Politics

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

Wednesday

Sebastian Payne

Campaign kick-off: 15 days to go

The general election campaign is beginning to feel a little staid. Maybe there was too much excitement over the attacks and TV debates, or maybe the parties are running out of big policies. But there are still some announcements: Labour will continue its ‘NHS week’ with promises of more health care spending while the Tories will talk up their caring side. To help guide you through the melée of stories and spin, here is a summary of today’s main election stories. 1. Vote Labour, save the Union The Tories’ attacks on the dangers of voting Labour and getting the SNP have hit a road bump. Two senior former cabinet minsters have

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Paddy Ashdown: Grant Shapps is ‘fine man’ who’s ‘never done anything dodgy’

You have to hand it to the Liberal Democrats: they know how to put out a press release. Following accusations in the Guardian that Grant Shapps or someone ‘under his clear direction’ has been editing Wikipedia pages of his rivals, the Lib Dems have put out a press release dripping in sarcasm from Paddy Ashdown: ‘Grant Shapps is a fine man and has never done anything dodgy’. Here is the full text: Grant Shapps is a wonderful human being, a literary great and has in no way ever brought his party or politics into disrepute, the Chairman of the Liberal Democrat General Election Campaign said. Paddy Ashdown called the Conservative

Robert Smith

Philip Hammond signals extra help for the Mediterranean crisis

Philip Hammond was noticeably keen this afternoon to show the government isn’t standing idly by while migrants drown in the Mediterranean – especially as the refugee crisis is the global story of the moment; the pictures and reports severe enough to have momentarily knocked the election campaign off a number of front pages. Appearing on today’s Daily Politics debate on international affairs, the Foreign Secretary stressed the need for a ‘more formidable operation on the sea’, and said that David Cameron would head to Brussels on Thursday to call for an ‘enhanced operation’ to prevent any further crises. Mr Hammond said: ‘Of course we’ve got to support search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

Camilla Swift Camilla Swift

David Cameron: Andrew Marr was talking ‘bollocks’ about foxhunting

So both the BBC and Andrew Marr have admitted to misquoting David Cameron as having said that foxhunting was his favourite sport. But what did Cameron himself think of Marr’s self-described ‘cock up’? Well, The Spectator caught up with the Tory leader earlier today and asked him about it – and here’s his answer: ‘The old mental filing system, you’re going ‘drrrrrr’ through, and thinking… but I knew the article because I wrote it myself… I just thought maybe there’s something else. You never know, something might have been written by someone else. So I thought it was bollocks. And it was bollocks.’ Was there perhaps a spot of truth

Steerpike Steerpike

Boycie: Nigel Farage ‘sounds nothing like me’

Nigel Farage may see himself as the quintessential British politician, but is he modelling himself on a national comedy treasure? Mr S’s colleague Sebastian Payne noted that in Lord Ashcroft’s latest focus groups, voters reckoned that the Ukip leader ‘would only watch British comedies’ in his spare time, such as Only Fools And Horses. One respondent even said ‘he models himself on Boycie’. Judge for yourself: But Boycie is not happy with the comparison. John Challis, who plays Boycie in the series, told SunNation ‘Farage sounds nothing like me; he’s going to have to try harder.’ But Challias did find one similarity. ‘I noticed he wears a warm, British coat

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The SNP create their own reality – and voters lap it up

First let’s look at this chart. That’s Scotland’s fiscal position relative to that of the UK according to the latest IFS projections. It’s not a particularly bonny position though, of course, it is only a projection. Nevertheless, the picture is quite clear: fiscally-speaking Scotland gets a pretty good deal from the UK. An above-average contributor? Sure. But also, importantly, an above-average recipient. Scotland contributes (thanks to oil) like a tiny-London but receives like a mini-Northern Ireland. Nowhere else is like this. Now have a keek at this: Stephen Noon, you will recall, was one of the architects of the Yes Scotland campaign and someone, I hope he will not mind

Steerpike Steerpike

Estate agents find elections may be good for business

Last week the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors warned that uncertainty over the mansion tax has caused property prices to rise as fewer homes are put on the market until the election outcome is known. Still, it’s not all bad news for estate agents. In a brazen ‘Good Luck in the Election’ email sent to all parliamentary candidates standing in May, one London estate agency are wasting no time in trying to churn up some business after the election: ‘As the election edges closer we wanted to wish you all the best of luck in your campaign and to let you know that MyLondonHome are here to help! Depending on the outcome

Steerpike Steerpike

Sam Cam’s sister criticises Ed Miliband for standing against his brother

Given that Samantha Cameron and her sister Emily Sheffield have both forged successful careers of their own in varying fields, sibling rivalry is unlikely to have ever been an issue for the pair. This could explain why Samantha’s sister has taken offence over the manner in which Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour party. After the Guardian‘s political editor Patrick Wintour tweeted that Ed Miliband had claimed David Cameron ‘will say anything and stop at nothing,’ Sheffield was quick to respond and remind people that Miliband ran against his brother for the leadership. The deputy editor of Vogue replied to Wintour’s tweet, claiming that Miliband must have been talking about himself, as ‘even his

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The Tories are gaining momentum with their ‘Labour-SNP pact’ message

Complain all you like about the way the Tories are campaigning at the moment, but it’s getting the message across. The party has hit on the SNP, which is fascinating the media anyway, as the best line of attack to undermine Labour. Tory candidates report being pleasantly surprised by how much cut-through the Labour-SNP message is getting, while pollsters now say members of their focus groups are raising the issue unprompted. Focusing on the SNP may well have a number of serious side effects for the Tory party. It may reinforce the perception that they are a nasty, negative party. It may mean they do not give voters sufficient reason to

Steerpike Steerpike

Dragons’ Den star: Why I didn’t sign business letter backing the Tories

Last month over 100 British business leaders signed a letter backing the Conservatives’ economic policies. The letter, which was published in the Daily Telegraph, was seen as damaging to Labour as it claimed that the Tories’ business plan was working and any change in that plan could put the UK’s economic recovery at risk. Miliband can take heart, however, that not every retail tycoon is against his party’s business proposals. Speaking at the relaunch of Ghost, the recently appointed Dragons’ Den investor Touker Suleyman tells Mr S that he was originally approached to sign the letter: ‘I didn’t sign the letter. I was approached but I am apolitical. I am a people’s person and

Sebastian Payne

The battle for South Thanet — can Nigel Farage win?

Isle of Thanet, Kent ‘Are you having me on?’ a lady shouts from inside her bungalow. ‘I’m going back in the bath.’ As with many residents of Ramsgate, this voter, who is wearing nothing but a towel, can not believe Nigel Farage is on her doorstep. The Ukip leader belts out his hearty laugh as her husband admits the pair will be voting Ukip — another tick on the clipboard. Farage’s cabal of sign carriers and bodyguards shuffle towards the next house before we are interrupted by a group of goths keen for a selfie. They appear too young to vote but Farage happily obliges. Has he got a chance of winning

Douglas Murray

Islamic extremism doesn’t need a rebrand

I have been wondering why nobody so far in this election seems to have made any mention of what most people recognise to be the biggest security problem facing this country. But then I discovered that the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, last week appeared at the Al Falah Islamic Education Centre in West London. He used the opportunity to express, er, ‘concern about the level of Islamophobia in the capital’ and to insist that ‘an alternative word needs to be found to describe extremists who claim to act in the name of Islam’. According to the Evening Standard: ‘Mr Johnson, whose great-grandfather was a Muslim, added that a “problem in

Camilla Swift Camilla Swift

Andrew Marr and the BBC misquoted David Cameron – but how did they get it so wrong?

After yesterday’s piece, in which I called out Andrew Marr for attributing an entirely incorrect quote to the PM on his Sunday morning show, two things have happened. Firstly, as Mr Steerpike reported, Andrew Marr replied on Twitter, saying it was an ‘honest mistake’ and ‘cock up not conspiracy’. @laidmanr @spectator @millsswift oh yes it is: honest mistake – I was wrong – sorry. Cock up not conspiracy, but wrong on my part — Andrew Marr (@AndrewMarr9) April 20, 2015 Secondly, the BBC press office have issued a statement. It explains that Marr wanted to question Cameron about the section of the Conservative manifesto that refers to hunting, shooting and fishing.

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cautious Miliband doesn’t want to talk about borrowing

Labour is proposing to balance the current not the overall budget. This is presumably because they think that borrowing to spend money on capital projects is a sensible policy. But you wouldn’t have known that from watching Ed Miliband on BBC1 just now. In response to questions from Evan Davis, Miliband was determined not to say that Labour would borrow to invest. In a highly disciplined performance, Miliband would also not engage with Davis’ questions about inequality and whether it was a good thing if everyone got richer even if the gap between rich and poor widened. Indeed, Miliband was so cautious that you began to wonder if he’s started

Steerpike Steerpike

Andrew Marr admits the BBC misquoted David Cameron on foxhunting

After Mr S’s colleague Camilla Swift wrote of the Twitterstorm that engulfed David Cameron after Andrew Marr claimed on air that the PM had declared foxhunting to be his favourite sport, the presenter has now come clean about the interview. Marr has admitted to The Spectator on Twitter that he was wrong to claim that Cameron told Countryside Alliance magazine that foxhunting was his favourite sport: His confession comes after the BBC press office failed to respond to calls for comment from The Spectator. Likewise, Twitter accounts for the BBC Press Office and Andrew Marr Show have remained quiet on the topic, as has the account of Rob Burley, the editor of the Marr Show, despite a

Camilla Swift Camilla Swift

Exposed: the BBC’s ‘foxhunting’ smear against David Cameron

The Prime Minister’s interview on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday showed that despite claims to the contrary, Cameron isn’t lacking in passion; the PM was full of fight and his normal self-confidence. But there was one question he did falter over. ‘You told the Countryside Alliance magazine recently that your favourite sport was foxhunting’, Marr declared. ‘Is that really true?’. Cameron looked utterly bemused, but Marr was so keen on the question that he repeated it: ‘You said: “It’s my favourite sport which I love.” Is that true?’ Perhaps unsurprisingly, a Twitter-storm erupted at the news that Cameron had apparently ‘admitted’ to his favourite sport being foxhunting. But where on earth did

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The tension in Labour’s energy policy between prices and decarbonisation

There has always been a tension in Ed Miliband’s energy policy between its aim to get prices down via the price freeze and its desire to decarbonise the electricity market. That tension was on full display in the BBC Daily Politics Environment Debate this afternoon, the first of a series of policy debates chaired by Andrew Neil. Flint had to clarify that the Labour manifesto wasn’t proposing the 100 per cent decarbonisation of the electricity market. She then had to dodge around the question of whether the green levies on energy bills would have to rise to make this happen. Matthew Hancock, the Tory spokesman for the debate, claimed that

Douglas Murray

What’s more disturbing than a group of discredited old Nazis? The Green Party

Yesterday’s Mail on Sunday had an interesting account of a meeting in London of Nazis, neo-Nazis, British National Party types and anti—Semites of various other hues. The paper infiltrated the meeting and exposed what was said – which is a very good service and deserves praise. But I challenge anyone to look through the photos and biographies of the few participants who gathered at Victoria station and then in a nearby hotel and not reflect that this is a gratifyingly washed-up and pathetic movement. During their deliberations they appear to have gone over the usual stuff about how they think the Holocaust was made up and been used by Jews for their own advantage and

Sebastian Payne

Tories in the lead according to ICM and Lord Ashcroft

The Conservatives are ahead once again in the latest Guardian/ICM poll. They are two points ahead on 34 per cent – but that’s a five point drop since their surprising 39 per cent last week. Labour has dropped one point to 31 per cent. Two of the smaller parties have seen their vote increase, with Ukip on 11 per cent, up four points on last week, and the Liberal Democrats on 10 per cent, up two points. Last week’s ICM poll was clearly an outlier — few believed that the Tories had jumped into majority territory — but Conservatives will still be pleased that this poll has them ahead. But

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Five rules of politics that Nicola Sturgeon has broken

Nicola Sturgeon met my Auntie Patsy over the weekend, then was kind enough to tweet a picture of their encounter (below). Seeing her sandwiched between the two people most likely to break up the union was odd, but so was discovering that many members of my extended family are now voting SNP. Aunt Patsy is, I’m afraid, a typical example: like 1 in 50 Scots she has joined the SNP in the last seven months. She wasn’t really into politics until recently, but has caught the bug (there is a lot of it about in Scotland). .@FraserNelson just met your lovely (@theSNP voting) auntie in Inverurie. She says hello pic.twitter.com/gsfDUPlMoG —