Politics

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

Thursday

Ed Howker

The Winter Fuel Allowance is indefensible

Freed from the shackles of elected office, Steve Norris remains an electrifying speaker. He is also refreshingly honest. So, when I met the 66-year-old former mayoral candidate at a Tory conference fringe on the future of London, he was only too happy to admit how spent his Winter Fuel Allowance: “I’m amazed by the Chancellor’s annual gift. I spend it on Claret,” he said. In fact, he said that when paid to the wealthy, the allowance is “a complete waste of money” and “a bribe to older voters”. I mention this only because the Allowance was referred to again in a different context this week: during David Cameron’s own address.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Where Do Asylum Seekers Come From?

A useful chart of the “Top Ten” nationalities of asylum applicants to the UK in 2010: I suppose one mildly happy consequence of the fuss over immigration from eastern europe (and elsewhere) is that there is less talk than there used to be about Britain being “flooded” by “bogus” asylum seekers. Doubtless there remain some claims that could be thought questionable but one need not be blessed with too much imagination to accept that there might be excellent reasons for fleeing Iran or Zimbabwe or China or Sudan or any of the other countries on this list. Soft-touch Britain? That’s not something supported by these numbers. [Hat-tip: Matt Cavanagh]

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Cabinet cat-flap continues

The Ken Clarke and Theresa May cat-flap has sparked up again this morning, with the Justice Secretary accusing the Home Secretary of using “laughable child-like examples” to attack the Human Right Act. In some ways, it’s hard to take a political row about a cat particularly seriously. But this back and forth between May and Clarke is actually exposing something very important: the Liberal Democrats are not the only brake on Tory radicalism. At the moment, lots of Tory ministers – up to and including the Prime Minister – like to imply that they’d be doing far more on Europe, immigration and the Human Rights Act if it wasn’t for

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Catflap Latest: Sack Theresa May!

Good god, #Catflap shows no sign of abating. And people are losing their minds over it. Poor old Tim Montgomerie is the latest fellow to see the rumpus as an excuse to get rid of Ken Clarke. Apparently a “Cabinet minister should never publicly attack a colleague” and so Ken must be sacked as soon as possible. Personally, I’d rather Cabinet Ministers ceased behaving like idiots and since May is the idiot in this case, if a head must roll it should be the Home Secretary’s. She started the Catflap after all and only in the topsy-turvy political land could Ken carry the can for telling the truth while May

Will Straw

Another voice: Five lessons from Conservative party conference

Here’s the latest in our Another Voice series of posts, which give prominence to viewpoints outside the normal Coffee House fold. This time it’s the IPPR’s Associate Director, Will Straw, with his five-point take on the fringe events of Tory conference, and the lessons that might be learned from them: 1. The Tories know that winning a working majority in 2015 is no easy task. The most popular fringe event according to Fringelist.com was ConservativeHome’s event on ‘How the Conservatives can win the next election.’ Reflecting his remarks from the panel, YouGov’s Stephan Shakespeare wrote yesterday that, “today’s electoral maths makes an overall a majority a mountain to climb”.  

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Cameron’s gay marriage gambit

An odd definition of what it is to be a Conservative from the Prime Minister in Manchester yesterday: “We’re consulting on legalising gay marriage. To anyone who has reservations, I say: Yes, it’s about equality, but it’s also about something else: commitment. Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other. So I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I’m a Conservative.” I suppose by the same token you could say you were a Conservative because you supported the union of a man and a goat, say, for exactly

David Blackburn

What did Fleet Street make of Cameron’s speech?

Not a lot is the short answer. Many commentators argue that the speech failed to match the gravity of this moment in time; that it was safe; that it was not prime ministerial. Steve Richards believes that Cameron was timid, choosing to reassure rather than challenge. He writes: ‘Yesterday in his address David Cameron did Ed Miliband an unlikely favour. He made Miliband’s seem deeper and substantial. The Labour leader’s address last week was poorly structured and delivered, yet compared with Cameron’s it had an argument and was at least an attempt to address the scale of tumultuous change sweeping across Britain. In contrast Cameron’s speech was a giddying guided tour

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Live Aid Tories

If one hype video was weird, the other shown to delegates in Manchester this afternoon (but designed to be seen on blogs and Facebook and so on) was good politics in the service of a good cause. Or, if you really must, vice versa. As Matt d’Ancona tweeted, the Cameroons aren’t just Maggie’s children, they’re  Live Aid kids as well…

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Tory Party Conference, Inc.

The empty chairs for David Cameron’s speech said it all: the party conference is no longer a political event. This was my eleventh Tory conference, and, even in this short time, I’ve noticed a creeping corporate takeover.  The difference struck me yesterday, when I attended a packed fringe meeting in something called the ‘Freedom Zone’. It was set up to discuss banned topics: how to cut taxes, the case for a referendum on EU membership, etc. The crowd was younger, of a libertarian bent — all activists and enthusiasts of some kind, a refreshing change from the sanitised and often lifeless feel of the rest of the official conference. As

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron does enough

There were three big themes to David Cameron’s speech. The first was that decline is not inevitable, an attempt to tackle the mood of pessimism that is gripping the nation. The second was an attempt to reassert the Conservatives’ compassionate credentials, hence the emphasis on how the Liberal Democrats would have cut the NHS and the section explaining why conservatives should support gay marriage. The third was leadership, Cameron’s biggest advantage over the other party leaders. The attack on the idea of Britain’s decline being inevitable was powerful in places. But because Cameron has a non-ideological approach to growth it is hard for him to make a stirring argument about

Alex Massie Alex Massie

One Nation Dave

Jim Murphy’s tweeted verdict on David Cameron’s speech to the Tory conference seems accurate: Bits I saw seemed written by 4 different people in 4 different rooms and merged just in time to be fed into the autocue. Such is the fate of conference addresses and today’s was no different. This is a tired format in dire need of refreshing. A speech that was half as long but four times as concentrated would work better. Instead, there are the usual dreadful “jokes”, the usual attempt to cover far too much ground, the usual blather about British spirit or promise or greatness and the familiar flabby mess of a speech. But

Daniel Korski

Hague’s European dilemma

William Hague’s conference speech caps a revival in his political fortunes, and it also showed how far the government has come since the pre-election period, when Tory foreign policy was indistinct. After one year in office, the government’s roster of foreign policy achievements is noteworthy. The coalition has overseen institutional innovations in the form of the National Security Council and organisational improvements at the Foreign Office. Embassies are opening, not closing. Diplomats are again being taught traditional skills, not trying to follow the latest foreign policy fad. Cooperation between DfiD and the Foreign Office is also much better than it was under Labour, with Andrew Mitchell and William Hague conferring regularly

Peter Hoskin

Cameron’s leadership pitch

Leadership, leadership, leadership. You couldn’t miss it. Leadership wasn’t just the clearest theme of David Cameron’s speech to the Tory conference just now, but also one of its most common words. By my count, it popped up around 30 times. “I’m proud to lead this party,” he said in the very first paragraph. “It is leadership we need,” he continued. The aim, I’m sure, was to paint an even stronger contrast between David Cameron the Prime Minister and Ed Miliband the Sub-Prime Ministerial. But Cameron wasn’t just talking about his own leadership. As he put it himself, “success will come: with the right ideas, the right approach, the right leadership. Leadership

Douglas Murray

Why conservatives should welcome gay marriage

David Cameron just told the Tory conference that he supported gay marriage “because I am a Conservative”. In last week’s issue of the Spectator, Douglas Murray said that the best arguments in favour of gay marriage are conservative ones. For the benefit of CoffeeHousers, here is Douglas’s piece. In America a new generation of Republicans is challenging the traditional consensus of their party on gay marriage. They — as well as some of the GOP old guard like Dick Cheney — are coming out in favour. In Britain the subject is also back on the agenda with the coalition government, at the insistence of the Prime Minister apparently, planning a ‘public consultation’

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Steve Hilton is still in the building…

I’m not sure I’m sure what this video, shown to the party conference waiting for David Cameron’s speech this afternoon, is actually about but it’s not the kind of thing you’d have seen in the Lady’s day. That is the point of it and it’s supposed, I suppose, to be posted on blogs and social media and so on to remind people that the Cameroons aren’t your daddy’s Tories. It’s probably a post-riots thing too. Or something. There was an appeal for aid to famine-struk East Africa too. Again, the point of this is to allow the Tories to move right in other areas.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Explaining Cameron’s debt u-turn

“Millionaire David Cameron wants you to pay off your credit card – are you going to obey the Prime Minister?” asked one local BBC radio station phone-in this morning. This is not what No. 10 had in mind when releasing selective quotes from his speech last night. “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.” This line in his speech is now being rapidly rewritten – and for good reason. Because the Prime Minister was in danger of making a major mistake.   The premise of the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

An order or a description?

The hours before David Cameron’s speech have been filled by a row about the pre-briefed line that: “The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households – all of us – paying off the credit card and store card bills.” This was taken by several papers as the Prime Minister instructing people to pay off their credit cards bill now, something that would have reduced the prospects for growth even further. So, the line has now been changed to show that Cameron is just describing what’s going on. It is all mildly embarrassing. But this little flurry can’t disguise the fact that

David Blackburn

Liam Fox plays his hits

The party faithful (and lobbyists) have their favourites. The conference hall rose in applause when Liam Fox sat down, having delivered his speech. This might have been a tricky engagement for Fox, who is overseeing substantial cuts to the defence budget, which might, conceivably, have angered activists. He has also been under pressure from Jim Murphy, who is described by some in government as the opposition’s ablest shadow minister. Fox, however, prevailed by giving a true blue speech aimed squarely at the audience in the hall.  The gruelling strategic defence review was necessary, he said, because deficits threaten national security – a line he’s used before. But, thanks to his management, Britain would emerge

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Scottish Tories Need a New Horse, Not a New Jockey

The unexpectedly interesting struggle to lead the Scottish Tories (no-one is interested in the plight of the Scottish Liberal Democrats) rumbles on. In Manchester this week, Murdo Fraser’s supporters have done their best to look chipper but the fact is that his brave decision to suggest scrapping the party and starting again is beginning to look like a blunder. It is not that Fraser’s analysis is wrong, far from it, merely that asking the Tories to endorse a withering critique of their past and probable future failures is asking more of them than it is reasonable to expect. If Murdo had run an orthodox campaign, his supporters say, he’d have