Politics

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

Thursday

The Spectator

Barometer | 25 July 2019

Losing confidence The government may soon face a vote of no confidence, the second this year. How often do these votes happen — and succeed? — Since 1945, UK governments have faced votes of no confidence on 23 occasions. Only one of these has been successful — when Jim Callaghan lost by a single vote on 28 March 1979, precipitating the election which brought Margaret Thatcher to power. — There have been 24 successful votes of no confidence in history, 13 of which were in the latter half of the 19th century. — Since 1900 there have been only three — that in 1979, and two in 1924 which brought

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s notes | 25 July 2019

‘No great surprise’ headlined the BBC television news on Tuesday lunchtime. The BBC does not admit it now, but it has been extremely surprised by Boris’s success, as have most senior Conservatives. They wrote him off at least twice — first when Michael Gove stabbed him after the referendum; second, when he resigned from Mrs May’s cabinet. His triumph confounds mainstream conventions about how to get on in Tory politics. It is partly to do with his personal qualities — his charisma, and even more, the attribute, visible in all the top-rankers, of mental and physical resilience. Over the years, I have often known Boris waver and hem and haw his way

The Spectator

Boris begins

It’s hard to think of a prime minister who has reached No. 10 with lower expectations. Boris Johnson has been dismissed as a philandering clown, a joker calamitously miscast as prime minister in a moment of national crisis. Obloquy has been hurled at him every time he has taken a new job — from mayor of London to foreign secretary. When he became editor of this magazine, his critics said putting The Spectator into the hands of such an oaf was like asking an ape to look after a Ming vase. At every stage, however, Boris’s critics have been confounded. His jobs change, but his style remains. His belief is that

Paul Dacre

Diary – 25 July 2019

So the party of family values has chosen as leader a man of whom to say he has the morals of an alley cat would be to libel the feline species. Thus the Tories, with two women PMs to their credit, have achieved another historic first: scuppering the belief — argued by the Daily Mail in my 26 years as editor — that politicians with scandalous private lives cannot hold high office. I make no comment on this, or about the 31-year-old minx who is the current Boris Johnson bedwarmer, but ask you instead to spare a thought for Petronella’s abortion, Helen’s love child, Marina’s humiliation and her four children’s agony.

Andrew Bacevich

Diplomacy by deference

Iran’s seizure of a British-owned oil tanker transiting the Persian Gulf has let loose a fresh round of media war chatter. Yet should another Persian Gulf War actually occur, who would benefit? Not America, that’s for sure. The central theme of present-day US policy regarding Iran is deference. Nominally, US policy is made in Washington. Substantively, it is framed in Riyadh and Jerusalem, with the interests of the United States figuring only minimally in determining the result. I am not suggesting that President Donald Trump supinely complies with secret marching orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, MBS and Netanyahu are both

Tim Rice

Summer Notebook

As I left Lord’s at around 3 o’clock in the afternoon to go to The Lion King European premiere I felt uneasy. Not because I doubted England’s chances of overhauling New Zealand’s apparently modest 241, but because I felt guilty at deserting Bairstow for Beyoncé, Morgan for Mufasa. There was no reason to suppose the remainder of the day’s play would be anything out of the ordinary. I’d been to Lord’s literally hundreds of times and more often than not left the ground simply contented to have spent time in its life-affirming surroundings; it had not really mattered whether the cricket itself had been memorable. Okay, this was a World

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Can Boris Johnson overcome Jean-Claude Juncker?

I don’t know if Boris Johnson is as surprised to be prime minister as those who’ve known him for 20 years, and worked for him when he was Spectator editor, and became incredibly grumpy at his seeming pathological inability to make up his mind. But it all felt a bit unreal and disconcerting to see Johnson at the dispatch box today in the Commons – even though I’ve been calling him a shoo-in for the job for months. I presume the sense of detachment will dissipate. One thing Johnson has made up his mind about, seemingly, is that – in the words he uttered to MPs – any negotiated deal

Steerpike Steerpike

The top five moments from Boris’s Commons debut as PM

Theresa May’s clashes with Jeremy Corbyn were usually dull affairs. Now that Boris Johnson is Prime Minister, Mr S. is looking forward to some livelier bust-ups in Parliament. Boris didn’t disappoint in his first encounter with the Labour leader. Here are five of the best bits from Boris’s government debut: Corbyn’s ‘terrible’ Brexit ‘metamorphosis’: Boris wasted little time in going for Corbyn over his mixed-up Brexit position, accusing him of undergoing a “terrible metamorphosis” from “long-standing Eurosceptic” into reluctant Remainer. Boris said the change of heart matched Corbyn’s “turgivisating career”: Boris on Corbyn’s mullah chums: Boris also took a pop at Corbyn over his paid appearances on Iran’s Press TV. He

Julie Bindel

The Tories are streets ahead of Labour on tackling prostitution

As a life-long Labour voter and campaigner against Tory policies, particularly when it comes to issues relating to violence against women and girls, I find it odd to be writing this sentence. But today, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission published a report into prostitution that is so progressive, so comprehensive, and so practical that it leaves the other parties with egg on their faces. Reports into prostitution tend to fall into two categories: either products of unbridled ideology dressed up as research, or a dull sifting of evidence from other countries. Home Office work on the issue falls squarely into the latter. Unenlightening and inconclusive, the tiny proportion of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris Johnson finds his voice in the Commons

Boris Johnson has never really known how to speak in the Commons chamber. He has tried to adjust his speaking style but without great success. And as I say in the magazine this week, despite his reputation for rhetoric he has never made a memorable speech in the House of Commons. But in his first appearance in the chamber as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson simply decided to speak there as he does elsewhere – and it worked. It left the Tory benches – which hadn’t been that enthusiastic at first – roaring for more. In his opening statement, Boris Johnson was full of optimism. He talked of what this country could

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

The anti-Boris demo was a screech of middle-class rage

Last night’s ‘F**k Boris’ demo in London really was an extraordinary spectacle. It felt almost historic. For what we had here was a gathering of radicals raging against a new Tory PM for threatening to upend the political status quo. Yes, these supposedly edgy, rebellious, pink- and blue-haired haters of Conservatism were essentially pleading with Boris not to be so revolutionary. It was bizarre. There may have been music and dancing and weed — the soulless whiff of that deadening drug was everywhere — but this was fundamentally a conservative protest. Small-c, natch. It was a plea to keep Euro-technocracy intact and not to cave in to the demands of

The Spectator

Full text: PM Boris’s first speech in the Commons

Mr Speaker, I with permission, shall make a statement on the mission of this new Conservative Government. But before I begin, I am sure the whole House will join me in paying tribute to my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Maidenhead – for all that she has given in the service of our nation. From fighting modern slavery to tackling the problems of mental ill-health – she has a great legacy on which we shall all be proud to build. And our mission is to deliver Brexit on the 31st of October for the purpose of uniting and re-energising our great United Kingdom and making this country the greatest place on earth. And

Steerpike Steerpike

Seven of the most hysterical reactions to PM Boris Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already delighting his supporters, but not everyone is happy about Britain’s new leader. Boris’s first speech in Downing Street and the Cabinet bloodbath that followed has led to a fair bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth, not least on Twitter. From independent group MPs and David Lammy to the New York Times – and even a popular children’s author – PM Boris is a prospect that is filling some with horror. Here are seven of the most hysterical reactions to Boris’s big win: Mike Gapes: Alt-right is a ‘far-right, white supremacist, white separatist, anti-immigration and sometimes anti-Semitic movement’, according to Wikipedia. So Mr S. thinks

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Coming soon: Boris Johnson’s tour of the union

When Boris Johnson stood in the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre and gave his victory speech, he spoke of his DUDE strategy for government: 1. Deliver Brexit; 2. Unite the country; 3. Defeat Corbyn; and 4. Energise the country. When it comes to step two, Coffee House understands plans are afoot to action an attempt to unite the country by putting Boris Johnson on a whistle-stop tour of the union. While the details are yet to be finalised – including at what point this summer – the idea is that Johnson will shortly visit England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Johnson’s Brexit plan means that he has been accused by critics

Steerpike Steerpike

The six best moments from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s government debut

Jacob Rees-Mogg, as newly appointed Leader of the Commons, had his first stint at the dispatch box this morning, after being elevated to Boris Johnson’s Cabinet late last night. The Commons Leader is responsible for the government’s business in the House and as expected Mogg, with his encyclopaedic knowledge of parliamentary procedure and history, was clearly in his element as he poked fun at opposition MPs and himself, while rattling off doctrine from Erskine May. Here are six of the best moments from his first session at the dispatch box: Resign! While Mogg was greeted with cheers as he rose to speak for the first time as a government representative in

The Spectator

Boris’s Cabinet: who’s in and out?

A day on from Boris Johnson’s brutal Cabinet clear out, the PM is appointing junior ministers tonight. Here is the full list of who’s in, and who’s out so far: Who’s in: Sajid Javid, Chancellor of the Exchequer Priti Patel, Secretary of State for the Home Department Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State Stephen Barclay, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (continues role) Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence Liz Truss, Secretary of State for International Trade Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (continues role) Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Work

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Who’s afraid of Jo Swinson? Corbynistas

When I was fresh out of university, I applied for a job as a parliamentary aide to Jo Swinson. The MP for East Dunbartonshire was full of promise and more to my political tastes then than the clunky managerialism of new PM Gordon Brown. She rejected me. If nothing else, this shows Swinson has sound judgement. After all, I would have made a terrible Lib Dem staffer. I was – and remain – in favour of the Iraq War, the war on terror, tuition fees, first past the post, nuclear power and erecting a statue of Tony Blair in every parish in the land. For many years, that was the

Dan Hitchens

Johnson & Johnson

To understand Boris Johnson, you have to understand the figure who has inspired him, shaped his worldview and accompanied him throughout his career. Admittedly Samuel Johnson has been dead since 1784, but his importance to Boris is unquestionable. Our next prime minister thinks the other Johnson is a ‘genius’ who ‘gave the world compassionate conservatism’. Britain, Boris once wrote, ‘has never produced an author with a better or more generous understanding of human nature’. It’s not just that Boris admires Samuel’s essays, his poetry and the pioneering Dictionary of the English Language. The influence goes deeper than that. When asked about offending everyone from Muslims to Scousers, Boris regretted hurting

Martin Howe

Best of three

With Boris Johnson finally in No. 10 we now have a prime minister who says he is committed to Britain leaving the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal. According to popular wisdom, the only way of avoiding the latter is for the government to negotiate a modified version of Theresa May’s deal, perhaps with the removal of the hated Irish backstop, or at least with a more easily digestible version. But these are not the only two options. As Boris hinted during his leadership campaign, only to be unfairly cut down, there is a third way. May’s deal is based on a withdrawal agreement (WA) negotiated under Article

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Boris show

Boris Johnson’s first 100 days will make or break him — which is what makes his premiership unlike any other. In his favour is his ability to rally support in the country; against him the realities of a hung parliament. How will he begin? It’s already clear that Boris Johnson intends to be an unconventional prime minister. His personality is such that he’s likely to eclipse all else in government. This is going to be the Boris Johnson show. Supporters and critics alike will be determined to keep him in the spotlight. He won’t change his style now that he has got the top job and privately, he is dismissive