Politics Archives

Thursday

10 Dec 2015

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s speech falls flat at Labour’s Christmas party

Jeremy Corbyn is currently facing calls to cancel his attendance at Friday’s Stop the War Christmas fundraiser dinner. However, should he stay on course and attend, the Labour leader can at least bank on getting a far friendlier reception from his comrades there than he did at his own party’s Christmas bash. Labour staff gathered in the Conrad St James hotel on Tuesday night for their annual Christmas party. Faced with free drinks and free food, the event had the ingredients for a promising night. That was until Jeremy Corbyn stepped up to the mic to give a speech to his party. Taking inspiration from John McDonnell, who quoted Chairman Mao

Fraser Nelson

‘Voters think: Oh Christ, push Europe away from me!’ – David Cameron interview

This is an extended version of an interview with the Prime Minister from the Christmas special issue of The Spectator. The last time David Cameron sat down with The Spectator for an interview, he was on a train and looking rather worried. There were just weeks to go until the general election and the polls were not moving. At the time, almost no one — and certainly not him — imagined that he was on the cusp of a historic election -victory that would not just sweep the Tories to power but send Labour into an abyss. This time, we meet on another train. But he’s far more relaxed, reflecting on winning

Gavin Mortimer

How Marine Le Pen is winning over the Muslim vote

‘Shock’ was the one-word headline on the front of Monday’s Le Figaro. France was bracing itself for a swing to the right in Sunday’s regional elections, but few imagined it would be quite as dramatic. Marine Le Pen’s Front National (FN) polled nearly 30 per cent of the vote in the first round of voting, ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right Les Républicains and the ruling Socialist Party, who trailed in third with 23 per cent. As it stands, the FN are on course to take control of six regions after Sunday’s second round, although the predictions are they will triumph in no more than three due to tactical voting. Among those who

Fraser Nelson

Cameron’s great escape

The last time David Cameron sat down with The Spectator for an interview, he was on a train and looking rather worried. There were just weeks to go until the general election and the polls were not moving. At the time, almost no one — and certainly not him — imagined that he was on the cusp of a historic election victory that would not just sweep the Tories to power but send Labour into an abyss. This time, we meet on another train. But he’s far more relaxed, reflecting on winning The Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year award and recalling how election night brought him some of the ‘happiest

Tony Blair

What I got right

All wings of the Labour party which support the notion of Labour as a party aspiring to govern — rather than as a fringe protest movement — agree on the tragedy of the Labour party’s current position. But even within that governing tendency, there is disagreement about the last Labour government; what it stood for and what it should be proud of. The moral dimension of Labour tradition has always been very strong, encapsulated in the phrase that the Labour party owed more to Methodism than to Marx. When I became the opposition spokesman on law and order in 1992, following our fourth election defeat, I consciously moved us away

Rod Liddle

Hug, hold hands . . . then stampede to the right

What a pleasure it was to see two socialist parties triumph in the most recent elections. First, Labour increased its share of the vote in Oldham — and then, last weekend, the Front National became France’s most popular party, securing almost 30 per cent in the first round of the country’s regional elections. Labour’s win was, I suspect, a bit of a false dawn. For a start, the party did an un-usual thing and fielded a sentient and likeable candidate, something which most of the time it successfully avoids doing. But even then, it was at least partly dependent upon Asian men hauling large sacks of votes from illiterate and

Michael Gove

Faith is left, right. . . and central

There was, of course, something very special about the House of Commons debate on Syria earlier this month. The moral challenge of how to face those who embrace evil without limits, the long shadows and sombre memories generated by military actions past, the divisions within parties and between friends, the wrestling with conscience that brought good men and women close to tears. The importance of what the House of Commons was being asked to authorise inspired outstanding speeches, most notably of all, Hilary Benn’s. While I was listening to the shadow foreign secretary, I noticed a hunched figure in the gallery also held spellbound by the speech, his head occasionally

Charles Moore

Charles Moore vs David Hare: a one-act play

Charles Moore and David Hare sit in the editor’s office at The Spectator, Hare on a brown leather chesterfield, Moore opposite him on the striped sofa once favoured by the former editor Boris Johnson for naps. Hare and Moore disagree on everything from God to Thatcher; capitalism to the Iraq war. But as Moore has recently noted in his column, both men grew up in the same place, near Bexhill on the East Sussex coast. They’re here for tea and to see if there’s anything on which they can agree.… Act I, Scene I CHARLES MOORE: In your book [The Blue Touch Paper] you describe the Bexhill I knew,

Wednesday

9 Dec 2015

Alex Massie

A liar but not a crook; Alistair Carmichael is good enough for parliament

This morning a pair of judges in Edinburgh dismissed a petition seeking to overturn the result of the general election in Orkney and Shetland. Alistair Carmichael is not guilty of breaking the Representation of the People Act (1983) and may remain a Member of Parliament. There will be no by-election in the northern isles. Obviously this was an outrage and not just because everything in Scotland these days is an outrage. It was a disgrace. A whitewash and an establishment stitch-up. A stitch-up slathered with whitewash. All across Scotland you could hear the screeching as nationalist fury chimps rattled the bars of their cages. A dirty protest of the mind will doubtless

Lloyd Evans

PMQs sketch: Angela Eagle outshines Corbyn and Osborne

Jeremy Corbyn is like the lights in a planetarium. Whenever he goes off, stars appear. Last week the radiation came from Hilary Benn. At PMQs today it was Angela Eagle who outshone her leader. With Cameron away, George Osborne manned the despatch box but he showed not a flicker of joy or anticipation as he uttered the golden words. ‘Today I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others…’ Beneath the tomb-stone expression was this. ‘It’s mine already – try and take it off me’. Ms Eagle was dressed for a PTA meeting in a twinkly caravanning jumper and a Primark jacket. Her no-nonsense blonde hair was cropped short at the

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Angela Eagle tries to cheer up the Labour party

How do you unite the Labour party and cheer them up? Today the party’s MPs were cheering happily and laughing along at the jokes offered from their Dispatch Box for the first time in months. And on Monday, they managed to have a cheerful meeting of the parliamentary Labour party. One thing that was missing from both sessions was Jeremy Corbyn. The cheer that accompanied Angela Eagle as she got to her feet to ask her first question of George Osborne, who was standing in for David Cameron, was full and sincere. And though she didn’t have a particularly devastating series of questions – she managed to meander through the

Steerpike

Watch: Lucy Powell takes a swipe at Diane Abbott over Shadow Cabinet clash

Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected as leader of the Labour party, his main cheerleader Diane Abbott has never been far from his side. In fact, Abbott has even taken it upon herself to often fight Corbyn’s corner. This has involved warning unruly MPs about the size of his mandate, as well as having a heated argument with Jess Phillips during a meeting of the PLP, after the newly-elected Labour MP hit out at the lack of women in Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet. Since then, it’s been claimed that Abbott — who has earned herself the nickname Madame Mao as a result of her behaviour — has also played up during meetings of the

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Merry Christmas from Nigel Evans, the deep-thinker

Although Diane Abbott’s Christmas card efforts have been well-documented this year — with the Labour MP even finding time to write them during hostile meetings of the PLP, Nigel Evans is surely a contender for the ‘most striking Christmas card’ award. Evans has today sent out his own batch of cards which feature the man himself looking pensively into the distance. Happily they also tick the festive-box thanks to a charming Christmas tree mug he clutches in the shot: Good to see he has so much time on his hands.

Steerpike

Jacob Rees-Mogg: ‘the SNP are now the real opposition’

While Mhairi Black has made no secret of her dislike for the Tories, she has at least found words of praise for one Conservative MP. Speaking earlier this year, the SNP MP spoke of her admiration for Jacob Rees-Mogg: ‘I could sit and listen to him all day, I disagree with him 99.9 per cent of the time, and that wee percent is just because he’s got good manners. But I love listening to him, his knowledge is incredible, and he’s so polite.’ Now Rees-Mogg has returned the favour. At last night’s annual Freedom Association’s Christmas Quiz at the Barley Mow, Rees-Mogg took time out of his quizmaster duties to wax lyrical

Isabel Hardman

‘Creeping intolerance’ towards religion could push young British Muslims to Islamic State, Cabinet Minister warns

What do politicians find it harder to admit to doing in Britain today: smoking weed or praying? Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb thinks it’s the latter, and that this is part of a ‘creeping intolerance’ in Britain that makes our society less able to resist religious extremists. In a lecture last night to the Conservative Christian Fellowship, Crabb argued that ‘Britain in 2015 is… increasingly characterised I believe by a creeping intolerance towards Christianity, and towards religion more generally, which we should be deeply concerned about’. He believes that the marginalisation of religious faith and discussion ‘risks pushing more young Muslims into the arms of Isil’ because it delegitimises their faith.

Tony Blair

In defence of Blairism, by Tony Blair

All wings of the Labour Party which support the notion of the Labour Party as a Party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement agree on the tragedy of the Labour Party’s current position. But even within that governing tendency, there is disagreement about the last Labour Government, what it stood for and what it should be proud of. The moral dimension of Labour tradition has always been very strong, encapsulated in the phrase that the Labour Party owed more to Methodism than to Marx. When I became the Opposition spokesman on law and order in 1992, following our fourth election defeat, I consciously moved us away from a

Freddy Gray

Exclusive: Tony Blair writes for The Spectator about the ‘tragedy’ of Corbyn’s Labour

The Christmas issue of The Spectator hits the streets soon; we have David Cameron, Justin Welby and Tony Blair. Blair first wrote for The Spectator in August 1979, four years before he became an MP. Thirty six years later, he is back in the magazine. In his first intervention since Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour Party leadership, the former Prime Minister does not mince his words. In his first sentence, he says: All wings of the Labour Party which support the notion of the Labour Party as a Party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement agree on the tragedy of the Labour Party’s current position. What they don’t agree

Tuesday

8 Dec 2015

Isabel Hardman

OBR suggests Cameron’s benefits row with EU leaders is a bit pointless

What if David Cameron does win his fight – staged or otherwise – with European leaders to block benefits for EU migrants for four years? In terms of his pitch to the British public that voting to stay in the bloc is a good idea, this win would be very handy indeed. But would it actually materially change anything? Today, in an evidence session to the Treasury Select Committee, Office for Budget Responsibility Stephen Nickell rather undermined the importance of this row between leaders when he ended up telling MPs that it wouldn’t make much of a difference to immigration from other EU countries to Britain anyway. He said: ‘I

Steerpike

Fake death threat Tory MP wipes herself from the web

Lucy Allan has come under fire this month after she was accused of faking a death threat from a constituent. The Conservative MP posted a message from a user by the name of Rusty on her Facebook which asked her to rethink her stance on Syria airstrikes. While the message was hardly polite, the worst part came at the end with a sign-off that read ‘unless you die’. However, the email’s author denied writing the final line and posted on her Facebook to confront her about the edit. Since the incident Allen has released a statement admitting that she did add the line ‘unless you die’. However, she insists that this was

Sebastian Payne

Michael Gove’s greatest success so far — not being Chris Grayling

Michael Gove’s tenure as Justice Secretary has been notable for U-turns on the most controversial things done by his predecessor, Chris Grayling. At Justice Questions in the Commons today, Gove confirmed another policy reversal to MPs which emerged last week: the criminal courts charge. Since April, the charge meant that convicted criminals had to pay £150 – £1,200 towards to cost of their cases. Some felt the criminal courts charge was unfair, acting as a perverse incentive to plead guilty, and 50 magistrates resigned in protest. Gove explained the government’s decision: ‘The government has listened carefully to the concerns which have been raised about the criminal courts charge and in the light