Politics Archives

Monday

9 Sep 2019

John Bercow has been a necessary defender of Parliament

John Bercow’s decision not to stand for re-election will bring some satisfaction to Brexiteers after several miserable weeks. The Speaker has been nakedly partisan, personally spiteful in the chair and done more to resist Brexit than the entire Labour Party put together. Many Tories consider him a jumped-up little twerp with an over-inflated sense of his constitutional significance but he is their jumped-up little twerp, one who entered Parliament by pandering to hard-right prejudices and whom backbench Tories rallied behind in 2015 when the Coalition government tried to get rid of him. Then Leader of the House William Hague concocted a plot to oust Bercow by introducing a secret ballot

Ross Clark

John Bercow and the abandoning of the Speaker’s impartiality

According to John Bercow he has chosen to step down on 31 October because it would be the ‘least disruptive and most democratic course of action’ if he stayed on for the votes on the Queen’s speech expected in the last week of October. But there is a somewhat glaring reason for choosing the last day of October – it is a none-too-subtle hint that he sees it as his duty to frustrate Britain’s departure from the EU, which was due on that date but which, thanks to the law passed by Parliament today, now seems likely to be delayed again. Going for that date is Bercow’s way of saying

Katy Balls

John Bercow offers a parting shot as he announces plans to quit

Whatever happens in this evening’s election vote, John Bercow will not be the House of Commons Speaker come 1 November. The Speaker announced his plans to quit in the Chamber this afternoon to a mixed reception from MPs. Bercow said he had promised his family he would not stand for re-election and planned to stick by the promise: ‘At the 2017 election, I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. This is a pledge that I intend to keep. If the House votes tonight for an early general election, my tenure as Speaker and MP will end when this Parliament ends. If the House does not

John Bercow

Full text: John Bercow’s resignation speech

John Bercow has promised to resign as Speaker of the House of Commons by the end of October. Below is his full resignation speech: Colleagues, I would like to make a personal statement to the House. At the 2017 election, I promised my wife and children that it would be my last. This is a pledge that I intend to keep. If the House votes tonight for an early general election, my tenure as Speaker and MP will end when this Parliament ends. If the House does not so vote, I have concluded that the least disruptive and most democratic course of action would be for me to stand down at

Steerpike

Watch: Tory MPs refuse to applaud John Bercow

In a long, winding, and emotional speech in the Chamber this afternoon, John Bercow informed MPs that he would be resigning his position as Speaker of the House of Commons by 1 November. Bercow promised to either resign at the end of the parliamentary session if MPs backed the government’s plan for a general election, or on 31 October. But while Bercow’s speech was well-received on the Labour benches, it seemed that several Tories were rather less impressed with the Speaker’s bellicose farewell. As Bercow spoke, Labour and opposition MPs voiced their support for the departing Speaker, and when he concluded, applauded for over a minute. By comparison, several Tory

James Kirkup

We angry Remainers must listen to Leave voters – or risk losing again

As a Remain voter who believes that Britain must leave the European Union, I’m finding the Brexit seas ever harder to navigate. In particular, the siren call of the outraged Remainers grows louder. I have little time for many people on the Stop Brexit extreme of the debate, and that includes those who hide beneath the cloak of calling for a People’s Vote. Such people did as much as the headbangers on the no deal side to kill attempts at compromise that could have seen Britain leave with a deal and even – my preference – continued membership of the Single Market. Even Remainiac pin-up Ian Dunt – rightly –

Ross Clark

Do Remain MPs understand the mood of the country?

That the obsessions of Westminster do not necessarily coincide with those of the country has been obvious for a long time, but even so, the dislocation between last week’s news and this weekend’s opinion polls looks bizarre. The government looks in a greater shambles than any in history. We have a Prime Minister who has been in office for two months and has yet to win a Commons vote, who has been cornered and attacked for anything he tries to do, whom BBC lawyers seem happy for one of the corporation’s comedians to brand a ‘liar and a racist’. The Conservative party is in open warfare, with 21 MPs ejected

Isabel Hardman

How much collateral damage can the Tory party take?

Amber Rudd’s resignation has clearly been a blow to the government, but it wasn’t a huge surprise that she went after a week in which many of her closest political allies were booted out of the Tory party. What is more of a surprise is that she accepted a cabinet job with Boris Johnson in the first place. MPs who were being offered jobs when the Prime Minister took over had conversations with Johnson’s top aide Dominic Cummings in which he warned that there would be what he termed ‘collateral damage’ to the Conservative party as a result of his efforts to get Brexit sorted. They can’t believe Rudd didn’t

Robert Peston

Could civil servants ask the EU for a Brexit extension?

It’s very interesting that former Supreme Court judge, Jonathan Sumption, says a court could authorise a civil servant to sign a letter asking the EU for a Brexit extension, and could rule that the letter is in effect from the Prime Minister, whether or not the PM agrees. Which sounds like Boris Johnson could be stitched up like the proverbial kipper. Except that I simply don’t know whether the EU27 leaders could and would grant the requested three-month Brexit delay, when the request comes from a state whose government would be conspicuously paralysed. Robert Peston is ITV’s Political Editor.

Isabel Hardman

Ex-Tory rebels plot to reintroduce Theresa May’s Brexit deal

The rebel MPs kicked out of the Tory party held a phone conference last night to plot their next move, I understand. The group, now numbering 22 after Amber Rudd’s resignation, is keen to work across the Commons to get a deal past MPs that the European Union would accept, and it wouldn’t be a million miles away from what Theresa May tried – and failed – to get MPs to approve. There’s another meeting today, this time of the group ‘MPs for a Deal’, which is being led by Rory Stewart from the ex-Tory side, and Labour’s Caroline Flint and Stephen Kinnock. They don’t want a ‘carbon copy of

Sunday

8 Sep 2019

Andrew Garfield

The economic policy Britain needs after Brexit

So Mark Carney no longer believes that a no-deal Brexit will lop 8 per cent off our national wealth. Now he thinks the GDP hit will be a more modest 5.5 per cent. One can only guess what his prediction will be next month. He should have listened to movie mogul’s Sam Goldwyn’s advice: ‘Never make predictions, especially about the future.’ Cheap jibe? Maybe. But all this focus on whether we are going to run out of medicine or fresh lettuce in Sainsbury’s is a massive exercise in collective displacement activity. It is avoiding the real issue. Surely what matters isn’t what is going to happen in the next three

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Amber Rudd – no deal is taking up ’80 to 90 per cent of government time’

Amber Rudd – There is not enough effort to get a Brexit deal The major talking point of the day has been the resignation of Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, who made her announcement on Saturday evening. Rudd is not just relinquishing her cabinet post but also the Conservative whip, and plans to stand as an independent at the next election. Rudd’s departure comes in the aftermath of the Prime Minister expelling 21 rebel MPs from the Conservative party after a critical vote last week. Andrew Marr spoke to Rudd about her decision: AM: What was the crucial thing that made you leave? AR: It’s the combination of the

Robert Peston

Is breaking the Conservative party the way to save it?

Here is the measure of the madness. An influential Cabinet minister Amber Rudd has resigned in a blaze of recriminations, citing the ‘assault on democracy and decency’ of Johnson’s expulsion last week of 21 Tories who oppose a no-deal Brexit. But it will change nothing. A lamed government without a majority won’t fall because the opposition does not want it to fall yet – not till after the EU summit of 17-18 October, such that their new law, that seeks to delay Brexit, has a chance to work its magic or its evil (up to you whether you think it’s white or black). Rudd has been replaced at Work and

Saturday

7 Sep 2019

Douglas Murray

James O’Brien and the Carl Beech witch-hunt

There is an awful lot going on at present. But there is something that happened recently that I should like to return to. Not least because I get the sense that so many people involved would like everyone else to forget about it. I refer to the appalling case of Carl Beech – the convicted liar, fraudster and paedophile who made unfounded claims against numerous public figures and was sentenced in July to 18 years in prison. Beech’s crimes were not harmless. They included the most disgusting lies made against two D-Day veterans. Heroes of this country. The wife of one of those men – Lord Bramall – went to

Amber Rudd

Amber Rudd: why I quit

From her resignation letter This has been a difficult decision. I joined your Cabinet in good faith; accepting that ‘no deal’ had to be on the table, because it was the means by which we would have the best chance of achieving a new deal to leave on October 31. However, I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the Government’s main objective. The Government is expending a lot of energy to prepare for ‘no deal’ but I have not seen the same level of intensity go into our talks with the European Union who have asked us to present alternative arrangements to the Irish backstop. The updates I

James Forsyth

Amber Rudd quits Cabinet – and the Tory party

Amber Rudd has quit the Cabinet and resigned the Tory whip. Rudd’s departure deepens the split in the Tory party and will be a particular blow to Boris Johnson; the pair have always got on well personally despite their very different views on Brexit. What will worry Number 10 is that Rudd might start something of a domino effect. There are, as I said in the Sun this morning, several Cabinet Ministers who are worried about the government’s direction and irritated at not being more involved in Number 10’s decision making. I hear that others might follow her out of the door in the next 48 hours, as we discuss

James Forsyth

Tories pushing for Boris Johnson v Jeremy Corbyn TV debates

Boris Johnson’s best route to a majority is turning the election into a question of whether you want him or Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister, I say in The Sun this morning. Polling shows that 43% of voters regard a Corbyn premiership as the worst outcome to the current crisis, compared to 35% for no deal. If Boris Johnson can get the vast majority of that 43% to vote Tory, then he’ll get the majority he so desperately needs. This desire to frame the election as a choice between Boris Johnson and Theresa May means that he is taking a very different approach to TV debates than Theresa May did.

Friday

6 Sep 2019

Katy Balls

The Amber Rudd Edition

33 min listen

Katy talks to Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, about walking in Theresa May’s shoes, No 10’s SpAd jihad, and the government’s whip withdrawal for the 21 Tory rebels this week. Presented by Katy Balls.

Daniel DePetris

Will Italy’s new coalition last?

Italian politics is like a game of musical chairs. One government resigns or collapses, another takes its place, until that government is either rendered irrelevant a year later or voted out during the next election. Italy has had 68 governments in the last 74 years and 10 prime ministers in the last 20. Italians will get another prime minister sworn in relatively soon, and the new one is the same as the old. Guissspe Conte, a quiet law professor only 15 months ago, will stay on as Italy’s premier after surviving an attempt by his hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini to force an early election. Salvini’s desire for power, propelled by

Stefan Boscia

Labour needs to toughen up on violent crime

In January 1993 Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair announced a key pillar of the opposition’s future election policy in a New Statesman op-ed. He wrote that a Labour government would be ‘tough on crime and tough on the underlying causes of crime’ – a phrase that would be often repeated after he ascended to the Labour leadership in 1994. This policy was symbolic of New Labour’s third-way centrism. It focused on personal responsibility and punishing offenders, while also implementing grassroots programmes to stop the root causes of violent crime. With an election likely around the corner, the current Labour leader would do well to take a page out of