Politics

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

Tuesday

Ed Holmes

Reforming Britain’s antiquated industrial relations laws

The TUC Conference rumbles on with some rather blood-curdling statements about the future of industrial relations in Britain.  The RMT leader Bob Crow called for a campaign of civil disobedience and spoke of ‘confronting… the enemy’.  The PCS’ Mark Serwotka has spoken of a ‘campaign of resistance the likes of which we will not have seen in this country for decades.’  Perhaps for good measure, the TUC also took the opportunity to attack our recent report on modernising industrial relations. The trade unions are arguing vociferously against not only the very clear necessity for reductions in public expenditure, but also any change in industrial relations procedures which are largely obsolete

Mats Persson

Finessing the coalition’s EU referendum lock

The Coalition Government’s proposal for a ‘referendum lock’ on future transfers of powers to the EU has already been branded “worthless” by some Tory backbenchers . It’s easy to share their frustration at the Coalition’s lack of interest in EU reform so far. After all, the Government has chosen to opt in to the European Investigation Order; signed up for new EU financial supervisors; and chosen not to challenge the UK’s participation in the eurozone bailout (making British taxpayers potentially liable for up to £8 billion in loans to eurozone governments). However, the referendum lock is still significant. New crises, situations and politicians’ egos will always drive the need for

Peter Hoskin

A worrying – but not disastrous – poll for the government

This morning’s Times/Populus poll (£) will have supporters of the coalition grimacing into their cornflakes. The headline finding is bad enough, if rather familiar, with Labour closing the gap between themselves and the Tories to only two points. But what follows is worse. According to the poll, around three-quarters of voters reject the government’s deficit reduction strategy – preferring, instead, what are loosely the approaches advocated by Labour and the unions. And, what’s more, economic pessmism is arrowing upwards. The number of respondents who think “the country as a whole will fare badly,” has risen by 13 percentage points since June. The number who think “me and my family will

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Flodden vs Culloden

Further to this post, it’s not a fair fight. Commenter Ben G asks: But isn’t Culloden more significant? The effective end of a Scottish claim to the throne. Remember, after that you became ‘North Britain’. This is a common misperception. Unlike Flodden, Culloden was not a fight between England and Scotland. As many, and perhaps more, Scots fought against the Young Pretender on Drumossie Moor as fought for him. The ’45 was as much a Highland vs Lowland conflict as a Scotland vs England affair. Which is one reason why, from a Unionist perspective, Culloden is less important than Bannockburn. The latter prevented Scotland from becoming a northern Wales and

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Are the Labour leadership polls telling the whole story?

This weekend’s YouGov poll showing Ed Miliband ahead in the Labour leadership contest is the talk of Westminster today. One David Miliband backer told me that he thought it was flawed as it assumed that MPs’ second preferences would split evenly between the two brothers when David had the advantage. I was told that nearly all Andy Burnham’s parliamentary backers would put David second, that most of Balls’ would do the same and that Ed Miliband could only rely on Diane Abbott’s parliamentary backers’ second preferences. But Ed Miliband’s supporters dispute this. They believe that they are making progress everywhere.   There are now just two hustings to go—one at

Peter Hoskin

Osborne and Cooper’s knockabout

Far more heat than light generated by this afternoon’s urgent question on welfare spending – but a telling spectacle nonetheless. The question had been put forward by a dissenting Lib Dem voice, Bob Russell, and it was up to George Osborne to answer it. He did so with sweeping observations, and attacks on Labour, rather than specifics. And so we never really got into the small print of those £4 billion extra benefit cuts, but Osborne did wonder why Labour have never apologised for “leaving the country with the worst public finances in its history.” It was knockabout stuff.   This is not to say that Osborne was ineffective. In

David Blackburn

The coalition’s inept EU referendum lock

At least this government is honest. ‘There will be,’ Europe Minister David Lidington says, ‘no referendum on the transfer of competence or power from the UK to the EU during this Parliament’. The government will ensure that there are no more EU power transfer treaties; but, as Douglas Carswell, Tim Montgomerie, and Bill Cash all note, the Lisbon Treaty is self-ratifying. The EU has already picked the coalition’s lock and garnered new powers for itself – notably the extension of the EU arrest warrant. The EU could be an economic superblock with the muscle to influence the globe strategically and culturally. But its current political operation is unnecessary and deplorably

Alex Massie Alex Massie

An Old Enemy Helps the Coalition

One difficulty the coalition faces is persuading people that cuts in public spending – and reducing the number of public sector employees – is not in fact an attack on public sector employees. The coalition, contrary to what some pretend, remains in favour of doctors, nurses, police officers and even teachers. The Prime Minister may say that he’s interested in “partnership” with the Trades Unions but, even if genuine, this won’t get him anywhere since the Unions are making it quite clear they have little interest in such a notion. Indeed, the TUC appear to be declaring war on the government. How else to interpret its call for “a broad

Peter Hoskin

Harman tries to bind Labour and the unions even closer

Progressive coalition. Those two words haven’t been tied together too frequently since Gordon Brown scrambled for survival in the aftermath of the election. But Harriet Harman invoked them in her speech to the TUC today, and she wasn’t talking about a union between Labour and the Lib Dems: “We are witnessing an emerging political movement amongst progressives in Britain – beginning to see that the Tory/Lib Dem government has no mandate. They are seeing the difference between what they thought they voted for and what they ended up with. The Labour movement is their vehicle for progressive change. We will work together – Labour and the Trade Unions – to

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Coalition Must Tell the Public: Be Not Afraid

Tony Blair’s political legacy was making “progressive” the contested ground in British politics. Hence “progressive Conservatism” and “progressive Liberalism” and, I suppose, “progressive Labour”. George Osborne once even talked about “progressive austerity”. It shouldn’t be a surprise that some voters are turned-off by this marketing triumph. Yet this apparent consensus masks the real differences between the coalition and the opposition. Julian Glover’s piece in the Guardian today makes an important argument: the coalition needs to be more ideological. Why be spooked by social democrat squawking? The coalition should shrug its shoulders and confess: the charge its enemies lay at its door is broadly correct. This is an ideological government with

Peter Hoskin

The coalition faces its most important battle of the next five years

Strolling through central Birmingham yesterday, I came across one of those brewery advertisements from the early part of the last century. “Unspoilt by progress,” it boasted – a slogan that popped into my head when I heard the unions’ various interventions this morning. As Iain Dale suggests, there is something very 1970s about what Crow, Barber, Serwotka & Co. are saying today. The coalition will need to meet much of the unions’ belligerence with some fire of its own. David outlined some ways it can do that earlier. But, to my mind, there is one charge that demands a particularly ferocious counterattack. It’s the one made by Brendan Barber in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Who is behind Nick Boles’ proposed electoral pact?

Nick Boles proposed electoral pact (£) between the coalition partners would have a clear benefit for the Conservatives, it would make a deal between Labour and the Liberal Democrats after the next election impossible. That is quite a prize for the Conservatives. It would mean that David Cameron would continue as PM as long as the two parties between them held a majority of seats in the Commons. It is less clear what the Liberal Democrats would gain from it. Yes, it would help more of their MPs survive, but it would tie their hands ahead of another hung parliament and massively reduce their ability to claim that they are a distinct political

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 13 September 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson ponders what it is to be British. James Forsyth asks if anyone wants AV on its own merits, and reckons that there is a communication gap No.10 needs to fill. David Blackburn examines the case for Britain’s EU budget rebate, and ponders Frank Field’s limbo between fantasy and reality. And Alex Massie has some Sunday morning country.

Sunday

David Blackburn

Benefit reform – one theatre in Cameron’s war

The Observer has received letters revealing that George Osborne plans to deliver net savings of ‘at least £2.5bn’ from the Employment Support Allowance by limiting the amount of time people can spend claiming it. Here is Osborne’s letter to IDS, Cameron and Clegg: ‘Given the pressure on overall public spending in the coming period, we will need to continue developing further options to reform the benefits as part of the spending review process in order to deliver further savings, greater simplicity and stronger work incentives. Reform to the employment support allowance is a particular priority and I am pleased that you, the prime minister and I have agreed to press ahead

Saturday

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 11 September 2010

Although there is a lot more to be said for Tony Blair’s memoirs than you have so far read, I do recommend his account of the hunting ban (p. 304-6) as an epitome of his defects. Although there is a lot more to be said for Tony Blair’s memoirs than you have so far read, I do recommend his account of the hunting ban (p. 304-6) as an epitome of his defects. First, he confesses to ignorance of the issue. No disgrace in that, but you would have thought that if you were spending 700 parliamentary hours on a subject, you might find out. He still knows very little, as

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ed is closing the Miligap

The Press Association is reporting that a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times has Ed Miliband leading his brother 51 49 among Labour members and trade unionist once second preferences have been taken into account. Now given David Miliband’s advantage among MP and MEPs, the other part of Labour’s electoral-college, the elder Miliband should still have enough to get over the line. (The Press Association’s headline—‘Poll points to Ed Miliband victory’—strikes me as a bit off for this reason). But this poll will give the Ed Miliband camp a massive boost going into the final full week of campaigning. One of the things Ed needed was a sense that he

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Who is for AV on its own merits?

AV is a funny electoral system. It is neither first past the post nor proportional. The country is being offered a vote on it because it is a little better for the Liberal Democrats without being too bad for the Conservatives. However, the pro-AV side needs to keep this sentiment under wraps. So it is interesting that the 6 member steering committee for the putative yes campaign does not contain, as Sunder Katwala points out, a single person who is actually for AV on its own merits. Rather, they all view it as a stepping stone to proper PR. I suspect that in every debate during the referendum campaign, the

David Blackburn

Battling for the budget rebate

A plain speaking man, Janusz Lewandowksi. This week, the EU Budget Commissioner said, not without a clear note of pleasure, that ‘the rebate for Britain has lost its original justification.’ The EU veers between incompetence and arrogance. Baroness Ashton embodies the former, Lewandowski the latter. His statement encapsulated why a majority of Britons want out of this club into which they have never been allowed to enter. Put simply, it was hectoring and counter-factual. Mrs Thatcher negotiated the rebate to balance Britain’s net contribution, which was excessive owing to Germany and France’s disproportionate profit from the Common Agricultural Policy (the most glorious misnomer). At the time, the EU was run

The Spectator

Bac to the future

A small revolution was announced by the Education Secretary this week, undramatic in itself but one which promises to end Labour’s practice of eroding academic standards in order to make the statistics look good. A small revolution was announced by the Education Secretary this week, undramatic in itself but one which promises to end Labour’s practice of eroding academic standards in order to make the statistics look good. Michael Gove has declared he will replace the current system of league tables, which judges schools on all GCSE passes, with a system that looks only at the five traditional subjects. The ‘English Baccalaureate’, as it has been dubbed, will require passes

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The coalition needs a clear message for Middle England

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics The coalition has a problem communicating with the middle classes. As 20 October and the spending review approaches, the government’s message to other groups in society is easy to understand. The vulnerable will be protected from the cuts. Low earners will be allowed to keep more of the money that they make. But what about Middle England? It is much harder to discern what the coalition wants to say to them. Politically, this is a dangerous vacuum. It is easy to see why anxious bourgeois voters — and there are many of them — might think that the coalition is going to attempt