Politics

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

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Emily Thornberry confronted by Labour MPs over Trident

Emily Thornberry, the new Shadow Defence Secretary, held a meeting with her fellow Labour MPs this evening. It either went ‘swimmingly’ or was ‘worse than I thought’, depending on which MPs you listen to. Based on the accounts of the meeting from MPs who’ve spoken to Coffee House this evening, it was less the Ian Thorpe sort of swimming, and more Eric the Eel. Naturally, those opposed to a change in Labour policy are not happy, and were unlikely to come out of tonight’s meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party feeling very happy unless Thornberry had announced that Jeremy Corbyn has learned to stop worrying and love the nuclear deterrent. But many were

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Corbyn to miss Labour Trident briefing tonight

Emily Thornberry will tonight address Labour MPs at the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour on her Trident policy review. It is the first discussion the party has had on the matter this year. As I reported last week, the Shadow Cabinet briefing on Trident ran out of time, and will take place tomorrow. I understand that Jeremy Corbyn will not be at tonight’s meeting, but a number of MPs are very keen to hear from Thornberry, not just about her thinking on the review but about who she is consulting for it, including whether she will use the evidence being gathered by John Woodcock’s backbench defence committee review. MPs

Douglas Murray

Is it really wise for David Cameron to threaten us with migrants?

Is it really wise for David Cameron to threaten us with migrants? That is what he has done today with his warning that if we ‘leave’ the EU then the migrant camp in Calais could have to be moved to Folkestone, Dover, or our own back gardens. Not only is the claim wrong (our Calais arrangements are with France, not with the EU) it neatly shines a light on the biggest failure of his time in office. The ‘jungle’ in Calais is currently home to around 5,000 people. They are there because the EU does almost nothing to control its external borders and made a principle of abolishing its internal

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can the fighting Leave factions work together?

Despite all the fighting over which faction is working with who that’s taken place over the past few days, MP members of the Vote Leave campaign are actually rather upbeat. In private conversations that I’ve had over the past few days, a number of MPs who had been worried about the campaign have told me that they think it has turned a corner with the restructure that was announced earlier last week. The Vote Leave bunch do not want to merge with Leave.EU for a number of reasons, but one is simply that it would be difficult with such a small amount of time left before the referendum. But there’s nothing

Steerpike Steerpike

Samantha Cameron, the ice queen

When Samantha Cameron appeared on the BBC’s Sport Relief bake-off last month, she managed to charm the nation — with even the Daily Mail‘s Jan Moir singing her praises: ‘Yes, she bakes like a dream and went on to beat the three other celebrity contestants to win her heat — but what was really important was that we saw a glimpse at last of what she’s really like: sweet, self-deprecating and warm.’ Alas not everyone is so convinced that the David Cameron’s wife is ‘sweet, self-deprecating and warm’. In fact one woman — by the name of Lynne Rees — has written a letter to the Mail claiming that the reality is actually

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Liam Fox on Cameron’s ‘ridiculous, scaremongering tactics’

Liam Fox, speaking on the World at One, denounced No 10’s suggestions that leaving the EU would mean Britain could see a Sangatte-style ‘Jungle’ emerge in the UK. He said it was a ‘complete red herring’: https://soundcloud.com/spectator1828/liam-fox-on-migrant-camps David Cameron said his prison reform plans were a ‘bold and radical second term agenda’: But there was scepticism about whether it was too little, too late. Juliet Lyon from the Prison Reform Trust said it was ‘certainly true’ that the situation in prison had deteriorated rapidly under the PM’s watch: Grant Shapps spoke about being the fall guy over the Tory bullying scandal. Speaking on Daily Politics, Shapps said a blind eye was

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Could the Conservatives take Labour’s place as Scotland’s second party?

Last month I wrote that everyone loves Ruth Davidson but no-one will vote for her. Now a new YouGov poll reports that the Tories are ahead, if only just, of Labour in the race to lose the forthcoming Holyrood election least badly. Twenty percent of Scots say they intend to vote for Davidson’s Scottish Conservatives in May and only 19 percent are prepared to back Kezia Dugdale’s Labour party. [datawrapper chart=”http://static.spectator.co.uk/WvPSD/index.html”] A lesser man than I might think this awkward. Granted, even when doubting the veracity of the much-anticipated, rarely-actually-seen Scottish Tory revival I allowed myself some room for wriggling. It could happen, I noted and perhaps it even should happen since the political

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tory whips jittery about local government finance rebellion

Communities Secretary Greg Clark is giving a statement this afternoon in the Commons on local government finance. This sounds like something rather lacking in drama, but I understand it is part of an attempt to ward off a rebellion threatened by MPs on Wednesday. MPs will vote on a local government finance settlement motion on Wednesday, and I hear that the Tory whips are so jittery about whether they might lose that vote that they are refusing to give MPs permission to leave Westminster that afternoon. Conservative MPs have been lobbying ministers to grant fairer funding for rural councils, and are threatening to vote against the government if it does not do

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris for In? Mayor teases readers in column

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] They may not be allowed to speak out yet, but everyone is trying to find out what senior eurosceptic Tories really think about David Cameron’s EU renegotiation deal and whether they’ll vote to leave. For some Cabinet ministers like Michael Gove, this decision is balanced as much on his personal loyalty to David Cameron as it is on his own beliefs about Europe. For others, there’s what happens to their careers after the vote to think about.  Boris Johnson is blissfully free from Cabinet collective responsibility and from having to worry too much about whether he’ll get promoted in

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Are we really supposed to believe David Cameron cares about reforming prisons?

David Cameron has outlined his plans for prison reform today. But does he genuinely care about prisons or is he only concerned with shaping his own legacy? The Prime Minister labelled the number of prisoners reoffending as ‘scandalous’. He also pledged to protect the £130m prison education budget. His motives may seem worthy but it’s arguable he is merely paying lip service to an issue which has been bubbling along under his watch for years. That much appeared to be the view of the Prison Reform Trust’s Juliet Lyon. Speaking on Today, Lyon criticised the PM for turning late to the issue. She said: ‘It is certainly true (that things

Sunday

Robin Harris

I know that Margaret Thatcher would have fought for Brexit with all her strength. Here’s why

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] To be quite so desperate, quite so early, in the pre-referendum campaign as the In campaigners must be to wheel out Lord Powell of Bayswater with his proxy, post-humous Thatcher endorsement is not a good sign for them. Charles Powell even suggests of David Cameron’s package that Mrs Thatcher “would have gone along with what is on offer, indeed negotiated something similar herself”. I would find this assertion astonishing had Charles not got form on the subject. At the time of the bitterly fought Maastricht Treaty and later, he insisted that Margaret Thatcher would have eventually signed up to

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Charles Moore: Sorry, but Margaret Thatcher would not have voted to stay in the EU

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] Margaret Thatcher would have voted to stay in the European Union, her former foreign policy adviser Lord Powell writes in the Sunday Times today. Here, in an extract from his Spectator’s Notes, Charles Moore, Lady Thatcher’s official biographer, says she would have voted to Leave: On Tuesday night, at a Spectator readers’ evening, Andrew Neil interviewed me about my biography of Margaret Thatcher. He asked me if, after leaving office, Lady Thatcher had come to the view that Britain should leave the European Union. I said yes (I think it happened after the Maastricht Treaty in 1992), although advisers had persuaded her that

Saturday

The Spectator

Cameron’s “deal” has backfired – badly. So what will he do now?

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] It should, by now, be clear to David Cameron that he is in some degree of trouble with his referendum. The latest YouGov poll shows the ‘out’ side with a four-point lead: those who were waiting for his renegotiation to yield results have been appalled first at the paucity of the “deal”, and then at his shameless attempt to sell it as a victory. As Cabinet members rally behind this non-deal, we are presented with the unedifying sigh of an establishment closing ranks. This, in itself, causes a degree of public revulsion – which is being reflected in the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Who will be out for Out?

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] The Leave campaigns continue to bicker with each other in increasingly absurd fashion, but it would be wrong to think that everything is going the In campaign’s way. Number 10, as I write in The Sun today, have been taken aback by the sheer scale of the hostility to the deal. There have been some very tense meetings in Downing Street this week. Cameron himself is, I understand, acutely aware of how volatile the situation is and how quickly the referendum could turn. But those around him are more confident. They believe that they are succeeding in denying the

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Marco Rubio is the only candidate who understands America’s global role

Last week, I was in the United States, where the media are even more subject to groupthink than their British equivalents. Fox News, supposedly the conservative voice, is really much more conformist than it pretends, and specialises in noisy opinion more than real news. The only person I met who got the Republican caucuses absolutely right was Chris Ruddy, founder and CEO of Newsmax, the conservative cable channel which claims to be in ‘42 million US homes’. He told me he thought Cruz would beat Trump and the real winner would be Marco Rubio. So it proves. It is interesting that in a campaign in which all the candidates shout about

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour’s election star on ‘evil left-wing bastards’

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader, the party have had a fair few run-ins with dictators of the past. After John McDonnell quoted Chairman Mao during the budget, Corbyn then cited Enver Hoxha at the Labour Christmas party — while his director of comms Seumas Milne has questioned just how many deaths Stalin actually brought about. Happily some prominent Labour members are happy to talk about the shortcomings of such dictators. In an interview with The Rake, Martin Freeman — who starred in Labour’s election broadcast when Ed Miliband was leader — says it’s unfair to call all Tories ‘evil’, as the left has been responsible for more deaths in recent

Friday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Split in Labour Leave over whether it has left Vote Leave

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] This might seem impossible, but the row between Vote Leave and Labour leave has become even more complicated. This afternoon, Labour donor John Mills, who remains on the Vote Leave campaign, has put out this statement: ‘I am the founder and co-owner of Labour Leave. A statement has been put out by someone called Richard Hillgrove purporting to be from Brendan Chilton, General Secretary of Labour Leave. That statement is fraudulent. Richard Hillgrove has no position in Labour Leave. Labour Leave is an independent campaign but corporately it supports Vote Leave.’ But Kate Hoey, who is co-chair of Labour

Steerpike Steerpike

Ken Livingstone tips John McDonnell as Corbyn’s successor

Although Jeremy Corbyn has only been Labour leader since September, there has been much talk from various fractions of the party about who might succeed him. While many Blairites hope someone like Dan Jarvis or Chuka Umunna will be next, Ken Livingstone has now offered his prediction. In an interview with Sam Delaney — on Russia Today — the former Mayor of London says that if Corbyn were killed tomorrow, it would be John McDonnell who would become Labour leader: ‘If Jeremy was pushed under a bus being driven by Boris Johnson, it would all rally behind John McDonnell. Because John, like Jeremy, like me, he’s been in this game for 45 years. [He’s]

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour Leave to split from Vote Leave

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] Following reports of a furious row between Labour Leave and Vote Leave in the Guardian and the Times, I understand that Labour Leave will later today issue a statement confirming that it is going to work as an independent group and will not be supporting Vote Leave’s bid for official designation from the Electoral Commission. The Labour group has decided to work with other grassroots groups such as ‘GO’, set up by Tory MP Peter Bone and Labour MP Kate Hoey, after a split between party donor John Mills and other Vote Leave staff. Nick Watt and Sam Coates

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Why Cameron needn’t worry about Leave’s nine-point lead – yet

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] Funnily enough, David Cameron’s EU deal hasn’t gone down all that well with voters. The Times this morning gives the ‘Out’ campaign a nine-point lead, up from four points last week. The YouGov poll puts Leave on 45 per cent, Remain on 36 per cent and 19 per cent on don’t know or won’t vote. This is an entirely predictable reaction to a deal that has genuinely astonished some MPs with its lack of anything that could come close to looking like a fundamental recasting of Britain’s relationship with Europe. The press has savaged it and while all hell