Politics

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

Friday

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A ‘kinder politics’ falls flat on Question Time

Last night’s episode of Question Time saw David Dimbleby joined in Stoke-on-Trent by Sajid Javid, Lucy Powell, Ukip’s Paul Nuttall, the Sun‘s managing editor Stig Abell and Paris Lees, the transgender rights activist. With Jeremy Corbyn the main topic on the agenda following the Sun‘s story this week claiming Corbyn failed to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Sunday service at Whitehall, would Corbyn’s supporters prove to all the merits of a new ‘kinder’ politics? At first, it looked like Corbyn’s call to ‘treat people with respect’ and with no ‘rudeness’ may have been taken on board, as even Javid seemed keen to take part in the new regime. Discussing the leader of the opposition,

Thursday

Peter Jones

Corbyn, Nero and the Bomb

Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Nicholas Houghton is worried that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will never use the existing means of defence — Trident — to defend the country. Mr Corbyn is incandescent that a mere Chief of Defence Staff has the sheer effrontery to express a view on a matter that is (apparently) irrelevant to the defence of country but is purely political. One is reminded of the accession of Nero to Rome’s imperial throne in ad 54. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, it was dirty work by the controlling empress Agrippina that did for her husband Claudius, with the result that Nero, her son from an

Sebastian Payne

Who will influence the EU referendum? Martin Lewis, not June Sarpong

The Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is apparently the most trusted voice on the EU referendum, according to a new poll. James Morris from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, who was also Ed Miliband’s former pollster, has examined the state of the referendum campaign and reports that it is very close. According to Morris’ research, 45 per cent believe Britain should remain in the EU, compared to 42 per cent who would vote to leave — a result that is within the margin of error. 11 per cent are undecided. This polling also shows a big difference in voting intentions among different demographics and age groups. 18-54 year old men and woman who are

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Open letter to Narendra Modi: ask David Cameron to safeguard freedom of expression in Britain

Dear Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Re: Urging Action by Indian government to Safeguard Freedom of Expression in Great Britain As a writer committed to protecting and defending freedom of expression around the world, I am extremely concerned about the growing intolerance towards critical voices who challenge orthodoxy in Britain. As your three-day state visit to the United Kingdom kicks off, I am urging you to engage with Prime Minister David Cameron both publicly and privately on this crucial issue. Please speak out on the current state of freedom of expression in Britain, urging Mr Cameron to stay true to the spirit of the democratic freedoms enshrined in British history, from the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tracey Crouch interview: I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a minister

Usually when the Prime Minister offers a backbencher their first ministerial post, they trip over their shoelaces in the rush to accept. Not so Tracey Crouch. Even though she had been waiting for five years to be promoted – having previously been considered too rebellious – and even though she had always wanted to be Sports Minister, she hesitated when the call finally came after the General Election to offer her just that. Instead of accepting at once, she told the Prime Minister she wasn’t sure. The reason she gave David Cameron was one many women shy away from when discussing their careers. ‘I said I wasn’t sure because I

Mary Dejevsky

The war on pensioners

Who controls the media in Britain? Depending on your political outlook, you might answer: the Conservatives, the liberal-left chattering classes, Rupert Murdoch or the BBC. But if the coverage of the elderly is anything to go by, then we can perhaps agree on one thing: the headlines are decided by a cohort of 25- to 45-year-olds who believe that other people’s parents and grandparents — a.k.a. Britain’s pensioners — have stolen their future, dashed their dreams and nabbed all the plush property. How else to account for a headline such as ‘No pay rise? Blame the baby-boomers’ gilded pension pots’ and a plethora of articles maintaining that pensioners have ‘never had

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

The answer for sensible, moderate Labour folk is simple. Just leave

What a useless shower the Labour party is right now. What a snivelling dance of fools. And I don’t just mean the new lot, under Jeremy Corbyn, although his ongoing decision to surround himself with a team of people who seem to have each been tasked, individually, with emphasising a different bad thing about him does take some beating. I mean the whole train set, radicals and moderates alike. This is a party, right now, reaping what it has sown, which is piety, tribalism and a sort of over-weening preachiness. And now, to mix my metaphors, it is getting bitten by all of them. Last week, Labour suspended a man

Wednesday

Sebastian Payne

Vote Leave campaign goes to war with No.10 and Leave.EU

The government is getting its revenge on the Vote Leave campaign. After a stunt at Monday’s CBI conference — where two protesters interrupted David Cameron’s speech — Sir Eric Pickles has written to the Electoral Commission to suggest that the Vote Leave campaign should not be designated as the official Out campaign. The Guardian reports the former Communities Secretary as saying: ‘I believe the actions of Vote Leave in disrupting the CBI conference and declaring a strategy of intimidation and protest disqualify Vote Leave from being a designated lead campaigner in the forthcoming EU referendum campaign.’ In response, the Vote Leave campaign say Pickles’ letter is a sign that the government is panicking about the referendum. Rob Oxley, head of

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Owen Jones gives Seumas Milne a run for his money

As Seumas Milne attempts to settle in to his new job as Jeremy Corbyn’s director of communications, the former Guardian columnist has got off to a rather shaky start. As well as making headlines himself over his controversial appointment, the negative press surrounding Corbyn has shown no sign of disappearing with a fresh storm recently emerging regarding Milne’s colleague Andrew Fisher. Perhaps aware of his own shortcomings, Milne was even overheard outside a pub on Thursday asking the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg for advice on how to do his job. Now, Corbyn’s other original Guardian cheerleader Owen Jones has stepped in to offer Milne some advice of his own. Following the negative press Corbyn received this week over

Sebastian Payne

Is Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘New Politics’ beginning to flounder?

Jeremy Corbyn has had enough of his shadow cabinet publicly opposing him. According to today’s Guardian, the Labour leader has given his frontbench team a dressing down over speaking out against him — in light of comments by the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle on Trident last weekend: ‘According to several party sources, Corbyn made it clear that disputes must not be carried out so publicly in future, as he addressed his weekly shadow cabinet meeting. ‘The Labour leader also reminded his colleagues that media statements must be cleared through his office and asserted that there must be stronger collective responsibility. It is understood Eagle’s remarks appearing to back the stance of Gen Sir Nicholas

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Tory MP climbs the greasy pole with £20,000 a month oil gig

Last year Nadhim Zahawi told Parliament in a debate on UK-Kurdistan bilateral relations that it should come as ‘no surprise’ that he has ‘significant interest’ in the region. Indeed only this summer, Zahawi — who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan — led a cross-party group there which included a visit to an oil field which was run by a company that he has shares in. Now the millionaire businessman has managed to boost his income significantly with a new part-time job relating to the area. After it was announced in July that Zahawi was joining the oil firm Gulf Keystone as chief strategy officer, the latest register of

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

George Osborne and the death of Tory idealism

The kindest way to treat your enemies is to hate them. Hate them and you don’t understand them or their appeal. Hate them and you cannot see their own doubts and divisions. The opponents of Conservatives see them as greed-driven monsters, concerned only with helping the rich and middle-class. They are so tawdry, so lacking in idealism, they make you hate your own country. ‘There has been so little that has happened to England since the 1980s that I have been happy about or felt able to endorse,’ sighed Alan Bennett recently, before going on to accuse the Tories of creating a one-party state (a charge which astonished everyone who 1)

Tuesday

Tim Farron

Why can’t Labour decide if it opposes the Investigatory Powers Bill?

Last week brought into focus how Labour is in complete and utter disarray. After the Home Secretary’s statement on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, Andy Burnham wholeheartedly agreed with the government on the need for extra powers for spy chiefs. Then, about five days later, a letter was released by Burnham’s office saying that after closer inspection, he had a couple of ‘concerns’. Whatever you think of the Conservatives, they at least have a principled position on this: anything the spy agencies want, they get — regardless of the privacy implications. The Liberal Democrats on the other hand strongly believe that our agencies must make the case for new powers and

Sebastian Payne

Eurosceptics lambast David Cameron’s rhetoric on EU reform

David Cameron’s speech and letter on EU reform have gone down as you might expect with Eurosceptics: they hated them. MPs and campaigners think the Prime Minister should be pushing for bigger reforms and the renegotiation is looking like a sham. Some have concluded the Prime Minister has spent the past six months traveling around Europe, asking what others find acceptable and his rhetoric today is based on what he can achieve — on red tape and competitiveness for example — instead of what is best for Britain. One Eurosceptic Conservative MP says there is disappointment across the party: ‘The Prime Minister’s letter and speech were very disappointing and weak. A strong negotiating position is not being

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Benedict Cumberbatch defends his ‘f— the politicians’ rant

After Benedict Cumberbatch indulged in a foul-mouthed rant about the government’s response to the refugee crisis, he was criticised by several figures — including Boris Johnson — for using the theatre as a platform for his political views. In fact, the incident even left Mr S asking: is Benedict Cumberbatch the new Russell Brand? Judging by comments he made today after collecting his CBE, the actor could well succeed the retired-revolutionary. When reporters outside the palace put to the Sherlock actor that he may regret his comments — which included the line ‘f— the politicians’, Cumberbatch said actually it was quite the contrary: ‘Have you been to the theatre recently? How many times? Have you

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Labour’s Simon Danczuk under fire over economy class flight snub

Today Simon Danczuk has come under fire for reportedly pulling out of a parliamentary trip to China at the last minute, after discovering he would have to travel in mere economy class. The Labour MP cancelled his attendance after his request to be upgraded to business class was turned down. According to Richard Graham, the Tory MP,  this led to the whole trip being called off. However, Danczuk says that the suggestion he was being overly picky is ‘nonsense’ and that a health condition — thought to be a back problem — was the reason flying economy class was unsuitable. Still, this is the same super-fit Simon Danczuk who boasts that he runs at least

The Spectator

Full text: David Cameron’s Chatham House speech on Europe

Almost three years ago, I made a speech about Europe. I argued that the European Union needed to reform if it was to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. I argued that Britain’s best future lay within a reformed European Union, if the necessary changes could be agreed. And I promised the British people that, if I was re-elected as Prime Minister, we would have an in-out referendum…and the final say on whether our national and economic security is better protected by remaining in the European Union, or by leaving. That promise is now being honoured. The law of the land will require that there must be a referendum on our EU membership by

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Cameron is fighting insurgencies on two fronts: Scotland and Europe

Counter-insurgency operations, as any army officer could tell you, are a messy business in which the consequences of failure are always easier to measure and appreciate than the rewards of victory. Moreover, even limited success in one area – the destruction of the enemy’s ‘human resources’, for instance – can be offset by the manner in which that success is achieved. Short-term success cannot be confused with long-term stability. And therein lies one of many paradoxes: counter-insurgency operations frequently involve starting fires to put out other, larger, fires. Politics, as David Cameron might now tell you, is often much the same. The Prime Minister is, this week, fighting twin insurgencies. Each

Nigel Adams

Power shortages in Britain’s energy network are shameful

Last Wednesday, following what National Grid casually referred to as ‘multiple plant breakdowns’ of a number of power stations – desperate attempts had to be made to find back-up power supplies to keep the lights on throughout the evening. It was a clear demonstration of the dangers of the UK’s outmoded power network and successive failures of policy. And before anyone starts bleating about the government’s slashing of wind and solar subsidies, the wind wasn’t blowing and the sun wasn’t shining, so they were unable to help out at a time of crisis. As a result, there was little spare power to cover the gap. This meant that at one

Sebastian Payne

Read: David Cameron’s letter to Donald Tusk outlining EU reform proposals

Downing Street has released the long-awaited letter from the Prime Minister to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council — outlining the four areas in which he would like to negotiate a new settlement for Britain. Here are the key parts of the letter, outlining the areas David Cameron is keen to reform: 1. Economic governance ‘What we seek are legally binding principles that safeguard the operation of the Union for all 28 Member States — and a safeguard mechanism to ensure these principles are respected and enforced. These principles should include recognition that: The EU has more than one currency. There should be no discrimination and no disadvantage for