Theresa may

Monday

James Forsyth

Theresa May forced to defend U-turn in her most difficult interview yet

Today was not a day that Theresa May will want to repeat anytime soon. In the morning, she had to U-turn on one of the centrepieces of her election manifesto and in the afternoon, she faced the most difficult interview she has had as Prime Minister. Theresa May never really got onto the front foot in her half-hour interview with Andrew Neil. She spent the first ten minutes of the interview claiming that the principles behind the Tories’ social care policy hadn’t changed, while Andrew Neil hammered the point that something has: there is now a cap whereas the manifesto had explicitly rejected one. May was also uncomfortable on the

James Kirkup James Kirkup

U-turns matter less than journalists think, especially if voters like the result

This is the latest in a series of posts that could be entitled ‘things I could never say when I was a political journalist but now I can.’  Today’s topic: U-turns. The bottom line: they don’t matter, or at least, they don’t matter anywhere near as much as most of the coverage of them suggests. Theresa May has changed her mind on social care. Political Twitter is still, as I type, in the sort of excited spasm that suggests that this is an event that will change EVERYTHING.  To some, Mrs May has shattered forever her image as a strong, steady leader. A slightly more sophisticated take suggests that she’s shattered

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why the ‘dementia tax’ U-turn is such a blow to Theresa May

U-turning on a manifesto commitment just days after it was announced would be embarrassing for any politician. But it is particularly humiliating when your whole campaign is based around the idea that you offer competent, ‘strong and stable’ leadership. But even leaving aside the immediate political repercussions, this U-turn is a deep blow to Theresa May and her team. For the social care policy was totemic of the way she is trying to change the party. She and her team want to make the Tories more concerned about the just managing than the better off and less deferential to property wealth. As the manifesto said, they considered their original proposals,

Ross Clark Ross Clark

There’s a fairer way of funding social care. Here’s how

So, the Conservatives have capitulated. After days of facing negative headlines about the ‘dementia tax’ Theresa May has given in and announced that there will, after all, be a cap on care costs faced by an individual. No wonder modern governments find it so hard to eliminate their structural deficits. So loud are the protests when they propose any tax increase or cut in spending that they are doomed to limp along with an ever-greater gap between what they feel compelled to spend and what they are politically able to raise in revenue. Public opinion may be king, but it doesn’t add up to a balanced budget. We’ve heard endlessly

Will Heaven

Five reasons why the ‘dementia tax’ U-turn was inevitable

‘The Tory “dementia tax” could backfire for Theresa May’ was the Coffee House take last Thursday, perhaps the first mention of that phrase in the media last week. It took a few days for the announcement to sink in, and for the ‘dementia tax’ tag to stick. But it most certainly has backfired now. Jeremy Hunt tells the Evening Standard that the government wants to ‘make sure that people who have worked hard and saved up all their lifetimes do not have to worry about losing all their assets’. It seems there will, after all, be a cap on what an individual has to spend on care. Theresa May has separately promised a consultation that will at

Sunday

Katy Balls

The drop in the Conservative lead isn’t all bad news for Theresa May

On the surface, today’s front pages don’t make enjoyable reading for the Prime Minister. The Sunday Times leads on a YouGov poll which says the Conservative lead has been slashed to single figures for the first time since last year, while the Mail on Sunday splashes on a Survation poll — claiming the Tory lead has dropped by five points as a result of the ‘dementia tax‘. Now a dip in popularity for the Conservatives isn’t entirely unexpected. It comes after the party revealed a manifesto that could hardly be described as feel-good. Pensioners (at least in England and Wales) were dealt a triple whammy blow on pensions, winter fuel and social

Saturday

James Forsyth

Why Theresa May can transform the Tory party

When he was asked what kind of generals he wanted, Napoleon replied ‘lucky ones’. Theresa May certainly fits into that category, as I say in The Sun this morning. In the Tory leadership race her two main rivals, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, destroyed each other leaving her facing Andrea Leadsom who promptly blew herself up. In this election, she is facing a Labour leader who has abandoned both the centre ground and patriotism. Now, May has skilfully exploited these openings—just look at how she is pitching to those abandoned Labour voters. But, perhaps, most relevant for the next five years is how there is no Tory alternative to her.

Friday

Alex Massie

There’s a palpable desire for a no-nonsense alternative to the SNP – and Ruth Davidson is delivering it

Theresa May came to Scotland today to offer her support to Ruth Davidson. Notionally, the Scottish Tory leader is supposed to support the Prime Minister but in this election, Ruth is a greater asset to the Conservative and Unionist party than Theresa.  Today’s YouGov poll for The Times confirms as much. Mrs May has a net approval rating in Scotland of -17; Ms Davidson’s is +10. Two thirds of those voters who endorsed Labour candidates in 2014 think Davidson is doing a good job and so, remarkably, do one in three voters who supported the SNP two years ago.  The same poll was interesting precisely because there was nothing startling in

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can the Tories boast about giving parity of esteem to mental health?

Mental health only made it into all three main party manifestos for the first time in 2015. Two years later, and it would be impossible to imagine any serious political party missing it out. In fact, the first line on the ‘mental health gap’ in the Conservative manifesto suggests that they’ve already accomplished their aims: ‘It was Conservatives in government that gave parity of esteem to the treatment of mental health in the National Health Service.’ This is true – but also not very clear. It suggests mental health and physical health are now on an equal footing in the NHS. They are not. The Coalition government introduced a mandate

Thursday

Peter Jones

Power and the middle class

The Labour party’s tagline for the forthcoming general election is: ‘For the many, not the few.’ Aristotle, who understood this as ‘For the poor, not the rich’, thought this a recipe for conflict and proposed a solution of which Mrs May would approve. Suspicious of monarchy, Aristotle favoured two styles of constitution: oligarchy and democracy. The problem was that both systems ran the risk of creating an inherently unstable state. In a democracy, the poor would be in control by sheer weight of numbers; in an oligarchy, the rich would gain control (presumably) by sheer weight of influence. In either case, the two, at opposite ends of the spectrum, would

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 18 May 2017

‘Exclusive invitation: I want to hear from you, Charles’, it said in my inbox. Theresa May wanted me to take part in her ‘telephone town hall’, she told me, offering ‘an opportunity to voice your opinions and ask questions directly to me in a simple and open way’. Unfortunately, the line was open only between 7 and 8 on Tuesday night, and I was engaged elsewhere. One thing I might have asked was ‘Who do you listen to before you say something in public?’ Although Mrs May has a reputation for caution, she is capable of throwing out ideas which sound as if they have not been tested on the

Ross Clark Ross Clark

How business-friendly would Theresa May’s government be?

When the main opposition party is proposing to jack up corporation tax from 19 per cent to 26 per cent the Conservatives don’t have to do too much to claim the mantle of the pro-business party, but with Theresa May suddenly attracting the nickname ‘Red Theresa’, just how business-friendly would a post 9 June May government be? First, the losers. First Philip Green and other company-owners who leave pension funds under-funded: the Conservatives are promising punitive fines and a possible new criminal offence for those who ‘deliberately or recklessly put at risk the ability of a pension scheme to meet its obligations’. With FTSE 350 companies running a combined pension

Will Heaven

The Tory ‘dementia tax’ could backfire for Theresa May

The Prime Minister says there is no such thing as ‘Mayism’, only ‘good, solid Conservatism’. Fine. But let’s examine just how ‘good’ and ‘Conservative’ her party’s new policy on social care is, unveiled earlier today. The Tory manifesto says, in effect, that people who need care in old age will have to pay for every penny of it – no matter how big the costs – if they have more than £100,000 in assets, which will be protected. Payment can be deferred until after death, but there’s no escaping it. If you have a home worth, say, £216,000 (the national average), own it outright, and need to be looked after for a long

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Theresa May’s preachy government is on a mission to restore our confidence

Every political moment is informed by, and a reaction against, its predecessor. The Age of May is no exception. David Cameron’s successes were founded, at least in part, on the vague appreciation that he seemed like a nice enough chap. Theresa May’s victories are built on the fact that she isn’t.  Being a ‘bloody difficult woman’, if also a bloody dull one, has its advantages and not just in terms of paying a measure of homage to the great ghost of the Iron Lady. Theresa will stand for no nonsense, you understand, and things will be done properly and with a sense of order and purpose. What you see is

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Earn less than £85,000? You might be better off under Corbyn

Recent elections have followed the same format: the Conservatives positioning themselves as the party of low taxes while Labour feels obliged to make its own commitments in order to try to neutralise the issue. This year is different. One of the notable omissions from the Conservative manifesto is any firm promise not to jack up the rate of income tax or national insurance. As expected, the Conservative manifesto does not repeat David Cameron’s ‘five year tax lock’ which committed the Conservatives not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT during the lifetime of the Parliament just ended. Reducing taxes on businesses and individuals has been reduced

Nick Hilton Nick Hilton

The Spectator Podcast: The May manifesto

On this week’s episode, we discuss Theresa May’s lurch to the left, the NHS’s looming crisis, and how Americans should talk about Trump. First up: Theresa May has launched the Conservative party’s manifesto this week, but whilst much has been made of the slow death of the Labour party, the Tories appear to have borrowed rather liberally from Ed Miliband’s 2015 offering. This is what Fraser Nelson says in his cover piece, claiming that the Conservatives have become ‘the party of Brexit’ rather than of low taxation. He joins the podcast along with David Goodhart, who writes this week on how Theresa May is finding a new middle way. As Fraser writes: “The

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May’s new Conservative philosophy

When you go to the polling station, Tory campaign chiefs want you to be thinking about Brexit and who you want as Prime Minister negotiating for Britain. This point was underlined at today’s Tory manifesto launch.  Theresa May was introduced by the Brexit Secretary David Davis and she herself concentrated on why Brexit makes the next few years so ‘defining’ for the UK and concluded by declaring that ‘every vote for me and my team’ will ‘strengthen my hand as I fight for Britain’. On the EU, the manifesto largely repeats the points made in May’s Lancaster House speech. But by making clear that the UK is leaving both the

Matthew Lynn

The Tories’ biggest gamble? Over-estimating the strength of the post-Brexit economy

Unemployment is down. Retail sales are still strong. House prices are stable. Even the Great British Peso, the currency formerly known as the pound, has recovered much of its losses of the past year. After the vote to leave the EU, the UK economy has been remarkably strong. Even triggering Article 50, which some said would be the point when the whole pack of cards collapsed, doesn’t seem to have made any difference. With that wind in behind the UK’s sails, it is easy to understand why the Conservative party is feeling fairly secure about the state of the economy. And that may help explain why there is remarkably little

The Spectator

2017 Conservative Manifesto: full text

The Conservative Manifesto 2017: Our Plan for a Stronger Britain and a Prosperous Future   The next five years are the most challenging that Britain has faced in my lifetime. Brexit will define us: our place in the world, our economic security and our future prosperity. So now more than ever, Britain needs a strong and stable government to get the best Brexit deal for our country and its people. Now more than ever, Britain needs strong and stable leadership to make the most of the opportunities Brexit brings for hardworking families. Now more than ever, Britain needs a clear plan. This manifesto, Forward, Together: Our Plan for a Stronger

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Red Theresa

Never has the Conservative party been more confident about winning a general election. Theresa May’s popularity ratings have broken all records; her aim in this campaign is not just to defeat the Labour party but to destroy it. The Tory MPs who talk about ten years in power are the more cautious ones; some talk about staying in government until the 2040s. The party’s name is seldom mentioned in this campaign. We instead hear only about ‘Theresa May’s team’, and voters seem to approve. As to what the Conservatives stand for, they’d rather not say. At times it seems they’re not even quite sure. The Tory messages revolve around Jeremy