 @Ed_Miliband Remind us again how

Steerpike Steerpike

Nigel Farage slips into the background at charity cricket match

With taxpayers currently facing the prospect of a £3 billion bill in order to stop Parliament turning into a ‘ruin’, perhaps it’s time the Speaker took a note out of Baroness Benjamin’s book in order to reduce the cost to the taxpayer. During a Walking with the Wounded charity cricket match at the weekend, Floella Benjamin managed to tempt a bidder to pay £800 for a tour of the crumbling building. ‘You realise that the Houses of Parliament soon will not be occupied by either the Lords or the MPs, so this is actually a chance to see something before it is restored,’ she told an audience which included Nick Compton and Lady Kitty Spencer. The Lib

Sebastian Payne

Business for Britain attempts to show the positive side of the ‘No’ campaign

The EU ‘out’ campaigners have two troublesome image problems to contend with: the message of ‘No’ is intrinsically negative and will scare off voters, plus they are looking to change the status quo. Business for Britain, which is expected by many in Westminster to be one of the groups forming the ‘No’ campaign, is attempting to remedy the negativity of a Brexit with its new publication ‘Change or Go’. In the 1000-page report, BfB outlines in detail the changes British businesses want to the UK’s relationship with the EU. It argues that if these changes can’t be won, then it’s time to leave. The report counters the idea put about by ‘In’ campaigners that Britain would

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Cameron has created a socialist utopia for pensioners

On the radio this morning, a campaigner from the Child Poverty Action Group had an ’emperor’s new clothes’ moment. Why not, she said, treat the young like the old. If the Tories insisted on having a ‘triple lock’ on pension benefits for the elderly, which guaranteed that the state pension must increase every year by whatever target was the highest – inflation, average earnings or a minimum of 2.5 per cent – why not put a triple lock on the benefits of poor families. The state would then treat the young like the old, and subsidise the future as it subsidises the past. You will understand why she was speaking

Sebastian Payne

David Cameron makes the case for the Tories’ moral mission

David Cameron has never particularly warmed to the language of compassionate conservatism. In the past, that side of the conservatism has generally been represented by Iain Duncan Smith — with help from the Centre for Social Justice, the think tank he founded. But in light of the rapidly approaching £12 billion of cuts in welfare spending, the Prime Minister will give a speech today outlining why it is important to end the ‘merry-go-round’ of benefits: ‘When it comes to extending opportunity – there is a right track and a wrong track. The right track is to recognise the causes of stalled social mobility and a lack of economic opportunity. Family breakdown. Debt.