Politics Archives

Friday

23 Oct 2009

There is no need to go out this Saturday

The Thick of It returns tomorrow night and by all accounts its as cynical, savage, sweary and uniformly contemptuous as ever. The subject matter of this series is, apparently, over promoted female Cabinet ministers – very topical in view of the government reshuffle and the Conservatives’ perverse all-female candidate lists. It goes without saying that the show’s producers have a sense of humour, but to make the fact plain they invited Jacqui Smith, Hazel Blears and Caroline Flint to the premier on Tuesday. I’m told they didn’t like it. Anyway, The Thick of It is the sharpest and most well attuned political satire since Yes Minister; it’s essential viewing. Here’s

David Blackburn

Griffin to complain about “lynch mob” Question Time

Nick Griffin has just made the following statement: “It was not a genuine Question Time, it was a lynch mob… People wanted to see me and hear me taking about things like the postal strike. Let’s do it again and do it properly this time.” He added that he would lodge a “formal complaint to the BBC over the way it twisted Question Time”. As James wrote last night, the debate was an extended navel gaze into whether it was right that Griffin appeared on the programme. Whilst Griffin unquestionably came off worse by babbling about a rather enigmatic, non-colour specific group called British aborigines, the panel missed the opportunity

James Forsyth

If anti-Semitism is the problem, then the Tories shouldn’t sit with the EPP either

No one has done more to make the Tories’ new European allies an issue than Jonathan Freedland. He has written about the subject with real passion and, so sources in the Jewish community tell me, played a crucial role in persuading the president of the Board of Deputies to write to David Cameron expressing concern about them. This week, his column on the subject contained this point: ‘Just this month Oszkar Molnar, an MP from Hungary’s main opposition party – on course to form the country’s next government – told a TV interviewer that “global capital – Jewish capital, if you like – wants to devour the entire world,

Peter Hoskin

So where does this leave Brown?

Most people expected this morning’s official GDP statistics to show that the economy has come out of recession. But they didn’t. In fact, they had the economy shrinking by 0.4 percent in the third quarter of this year. So the downturn continues – and it’s the longest on record. We’ve always maintained on Coffee House that coming out of recession won’t do much good for Brown. But, obviously, staying stuck in one has far more dangerous implications for him (not to mention the country). Obviously, the government won’t be able to deploy the green shoots strategy now. But with other major economies already out of recession, they’ll struggle to deploy

David Blackburn

Euro Foreign Minister Miliband?

The Lisbon Treaty decrees that Europe must have a Foreign Minister. It is not clear exactly what the Secretary of State will do, but David Miliband is being widely tipped for the role. According to one diplomat quoted in the Times and the Guardian, Miliband has “good European credentials and a brilliant mind.” The minister made famous (rather unfairly) by banana-wielding and a penchant for Indian donkeys is undoubtedly pro-European: he is in favour of further integration and deeply opposed to Cameron’s euroscpetic Tories and their European allies: so he ticks all of Brussels’ boxes. But would he take the job? The Labour party’s Titantic predicament is now so advanced

Thursday

22 Oct 2009

Fraser Nelson

EXCLUSIVE: What was said in Question Time

First question on the Second World War. Is it fair BNP hijacked Churchill? Straw says in the war Britain defeated a party based on race like the BNP. The BNP defines itself by race – that distinguishes it from every other party. All other parties have a moral compass. Nazism didn’t and neither does the BNP. We only won the First and Second World War because we were joined by millions of black and Asian people. Applause. Griffin then counters by saying Churchill would have been in BNP. He described Churchill as Islamaphobic by today’s standards. “The government is giving up on British freedom,” said Griffin. An audience member says

Fraser Nelson

Griffin has achieved exactly what he hoped to

As far as the BNP is concerned, Nick Griffin has already won this Question Time debate. It’s not about whether he does badly or well – he simply wins from the publicity. He’s been on Channel Four news, got an interview in today’s Times, all will be splashed all across the tabloids tomorrow – and that’s before we consider the Question Time slot itself. Then, he will win because, as we emphasise in the leader of this week’s magazine, millions watch Question Time. For every 50 people who think he disgraced himself, there may be only one person who thinks he might have a point. But, for Griffin, that will

David Blackburn

Has the tide turned against ‘President’ Blair?

Increasingly, it looks as though Tony Blair must make do with what he’s got. Last Saturday, the Independent reported that Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to evoke the spirit of de Gaulle with an emphatic ‘Non’, founded on Britain’s retention of the Pound.Today, Iain Martin has heard that Jonathan Powell’s proselytising in Brussels merely antagonised his audience. And the kiss of death for Blair probably came in the form of an endorsement from Silvio Berlusconi. But, there must be a European President, and, as Matthew D’Ancona observes, Blair’s experience on the international stage, his Europhilia and his Eurotrash-popstar status make him the ideal candidate. Nothing is more galvanising than the prospect

Peter Hoskin

The genius of Michael Heath

Michael Heath’s Flash Gordon cartoon in the latest issue of the magazine is so good that we figured we’d share it with CoffeeHousers. Click on the image below for a larger version:

David Blackburn

Tightening immigration should constitute part of compassionate Conservatism

The mainstream parties’ collective silence on immigration has, undoubtedly, contributed to the BNP’s growing popularity. Nicholas Soames and Frank Field have penned such an argument in today’s Telegraph. David Cameron’s modernisation of the Conservative Party came at the expense of even mentioning immigration. Yesterday’s mind-boggling population projection should curtail the era of uncontrolled immigration: Britain cannot sustain such human and social pressure in the age of austerity. The Tory leadership might view this reality with trepidation. They should not. Limiting immigration would alleviate poverty; it equates exactly with the Tories’ broad one nation philosophy. Labour has ceded its traditional support to the BNP, which indicates that the government’s appalling record

Peter Hoskin

The trailer for Nick Griffin’s Question Time performance

Is Nick Griffin’s interview with the Times a sneak preview of what we can expect from him on Question Time tonight? I rather suspect so. His aim in it is not only to project a reasonable front – by glossing over awkward facts (his conviction for inciting racial hatred is described as “Orwellian”), and by making dubious comparisons (he likens the BNP to opposition movements in Zimbabwe) – but also to provoke and rile his political opponents. The BNP leader sarcastically thanks “the political class and their allies for being so stupid” as to allow his appearance on QT. But the problem for Griffin is whether he can maintain the

Wednesday

21 Oct 2009

James Forsyth

Should MPs be able to employ their relatives?

The 1922 committee of Tory MPs is meeting now and the word is that there will be a concerted push to defend the right of MPs to employ their relatives; something that MPs on all sides fear the Kelly review will try to ban. In a Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion way, it is easy to say that MPs shouldn’t be able to employ family members. But there is no doubt that there are a lot of relatives, and spouses especially, who are working extremely hard for their salary. Given the hours MPs work and the fact that they have to be in two places, one can see why

Peter Hoskin

Postal strike to go ahead

The Communication Workers Union has just confirmed that there will be a national postal strike tomorrow and on Friday, effective as of midnight tonight. From a purely political perspective, this largely vindicates David Cameron’s decision to major on the strikes during PMQs earlier. You imagine that the story will dominate news broadcasts later, and the Tory leader can expect to have some of his attacks on Brown inserted into the coverage.

Lloyd Evans

Nothing doing | 21 October 2009

A poor showing by Dave today. All he managed was a spot of outmoded Labour-bashing and a biscuit joke that didn’t exactly take the biscuit. He attacked the PM over the postal strike and quoted a minister of state admitting that union militants had been emboldened by the government’s indecision over part-privatisation. ‘This trade union,’ said Cameron, ‘can sense weakness and they see weakness in this prime minister and this government.’ Brown got huffy – but not very. He accused Cameron of cynically trying to drag the strike ‘into the political arena,’ It’s already there, said Cameron, ‘not least because the communications workers pay half his bills.’ He used all

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s lose-lose position will prevent our broken politics from being fixed

An intriguing item in today’s Telegraph, which suggests Brown is planning to offer MPs a pay-rise to stem backbench anger over both the Legg and Kelly reviews into expenses. The idea is to boost the standard MP’s salary by about £3,000 and pay for it by cutting ministers’ salaries – so there’d be no further cost to the taxpayer. But you imagine even that fact won’t rally much public support for this idea. As I’ve written before, proposals to raise MPs’ pay shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. But it’s dispiriting that these latest plans are all about saving Brown’s hide, and have come about without consulting voters. It’s also

David Blackburn

Brown’s Northern Ireland settlement is to be commended

Gordon Brown has just told the House of Commons that he is offering Stormont a financial settlement to increase funds for policing and judicial administration in Northern Ireland. Crucially, future emergency security costs in future will be met by the Treasury, and elements of the complicated settlement will stand until at least 2014. Northern Ireland has been badly hit by the recession. Power sharing became increasingly fraught as arguments escalated over budget allocations and the timing of judicial devolution. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that the recent escalation of violence might be related to rising unemployment and open political tension. Lasting peace and unified government have to be

Alex Massie

Who cares about the BNP?

Everyone, naturally, is all flustered and boggled by Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time tomorrow. This has occasioned near record-breaking amount hand-wringing even though the BNP are, whisper it, less popular than the Greens. When you’re beaten by the loopy eco-warriors you know you have a popularity problem. Chris Dillow reminds us just how few BNPers there really are: Nothing, in other words, can help the BNP as much as our apparent determination to take these clowns and clods seriously. In doing so we elevate their status and grant them massively more influence than they either have or merit. Judging from all the attention they’ve received this week you’d think

David Blackburn

PMQs Live Blog | 21 October 2009

Stay tuned for live coverage from 1200. 12:00: Brown is to give a short statement on policing in Northern Ireland, in the hope that recent problems over power sharing can be resolved. Brown is offering a financial settlement to fund devolved justice and policing in Northern Ireland 12:03: Crispin Blunt opens up with the cuts in funding to the TA. Brown argues that increased recruitment into the regular army means that funds have had to be diverted – small reward for the TA who are being sent to Afghanistan. 12:05: Here’s Cameron. Will Brown condemn the Royal Mail strikes and urge the CWU to drop its threats? The answer is:

David Blackburn

In Griffin’s world, squaddies will have to follow their Generals to Nuremberg

Well, as Britain’s senior Generals goosestep their way to Nuremberg, plucky squaddies and veterans have leapt to their defence. In the video below, provided by Nothing British, Andy McNab plays loyal Fritz to General Dannatt’s Keitel. And these veterans of the Second World War, the Malaya campaign, the Falklands war and current conflicts, will feel the hangman’s noose on their necks also. The BNP has its roots in ‘Eurofacist’ movements that aligned Aryanism with hardline, regressive socialism, and believed that change would be effected by regenerative violence, not mainstream politics. The BNP remain national socialists and racial supremacists – opposed to all non-white British nationalities and ethnicities, not merely Islamic

Martin Bright

Now the Tories Need to Get Serious About Their Euro-Allies

The Guardian splash today puts some serious meat on my story in last week’s Jewish Chronicle about growing US unhappiness about the Tories’ new friends in Europe. Jonathan Freedland adds some important analysis. When I first put it to the Conservative Party press office that there might be an issue here I was told that it was unlikely the Obama government was troubling itself with such a parochial British issue. To me this demonstrates a fundamental failure of understanding that stretches right up to David Cameron himself. There has always been the suspicion that, for Cameron and his circle, politics is a game. The original ruse to leave the European