Politics

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

Saturday

The Spectator

Must Try Harder

The wonder of the National Curriculum Tests marking scandal is that it has taken a decade for the inadequacies of the school exam system to become widely known. As Liz Brocklehurst, a former exam marker, reveals in this issue (see page 21), the exam system has been in crisis since being politicised in David Blunkett’s days as education secretary. For ten years, markers have been put under pressure to interpret answers in a bizarrely over-generous fashion, even to the point of marking obviously wrong answers as correct. Little has been revealed about such practices because the markers have been sworn to secrecy. As the results got better and better, allowing

John Laughland

Meet Italy’s answer to Boris

Gianni Alemanno, Rome’s new right-wing mayor, tells John Laughland that it’s time for the Eternal City to adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach There are few people, I imagine, who could make Boris Johnson jealous, but Gianni Alemanno is probably one of them. Two days before Boris’s election as Mayor of London, the conservative Alemanno conquered Rome after the Italian Left had held the city for a decade and a half. His victory was part of a dramatic overall national victory for the Italian Right, whose no-nonsense political discourse may now set the tone for European politics as a whole. While Boris governs London from a hideous blob of glass and

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 25 July 2008

Here are some of the posts made this week on Spectator.co.uk: Chris Grayling wants your questions. George Osborne answers your questions. Fraser Nelson reports on the SNP’s stunning victory in the Glasgow East by-election, and claims that the West needs to solve the Pakistan problem. James Forsyth says Ed Balls should take responsibility for the Sat fiasco, and spells out how reform-minded Labour MPs can establish a case for toppling Brown. Peter Hoskin analyses James Purnell’s strategy for getting to the top, and says that taxpayer subsidy of Commons bars has to stop. Melanie Phillips gives her take on Gordon Brown’s speech to the Knesset. Stephen Pollard asks: what’s the point of fiction? Clive Davis gives his reponse to Stephen’s question. Trading Floor exposes the CV

Peter Hoskin

Put your questions to Chris Grayling

Chris Grayling has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House.  So, post your questions for him in the comments sections below.  And, in a week-or-so’s time, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to the shadow work and pensions 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.  

Peter Hoskin

Osborne responds – Part II

Here are George Osborne’s answers to the last five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers.  For Part I click here GS London “What are the realistic possibilities of a flat-rate taxation system? If not, please explain why not, and, failing that, would a conservative government make effort to drastically reduce the complexity in current taxation?”  There are important lessons we can learn from the flat tax. Under Labour, Britain’s tax code has more than doubled in length, adding to the administrative burden for businesses and individuals across Britain. That’s why I have set out a long-term commitment to make our tax system simpler and fairer, and asked Lord Howe to develop

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

No such thing as a safe seat

 Dunfermline, Crewe, Glasgow East – the phenomenon of safe Labour seats being upended is one that deserves a little more attention. Let’s consider that incredible turnout in Glasgow East – 42% in a seat where 48% turned up for the general. For the first time in decades, a political party (the SNP) campaigned hard there. People knocked on doors. The nationalists raised, and deployed, an army of people and asked Glasgow East voters what they thought, they engaged with them. And it worked.   Remember the BNP’s electoral successes – such as they are – come from exploiting the forgotten people in Labour’s modern-day rotten boroughs. They were the first

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Schadenfreude but not much else for the Tories

Aside from schadenfreude, there is not much in the Glasgow East result to make David Cameron smile. It reminds us that what is happening nationally is a fury directed at Labour, not Obama style enthusiasm for the Tories. I had initially thought coming third was quite a result for Cameron but went to bed before calculating voting shares. As CoffeeHousers pointed out, Cameron has made no progress in Glasgow East with his 6% voting share unchanged. And that in spite of an excellent candidate. Of course in these by-elections, voters wishing to stir things up pick the nearest stick to beat Labour with. In Dunfermline and West Fife, Brown’s home

Peter Hoskin

Cameron throws down the gauntlet

David Cameron on Sky News this morning:  “I think the PM should have his holiday but then I think we need an election. We need change in this country and that’s how change should come about.” Hat-tip: Politics Home

Peter Hoskin

Are the numbers against the would-be leaders?

In his victory speech a few hours ago, John Mason exclaimed that “this SNP victory is not just a political earthquake, it is off the Richter scale”. It’s hard to disagree. After all, overturning a 13,507 majority is impressive stuff, whichever way you slice it. So impressive, in fact, that it can only reinforce the idea that pretty much any Labour seat is now a viable target for opposition parties. Which creates a particularly nasty conundrum for Labour MPs. Ousting Brown will become increasingly attractive, as he leads them towards oblivion in 2010. But many of the names being bandied around to replace him have smaller majorities than that overturned

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A stunning victory

It’s official – the SNP has taken Glasgow East with a majority of 365 in what is, quite simply, a stunning victory. [And quite a result for Cameron, he’s pushed the Liberal Democrats into third place, getting real traction in a constituency where Tory vote is normally no higher than staff members and blood relatives]. This is most momentous Scottish by-election since Hillhead in 1982. The SNP’s greatest victory since the Hamilton by-election which put it on the map in 1967. And a result which has fought off very tough competition to be Gordon Brown’s worst setback yet. Westminster will want to know tomorrow what this means for Gordon Brown. The question

Peter Hoskin

A recount in Glasgow East?

The Beeb are reporting that there may be a recount in Glasgow East – perhaps a sign that this vote really is extremely close.  It could well be a very long night.  Stay tuned. P.S. How close? Jon Sopel’s said that the SNP majority may currently stand at around 354. P.P.S. The word is that certain parties are worried – rightly or wrongly – that votes for Margaret Curran may have been counted for the similarly-named Frances Curran, the SSP candidate.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Are the SNP about to win despite their candidate?

The SNP crowd is on the pitch – they think it’s all over. And the latest speculation I have picked up – amazingly – is a four-figure SNP majority. If the SNP do win, one thing should go on the record – John Mason, their candidate, was perhaps the worst of the main four candidates. He could hardly ever turn up without Alex Salmond by his side, doing the talking. He’s just turned up to the count, fists in the air victoriously and hugging colleagues in a way that you just don’t do at a by-election – until you win. The Tory, Davena Rankin, could have come straight from David Cameron’s

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

If it’s the economy stupid, then Labour is doomed at the next election

Defeat is written all over Douglas Alexander’s face on the BBC News Channel, and SNP deputy leader Nicola “Gnasher” Sturgeon is trying very, very hard to contain her grin. Mentally, she’s punching the air. What jumps out at me is that Labour’s intends to blame defeat on the economy. But can someone explain to me why that makes it okay? The economy is bad now, but will get much worse next year. If the bad economy means people want to whack Labour, then just think how the general election would go.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The word is that Labour has lost

I have now spoken to three people in Glasgow with the same news: Labour has lost. It was 42% turnout, a monster turnout – given that 48% voted in the general election. It was the sort of turnout one normally associates with a constituency which fancies giving someone a kicking. Now I’m not calling this for the SNP, but I thought I’d share with CoffeeHousers the message which political journalists are sending to each other right now. Also word that the Tories may beat the LibDems into third place: an unexpected result which would be tremendous news for Cameron.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Have the forgotten voters of Glasgow East triggered a political earthquake?

You don’t mean a thing if your seat’s not a swing – that is the rule which governs Britain’s constituency voting system. Its worst aspect is the emergence of modern day rotten boroughs, where no mainstream party votes. The more I hear from Glasgow, the more likely it looks that the forgotten voters of Glasgow East might – just might – trigger that political earthquake. If it does, it will be for a simple reason: it’s difficult for Labour to turn out your voters if you have never really bothered to find out who they are, or where they live. Difficult to find out at short notice, if your grassroots

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Tackling poverty | 25 July 2008

Today’s march on poverty – with church leaders at the front; Gordon Brown giving the sermon – overlooks an important point. Thanks to global capitalism, we are living in a golden age of poverty reduction: never in human history has the West’s wealth been shared more quickly with the developing world, and to such incredible effect. According to the World Bank, the number in extreme poverty has dropped from 40% in 1981 to 21% in 2001. Poverty has fallen most where capitalism has done best. That is why the bulk of the drop in world poverty is done by India and China. “China prices” mean cheap goods for us –

Thursday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

How Osborne should manage the budget

Reading George Osborne’s responses to Coffee House has made clearer my own advice to him: save money by decelerating NHS and education budget increases. Max out with rhetoric about “we will outspend Labour” and say “every penny of Brown’s spending will be locked in” etc. It will all be true. But simply increase at very low rates – 0.5% to 1% in real terms. By 2010, with unemployment and repossessions soaring, the public will be in the mood to hear that the government is also tightening its belt. Given that the NHS has so little to show for the doubling of its budget, it will hardly notice if it is

Peter Hoskin

Osborne responds – Part I

Here are George Osborne’s answers to the first five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers: Tiberius “I understand the reasons for not committing to upfront tax cuts, but there are bound to be some savings available from reform. Do you have any idea at this stage how much could be available, and where would you seek to allocate any such savings?” Thanks Tiberius. Our judgement call two years ago not to commit to upfront tax cuts, in spite of pressure from many people, has clearly been vindicated by events. When it comes to efficiency savings, we have made it clear that cutting wasteful spending is a key part of our plans.

Peter Hoskin

What the Tories think of James Purnell

Ok, so it seems like you CoffeeHousers generally don’t agree with our appraisal of James Purnell (exemplified by Fraser’s article “Meet James Purnell: the best hope Labour has of avoiding disaster”). But what does the Tory party think of the work and pensions secretary?  Here’s a hefty quote from Tara Hamilton-Miller’s excellent article in the New Statesman today, outlining just that: “Back in the office, Tories have been checking out James Purnell, the new young buck many suggest could be the saviour of Brown’s crumbling party. The Central Office staff don’t get it. Says one Tory aide: “He’s a boy. I’m not convinced his own party buy him. Surely this is a case of hype