Theresa may

Wednesday

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May fails to master her Scots at PMQs

Oh dear. Although Theresa May managed to get through today’s PMQs with a solid performance, she did fall short when it came to Scottish matters. The newly-elected Conservative MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine used a question to thank the Prime Minister for ‘taking time during the General Election to come up to Banchory and campaign in my constituency, where I think we did rather well’. May did her best to repay the favour: ‘Can I first of all welcome my honourable friend to his place in this House. I very much enjoyed my visit to Banchory.’ However, despite her best efforts to suggest otherwise, the visit doesn’t appear to have been

James Forsyth James Forsyth

May turns back the clock to the Cameron and Osborne era at PMQs

During the general election campaign, Theresa May was strikingly reluctant to defend the Tories’ economic record. But today at PMQs, Theresa May sounded like the man she sacked as Chancellor as soon as she became PM. She defended the Tories economic record with vigour, pointing out how much progress the party had made in reducing the deficit it inherited from Labour and even chucking in a reference to Greece for good measure. It was like going back to 2014. The Tory benches lapped up this return to the old religion. May was also helped by the fact that Jeremy Corbyn didn’t make as much of the money that the Tories

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Tory members don’t rate May any more – so who do they like?

While the Cabinet bicker among themselves – in meetings, media briefings and the FT letters’ page – about policy, behind the scenes chatter remains over who will be the next Tory leader. Handily, Conservative Home has today released its Cabinet League Table which shows where the various ministers lie when it comes to the party membership. Re-confirming the consensus in the party that Theresa May will never lead the party into an election, the Prime Minister has endured a record fall among members – from top to second bottom. While Patrick McLoughlin is the least popular, Philip Hammond doesn’t fare much better, the chancellor has gone into the negative, he is third

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Brexit is a retreat – not a liberation

It is a mark of Britain’s estrangement from the European Union – and, at least for now, the country’s diminished standing on the international stage – that although Theresa May attended a memorial service to Helmut Kohl at the weekend, she was not invited to speak. Of course there are hierarchies of closeness on such occasions, but there is something piercing about the manner in which what this country, and its leaders, have to say now has so little resonance.  Kohl’s death should have occasioned more commentary in this country than it has. By any reasonable estimation, he was a titan of modern European history. The picture of Kohl holding

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

The brave new world of Brexit Britain

Although attributed to Milton Friedman, the assertion that ‘there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch’ had been around long before he took it for the title of an economics book in 1975. It has been used since by many who have never given monetarism a second’s thought. Physicists say the universe is a closed system. No magic source can give it free energy or indeed calories. Mathematicians and computer technicians are as adamant that something cannot come from nothing. Everyone agrees the lunch bill must be paid. Everyone, that is, except British politicians and the voters who endorse them in their millions. If it is true that a

Monday

Tom Goodenough

Boris Johnson calls for an end to the public sector pay cap

One of the consequences of Theresa May’s disastrous election campaign is that the balance of power has swung firmly away from the PM towards her Cabinet. This change of fortunes means that ministers can now speak their minds freely in a way that would have been foolhardy just a few weeks ago. Boris Johnson is the latest to make the most of this new found freedom, saying it is time to end the cap on public sector pay. The Foreign Secretary is said to support a pay rise for such workers, and thinks this could be done in a ‘a responsible way’ without raising taxes. Philip Hammond does not agree, with

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: It’s time for the Tories to stop panicking

‘The unexpected appeal of Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto has thrown the Tories into panic’, says the Sun. With Damian Green suggesting a ‘debate’ may be needed over tuition fees and other ministers ‘piling in every day with demands for more spending’, the Conservative party seems to be making the assumption that the best way to tackle the threat of Corbyn is to copy him. This is ‘suicidal’, says the Sun, which argues that not only would it be wrong to try and take on the ‘hard left’ on their own terms, it would also be dangerous for the economy. ‘Labour’s manifesto was built around bribing people’ with cash Britain does not

Sunday

James Forsyth

To save the Tories and boost her own legacy, Theresa May must stay

Sometimes crises end simply because all of the participants are exhausted. Essentially, this is what has happened with the post-election Tory leadership crisis. No one has the energy for a fight, so Theresa May carries on as Prime Minister. Conservative MPs say it is now almost certain that she will make it to the summer break and will still be in place at party conference. If the coronation of a new leader could be arranged, things would be very different. But it can’t be. From the great offices of state down, the Tories are simply too split – over both policy and personnel – for the succession to be resolved

Saturday

James Forsyth

The whips mustn’t crush every Tory who thinks about the future

The next Tory leadership race promises to be a crowded affair. As I say in The Sun this morning, the whips are now worried about Rory Stewart’s ambitions. In a meeting with the government’s parliamentary private secretaries, the deputy Chief Whip Julian Smith demanded that anyone who had been to dinner at Stewart’s house the night before raise their hand. He said that he was determined to put all those with leadership ambitions ‘back in their box’. But this is the wrong approach. Leave aside, that those at dinner claim that it was a farewell to Stewart’s PPS Amanda Solloway, who lost her seat at the election, not a plotting

Friday

Isabel Hardman

The government’s fragility is good news for Parliament

This first week back in Parliament has proved quite how fragile the government’s power is. It may be able to govern in a technical sense – announcing bills, occupying Downing Street, and so on – but it cannot guarantee that it will get what it wants in the Commons. Having to accept the Stella Creasy amendment on free abortions for women from Northern Ireland shows that, but this is just the start of a legislative free-for-all in which MPs from all parties are able to propose changes to any bill ministers put forward, and know that they stand an unusual chance of success. It just takes a handful of Tory

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why Theresa May is about to start drinking in Parliament’s bars

Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech cleared Parliament with every amendment defeated. This shows that Theresa May’s £1bn deal with the DUP is working when it comes to votes on key legislation. However, as Isabel notes, while it can govern in a technical sense, it cannot guarantee that it will get what it wants in the Commons. In order to prevent a Tory rebellion on Stella Creasy’s abortion amendment, the Chancellor had to grant a concession for free abortions for women from Northern Ireland. So, how do the whips intend to stave off future rebellions in the House? The DUP agreement means that the Conservatives have a working majority of 13 when it comes

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 29 June 2017

The Tory quagmire Sir: While the media has been preoccupied in divining what went wrong with the Conservatives’ appalling election result, Fraser Nelson (‘What are the Tories for?’, 24 June) neatly perceives some of the more obvious causes. Quite what possessed seemingly intelligent people to come up with so many half-baked ideas that found their way into a poorly thought-through manifesto is beyond comprehension. To witness the volte-faces was truly nauseating and not worthy of a party with such a long and distinguished record in government. The quagmire Mrs May finds herself in bodes poorly for both Brexit and a host of pressing domestic issues. The Tory party have an enviable economic

The Spectator

Stronger together

There is unlikely to be much of a legacy from Theresa May’s premiership, which could yet be truncated a short way into its second year. Yet one very good thing looks like coming out of it: the strengthening of the United Kingdom. The Union suddenly looks in better health than it has done for several years. Nicola Sturgeon did not quite scotch her dream of a second independence referendum this week, but in delaying the required legislation until the autumn of 2018 at the earliest she has bowed to the inevitable. She has been sent, as the Scottish national anthem says, homeward tae think again. Meanwhile, the importance of Northern

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

France is finally looking forward to some Brit-bashing

Was that a touch of gloating I detected last night as I watched the news on French television? The lead item was Donald Trump’s acceptance of President Macron’s invitation to attend the Bastille Day commemoration in Paris next month. It’s always a prestigious occasion and this year marks the centenary of America’s entry into WW1. Hence the invitation to the American president which came in a telephone conversation where the pair also agreed on a joint military response against the Syrian regime should Bashar al-Assad launch another chemical attack. That Trump has accepted at relatively short notice – Macron only issued the invite on Tuesday – suggests that The Donald is

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Is it time for a tax hike?

The 48 per cent have spoken – and they want higher taxes, according to the British Social Attitudes survey. In the wake of a general election in which Labour won support based on a manifesto of free spending, is it time for a rethink on tax? And should we wave goodbye to the era of austerity? Here’s what today’s newspapers make of the case for a tax hike: We are ‘at a fiscal crossroads’, says the Daily Telegraph. During their dismal election campaign, the Tories ‘failed to make the case for living within our means’ and the ‘public appetite for prudence’ appears to be waning. Yet for all the cheer from

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why May must stay

Sometimes crises end simply because all of the participants are exhausted. Essentially, this is what has happened with the post-election Tory leadership crisis. No one has the energy for a fight, so Theresa May carries on as Prime Minister. Conservative MPs say it is now almost certain that she will make it to the summer break and will still be in place at party conference. If the coronation of a new leader could be arranged, things would be very different. But it can’t be. From the great offices of state down, the Tories are simply too split – over both policy and personnel – for the succession to be resolved

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

The Corbyn coalition

One of the most disappointing things about the general election for me was how few people must have read Nick Cohen’s article ‘Why You Shouldn’t Vote For Jeremy Corbyn’ before entering polling booths on 8 June. Or perhaps they did read it and thought: up yours, mate. The more I think about it, the more I suspect it’s a case of the latter. Mr Cohen, quoting from a Labour party member, listed the perfectly sensible reasons why sane people would not want Corbyn as prime minister. These included, but were not confined to: his support for the IRA and opposition to the Northern Ireland peace process; his admiration for the

Sebastian Vella

Letter from a Corbynista

Dear Uncle James, Thank you for your note (‘Letter to a Corbynista’, June 24). Firstly, of course we’re still friends, so there is no need to worry about that. The world would be a boring place if we all agreed on everything, and probably a backward one too if no one was challenged on their views. I should also explain my background for the benefit of readers not related to me. I come from a Conservative-voting family, I’m privately educated and I work as the financial controller of a multinational group. If there is a stereotypical Labour voter, or even a ‘Corbynista’, I’m not sure I’d fit the mould. In

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans

Theresa May diverts Grenfell blame onto Tony Blair

It was the first PMQs since Mrs May crawled triumphantly back into Downing Street after her humiliating victory in the general election. She has brilliantly disposed of her cumbersome Commons majority – always a drawback to a statesman – and replaced it with a thrillingly unstable parliament and a government characterised by its ruthless indecision and single-minded hesitancy. The genius of Mrs May is to keep her gift for politics so fully concealed that it appears to be non-existent. And the historic alliance she has forged with her despised colleagues in the DUP looks set to endure for a hundred years. Or maybe days. The high-rise crisis dominated the session.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May reassures Tory MPs at PMQs

This PMQs was always going to be a very different affair for Theresa May. Post-election, her aura has gone and, for the first time, Jeremy Corbyn now has his benches behind him. Given the circumstances, Theresa May turned in one of her best PMQs performances. She has never been a natural at the despatch box, but she was solid today. Her performance will have reassured Tory MPs that she is able to keep going. Jeremy Corbyn began on the Grenfell fire. At first, his questions were detailed and precise. He got May to admit that her understanding is that the cladding on Grenfell tower was not compliant with building regulations. But