Politics

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

Tuesday

Ed West Ed West

Across the West, working-class voters are abandoning the Left

Imagine going back twenty years in a time machine, when a young Tony Blair was about to be swept to power on a wave of optimism, and telling someone* that in 2017, Labour would be on just 16 per cent among working-class voters – and this despite having a leader several octaves to the left of Blair. Not only this, but that a number of Labour seats in the north and the midlands were ‘now in Tory sights’.  Imagine then telling them that this was happening while the Conservatives were making spending cuts in areas like education, and that there was an ongoing crisis in health and social care. You then let them

Steerpike Steerpike

Angus Robertson’s celebrity endorsement fails to ring true

Oh dear. With the SNP thought to be on manoeuvres over a second independence referendum, today the party have been at pains to stress that any future vote would be down to the actions of Theresa May’s government. So, Angus Robertson must have thought he was in luck when ‘Tony Robinson OBE’ retweeted him saying exactly this. The deputy leader of the SNP took to Twitter to say he was ‘genuinely starstruck’. Only it was the wrong Tony Robinson. Rather than the Blackadder actor, this ‘Tony Robinson OBE’ is a ‘Speaker & Author on “Freedom from Bosses Forever”‘. As for the other Robinson? Well, during the last independence referendum, the Labour

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Ukip’s troubles descend into farce

Although last week’s by-elections exposed cracks in Labour, it’s Ukip that has gone into free fall as a result. After Paul Nuttall failed to win in Stoke-on-Trent Central, both Nigel Farage and chief donor Arron Banks were quick to go on the attack. Over the weekend, Banks called for Nuttall to make him party chairman or else. Now both Farage and Banks are gunning for Douglas Carswell to be expelled from the party over reports that Ukip’s only MP frustrated Farage’s chances of being awarded a knighthood (it turns out that the anti-establishment politician is okay with some aspects of the establishment after all). Banks has since promised to run against Carswell in

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: ‘Moaning’ Major’s unwelcome Brexit intervention

The ghosts of Prime Ministers past aren’t making life easy for Theresa May. John Major has now followed in the haunted footsteps of Tony Blair by criticising his successor’s approach to Brexit. Major used a speech yesterday to say people are being offered an ‘unreal’ vision of Brexit by the Government. Unsurprisingly, Major’s intervention has won him few friends in the newspaper editorials this morning. The Sun says it’s good news that Theresa May – and not John Major is in charge. After all, if the former PM was involved in Brexit talks, his ‘defeatist gloom’ would inevitably mean  that things ‘would end as badly as he ­predicts’. Of course, Major does

Monday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Shami Chakrabarti becomes persona non grata with the PLP

Tonight’s Parliamentary Labour Party meeting began with loud cheers. As with most PLP meetings nowadays, these weren’t directed at the Labour leader and nor was Jeremy Corbyn around to hear them. Corbyn had earlier sent his apologies that he was unable to make the first PLP meeting since the party’s defeat in Copeland due to a prior engagement. In his absence, Gareth Snell — the new Stoke-on-Trent Central MP — was given a rousing reception, as was Andrew Gwynne — the MP behind the by-election campaigns. When Gwynne attempted to take some of the blame for his party’s loss in Copeland, he was shouted down by supportive colleagues who said that he had done everything he could. MPs,

Matthew Lynn

Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘neverendum’ is hammering the Scottish economy

Its economy will be destroyed by leaving the single market. Losing access to European sales will destroy swathes of industry, and without free movement, employers will be crucified by skill shortages. Nicola Sturgeon is no doubt already preparing her lines for a vote on Scottish independence once the UK leaves the EU. Right now, that looks as if it could come a lot sooner than anyone imagined. It is reported that as soon as the Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 and starts the process of leaving the European Union, Scotland’s First Minister will announce plans for a second referendum on independence – a demand that May could find

Violet Hudson

The post-Brexit takeover bids begin

UK workers are near the bottom of the wage-growth table compiled by the TUC, says the Independent. The average wage across 112 countries rose by 2.3 pc per year in the period 2008 – 2015. Meanwhile UK workers saw their wages fall by 1 pc. Great Britain comes 103rd in the table, ahead of the West Bank, Greece, Kenya and Iran and far behind France, Germany and Sweden. The lack of wage growth, coupled with soaring inflation, is likely to mean that many Brits find their disposable income will be squeezed to the point of non-existence. ‘[If the Government is] serious about the post-Brexit economy working for everyone, both decent wages

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Could free movement from the EU end next month?

‘Take back control’ was the mantra of the Brexit bunch during the referendum – but eight months on, Britain is still waiting to be handed the keys. Next month, says the Daily Telegraph, part of the wait could be over. The paper reports that Theresa May is planning to announce an end to free movement for EU migrants when she triggers Article 50 in March. If this is true, we should celebrate the Prime Minister’s decisiveness, the paper says, hailing the plan as both legal – given that it ‘will only take effect after Brexit’ – and ‘sensible’ – to avoid a rush of migrants coming to Britain before the door slams shut.

Steerpike Steerpike

Introducing Corbyn’s new spinner: the Straight Left comrade who is Mandelson’s old communist chum

After Jeremy Corbyn’s campaigns chief Simon Fletcher quit his role earlier this month, it was branded a victory for Seumas Milne. Fletcher was known to have clashed with Corbyn’s director of strategy and communications on a range of issues, including the EU. Now, in a sign things are moving further in Milne’s favour, Steve Howell has been appointed as deputy director of strategy and communications. Looking forward to new job working with @JeremyCorbyn to challenge an economy rigged for rich and to support @UKLabour's politics of change. — Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) February 26, 2017 Happily, the pair are unlikely to clash over their political views anytime soon. They are old comrades who

Sunday

Toby Young Toby Young

The most politically correct Oscars ever?

Last year, the Oscars came in for quite a bit of criticism within the American film community. The problem wasn’t that the nominees were too worthy, or the speeches too long. Nor was it that some of the best films of 2015 – Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, Steve Jobs – were snubbed. Nor did anyone complain that the picture that received the most nominations – The Revenant – was a three-hour snorefest starring the finger-wagging environmentalist Leo DiCaprio. No, the reason for all the grumbling was that the 88th Academy Awards weren’t politically correct enough. The good burghers of Hollywood got on their high horses about the

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn thanks the SNP… at Scottish Labour conference

Oh dear. Although Paul Mason has taken to the airwaves this morning to suggest that Scottish independence would be a good thing, it had been thought that comrade Jeremy Corbyn was still on the side of the unionists. So, Mr S was curious to hear the Labour lead thank the SNP in his speech at today’s Scottish Labour party conference. Referring to plans for a new Scottish Labour policy to increase child benefit, Corbyn confused delegates by thanking ‘our SNPs’: ‘I’m delighted Scottish Labour announced a new policy to use powers of Scottish Parliament to increase child benefit, which will lift thousands of Scottish children out of poverty. Well done Scottish Labour

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Shami Chakrabarti and Peter Whittle play the by-election blame game

Shami Chakrabarti and Peter Whittle would probably furiously deny playing by the same political rules. But this morning on the Andrew Marr Show, the Labour peer and Ukip politician were both using suspiciously similar scripts to try to excuse poor performances by their party leaders in Thursday’s by-elections. First up, Peter Whittle on how Paul Nuttall managed to squander a golden opportunity in Stoke Central. Nuttall was on a trip, of the kind that apparently often happens after a by-election, so he couldn’t explain for himself. Whittle referred to personal attacks on Nuttall. There were plenty of those in the campaign, but these were merely ones that involved uncovering the truth

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Saying sorry to Liverpool is a politician’s rite of passage

As Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, has recently discovered, there usually comes a point in a British political career when you have to apologise to Liverpool. The origins of this custom are obscure, rather like the rule that the Cap of Maintenance must accompany the Sovereign to the State Opening of Parliament, but it must not be questioned. It is no good asking why Liverpool should receive more apologies than, for instance, Runcorn or Milton Keynes: you must just say sorry. Rather than having to stammer an inconvenient ‘mea culpa’ at a by- election it would be more sensible to get your apology in first. I suggest that all election

Saturday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Ukip is finished? I don’t think so

So, Ukip is finished. So says Matthew Parris in the Times this morning, as well as Marina Hyde in the Guardian – who takes Paul Nuttall’s declaration that he is ‘going nowhere’ in a slightly different way that he intended. The emerging narrative of Thursday’s by-elections is that Labour had an appalling night from which it will take years to recover, but that Ukip is finished for good. Even Farage has given up on his baby. As Matthew puts it: ‘Ukip’s driving spirits are concluding that the time approaches for the party to die’. I have no capital invested in Ukip. I don’t care a great deal whether it dies

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labour haven’t hit rock bottom yet

Copeland was a truly awful result for Labour. But as I say in The Sun this morning, the really alarming things for Labour is that things can get worse for them. Many Labour MPs have been operating on the assumption that the NHS will keep the party’s loses down to a manageable level in 2020. But Copeland suggests that this hope is misplaced. Labour went all in on the health service there and had no shortage of material to work with, the maternity unit at the local hospital is under threat. By the end of the campaign, Labour’s message was perilously close to vote for us or the baby gets

Friday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Will the Labour membership ever change its mind about its leader?

Labour’s famously vocal moderates have been awfully quiet today, given one of their number – Jamie Reed – has just been replaced by a Tory in a hugely embarrassing by-election defeat for the party. The centrist wing of the party, now almost exclusively a backbench club, has taken a vow of silence because it doesn’t want to be accused of salivating at the loss of a seat or of conforming to the ‘Bitterite’ stereotype of MPs undermining the Labour brand. This is particularly important given some Corbynites are still blaming last summer’s attempted coup by the Parliamentary Labour Party for any catastrophe it encounters, including losing Copeland. That coup didn’t

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Labour is finished. But you can’t blame it all on Corbyn

Even now, even following their historic thrashing in Copeland, Labourites still cannot face the truth. Sure, there are Twitter tears this morning. I’m sure the vibe in Corbyn’s office is skittish and fearful. There’ll be an explosion in ‘What now for Labour?’ articles. But they still do not get the yawning, abyssal depth of the crisis they face. They still don’t see that their party isn’t merely in trouble; it’s finished, over, kaput. Labour is a zombie party, a Frankenstein creature patched together from dead slogans and middle-class anti-Tory angst; a living-dead entity utterly incapable of making a connection with the living. Most Labourites have responded to the loss of

Steerpike Steerpike

Lady Nugee blames fake news for Labour’s defeat in Copeland

Labour is doing its share of soul searching this morning following its disastrous defeat in the Copeland by-election. There are many reasons being put forward for why the Tories were able to snatch the seat from Labour. But Emily Thornberry thinks she knows exactly why Labour lost: fake news. Lady Nugee suggested that the ‘big worry’ about the future of the Sellafield nuclear power plant was the decisive factor in voters abandoning Labour. And she said that the party was defeated because ‘word had got out that Jeremy is not in favour of nuclear power’: ‘That isn’t true, that is what you call fake news’ Nugee went on to say

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour’s defeat in Copeland shows the party is losing its heartlands

So what went wrong for the Labour Party in Copeland last night? There’s no understating the scale of the defeat – the worst by-election performance by an opposition since 1878 by some measures. It lost a seat it has held since 1935 to the Conservatives because the local MP, Jamie Reed, quit politics for a job in the nuclear industry. It’s threatening to become a trend: last night another by-election replaced Tristram Hunt, who also quit as MP for Stoke Central to run the Victoria & Albert Museum. His party held the seat last night, seeing off a noisy but shambolic Ukip campaign but let’s not pretend there’s much for

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

John McDonnell gets his excuses in early for Labour’s disastrous by-election defeat in Copeland

Labour’s defeat in Copeland is nothing short of a disaster – but you won’t hear that from the shadow chancellor. Instead, John McDonnell said the fact that the Tories snatched away the seat – becoming the first Government to win a by-election since the 1980s – was a ‘disappointment’. His biggest concession to those who say this result shows it’s time for Corbyn to go was to admit there are ‘mixed views’ on the Labour leader. So if it isn’t Corbyn’s fault, who is to blame? McDonnell offered several answers to that question. He said that the ‘macho leaders we’ve had in the past’ were responsible for some of the