Politics Archives

Sunday

1 Dec 2019

Could Corbyn cling on if Labour lose?

Unless Jeremy Corbyn defies the odds, it looks unlikely that the Labour leader will become prime minister come 13 December. So what might happen if Corbyn loses for a second time? Will he try to cling on? Is there life for Labour after Corbyn? Before the campaign began, John McDonnell conceded Corbyn could not remain leader if the party loses. If that sounded conclusive from the shadow chancellor, Len McCluskey subsequently muddied the water. Instead of Corbyn immediately stepping down, there should, he said, be ‘a period of reflection’ after any defeat. ‘We need to consider the election result’, he went on, ‘If it was a defeat … then we’d have

Saturday

30 Nov 2019

James Forsyth

If Trump wants to dent Corbyn’s election chances, he should just ignore him

If Donald Trump really doesn’t want Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime Minister, he should, I say in the Sun this morning, just ignore the Labour leader when he comes to London for the Nato summit next week. The Labour leader would like nothing more than to get into a war of words with the US President. If he can turn this election into a question of whose side are you on – his or Donald Trump’s? – it’ll be that rare thing, a popularity contest that Corbyn can win. Those close to Boris Johnson are hoping that Donald Trump keeps schtum next week: and doesn’t get involved in any dramatics.

Andrew Marr

Andrew Marr: my interviewing style

My Sunday job is to ask questions; but in this campaign there is a line of criticism of television interviewing which makes me pause. The rise of misnamed social media (mostly Twitter) makes it all too easy to clip and post ‘Gotcha!’ moments, when a politician appears to be gasping for air at a particularly pertinent question. Two or three such moments now win the wearisome accolade of ‘a car crash interview’. So (goes the criticism) interviewers are under increasing pressure to skew their shows that way — go for cheap shots, get them online, and hope they go viral. I admit it’s a temptation. But as compared with fact-primed,

Brendan O’Neill

Boris Johnson and the ‘piccaninny’ smear

Boris Johnson likes to call black people ‘piccaninnies’. Everyone’s saying it. Even Stormzy said it this week in his endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn. It is ‘criminally dangerous’ to give the keys of Downing Street back to a man who refers to ‘black people as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”’, the grime superstar said. Whether Stormzy also thinks it is criminally dangerous to elect as PM a man who counts as ‘friends’ an organisation that literally wants to destroy the Jewish homeland is not clear. But hey, Jews don’t matter very much. We’ve all learned that over the past few years. But does Boris really call black people ‘piccaninnies’? Has he ever? The

Friday

29 Nov 2019

Ivan Rogers

‘Get Brexit done’? Boris is in danger of making May’s mistake

I’d love for James Kirkup to be right when he claims I am wrong about Boris Johnson. And as he knows vastly more than me about Tory party politics, it’s really not easy to disagree. But I must confess I remain to be convinced. To start with, here’s why I want him to be right: I expect the EU to prioritise a deal on tariff-free, quota free trade in goods – with extensive so-called “level playing field” conditionality – and on fisheries. And to “park” many other issues till after 2020. Michel Barnier duly confirmed exactly that to the European Parliament this week. I am well aware that some will say

Isabel Hardman

Election debate: leaders squabble over how they can stop Brexit

For a seven-way debate which didn’t even feature the two main party leaders, tonight’s BBC election programme was remarkably good. It felt as though it started with a jolt, with all the senior politicians present looking dazed as they struggled to find the words to respond to this afternoon’s terror attack at London Bridge. It is too early to debate the consequences, the policies which may change, the mistakes made and so on, and the awkwardness was palpable. There was visible relief when they were able to move on to the second question, and a different topic. Because Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn had both sent along substitutes, the debate

Tom Goodenough

‘This country will never be cowed’: Boris responds to London Bridge attack

Boris Johnson has just released a statement in response to the terrorist attack at London Bridge this afternoon. Several people were stabbed before a man wearing a fake suicide vest was shot dead by police. The Prime Minister, who returned to Downing Street from his constituency following the incident, said his message to terrorists is that ‘this country will never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack’. Here is his full statement: ‘I’ve just been briefed by the commissioner and assistant commissioner of the metropolitan police about the events at London Bridge this afternoon. While this is an ongoing investigation, the police can confirm that this

Steerpike

Labour’s cut and paste regional manifestos

Is the Labour party starting to panic? After a YouGov forecast this week suggested that the Tories could win scores of seats in the North of England, the Labour party appear to have made a rushed attempt to address regional inequality today. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell announced this morning that not only would his party have a manifesto for the whole of the UK, Labour would also launch a separate manifesto for every single region of England – to tackle the scourge of our country’s regional disparities. According to Labour, the manifestos showed that the party is committed to ‘delivering change’ and ‘will benefit every person and community in Britain.’ It’s usually

Fraser Nelson

Five reasons why this election could still go wrong for the Tories

With YouGov’s MRP model pointing to a 68-seat Tory majority, Conservative voters might think they have pretty solid ground for optimism. But as I say in my Daily Telegraph column today, things can still go wrong for the Tories. Here are my reasons to be fearful:- The Labour vote has grown since the election was called. Anti-Semitism charges are nowhere near as harmful for Labour as people in Westminster think. Yes, Jeremy Corbyn is having a torrid time of it on the campaign trail – the Chief Rabbi is now out against him – but this is not translating into any decline in Labour support. I had a letter from a reader

James Kirkup

Boris’s ‘Buy British’ plan shows how Brexit has changed the Tories

Where to start with the Conservatives’ “Buy British” promises to end EU state aid rules? The obvious point is that dumping rules that prevent governments subsidising domestic firms will make it much harder to strike a trade deal with the EU after Brexit. Limiting state aid is pretty much fundamental to the EU’s very existence and operations; arguably the story of the EU since the late 1980s is a story of trying to drag European politicians away from protecting favoured sectors and firms and opening their economies up to cross-border competition. Of course, that story isn’t much told in the UK where, thanks not least to the sort of journalism

Robert Peston

Boris vs Corbyn: the impossible choice at this election

How do you weigh a once-in-a-generation transfer of power from private sector to public sector and from capital to labour, against an irreversible rupture with the European Union? That is the choice being offered to voters, by Labour and the Tories respectively. Talk about chalk and cheese, or bicycles versus fish. How on earth do you decide, if you haven’t made up your mind already, which you like best? You could argue that the desire among some voters to squeeze the private sector’s pips till they squeak and those that want to take a chainsaw to the UK’s ties with the EU – with only a relatively small group apparently wanting both – stem

Joanna Rossiter

Podcast: Geoff Norcott on Brexit and Emma Watson

In the new episode of That’s Life, comedian Geoff Norcott talks to Spectator Life’s satirical writers Andy Shaw and Benedict Spence about the words, people and events that have shaped the recent news agenda. Geoff discusses the future of ‘woke-ism’, Emma Watson’s assertion that she is self-partnered and why from now on he’s going to call his mother ‘life giver’. Geoff is the token Leave-voter on BBC show ‘The Mash Report’ and he’s currently embarking on a national tour of his latest show ‘Taking Liberties’. He’s written for the Daily Telegraph, the Independent and Spiked. For the full podcast, listen here:

Steerpike

Watch: Tory MP admits ‘I wouldn’t do Andrew Neil as he’d take me to pieces’

Charles Walker, the former chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee, took to the airwaves last night in an attempt justify Boris Johnson’s growing list of TV no shows. The interview followed a Channel 4 leaders’ debate on climate change in which the public service broadcaster decided to replace Boris Johnson with a melting block of ice. In return, the Tories threatened to put Channel 4’s current broadcasting licence on ice. Speculation abounds that Boris Johnson is attempting to wriggle out of an interview with Andrew Neil following Jeremy Corbyn’s disastrous appearance earlier this week. That speculation was only made worse when the BBC press office confirmed that they had

Thursday

28 Nov 2019

The Spectator

How much are political parties allowed to spend in the general election?

Election counts Michael Bloomberg — the ninth richest person in America — entered the US presidential race by buying $34 million (£26 million) worth of advertising just to launch his campaign. How does that compare with what British political parties are allowed to spend in the general election? — In Britain, each party is allowed to spend, centrally, £30,000 for each constituency fought. With 650 constituencies, this amounts to a maximum of £19.5 million. — In addition, individual candidates can spend £8,700 plus 6p per voter (in urban boroughs) or 9p per voter (in county constituencies). — Put the two together and it means there is an effective maximum level

Toby Young

Panto should be about escapism, not saving the planet

If you were hoping to escape the bilge that’s been pumped out by supposedly neutral organs of the state during this general election campaign — the BBC, schools, the NHS — I don’t recommend going to see a pantomime. Gramsci’s long march through the institutions has finally reached the last redoubt of political incorrectness. Say goodbye to bum-pinching, boob-squeezing and irreverent, smutty gags about holier-than-thou political figures; say hello to anti-austerity scripts, racially sensitive casting and three-hour lectures on climate change. You think I’m making it up? Oh no I’m not! A new version of Jack and the Beanstalk at the Lighthouse Theatre in Poole written by former Blue Peter

Peter Jones

Socrates would have made the leaders’ debates real interrogations

There is something deeply unsatisfying about the debates featuring party leaders. The questions put to them, whether by an audience or presenter, are the routine ones that they face every day and therefore draw routine responses. What they never get is an interrogation. Enter Socrates, licking his lips. He once described how a friend of his had asked the oracle at Delphi whether there was anyone wiser than he. The Pythia answered ‘No’. Baffled by this, Socrates set about to prove her wrong. He failed. After interrogating a wide range of people he concluded that he was wiser, but only in this respect, that he knew he was ignorant, whereas

Charles Moore

All belief systems must accept the danger of ridicule and contempt

In the ‘whataboutery’ which now dominates British politics, no mention of Labour anti-Semitism is complete without a counter-accusation of Tory Islamophobia. It swiftly followed the Chief Rabbi’s condemnation of Labour anti-Semitism on Tuesday. There may well be people in the Conservative party who have an irrational hatred of Muslims, but the term ‘Islamophobia’ should be absolutely resisted. Unlike anti-Semitism, this is a concocted concept. A strand of Muslim thought sees all criticism of the prophet Mohammed and his faith as blasphemy and labours worldwide to ban it. Such Muslims are driven mad by the way Jews can cry ‘racism’ when they are attacked, whereas they cannot. But in fact this

Andrew Marr

Andrew Marr: December elections are a very bad idea

December elections are a bad idea. Never mind politicians talking rot — the ludicrous promises, the ludicrous numbers — it’s the lack of light and the foul weather that is making this one so bleak. People should be out of their houses, having lively conversations in the daylight, queuing for public meetings, hammering placards on to fences or alongside fields. But my impression is that most of us are staying at home, curtains drawn, harvesting insights from bloggers and news bulletins. The country feels crotchety and antisocial. I’m interested in the parallels with the December 1923 election. Back then, a Conservative prime minister, lacking his own mandate, risked going to

The Spectator

Does safety-first Boris Johnson have any ambitions on the world stage?

There is a large vacuum at the heart of this general election campaign. Aside from the topic of our relations with the EU, and Nicola Sturgeon’s statement that she would decline to press a nuclear button which is never going to be hers to press in any case, no leader has had anything of interest to say on foreign policy. This is not for want of matters to discuss. The elections in Hong Kong at the weekend presented an ideal opportunity to bring up foreign policy. A small political earthquake occurred in a former British colony, with reformers triumphing at the polls just as they had drawn huge support on

Andy Coulson

‘For the Jenni, not the few’: the anti-Boris attack line Labour missed

If the age of deference were still with us, the mortuary tag has now been tied to its toe following Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview. I saw him a couple of weeks ago at a military charity event where he did a good job, showing how the royals frequently but quietly add value to important causes. His performance in front of Emily Maitlis, fast becoming Britain’s best interviewer, was (to put it politely) less impressive. As is often the case, the advisers get a good kicking when such moments go wrong. But it was the words that came out of His Royal Highness’s mouth that were the problem. Boris must be chuffed