Politics

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

Sunday

Peter Hoskin

Britishness revisited

I’ve just got around to watching some of Gordon Brown’s appearance at the Edinburgh Book Festival yesterday (you can see footage here).  It wasn’t that bad, actually.  If anything, he came across as relaxed, confident and – shock, horror – fairly witty.  One can’t help but view it all as a long message to David Miliband.  Something like “Look, you ungrateful upstart, I can do ‘Man of the People’; I can do charming.  And I’m completely at ease with all your plotting”. But there was more to it than that.  He dimissed claims that Britain is broken, and made reference to the general resolve and decency of the British public: “I don’t

Saturday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Hague’s Wisdom

William Hague warns David Miliband not to challenge Gordon Brown and offers this priceless spot of advice: “People want normal politicians and David Miliband is more geeky, more like me… David Cameron could wear a baseball cap, whereas Miliband would find it harder to appear normal. I must have a word with him and give him some advice – don’t try to be normal when you aren’t. As I never want to be leader of my party again, I don’t have to try to be normal any more.” [Hat-tip: Coffee House]

Peter Hoskin

Abnormal Miliband?

Fun quote from William Hague in today’s Times: “People want normal politicians and David Miliband is more geeky, more like me… David Cameron could wear a baseball cap, whereas Miliband would find it harder to appear normal. I must have a word with him and give him some advice – don’t try to be normal when you aren’t. As I never want to be leader of my party again, I don’t have to try to be normal any more.” Hat-tip: Conservative Home

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 8 August 2008

Here are some of the posts made this week on Spectator.co.uk… Eric Pickles wants your questions. Chris Grayling answers your questions. Spectator staff suggest some good summer reads. Kaz Mochlinski previews the Olympic Games. Henrietta Bredin reveals the most ineffectual phrase in current misuse. Matthew D’Ancona claims that al-Qaeda are winning, and says that the Brownites would love David Miliband to team up with Alan Milburn. Peter Hoskin gives his take on the speculation that Milburn would be Chancellor in a Miliband government, and asks whether David Cameron and George Osborne will divorce over marriage. Brian Cullen questions how courageous the British Free Tibet protestors actually are, and suggests that

Peter Hoskin

The Cameroons do the environment (again)

When Cameron first set about decontaminating the Conservative brand, the emphasis was on turning the Tories into the party of the environment – the Blue ‘n’ Greens, if you like.  But with the decontaminaion near enough over – and after the unmitigated disaster that was the Tories’ last environment report – the emphasis has slowly shifted onto other areas.   But now green issues look set to return with a vengeance.  As Alex Singleton reports over at Three Line Whip, the think tank Policy Exchange have just begun a “programme revisiting environmental policy”.  The focus, says Singleton, will be on practical environmentalism – such as how to deal with litter.  And you can be sure that what Policy

Peter Hoskin

How long before the knives come out for Clegg?

Nick Clegg can count himself lucky that there’s so much leadership speculation whirling around Gordon Brown – it’s probably deflected attention from his own less-than-stellar performance as Lib Dem leader.  How disappointing has it been?  Conservative Home’s Poll of Polls has the Lib Dems on 16.6 percent, meaning that, in their words: “Mr Clegg has added just 0.4% to the LibDem rating since Ming was ousted.  Approximately 90% of the drop in Labour support has gone to the Conservatives.”  And today there’s another poll which will dismay Team Clegg.  Lib Dem Voice asked party members to rate the performances of the Lib Dem front-bench team during August.  Clegg came out a disappointing fourth; behind Vince Cable,

Peter Hoskin

Brown/Nixon?

The ever-readable Daniel Finkelstein wrote an entertaining piece on Comment Central last week, noting the parallels between Richard Nixon and our own beleagured premier, Gordon Brown.  And I weighed in with some Brown/Nixon notes of my own.  As a footnote to that, I thought I’d flag up that it’s 34 years to the day since Nixon announced his resignation as US President.  Ok, ok, it’s unlikely that our Prime Minister will go down the resignation/retirement route.  But, as Matt points out in this week’s political column, there’s certainly some pressure on him to do so.  Anyway, here’s a chunk of Tricky Dick’s valedictory speech, on 6 August, 1974:

Peter Hoskin

Gove demolishes Labour’s record on education

Do take the time to read Michael Gove’s report A Failed Generation: Educational Inequality Under Labour, out today.  Many of it findings have peppered his recent articles and speeches (including his speech on Monday, sadly overshadowed by the lads’ mag row).  But gathered together as they are here, they amount to the most coherent – and shocking – denunciation of Labour’s record on education.  Here are some of the headline statistics:  — Last year, over 60 per cent of pupils eligible for free school meals did not gain the 3Rs at Key Stage 2. — 33,909 pupils eligible to receive free school meals did not attain any GCSE grades higher than a D in 2006/07 – 47 per

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Education Briefing

The best political programme of the 1980s explains school choice – and the opposition to it. As always Yes, Minister and, subsequently, Yes, Prime Minister were on the money: Hat-tip: Cato.

Peter Hoskin

What will 2018 look like?

Hugo Rifkind’s got a superb article in the latest issue of the magazine, outlining what Britain’s political scene might look like ten years from now.  It’s all a little tongue-in-cheek, but I’ve noted some of his predictions down, for reference.  Here they are: — George Osborne will be Prime Minister — Davina McCall will be presenting the Today programme — Boris will be Lord Johnson of Henley — Oil will be at $600 a barrel — Ruth Kelly will have been Labour leader — David Miliband will have been Labour leader — Ed Balls will have been Labour leader — David Davis will have defected to UKIP — Ken Livingstone will be Mayor

Peter Hoskin

Daniel Kawczynski MP apologises to Melanie Phillips

Daniel Kawczynski has written a web exclusive article for The Spectator, apologising for his recent online quarrel with Melanie Phillips.  You can read it here. To catch up on the original debate, read Melanie’s posts here and here, and Daniel’s post on Centre Right.

Peter Hoskin

The plot thickens…

And so the Labour leadership struggle rumbles on, with claims by Team Miliband that the Milburn for Chancellor story was “fictional” – an effort by the Brownites to smear their man as an uber-Blairite, and thereby alienate him from the left of the party.  But Rosa Prince of the Telegraph has since claimed, in no uncertain terms, that the Milburn story came from “friends of Miliband”.  And a new article on the Telegraph website suggests that the Team Miliband denials are an attempt, on their part, to quell criticism from other Labour MPs. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with all the speculation.  And I can currently see only one winner emerging from

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Gordon Brown’s got a question for you

I’ve just re-read this Q&A that the Independent conducted with Gordon Brown on 27 June, 2007.  One of our Dear Leader’s responses jumped out at me.  Here it is, with the question that prompted it: How will life be different under a Brown government? JOHN BROOKS, by email I will let you answer that question in a year’s time. I hope you’ll say you feel safer on the streets and more prosperous, more confident in your local schools and hospitals, and you’ll have a bit more trust in the political system. Generally, I hope you’ll say you think the Government’s on your side and listening to you. Well, it’s over

Peter Hoskin

Put your questions to Eric Pickles

Eric Pickles – the mastermind behind the Tory success in Crewe & Nantwich – has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House.  So, post your questions for him in the comments sections below.  And, on Sunday, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to the shadow communities secretary. He’ll get back to us all a few days later.  And the commenters whose questions are chosen will all win Coffee House t-shirts and copies of the special 180th Anniversary issue of The Spectator.

Matthew Dancona

Why the Brownites would love Milburn to back Miliband

The Daily Telegraph story about David Miliband offering Number 11 to Alan Milburn rings true for a number of reasons: not least that Milburn has also been in to see Gordon Brown about a possible return to Government. At a time when Labour is desperately in need of combative talent in its front row, the absence of Mr Milburn is – as he would say – “plain daft”. Like Fraser, I admire AM and his restless energy enormously. It is a shame that he has not felt comfortable simply staying in Government or, better still, defecting to the Tories. But the Brownites will be thrilled by this story, for reasons I

Peter Hoskin

Is Milburn just the ticket for Miliband?

Today’s Telegraph reports that David Miliband has lined up Alan Milburn to be his Chancellor, should he manage to oust Gordon Brown from office.  A good move by Team Miliband?  Well, Milburn is certainly a capable political performer, and his presence will help solidify Blairite support.  But two potential problems spring to mind. The first is that, whilst Milburn is popular with the Blairites, he is anathema to the Brownites and to the left of the party (remember the unions’ response when he was appointed as Labour’s general election co-ordinator for 2005?).  In a struggle that is rapidly reducing into a Blairite vs Brownite feud, the received wisdom is that Miliband needs to look for support beyond

Matthew Dancona

Relax, comrades: David Miliband is Blairesque, rather than Blairite

One Cabinet minister described it to me with dark wit as the ‘Eden Project’: the idea being that, after a summer of reflection, Gordon Brown is gently or not-so-gently persuaded to retire, in the manner of Anthony Eden, on the grounds of ‘ill health’. To which the PM’s entirely predictable response is: have you seen how many press-ups I can do? The revelation that he has hired a personal trainer may have been clunky, but it was a clear signal that he is not going to oblige those who would like him to quit on medical grounds. I would call the first round of the great Miliband–Brown bout a dead

Caroline-Reid

The end of Euro Disney’s white-knuckle ride?

After years of financial struggle, say Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid, the Paris theme park has finally found a path to profit — just as the European economy hits a downturn Disney and happy endings go hand in hand. But after 16 years, shareholders in Disney’s theme park near Paris are still waiting for their frog to complete its transformation into Prince Charming. In November, Euro Disney is set to announce its first net profit for more than five years — a success achieved not by pixie dust but by hard, old-fashioned graft. Despite an economic slowdown in Europe, things have never looked better for Mickey Mouse’s maison secondaire. Attendance

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Cartooning the War

Via Andrew, a fascinating collection of cartoon maps from the First World War. This one, by the Dutch artist Louis Raemaekers, is, for obvious reasons, my favourite:

Peter Hoskin

Grayling responds

Here are Chris Grayling’s answers to the questions put forward by CoffeeHousers: Marcus Cotswell “What are your plans for reducing the incidence of means-testing in the benefit system, with particular reference to the impact on incentives to save?” None of us would have wanted to see means testing spread as far as it has throughout our benefits and tax credits system under Gordon Brown. However once a system is in place, it’s much more difficult to change things without creating losers amongst the most vulnerable in our society. So initially our focus will be on simplification. I am, for example, extremely concerned about the number of elderly pensioners who are