Politics

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

Wednesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Europe Referendum back on the cards

Ian Davidson, the Labour MP who has been leading the charge for a referendum, has managed to get down an amendment on whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union; the Lib Dem’s failure to get the Deputy Speaker to accept their amendment on this yesterday led to them storming out of the Commons. Davidson has succeeded where Nick Clegg failed by proposing a two question referendum which would ask: “Should the United Kingdom retain its membership of the European Union?” “If it remains a member of the European Union, should the United Kingdom approve the Lisbon Treaty?” The amendment will appear on the Order Paper tomorrow and will

James Forsyth James Forsyth

RIP William F. Buckley Jr

Few journalists can claim to have been as influential as Bill Buckley was. George Will, the conservative columnist, introduced Buckley thus on the 50th anniversary of National Review, the conservative magazine that Buckley founded: This might be a bit of an exaggeration but there can be no doubting Buckley’s influence, few people were more influential in the creation of the American conservative movement than he. In his 55 books and more than 5,000 beautifully written newspaper columns, Buckley remade the intellectual landscape of America. “Let me invite you to take credit for winning the Cold War. The argument goes like this: Without Bill Buckley, no National Review. Without National Review,

Peter Hoskin

Poll skulduggery

If Mike Smithson over at Political Betting is right (and he usually is), then there was a spot of Team Livingstone skulduggery behind yesterday’s tit-for-tat poll exchange. That “new” MORI poll which gives the Mayor a 2 per cent lead over Boris Johnson?  Well, it turns out that it’s not new at all.  MORI actually conducted their research some three weeks ago.  Crucially, that’s before Lee Jasper was suspended. By contrast, the YouGov poll which gave Johnson a 5 percent lead was conducted last week; after Jasper’s suspension. Smithson indicates that Livingstone purposely held back on the MORI results: “My understanding is that Labour and Ken knew about the MORI poll almost as

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The press takes direct action

During today’s protest against a third runway at Heathrow the protestsers draped a banner down from the roof over the side of the Palace of Westminster. Someone from the inside, though, leaned out and cut the banner in two. Over at the Mirror, Kevin Maguire has  rounded up the usual suspects and thinks that he might have identified the culprit.  

The Spectator

Tebbit wades into the “Heir to Blair” debate.

Here – for the benefit of CoffeeHousers – is the full text of a letter from Lord Tebbit that will run in tomorrow’s Spectator: “Sir: Michael Gove gives a eulogy to Tony Blair, ‘I admired Tony Blair. I knew Tony Blair’.   I had hoped that David Cameron’s claim to be ‘the heir to Blair’ was just a silly mistake springing from inexperience. It is more worrying to find that Blair worship is now the doctrine of modern compassionate Conservatism. No wonder 40 per cent of electors are unwilling to vote; nor that, when asked which party could best meet any challenge facing Britain, those saying ‘neither’ regularly exceed those naming either party. Blair’s

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into Harriet

Over at The Three Line Whip, Andrew Porter notes how Gordon Brown distanced himself at PMQs from Harriet Harman’s disgraceful praise for the former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Porter reports that her comments about Castro are not the only thing that Harman has said recently that have irritated Number 10. Indeed, if she was not effectively un-sackable one would begin to wonder about her position. I have a pet theory that many of Brown’s problems can be traced back to Harman’s election as deputy leader. If Alan Johnson had got the job, there would have been someone in the Cabinet who would have had license to stand up to Brown

Peter Hoskin

Davey bites back 

Open House have afforded Ed Davey a plaform from which to deliver his version of yesterday’s events.  Unfortunately – yet predictably – he uses it peddle the Lib Dem’s ludicrous line on Europe.  One passage leapt out at me:  “It’s not unusual for Liberal Democrats to be squeezed out of parliamentary debates by the other parties seeking to maintain their cosy establishment arrangements. True, but this was different.  First, all the parties fought the last election on referendum pledges, so there is a democratic obligation for a debate. Second, it goes to the heart of the disagreements between the parties over EU reform. Third, we had undertaken an unprecedented amount of preparatory

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Cameron urges Brown to clean-up politics

A rather downbeat PMQs session, where the following quote from Cameron is the highlight. “If he really thinks these exchanges once a week are a substitute for a proper television debate, then he’s even more out of touch than I thought. We have to be honest with ourselves – not many people watch these exchanges and not all those that do are hugely impressed with them. We’ve seen TV debates in Italy, Australia and Poland. So I have to ask him: what on earth is he frightened of?”  Cameron came to PMQs today on a mission to clean up politics, and sought to enlist Brown’s support. Does he agree that MPs

Peter Hoskin

Protestville

With anti-Heathrow-expansion protestors scaling the roof of Parliament – and sparking all kind of security concerns in the process – it’s worth asking when & whether protests cross the line of decency. It’s a question that Benedict Brogan’s certainly tackling over at his excellent blog.  He takes a hard-line on the matter.  Brian Haw and his ilk were yesterday described as “a disgusting bunch” whose public profanity is (technically) illegal.  And now today’s protestors are dismissed as “idiots”. But does that mean we should clamp down on such protestors?  Or can we pardon their methods on the basis that they’re not doing any particular harm? The answers aren’t obvious, but  – whatever they are – I suspect their application should be

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Boris’s most brilliant wheeze to date was the letter to the Guardian attacking him

Rod Liddle salutes the genius of the Tory mayoral candidate in sending a spoof petition condemning himself and praising Livingstone to the skies to the Left’s in-house newspaper The battle to become Mayor of London is getting dirty. Someone from Boris Johnson’s campaign team — or maybe Boris himself — put a hilarious spoof letter in the Guardian this week. It purported to be from 100 ‘academics’, luvvies, lesbians and professional agitators, all of them aghast at the notion that the ‘right-wing and reactionary’ Boris might actually win. It was a quite brilliant work of parody — long-winded, witless, sanctimonious and marvellously self-important. What Boris had done, with panache, was

Tuesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Too much information | 26 February 2008

The Information Commissioner is wrong to order that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting where the legality of the Iraq war was discussed be published. If Cabinet Minutes can be released so soon after the event, no one will speak their mind in cabinet anymore; it would effectively mean the end of Cabinet government. As Sam Coates puts it:  “Cabinet Ministers need somewhere they can discuss, debate and disagree about policy in private. This is surely sensible (if they did not have a chance to raise concerns, how can they exercise collective responsibility?) and this is why Cabinet discussions and the minutes are secret.” One of the things that all the various

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris leads London mayoral race

Political Betting has details of a new YouGov poll which shows Boris five points ahead of Ken Livingstone at 44 percent. Livingstone’s people are reportedly claiming that their polling still has him ahead, but even here the advantage is only a couple of points. It seems that the Jasper affair and the Mayor’s bizarre behaviour are taking their toll. 

The Spectator

Listen Live: Spectator Education debate

Tonight, an all star panel debate whether all schools should be allowed to select their own pupils. Speakers for the motion are Chris Woodhead, former chief inspector of schools, Dr Martin Stephen, High Master of St Pauls, and Lord Tebbit. Opposing them are David Bunkett, Fiona Millar, Cherie Blair’s former aide, and William Atkinson, headmaster of the Phoenix School.  Click here to listen.

Peter Hoskin

Taking leave of their senses

Fraser told us to “stay tuned” to the Lib Dems’ continuing efforts to force an “in or out” referendum, and now we’ve been rewarded with a spot of Parliamentary drama.   Ed Davey – the Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokesman – was ejected from the Commons for his angry insistence on the matter.  The rest of his party then walked out in protest. It’s difficult to see what the Lib Dems hope to gain from their bizzare behaviour.  Of course, they’re trying to present themselves as staunch defenders of the British public’s rights.  But their actions will most-likely deny that same public a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, whilst achieving nothing by way of compensation. 

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Clegg rebuffed

Michael Martin has for once proved his worth by throwing out Clegg’s amendment for an “in or out” referendum saying its not relevant to the Lisbon Treaty (which, of course, it isn’t). So is Davidson’s amendment their only hope? Or might his amendment get thrown out too? Stay tuned.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Calling Nick Clegg’s bluff

An early test of Nick Clegg’s credibility is at hand. Labour’s Ian Davidson has sent a letter to him proposing a solution: a two-question referendum on both the Lisbon Treaty and on EU membership – the “in our out” question which Clegg would have us believe he wants so badly. If the Tories back Davidson’s plan (no reason why they shouldn’t) then a trio of Conservatives, LibDems and Labour rebels could actually deliver the referendum that all three of them promised at election time. So accepting a vote on the Lisbon Treaty would, surely, be a small price to pay for the in-or-out question which Mr Clegg tells us is

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Polling cheer for Cameron

Today’s poll in The Independent is striking not only for the fact that it gives the Tories an 11 point lead but for how broad it finds Tory support with the party ahead among every social group, in every part of the country except Scotland and among all age groups apart from 18 to 24 year olds. This far out from an election, one poll isn’t particularly meaningful and Come Res, The Independent’s pollsters, are generally more favourable to the Tories than other pollsters. But even with these caveats, this poll is a nice boost to the Tories and suggests that while they might have failed to land a knock

Monday

Peter Hoskin

School daze | 25 February 2008

Why would anyone want to be the “heir to Blair”?   It’s a question that’s popping up numerous times in the comments on Michael Gove’s latest piece for the Spectator. And I’m sure it enters many people’s heads when they hear either Brown or Cameron laying claim to the title.   A short, simple answer might be: “because Blair was right about some things (not everything, but some things)”. For instance – and Gove makes much of this – he was right about the academies programme. That much is made abundantly clear by Richard Tice’s report for the think-tank Reform today. As the Chair of Governors at Northampton Academy, Tice is reporting from the front-line

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Nick Clegg should speak out

The Lib Dems should be leading the charge against Michael Martin. It is the kind of issue where the Lib Dems can emphasise their outsider status and come across as the party prepared to break up the cosy Westminster consensus. Considering the public disquiet about how MPs are using the expenses system, the Lib Dems would be onto a winner. MPs and the political parties are reluctant to criticise the Speaker because they fear the consequences. As Nick Robinson points out, individual MPs worry that they might not get called in debates and the Tories want to ensure that one of their own gets the job next time round. However,