Politics Archives

Wednesday

13 Jun 2018

What did Theresa May promise the Tory rebels?

The confusion about what precisely the government promised those Tory MPs attracted to the Grieve amendment hasn’t yet been cleared up. Today, Number 10 is saying that Part C of the Grieve amendment, which would have allowed the Commons to effectively direct the government if there wasn’t a deal by the 15th of February, is off the table. But several of those who went to see Theresa May last night think that she indicated the government would come up with its own, different version of C. In other words, that there hadn’t been a blanket rejection of C. Now, the word is that the government’s proposed amendment, which it will

Alex Massie

The poor wee SNP

Of course it was a “stunt” – the Westminster village’s preferred term for any piece of nonsense that disrupts the serenity of the mother of parliaments – and of course it was planned in advance. Pete Wishart, the SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, tweeted that prime minister’s questions would be unusually interesting this week. For a given definition of interesting, that is. The SNP’s walk-out was engineered to win the party some attention and a place at the top of this evening’s Scottish news. Job done. Mission accomplished. Well done lads. It was all very reminiscent of the 1980s when Alex Salmond, among others, was forever making an

James Forsyth

The SNP walkout was a student-style stunt

The SNP walkout today at PMQs was a stunt. But I was left with the feeling that John Bercow didn’t handle it wonderfully. It was clear from the moment that Ian Blackford requested that the House sit in private that the SNP wanted to be ordered out of the chamber. Bercow’s insistence that the vote wouldn’t take place until after PMQs played into the SNP’s hands as it gave Blackford something to object to so vociferously that he had to be kicked out. The rest of the SNP then followed him, giving the Nationalists the TV pictures they craved. Now, the question is how effective this SNP walkout was. It

Steerpike

Kezia Dugdale comes to the SNP’s defence

When Kezia Dugdale stepped down as the leader of Scottish Labour, there were rumours that she was planning to defect to the SNP. Despite Dugdale’s denial, odds were as short as 5/1 on Dugdale – whose partner is an SNP MSP – joining the Scottish Nationalists before the next Holyrood election in 2021. So, after today’s drama at PMQs in which the SNP staged a widely-criticised mass walk out, Mr S was curious to learn Dugdale’s take on the matter. In a tweet, Dugdale comes to the SNP’s defence – suggesting that the Tories are worse when it comes to playing political games. Tories would never play political games would they…

Steerpike

Watch: John Bercow’s ‘women problem’

Although the Serjeant-at-Arms Kamal El-Hajji has dismissed bullying allegations against John Bercow as a ‘witch hunt’, the Speaker’s problems are not going away anytime soon. Claire Perry, the climate change minister, has today accused Bercow of ‘sexist and demeaning’ behaviour – accusing him of having a ‘women problem’. This video shows the incident Perry is referring to. In it, Bercow bizarrely refers to dilation. https://twitter.com/jackcevans/status/1006865294093058048 How long can Bercow hang on?

Katy Balls

What the Brexiteers do next

Although no-one yet knows what the government’s compromise meaningful vote amendment will look like when it returns to the Lords, there’s a growing feeling in Westminster that it is the Tory Remain rebels who have the upper hand. Even if the government doesn’t go far enough to appease these MPs in its verbal promise of some kind of ‘meaningful’ say on the final deal, this group are bullish and increasingly confident that they can tie the government’s hands the next time the bill returns. This has led to increasing concern among the Brexiteers. Talk of ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ is now viewed as a hollow threat.

James Kirkup

Why Brexit will never end | 13 June 2018

I hate to take issue with a fellow Spectator writer, but Robert Peston’s revelation that a “no deal” Brexit is now off the table strikes me as a prime example of Westminster’s ability to ignore the bleeding obvious for months on end then talk cobblers in an authoritative voice when finally forced to confront reality. Robert is far from alone in his conclusion about last night’s Commons vote. To be honest, I’m just taking issue with his post because the spectacle of Spectator writers disagreeing seems to interest some people, probably because they struggle with the idea of one publication publishing multiple and contradictory viewpoints. I’m happy to oblige that

Tuesday

12 Jun 2018

Katy Balls

Which set of Tory MPs will be furious with Theresa May come Monday?

The main takeaway from the confusion surrounding today’s meaningful vote amendment is that no-one knows what it means. Although the government technically successfully defeated the Lords amendment calling for a meaningful vote on the final deal, confusion reigns over who is the winner: the Remainers or the Brexiteers. The would-be Tory Remain rebels are convinced that they were assured by the Prime Minister herslef that by voting with the government they would be awarded with a concession that would give them some form of binding vote on the next steps were Parliament to reject the government’s Brexit deal. They believe that this involves the first two parts of Dominic Grieve’s

Robert Peston

After today’s vote, there is now no chance of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit

So MPs have (narrowly) rejected the Lords’ amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill, which would (if passed) have given parliament the power to force the PM back into negotiations with Brussels if MPs and Lords reject whatever Brexit deal she ultimately negotiates. (Phew: that was a mouthful). But the price Theresa May is paying for that victory – paying to Tory Remainer rebels led by Dominic Grieve – is that she has agreed to redraft the Bill when it returns to the Lords so as to account of Grieve’s own amendment to the bill. After some fraught and dramatic negotiations, May is now conceding:- 1) That within seven days of her agreeing a

Isabel Hardman

Government avoids defeat on ‘meaningful vote’ – but is this a win?

Given this morning’s ministerial resignation, all looked set fair for an afternoon of high drama in the Commons over the EU Withdrawal Bill. In the end, though, the drama was rather quieter, with the government managing to persuade the Remainer rebels to stand down – temporarily – on the matter of a ‘meaningful vote’. Chief Whip Julian Smith spent the majority of the debate buzzing about the Chamber, consulting with ministers and backbenchers and also beckoning MPs out of the room in little groups. It is since clear that Smith was negotiating the compromise that Solicitor General Robert Buckland started offering during the debate. Initially, Buckland offered the rebels ‘structured

Isabel Hardman

Phillip Lee explains why he resigned over Brexit

Phillip Lee struck a sorrowful tone when he spoke in the Commons this afternoon, explaining why he had felt it was necessary to resign over Brexit. The Bracknell MP was congratulated for his “courage” as he spoke by his two vocally pro-Remain colleagues, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston. He also received some applause as he sat down. Lee took care as he spoke to argue that this resignation was not about a plan to destabilise the government or Theresa May, but because he could not abide by collective responsibility given his disquiet about the direction in which Brexit is heading. “I fully support Theresa May,” he insisted, but said that

Steerpike

Watch: Arron Banks walks out of select committee

What is it about Brexit campaigners and select committees? First Vote Leave’s Dom Cummings declined an invitation to appear before Damian Collins’ select committee (leading MPs to back a motion demanding he does so by 20 June). Now Arron Banks – of Leave.EU – has cut his time before the committee short. Banks appeared before the same DCMS committee this morning – following allegations at the weekend over his links to the Russian ambassador – but left early after he decided that lunch was his priority: ‘Sorry, we’re late.’ Collins appeared in a state of shock that he could not convince them to stay – pleading for a few more

Brendan O’Neill

In defence of ‘no deal’

Imagine the industrial levels of brass neck it must require for EU-supporting MPs to present themselves as defenders of parliamentary sovereignty. That’s what they’re doing today, on ‘Brexit Super Tuesday’, as they start voting on the Lords’ amendments to the government’s Brexit Bill. They say they are backing the amendment that would give MPs a ‘meaningful vote’ on the final Brexit deal because they love parliamentary sovereignty that much. Pull the other. These are people who for years happily handed over huge swathes of law-making to Brussels bureaucrats and would still like EU law to enjoy supremacy over UK law. They support parliamentary sovereignty like an electric chair supports your

Katy Balls

Philip Lee’s resignation shatters Tory Brexit truce

Although Theresa May managed to unite her MPs briefly on Monday night and put off a customs union confrontation on today’s EU withdrawal bill votes, not everything is going to plan. Philip Lee has this morning broken that truce and resigned as justice minister to fight Brexit. Speaking at a Bright Blue event, Lee said that he was returning to the backbench so that he could speak out on the government’s Brexit policy – which, he says, threatens human rights: I am incredibly sad to have had to announce my resignation as a minister in Her Majesty’s Government so that I can better speak up for my constituents and country

Monday

11 Jun 2018

Nicholas Farrell

Matteo Salvini’s decision to turn away a migrant rescue ship is an historic moment | 11 June 2018

The refusal by Italy’s new ‘populist’ coalition government of the alt-left Five Star Movement and the hard right Lega to allow an NGO vessel with 629 African migrants on board to dock in Italy is an historic moment. The leader of the Lega Matteo Salvini, now Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, is determined to fulfil his campaign pledge. That is to say: I will stop any more migrants being ferried to Italy by sea from Libya and I will deport all of the 500,000 illegal migrants already arrived from Libya by sea who are not refugees – i.e the lot. Since the first government in western Europe of what

Isabel Hardman

How long before Tory backbenchers turn off Theresa May’s life support machine?

Tomorrow marks a year since Theresa May sat her dejected parliamentary party down and promised that ‘I got us into this mess and I’ll get us out of it’. She was speaking amid the chaos of the snap election that she’d called, and it wasn’t clear whether the Prime Minister was going to be able to form a government, let alone survive as leader for very long. Tonight, she’s still here but still appealing to Conservative MPs for unity as the ‘crunch stage’ of the EU withdrawal bill arrives in the Commons. The briefing over the weekend did suggest that the Prime Minister was probably going to be ok, though

Steerpike

Grant Shapps: Theresa May could win the next election

What a difference eight months makes. Back in October, Grant Shapps launched a failed coup against Theresa May after a disastrous Tory conference which saw the Prime Minister cough her way through what was supposed to be a set piece speech. Since then, we’ve had Cabinet feuding, backbench rebellions and a lack of leadership from an increasingly beleaguered Prime Minister. Yet despite all this, Shapps has had a change of heart and thinks there is now a chance May could lead the party into the next election – and even possibly win it: ‘I think it’s perfectly conceivable now… that she leads us into the next election and I think potentially

Katy Balls

Labour Live will cost the party more than money

The farce that is Labour Live rumbles on. With the Jezfest set to take place this weekend, the organisers are still struggling to shift tickets to the musical bonanza – which bills The Magic Numbers and Kate Osamor among its headliners. The Times today reports that ‘sales’ are still said to be stuck at around the 3,000 mark despite the venue – White Hart Lane Rec – having a 15,000 capacity. Labour MPs are growing increasingly concerned about the whole affair and asking Jenny Formby, the general secretary, who is currently footing the estimated £1million cost of the event. She has kept tight-lipped. But even if it is the Labour party

Sunday

10 Jun 2018

Katy Balls

Tory MPs reluctantly unite behind Theresa May

Unity is the buzzword in the Conservative party this week. With a series of crunch votes due on Tuesday and Wednesday over the EU withdrawal bill, senior Tories have been at pains to tell unruly colleagues it’s time to put their differences aside and come together. Over the weekend, Amber Rudd and ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith warned that any Commons rebellions would be a win for Labour – and therefore bring Corbyn closer to entering No 10. It was a message echoed by David Lidington on the Andrew Marr show. No 10 are increasingly confident that this new comradely spirit will prove contagious. Within government, concerns have eased over the two

Steerpike

Tory Remain rebel goes in for the kill

Oh dear. It seems that not everyone has taken Theresa May’s appeal for party unity to heart. Although Amber Rudd and Iain Duncan Smith penned a Sunday Telegraph article calling for Tories to come together this week for the EU Withdrawal Bill votes, not everyone appears convinced. Over the weekend, former Remain rebel Antoinette Sandbach took to social media to tweet ‘Remainers need courage to go for the kill’, and share Matthew Parris’s Times column on the topic. In the piece, Parris urges would-be rebels to not be put off rebelling by the whips: ‘This is the moment when you must lift your eyes from the trees and see the