Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
The snap election is on. MPs have voted by 522 votes to 13 to back the government motion calling for an early general election on June 8. With a comfortable majority of 509, the votes far exceed the two-thirds majority required to overturn the Fixed Terms Parliaments Act. Of the 13 MPs who voted against the motion,
After Theresa May performed an election U-turn on Monday and called for a snap election, today’s PMQs saw competing parties draw out their battle lines for the weeks ahead. The SNP’s Angus Robertson criticised May for dodging the TV debates and she in turn told the SNP to get on with the day job. Nigel Evans jumped on
George Osborne has just delivered his first Evening Standard scoop. The London free-sheet reports that the MP for Tatton is quitting as an MP — but will carry on ‘fighting for that Britain’ he ‘loves’ as the editor of the Evening Standard. In a letter to Conservatives in his constituency, Osborne said he would continue to
Theresa May has taken Westminster by surprise this morning by saying she wants an early election. Tomorrow she will ask MPs to support a motion for a poll on June 8. It is pretty much certain that this will pass — any opposition MP who rejects the motion is effectively saying they want another three years of
Although a government statement on the labour market statistics for Scotland doesn’t on the surface sound like the juiciest news release of the day, today’s has proved rather revealing. With unemployment in Scotland down by 15,000 in the period December 2016 to February 2017, the Scottish unemployment rate has fallen to 4.5 per cent — below
What threat do the Liberal Democrats pose to the Conservatives? Two years ago, this question could have been brushed aside as someone trying to cause mischief. In the 2015 election, the Lib Dems lost 49 seats, a result ‘immeasurably more crushing and unkind’ than expected. At PMQs last year, Theresa May mocked Tim Farron’s plight as
Last week, disgruntled MPs walked out of a meeting of the Commons Brexit Select Committee — chaired by Hilary Benn — in protest at a report they claimed was ‘too gloomy’. Today that report has been published in its 155-page entirety. As expected, the committee is divided over its contents — with Tory members of
My home town is better than yours. Don’t take my word for it. This month North Berwick was crowned ‘best place to live’, at least in Scotland, thanks in part to its good schools, community spirit and low crime. The news hasn’t come as a surprise to locals — it’s a town perched between an
After months of mixed messages from Labour over the party’s position on Brexit, this evening Jeremy Corbyn attempted to set the record straight in an interview with Andrew Neil. Speaking on Britain and the EU: the Brexit interviews, Corbyn tried to clarify Labour’s position on Brexit now that Theresa May has formally triggered Article 50.
As Theresa May gave her statement on Article 50 in the Chamber this lunchtime, there was a fair bit of heckling. The SNP benches persistently barracked the Prime Minister — with Angus Robertson, the SNP Westminster leader, talking throughout. This wasn’t the first heckle to emit from the benches, with Joanna Cherry and Philip Boswell earlier
Happy Article 50 day. The day is finally upon us. The Prime Minister has signed the letter which will trigger Article 50 and begin Britain’s exit from the EU. After PMQs, Theresa May will make a statement to MPs while Tim Barrow, the UK’s Brussels diplomat, will hand deliver the letter to Donald Tusk. Once May has formally
This afternoon Scottish Parliament will vote on Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum. With MSPs expected to vote in favour of the motion, Theresa May’s line that ‘now is not the time’ for a referendum looks set to come under increased pressure. ‘IndyRef2’ could still be pushed back as far as 2020/21 but behind the scenes Unionists are
Today Ukip went from a political party with one MP, to a political party with no MPs. Douglas Carswell has quit the party to sit as an independent. In a statement on his website, the MP for Clacton said he left Ukip on amicable terms ‘in the knowledge that we won’: ‘Like many of you,
After George Osborne was announced as the new editor of the Evening Standard on Friday, there was uproar across the House — with Labour writing to the Cabinet Office to complain about the appointment while Tory MPs took to their WhatsApp threads to sulk. Today the drama moved into the Chamber thanks to an Urgent Question from Labour’s
This time last week, Philip Hammond stood in the Chamber and made a joke about how the last Chancellor to proclaim they would deliver the last Spring Budget had been sacked 10 weeks later. Little did he then know that just seven days later he would have to face down angry MPs questioning his future — as he
The government’s decision to announce a U-turn on the planned rise in Class 4 National Insurance contributions minutes before PMQs meant that Jeremy Corbyn was left with the wrong homework for the session. Still, presented with an embarrassing government climbdown on a key Budget pledge, surely Corbyn could still come out on top? It wasn’t to be. Instead
Just in time to throw Jeremy Corbyn off the scent at PMQs, Philip Hammond has written to Tory MPs to say he has cancelled the rise in Class 4 National Insurance contributions announced in last week’s Budget. His U-turn comes after he faced opposition from many MPs in his own party — as well as a briefing
Theresa May’s statement today on the EU withdrawal bill should have been a victory lap – after the government succeeded in getting a clean bill through both Houses. Instead Scottish independence proved a party pooper, as the Prime Minister faced numerous questions in the chamber over Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for ‘indy ref 2’. Not letting
A new week, a new drama for Ukip. Although Nigel Farage last month called for Douglas Carswell to be kicked out of the party for disloyalty over a knighthood, it’s Farage’s righthand man Arron Banks who has today been left out in the cold. The Ukip donor says he has been pushed out of the party after
The government has successfully defeated the two Lords amendments to its Article 50 bill. MPs voted down the first amendment, committing the government to guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals, by a majority of 48 — which means the government managed to increase its majority of 42 from the first vote. On the ‘meaningful vote’ amendment,
