Politics

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

Thursday

28 May 2015

The Stalinist logic behind the SNP’s approach to education

Early in the campaign for Scottish independence the SNP commissioned a party political broadcast called Two Futures. It told the story of Kirsty, a baby due to be born on polling day. ‘What kind of country will I grow up in?’ she asks in a childish falsetto. One vision of the future is full of colour and gap-toothed smiles, with children skipping and laughing on their way to school. A nuclear family sit around the breakfast table in a sun-kissed kitchen eating fruit (this scene acts as a useful reminder that the broadcast is set firmly in the realm of fantasy). The alternative is a future in which Scotland votes

Steerpike

Mary Portas’ awkward train encounter with Ed Balls

When the Conservatives won a surprise majority in the election, many businesses breathed a collective sigh of relief that the two Eds would not have a chance to implement their ‘anti-business’ policies. Retail expert Mary Portas appeared to express her own personal relief when she appeared at Hay this week to discuss her memoir. Portas, who was appointed by David Cameron to head a review into Britain’s high streets, recalled an awkward encounter she had with Ed Balls on a train: ‘I saw Ed Balls on the train once and he was so pleased that he’d negotiated a mammogram centre in an Asda in his constituency. I thought ‘quelle horreur’. Can you imagine getting your boobs out after

Sebastian Payne

Podcast: defeating Isis, the Queen’s speech and Cameron’s EU negotiations

Defeating Isis is a task that neither America nor Britain are particularly keen to take on. In this week’s View from 22 podcast, Andrew Bacevich and Douglas Murray discuss what Western countries can realistically do to take on the group and which countries America and Britain should work with. Should Iran be considered a potential partner? And even if America was more keen to take action, would it be successful? Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth also discuss this year’s Queen’s Speech and the government’s legislative agenda for the next year. Was it a very Tory speech, or does it show that David Cameron is sticking to the centre ground? Does the absence of a British Bill of Rights show that Cameron is conscious

James Forsyth

Cameron’s EU rollercoaster

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/defeatingisis/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Rob Oxley discuss David Cameron’s EU negotiations so far” startat=1493] Listen [/audioplayer]We have just had a very insular general election campaign, but the mood at Westminster is now determined by news from foreign capitals. There was a flurry of excitement last Wednesday when the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaüble, suggested linking the British renegotiation to eurozone reform. It led to much talk of a European ‘Grand Bargain’, with Germany and the northern European countries given greater supervision of eurozone finances, the French and the southern Europeans given an explicit, written commitment to ‘solidarity’ within the currency union, and the British offered single-market protections, an opt-out

Katy Balls

St Moritz

Here’s a tip: when travelling to St Moritz, it’s best not to mention the name of your final destination to the airport porters, drivers or waiters that you encounter on your journey there. Such a slip, as I discovered, will only lead to disappointment when you come to leave a tip (however generous the amount may be). Once the star of Switzerland’s winter tourism, St Moritz is the original alpine resort, offering ski holidays to the super-rich since 1864. But in recent decades the town’s sparkle has begun to fade, as it now has to compete with the likes of Klosters and Gstaad for the custom of royals, oligarchs and

John Osullivan

Cameron’s friend in Brussels

The Spanish, in their local elections, just elected a bunch of radicals who oppose the austerity needed to keep Spain in the euro. Poland on Monday elected a Eurosceptic challenger from the conservative Law and Justice party. And leaks from the Euro-summit suggested that David Cameron will respond to this rare combination of crisis and opportunity by demanding… well, not much in the way of reforms and concessions. Admittedly these leaks may be feints to mislead all sides about London’s negotiating strategy. It’s early days. Nor is Poland yet a reliable ally for Britain in such negotiations: its government will be divided between a Eurosceptic president and a pro-Brussels administration

Hugo Rifkind

Does anyone really expect the EU referendum to resolve anything?

I suppose, if you could look deep into the mind of somebody who was passionately keen that Britain should leave the European Union then, in among things like old episodes of Dad’s Army and unassailable convictions that Cornwall produces some perfectly good vintages, and so on, you might also spot a vision of the future. In this vision, our referendum will have been and gone and Britain will have seen the light and left the EU. Everybody will have been convinced. Even Nick Clegg. The question will have been settled for a generation at least, and there will be no need to talk about it anymore and we’ll be able

Matthew Parris

In today’s church, it seems, God can be outvoted

I see. So now we have the result of the Irish referendum on gay marriage, and now we’ve heard the Roman Catholic Church’s chastened response, we shall have to rewrite Exodus 32, which (you may remember) reports Moses’ (and God’s) furious reaction to the nude dancing and heretical worship of Moloch in the form of a golden calf: the Sin of the Calf in the Hebrew literature. Moses had come down from Mount Sinai bringing God’s commandments written on two tablets of stone. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot… And

Wednesday

27 May 2015

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson makes his first intervention in the House of Commons

Boris has finally spoken. Intervening on his Tory colleague Cheryl Gillan, who was complaining about a lack of funding for rural public services and transport, the new MP for Uxbridge said ‘Will she not agree that in fact her constituents get a superb service from Transport for London?’ He thanked the government for its continued investment in London transport. Boris will continue to work as Mayor and focus on these duties. But it will be interesting to see what non-London interventions he makes before stepping down in 2016.

Isabel Hardman

SNP MPs rebuked for clapping in the Chamber. Will Tory and Labour hecklers be next?

The SNP have done a rather good job this afternoon of uniting the rest of the Commons against them by indulging in the shameful practice of – brace yourself – clapping in the Chamber. This is on top of trying to turf Dennis Skinner out of his preferred seat to the extent that the octogenarian Labour MP was too upset to come up with a terrible joke to crack during the Queen’s Speech festivities in the Commons. This truly is the sort of dramatic shake-up of Westminster that we were promised. Speaker Bercow intervened after one particularly pointed bout of applause from the nationalist benches. He told them to respect

James Forsyth

The first day of the Parliamentary session posed several challenges for Labour

The first day of the Parliamentary session always has a slightly back to school feel to it. There are two, traditionally, witty speeches that are full of in jokes. The leader of the opposition then makes a speech that mixes the serious with humour and the Prime Minister replies in kind. But today won’t be remembered for the jokes but the shifts in Labour’s position that Harriet Harman attempted to execute. First, she confirmed that Labour would now support the EU referendum. But then, more surprisingly, she announced that Labour was ‘sympathetic’ to Tory plans to reduce the benefits cap, the amount that an able-bodied family without anyone in full

Sebastian Payne

Tony Blair to step down as Middle East peace envoy

Reports are coming in that Tony Blair is set to stand down as a peace envoy to the Middle East. AP is reporting that the former Prime Minister has tendered his resignation to the Quartet on the Middle East — consisting of representatives from the US, EU, Russia and the UN — and will leave in June. Blair has worked for the Quartet for several years, joining on a wave of publicity and hope in 2007. But with the collapse of the US-led peace talks last year, as well as continual questions about his business links, his efforts to bring peace to the region have been doomed. Given that Blair’s foreign policy reputation is already toxic

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Simon Burns or Robert Redford?

Harriet Harman was on fighting form in Parliament today when she responded to the Queen’s Speech. Between telling David Cameron to watch his back for Tory leadership hopeful Boris Johnson and remembering the Ed Stone, Harman paid tribute to Simon Burns, who gave the first speech. Speaking about the Tory MP, she revealed that in his heyday he was something of a ladies man who ‘cut quite a dash’ back in the 1980s. In fact, she likened him to a young Robert Redford. Alas, Harman concluded that Burns now bears more of a resemblance to Jeremy Clarkson than the Hollywood star. No word on whether Burns thinks Harman’s looks have stood the test of time.

Charles Moore

A display of cowardice at Leon Brittan’s funeral

Leon Brittan’s memorial service on Tuesday packed the West London Synagogue, but there were some notable absentees. We in the congregation were informed that the government was represented by Lord Howe (the Earl Howe, not Geoffrey). He is an estimable man, but well below Cabinet level. Since Brittan had been Home Secretary, it would normally be customary for the present holder of the office, Theresa May, to attend. Was she absent because of the accusations against Brittan, among others, about ‘establishment’ cover-ups of child abuse in the 1980s? If so, it was cowardly. Absolutely nothing has been proved. Unless it is, ministers should stand up for those who have served

Hugo Rifkind

Trying to ban legal highs? Expect a bad trip

Keep an eye on the government’s ban on legal highs. The Conservative manifesto pledged to outlaw all the horrible chemicals kids smoke and snort for fun these days, on account of them being easier to get hold of than the straightforward, honest illegal narcotics we had when I were a lad. Certainly they’re worth banning, but I’m on tenterhooks to see how they’ll go about it. Chemical compositions are easily tweaked, meaning there’s no point in specifically banning a substance, because another not-quite-identical one springs up days later. Banning substances intended for human consumption won’t work, either, because these things all claim on the packaging that they aren’t. One of

Isabel Hardman

Yvette Cooper snaps up six more MP supporters for her leadership campaign

Six more Labour MPs have endorsed Yvette Cooper as leader: Coffee House has the names exclusively. Emily Thornberry Ian Austin Jim Cunningham Karen Buck Lyn Brown Steve McCabe They’re an interesting mix, ranging from Londoners like Karen Buck, Lyn Brown and Emily Thornberry to those with seats in the Midlands, such as Ian Austin, Jim Cunningham and Steve McCabe, and helps the Cooper campaign’s claim to have nationwide support, rather than backing from MPs in certain parts of the country. It is also interesting that Buck, who served as Ed Miliband’s PPS towards the end of the last Parliament, has backed Cooper, along with Austin, who was exposed as one

Steerpike

Queen’s Speech Tory slogan bingo

Anyone would think that those drafting the Queen’s Speech might have had a bet on to see how many Tory soundbites they could shoehorn in. Apparently the Queen’s government will ‘adopt a one nation approach’, with a nod to ‘supporting aspiration’. Of course, her ‘government will continue with its long-term plan’. It could have been a Cameron election stump speech. The biggest grin of the day came from George Osborne when Her Majesty uttered his favourite slogan: the ‘northern powerhouse’. But it wasn’t the silly sound bites that are getting the most attention. Despite all the policies and the coming austerity, all anyone seems to be talking about is psychoactive

Steerpike

Will Dennis Skinner take a pop at the SNP?

He may be a national treasure, but it’s safe to say that Dennis Skinner’s annual crack during the Queen’s Speech have been a bit lame of late. The veteran MP always makes a joke in the silence as Black Rod enters the Commons chamber. Last year we had ‘Coalition’s last stand,’ in 2013: ‘Royal Mail for sale. Queen’s head privatised.’ In 2012 we were treated to the particularly laboured: ‘Jubilee Year, double-dip recession, what a start!’ Skinner is currently involved in a turf war with the SNP over the seat in the Commons he claims he has occupied for the last 44 years. ‘That’s 44 years too long,’ say the charming

Isabel Hardman

Cameron will struggle to get human rights reform past parliament at any stage

David Cameron has decided to stall on human rights reform for now, partly because the Tories couldn’t quite work out how to get the reforms they wanted, and partly because the Prime Minister knew that he had a rebellion in his own party on his hands, opposition from almost all other parties bar the DUP, who Sam Coates explains in the Times have said they are unlikely to give their backing to the bill in the early part of the parliament. Opponents of big changes to human rights legislation within the Tory party are not surprised by the delay. They also don’t think that it is likely to pass at

Sebastian Payne

2015 Queen’s Speech: the new bills announced

Her Majesty has just delivered the first Conservative Queen’s Speech in 19 years — or as David Cameron described it, a ‘One Nation Queen’s Speech from a One Nation Government’. Here are the key pieces of legislation the government will be looking to pass over the next 12 months. Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill (and related legislation): To freeze the main rates of the majority of working-age benefits, tax credits and child benefit. Pensioners and extra costs relating to disability will be protected. The benefit cap will be reduced to £23,000 per year. A new Youth Allowance for 18-21 year olds will be introduced, with stronger work conditions. Automatic entitlement