Politics

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

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Keith Vaz’s ‘Diversity Nite’ comeback

Keith Vaz kept a low profile at last year’s Labour party conference. In the wake of allegations surrounding a pair of rent boys, Vaz had to call off his annual ‘diversity’ shindig. Now, a year on he is returning to the limelight – and his ‘Diversity Nite’ is back on. The event, held in Brighton’s Walkabout nightclub, is hailed as a chance to ‘join Keith Vaz and the Labour Party’s Ethnic Minority Taskforce to celebrate diversity with special guests’: Mr S for one is looking forward to it…

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The letter row is a reminder of Theresa May’s weakness

Some things never change. It’s the end of the first week of the new term and the Conservatives are finishing it with a row about Brexit. Although there are several rows currently brewing on Brexit – from amendments to the EU (withdrawal) bill to David Davis’s ‘stability’ – the one that is giving the Prime Minister the biggest headache involves a letter and a minister. The letter – thought to have been destined for the Sunday Telegraph – says that Britain should not pay into the EU budget during a transition period and must be able to sign trade deals straight after Brexit. These demands go further than current government policy and

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

David Davis is heading for a tragic failure of his own making

Stephen Bush of the New Statesman asked a good question the other day. Why do people who hate what Boris Johnson and Liam Fox are doing to Britain go easy on David Davis? He’s right to be perplexed. It turns out all those trade deals the leave campaign promised can’t be done for years. Liam Fox has nothing to do except be a public nuisance, which now I come to think of it is the only post he’s qualified to fill. Johnson meanwhile is an embarrassment, even to an administration which seems beyond shame, and Theresa May does her best to keep him locked in an FCO cellar. Davis, on the

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Could an Englishman ever be First Minister of Scotland?

Could an Englishman ever be First Minister of Scotland? That’s the question the Scottish Labour party are having to grapple with this week after Richard Leonard announced his candidacy to succeed Kezia Dugdale as leader. A former trade union organiser and chair of Scottish Labour’s executive, Leonard sounds like the perfect Corbyn candidate – until you get to the fact that he is also English. Leonard’s opponents have been quick to jump on his nationality – briefing out that his English heritage is no small fry. They claim his Yorkshire accent could make it ‘hard’ for him to ‘connect’ with the people the party must win over to increase their vote share. One opponent

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May gets a Brexit lesson from Parliament

Today has been a reminder of just how hard getting the Brexit legislation through parliament will be for Theresa May. In the Commons today, various Tory MPs made clear their concerns about the EU withdrawal bill and the powers it gives to the executive. While the bill will pass easily at second reading, the government is almost certain to have to give some ground to get the bill through committee stage. Already there is talk about a compromise involving votes on statutory instruments on the floor of the House. At the same time, there’s been the leak of a letter that is being circulated among clean Brexit Tory MPs which

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

What can ministers do to calm the EU withdrawal bill row?

The EU withdrawal bill debate is winding on, with MPs criticising the ‘power grab’ planned by ministers. There won’t be any votes until Monday, and unless something changes, it looks as though the legislation will pass its second reading. Assuming that this is the case, it is much more useful to look at who is threatening to make amendments to the bill at Committee stage. The tone of the Brexit-sceptics so far has largely been reasonably respectful, as they are trying to encourage ministers to make concessions ahead of that. It is rare for a government to be defeated in a committee stage vote, but this bill is different as

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Brexiteers, your enemy is the government

Twenty-nine years ago this month, the Vote Leave campaign got underway. Nigel Farage was still making his anti-establishment way as a City broker and a young Michael Gove was heading northwards to work on the Aberdeen Press and Journal. Instead, it was the founder of the movement who did the honours. Margaret Thatcher travelled to Bruges, to the College of Europe, the Europhile madrassa that has radicalised generations of youth to the cause of ever closer union. There in the belly of the beast she smartly explained why Britain was marvellous and wouldn’t it be better all round if the Continent was more like Blighty. The Bruges Speech was in

Steerpike Steerpike

Jacob Rees-Mogg wins an election

Although Jacob Rees-Mogg recently topped a ConHome poll as the number one choice to be the next Tory leader, few believe he has the mainstream appeal to lead the party to victory in a general election. However, Rees-Mogg can take heart that he has just secured enough votes to win a prestigious place on the Brexit select committee. With 14 Tories vying for the 10 available seats on the Exiting the EU Committee, the Brexit bunch have proved triumphant: Peter Bone Chris Chope Stephen Crabb Jonathan Djanogly Richard Graham Andrea Jenkyns Jeremy Lefroy Craig Mackinlay Jacob Rees-Mogg John Whittingdale Alas Anna Soubry hasn’t been so successful – the Remain MP

Prue Leith

Our big fat problem

The good news is that Theresa May has dropped the threat to withdraw universal free school meals. Thank God (and the PM) for that. School lunches are the biggest weapon we have to fight obesity. The UK is sixth in the supersize race of OECD countries, with a quarter of the population obese. The fact that six of the fattest nations (the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and the UK) are English-speaking should tell us something about our food culture. But sadly even Japan and South Korea, the slimmest nations, are fattening up fast on burgers and chips. What is to be done? No country is going to have

James Forsyth James Forsyth

May’s exit strategy

Nearly all Tory MPs now agree Theresa May should stay on as Prime Minister. She must get the party through Brexit, they say. A leadership contest now would risk splitting the party over the European issue. One senior Tory who was agitating to depose May back in July has told me that he has now decided it would be best if she stays until 2019. But this desire to keep her in place for Brexit should not be confused (especially not by Mrs May) with a desire to see her fight the next election. The number of Tories prepared to even contemplate following her into another battle remains vanishingly small.

William Cook

The Merkel supremacy

 Berlin Under the PR system we gave them, it’s inevitable that Merkel will have to govern in some sort of coalition ‘Capitalism is armed robbery,’ reads the graffiti on the subway wall, but here in Berlin, German capitalists are doing what capitalism does best — creating new jobs and new industries. Berlin used to be regarded as ‘poor but sexy’(as Berlin’s former mayor Klaus Wowereit put it), but last year the German capital boasted the highest growth in the country — 2.7 per cent, 0.7 per cent above the national average. A city of squats and bombsites has become a city of high-tech start-ups, and now tech giants such as

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

The sinister power of family courts

It’s right that some children are taken into care. One case in point is that of Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith, the toddler who was stamped to death by her violent young mother in 2014. She was known to social services for all of her short life, from the point when her pregnant mother was found living in a garage, but she was never removed. This week, a serious case review found that social workers ‘missed the danger signs’. Danger signs. A nebulous phrase with numerous interpretations. In tragic cases like this one, the danger signs are ignored, possibly because it is tempting for social workers to avoid dealing with the most aggressive

Camilla Swift Camilla Swift

Editor’s Letter | 7 September 2017

We live in an age where technology surrounds us almost all of the time. In the Western world, smartphones are omnipresent, and information is available at the press of a button. But how is this affecting schoolchildren — and how can schools deal with both the problems and the benefits that modern technology brings? In our cover piece, Rhiannon Williams takes a look at how various schools are handling technology, and reports that a ban on smartphones may not always be the answer. While technology is playing an increasingly large part in pupils’ lives, sport is still important. William Cook says that it shouldn’t all be about elite athletes. But

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Clean eating goddesses seize on Corbyn’s vegan aspirations

Jeremy Corbyn’s interest in veganism has excited far more interest than is necessary, given most people probably assumed the Labour leader was already a follower of this plant-based diet (in between the odd pleasurable shortbread). It has gone down particularly well with the ‘clean eating’ lobby, who hope that the endorsement of a Labour leader who was cheered at Glastonbury will boost the appeal of their trendy diets. Today’s Evening Standard carries a piece by Camilla Fayed, the founder of ‘Notting Hill clean-eating restaurant Farmacy’ (though the ‘clean-eating’ line is only in the paper, not the online copy, which suggests that Fayed doesn’t like being lumped with other clean eaters) who

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are back in control

Mrs May was back to her former self today. Cool, brusque, snappy and effective. Electoral disaster has served her well. Is it possible she planned this all along? Having brilliantly sacrificed her majority, she’s now indispensable to her weakened party. Her lack of defences defends her. Just one Commons defeat and Corbyn could walk into Number 10. The Labour leader was transformed too. The vegan diet appears to have drawn a circle of spiritual detachment around him. He didn’t get narked today. He wasn’t petulant or hoity-toity. He didn’t rant or snarl. The wheedling note of the dentist’s drill never entered his voice. He seemed measured and in control. Smooth,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can leading politicians get away with opposing abortion and gay marriage?

What can politicians with socially conservative beliefs expect from public life? Is there now a faith glass ceiling under which lurks would-be party leaders whose views on abortion and homosexuality are just too unpalatable for voters? If there is one, Jacob Rees-Mogg might have a good chance of telling us where it is located. The alleged contender for the Tory leadership told Good Morning Britain today that abortion was ‘morally indefensible’ in any circumstances and that he opposed same-sex marriage because ‘marriage is a sacrament and the decision of what is a sacrament lies with the Church not with Parliament’. William Hill has already cut the North East Somerset MP’s

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Nicola Sturgeon’s Third Way

Nicola Sturgeon is invariably at her most persuasive best when she puts partisanship to one side and emphasises that, in addition to leading the Scottish National Party, she is also first minister of Scotland. Occasions such as yesterday, when she outlined her programme for government, give her that opportunity to shine. In place of boastfulness, there was modesty; in place of gurning about what she could not do, there was a refreshing emphasis on what she could. It was a speech tacitly admitting the truth of admissions made by former SNP ministers that during the referendum years the party allowed itself to be distracted by independence at the expense of ambitious

Katy Balls Katy Balls

May fried over public sector pay at PMQs

Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May spent their lunchtime talking about McDonalds. Unfortunately for the Prime Minister, it was McStrike, rather than a lunchtime order, that dominated her first PMQs since the summer recess. Asked to show support for those workers currently taking industrial action against the fast food giant, May would only say that it was a matter for McDonalds – before going on to attack Labour for not doing more to tackle zero hour contracts when they were in government. This felt evasive and allowed Corbyn to go on and pit her against the side of the workers when he asked about the government’s diluted plans to crackdown on corporate excess. Although Corbyn

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will the House of Lords rebel against the EU withdrawal bill?

Labour’s decision to whip against the EU withdrawal bill might well have more of an impact in the Lords than the Commons. In the Commons, as I wrote on Monday, the number of Tory rebels might well be offset by Labour ones—and I suspect that Labour’s decision to whip against the bill at second reading will make it easier for the Tories to peel off Labour rebels on amendments later on. But in the House of Lords, the government doesn’t have any sort of majority. If Labour whip against it there and team up with Liberal Democrat and cross-bench peers,  the bill could end up only passing with significant amendments.

Steerpike Steerpike

Is Rachel Johnson becoming a Corbynista?

During the snap election, Boris Johnson was given reason to blush when his sister Rachel came out for the Liberal Democrats. Despite having always voted Conservative previously, the Mail on Sunday columnist said the party’s Brexit stance had meant she had no choice but to defect. Since then, Johnson has written in The Spectator of the need for a new centrist party – ideally headed up by Gary Lineker, the people’s snowflake. However, is Johnson actually considering another political defection? Mr S only asks after his mole reports a curious exchange between Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at last night’s GQ Men of the Year awards. At the champagne-fuelled bash at