Society

Wednesday

Douglas Murray

Labour’s anti-Semitism shame must never be forgiven

Sometime around the start of this decade, before anti-Semitism was as cool as it has become, I was standing on a stage in London with a couple of rabbis and a Muslim. And if that sounds like the start of a joke then what followed wasn’t. We were there at the request of a new Jewish group to speak out against the anti-Semitism that we already saw on the rise in the UK. I’m not much given to protests myself as long-time readers will know. But the day showed some solidarity with British Jews and we all went home at least partly feeling like some good had been done. But

Tuesday

Roger Awan-Scully

There is a quiet Tory revolution underway in Wales

Wales has been dominated by the Labour party for, quite literally, longer than anyone can remember. But the key message from the final Welsh poll of the campaign is that we could be on the verge of a genuinely historic general election outcome. The Welsh Political Barometer poll was conducted over the final weekend of the campaign and asked respondents how they would vote in the general election – with the question adjusted to take into account of the fact that not all parties are standing in all seats. The poll produced the following voting intention figures (with changes from the previous Barometer poll, conducted in late November, in brackets):

Michael Moszynski

Labour’s dire general election campaign

Despite its well-drilled Momentum supporters and union backing, Labour’s fabled election machine seems to be misfiring this election. On Friday, I personally conducted two informal focus groups of millennial swing voters in London and was surprised, in what should be Labour’s strongest redoubt, that not one participant could recall a single Labour advertisement, or even what Labour’s core message was. In Blair’s day, the Labour party enlisted the famed creative skills of advertising executive Trevor Beattie (of fcuk fame) to help get their message out. Today, judging by these focus groups, the party seems to have prioritised social media over the quality and creativity of its messaging. Whilst the Conservatives ‘Get Brexit

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tory lead more than halved in final YouGov MRP poll

When the first YouGov MRP poll of the election campaign was published last month, it was a cause of anxiety in Conservative Campaign Headquarters. The projection of a Tory majority of 68 was seen as overly optimistic – and there were concerns that it could lead to complacency in the polling booth. The second – and final – YouGov MRP poll of the election campaign does not carry the same baggage. With two days to go until polling day, it now suggests the Tories are on course for a small majority of 28. Were the election held tomorrow, YouGov forecasts that the Conservatives would win 339 seats with Labour on

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Nicola Sturgeon’s failings are catching up with her

Nicola Sturgeon has had a change of heart. Gone are the ultimatums, the stridency and the self-righteous rhetoric. In an interview with today’s Daily Record, we see Sturgeon the Introspective: ‘Brexit gave me an insight, maybe that I didn’t have before, of how No voters would have felt had the referendum on independence gone the other way.’ We see Sturgeon the Pluralist: ‘Scotland belongs to those who oppose independence just as much as it belongs to those who support independence.’ There is even Sturgeon the Collegial. On a Labour proposal to include a ‘remain, but with more powers’ option in any future Scottish independence referendum, she says: ‘If they bring

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

What are the parties trying to tell voters in their leaflets?

What’s the point of political leaflets, anyway? Many voters in target seats will be asking that very question on an almost daily basis, as they shovel the latest snowdrifts of election literature into their recycling bin. We have social media, party election broadcasts and phone banks to reach voters. Who needs leaflets? There is a (I believe only half-serious) ‘test’ that some Liberal Democrat campaigners apply to the amount of information they think it is possible for a voter to absorb from a leaflet they’re carrying from the letterbox to the bin. Given the parties keep sending them, particularly in those marginal seats where it’s just not clear where the

Steerpike Steerpike

Piers Corbyn: My brother Jeremy’s green policy is ‘nonsense’

Vote Corbyn, says Corbyn. That is the unsurprising message from the Labour leader’s brother Piers in a video filmed at Speakers’ Corner in London. But while Piers backed his sibling over accusations of anti-Semitism and Labour’s position on Brexit, it wasn’t an entirely ringing endorsement. Piers Corbyn, who has previously said ‘man-made climate change does not exist’, was asked about Corbyn’s green manifesto pledges. It’s safe to say he is not a fan: ‘He wants to end carbon dioxide emissions.’ Piers Corbyn: ‘Yeah, well, that’s nonsense. That’s impossible.’ ‘Well, that’s what your brother says, why are you supporting him then?’ Oh dear. Mr S expects it could be a bit

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth caught revealing Corbyn security fears

Jonathan Ashworth has been caught out this morning after a leaked tape emerged of the shadow health secretary talking about his fears for Britain’s national security if Jeremy Corbyn becomes PM. Ashworth said the civil service would need to ‘pretty quickly move to safeguard security’ if Labour wins on Thursday. Ashworth also gave his verdict on… …Labour’s election campaign: ‘It’s dire’ …What voters make of Jeremy Corbyn: ‘…they can’t stand Corbyn and they think Labour’s blocked Brexit’   …and where the Labour party went wrong: ‘…we fucked it up in 2016 when we went too early. People like me were internally saying ‘this isn’t the right moment’ but I got kind

Steerpike Steerpike

Sturgeon rumbled on Scottish NHS figures

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon bagged the 8:10am slot on this morning’s Today programme but it didn’t go quite as she might have planned. Scotland’s first minister was asked whether it was appropriate for her to be attacking the Conservatives on the NHS when her party’s own record was so woeful. Responsibility for the health service was devolved to the Scottish Parliament back in 1999 and has been under the control of the SNP since 2007. Sturgeon was challenged on figures released by the government watchdog Audit Scotland, which said the SNP had missed six out of eight waiting time targets. The Scottish leader told the programme: ‘Health services in every part

Steerpike Steerpike

Tories ask Doncaster North to ‘send Ed packing’

Ed Miliband may have held his seat in Doncaster North for over 14 years, but the Conservatives seem to think the former Labour leader might be vulnerable this election campaign. In the 2016 Brexit referendum, 72 per cent of Doncaster North’s residents voted Leave, which stands in stark contrast to Miliband’s own pro-Remain Brexit stance, and his party’s position of backing a second referendum. The Labour candidate clearly feels that his constituents might be annoyed, and even claimed in a leaflet this election campaign that he’d voted ‘nine times in parliament’ for a Brexit deal – when he actually voted against both Theresa May and Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals. Now

Claire Fox

Boris’s ‘oven-ready’ Brexit deal isn’t what all Leave voters want

Whatever the results on Thursday, there have been aspects of this election campaign not revealed by polling. My experience of speaking and campaigning in my MEP patch in the North West has been revelatory. I am in awe of a layer of new activists who have been inspired to want more fundamental change than that offered by the establishment parties. Many are new to politics, have found their voice and have discovered the power of being actively engaged. It reminds me of a far earlier experience of the miners’ strike, when miners’ wives groups sprang up nationally and formidable women started to take control.  It’s exhilarating to be with people for

Patrick West

What Ireland can teach Brexiteers about ‘taking back control’

The Brexit party and Conservatives have more in common than they might like to admit. Yet their similarities haven’t stopped the bickering, as Claire Fox argues on Coffee House this morning. On the one hand, we have a party which believes it more important to have some form of exit deal from the European Union. On the other, we have those who believe the UK should pursue total secession. The internecine warfare between soft and hard Brexiteers has been rehearsed many times, as immortalised in Monty Python’s Life of Brian with the feuding between the People’s Front of Judea and the Judean People’s Front. And the current clamour over which kind of

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour’s succession battle is well underway

John McDonnell was insisting this morning that Labour was going to win a majority, but just in case, insiders are suggesting that the Shadow Chancellor is planning to take over as interim leader if Jeremy Corbyn resigns after a general election defeat. McDonnell has long championed Rebecca Long-Bailey as a future leader, and there is speculation that he could install her as his shadow chancellor in order to boost her credentials. This explains why those around Corbyn were so keen to try to abolish Tom Watson as deputy leader in September. They tried to force a rule change at the party’s ruling National Executive Committee meeting which would scrap the

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Could this be the defining moment of the election campaign?

An interview earlier today with my colleague Joe Pike captures the contradiction at the heart of Boris Johnson’s campaign. He wants to be seen as campaigning to lead a ‘new’ government, but the Tories have been in power since 2010. So he finds it impossible to take responsibility for four-year-old Jack Williment-Barr, left to lie on coats for hours in a Leeds hospital. As the video shows, he refuses to look at the picture of Jack – which comes across as him saying ‘I don’t want to own this’. This is certainly the political moment of the day and could be the moment of the campaign:

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Labour double down on NHS attack lines in election broadcast

It’s been a hectic election day for the two main parties. Labour managed to move the conversation to their preferred turf – the NHS – following the story of a four-year-old boy forced to sleep on the floor of an overcrowded A&E unit. As Isabel reports, Boris Johnson’s refusal to look at a photo of the boy during an interview has escalated the story further. Health Secretary Matt Hancock was then sent in to calm things down. But that only ignited tensions further after a row ensued over unconfirmed claims a Tory aide was punched leaving a Leeds hospital with Hancock – which were later shown to be false. Labour

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Labour, Question Time and the cult of youth

When’s the Question Time for over-60s, then? Or maybe even over-75s? After all, elderly people face specific social problems: pension issues, care, loneliness. And yet they aren’t getting their very own QT, unlike under-30s, who are. Tonight the BBC is hosting a special youth version of its flagship political show and in the process it is sending out a pretty disturbing message: young people’s views matter more than old people’s. Presented by Emma Barnett and featuring politicians from across the spectrum, tonight’s QT for millennials promises to be an irritating affair. It’s not that I have anything against young people — I was young myself, once. It’s more that self-consciously

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Boris is right: it’s time to scrap the BBC licence fee

Has Boris decided this election is in the bag? I ask because this afternoon he’s made just about the first bold policy announcement of the campaign. After a safety-first manifesto and little other announcements so as not to frighten the horses, he has stuck his neck out and suggested that the TV licence might be on borrowed time. Having said he was under pressure not to make up policy ‘on the hoof’ he went on, well, almost to make a policy on the hoof: ‘You have to ask yourself whether that kind of approach to funding a media organisation still make sense in the long term, given the way other

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson gives himself a hospital pass as he avoids picture of sick child

Is Boris Johnson a robot? I ask this advisedly, given the connotations of that word in the political arena, but the way the Prime Minister responded to questions from a journalist this afternoon does suggest he might be turning into one. He was asked by ITV’s Joe Pike for a response to the photo of a young boy with suspected pneumonia lying on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary, waiting for a bed. It’s a difficult photo for anyone to look at without an emotional response, and Johnson initially refused to see it at all, taking the reporter’s phone out of his hand, and shoving it in his own pocket.

Steerpike Steerpike

‘You’re destroying confidence’: John McDonnell taken to task by John Caudwell

Labour’s election strategy has been to go on the attack against Britain’s billionaires. Today one of them responded. Phones4U founder John Caudwell quizzed shadow chancellor John McDonnell on Labour’s economic policy today and it’s safe to say he wasn’t impressed. Caudwell warned McDonnell that his party’s plans could lead to an exodus of wealthy taxpayers from Britain. Here’s what he told McDonnell: Caudwell: ‘…Some of the Labour rhetoric I accept. But the central ethos, when I hear phrases like nobody deserves to be a billionaire, it frightens the living daylights out of me. You know John, the thing is, if the Labour rhetoric was ‘We admire billionaires and we’d like

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The three things that would have to happen to block a Tory majority

In 72 hours time, voting will be well underway. We will be talking about turnout being ‘brisk’. Right now, the polls are indicating that a Tory majority is the most likely result. But it is not certain and a combination of three things could still stop it. First, mass Remainer tactical voting. The margins in this election are fine and if Remainers starting backing whoever was most likely to defeat the Tories in their seat, that could put a Tory majority at risk very quickly. There will be lots of calls for tactical voting in the coming days. But it is worth remembering that in 1997, when there was widespread