Politics

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

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

First Lord or First Among Equals?

Well, James, hang on a minute. The three “schools of thought” you identify in relation to last night’s Tory rebellion on Europe are not three distinct schools at all. That is, one may consider the Tory party “unmanageable” on europe and believe that the leadership got caught up in the madness yesterday. But it is your final school that really have it wrong: The third lot are the ones who have grasped the significance of last night’s events. Despite being loyalists, they are in no doubt about the need for Cameron to change his style of party management. They want him to stop acting like a medieval monarch and start

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron needs a new management style

There seem to be three schools of thought among those close to the leadership about last night’s rebellion. One even now maintains that the issue was handled as well as it could have been and blames the rebels for all the trouble. These people don’t seem to realise that what they are saying is effectively that the Conservative parliamentary party is unmanageable. The second group says that the issue of Europe sends the Conservative party loopy. But they also concede that Number 10 got caught up in the madness too. The third lot are the ones who have grasped the significance of last night’s events. Despite being loyalists, they are

Peter Hoskin

The coalition bares its tensions over Europe

Here’s an irony: last night’s EU fandango was the fifth largest vote in favour of the government this year. And yet there is little about the situation that is favourable to the government this morning, as the story moves on from Tory splits to coalition ones.  It started with Michael Gove’s appearance on the Today Programme earlier. The Secretary of State for Education put in a much more conciliatory performance than William Hague managed yesterday; praising the “cordiality” of the Tory rebels, and reassuring them that the Tory leadership would like to see specific powers returned from Europe “in this Parliament”. As he put it: “We need to win more

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

The Lilliputian “Superstate”

For the past week, the papers have been full of the woes of David Cameron as Tory backbenchers sense the possibility of a new European settlement and try to put pressure on him to loosen Britain’s links or leave completely. In more elevated moments commentators have discussed whether a new Euro bloc, bound in a fiscal union, would act against Britain’s interests. What hardly anyone discusses is whether the EU can create a new settlement or Euro bloc, or whether the task is beyond it. Eurosceptics have been showing off quite shamelessly. They point out, correctly, that they have exposed the establishment thinkers who supported the Euro as dupes or

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

When will MPs wake up to Shale?

It’s just baffling. The House of Commons committee on energy has today published a report entitled “UK Energy Supply: Security or Independence?” with hardly a mention of the 200 trillion cubic feet of Shale gas recently found outside Blackpool. As Matt Ridley wrote recently in his definitive Spectator piece, these reserves – if exploited – are “enough to keep the entire British economy going for many decades. And it’s just the first field to have been drilled.” It may well be that just a fifth of this are exploitable, but there is no mention of this potentially game-changing discovery in the committee’s report today. Instead, we are told that “is

Monday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Rebels and Government Agree: There Will Be An EU Referendum.

In principle, I agree with Fraser’s admirable post previewing Monday’s debate (summarised excellently by ConservativeHome here) on an EU-referendum but I suspect that wily old Blairite John Rentoul is right to argue that there was no way the government could wash its hands of the affair since, whatever it chose to do, The headlines would be about a divided Tory party, come what may. Which is reasonable enough since the Tory party is divided. Granted, the primary division is between the Get Out Now team and the Renegotiate Everything team but the point remains: this has been a blunder. The government has mishandled this affair and been embarrassed by its

James Forsyth James Forsyth

43 percent of Tory backbenchers vote for an EU referendum in defiance of David Cameron

The scale of tonight’s rebellion is quite remarkable, 43 percent of Tory backbenchers have defied a three line whip—and we are only 18 months into the parliament. Indeed, if you factor in the abstentions more than half of Tory backbenchers rebelled. This should be a wake-up call to David Cameron. He needs to develop a proper policy for repatriating powers from Brussels, change his style of party management, and reform the Whips office.  This rebellion will encourage the hard-line Euro-sceptics to try again and again. They will reckon, rightly, that as the parliament goes on the number of potential rebels will grow. If they can get this number of rebels

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Europe Minister’s PPS quits over referendum vote

Adam Holloway, PPS to the Europe Minister David Lidington, has just effectively quit his job by giving a speech setting out his intention to vote for the motion. That the Europe Minister’s PPS is walking over this issue is an embarrassment for the government and a sign of how strongly opinion on this issue is running. The most striking thing about William Hague’s speech was the near silence in which it was listened to on the Tory benches. When Hague mocked the motion, he didn’t draw laughs from even the most sycophantic backbenchers. Whatever happens tonight, this debate has widened divisions on the Tory side. There is a real danger

John Rentoul

Another voice: Why Cameron had no choice but to fight

Fraser performed a valuable service to the MPs currently debating a motion proposing a referendum on membership of the European Union by imagining what he thought David Cameron ought to have said: “Sure, guys, have your vote. It’s a backbench motion, so the government won’t take part and as you know I’ve booked a trip abroad next Thursday anyway so I won’t be here. But I was serious when I said those petitions are a way to ‘rebuild trust in politics’. If this reached the threshold I set — 100,000 votes — then I’m happy for this to be debated, with a free vote. If you ask me, it’s an

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron’s warm up act

David Cameron’s statement on the European Council served as the warm up act for this afternoon’s debate on the EU referendum motion. Cameron attempted to show his backbenchers that he is serious about bringing back powers from Brussels. He stressed that he had already prevented the transfer of further authority to the European Union without a referendum and that he “remained committed” to repatriating powers. In an attempt to flash a bit of leg to his own side, he said that when the debate about treaty change starts “every country can wield a veto until its needs are met.” But Cameron remained vague about what powers he would like to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Whipping up a storm | 24 October 2011

It looks like about a third of Tory backbenchers will rebel in tonight’s vote on an EU referendum. 18 months into government, this is a massive rebellion and one that should make the Prime Minister think again about his style of party management. Those in Number 10 who claim that many of the rebels will ‘never be happy’ are missing the point that, while there may be a hardcore of MPs keen to rebel, many more are reluctant rebels who feel they have been pushed into it by Cameron’s failure to engage with the party on the whole issue of Europe. One reluctant rebel said to me over the weekend:

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Dave’s EU opportunity

Lucky David Cameron. His chance to repatriate powers from the EU will come sooner than he thought. Now the latest EU summit is over, it looks as if there will indeed be change to the Lisbon Treaty — the very document that the Prime Minister and William Hague promised Britain a referendum on. Last night, Herman Van Rompuy said that EU leaders had promised to “explore the possibility of limited change” in the weekend talks. Germany since confirmed that provisions for “limited treaty change” were included in the conclusions. We all know what that means. Indeed, here are the Prime Minister’s words: “Treaty change can only happen if it is

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 24 October 2011

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson reveals the Queen’s secret of success, and says Cameron’s making a mistake by restarting the Tory Wars. Douglas Murray says we have lessons to learn on how to handle dictators. James Forsyth has news of a poll showing support for an EU referendum, and a development in the government’s position. Jonathan Jones says Cameron’s strategy on Europe is better than it looks. Oliver Heald reveals his literary tastes to the Book Blog. And the Arts Blog reviews Sonia Purnell’s new biography of Boris Johnson.

Peter Hoskin

Your scorecard for today’s EU referendum vote

I hope you adjusted your calendars accordingly, CoffeeHousers. The parliamentary debate and vote on an EU referendum starts at 1600 today — and what morbid fun it promises to be too. Fresh from being bawled out by Nicolas Sarkozy at the weekend, David Cameron is returning to London to be bawled out by a significant proportion of his own party. And while the Tory leadership is certain to defeat David Nuttall’s Eurosceptic motion, it will not avoid being wounded in the process. Most of the wounds have already been self-inflicted. By way of a scorecard for the coming bloodsport, I’d recommend that you read the two posts by parliamentary experts

Sunday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Tory Wars, redux

Even after reading Jonathan’s post, I struggle to see the strategy in David Cameron’s position with his party over Europe. The motion is non-binding, and Miliband has three-line-whipped his party to vote against so there was zero chance of the motion passing. It is the result of a petition to parliament, so you can’t write this off as the idea of a few Tory MPs in the tearooms. Cameron should have said: “Sure, guys, have your vote. It’s a backbench motion, so the government won’t take part and as you know I’ve booked a trip abroad next Thursday anyway so I won’t be here. But I was serious when I

Jonathan Jones

Cameron’s strategy is better than it looks

The number of Tory MPs set to defy the government in the vote on an EU referndum tomorrow now stands at around 90, and numerous backbenchers – including John Redwood and David Davis – have called on the Prime Minister to drop the three-line whip. Even though he is certain to win the vote, many are already accusing Cameron of “blundering” and mismanaging this affair. But others are now suggesting that Cameron is in fact displaying a great deal of political nous by taking on the hardline Eurosceptics in his party. In the Indepednent, John Rentoul declares that “Cameron is the one who will emerge victorious and strengthened” from tomorrow’s debate:  “He will win

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Liddington: EU vote should follow a new treaty

David Liddington, the Europe Minister, has just told the Murnaghan Show that the moment for a referendum on the European Union is once a treaty change has been agreed. Liddington argued that then everyone would know what they were voting on. This is quite a significant shift in the government’s position. Up to now, the position has been that there would only be a referendum if yet more powers were transferred from Westminster to Brussels. Liddington appeared to be saying that a vote would follow any new treaty, even one that brought powers back. This moves the government far closer to a position of renegotiation followed by a referendum. If

Saturday

The Spectator

Barometer | 22 October 2011

• Mummy’s secret recipe A terminally ill taxi-driver from Torquay has volunteered to be mummified for a Channel 4 documentary. Here is what Egyptian mummification involved, according to Herodotus: — Extract brain through nostrils. — Cut opening in side of torso with sharp stone and remove contents. — Wash cavity with palm wine and pounded spices. — Fill with crushed myrrh and cassia. — Sew up opening and place body in natural salts. Cover and leave for 70 days. — Wrap in linen. • The green stuff David Cameron has summoned energy companies to explain why their prices are rising so fast. A few possible explanations: Renewables obligation (the requirement

Fleur Macdonald

Bookbenchers: Oliver Heald

This week we spoke to Oliver Heald, the MP for North East Hertfordshire. What book’s on your bedside table at the moment? To a Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron What book would you read to your children? Corduroy by Don Freeman What literary character would you most like to be? Richard Hannay in The 39 Steps by John Buchan What book do you think best sums up ‘now’?The Believers by Zoe Heller What was the last novel you read? The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh What book would you most recommend? Sir Bobby Charlton’s autobiography, My England Years Given enough time, which book would you like to study deeply?

James Forsyth James Forsyth

More fuel for the EU rebellion

Today’s Daily Express poll will add to the sense of momentum that the Tory rebels are feeling ahead of Monday’s vote. The fact that 81 per cent of Tory voters want their MP to vote for the motion will make it harder for the whips to dissuade those who are inclined to vote for the motion. The poll results also demonstrate that only a small percentage of the public would vote for the country’s current set-up with the European Union if they had the chance. Only 15 per cent would vote to stay in, compared to 28 per cent who would vote to leave, while 47 per cent would plump