2015 general election

Tuesday

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 16 days to go

The Tories are partying like it’s 1992. Sir John Major is being wheeled out today to reinforce what Michael Fallon and others have said: the SNP are dangerous for Britain. Labour will continue with its ‘NHS week’ by promising more money and outlining what they will do on entering government. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Major moment While Tony Blair’s standing has gone down since he left office, John Major’s has increased. He is now looked upon fondly by many Conservatives, coming from a time when the party won majorities and didn’t have to worry

Monday

Steerpike

Andrew Marr admits the BBC misquoted David Cameron on foxhunting

After Mr S’s colleague Camilla Swift wrote of the Twitterstorm that engulfed David Cameron after Andrew Marr claimed on air that the PM had declared foxhunting to be his favourite sport, the presenter has now come clean about the interview. Marr has admitted to The Spectator on Twitter that he was wrong to claim that Cameron told Countryside Alliance magazine that foxhunting was his favourite sport: His confession comes after the BBC press office failed to respond to calls for comment from The Spectator. Likewise, Twitter accounts for the BBC Press Office and Andrew Marr Show have remained quiet on the topic, as has the account of Rob Burley, the editor of the Marr Show, despite a

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The tension in Labour’s energy policy between prices and decarbonisation

There has always been a tension in Ed Miliband’s energy policy between its aim to get prices down via the price freeze and its desire to decarbonise the electricity market. That tension was on full display in the BBC Daily Politics Environment Debate this afternoon, the first of a series of policy debates chaired by Andrew Neil. Flint had to clarify that the Labour manifesto wasn’t proposing the 100 per cent decarbonisation of the electricity market. She then had to dodge around the question of whether the green levies on energy bills would have to rise to make this happen. Matthew Hancock, the Tory spokesman for the debate, claimed that

Douglas Murray

What’s more disturbing than a group of discredited old Nazis? The Green Party

Yesterday’s Mail on Sunday had an interesting account of a meeting in London of Nazis, neo-Nazis, British National Party types and anti—Semites of various other hues. The paper infiltrated the meeting and exposed what was said – which is a very good service and deserves praise. But I challenge anyone to look through the photos and biographies of the few participants who gathered at Victoria station and then in a nearby hotel and not reflect that this is a gratifyingly washed-up and pathetic movement. During their deliberations they appear to have gone over the usual stuff about how they think the Holocaust was made up and been used by Jews for their own advantage and

Sebastian Payne

Tories in the lead according to ICM and Lord Ashcroft

The Conservatives are ahead once again in the latest Guardian/ICM poll. They are two points ahead on 34 per cent – but that’s a five point drop since their surprising 39 per cent last week. Labour has dropped one point to 31 per cent. Two of the smaller parties have seen their vote increase, with Ukip on 11 per cent, up four points on last week, and the Liberal Democrats on 10 per cent, up two points. Last week’s ICM poll was clearly an outlier — few believed that the Tories had jumped into majority territory — but Conservatives will still be pleased that this poll has them ahead. But

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Five rules of politics that Nicola Sturgeon has broken

Nicola Sturgeon met my Auntie Patsy over the weekend, then was kind enough to tweet a picture of their encounter (below). Seeing her sandwiched between the two people most likely to break up the union was odd, but so was discovering that many members of my extended family are now voting SNP. Aunt Patsy is, I’m afraid, a typical example: like 1 in 50 Scots she has joined the SNP in the last seven months. She wasn’t really into politics until recently, but has caught the bug (there is a lot of it about in Scotland). .@FraserNelson just met your lovely (@theSNP voting) auntie in Inverurie. She says hello pic.twitter.com/gsfDUPlMoG —

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A vote for the SNP is a vote for a Labour government

For decades now the SNP have thirsted for the moment when they can be ‘relevant’ to the outcome of a Westminster general election. Well, they have that relevance now. Never before has the launch of their manifesto attracted this kind of attention. Then again, never before has the SNP had realistic hopes of becoming the third largest party in the House of Commons. But strength is often just weakness disguised and, once again, more than one thing can be true at the same time. And the truth is that the SNP’s position is both remarkably strong and much weaker than many people assume. I still don’t believe that the nationalists will win

Steerpike Steerpike

Ed Miliband was ‘absolutely terrified’ by hen party, bless him

Over the weekend, Mr S brought you the unlikely tale of the Labour leader becoming a pin-up for a brood of hens on a night out in Chester. Sadly his status as a ladies man has taken a bit of a blow this morning, with one hen telling LBC: ‘Bless him he looked terrified, absolutely terrified. And he wouldn’t actually come off the bus. He was just kind of lingering on the steps, waving sort of tentatively.’ There he is, the Miliband we have all come to know and love.

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 17 days to go

The campaign’s focus will swing back to Scotland today, with Nicola Sturgeon launching the SNP’s manifesto in Edinburgh. Ed Miliband is also heading north, to address the Scottish TUC and kick off Labour’s latest efforts to attack the Conservatives on the NHS. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Last chance to vote More important than any of the news stories, today marks the deadline for registering to vote on May 7. As the splash of today’s Daily Mirror puts it, ‘you can make a difference’. Forget talk of the same old parties with same old ideas, the

Sunday

Sebastian Payne

Nigel Farage: David Cameron’s ‘fanaticism’ is to blame for Libya migrant crisis

Nigel Farage tends to stick to one line on foreign affairs: no more foreign wars. On the Sunday Politics today, the Ukip leader claimed that the migrant crisis and tragedies in the Mediterranean are the fault of countries such as Britain and France who bombed Libya in 2011: ‘Actually, it was the European response that caused this problem in the first place — the fanaticism of Sarkozy and Cameron to bomb Libya and what they’ve done is to completely destabilize Libya; to turn it into a country with much savagery; to turn it into a place where for Christians the situation is now virtually impossible and we ought to be honest and say

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Nicola Sturgeon sets out roadmap to a second referendum

Most politicians are having a miserable election, but not so Nicola Sturgeon. Her party is terrifying Labour in Scotland, she has put in very strong performances in the TV debates, and whoever is in government in Westminster from May will face trouble from Sturgeon. The forecasters now put the SNP on course to win between 40 and 50 of Scotland’s 59 seats; Scotland is on the cusp of the sharpest change of political direction in her democratic history. But in order to sustain that momentum to polling day, Sturgeon needs to reassure nervous former ‘no’ voters who are considering voting SNP in order to exert the sort of left-wing pressure on Labour

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Ed Miliband treated like rock star by screaming girls. Seriously

You have to hand it to Justine Thornton. After her interview, where she alerted the world to Red Ed’s status as a bit of a boulevardier having secretly dated the host of a dinner party she attended, the Daily Mail warmed to the theme. It ran a front cover picturing his conquests: Alice Miles, Stephanie Flanders, and more. And an inside spread (below). But as Isabel Hardman noted at the time, it was hardly a slur. “Multiple women have found man attractive” is, on balance, not the worst headline. — Isabel Hardman (@IsabelHardman) April 9, 2015 And the relevance to the campaign? Let’s consult the guru of gender politics, Boris Johnson. A few years

Ryan Gray

Young votes are there to be won but politicians don’t seem interested

If I had a penny for every time a politician or a journalist insinuated that of all the issues facing Britain in the 21st century, public transport was the thing that affected my life the most, I would own a bus company. If I had a penny for the amount of times someone asked how angry I was about Clegg and tuition fee rises, I would have no student debt. But this is the political climate we currently live in. Modern politicians have well and truly shafted young people, and not just through policy changes or obvious attempts to bribe their older, greyer core vote. I’m talking about Westminster’s desire to

Saturday

Steerpike

Tories are left playing by Aussie rules

Tory campaign boss Lynton Crosby invited the former Australian Prime Minister John Howard into Conservative Party HQ on Thursday afternoon to give staff and ministers a mid-campaign pep talk. Firing up his audience with tales of beating Labour down under, Mr S hears the bit where Crosby’s one-time client lost both the 2007 election and his own seat, did not make it into the speech. After the Conservatives manifesto cover was lifted from the Aussie Liberal Party – another Crosby client – MPs are wondering what else will be ‘borrowed’ by the antipodean guru. ‘He’ll have us in cork hats by polling day,’ sighs one member of the old guard.

Friday

Julia Hartley-Brewer

45 million reasons why donations to political parties are dodgy as hell

If I had a spare £1 million swashing about in my bank account or down the back of the sofa, I am pretty sure I could come up with, give or take, a million different and better ways of spending it other than donating it to a political party. A children’s cancer charity, for instance. Or, if I’m feeling a little less altruistic, a nice yacht maybe. Clearly, Richard Desmond, the owner of Express newspapers, couldn’t think of any better way to spend his hard-earned dosh so he’s decided to give his spare £1.3million to Ukip to help fund their general election campaign. This comes on top of an earlier £300,000 donation. Cue

Sebastian Payne

Jim Murphy, Douglas Alexander and Charles Kennedy set to lose seats as SNP march continues

Labour’s efforts to stem the nationalist tide in Scotland aren’t working. Lord Ashcroft has polled eight marginals north of the border and the results confirm that the SNP is on course to conquer Scotland. In three Labour-held seats — East Renfrewshire, Glasgow South West, Paisley & Renfrewshire South — the SNP is set to take the seats with double digit swings. The Nats are 11 points ahead in Paisley, previously held by Douglas Alexander. In Jim Murphy’s seat of East Renfrewshire, a one point Labour lead in February has turned into a nine-point SNP lead. The news isn’t much better for the Liberal Democrats. The party is set to lose all four

Steerpike Steerpike

‘Naughty’ Nicola Sturgeon reveals the saucy portrait that hangs in her home

Nicola Sturgeon’s style transformation over the past decade has been well-documented. The Mail on Sunday journalist Liz Jones went so far as to suggest that she had gone from being a woman with a ‘Krankies haircut and orthopaedic shoes’ to a ‘golden halo of Princess Diana-like loveliness’. However, Mr S suspects that such naysayers may think differently about Sturgeon in her formative years if they take a glance at a portrait of her dating back six years. Speaking to Sky’s Kay Burley, the First Minister of Scotland revealed that she has a saucy painting of herself hanging in her home. The oil painting of Sturgeon is by the French artist Laetitia Guilbaud, and went up

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Don’t try and bring race into the voting booth. It has no place there

The voting booth is, to borrow a fitting phrase from history, the great leveller. Outside the voting booth, you might be a blinged-up billionaire with more yachts than most people have shoes, but inside you’re the same as everyone else. In that booth the billionaire becomes indistinguishable from the poor woman who shines his silver: both have the exact same power to determine the future of Britain. One cross for the billionaire, one cross for the silver polisher. For a moment, she’s as powerful as her boss. It’s the most magnificent thing about democracy: it takes no heed of wealth or race or sex and instead treats us as human

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

It takes guts to stick it to the stuck-up BBC audience

I thought Farage was rather good in that debate yesterday. It’s about time someone stuck it to the bovine, self-important, audiences – it takes a bit of guts to do that. My suspicion is not that the audience was unrepresentative (although it often is in these shows) but that the liberal left simply will not listen to views with which they disagree and feel a childish need to boo. It is the mindset which insists not that other people may be mistaken, but that they are foul for having the views they hold and should be subjected to spite and nastiness. As you are aware, I hate these totalitarian people

Sebastian Payne

Is Douglas Carswell avoiding the HIV question — or should he be given a break?

Does Douglas Carswell agree with Nigel Farage’s controversial comments on treating foreigners with HIV? When I asked the Ukip leader, Farage responded ‘Yeah of course, he thinks we should have a national health service not an international health service.’ The question was put to Carswell directly on Question Time last night, when Piers Morgan took him to task if he was ‘ashamed’ at the comments. Carswell responded: ‘I think it’s entirely legitimate and right that we should expect that our National Health Service is a national health service and not an international health service. Now if someone was to fly into this country with no prior connection here at all and to fly in