Politics

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

Thursday

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Tell Mama and the battle for the future of British Islam

Tell Mama is Britain’s most prominent opponent of anti-Muslim prejudice. It monitors everything from criminal assaults to everyday abuse. The far right loathes it, and the Conservative press sells the grotesque pretence that the group exaggerates prejudice to divert attention from the horror of Islamist violence. But attacks from the right only wound. Tell Mama’s ‘friends’ in the Muslim community have turned out to be far more dangerous and are threatening to destroy the organisation. ‘I am on a knife edge,’ one activist told me. ‘I may just leave. I’m so fed up.’ Two weeks ago Andrew Gilligan reported in the Sunday Telegraph that Baroness Warsi’s Whitehall working group on

Sebastian Payne

What Ukip wants: get Farage elected, then prepare for a Labour collapse in the north

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/putin-s-empire-building/media.mp3″ title=”Sebastian Payne and Matthew Goodwin discuss what goes on behind the scenes at Ukip” startat=1222] Listen [/audioplayer]In Ukip’s Mayfair headquarters there is a copy of Banksy’s monkey with the sign around its neck: ‘Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge’. It seems appropriate. For years, Nigel Farage and his party were dismissed as a bunch of cranks. Within three months, they could be propping up David Cameron’s government, having named their price — perhaps an EU referendum before the year is out. Conservatives stopped sneering at Ukip a while ago. Now they’re more worried about its ambitions. What does Ukip want? Will it attack from the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

George Osborne interview: smaller government is not enough

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/putin-s-empire-building/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss Osborne’s election manoeuvres ” startat=839] Listen [/audioplayer]Puccini’s doesn’t seem like George Osborne’s sort of restaurant. It is a pizza-and-pasta place in the safely Labour constituency of Salford and Eccles, Greater Manchester, most notable for the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson once took his whole squad there. (‘Penne alla Giggs’ is still on offer to prove it.) In recent years, however, the Chancellor has become something of a regular — he has even taken the Prime Minister along — and is made welcome to the point that when we met there last Thursday diners queued to be photographed with him. The Chancellor used

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

It’s now clear: David Cameron was never a real moderniser

I have a friend who was a Young Conservative. Just the one, I promise, and he’s grown out of it by now. I remember him, though, back from a party conference, freshly despairing, some time in the bleak, dandruffy Tory doldrums of 2000-ish. ‘It would be very easy,’ I remember him wailing, ‘for them to have some funky lights and Morcheeba playing in the background. Couldn’t they at least do that?’ Easy or not, it would be another five years and two bald leaders before they’d do anything of the sort. By then it would be the Killers, rather than Morcheeba, but the idea was much the same. It’s easy

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

David Cameron’s debate ‘offer’ means he’s chickening out while pretending not to

So David Cameron has made his ‘final offer’, his final condition on which he will or won’t sign up to the TV debates. And it is a clever way of appearing to care about the TV debates while ensuring that they don’t happen at all. In a letter to the BBC tonight, the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications Craig Oliver has said he will only agree to one debate – lasting 90 minutes, between seven party leaders. And that’s it. Number 10 sources are briefing that the Prime Minister’s rejection of a two-way with Ed Miliband is because we have left the era of two-party politics. Well yes, but we also

Sebastian Payne

New Ashcroft polling points to Labour/SNP bloodbath

Has the SNP threat to Labour in Scotland abated? Not yet according to Lord Ashcroft, who has released his latest round of constituency level polling. Focusing on the SNP/Labour marginals, Ashcroft has found that in five current Labour strongholds, the SNP are on track to swipe away four of them: Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock, Dumfries & Galloway Edinburgh South West and Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath — the latter of course being represented by Gordon Brown. The only good news for Labour is East Renfrewshire, where Labour has a one-point lead. Thankfully for the party, it’s their leader Jim Murphy’s seat.  In the single Conservative Scottish seat, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale, the Tories are neck

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Night of the long claymores: the SNP are poised for a historic, momentous, victory.

The latest Scottish polling conducted by Lord Ashcroft is another reminder, should you still need it, that this year’s election looks like being an unmitigated disaster for Unionism. The noble, if mischievous, Lord’s research reveals that, as matters stand, the SNP are still on course to all but wipe Labour – and everyone else – off the political map. It will be a bloodbath; a night of the long claymores. Gordon Brown’s Kirkcaldy seat? Gone. Alistair Darling’s Edinburgh constituency? Taken. Charlie Kennedy’s Highland fortress? Sacked. Even Jim Murphy’s East Renfrewshire seat is threatened by the Nationalist insurgency. So too is the last remaining Tory MP in Scotland, David Mundell. Which, in

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The PM knows the TV debates won’t happen

The broadcasters have now said they could be willing to host a TV debate between David Cameron and Ed Miliband on another date if that means the programmes will actually take place. Though this shows willing on the part of the broadcasters, who have messed up the debates with proposals that would inevitably end up mired in a row, it does not make them more likely to happen. It would be easy for any of the parties who feel hard done by, particularly the Lib Dems, to apply for an injunction against the head-to-head taking place on the grounds that they will have no chance to respond to any claims

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: Cameron’s ducking and diving

Dodge and shimmy. Duck and weave. Cameron was at it again today. Ed Miliband asked if he’d care to join him for a spot of cut and thrust on TV. One to one. He had a date, 30 April, pencilled in for the gig. Kettle crisps and a glass of merlot on the PM’s rider. Tricky. Cameron would rather knight Rolf Harris, ennoble Gary Glitter and grant Myra Hindley a posthumous pardon than grapple with his main foe on live TV. So his course was clear. Dodge without appearing to dodge. Miliband pressed the question and forced his quarry onto the defensive but Cam’s camera-phobia won’t achieve cut-through with the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Some poorly-timed heckles made for an unedifying PMQs

Thank goodness there aren’t that many Prime Minister’s Questions left before the election. As James said, there was a rather end-of-term feeling to today’s session: indeed, it felt a bit like an end-of-term lunch where all the pupils are hopelessly overexcited and the teacher has given up. It wasn’t just that David Cameron decided he should troll John Bercow by reeling off a lengthy list of Tory commitments that the party has stuck to, giggling at the Speaker as he said ‘plenty of time!’ to mock Bercow’s habit of pompously telling MPs that the session will take as long as it needs to. It was also the way MPs were

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: The TV debates row rumbles on

There are only a couple more sessions of PMQs left before the election and there was a slightly end of term feeling to today’s session. Ed Miliband started by mocking Cameron’s failure to meet his immigration pledge. Cameron responded by reading out a list of Tory achievements, almost daring Bercow to cut him off – which he eventually did. Cameron then started to mock Miliband asking those putting him on their leaflets to put their hands up, cue Tory MPs enthusiastically putting their hands up. But Miliband then changed tack and started asking about the TV debates. Cameron, who is determined not to do them, was not as comfortable answering

Steerpike Steerpike

Tories detect Alastair Campbell’s hand in latest education attacks on PM

Angry Conservative Party officials have hit back at attacks from the left on the education of the Prime Minister’s children. On Monday the PM’s spokesman claimed: ‘Like tens of thousands of other parents, the prime minister and Mrs Cameron expect to hear which secondary schools have offered a place to their daughter Nancy. If she gets more than one offer they will make a decision in due course.’ It is thought Nancy Cameron will attend a central London comprehensive, which would make Cameron the first Tory PM to send his child to a state comp. This has not stopped education campaigners weighing in. Fiona Millar, who lest we forget is Alastair Campbell’s partner,

Sebastian Payne

Two polls put the Tories ahead while the Lib Dems hit a 25 year low

Are the Conservatives beginning to pull ahead of Labour? Two polls out this week suggest this might be the case. Today’s YouGov/The Sun poll puts the Tories on 36 per cent and Labour on 34 per cent — a two point lead for David Cameron’s party and its highest poll rating since March 2012. Monday’s Ashcroft poll had a similar result, putting the Conservatives on a three point lead ahead of Labour on 34 per cent. Both of these are within the margin of error. While Ukip remain steady on 14 per cent in both polls and the Greens are hovering on high single digits, the most shocking thing to

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ukip dumps its 50,000 immigration target – could this help the Tories?

It was a bit rich of George Osborne to tease Nigel Farage for ‘a novel approach to policymaking’ for dumping Ukip’s previous commitment to a 50,000 cap on the number of migrants arriving in the UK each year live on the Today programme. George Osborne found this rather funny, even though he and his colleagues have spent the past year doing something reasonably similar. It was on the same programme that Theresa May downgraded the net migration target to a ‘comment’, while Osborne gave newspaper interviews in which he made it clear that it would be rather difficult to meet the target under Britain’s current arrangements with the EU. listen

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Norman Baker’s special interest in endangered species

Tonight Norman Baker leads the Commons adjournment debate on international endangered species. Speaking ahead of the event, the Liberal Democrat MP explained to Politics Home why the subject is so close to his heart: ‘I normally try to keep my day job, my role as MP, separate from my music, but this week I made an exception. I released a CD called Animal Countdown, and introduced a debate in the House of Commons, to highlight the threat of extinction hanging over so many wonderful species – rhinos, tigers, lions and even elephants, to name just a handful.’ Surely Baker forgot to include the Liberal Democrats in his list of endangered species?

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Justin Forsyth has far more to apologise for than Tony Blair’s Save the Children award

You almost have to admire Justin Forsyth’s brass neck. He is a former Gordon Brown spin chief earning a Prime Ministerial £138,000 for running Save the Children. Or, rather, transforming it into Save the Labour Party with various attack ads claiming that kids need to be rescued from wicked Conservative austerity. Here’s an example of its handiwork: You’d think that Forsyth would be rather embarrassed about abusing the charity’s resources in such a way, but last year Save the Children went one further and gave an award to Tony Blair. That really was too going far. There was outrage from Save the Children staff and donors, even an online petition – it’s bad enough

Steerpike Steerpike

Argentina’s ambassador to the UK trolls the Tory backbenchers

Nothing like a bit of Argie-bargie to get the Tory backbenchers going. Mr S has been passed a letter and booklet sent by the Argentine Embassy in London to all MPs concerning the ‘Malvinas’. According to the ambassador Alicia Castro: ‘The book provides and overview of the actions that we have been carrying out with regard to the Malvinas Question. We have built contacts with political authorities, trade unions and NGOs; we have participated in university debates; we have produced press articles and information campaigns, and we have visited the UK’s four constituent nations.’ It goes on to hope: ‘2015 will be the year in which the United Kingdom and Argentina

Mark Gettleson

Suburban legends: Why London’s property boom seems set to help Labour win seats

Economists have for some time spoken of a ‘great inversion’ of London, whereby property price hikes in inner London, often linked to gentrification, has made suburbia comparatively more affordable. These changes, marked in the five years since David Cameron became Prime Minister, could have a profound effect on how the general election result pans out in the city. This is especially the case given the ability of such changes to affect the social and demographic makeup of London, as people from poorer backgrounds, the young and ethnic minorities are more likely to be susceptible to price increases in the private rental market. In some ways, this is nothing new, with

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can the Tories really make another net migration target?

Why is Theresa May doggedly sticking to the Tory net migration target, even when it has failed so badly in this Parliament? Her Tory colleagues might be asking why she’s even talking about it when immigration is not one of the key campaign priorities for her party. It is supposed to be talking about housing this week, not immigration. But there on the front page of today’s Times (which is holding an immigration series this week, so May has probably not decided to time her intervention) is May insisting that the target should be kept. She tells the paper: ‘You will have to wait for the manifesto to see the

Monday

Sebastian Payne

Tories launch new Saatchi poster campaign

You know the Conservative campaign is well underway when there’s a new Saatchi poster about. Today, Conservative HQ has released a new campaign to remind the public that Labour pose a threat to Britain’s economic recovery. The message in the poster (above) warns voters ‘don’t let Labour wreck it’. I understand this poster was created by M&C Saatchi, the advertising agency behind classic numerous Tory posters — including ‘Labour isn’t working’ and ‘New Labour, New Danger.’ The first poster of the 2015 campaign from the Saatchis ties in the Tories’ message about the economy into the classic bold Saatchi style. Chairman Grant Shapps said about the poster today: ‘Conservatives came into office with