Politics

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

Sunday

Daniel Korski

The gates of hell

Some blogs get you the news from wizards of Wall Street, or the war-torn back alleys of Baghdad. But here at Coffee House we aim to capture a more, well, English experience: news and views from the gates of Gatwick Airport. I’m stuck here, watching the diligent but lonely tractors fight against a mass of snow. Several inches of snow blighted London yesterday, while icy winds made matters worse. Many flights have been cancelled and disappointed holiday-makers have had their Christmas plans put on ice – literally. Everywhere in the airport’s soulless halls, amidst tacky tax-free offerings, you hear the same thing: why are the airport operators perennially unprepared for

Peter Hoskin

Cable hopes to generate light from heat

First Clegg, now Cable – the Lib Dems really are putting their all into this year-end attack on the bankers. In an interview with the Sunday Times (£) today, the Business Secretary speaks unequivocally and with some zeal. “We’ve got to…start shining a light onto what’s actually going on at the top of the leading banking institutions,” he says, “If you keep people in the dark, you grow poisonous fungus.” And just in case you were wondering which half of the coalition is wielding the anti-fungal torchlight, Cable makes sure to add that, “standing up to militant bankers is probably more difficult for [the Tories].” The subtext: we took on

Saturday

The Spectator

Leader: How to keep a promise

So much has happened since the general election that it is hard to press events into a meaningful pattern. The first coalition since the second world war, the deepest cuts since the 1970s, our military’s budget slashed, and the extraordinary (if predictable) crisis in the eurozone. The coalition has begun with remarkable energy and purpose. But where is the government going right? And where wrong? The end of the year is a good time to take stock. The coalition’s success so far has lain in its ability to marry Conservative economic liberalism with Lib Dem democratic radicalism. Its agenda, the coalition agreement, was inspired as much by the vision of

Martin Bright

Is Ed Miliband getting any Foreign Affairs advice?

It really has been the strangest of weeks and it has left me feeling curmudgeonly. On Monday I heard David Cameron give an eminently reasonable speech to Conservative Friends of Israel. Surrounded by people my teenage self would have despised, I realised that this was a speech Ed Miliband could not have made, although there is cross-party consensus on universal jurisdiction, the status of the settlements and the Gaza blockade. Miliband left it to Ed Balls this week to announce Labour support for the new Police Bill (this legislation contains the change to the law on universal jurisdiction, which passes authority for granting arrest warrants for visiting politicians to the

David Blackburn

Dissecting operation Coulson

Tom Baldwin’s inaugeration as Labour spin guru occasions Tim Montgomerie to appraise Andy Coulson. For many, Coulson has committed the spin doctor’s cardinal sin and become the story, and not just his more voluble opponents on the left. Tim rejects that analysis, but concedes that Coulson may drift to pastures new in 2011. Coulson’s record is quite impressive. He snared the tabloid press, and, together with George Osborne, ended Gordon Brown’s short honeymoon, exposing the Labour leader’s indecision with well-timed tax cut promises. The Election That Never Was spawned a far more enduring theme: Labour’s internal fissures and the timidity of its senior figures. If Coulson goes, that will be his

Daniel Korski

Kosovo deserves better

Dick Marty’s report on Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci has rightly caused quite a storm. Accusing the recently re-elected Kosovo prime minister of running a mafia-like state, and even controlling a organ-trafficking ring, has not only led to condemnation but is being used by some as an excuse to re-tell conspiracy theories about what actually happened in the 1990s. First things first. The CoE report’s accusations should be investigated by at least two courts: ICTY in the Hague and the Kosovo courts (the latter with the help of the 1800-strong EU police-and-justice mission). If any of these fail to take up the task, a court in an EU member-state should take

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

With a shrug of the shoulders, England is becoming a nation once again

The presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme was doing a quick round-up of the weather on a freezing December morning, just before signing off at 9 a.m. Very cold all over Britain, he said. Later there would be ‘snow in the north of the country’. ‘Which country?’ I thought. It was an immediate and unconsidered reaction; and of course on reflection context often does make clear. But not in this case. I still don’t know which country Today meant. If the country they were referring to was Great Britain then they must have meant snow in Scotland. If it was England they were talking about then we in the

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Access all areas | 18 December 2010

It is an exciting day for Liberty Osborne, the Chancellor’s daughter, to join him at work. The windows at HM Treasury are boarded up, workmen line the road replacing the bombproof (but not student-proof) glass. Graffiti defaces the walls, but although several politicians are named and shamed in spray paint (‘Why did Nick Clegg cross the road? Because he’d promised not to’) there is nothing unkind about the author of the cuts: George Osborne himself. When we meet the Chancellor at 10.30 a.m. in 11 Downing St, he does not look the slightest bit like a man under siege. Seven-year-old Liberty bounds out of his study, waving at us cheerfully.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

How the pursuit of happiness could lead Britain to the right

How the pursuit of happiness could lead Britain to the right The political mantra that the Young Turks in the Tory party live by is ‘in opposition you move to the centre, in government you move the centre’. Before the last election, they would use the line — often a bit defensively — to justify their passive acceptance of Labour policies. But now that the Tories are in power, albeit in coalition, it has become a cry of triumph. After seven months in government, the Conservatives can justifiably claim to have moved the political centre ground. The coalition with the Liberal Democrats has ended the prospect of a Labour-Liberal realignment

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 17 December 2010

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth talk to George Osborne. Fraser Nelson delves into the government’s deregulation drive, and asks for your books of the year. James Forsyth wonders how best the coalition can keep its troops happy, and considers David Cameron’s efforts to abolish IPSA. Peter Hoskin watches Eric Pickles kick-start the blame game, and argues that Bob Ainsworth has a point on the war on drugs. David Blackburn examines the clot at the heart of the MoD, and asks what Ed Miliband will want out of the Oldham East by-election. Daniel Korski remembers Richard Holbrooke. Nick

James Forsyth James Forsyth

High Court rejects temporary immigration cap

The High Court has just declared the government’s temporary cap on non-EU immigration is unlawful. Its ground was that the cap was not introduced with proper parliamentary scrutiny. However, the annual cap, which will not be in place until April next year, is not affected by this decision. But without a temporary cap there’ll be a spike in applications as people try and beat the cap. It’ll be fascinating to see how the PM and the Home Secretary respond to this ruling. At the moment, the government is playing it softly, softly. But there are Tories who think that the government cannot just allow a key part of its flagship

Peter Hoskin

Cameron’s good will to all Lib Dems

Cameron wishes the Lib Dems well in the Oldham by-election. We know this because he said so, in Brussels this afternoon, no less than three times in thirty seconds. The Telegraph’s James Kirkup has the full transcript, here. The PM does caveat his well-wishing – adding that “we’ll be fighting for the same votes” – but his general effusiveness isn’t going to reassure those Tories who suspect he’d quite like a Lib Dem victory, really. Already the murmuring has started, with ConHome’s Jonathan Isaby casting an understandably sceptical eye across proceedings, this morning. What’s clear is that this Oldham by-election will be used as a political barometer by all sides.

Daniel Korski

Europe keeps vexing the coalition

That the Conservatives and the Lib Dems disagree fundamentally on Europe is a well-known fact. But how much they disagree is rarely put on display as clearly as in today’s European Voice. Andrew Duff, Liberal Democrat MEP and president of the Union of European Federalists, argues that the coalition’s European Union bill – David Lidington’s masterpiece – amounts to “legal pedantry” and will make the UK an “untrustworthy negotiating partner, particularly in matters of treaty amendment, which is such an important driver of European integration.” ‘At home, referenda will unleash the forces of populist nationalism. Facile coalitions of nay-sayers will form to block Britain’s progress in Europe. Regular referenda on

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Clegg: Sheffield Forgemasters decision could be revisited

In an interview with Prospect Magazine, Nick Clegg has suggested that the decision not to loan government money to Sheffield Forgemasters ‘could be revisited.’ When pressed on whether the decision to cancel the loan was an odd decision given the coalition’s stated aim of rebalancing the economy and encouraging manufacturing. Clegg replied, “I agree. The trouble is the money that Labour had provided came from a budget in the business department that was running on empty. The treasury and Vince Cable felt it wrong to take money from somewhere else. But the whole issue could be revisited.” This strikes me as a dangerous thing to suggest. If the issue is

Peter Hoskin

Clegg turns his attention from the students to the banks

‘Tis the season to bash a banker – or it is if you’re a Lib Dem, at least. After the stresses of last week, Nick Clegg lets off steam with an aggressive interview in the FT. “They don’t operate in a social vacuum,” he says of the City’s moneymen, before seething that, “it is wholly untenable to have millions of people making sacrifices in their living standards, only to see the banks getting away scot-free.” He even suggests that the government should consider a one-off bonus tax, like that introduced by Labour last year.   Will anything come of it? On the evidence so far, probably not. The coalition –

Mats Persson

What Cameron should push for in Brussels

As David Cameron stays in Brussels for his third European summit as PM, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the EU’s approach to the eurozone crisis – put up short-term cash and pray – isn’t convincing anyone.   On Wednesday, Moody’s threatened to downgrade Spanish government bonds another notch, citing the fact that, between them, the country’s government and banks have to raise €290bn next year to keep the party going. And, across the eurozone, banks and governments face daunting refinancing targets in 2011, which begs the questions: at what cost? And what happens if they fail to meet them?   Taking into account the countries that themselves have received support

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Fox’s Sri Lanka visit ‘postponed’

Gary Gibbon has just reported that Liam Fox’s visit to Sri Lanka has been ‘postponed’. His private visit this year has been replaced by the promise of an official visit next year. It was never really tenable that a Cabinet Minister could visit a foreign country to deliver a speech while claiming that the visit was private. William Hague has apparently now persuaded the Defence Secretary of this without damaging the relationship between the two men. When Fox does go to Sri Lanka, it’ll be fascinating to see what he says. Friends of Fox say that he really does believe that the Sri Lankan government’s actions have been justified. But

James Forsyth James Forsyth

MPs’ February fear

When you talk to MPs about the new expenses’ regime there are a whole variety of grumbles you’ll hear, many of them reasonable. For example, it does seem silly that all MPs buy their own printer ink cartridges rather than the Commons buying a job lot and using bulk ordering to obtain a discount. But one of the things that really bothers them is that IPSA will publish all the refused expenses’ requests in February. Now, I expect that most of you think this is reasonable. But MPs do have a point that the way IPSA logs these things means that any enquiry about what you are or are not

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Johnson’s economic education

When he took on being shadow Chancellor, Alan Johnson said that he would need to get hold of an economics primer. Judging by his comments in yesterday’s debate about the bi-lateral loan to Ireland, he hasn’t got that far into it. Johnson told the House, ‘The euro had nothing to do with the [Irish] property boom and bust’. This is a bizarre statement. If Ireland had been able to set its own interest rates, they would have been far higher and thus dampened down the property boom. As Johnson’s close friend and the former Chancellor Alistair Darling said later in the debate when asked if he agreed with the Shadow

David Blackburn

Miliband’s Oldham dilemma

Joy. It will be a campaigning Christmas, now that the Oldham by-election is likely to be held on 13th January. The Labour party is much exercised. The permanently outraged Chris Bryant says it is a ‘disgrace’ that politics will sully the ‘major Christian festival of the year’ – the lapsed cleric seems to have forgotten the election’s proximity to Easter. More importantly, fewer students will be in Oldham on 13th January to serve ‘judgement’ on the government, as Hilary Benn put it in the Commons this morning before adding that the government is ‘running scared’. By-elections are determined by local issues, as one would expect. But Benn’s statement perhaps reveals how