Politics

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

Thursday

16 Mar 2017

Does it always pay to switch?

When Isobel Walters guides parents through the process of switching a child’s school, she speaks from first-hand experience. In the 1990s she stayed at her first independent senior school for only eight weeks before changing to another. ‘The second school was just as academic, but it focused a lot more on sport,’ she says. ‘I started on the sport, and I was away — the move worked well.’ Walters, who runs IW Schooling Consultants, has used her own life lesson to advise clients. She quotes a recent example of a girl who came from abroad to study at a girls’ boarding school in a London suburb, only to find that,

Steerpike

Government’s ‘plan for Britain’ isn’t working

Theresa May’s omnishambles of a week is showing no signs of improvement. As the Budget U-turn and expenses probe play out, many have been left asking: is this a government that is ready for Brexit? But fear not — they have a plan. In fact, Theresa May has even had a website built so she can share her ‘Plan for Britain’ with the nation. Only there’s a snag. The website isn’t working. On the day of its launch, it’s down as a result of technical issues. Visitors to the page are told that it ‘isn’t working’ — much like Theresa’s government at the moment.

Ross Clark

Theresa May must call an election immediately

Each day, I can see more clearly a pivotal line from Theresa May’s future biography: ‘Ultimately, her downfall can be traced to one mistake: her failure to seek her own mandate and call and general election in the spring of 2017, when Labour was at its weakest and she was still enjoying a political honeymoon.’ A fortnight ago William Hague made the case for an early election. Since then, the evidence has grown. In the past 24 hours alone the lights outside the Prime Minister’s windows have twice flashed: go to the country now, or you will regret it. The U-turn on National Insurance for the self-employed should be warning

Alex Massie

Why is the UK government so happy to give the SNP what they want?

‘Now is not the time’ is not an answer to anything, not least since no one has actually suggested a second referendum on Scottish independence take place ‘now’. In that respect, the Prime Minister’s line today answers precisely nothing and cannot be sustained inevitably. I should have thought this sufficiently obvious enough that even people in Downing Street could have discerned this. But evidently not. The SNP are past-masters when it comes to mining grievance. That being so, however, you wonder at a strategy that hands them a gold-plated grievance and does not even seek to charge them a fair price for it. Theresa May might as well have said:

Steerpike

Watch: Tory chairman loses his temper over election spending row

Oh dear. It’s not turning out to be the best week for the conservatives. On top of an embarrassing omNICshamble U-turn, Theresa May is on a sticky wicket over ‘IndyRef2’ and now the Conservatives have been fined £70,000 by the Electoral Commission — for failing to declare a total of £275,813 in campaign spending in the general election. With criminal charges now being considered across 12 police force areas over claims of expenses fraud by the Tories, perhaps it’s understandable that Patrick McLoughlin — the party chairman — wasn’t in a chatty mood when he bumped into Sky’s Darren McCaffrey. Alas, McLoughlin struggled to control his temper on facing questions — resulting

James Forsyth

‘Now is not the time’ – Theresa May plays hardball with Nicola Sturgeon

Theresa May has just declared that ‘now is not the time’ for a Scottish independence referendum. Given that no referendum can take place without the UK government’s consent. May is effectively ruling it out whatever the Scottish Parliament decides next week. Now, it is not a surprise that the UK government won’t let an independence referendum take place during the Brexit negotiations. Scottish voters can’t possibly make an informed decision until they know both the terms of the Brexit deal and what kind of relationship with the EU or the single market an independent Scotland could have. But what is new in May’s statement is her refusal to suggest when

Charles Moore

Sturgeon’s great trick has been to convince us the SNP represent all Scots

The great achievement of the Scottish Nationalists is to persuade people outside the borders of their own nation — including the London-based media — to equate them with the Scottish people. Obviously, they are their chief elected representatives just now, but the result of the referendum on Scottish independence quite clearly showed that the equation is false. So when Nicola Sturgeon says there has to be another referendum because of Brexit, the equation should be much more firmly challenged. There is no moral reason why the result of a declaredly UK-wide referendum should require another vote in part of the kingdom (next, UDI for London?). Nor is there a constitutional

Steerpike

The Queen backs Brexit

Champers at the ready. After much speculation last year over Her Majesty’s feelings towards the EU, the verdict is finally in: the Queen backs Brexit. Her Majesty has given Royal Assent to the government’s Brexit Bill — thereby making it an Act of Parliament. Theresa May now has permission to trigger the UK’s exit from the EU at a time of her choosing. The news has been met by celebrations in the Commons: Here's the moment the Commons learns the Brexit bill has become law pic.twitter.com/SWIz4oecR6 — BBC Parliament (@BBCParliament) March 16, 2017 However, over in the Lords it’s a more muted affair: And here's the moment the Lords hear the

Rose Asani

Geert Wilders didn’t win – but he has reshaped Dutch politics

Rotterdam If the 2017 Dutch election was seen as a bellwether for populism in Europe, the verdict is still out. Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD may have come out on top, but it was a limping victory. One which saw the party lose around a quarter of its seats and radically shift its position over immigration. Just a year ago Rutte stood firm that immigrants were welcome in his country. But as the winds seemed to favour the anti-immigration stance of far-right parties, his rhetoric changed. ‘Act normal or go away,’ he said recently. It was in response to growing concerns that immigrants arriving in the Netherlands were not yet integrating.

James Forsyth

Double trouble | 16 March 2017

Theresa May is a cautious politician. She has risen to the top by avoiding unnecessary risks; no one survives 18 years on the Tory front bench by being a gambler. But few prime ministers have the luxury of choosing their battles, and she would not have chosen the two that may now define her premiership: successfully negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union while saving the United Kingdom. If she achieves both, she will join the pantheon of great prime ministers. If she fails, she’ll be keeping Lord North company in the history books. Unlike David Cameron, May has been preparing for a new Scottish referendum from the moment she

Simon Barnes

Little birds, big trouble

A British military base is being used for a multi-million-quid criminal enterprise, possibly involving the Russian mafia — and Britain seems powerless to prevent it. Last year they had a crack at enforcement and had to give up. Mafia 1, British army 0. It’s happening in Cyprus, in the British Sovereign Base Areas. The situation in Cyprus is a bit like the Schleswig-Holstein Question, but with more complex problems of nationality, culture and power. It has let this criminal enterprise thrive and prosper on the fringes, with the result that Britain is providing the infrastructure for a major illegal business with suspected links to Russian criminal organisations. Which is a

Hugo Rifkind

Prisoners, phones and Amazon’s bottom line

On the Amazon page that sells the world’s smallest mobile phone, the reviews are mainly about putting it into your bottom. ‘What more can you ask for,’ writes a man called John Doe, ‘than this ergonomic phone that fits snugly in your rectum?’ Sean writes, ‘No anal problems!!! Didn’t hurt my bum at all!’ Pookey says it’s ‘easy to butt dial’, although may be talking about something else. For another customer, the big problem is that ‘you can barely feel the vibrate function when it is concealed’. Although don’t worry, because ‘Bluetooth reception is OK’. Why ever take it out? Many of these phones are advertised under the slogan ‘Beat

Justin Marozzi

Lawrence of Arabia

The centenary of General Allenby’s capture of Jerusalem falls later this year. On 11 December 1917, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force entered the city on foot in recognition of the unique sensitivities surrounding the world’s holiest city. War and farce are never too far removed and, as is so often the case on these extraordinarily important moments, the surrender of Jerusalem almost went hilariously wrong. Mounted on horseback and waving a white flag, the city’s mayor offered to hand over the keys to Private Murch, a British cook who had been sent out to find some eggs for his commanding officer. ‘I don’t want yer city,’ the stalwart

Rod Liddle

Europe’s politicians rightly feel extinction breathing down their necks

Allahu Akbar! Greetings from Samsun, where Turkish protestors — their eyeballs spinning in orgasmic Islamic rage — tried to set fire to the Dutch flag while chanting the usual ‘Allah’s dead good’ stuff. They used cigarette lighters and some lighter fuel and up it went — and was then jubilantly trampled on by the inflamed, howling masses. Except that it wasn’t the Dutch flag — they had got hold of the French flag by mistake. I wonder if any of the similarly inflamed Turkish protestors in the Netherlands would have noticed? My guess is most of those demonstrating in Rotterdam had spent their entire lives in the Netherlands, but possibly

Wednesday

15 Mar 2017

Lloyd Evans

Scottish MPs don’t want to lead Britain. They want to sabotage it

Corbyn flunked it. Yet again. And his failure to skewer the government left the field open to the SNP. Speaker Bercow seemed to collude with this arrangement and he gave the Nats six opportunities to quiz the prime minister. Angus Robertson appeared to relish the battle. His great grey face was already brimming with fury as he demanded that Mrs May reach ‘an agreement’ with Holyrood before triggering Article 50. By ‘agreement’ he meant that Scotland must stay within the single market while the rest of Britain gets out. Which is hardly sensible. Like putting a zebra-crossing on a runway. But the SNP isn’t interested in good sense or compromise.

Steerpike

Welsh secretary accidentally ‘unsacks’ Michael Heseltine

It’s not turning out to be a great day for the government. After announcing a u-turn on the NICs rise in last week’s Budget, Philip Hammond has spent the afternoon having to face down angry MPs in the Chamber. Now it turns out that a ‘clerical error’ has meant Michael Heseltine has been temporarily ‘unsacked’ from his post as a government advisor. After the government sacked the Tory grandee last week over his Lords rebellion on Article 50, many were surprised today to receive a letter from the Welsh Secretary declaring that he was counting on the ‘expertise of Lord Heseltine’ for the upcoming City Deal for the Swansea Bay

Katy Balls

Hammond tries and fails to explain himself

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 appeared in the House to explain the government’s NICs U-turn. Flanked by Theresa May and David Gauke, Hammond was met with heckles as he said the government had come to the conclusion that while the national insurance class 4 rise is compatible with the tax lock legislation, it ‘does not meet a wider understanding of the spirit of that commitment’.

Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn misses open goal at PMQs

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 the Labour leader stumbled around for things to say in one of his worst performances to date. Corbyn began by offering May an easy pot shot when he accused her of leading a government in chaos. The Prime Minister responded with an effective — if predictable — retort that while she usually does not take lectures

James Forsyth

Philip Hammond’s NICs U-turn has blown his credibility as Chancellor

Philip Hammond’s credibility as Chancellor has just taken a big blow. Under pressure from his own backbenchers, he has abandoned the proposed National Insurance increase for the self-employed. This means that he has U-turned on one of the central measures of his first Budget. What makes this change particularly humiliating for Hammond is that he told Tory backbenchers last Wednesday night that they could defend this National Insurance increase confident in the knowledge that the government wouldn’t change tack. But now it has. From now on, Tory MPs will treat Hammond’s reassurances with scepticism. The other problem for Hammond is that he made much of how he was making this

Katy Balls

Breaking: Philip Hammond abandons NICs rise

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 war with No 10. There will be full coverage on Coffee House shortly. Here is Hammond’s letter in full: