Politics

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

Thursday

Peter Jones

A show of loyalty

After the sacking of Gavin Williamson, a former No. 10 insider said of Theresa May: ‘One of Theresa’s big faults is that she basically doesn’t trust any other elected politicians. She places her trust in advisers and officials, because they are loyal to her.’ The Roman emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 ad) too found it hard to know whom to trust. He turned to an adviser of the previous emperor. Claudius, nephew of the emperor Tiberius, was born in 10 bc but because of some disability (his mother Antonia called him a monster) he was never taken seriously by the imperial family. However, when the emperor Caligula was assassinated in 41 ad,

Paul Mason

Diary – 9 May 2019

Multiple copies of a Labour leaflet for the European elections are being shared on messaging apps by horrified activists. Not only does the draft leaflet omit mention of a second referendum, it seems to suggest Labour’s MEP candidates will ‘do a Brexit deal with Europe’ while actually being members of the European Parliament. The leaflet causes a furore among the candidates, is disavowed by Labour HQ as a ‘draft’, and the whole caravan of Brexit chaos lurches forward to its next absurdity. Game of Thrones means Monday mornings are the new Sunday nights in our household. The battle of Winterfell is as thrilling as it is absurd. If you have

Steerpike Steerpike

Change UK’s Peterborough by-election no-show

The Brexit Party has had a further boost in the polls today, but as Nigel Farage’s fledgling group continues to hoover up support from both main parties, the story on the other side has been rather different. Start-up pro-remain party Change UK has been locked in a rivalry with its doppelgänger, the Lib Dems, achieving exactly nothing in terms of progress but creating a healthy groundswell of remainer exasperation on Twitter. Even the Change UK activists’ networks have been infected with a creeping feeling of futility, with many struggling to name a good reason to not vote for the Lib Dems or give a solid defence for why their new

Katy Balls Katy Balls

No ‘Brexit backlash’, says internal Labour election analysis

After a disappointing local election result for Labour last week, politicians were quick to blame the party’s Brexit ambiguity for the net loss they suffered. Labour councillors in Sunderland and Barnsley said talk of a second referendum had been unhelpful on the doorstep. Meanwhile, MPs including Jess Phillips suggested that a clearer call for a so-called People’s Vote would boost support for the party. Downing Street hoped they could capitalise on the party’s Brexit worries by convincing the Labour frontbench to back some form of Brexit deal in order to bring the matter to a close. However, the view in Labour a week on is rather different. Coffee House has been

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Only a vote for the Brexit Party can save the Tories

Of all the red warning signs for the Conservatives, the choice of the Brexit party’s candidate for the forthcoming Peterborough by-election is blinding as they come. Not only was Mike Greene a lifelong Conservative until a few weeks ago; he is a self-made man brought up in council house who has gone on to set up businesses and serve in several charitable roles such as trustee of Peterborough cathedral. If the Conservatives cannot attract and retain such a person as a member, then what is the point of them at all? They are either the party of self-reliance, of hard work, entrepreneurship and public service – or they might as

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Theresa May could be gone by the first week of June

The 1922 executive committee thinks it has finally laid a surefire trap for Theresa May – by securing a promise from her to hold the second reading of the core Brexit legislation, the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, before EU elections in two weeks. The point is that either the bill passes, and she resigns as soon it becomes law (as she has promised to do), or it flops, which is what most Tories expect, and it becomes unambiguously clear that she can never deliver Brexit – in which case they will force her out in June or July. Tory MPs assume she knows this. But they will drive the point

Steerpike Steerpike

Listen: Rachel Johnson can’t name a single Lib Dem policy she disagrees with

It seems inevitable that the European elections this month will be seen as a litmus test of the British public’s attitude to Brexit, especially when it comes to a second referendum. And, if Nigel Farage’s Brexit party triumphs over the Remain coalition, the case for a People’s Vote will be weaker than ever. So as you can imagine, the Lib Dems and Greens (as two parties backing a second referendum) are deeply unhappy that a third, Change UK, has joined the fray and will further split the Remain vote on 23 May. They may be even unhappier though when they realise that Change UK candidates aren’t even sure why they’re

James Kirkup James Kirkup

At last, a Tory leadership contender talking about policy

The Tory leadership contest hasn’t formally begun but the shadow-boxing has been uninspiring. Brexit positioning dominates, leavened with a bit of backstory and personal colour: Dominic Raab’s kitchen, Michael Gove’s parental home in Aberdeen, Liz Truss’s Instagram account, Jeremy Hunt’s wife. And Boris Johnson keeping quiet, for some reason. To be fair, Rory Stewart’s simple honesty — he fancies the job and reckons he’d be good at it: why can’t the rest speak so plainly? – has been cheering, but it’s not yet clear if he’s really a serious candidate. On the whole, we’ve heard grimly little from the folk in the running about what they would actually do with

James Forsyth James Forsyth

May’s compromising position

Can Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn reach a satisfactory compromise on Brexit? The two leaders’ positions are not, in fact, that far apart. Neither wants a second referendum. They both think that the referendum result means that Britain has to leave the EU. Yet neither wants a dramatic rupture. They would prefer to inch away from the union. Gavin Barwell, Theresa May’s chief of staff, has remarked that half of what Labour has asked for in the cross-party Brexit talks has already been requested from the EU but to no avail. Even on customs, the standout issue, the differences between Labour and the Conservatives are more semantic than anything else.

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

The truth behind Huawei is that all telecoms networks are insecure

On the matter of whether former defence secretary Gavin Williamson was the real ‘H’ in Line of Duty, I admit I may have lost the plot. But meanwhile the rest of the media has rather lost sight of the key issue with Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant whose involvement in UK 5G networks was allegedly opposed by Williamson and others at a National Security Council meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. The nub of this isn’t whether or not Huawei is closely linked to the Chinese government: let’s just say that objective China-watchers are unpersuaded by assurances to the contrary, while acknowledging an element of trade-war jingoism in the way

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Are the village idiots right?

The former BBC presenter Gavin Esler has very kindly given us an insight into how BBC people think (had we been in much doubt). Esler, who is now standing for election as a member of the hilarious Change UK party, said the following: ‘TV news must stop giving airtime to the “village idiots” of Brexit — the dubious right-wing supposed “thinktanks” and pseudo-experts among ERG MPs who simply haven’t a clue what the implications of Brexit truly are.’ Remarkable, no? The ‘village idiots’ of Brexit are people who support Brexit. That’s a lot more idiots than there are villages, Gavin. This clown wishes the BBC to discriminate against people who

Wednesday

Daniel DePetris

In the Democratic primaries, the goal is to go viral

Everybody knows who Joe Biden is, the former six-term senator from Delaware and Barack Obama sidekick. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the white-haired, bespectacled, 77-year old with the Brooklyn ascent who gave Hillary Clinton fits four years ago, is up there too. Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris have their fans in America; the former is a darling of the progressive movement, the latter was California’s top law enforcement official. Even the young Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of a mid-sized city in Indiana, is getting noticed. But what about Eric Swalwell, Seth Moulton, and Tim Ryan? What about John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, and Amy Klobuchar? And what about that guy named Andrew

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will Theresa May bring her Brexit bill back to Parliament next week?

At tonight’s meeting of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady told Tory MPs that Theresa May would see the executive of the Committee next week to discuss their request for more clarity on her departure plans. He also told Tory MPs that Theresa May was committed to making progress on the withdrawal agreement bill in the near future. I understand that this means an attempt at second reading before the European Elections on the 23rd of May. Now, if you are looking for a clue as to when this second reading might be attempted, consider that next Thursday is a three line whip for Tory MPs despite the fact that all

Steerpike Steerpike

Listen: Mike Gapes caught out over Change UK funding

With less than a month to go until the European elections, and with Nigel Farage’s new Brexit party surging in the polls, pressure is continuing to build on Change UK – The Independent Group, whose performance has been far less impressive than its rival. Seeking to change that, was Change UK MP Mike Gapes, who went on Iain Dale’s LBC radio show to sell his party to the public. The former Labour MP started off strongly, by attacking the source of the Brexit Party’s funds, saying: ‘Well it’ll be interesting to see the huge amounts of funding Nigel Farage has had from various dubious sources.’  Unfortunately, it was quickly pointed

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Theresa May tries out a new Brexit delay excuse

PMQs began with Janet Daby calling for a mass-cull of the working-class. The Labour MP relayed the experience of an industrious constituent who already has two jobs, on zero-hour contracts, and seeks a third. ‘Ban zero hours contracts!’ she declared in outrage. Obviously she’s fed up with people working in her constituency. Much easier if they all starve to death. And with her policies they will. Labour leader Jeremy Corybn had good news about the NHS which he’d failed to interpret correctly. Forty per cent of staff last year, he said, had suffered ‘work-related stress’. This means that 60 per cent of them hadn’t. Not a twinge, not a whisper of

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Downing Street: Theresa May will not set an exit date

Is this the week the Prime Minister sets an exit date? Not if Theresa May has anything to do with it. May has been under pressure to set out a more specific timetable for her departure – regardless of whether or not she manages to pass a Brexit deal. The 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers last month decided not to change the rules to allow another confidence vote in May before December. However, after a very bad local election result and frustration over the Brexit process, the committee are meeting once again this afternoon where they will revisit the matter. There was talk that committee chair Graham Brady had told

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

It’s too late for the SNP to rein in the cybernats

‘It is better to ride the tiger’s back than let it rip your throat out’ is reputedly how Tony Blair rationalised his close relationship with the Sun. The quote is thrown back at him by critics who imagine their preferred mode of politics untainted by tiger-riding. In fact, Blair is not alone: Bill Clinton rode the tiger of white male independents then spent much of his presidency pandering to them on crime, welfare and ‘values’.  For the Liberal Democrats, it was post-Iraq Labour discontents and students, who brought them two million votes across two elections and who turned on them when they teamed up with the Tories and put up

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How would Andrea Leadsom fare in another Tory leadership contest?

Andrea Leadsom has become the latest Cabinet minister to suggest that they would like to succeed Theresa May as Prime Minister. After DfID Secretary Rory Stewart declared his own ambition for the top job, Leadsom used an appearance on Good Morning Britain this morning to reveal her interest. The Leader of the House of Commons says she is ‘seriously considering’ entering the race after her failed attempt the last time around: ‘I’ve supported her for the last three years to get Brexit over the line. She has said she’s going, so yes I am seriously considering standing.’ In the 2016 leadership contest, Leadsom made it into the final two but

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Tory-Labour Brexit talks are on the verge of collapse

Labour’s negotiations on a Brexit pact with the Government may well be pronounced dead today – partly because the party is launching its EU elections manifesto tomorrow and would presumably need to say something about a possible pact other than “don’t know”. To be clear, there are more talks between the two sides this evening. But those involved tell me they have no expectation a breakthrough will be seized from the jaws of futility. Simultaneously Labour’s leadership is consulting “all the elements” in and connected to the party, so there’s no great backlash from MPs or union leaders as and when the hopes of a Brexit compromise are officially abandoned

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Which party will fight the rise of Nigel Farage?

Who will fight the British far right? The centre right, the left, the liberals? The European elections are giving Nigel Farage the chance to push for a catastrophic Brexit, and build a formidable and ugly nationalist movement. Yet allegedly serious politicians, who have a duty to oppose him, forget the national interest and their own self-interest and sit on their hands. Farage poses a mortal danger to the Conservative party. You would not guess it from the reaction of its leaders and PRs. They have provided no coherent argument against the Brexit party. Indeed, I have been hard-pressed to find any argument at all. Go to the Tories’ website and