Politics

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

Friday

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Wetherspoon’s boss is right to mock doomster economists over Brexit

In the referendum run-up, we were inundated with warnings and messages of doom and gloom about the untold damage Brexit would unleash – and unleash immediately. It took a pub boss – Tim Martin, the founder of JD Wetherspoon’s – to add a bit of perspective. Why, he argued, would consumer sentiment plunge of a majority voted Brexit and got what they wanted? Why, if we wouldn’t actually leave the EU for two years, would the economy fall of a cliff? At the time, he was mocked for knowing nothing more than how to pull pints. But now, with the prophecies of economic woe having failed to materialise, it seems he was more

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour’s ex-frontbenchers make the most of life outside the shadow cabinet

What can you fill your time with if you’re a former Labour frontbencher left twiddling your thumbs as a result of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership? Well, as Caroline Flint and Chuka Umunna have shown this week by launching themselves into campaigns to replace Keith Vaz, chairing a select committee is a pretty attractive option, particularly when it is one as prestigious as the Home Affairs Committee. But both have also shown over the past few months that it is possible to be a forlorn former frontbencher and still achieve something. Umunna was on the airwaves on Monday morning talking about migration controls: a slot his Shadow Cabinet colleagues might only dream

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Could Theresa May’s grammar school plans trigger an early election?

Predictably, Theresa May’s speech on new grammar schools and expanding selection across the education system has attracted some strong criticism from within her own party, particularly from former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. The controversial nature of the reforms announced today – and let’s not forget the proposal to lift the cap on the proportion of pupils that faith schools can admit from their own religion, which will cause a Commons row for a number of reasons – means the Tory whips are going to be very busy indeed over the next few months. Education reform is a personal priority of Nick Timothy, May’s chief of staff, which means that the

Nick Hilton Nick Hilton

Coffee House shots: Is Theresa May right to expand grammar schools?

With her first major speech since standing on the steps of No. 10, Theresa May has set out plans to radically reform the education system. Introduced by new Education Secretary Justine Greening, May outlined overhauls to the grammar school system, offering expansion to existing ones and giving state schools the opportunity to select. Her policy ambitions also touched on allowing faith schools to be filled entirely on grounds of religion. And she wants to make private schools justify their charitable status. But how revolutionary are these plans? And are selective schools really the way to go? On today’s edition of the Coffee House shots podcast, Fraser Nelson is joined by James Forsyth who says: ‘Following the reforms

Steerpike Steerpike

Corbynistas run out of momentum at fundraiser

This year’s Labour conference in Liverpool will be accompanied by the rival ‘The World Transformed’ event which will see Momentum host four days of talks. With speakers including Richard Seymour — the journalist who once said if Falklands hero Simon Weston knew anything ‘he’d still have his face’ —  it’s shaping up to be an interesting few days. Alas, in order for the event to even go ahead, Momentum claim they still need to raise £30,000 to host the event. As part of their efforts, last night they held a World Transformed fundraiser at Brixton Jamm. The event promised an ‘unforgettable night of hip hop, documentary, tropical beats and discussion’. While Mr S is informed

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Theresa May makes her grammar schools pitch

Theresa May spoke for almost half an hour before she actually mentioned the ‘G’ word: Grammar schools. But before she did so, the Prime Minister repeatedly uttered another word nearly a dozen times: meritocracy. May said she wanted Britain to become ‘the great meritocracy of the world’ and she said schools were the place to kick start that change. Her speech was a sometimes-reheated version of her first Downing Street address, but her message was clear: this is a bold shake-up of Britain’s education system. The PM said grammar schools would be encouraged to grow and she vowed as well to kick over the obstacles in the way of new grammar

Jeff Prestridge

Savers paying the price as the country meanders towards Brexit

Oh to be a saver in a country currently run by Bank of England boss Mark Carney. Oh dear, indeed. It’s difficult, excruciatingly painful and barely rewarding. Yes, let’s not mince our words and just spell it out as it really is. Savers are the fool guys and girls, paying a heavy price for ensuring the economy remains on track as the country meanders to the signpost labelled Brexit – and also so that our Great British banks (sarcasm intended) keep out of financial trouble. Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, there is no end to the misery that savers are enduring. Indeed, if I were a betting man (I only have

Steerpike Steerpike

Owen Smith receives a boost from Labour’s business tsar

As Owen Smith’s supporters struggle to stay positive about his chances in the Labour leadership race, the MP can at least take heart that some still have faith. The latest Register of Interests shows that Smith has received a donation of £67,550 from Anthony Watson. This covers the rental, phone and internet costs of Smith’s campaign office. Alas, Mr S suspects not all Labour members will be so impressed by the news. When Watson was hired by Angela Eagle — then shadow Business Secretary — the former Nike boss was touted as the ‘ethical’ business adviser who could ‘recalibrate Labour’s relationship with the business community’. However, doubts were soon raised over whether he lived

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn races ahead of Owen Smith in campaign funding

Although Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign team recently asked subscribers to donate £10 to help fund the management of ‘selfie queues’ at rallies, it seems the Labour leader isn’t struggling too much when it comes to finding the coffers to keep his leadership fight on the road. The latest Register of Interests shows that since July Corbyn has raked in nearly £190,000 worth of funding towards his campaign. The hefty sum includes an ‘interest free, unsecured loan of £50,000’ from Momentum as well as two more ‘interest free, unsecured’ loans from Len McCluskey’s Unite the union, totalling £75,000. All three loans are ‘for an indefinite period’. Unite have also provided ‘serviced offices’

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Theresa May’s grammar school revolution starts today

Theresa May made it clear when she became Prime Minister that she wanted to be defined by more than just Brexit. With the launch of her Government’s policy on grammar schools this morning, today is the day she puts her money where her mouth is. After snippets of detail slowly saw the light of day this week, Theresa May’s plans for selective schools are appearing to be much more radical and dramatic than many will have imagined. As well as the opening of new grammar schools, the PM will say that hundreds of comprehensive schools will be allowed to convert to a system of selecting their intake (so long as they pick a certain

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 8 September 2016

What Swedes don’t say Sir: Tove Lifvendahl is, unfortunately, exactly right in her analysis of Swedish immigration and asylum policy (‘Sweden’s refugee crisis’, 3 September). Those in Sweden who support free movement and free trade feel it has long been obvious that the consensus in the riksdag would lead to disaster. Last autumn saw a celebrity-studded ‘Sweden Together’ celebration of the open-border immigration policy. Then, just six weeks later, we experienced the closure of borders and passport controls enforced on the Öresund bridge connecting Sweden to Denmark. The flow of immigrants is now at five per cent of its peak, but the Öresund region, or the Greater Copenhagen area — a

The Spectator

Barometer | 8 September 2016

In it together Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley were elected co-leaders of the Green party. Has a political party had co-leaders before? — The Green party of Aotearoa, New Zealand, founded in 1990 from an earlier Values Party, has been co-led since 1995, when Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald were elected. The party, which gained 6.9% of the vote in the 1990 general election, is currently the third largest political party in New Zealand with 14 seats and 10.7% of the vote in the 2014 general election. — Inspired by its example, New Zealand’s Alliance Party also adopted co-leaders in 2004, but failed to arrest its decline. It was de-registered

Peter Jones

Aristotle on Brexit voters

It comes as no surprise to find that there has recently been much talk among Brexit supporters about ‘the wisdom of crowds’. The question fascinated Aristotle, who discussed it at some length in his Politics. Aristotle (4th century BC) firmly believed that only the ‘best’ should rule. Nevertheless, he had lived in a direct people’s democracy in Athens, and agreed that ‘perhaps, for all its difficulties, it has something to be said for it’. He proceeded to make the case by a series of analogies. The many, he suggested, might be collectively better than the few ‘in the same way that a feast to which all contribute is better than one

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tory backbenchers toe the line on grammar schools – for now

There were two striking things about today’s urgent question on grammar schools. The first was that MPs were told far less by Education Secretary Justine Greening than the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs was told by the Prime Minister last night. As James revealed yesterday, Theresa May explained the policymaking process for new grammars to her MPs, but today Greening would merely say that: ‘We are looking at a range of options, and I expect any new proposals to focus on what we can do to help everyone go as far as their individual talents and capacity for hard work can take them. Education policy to that end will

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour tastes success at Westminster Dog of the Year

After seven years of Tory domination at the Westminster Dog of the Year competition, MPs from other parties had clearly had enough. Labour’s Anna Turley and Clem the Shih Tzu (named after Clement Attlee, of course) came down from Redcar in a bid to knock the Tories off top spot (though seemed more interested in attacking a TV boom mike), while the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr borrowed rescue dog Freda, an English Bulldog, from the Dog’s Trust. This year also saw its first SNP entry – Dr Lisa Cameron and French bulldog Rossi – who, having swapped East Kilbride for the bright lights of London, was finding the whole place a bit

Katy Balls Katy Balls

European Parliament appoint Guy Verhofstadt as lead Brexit negotiator

As the government try to work out what ‘Brexit means Brexit’ really means ahead of triggering Article 50, an announcement today from the European Parliament is likely to send a shiver down the spine of No.10 officials. Guy Verhofstadt, the MEP and former Belgian Prime Minister, has been appointed as the European Parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator. The outspoken Belgian will work with Michel Barnier, who is leading negotiations for the European Commission. Verhofstadt’s duties include helping prepare the EP position in the negotiations and — once Article 50 is triggered — helping to shape the EP’s negotiating position. On the surface, this appointment does not appear to be great news for Theresa May. Verhofstadt — who

Steerpike Steerpike

Ken Livingstone reneges on his pledge to flee Brexit Britain

This week Ken Livingstone has managed to cause a stir after he appeared on the BBC to defend Keith Vaz — but ended up talking about Hitler. However, there was another reason Livingstone’s appearance on television piqued Mr S’s interest: why is he still in Britain? During the EU referendum campaign, Livingstone threatened to emigrate if Brexit triumphed: ‘I would personally start thinking about emigrating to somewhere the economy is not going to collapse.’ Yet three months on and Livingstone remains in Brexit Britain, showing no signs of making a quick getaway. While it’s certainly true — as this week’s Spectator cover story details — that the economy is confounding Remain doom-mongers such as

Steerpike Steerpike

Evening Standard’s change of heart about Sadiq Khan

During the London mayoral campaign, the Evening Standard was accused of showing ‘overwhelming bias’ towards the Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith. The Media Reform Coalition claimed the paper had become the ‘mouthpiece of the Conservative party’ after it ran twice as many positive headlines about Goldsmith than his Labour rival Sadiq Khan. Khan was also the subject of twice as many negative headlines — which included: ‘Exposed: Sadiq Khan’s family links to extremist organisation’ and ‘Minister: Khan is unfit to be mayor’. However, despite the paper’s best efforts — and eventual endorsement of Goldsmith — it wasn’t enough to sway voters, and Khan was elected mayor with 57 per cent of the vote. So,

Mark Nayler

Spain’s political freeze starts to bite

The circus of Spanish politics shows no signs of stopping. For now, the country is managing to weather this eight month-long deadlock surprisingly well: Spain’s GDP growth has continued at one of the fastest rates in the eurozone. But this is in spite, rather than because, of Spain’s zombie government. A record-breaking tourist season has helped, as has a jump in consumer spending. Yet finally, the cracks are beginning to show; and the impasse crippling Spanish politics – which now looks set to lead to the increasingly-likely prospect of a third election on Christmas Day this year – is starting to take its toll. So what’s the hold up? If you’re looking for who to blame, you needn’t

Susan Emmett

House sellers must be realistic if they want to do a deal

After a long summer of uncertainty following the Brexit vote, data is finally dribbling in. While some of it strikes a brighter note, messages emerging from the stats are mixed. Serious sellers, especially in the prime markets, must remain realistic and flexible with pricing if they want to do a deal. Latest numbers from the Halifax showed that annual house price growth has eased to 6.9 per cent following a very slight drop of 0.2 per cent in August. This contrasts with last week’s more upbeat numbers from the Nationwide building society which revealed a pick-up in house prices in August, suggesting some resilience in the market. Neither paint the