Politics Archives

Monday

23 Nov 2015

Maria Eagle: it’s ‘conceivable’ Jeremy Corbyn would support Syria bombing

David Cameron will be making the case for bombing Syria in the Commons later this week and all eyes are on Jeremy Corbyn and Labour to see if they supports his proposals. On the Today programme, the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle summed up the party’s current position as we wait and see: ‘We are in a position in which we will make a decision after the Prime Minister puts forward his rationale – that is the sensible way of doing it and we will do that.’ Eagle also said the party’s leadership has yet to decide on whether it will whip Labour MPs in any future vote on bombing Syria: ‘We

Steerpike

Robert Halfon earns himself a new nickname

Last week Robert Halfon made headlines after he confessed to an affair with a Tory activist, claiming that Mark Clarke — the Tatler Tory currently facing allegations of blackmail and bullying (which Clarke denies) — had planned to film him leaving a hotel with his mistress as part of a blackmail plot. While Halfon has since promised Tory officials that there are no more embarrassing revelations to come out relating to him, Steerpike understands that the Minister without Portfolio has been given a new nickname by colleagues. ‘He’s now known as “red hot Rob”.’ Mr S’s No.10 mole whispers. Meanwhile, Halfon is scheduled to meet yet more young Tory activists this week in Parliament when he gives an

Steerpike

George Galloway on Seumas Milne: ‘he’s my closest friend’

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader, the party has struggled to put on a united front. In fact, MPs from the moderate section of the party have regularly found themselves at loggerheads with the Corbynistas during meetings of the PLP. Happily the majority of MPs did at least manage to find common ground at one meeting earlier this month, where Steerpike understands Jess Phillips’ call for Corbyn’s old comrade George Galloway — who was expelled from Labour in 2003 — to never be allowed back into the party was met with loud cheers. So Mr S can’t imagine a disclosure from Galloway over the weekend is likely to prove helpful to ‘Team Corbyn’. In an

Sunday

22 Nov 2015

Isabel Hardman

Labour struggles to talk straight on Syria vote

It’s quite clear what the Tory approach to a vote on British involvement in action against Islamic State in Syria will be: the Prime Minister will set out his strategy for this later this week, warning MPs that they need to choose to be ‘Churchill not Chamberlain’. George Osborne warned this morning on Marr that a second defeat in the Commons on Syria ‘would be a publicity coup for Isil, that would send a terrible message about Britain’s role in the world’. But Labour’s position is, of course, not clear at all at present. Jeremy Corbyn’s slogan of ‘straight talking, honest politics’ sounds like an aspiration at present. Caroline Flint

Saturday

21 Nov 2015

Sebastian Payne

Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity plummets after Paris attacks

Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Paris terrorist attacks has been heavily criticised by the media and it appears the public have similarly negative views. According to a new ComRes poll from the Sunday Mirror/Independent on Sunday, the Labour leader’s net favourability rating has dropped to –28 — a ten point decrease since the last ComRes poll in mid-September. Notably, 53 per cent of Labour voters view Corbyn favourably, compared to 85 per cent of Conservatives for David Cameron. While George Osborne has a -19 net approval rating and John McDonnell -12, the only politician with a worse score than Corbyn is Vladimir Putin on -41. There is also bad news for

James Forsyth

Cameron to make his case for war to the Commons next week

David Cameron will set out his case for air strikes against IS in Syria to the Commons late next week. Cameron is, as I say in my Sun column today, immensely frustrated by the current British position of only bombing Islamic State in Iraq and not Syria. But he knows that it would be politically back breaking for him to lose another Commons vote on a matter of war and peace, so is proceeding cautiously. But last night’s UN resolution has strengthened Cameron’s hand. Even before that, 30 Labour MPs were certain to back Cameron on this issue and another 30 were highly likely to. With a UN resolution

James Forsyth

Cameron to make his case for war to the Commons next week

David Cameron will set out his case for air strikes against IS in Syria to the Commons late next week. Cameron is, as I say in my Sun column today, immensely frustrated by the current British position of only bombing Islamic State in Iraq and not Syria. But he knows that it would be politically back breaking for him to lose another Commons vote on a matter of war and peace, so is proceeding cautiously. But last night’s UN resolution has strengthened Cameron’s hand. Even before that, 30 Labour MPs were certain to back Cameron on this issue and another 30 were highly likely to. With a UN resolution

Fraser Nelson

James Forsyth starts a weekly column in The Sun

As Spectator readers know, James Forsyth is the most insightful and best-informed political columnist around. Today, he also becomes the best-read – starting a column in The Sun, the country’s favourite newspaper. It has dropped its paywall, so you can now read it here. His column is, as you’d expect, a mixture of his brilliantly-sourced insights into what’s really being said at the top table of British politics, along with the the freshest gossip. In his debut, he explains why the saying ‘Raqqa before Christmas’ is now going around the government, and the calculations that the Prime Minister is making ahead of a very risk vote. He reveals the Chancellor’s choice of karaoke

Friday

20 Nov 2015

Kate Maltby

Boris shows a hint of Euroscepticism — but he still can’t beat Mary Beard

Thank God for Mary Beard. Sure, she’s wrong about Jeremy Corbyn. She was wrong about 9/11. She’s wrong about plenty. But let’s talk about what matters. She’s right about Ancient Rome. It’s rare to see Boris Johnson lose a popular vote. Last night, Beard trounced him at the Intelligence Squared Greece vs Rome debate, winning the day for Rome with a 9% swing. This was also a fundraiser for one of the most worthy educational charities I know: Classics for All encourages access to ‘elite’ classical subjects in state schools, teaching teens that you don’t have to be Bullingdon material to ‘get’ Boethius. So there was something uncomfortable, not just

Steerpike

Diane Abbott seeks help getting her message across

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as Labour leader, his close friend – and rumoured former lover — Diane Abbott has proved to be one of his most loyal allies. When Abbott — who has earned the nickname Madame Mao — isn’t spending PLP meetings writing her Christmas cards, the Shadow International Development Secretary can be found defending Corbyn from accusations of sexism, as well as appearing on television to praise the new regime. Still, with rumours circulating that Abbott is being given the cold shoulder by some members of Team Corbyn after a rather disastrous turn on Today, could it be that she is planning to change the way she deals with the media?

Douglas Murray

Another day, and another terror attack that is ‘nothing to do with Islam’

Another day and another group of men from an unknown religion storm into a hotel shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’. This time in Mali. Once again they take hostages. And once again they free only those who can recite the Quran. Of course our Home Secretary Theresa May along with the President and Secretary of State in the U.S. will all say this has ‘Nothing to do with Islam.’ Or as Secretary Kerry said a couple of days back after the massacre in Paris. ‘It has nothing to do with Islam; it has everything to do with criminality, with terror, with abuse, with psychopathism – I mean you name it’. Indeed, so

Isabel Hardman

Theresa May has some unusual allies in her fight with George Osborne

Cutting the police was always going to be difficult without a terror attack just before the spending review, but naturally the events in Paris have made it much more difficult for the Treasury to stand up to the Home office in a fight that was going to happen anyway. The leaked letter from one of the most senior police officers to Theresa May warning that cutting police numbers would ‘reduce very significantly’ the UK’s ability to respond to a terror attack is very helpful indeed to the Home Secretary. So helpful that she is unlikely to be the one calling for a leak inquiry. Similarly, Andy Burnham’s original push for

Thursday

19 Nov 2015

Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 19 November 2015

When Jeremy Corbyn says it is better to bring people to trial than to shoot them, he is right. So one might feel a little sorry for him as the critics attack his reaction to the Paris events. But in fact the critics are correct, for the wrong reason. It is not Mr Corbyn’s concern for restraint and due process which are the problem. It is the question of where his sympathies really lie, of what story he thinks all these things tell. Every single time that a terrorist act is committed (unless, of course, it be a right-wing one, like that of Anders Breivik), Mr Corbyn locates the ill

The Spectator

A better way

To say that the Paris attacks could have happened in Britain is not enough. Such attacks are being attempted here with terrifying regularity —seven have been thwarted so far this year alone. MI5’s official assessment is that a terrorist attack on British soil is ‘highly likely’. Our security services have so far been very good at keeping us safe. But as the IRA famously put it, spies have to be lucky all of the time, terrorists have to be lucky only once. So it is impossible for Britain to view events on the continent with any sense of complacency. Still, the Prime Minister was justified in pointing out last week that

Isabel Hardman

Why David Cameron is paying special attention to new Tory MPs

David Cameron has had another one of his friendly meetings with new Tory MPs today. These are regular slots where new backbenchers get the chance to raise matters that they’re interested in and the Prime Minister tells them how well they are doing. Unsurprisingly, Syria came up today. It’s interesting that Cameron is being quite as active as he is with new MPs. It’s not just meetings in Number 10: it’s also letters to each new MP after their maiden speech, each with a little detail about what he particularly liked about what they said. This sort of behaviour from the Prime Minister is striking because he was so poor

The Spectator

Listen: Is the BBC a national treasure? With Melvyn Bragg, James Purnell and Rachel Johnson

Last night Spectator Events hosted a discussion at Church House, Westminster about whether the BBC really is a national treasure. Speakers included Melvyn Bragg, author and broadcaster, James Purnell, director of strategy and digital at the BBC, Andrew Bridgen MP, Meirion Jones, investigative journalist, Robin Aitken, author of Can we trust the BBC? and Rachel Johnson, author and broadcaster. The discussion was hosted by Andrew Neil. Both entertaining and informative, the discussion touched upon a number of different areas, including whether the BBC should reduce its print content, whether a ‘liberal’ bias exists and whether the BBC can actually be reformed. At the end of the discussion, the audience was asked whether people wanted

James Morris

Exclusive poll: Jeremy Corbyn’s message is seen as unclear and incoherent

Jeremy Corbyn has a problem: two thirds of voters have no idea what he is saying. In a new poll of 2,372 people, conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and prior to Corbyn’s remarks on the Paris terrorist attacks, 67 per cent say they don’t know or cannot recall what the Labour leader is saying — or that his message is rubbish, incoherent or just the opposite of whatever the Tories say (click to enlarge). Corbyn’s position is even worse for his core audience: the non-voters. Four out of five in this group have no idea what he is talking about. More than half of those who self-identify as left-wing but didn’t vote Labour at the last general

Isabel Hardman

Could Michael Gove help Jeremy Hunt solve the junior doctor row?

That 98 per cent of junior doctors have voted in favour of strike action over their new contract shows the extent of the stand-off between the medical profession and Jeremy Hunt. It is not possible that all the members of the BMA who turned out to vote (76 per cent) are raving left-wingers. Most of them weren’t particularly politicised before this dispute. The question that a number of Tory MPs and ministers are asking is whether a generation of people who, given their education and income bracket, fall quite naturally into the group normally pretty likely to vote Tory are now never going to do so because of the bad blood

Steerpike

News from Labour: Jeremy Corbyn’s email policy to tackle Euro-centric media bias

After the media reported in detail about both the Paris terrorist attacks and the aftermath over the weekend, several online users began to take to social media to complain that the same treatment hadn’t been given to the terrorist attacks that recently occurred in Beirut and Ankara. Jeremy Corbyn was quick to join the cause, hitting out at the mainstream media in a television interview by accusing them of showing Euro-centric bias: ‘Likewise, which didn’t unfortunately get hardly any publicity, was the bombing in Beirut last week or the killing in Turkey. I think our media needs be able to report things that happen outside of Europe as well as inside. A life is

Charles Moore

Jeremy Corbyn is the political version of a creationist

When Jeremy Corbyn says it is better to bring people to trial than to shoot them, he is right. So one might feel a little sorry for him as the critics attack his reaction to the Paris events. But in fact the critics are correct, for the wrong reason. It is not Mr Corbyn’s concern for restraint and due process which are the problem. It is the question of where his sympathies really lie, of what story he thinks all these things tell. Every single time that a terrorist act is committed (unless, of course, it be a right-wing one, like that of Anders Breivik), Mr Corbyn locates the ill