Politics Archives

Friday

31 May 2013

Ukip is trying to become a grown-up party. Just look at Farage’s response to Woolwich

Ukip has been unusually quiet in its response to the Woolwich killing last week. The only thing we’ve heard is a tactful statement on the day from Nigel Farage, slamming the incident and calling for calm. Not a peep more, and certainly no outlandish statements about tackling the ‘cancer’ of Islam. The muted response is a clear sign Ukip is working hard at its message discipline. The party still has one significant issue to overcome — the views of some of its members. In their response to the Woolwich incident, it appears Ukip wanted to avoid a rerun of the difficult stories they encountered at the local elections. Coffee House

Fraser Nelson

The case for making the government marriage-neutral.

Does marriage matter anymore? Not so long ago, David Cameron was foremost amongst those giving an unfashionable ‘yes’ to this question. It became his signature theme, the closest he had to a Blair-style ‘irreducible core’. It seemed, at the time, as if a 1979-style realignment was underway. The Labour Party was being sucked into the vortex of its own economic failure. Its social failure was just as profound: it had tested to destruction the idea that more welfare makes countries stronger or fairer. And study after study showed that the institution of marriage was easily the most powerful weapon every developed to promote health, wealth and education. In Cameron, we

James Forsyth

Patrick Mercer resigns Tory whip ahead of Panorama programme

Patrick Mercer has resigned the Tory whip. But despite his repeated and outspoken criticisms of David Cameron it is nothing to do with the Prime Minister. Rather, Mercer appears to have been embarrassed by a Panorama/Daily Telegraph investigation. In a statement, Mercer has said that he is considering legal action over the coming programme which, he says, alleges he broke parliamentary rules but that ‘to save my Party embarrassment, I have resigned the Conservative Whip. I have decided not to stand at the General Election’. What remains to be seen is if Mercer quits the Commons before then which would prompt a by-election. Given Ukip’s strength at the moment, a

M.E. Synon

We are all citizens of Europe now, and the benefits row is just the beginning

Yes, that law case the European Commission is taking against the UK is mission creep, or ‘a blatant land grab’ as Iain Duncan Smith has it. The eurocrats are trying to extend EU control over the benefits systems of member states, and they are going to the European Court of Justice to do it. But what the commission is after is more than just that. Jonathan Todd, a European Commission spokesman, spelled it out at yesterday’s midday briefing in one line, and in his perfectly English voice: ‘UK nationals automatically have the right to reside in the UK. EU nationals do not have that automatic right.’ That is what is

Isabel Hardman

Michael Gove’s campaigning masterclass

In the past few weeks, the Tories have been so busy fighting each other that they appear to have forgotten about the Opposition party. But now, while things are quieter in the parliamentary recess, senior figures are starting to take the fight back to Labour. Michael Gove has written a barnstormer of an Op-Ed in today’s Telegraph which marks the start of this onslaught with quite some gusto. He describes Ed Miliband as ‘as clearly defined as a blancmange in a hurricane’ and pokes fun at his recent Google Big Tent speech about Willy Wonka and Mr Burns. ‘With less than two years before the general election, the Opposition has

Thursday

30 May 2013

James Forsyth

The Boris bandwagon picks up more speed

Hardly a day goes by these days without a story about Boris Johnson and the Tory leadership. Yesterday, it was Andy Coulson’s revelation that David Cameron believed Boris Johnson would be after his job once he’d been London Mayor. Today, it is The Economist talking about ‘Generation Boris’, the more libertarian inclined voters who the magazine suggests will sweep him to Downing Street in 2020. Now, for Cameron having as his main leadership rival someone who isn’t an MP is not actually that bad, however infuriating some in his circle might find the press and the party’s love affair with the London Mayor. What’s most striking about Boris, though, is

Alex Massie

The Chilcot Inquiry is a pointless endeavour. Tony Blair’s critics will never be satisfied.

I never really saw the point of the Chilcot Inquiry and nothing that has happened in the years since it first sat has persuaded me I was wrong to think it liable to prove a waste of time, effort and money. Dear old Peter Oborne pops up in today’s Telegraph to confirm the good sense of these suspicions. Chilcot, you see, is most unlikely to satisfy Tony Blair’s critics, far less provide the “smoking gun” proving that the Iraq War was a stitched-up, born-again conspiracy promoted by George W Bush and eagerly, even slavishly, supported by Anthony Charles Lynton Blair. This is not an argument about truth. If Chilcot fails

Isabel Hardman

European Commission makes the case for curtailing its own power

If anyone pushing for reform of Britain’s relationship with Europe was hunting for an example of why there needs to be a renegotiation, they would have struggled to find a more perfect one than that served up by the European Commission. The Commission is taking the UK to the European Court of Justice, claiming its tests for EU nationals applying for benefits break EU law. Announcing that he will ‘not cave in’ to Brussels must have been one of the more satisfying moments of Iain Duncan Smith’s career. What must have been even more satisfying to listen to was the exchange between Peter Lilley and rights adviser Adam Weiss on

Matthew Parris

Why Ukip is a party of extremists

Last Saturday I wrote for my newspaper a column whose drift was that it was time for the sane majority of the Conservative party to repel those elements on the Tory right who plainly wish the Prime Minister and the coalition ill, and who would never be satisfied with his stance on Europe, however much he tried to adjust it to please them. I dealt at some length with Ukip, explaining why I and many like me would never support a Conservative candidate who made any kind of a deal with these people. The same went (I said) for the party nationally: ‘I will never support a Conservative party that

Wednesday

29 May 2013

Isabel Hardman

What Labour wishes the OECD said about Plan A – and what it actually said

Labour is apparently thrilled with the OECD’s assessment of the UK economy, released today. The think tank cut its growth forecasts from 0.9 per cent to 0.8 for 2013 and from 1.6 per cent to 1.5 per cent for 2014, while warning of ‘strong headwinds’ from the eurozone. So Chris Leslie, the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury seized on the report, saying: ‘The OECD has once again cut its growth forecasts for the UK economy, warning that youth unemployment is too high and that weak growth means wages are not keeping up with price rises.’ His colleague Rachel Reeves said it was ‘time for the government to listen and

Steerpike

Nick Robinson versus the world

Nick Robinson came under attack last week after quoting a government source’s description of the Woolwich bombers’ appearance. Writing in tomorrow’s Spectator, Robinson recalls the storm: ‘A glance at Twitter revealed, however, that those words — despite being a quote — had outraged some who thought they revealed a prejudice that all Muslims look the same. One witty tweet asked if the man playing at Wembley in Bayern Munich’s no. 7 shirt looked Muslim. Franck Ribéry is French, he’s white and he’s Muslim.’ You might have thought that there were bigger fish to fry last week; but the easily-offended, on both sides of the aisle, busied themselves by taking offence: ‘The next

Sebastian Payne

The go-slow route to High Speed 2 may turn the Tories against the flagship modernisation project

Earlier this week the Major Projects Authority gave High Speed 2 an amber-red flag, informing the government that the project (along with the MoD’s two new aircraft carriers) is looking ‘unachievable’. To its detractors, the warning confirms HS2 remains little more than a pipe dream. In last week’s Spectator, Rory Sutherland bemoaned the 20-year time frame as reason enough to abandon the project and focus our energies somewhere more immediate. But it didn’t have to be like this. HS2 remains in the doldrums thanks to a lamentable amount of faffing by the government. When the coalition came to power, most of the plans for HS2 were ready to roll. The

Isabel Hardman

Grant Shapps’ peacemaking letter to Tory grassroots

Largely because of events, the febrile atmosphere in the Tory party has gone as damp as the weather after weeks of bickering. A combination of the Woolwich killing and recess have turned attention elsewhere, but that doesn’t mean things aren’t still bubbling away under the lid. As any MP will remind you, parliamentary recess isn’t holiday but more time in the constituency. And time in the constituency means time with your party members, who are particularly unhappy at the moment. So MPs aren’t necessarily going to return on Monday with relaxed, sunkissed faces: more furrowed brows after awkward chats with constituency chairs. Which is why the Tory leadership is busying

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson is ‘absolutely increasingly confident’ of Cameron 2015 win. How reassuring.

Boris Johnson is ‘absolutely increasingly confident’ that David Cameron will win in 2015. This was the Mayor’s attempt at responding to Andy Coulson’s suggestion that he’s desperate for the PM to fail so he can cycle in and save the party, a blond messiah. Attempt is perhaps the wrong word, as it suggests Boris made those remarks off the cuff when the Mayor gives every impression that he scripts each remark with as much care as he puts into his newspaper columns. He told 5 News’ Andy Bell: ‘I’m always grateful to Andy Coulson for his career advice but I’m backing David Cameron who I am absolutely increasingly confident is

Isabel Hardman

Forget coalition: forcing a Snooper’s Charter would be poor politics overall

Optimists might think that a wariness on the part of senior Tory ministers to push through the Communications Data Bill without the Lib Dems’ consent is at least a sign the parties are starting to appreciate the practical limits of Coalition. They clearly listened to the party when the row about an EU referendum bill flared earlier this month. Then, a Lib Dem source told Coffee House: ‘If you are going to start saying well the different parties in the Coalition can now bring forward any bills they like, then enjoy the mansion tax and 50p votes. That sort of thing would be of no benefit to either party in

Tuesday

28 May 2013

Isabel Hardman

William Hague tries to reassure on ‘naive’ Syria arms plan

Should the UK arm the Syrian rebels? William Hague thinks so, but it turns out neither his MPs nor the public are convinced. YouGov polling earlier this month found on 17 per cent of voters supported sending arms, and 56 per cent opposed the measure. Tory MPs such as John Redwood, John Baron and Julian Lewis today said the plan ‘might make it worse rather than better’, would ‘escalate the violence and escalate the suffering’ and that it was ‘naive’. Hague himself insisted that no decision to supply arms had yet been taken, and that the EU decision to not renew the arms embargo was a way of putting pressure on all sides

Shiraz Maher

Will the EU’s rescinding of the Syrian arms embargo have any impact?

The EU has said it will not renew an arms embargo on Syria which ends this Saturday. That should pave the way for countries wanting to arm the rebels, something both Britain and France have been saying they will consider. It is a tired truism, but nonetheless one still worth restating, that not all the Syrian rebels are jihadists. This is precisely what has motivated Britain and France to explore ways of working with the rebels, although there are currently no plans to supply them with arms. But arming the rebels would be a mistake. It is clear Assad must go and that a future Syrian state will need to

Isabel Hardman

George Osborne rules out further welfare cuts as IDS offers solution to spending review stalemate

George Osborne’s broadcast tour this morning served two purposes. The first was to reward those ministers who aren’t playing hard to get in the spending review negotiations by praising their readiness to settle. The second was to prod Labour a bit. Osborne’s love of ‘weaponising’ policy can irritate his colleagues at times, but the spending review is a welcome opportunity for the Chancellor to focus voters’ minds on whether they really want to trust Labour with the economy again in 2015. He told BBC News: ‘The British people will decide who’s the government in 2015 but the financial year starts before the general election, so we have to set out

Monday

27 May 2013

M.E. Synon

The EU’s cut-out-and-keep economic timetable

This morning two European Commission technocrats and a spokesman held an off-the-record press briefing to explain the EU’s economic ‘governance.’ (Governance is the word eurocrats use instead of the more precise word ‘government’, because that word panics the Anglo-Saxons.) They gave it an hour. That’s called optimism, but an hour is about the maximum level anyone in the press corps is going to give on this one, so an hour it was. Why an explanation had to be off the record I have no idea, but, okay, my lips are zipped. If you want to know how the economic government of the EU is going – and you ought to,

Isabel Hardman

Ed Balls tries to shake off child in a sweetshop spending image

Anyone reading Sam Coates’ interview with Ed Balls in today’s Times might be forgiven for chucking their newspaper on the floor with a chuckle, muttering about the hypocrisy of a Labour shadow Chancellor lecturing George Osborne on borrowing. Balls warns that the government’s plans to offer Royal Bank of Scotland shares to the public will add billions to the deficit. He tells the newspaper: ‘A giveaway or loss-making firesale at the current share price would and billions to the national debt at a time when poor economic growth already means borrowing isn’t coming down.’ But this is an attempt by Balls to appear fiscally responsible while making the case for