Politics Archives

Monday

22 Mar 2010

Cab for Hire: Dispatches and the Moral Collapse of the Political Class

I am still reeling from Antony Barnett’s Dispatches investigation into MPs and lobbying. Truly brilliant TV. Horribly watchable. Exquisitely awful. I watched half of it from behind my hands. This was Curb Your Enthusiasm meets the Office: political Dr Who for grown-ups. Why is it always the Blairites who get themselves into these messes? Is it simply because they bought the New Labour compact with the market more fully than the rest of the party? Or is that they waded so far into unfamiliar territory that they lost their moral compass? None of this completely explains what is going on here. There was something rather sad about watching Stephen Byers wade

Peter Hoskin

Byers, Hewitt and Hoon suspended from the Labour party…

…according to the Beeb just now. And if you watched tonight’s Dispatches programme, you’ll know exactly why. Nick Robinson comments that the “Labour leadership” will delight in “taking revenge” on three figures who have ruffled Brown’s feathers on multiple occasions – so it continues to look like backbiting and politicking will take priority over geniune reform. A grubby Parliament just got considerably grubbier.

James Forsyth

Another shaming day for Westminster

There was something particularly depressing about Harriet Harman’s statement to the House today on this lobbying scandal. The MPs involved have damned themselves more effectively than anybody else could and so the anger of the Commons lacked bite. Though, it was noticeable that the personal attacks on those involved tended to come from their own side not the opposition benches; proof that for many this is another episode in the long running battle for the soul of the Labour party. David Heath, the Lib Dem shadow leader of the House, made probably the best speech. He wanted to know why the House was always reacting to these problems rather than

Alex Massie

Obamacare = Romneycare = Mitt’s the Biggest Loser?

Jon Chait loves a good fight so I’m not surprised he’s in I Told You So mood today. I kinda, sorta, less confidently, told you so too even after Massachusetts when the prospect for HCR were pretty bleak and Fred Barnes was saying it was dead, dead, dead. Well, we all get things wrong and sometimes perhaps we get a little lucky. The chap with the most to lose from last night’s vote – in terms of politics and 2012 if nothing else – is our old chum Mitt Romney. No wonder Romney released this statement: America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his

David Blackburn

Both Labour and the Tories need to get stuck into Vince

The public remains infatuated with Vince Cable. A Politics Home poll reveals that 31 percent want Cable to be chancellor. It’s a crushing endorsement: Don’t Know is his nearest rival on 24 percent, followed by Ken Clarke on 16 percent. Cable’s reputation rests on his sagacious airs and an apparent contempt for party politics. His eminence is baffling. Fleet-footed fox-trotter he may be; economic guru he is not. Andrew Neil’s interview shattered Cable’s invincibility. The Sage of Twickenham admitted to changing his mind over the HBOS Lloyds merger and his constantly shifting position on cuts was exposed. Add to that the ill-thought out Mansions Tax and Cable begins to look

Daniel Korski

Yanukovych – Ukraine’s Nixon?

It is easy to paint Ukraine’s new leader, Viktor Yanukovych, as a pantomime monster, Russian stooge and businessman’s puppet. Last month I suggested his electoral victory over namesake Victor Yushchenko may not be as bad as people think. Now Andrew Wilson, Britain’s foremost Ukraine expert, argues the same. In a briefing paper, he notes that elections in Ukraine open up new opportunities for the EU: ‘Paradoxically, Yanukovych’s quest for good relations with Russia could also make it easier for EU member states to reach a consensus about how to deal with Ukraine. Too often in the past, the EU has been unable to develop a coherent policy on Ukraine because

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 22 March 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson introduces a new tax, and says that the internet has made deception transparent. James Forsyth believes Obama’s healthcare bill comes at a cost, and welcomes Cameron’s theory of change. Peter Hoskin laments yet another dirty politics story, and evaluates the new cuts versus investment dividing line. David Blackburn says voters deserve better, and warns the Tories against pushing an alternative to Ashcroft. Martin Bright reviews Tony Judt’s manifesto for the left. Alex Massie finds an eye-raising passage in the Pope’s letter to the Irish church. And Melanie Phillips notes the emasculation of America.

Peter Hoskin

Memo to the Tories: stop talking about being authentic, and just do it

Paul Goodman wrote a thought-provoking article for ConHome last week, in which he suggested that “authenticity vs artificiality” will be one of the key battles of the forthcoming election. Not only do voters crave authenticity after years of spin, deception and malice on the part of politicians, wrote Goodman. But, also, this election is specifically wired to expose inauthentic behaviour. Blogs, YouTube, mobile phone cameras, poster spoofs – all will work to undermine the cold and the stage-managed methods of elections past. Which is why the Tories are getting all excited about David Cameron’s more or less spotaneous performance in Lewisham last week. It’s proof, they say, that all those

Sunday

21 Mar 2010

Fraser Nelson

Introducing the Nelson tax

In the News of the World today, I propose a new tax on the rich: specifically, on ex-ministers who go on to earn a crust advising companies how to avoid the regulations with which they have saddled the British economy. I proposed this before the news broke about Byers and Hewitt etc, but their appalling story makes it all the more pertinent. The Nelson tax should be above the top rate, and imposed on any activity such as giving speeches to the Chinese, lobbying, consultancy, etc. – anything which trades from contacts or reputation built up while serving the taxpayer. It would not be levied on activities which the ex-minister

David Blackburn

The Tory donor who’ll take a sword to the ‘morons’

Buried deep in the Sunday Times is the Tories’ answer to the problem that is Lord Ashcroft. James Tyler is a fund manager who has donated £250,000 to the Tory party since 2007. He is that rare creature: a multi-millionaire who is both resident and domiciled in merry old England. Tyler’s chief attraction for the Tories is his virulent opposition to what he terms ‘the morons’ – City Boys taking excessive risk and Gordon Brown’s culpability in the financial collapse. It was his subject in a speech to the Adam Smith Institute last year and he remains consumed by it. The Sunday Times reports: ‘His chief bête noire is the

Peter Hoskin

Osborne steps up his game

George Osborne must have changed breakfast cereals, or something, because he’s suddenly a different man. After the Tories muddied their economic message to the point of abstraction a few weeks ago, there’s now a new clarity and directness about the shadow chancellor’s languange. Exhibit A was his article in the FT last week. And Exhibit B comes in the form of his article for the Sunday Telegraph today. It sets out five deceptions that we can expect from the Budget this week, and are all punchy and persuasive in equal measures. But it’s the first which, as I said on Friday, is the most important: “The Chancellor might be so

Peter Hoskin

Dirty money and dirtier politics

Busted. Yep, that’s the word which first sprung to mind when I read the Sunday Times’s expose of MPs and their dirty lobbying work. Hoon, Hewitt, Byers – they’re all revealed as providing influence and access for cash, and a lot of cash at that. But it’s Byers who comes out of it the worst. You can read his story here, but suffice to say that it involves boasts about successfully lobbying ministers to change policy, and about parading Tony Blair in front of his clients. He even describes himself as “a bit like a sort of cab for hire”. I imagine he’ll pick up fewer fares now. Our democracy

Alex Massie

Is Edinburgh University Scotland’s latest disgrace?

Imagine if Durham University were to decide that for courses heavily over-subscribed with qualified applicants it would reserve a small percentage of places for would-be students hailing from within 50 miles* of the university. Would anyone raise an eyebrow? I doubt it. Yet when Edinburgh University adopts precisely this approach – for some of the humanities and, I suspect, medicine – suddenly there are hysterical cries of “racism” and “xenophobia”. Tom Harris MP** [see update] says this is “shameful” and goes so far as to label the university “an embarrassment to Scotland”. What piffle. It’s not the university that is obsessing about politics or the border here, it’s the likes

Saturday

20 Mar 2010

The Spectator

A propaganda war

If you want to know about Labour’s election campaign, simply turn on a commercial radio station. If you want to know about Labour’s election campaign, simply turn on a commercial radio station. Soon enough, you will hear an advertisement offering to help you lose weight, buy a car, claim more benefits, deal with door-to-door salesmen or stop smoking. Who provides all these services? The government, of course. The covert message is that Gordon Brown cares and Labour, if re-elected, will look after you. The cap on election spending in Britain is £19 million, a sum that the Labour party cannot hope to raise. So instead, the Prime Minister is doing

David Blackburn

Pot, kettle, black

George Boateng, Alan Milburn and Andrew Smith have written a letter to George Osborne, calling him to task over the contradictions in his policy. ‘It is not clear to us whether these mixed messages are a deliberate attempt to obscure your plans or a symptom of a confused approach to policy but either way the public deserves better.’ Fair enough. Osborne’s policy has become more concrete in recent weeks, but much remains still to do. Peversely, I think they’ve given too much detail, and have been found out because they haven’t seen the nation’s books.The reduction in the amount of cuts that are planned is a case in point. But

Fraser Nelson

No place for porkies in digital politics

We have just witnessed a fascinating glimpse of the use of the internet in elections. This morning, Cameron proposed a unilateral bank tax – moving, I suspect, ahead of what he believes Darling will announce in next week’s budget. Next, at 1.19pm, Will Straw digs up a selectively-edited version of Chris Grayling speaking in his local constituency (put online by the Labour candidate, Craig Montgomery). Straw’s headline: “Calamity Grayling opposes Cameron’s unilateral bank tax.” Now, this headline – a lie – might have worked on a Labour Party press release. But it’s far harder to lie on a blog. Grayling is quoted saying “there is absolutely no point on earth

Daniel Korski

Clegg’s consigliere: Lib Dems would “sustain the Tories in power”

Everyone has been guessing at what Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats would do if the voters return a hung parliament after the next election. The Lib Dem leader has sent all kinds of mixed signals. But if there is one person worth listening on the party’s intentions it is Julian Astle, the head of CentreForum, Britain’s leading Liberal think-tank, and a former political advisor to Paddy Ashdown. Astle has, in recent years, acted as one of the Lib Dem’s unofficial consiglieri – but one that has never shied away from challenging party orthodoxy. He has, for example, argued against the Liberal Democrat pledge to abolish tuition fees – showing

Peter Hoskin

Ed Miliband’s new investment vs cuts battleground

Ed Miliband certainly isn’t one for holding back, is he? In an interview with today’s Guardian he discusses what we might expect from the Labour manifesto, and there’s some pretty noteworthy stuff in there: a People’s Bank based around the network of Post Offices; an increase in the minimum wage; a reduction in the voting age to 16; things like that. But, as Sunder Katwala suggests over at Next Left, the most eye-catching passage is when Miliband discusses Free School Meals for all: “The manifesto could well include a pledge to provide free school meals for all children, Miliband says. ‘I think a lot of people would like free school

Martin Bright

Tony Judt’s Manifesto for the Left

Anyone who cares about political debate should read the essay by the historian Tony Judt in today’s Guardian. It is an astonishing piece of work which argues for a renewal of social democracy in response to the failure of the New Labour experiment (which Judt considers as evidence of the redundancy of the philosophy of Thatcherism so willingly embraced by Blair and Brown). You may quibble with the detail — Judt remains over-sentimental about the public sector — but it is a challenge to received wisdom in all strands of dominant contemporary political discourse. He captures what many of the liberal left feel here: “It’s difficult to feel optimistic about

Sam Tanenhaus

Why American Jews are backing Obama

It seemed a classic diplomatic faux pas — the sort that begins in mutual embarrassment and soon descends into ominous bristling and then open recrimination. On 9 March, Vice President Joseph Biden, in Jerusalem on a mission to revive peace talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinians, made the expected pledge of ongoing American commitment to Israel’s security, only to be upstaged hours later when Israel’s interior minister, Eli Yishai, announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem, an ancestrally contentious zone. Netanyahu, pleading innocence, insisted he had no idea the announcement was coming. But he did not countermand Yishai, who is also the leader