Politics

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

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The bias towards migrant workers

Why are you never served by a Londoner in a London branch of Pret A Manger? I asked this in the Telegraph recently, and yesterday’s Evening Standard had a great piece tracking down four who applied, and were rejected without an interview. Some suspect there is a bias in favour of immigrants: if your name doesn’t sound exotic, game over. I doubt that a company like Pret, whose most valued ingredient is the famous enthusiasm of its staff, can afford to discriminate in any way. But the wider point is a very serious one: that British employers have come to prefer immigrants, believing that they work harder. And that a

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A defeat that delights the Tories

Rarely can a government have been so pleased to have been defeated. The Tories are, privately, delighted that the Lords have voted to water down the benefit cap, removing child benefit from it. The longer this attempt to cap benefit for non-working households at £26,000 stays in the news, the better it is for the government. It demonstrates to the electorate that they are trying to do something about the injustices of the something for nothing culture. The matter will now returns to the Commons where the coalition is confident it can be reversed. I understand that Nick Clegg remains solid on the issue, despite the fact that Ashdown and

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Have American conservatives given up?

That tubby, unlovable rogue Newt Gingrich is on a big roll. His poll ratings are surging ahead of the Florida primary next week. This despite the fact that almost everyone, even the good fellows at National Review, can see what a disastrous candidate he is. Gingrich has — this hardly needs saying — a terrible record in office, a long list of involvements in dodgy deals, an embarrassing private life, a dubious legacy as a man of ‘conservative principles’, and a deeply unpleasant face. (Sorry, but such things can matter in elections.) For a good run-down of his failings, see here. Or, as a sample, look at this image flying

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A Chris Huhne prediction that didn’t come true

Chris Huhne attacked David Cameron for the EU veto in Cabinet back in December. At the time, one Cabinet minister told me that part of Huhne’s critique was that Cameron had scuppered the chances of a Liberal Democrat MEP, Sharon Bowles, being reelected as chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, which deals with financial services.   But Bowles has been reelected. In a Lib Dem press release welcoming this, Nick Clegg declares that: ‘As party leader, I am proud that we have a leading Liberal Democrat in such a prominent and powerful position on the international scene. As UK Deputy Prime Minister, I am delighted and

Peter Hoskin

Cable teaches Umunna a lesson about the past

If you were in a particularly soggy mood, you’d almost feel sorry for Chuka Umunna. He’d managed to force Vince Cable into the House this afternoon, to announce the coalition’s plans for curbing executive pay a day earlier than planned, and he must have been feeling pretty swell about it. This was, on paper, the initiative seized; a chance to prise open the Business Secretary’s differences with his Tory colleagues. But, in practice, it was something completely different. In practice, Cable dispatched his opponent with ruthless ease. You might even have found yourself in the unthinkable position of cheering him on. A large part of it was Umunna’s petty, needling

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Benefitting the Tories

The longer the row over the benefit cap goes on, the better it will be for the Tories. The cap chimes with the public’s sense of fairness. Polls show massive public support for capping benefits at £26,000 a year for non-working households (the cap won’t apply to the disabled or war widows), and if Labour oppose it, they’ll be handing the Tories a stick with which to beat them. Chris Grayling has already declared that tonight’s vote in the Lords is ‘a test of Ed Miliband’s leadership’. Those who argue that the cap isn’t fair because it will force people to move out of their house are missing the point.

Daniel Korski

Welcome, Croatia

Croatia’s EU referendum was overwhelming — more than two-thirds of voters favoured the young state’s accession to the European Union. This is an important moment. For it shows that another part of Yugoslavia is intent on leaving its violent past behind and move into the European mainstream. Croatia and its newly-elected government still faces many problems — corruption, judicial favouritism and xenophobia among them — but the journey to a milder and more moderate society can now continue.   When Croatia accedes to the EU, probably next year, it will be an example to those states in the Balkans, like Bosnia, Albania and Serbia, that wish to join the EU

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 23 January 2012

…here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson introduces the new Coffee House app. James Forsyth says that Labour’s confusion is the Tories’ advantage, and questions the abortion providers that are planning to advertise on TV. Peter Hoskin observes the Lib Dems differentiating all over the place, and reports on Andrew Lansley’s latest problems. Jonathan Jones reports on Newt Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina. Martin Bright wonders what’s happened to compassionate Conservatism. Nick Cohen laments the dangerous silence of the media. Rod Liddle reveals his favourite nighttime diversion. The Spectator Arts Blog has a Radiohead-themed Spotify Sunday. And Matt Hancock is the Spectator Book Blog’s latest

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Sorry, Tristram — but capitalism is just what the British public does

Tristram Hunt, the historian and Labour MP, has written a brilliant rebuttal to my piece in the Telegraph last week, in which I said that capitalism is hardwired in Britain’s DNA. Socialism, he says, is also hardwired into our country’s mindset. Writing for Comment Is Free, he says: ‘There is another story of Britishness a long way from the template of Cameron and the Spectator. It is a tradition of redistribution, intervention and socialism equally as compelling as Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” (which, one should remember, was a satirical attack on laissez-faire morality, drawn from Shakespeare’s Macbeth)… [the] British strand of social criticism continued into the 19th century with the

Sunday

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

How freedom goes

Joan Smith has a piece in the Independent about religious censorship of open debate in Britain, a supposedly free country. It is well written and argued, as Smith’s writing invariably is, but what distinguishes it is that it is the only defence of our liberties in the Sunday papers. Consider the events of the past few days: i) At Queen Mary, University of London students went to hear Anne Marie Waters speak on behalf of the One Law For All — a campaign to stop Sharia law afflicting British women. An angry young man entered the lecture theatre. He filmed the audience on his mobile, and told them he knew

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labour’s confusion is the Tories’ advantage

Today’s polls make grim reading for Labour. Even three months ago senior Labour or Tory people wouldn’t have thought that the Tories would be five points ahead at this point in the cycle. Part of Labour’s problem is that its positions require too much explanation. As one Number 10 source jokes, ‘Ed Miliband can do a Rubik’s cube in less time than it takes him to explain his position on the cuts.’ A prime example of these overly complicated policy positions is Labour’s approach to the benefit cap. The leadership says that it is in favour of a cap in principle but against this one in practice. But, I suspect

Jerry Hayes

Gay pride

Now that the Tory party is about to embark on an unedifying internal spat over gay marriage, I would commend students of political history to read Michael McManus’s beautifully written and well-researched book Tory Pride and Prejudice: the Conservative Party and Homosexual Reform. Readers may be surprised to learn that supporters of the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in private included Enoch Powell, Margaret Thatcher, Patrick Jenkin and Ian Mcleod. They were lonely figures in those early days. The paradox that the Conservative party faced is best summed up by Guy (now Lord) Black: ‘It was one of those phenomena that, when the Conservative party appeared nationally to be at its

Peter Hoskin

Lib-Dem-a-rama

There are Lib Dems everywhere today, CoffeeHousers, and they’re differentiating like crazy. We had Nick Clegg himself on the Andrew Marr show earlier, waxing lukewarm about Boris Island, and there have been moments of assertiveness from his party colleagues as well. Here’s a quick round-up: 1) Chris Huhne. The embattled energy minister hasn’t taken to the airwaves today, but he is omnipresent nonetheless. A good portion of Clegg’s Marr appearance was devoted to him, with the Deputy Prime Minister stressing that ‘he has been crystal clear that he denies any wrong doing’ — but not quashing the idea that Huhne would lose his job if those denials turn out to

Saturday

Fleur Macdonald

Bookbenchers: Matthew Hancock MP

This week, our bookbencher is Matthew Hancock, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk. Which book’s on your bedside table at the moment? Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord 1940-1945, by Max Hastings. In biography, taking on Churchill is about as big as it gets. Many people thought that Roy Jenkins’ masterful work, with its insights drawn from first-hand experience at the pinnacle of politics, would be the last word on the subject for at least a decade. Yet by focussing on the years that define our greatest Prime Minister in the popular consciousness, and no doubt in history, Max Hastings has brought a fresh eye to the ‘finest years’. Finest years

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Why I reckon Ken will beat Boris

I told Boris early last summer that I thought he would lose his race to be re-elected as Mayor of London. Not out of a wish for him to do so – I like Boris, and Livingstone is almost the living embodiment of everything I dislike about the party of which, god help me, I am a member. Boris huffed and puffed a bit and said ‘Well look, I’m well ahead in the polls’ – and so he was. But not any more. The latest poll puts the newt-botherer slightly ahead. I do not think that this is a consequence of Boris doing a bad job as mayor, or a

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Politics: Is Britain ready for an optimistic Prime Minister?

David Cameron is a sunny-side-up politician. At his first party conference as leader, he declared, ‘Let optimism beat pessimism. Let sunshine win the day.’ This attitude infused his approach to policy as well as politics. His economic doctrine was all about ‘sharing the proceeds of growth’. George Osborne, Cameron’s chief strategist, liked to stress that it was imperative that the Conservatives didn’t ‘sound like the old man on the park bench who says things were better in 1985, or 1955, or 1855. We have got to be the party that embraces the future.’ Then came the financial crisis. With banks collapsing, sunny rhetoric would have been horribly out of place.

Melissa Kite

Is this Labour’s next leader?

In Yvette Cooper’s home, an entire room is given over to memorabilia of her husband’s life in politics. Pictures of Ed Balls hang on the walls and the room is kitted out with phone lines and computers so it can function as a nerve-centre for the shadow chancellor while he is working from home. Cooper’s office is a snug under the stairs. Anyone visiting might imagine that this was the home of a great political genius, dutifully supported by a mother of three. There is no indication that this impish, unassuming woman is herself now the bookmakers’ favourite to lead Labour into the next election. With Ed Miliband’s ratings down

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Any other business: Have you wondered why there’s only one John Lewis Partnership, Mr Clegg?

‘A John Lewis economy’ was a strong soundbite from Nick Clegg, even if it failed to resonate with Netto shoppers lower down the social scale than the Cleggs. The Deputy Prime Minister is ‘pushing for real, early, radical action’ to make this ‘the decade of employee share ownership’, and no one can deny he’s picked a potent theme at a time when conventional capitalism seems hellbent on self-destruction. But having bagged a headline, he should pause to ask himself this: if John Spedan Lewis invented such a brilliant business model — which he did — then how come it hasn’t been copied again and again? There are only a handful

Friday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

 Reshuffle chatter

Today’s Huhne news, which Pete blogged earllier, has set off all sorts of reshuffle chatter. At the moment, the expectation is that if a reshuffle was required it would be a limited, Lib Dem only one—their version of the one that followed Liam Fox’s departure. The current favourite to replace Huhne is Ed Davey, Vince Cable’s Lib Dem junior minister in the business department. In terms of a more general reshuffle, I’m hearing that we might have to wait until after Olympics. There is a growing view among those close to the Prime Minister, I’m told, that it would be better to leave ministers in place until then and then do

The Spectator

The week that was | 20 January 2012

Here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk during the past week: Fraser Nelson says that David Cameron understands capitalism, and argues that inflation at 4.2 per cent is nothing to cheer. James Forsyth reports on Boris’s appearance before the 1922 Select Committee, and reveals Michael Gove’s yacht proposal in full. Peter Hoskin highlights the new politics of leaning on business, and draws the Lib Dems’ differentiation strategy. Jonathan Jones watches Boris’s poll lead evaporate, and reports on Jon Huntsman’s departure from the Republican race. Nick Cohen reckons that Ed Miliband’s economic position isn’t confusing at all. Rod Liddle explains how to ensure that the Union ends with mourning. Alex Massie