Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Tuesday

Christopher Meyer

The civil service definition of bullying has changed over the years

In my 37 years in the Diplomatic Service, I neither witnessed nor experienced what I considered to be bullying.  There were senior officials who took regular pleasure in finding fault with a cutting remark. Others swore like troopers. I was the speechwriter to three Foreign Secretaries. One of them told me, with a sardonic laugh, that my latest draft was ‘as useful as a dead fish’.  But never in a month of Sundays did I think any of this to be bullying. The Foreign Office had exacting standards and you expected to be held to them. Still less was it grounds for complaint if the minister rejected your advice, even

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The government’s political capital is waning

Upon how many fronts can a government fight at any one time? Political capital has a short-enough half-life as it is without the risk of it being diluted through simultaneous multiple battles. Concentration of political firepower matters. At a rough count, Boris Johnson’s ministry is currently fighting the civil service, the media, the European Union and now, of course, a looming public health emergency from a likely coronavirus epidemic. There is also the small matter of a budget and the government’s actual – or, if you prefer, notional – plans for ‘levelling-up’ the United Kingdom. Some of these are more significant problems than others, and some of them required no

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Humdrum Hancock is the perfect face for coronavirus

Readers of a certain vintage may remember that during the Falklands War a hitherto unknown official at the Ministry of Defence became something of a celebrity. Ian McDonald, who passed away last year at the age of 82, was a dry-as-dust Whitehall official from the days when civil servants actively tried to avoid the limelight. And yet his monotone delivery as official spokesman at MoD press conferences turned him into a cult figure and ‘the voice’ of the war. His calmness and uncanny ability to never offer an accidentally quotable soundbite alongside the factual but minimal information he conveyed was just what was required to keep the nation fixed on

Pieter Cleppe

Britain must fight the EU’s nanny state urges

The UK government has given the EU a Brexit deadline of four months. No. 10 is threatening to walk away from the negotiating table if a broad outline for a Canada-style trade agreement cannot be reached by the summer.  But the UK isn’t really being as radical as it might first appear. For a start, the withdrawal agreement already commits the parties to a July deadline by which point the EU must decide whether to extend the transition period.  Some might argue that the UK is ripping up the political declaration by imposing such a deadline. But in fact, the UK is only applying a minimalist interpretation of the non-binding political declaration, arguing that ‘regression‘ in

Steerpike Steerpike

Liz Truss urges the WTO to become a global force for free trade

What does Britain stand for post-Brexit? What is our role in the world? Mr Steerpike often wonders: it’s not as if Johnson’s administration has always been entirely forthcoming. For all the talk about opening up to the world, being a proud beacon of economic liberalism, the government has been opaque as to what that means. Today Liz Truss will try to provide some clarity. Britain, she says, will push the World Trade Organisation to reform its ways. In a speech to the Organisation’s General Council — the first a British minister has made since Britain left the European Union and became a WTO member in its own right — she

Monday

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Coronavirus could cost Britain as much as the 2008 crash

UK and Scottish government modelling shows that the economic and fiscal costs of a Covid-19 epidemic could be on a par with the costs of the 2008 banking crisis. According to a senior government source: ‘that is what our modelling shows’. If millions were unable to work and significant numbers of businesses unable to trade – as usual during an epidemic – there would be a huge automatic rise in Universal Credit and other welfare payments to those quarantined. Further costs would be incurred from whatever schemes are put in place to shelter otherwise viable businesses from collapse, coupled with any emergency top ups to health and social care spending.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Priti Patel under investigation – as Tory MPs rally to her defence

Since Sir Philip Rutnam resigned as the Home Office permanent secretary, alleging that Priti Patel had created a climate of fear in the department, the Home Secretary has kept a low profile and made no public comment. Today the government were forced to formally respond to the claims thanks to an urgent question from Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader asked why the Prime Minister defended Patel over the claims and called her ‘fantastic’, when if true the allegations would ‘constitute a breach of the ministerial code’. Speaking for the government, Michael Gove put in a passionate defence of his colleague. He praised Patel as someone he had always found to

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

What the UK wants from a trade deal with the USA

On Monday, the Department for International Trade released its negotiating objectives for a UK-USA free trade agreement. The 184-page document explains in detail what the UK wants to get out of a trade deal with America. The British government will try to angle the talks, which begin this month, towards securing a comprehensive arrangement – that is, a deal that covers a broad range of areas including digital, finance, tech, manufacturing and agriculture. If secured, it estimates this could translate into a £3.4 billion boost to the UK economy. The government has put its ‘leveling up’ agenda at front and centre of these trade talks, laying out how each region potentially stands

Matthew Lynn

Sunak’s leaked tax plan sends precisely the wrong message

It is too expensive. It mostly goes to Southerners who already have plenty of money. And it doesn’t even work very well, while the money would be better spent elsewhere. As the Chancellor puts the finishing touches to his Budget, the leaks suggest that the most generous tax relief for entrepreneurs will either be curbed, reduced or potentially even scrapped completely. But hold on. That’s crazy. It’s just about possible that there might be a worse message to send out about post-Brexit Britain – nationalising the banks, perhaps, or a three-day working week – but it is hard to think of one. In fact, entrepreneur’s relief has been a huge

Robert Peston Robert Peston

The conflict that will define Boris Johnson’s first term in office

The fundamental issue revealed by the resignation of the Home Office’s Permanent Secretary Sir Philip Rutnam is the yawning gap between what Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings want post-Brexit UK to be on January 1, 2021, and what senior civil servants think is deliverable. The PM and his chief aide want to have a fully functioning new immigration system by then, whereas officials fear there’s not enough time. Johnson and Cummings argue the police should be able to keep us safe if we are no longer part of European Arrest Warrant system. Officials can’t concur. Downing Street thinks we can ward off pandemics if we withdraw from the EU’s Early

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Why Pete Buttigieg wasn’t ‘gay enough’ for the activist left

As Pete Buttigieg ‘suspends’ (read: ends) his campaign for the Democrat nomination, a few words are in order about the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major party. One of the most remarkable aspects of Buttigieg’s run — unthinkable even a decade ago — is that his homosexuality was more of an issue in the gay press than in the mainstream media. He was somewhat caricatured as a Leave It to Beaver gay: he and his husband Chasten look for all the world like your average middle-class suburban marrieds. They’re chablis and J Crew sweaters, not marching, chanting heteronormativity-smashers. This didn’t sit well with the activist gay left. (You

Sunday

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Will Johnson and Cummings be knocked off course by Sir Philip Rutnam’s resignation?

There are a handful of big things to watch out for following Sir Philip Rutnam’s resignation as Home Office Permanent Secretary: Whether in laying out his case for constructive dismissal, evidence emerges that makes it impossible for Priti Patel to remain as home secretary. Whether other permanent secretaries and senior civil servants show solidarity with Rutnam, thus making it harder for Dominic Cummings to reform how they and civil servants support the Government, and harder for him to streamline the centre of government and the Cabinet Office. What the soon-to-be-published independent report into the scandal of the deportation of Windrush immigrants says about the competence of the Home Office and

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Coronavirus vaccine ‘still many months off’

John McDonnell – Priti Patel likely ‘on the way out’ The Shadow Chancellor joined Sophy Ridge, and the conversation quickly turned to Home Secretary Priti Patel. Yesterday the Home Office’s top civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam, accusing Patel of bullying, resigned and announced his intention to sue the government for unfair dismissal. McDonnell suggested an investigation into Patel’s conduct, but made clear what he thought the result would be: JM: [It’s] interesting this morning what I hear from No. 10 – that the Prime Minister only has confidence in his cabinet, not specifically Priti Patel. It looks as though she’s on the way out. We need more direction from PM

James Purnell

The right-wing case for the BBC

A few weeks ago, I read on Coffee House that someone at Number 10 suggested that if the BBC appointed me director-general they’d bring in a chairman to sack me. I found myself in a unique position: too right wing to lead the Labour party, too left wing to run the BBC. I don’t want to run the BBC. I love my job running radio and services for children too much. But the freedom of not wanting to be DG combined with my life in politics has encouraged me to take a risk and have a go at making the right-wing case for the BBC. Nicky Morgan recently wrote that

Cerys Howell

Will Labour ever have a female leader?

Where are all the women in Labour’s leadership race? Jess Phillips pulled out of the contest in January. Emily Thornberry, who ploughed on in spite of having less overall support, was knocked out a fortnight ago. Two women candidates remain. But every indication, from this week’s polling to CLP nominations to betting odds, is that Keir Starmer will beat Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy to a resounding victory on 4 April. With ballots going out this week and 70 per cent of members likely to vote within the first three days, the election is all but over. How did it happen that Labour, once again, will not elect a woman

Saturday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could coronavirus really trigger the next crash?

It’s a bloodbath in the markets, but by how much could the real, global economy be affected by the coronavirus outbreak? A research note by Oxford Economics seeks to answer that question by comparing it with the experience of Japan following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. On that occasion, Japan’s industrial production slumped by 15 per cent in a single month, before taking several months to recover. The car industry was affected still more, with a 60 per cent plunge in the month following the earthquake. Interestingly, notes the think tank, the part of Japan affected by the disaster accounted for only 3-4 per cent of national industrial output, but

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris’s baby – Westminster’s worst kept secret

There’s much speculation (and conspiracy theory) about why Boris Johnson chose today to announce that he’s becoming a father for the sixth time. Was it to get the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam off the front pages? But to many in Westminster, the real question is how they have kept it quiet for so long. Rumours have been circulating for some time fuelled by Carrie Symonds’s reduced profile and a series of clues for those who were looking. When the couple chose to take in the recess week from the more discreet Chevening rather than Chequers, it was read in some quarters as a pregnancy-related decision. Then when Symonds didn’t