Politics

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

Wednesday

Matthew Dancona

The Labour leadership plot is brewing

Bits of plaster are already falling off the ceiling over tomorrow’s cover story in the magazine, in which (amongst other things) I reveal a plan to launch a leadership challenge to Gordon Brown if Labour’s performance in the local and European elections is as terrible as the party’s strategists fear. The idea, as I explain, is for a former Cabinet minister – “probably Charles Clarke” – to test the water and see if he can secure 30 or so signatures from Labour MPs. The plotters are understandably uncertain of their chances and fear (as I make clear) that such a dramatic intervention might be counter-productive, as indeed it might. Nothing

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The alarming trends surrounding quantitative easing

The law of unintended consequences is one that Westminster unfailingly passes, and there are signs that the massive Quantitative Easing programme is making it harder for companies to raise money, because the government is flooding the market with its own IOU notes. The Bank of England today confirmed that less than 1% of the £44.5bn it has printed has gone to buy company loans – it had indicated that as much as a third of the £150bn pool would go to companies. Instead, it is a mechanism to help the government issue the £240bn of gilts it’s issuing this year. Why is this important? Because if the markets think QE

Martin Bright

David Cameron and the People’s Post Office

If the Tory leader is as canny a political operator as I think he is then he should adopt Compass’s idea of setting up the Post Office as a not-for-profit company immediately. The idea from the left of centre think tank had been dismissed too quickly by Downing Street, which seems determined to alienate as many Labour MPs as possible (having done a pretty successful job with the party’s members and voters). Cameron has talked the talk about his support for co-operatives and mutual organisations. He should now extend his support to the not-for-profit sector in what would be a hugely symbolic statement of intent.

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Brown faces the brickbats in PMQs<br />

Impressions, rather than substance, dominated today’s PMQs. With the Brown premiership downgraded from stable to critical over the weekend, this could have been a career-terminating ordeal for the soggy-eyed old panda but he got through it pretty well. By the end he was still confidently afloat, if not quite buoyant. Cameron raised the question of Brown’s authority. Brown counter-attacked. Why didn’t Cameron ask about policy rather than reducing everything ‘to personality’? Cameron insisted that Brown himself was the issue. Quoting long and embarrassing chunks from Hazel Blears’s weekend tirade he asked, ‘Why’s she still in the cabinet? His government simply cannot go on.’ The PM accused the Tories of being

David Miliband

Hague’s EU policy would be suicidal for Britain

Next month’s European elections are unlikely to be decided on European issues. But as Europe is the one foreign policy area where William Hague has said he has major differences with the government it is important to clarify what is at stake. As Conservatives commemorate the 30th anniversary of Mrs Thatcher’s election in 1979, they would do well to remember one reason it all ended in tears was Europe. The year ahead is crucial for the European Union. Can we strengthen the single market, despite the economic crisis, and so play our part in ensuring that there is no global slide towards protectionism? Will Europe lead the world to a

Matthew Dancona

The plotters mean business. But the Gordonator will survive

In a disastrous week for the PM, Matthew d’Ancona reveals the plot to mount a leadership challenge after the June elections. But Brown is absolutely determined to cling to power; and Labour has shabby psychological reasons for keeping him where he is Here is the plan: if the local and European elections on 4 June are terrible for Labour, a former Cabinet minister — probably Charles Clarke — will put himself forward as a candidate for the party leadership. Alan Milburn, Stephen Byers and others will urge their parliamentary colleagues to face realities; mayhem, naturally, will ensue. To trigger a formal challenge to Gordon Brown, the candidate will need the

Tuesday

Martin Bright

The Ultimate New Labour Insult

Mental illness has always taken up a lot of space in the lexicon of New Labour,  I have always thought Alistair Campbell’s own brush with the black dog had something to do with this. From Ron Davies’s “moment of madness” to Gordon Brown’s “psychological flaws”, the terror of incipient madeness has always been a New Labour nightmare. I wrote about this tendency a few years ago but recent events have brought me back the subject. It was telling that Damian McBride’s emails contained references to Frances Osborne’s state of mind – as if it would be a bad thing that she was upset by her husband’s political misfortunes. It seemed inconceivable in the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Party of Trammeled Freedom

Like James, I thought there’s some interesting stuff in David Brooks’ column today. On the other hand there’s also a fair quantity of stuff with which one might take some issue. To wit: Today, if Republicans had learned the right lessons from the Westerns, or at least John Ford Westerns, they would not be the party of untrammeled freedom and maximum individual choice. They would once again be the party of community and civic order. What? When did the GOP become the party of “untrammeled freedom and maximum individual choice”? Remind me please, because I seem to have missed it. This is a very strange statement since no-one would suggest

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Fiscal collapse

For all its faults, the European Commission is quite good at polling and economic analysis. And its diagnosis for the UK is even worse than some of the papers write up this morning. For CoffeeHousers who are sitting down, here are a few of its most depressing points. I added the OECD, which includes other developed countries which lack the EU’s problems: Brown has reached his goal, and this (for the left) is not to be sniffed at: state spending will be more than half of UK GDP. But he could not do this by increasing government revenue, as taxpayers would not abide it. So he has used borrowing instead,

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 5 May 2009

…here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the bank holiday weekend: Fraser Nelson marks the 30th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister, and reports on Hazel Blear’s intervention. James Forsyth notes three things keeping Gordon Brown down, and says that Harriet Harman’s friends may be doing the PM a favour. Peter Hoskin wonders whether Brown is preparing a purge of the Labour backbenches, and reports on some more Lib-Lab fun and games. Martin Bright notes John Prescott’s determinedness. Clive Davis reveals the case against the Gurkhas. Alex Massie says that Harman disappoints again. Melanie Phillips highlights the secular inquisition. And Americano charts a Rebublican Ridge to

Monday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

30 years on

“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.” It was 30 years ago today that The Lady said these words at 10 Downing St. It’s not quite the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi – the first line appears to have been a little improvisation. And it is the one most often quoted because it strikes such a contrast with what was to come. They are often quoted because they strike such a contrast with what was to come. She had, in fact, come to

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Harriet Harman Disappoints Again

Say it ain’t so, Harriet! Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman has denied a report she would fight for the party leadership, as speculation grows over Gordon Brown’s position. She insisted the story was “simply not true” and under “no circumstances” would she be a candidate. She told the BBC’s Today programme: “I don’t want to be prime minister and I don’t want to be leader of the party.” Can this be true? Surely not! Then again, Harriet seems determined to disappoint us. One does wonder, however, how many times Labour must talk about its leadership problem before anyone has the courage to actually do something about it…

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Holy Gordon’s Prayer

There’s a telling line in this story from the Mail which (if true!) gets to the heart of Gordon Brown’s sense of himself. Apparently he was unhappy with the line of questioning being pursued by a recent TV interviewer, leading Brown to complain, off-camera, that “You are impugning my integrity.” Now if ever a complaint reeked of the Manse, this is it. Not that the Prime Minister is alone in parading his own estimation of his integrity as though it deflected not only criticism but, more implausibly still, the very grounds upon which such criticism might be offered; the late John Smith could take such a view himself. Smith was

Sunday

Etan Smallman

The lady is for tubing

So Hazel Blears has decided to fill the bank holiday news void – and ruin Gordon Brown’s weekend – by attacking politicians’ use of YouTube. Fraser and Martin have highlighted the sticky political consequences of her Observer piece, but there’s a more straightforward problem. A quick search of YouTube will reveal Hazel as a massive hypocrite. She has her own account and the website is littered with this prolific YouTuber giving Brown a run for his money in the new media stakes. Here she is evangelising about her online prowess: “The internet is reshaping the way we do politics … My department is trying to be a pioneer. I’ve got

Martin Bright

Hazel Takes the Reins

Hazel Blears knows exactly what she’s doing by intervening in print during the Labour Party’s darkest spring. Think of it the other way around. Ministers know that when the Prime Minister pledges 100 per cent support then it’s curtains. It’s a sign of the declining authority of Number 10 that this rule has now been inverted. Cabinet loyalty is assumed. It should not have to be asserted. Hazel Blears is stating the obvious, which is very dangerous indeed. Of course the government was on the wrong side of the gurkha debate, of course it is failing to communicate with the voters, of course the YouTube performance was a disaster. But Cabinet ministers

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Blears weighs in

Enter the iron chipmunk. Hazel Blears has given it straight to Gordon Brown in the Observer, including the immortal line “YouTube if you want to” – this lady is not for tubing. She’s for campaigning, operating on a wavelength broadly approaching that of the British public. This shook up No10 which forced her to put out words of loyalty which (bless her) had all the sincerity of a hostage statement. “I want to make it clear that the Prime Minister has my 100 percent support,” etc. So, what’s cooking? With Charles Clarke sending a coded message that Ed Balls should quit, and Kate Hooey sounding off, all this can be

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A Laboured farce

Disquiet on the Labour backbenches, calls for Brown to go, Harriet Harman calling for “unity” – ie, politician-speak for “I’m game”: will Labour stage a mutiny this summer, as they failed to do last summer? Absolutely not. Tories do mutiny, and do it properly. It’s House of Cards-style brutality: serious people doing serious violence to each other. With the Tories, it’s a lethal drama. In my News of the World column I say what we’re likely to get from Labour is a summer pantomime. A tragicomic performance with mad hatter Brown, John Prescott  returning to the stage, chasing girls and raising laughs and David Miliband whipping out another banana. And

Saturday

The Spectator

A 30-year blip?

Thirty years ago this Sunday, Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister with a Commons majority of 43. In the 11 years that followed, she took an economic basket case, the sick man of Europe, an offshore banana republic, and transformed it: inflation was curbed, penal tax ended, the unions tamed, and Britain’s confidence on the world stage reasserted by victory in the Falkland Islands and the strength of the Iron Lady’s alliance with President Reagan. Her greatest achievement, paradoxically, was to transform not one party but two: New Labour was the offspring of Thatcherism too. And for many years it seemed that many core Thatcherite presumptions had become orthodox: in

Friday

Martin Bright

The Generation Game

The rhododendron flowers are out, so it must be time for the  big beasts of the Labour Party to stir again. Charles Clarke has said that he’s ashamed to be a Labour MP after the events of the past few weeks. Well, who wouldn’t be? Clarke says there are no signs of a leadership challenge, but I’m not so sure. I think Frank Field is right that if the European and local elections on 4 June are as bad as expected, we might see a summer of serious speculation about Brown’s position. We are back preceisely where we were last summer. David Blunkett has entered the fray again. I thought he was