Politics Archives

Thursday

5 Sep 2019

Extremists have taken over the two main parties

Both main British parties are now characterised by intolerance of dissent, leader worship and racism. You can take a historical view and see the rise of extremism as a reaction to the great crash of 2008 and the longest period of wage stagnation since the Napoleonic wars – a country that suffers the economics of the 1930s, cannot expect to escape thirties’ politics. But the peculiar hypocrisies of British public life are as much to blame as great shifts in the world economy. Britain was meant to be immune from the fanaticism that excited foreigners. That famously unwritten constitution, which assumed statesmen were gentlemen, political parties were broad churches, and dictatorial

Robert Hardman

The Queen can handle coups – she’s been on the receiving end of one

Supplies of Brexit invective are now almost exhausted. While the Prime Minister is denounced for denouncing Remainers as ‘collaborators’, his denouncers denounce him as a ‘tin pot dictator’ in need of a ‘rope’ and ‘lamp-post’. Of all the bellicose hyperbole, however, it is the battle cry of ‘Stop the coup’ which is the loudest this week. There are plenty of charges which can be levelled at this government. But to apply the term ‘coup d’état’ to a trio of genuflecting members of the Privy Council asking the Queen for the umpteenth prorogation of her reign is risible. For the central figure in this non–usurpation happens to be the one person

Rod Liddle

When it comes to Brexit, everything that can be tried will always fail

It is all beginning to feel like the closing scenes of the 1980 spoof comedy film Airplane! In particular the bit where, as the stricken jet is coming in to land, someone in the control tower suggests putting on the runway lights to help a little. ‘No,’ says Captain Rex Kramer, ‘that’s just what they’ll be expecting us to do.’ The most basic explanation for the chaos in parliament is that the political divide in the House of Commons does not remotely match the political divide in the country, on Brexit or indeed on most issues, surely. But that shouldn’t stop us revelling in the multifarious paradoxes which have come

Wednesday

4 Sep 2019

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson denied election request – but snap poll remains likely

Boris Johnson has lost his third government vote – and his first bid for an early election. MPs voted against his call for an early election under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, with Johnson failing to get two thirds of the Commons to vote for it – 298 MPs voted in favour with 56 against. On hearing the news, the Prime Minister said that Jeremy Corbyn was the first opposition leader in history to refuse a general election. Ahead of the vote, Johnson had vented that it was ‘completely impossible’ for government to function when MPs won’t back any government legislation. He said the choice the public needs to make is who

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson will get an election in October, eventually

Labour’s split over the timing of any election has deepened this evening. In an interview with Andrew Neil, John Healey repeatedly declared that as soon as the extension legislation has got Royal Assent, Labour would want an election. Andrew Neil put it to Healey that this contradicted what Keir Starmer said today at the despatch box, when he said that Labour would not favour an election until an extension was actually in place. Jeremy Corbyn then took the same position as Healey when he spoke in the election debate in the chamber. If this holds as the official Labour position, then Boris Johnson will get the numbers for an election

Isabel Hardman

Theresa May’s Brexit deal is accidentally revived

As an illustration of how chaotic things are in Parliament right now, the Commons has just accidentally revived Theresa May’s Brexit deal. An administrative problem meant the amendment tabled by Stephen Kinnock and others to bring the deal back to the Commons, in order to prevent a no-deal exit, went through. The Tories didn’t put in tellers to count the votes, which means the division was cancelled. There is, though, a chance that the government whips may have done this deliberately in order to make the bill itself toxic to MPs and therefore try to kill it off. In which case they are having to rely on chaos to get

Isabel Hardman

Ex-Tory rebels threaten to stand as Conservatives in election

Rebel ex-Tory MPs are complaining of ‘unconstitutional’ treatment by their party and are planning to stand at the next election as Conservatives, I have learned. The MPs who lost the whip last night when they backed a motion to take control of the Order Paper were this morning told all their constituency data had been taken away from them, and that they must remove the Conservative logo from their websites, correspondence and so on. But despite this, a number of them want to say that they are Conservatives at the election, and are preparing for a dramatic legal battle with the party. As I reported earlier, all the rebels took

Isabel Hardman

Caroline Spelman joins the Tory rebels on anti-no-deal bill

The government’s majority this evening fell just a little more, as Caroline Spelman joined the rebels to vote in favour of legislation forcing an extension to the Brexit deadline. This latest defeat, 329 in favour of the bill and 300 against, was not a surprise in itself. But it is interesting that Spelman, who backed the government last night, has decided that she should turn against it today. However, government sources are saying that she will not lose the party whip like her colleagues who rebelled yesterday. The vote on taking control of the Order Paper last night was treated as a confidence issue, hence the round of expulsions. All

Robert Peston

The decisive battle over the date of the next election

With MPs arguing and agonising about when the general election should be, we may have hit peak parliamentary insanity. The PM wants a general election on 15 October. Tory rebels, led by Sir Oliver Letwin, and many Labour MPs, including frontbenchers, want polling day to be any time after 31 October. What is this dispute all about? It is not about whether an election is coming. After yesterday’s Tory defection and mass expulsions – what one of those exiled, Sir Alistair Burt, calls a purge – Boris Johnson no longer has the numbers to govern in any meaningful sense. Paying the wages of Johnson and his team in these circumstances

Lloyd Evans

Oodles of synthetic outrage at Boris’s PMQs debut

That was fun. Boris Johnson’s debut at PMQs had a bit of everything. Comedy, passion, swearing, name-calling, and oodles of synthetic outrage. Several parliamentary conventions were tested to breaking point. The PM instantly took the fight to his opponents who are conspiring to halt Brexit by passing a delaying measure later today. ‘The Surrender Bill’, he called it. He labelled Jeremy Corbyn ‘a chlorinated chicken’ who believes that Britain’s closest allies reside in Teheran and Caracas, and not in Berlin or the White House. ‘I think he’s Caracas.’ He accused Labour of inciting ‘mobs of Momentum activists to paralyse the traffic.’ He imagined hordes of black-clad rebels blocking bridges, chanting

Charles Moore

There’s nothing wrong with Rees-Mogg lying down in the Commons

In the debate on Tuesday, the standard of speaking was high. As well as Jacob Rees-Mogg, Ken Clarke, Anna Soubry, Nick Boles, Liam Fox and David Cameron’s replacement in Witney, Robert Courts, were all excellent. On the whole, the rebels were the more eloquent, as rebels usually are. Their one false note, however, was that of self-pity. There was too much — from Boles, Soubry and (though humorous) Clarke — about how they had suffered for their faith. This exemplified one of the main reasons millions feel alienated from parliament: so many MPs are ‘up themselves’ about a decision made by the people. Poor Rees-Mogg was much abused for lying prone

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson’s confusing election stance

Does Boris Johnson want an election or does he not want an election? He managed to make both claims this afternoon at Prime Minister’s Questions, accusing Jeremy Corbyn of being a ‘chlorinated chicken’ for not wanting an election, while also continuing to insist that he didn’t want one either. He then – apparently accidentally – told the Chamber that he did want an election. The whole effect was rather chaotic, and Johnson’s demeanour wasn’t particularly prime ministerial. He even said ‘s***’ in the Chamber, which might have been designed to get all the attention in a session where Corbyn unusually had the upper hand. When someone takes on the highest

Steerpike

The 50 times Jeremy Corbyn has called for an election this year

Jeremy Corbyn backtracked on one of his core political messages yesterday, when he told Boris Johnson that he no longer wants a general election. The Labour leader is now briefing that his MPs will not vote for an election until a bill has been passed blocking a no-deal Brexit. Is this not quite the U-turn you ask? Mr S certainly thinks so. A quick glance at the House of Commons’ records shows that Corbyn has demanded an immediate election 16 times in Parliament in 2019. Over the same period, the Labour leader has called for an election on Twitter a whopping 34 times as well, bringing the total to 50. It

Toby Young

Corbyn, not Boris, was the real loser on Tuesday

The Remainers are celebrating after Tuesday night’s defeat of the government and writing Boris off as a busted flush. ‘Johnson’s Brexit strategy in ruins as anti-no deal MPs inflict defeat,’ says the headline on this morning’s FT. But I’m not convinced this was such a bad night for the Prime Minister. Boris’s response to Tuesday’s loss has been to table a motion calling for a general election. Corbyn’s position, as I understand it, is that he will only agree to an election after the ‘anti-no deal bill’ forcing Boris to ask for an extension of the Brexit deadline on 19 October has been approved by both Houses of Parliament. (Boris

Why Boris Johnson should pack the House of Lords

What should the next steps be in the battle between Parliament and the people? First, Boris should appoint about 500 peers who are committed to leaving the EU. The House of Lords is dominated by Remainers and the appointment of additional peers should ensure that representation of Leavers and Remainers in the Lords is the same as in the 2016 referendum, namely a small majority in favour of leaving. No doubt there will be the usual hyperbole about a coup and dictatorship, but the appointment of peers is morally justified because it will help to ensure that the Lords cannot defy the referendum result, when the people were acting through

Robert Peston

Will Jeremy Corbyn keep Boris Johnson dangling?

Jeremy Corbyn is now in charge – even though he isn’t prime minister. And he faces the most important judgement of his life in the coming days. Does he allow a general election before the EU council of 17 October and take the risk of Johnson winning that election and repealing the law (likely to be passed in coming days) that would force him to ask for a Brexit delay? Or does he keep Johnson dangling, because with the support of the 21 Tory MPs expelled last night by Johnson, Corbyn now has the power to decide when and even whether there is a general election? He could insist that

Bobby Friedman

The political naivety of the Brexit court cases

In a week where Remain MPs have been trying to foist an extension of the Article 50 period onto Boris Johnson, you might be forgiven for thinking that it is Parliament that has provided the arena for the latest battle in the Brexit war. But, if a group of legal campaigners have their way, it will be in the Scottish Courts that the real action takes place. The Good Law Project – the brainchild of tax barrister Jolyon Maugham – has been arguing in the Scottish Court of Session today that it’s illegal for Parliament to be prorogued by the PM. Irrespective of the outcome, it’s likely that the matter

Tuesday

3 Sep 2019

Daniel DePetris

Can Joe Biden maintain his lead over the fall?

It was Labor Day in the United States yesterday, which can only mean one thing—now that the barbecues and swimming at the beach are over, Americans will be tuning in to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary a lot more often. The candidates are entering a fall campaign season that could prove pivotal for their operations, in both good ways and bad. In terms of polling, the numbers have been quite static. Former Vice President Joe Biden is still the man to beat, having sustained a double-digit lead over his competitors throughout the dog days of summer despite numerous mistakes that would have been fatal to any other candidate. Biden, whose first run

Isabel Hardman

Boris tries to charm Tory MPs in Commons tearoom

The Tory rebels on tonight’s motion are in the process of losing the party whip. There were many more than the whips had expected, but this may well be seen by those around Boris Johnson as being a way of getting rid of the sort of MPs who would always be a thorn in the Prime Minister’s flesh. There is little point in having an election to get a majority if that majority turns out to be hollow, with a large group of backbenchers who won’t actually back the government on the key issue of the day. All this might be true, but the Conservative party tonight is in a

Katy Balls

Government loses vote – Boris Johnson looks to early election

Boris Johnson tonight suffered his first government defeat in his first Commons vote since becoming Prime Minister. Tory rebels joined forces with opposition MPs to take control of the agenda tomorrow – the first stage of their attempt to pass a law to legislate against no deal. The Commons voted 328 to 301 – meaning the government lost by 27 votes. This was on the high end of Tory expectations. 21 Tory MPs rebelled tonight, including Ken Clarke, David Gauke, Rory Stewart and Nicholas Soames. A No. 10 spokesman confirmed that this group will now have the whip removed: ‘The Chief Whip is speaking to those Tory MPs who did not vote