Politics

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

Thursday

Steerpike Steerpike

Jacob Rees-Mogg: the next Chief Secretary to the Treasury?

Liz Truss has made her pitch for No.11. But if she gets her wish, who might replace her as Chief Secretary to the Treasury? Step forward, Jacob Rees-Mogg. That at least was who Truss touted as a possible successor at a Press Gallery lunch this afternoon. Truss revealed that preparations for the handover are already underway – and Rees-Mogg’s nanny will be pleased to know that she hasn’t been forgotten. Rees-Mogg’s Bentley is also part of the picture, with Truss jokingly claiming that the Treasury car park has undergone extensive modifications to accommodate Mogg’s car: “I’ve been pleased to see that JRM has been touted as my successor. I’ve already trained up

Matthew Lynn

Meet the car boss who has finally realised the truth about no deal

Most of us probably decided Aston Martin was by far the coolest car company in the world the first time we saw Honour Blackman climb into James Bond’s DB5 in Goldfinger. But just in case there were still any doubters out there, there is now another reason to love them as well. Amidst the constant predictions of disaster from the auto industry that would follow from leaving the European Union without a deal, the company’s chief executive has pointed out an obvious fact: that at this stage, it would be better to simply leave than prolong the agony of our departure any further.  The auto industry has been one of

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Liz Truss makes her pitch for No. 11

With Boris Johnson looking a shoo-in for No. 10, his supporters are battling it out in a bid to win a top job in his Cabinet. The most coveted position is Chancellor and Sajid Javid, Liz Truss and Matt Hancock are seen as the frontrunners. This afternoon, Truss used her appearance at a Press Gallery lunch to set out her stall. Referring to her rivals, she said of Hancock that she wouldn’t ever feel ‘threatened by someone with fewer than 5,000 instagram followers’. As for Javid, when asked who was better at maths out of the two of them, Truss pointed out that she had a Further Maths A Level.

Steerpike Steerpike

The Corbynistas’ lucky escapes

You would never normally describe the various activists and journalists closely allied to Jeremy Corbyn as publicity shy. In fact, whenever the embattled Labour leader is in trouble, or being grilled about his Brexit position, it’s usually only minutes before you see a Corbynite in a TV studio, ready to defend him on air. But after a Panorama documentary was broadcast last night, which uncovered evidence of anti-Semitism within Labour, it seems that Corbyn’s supporters have become struck by a series of unfortunate events, preventing them from coming on air. This morning the Guardian columnist Owen Jones was due to speak on the Today programme about the documentary and Labour anti-Semitism, but

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

The routine and horrific anti-Semitism in Labour

In the run-up to Wednesday night’s Panorama on Labour anti-Semitism, one whistleblower received a lawyer’s letter, the party demanded the BBC director-general ‘suspend and reconsider the planned broadcast’, and Momentum did a pre-emptive hit job on presenter John Ware. Now we know why. Panorama: Is Labour Anti-Semitic? levelled serious charges, chief amongst them that senior figures close to Jeremy Corbyn, including his spin doctor Seumas Milne and Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby, interfered in the disciplinary process. Ware interviewed more than 20 Labour officials for the documentary. Former head of disputes for the party, Sam Matthews, said there was now ‘a culture in the Labour Party that makes anti-Semites feel

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

The ties that bind

It seems a fitting end to an ill-fated premiership. As Theresa May prepares to leave No. 10, a major quarrel erupts between her government and its most powerful ally, the United States of America. Leaked diplomatic cables show Sir Kim Darroch, the British ambassador in Washington, calling President Donald Trump ‘inept’, ‘insecure’ and ‘uniquely dysfunctional’. The funny thing is, the words in his memo are just as applicable to Theresa May’s leadership. Within days, Sir Kim resigns. But every diplomatic crisis is a political opportunity, as President Donald Trump well understands. He even spelled this out in one of his Twitter rants. ‘The good news for the wonderful United Kingdom is

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris’s most important appointment

After being backed by a majority of Tory MPs, Boris Johnson now looks set to win over party members by an even larger margin. Surveys suggest he will hoover up between two thirds and three quarters of the vote. A Tory leader with such a mandate would, normally, start his premiership with huge amounts of political capital and be able to dictate terms to their opponents within the party. But Johnson will have to watch his back from the moment he crosses the threshold of No. 10. Most new prime ministers arrive with a decent majority. Johnson will be clinging to power from day one. Even with the DUP, the

Anthony Browne

Who’s afraid of no deal?

How bad would a no-deal Brexit really be? This is now perhaps the most important question in politics, and the one provoking greatest disagreement. The answer will help decide whether parliament allows Brexit to happen, and whether Tory MPs bring down their own government. If they think calamity would follow, patriotic rebels might risk a general election to stop the Tories. But what if it would not be so bad? And is there any way of finding out? Almost everyone accepts it will cause problems, but views range from manageable to ‘national suicide’. It is difficult to predict complex events without historic precedent, but there are other reasons for the

James Delingpole James Delingpole

Girl’s gone to Magaluf and it’s hard not to worry

At the Leavers’ Ball held to mark our daughter’s last day at boarding school, there were only two topics of conversation among the anxious parents. How early could we decently slope off without being rebuked by our girls? And the dreaded Leavers’ trip to Magaluf. Magaluf — Shagaluf as the kids all call it — is the post-A-levels destination of choice for what seems like every school leaver in the country. If you’ve seen The Inbetweeners Movie you’ll know what it’s like: charmless, garish avenues of overpriced bars and clubs with pushy greeters, expensive party cruises, grotesque drunkenness, epic hangovers, sunburn, STDs and gallons of vomit. Quite how much Shagaluf

Wednesday

David Paton

Why the Labour party deserves to be destroyed

So after months of prevarication, Labour have announced that they will back a second referendum under any circumstances and will campaign for Remain to stop a ‘no deal or a damaging Tory Brexit’. The reaction has dismayed Labour MPs in vulnerable Leave-leaning seats, but delighted Nigel Farage. Indeed, the decision has played perfectly into the Brexit party’s strategy of targeting working-class voters in the North and Midlands. Three months ago, many assumed that a Tory wipe-out at the next election was inevitable. But now the tables are turned and it is difficult to see anything but electoral doom for Labour. The Brexit party will surely siphon off Leave voters in

James Barr

Kim Darroch and the myth of the special relationship

Like a priest standing before the bronze gates of a temple, the British ambassador to Washington serves as the guardian of one of the great modern myths: the idea, conceived by Winston Churchill, that a special relationship exists between the UK and the US. The impression that British ambassadors can wield disproportionate influence in Washington is a legend successive British governments have been keen to burnish – so much so that it has arguably become the central pillar of UK foreign policy since 1945. But the reality – as Donald Trump’s spectacular defenestration of Sir Kim Darroch shows – is rather different. Perhaps only one ambassador has really ever lived up

John Keiger John Keiger

The moment the European project first went wrong

At a time when the EU is at its least popular and, worse still, least respected, it is worth reflecting on how the idea for a united Europe developed – and where it went wrong. The Spectator’s reprint last week of Christopher Booker’s 2014 article ‘How the first world war inspired the EU’ is a timely reminder of the real genesis of the EU. Yet it was only after the Second World War amid fear of a renascent Germany, that the concept of an ‘ever-closer union’ became the shibboleth of European construction. It was here that the European project took a mistaken turn. The First World War led to France

Steerpike Steerpike

Sajid Javid’s Tory leadership reflections: Bailey, Boris and Brexit

Although Sajid Javid was knocked out of the Tory leadership contest, the Home Secretary could soon have a consolation prize in the form of the keys to No. 11. Javid is tipped as the frontrunner for the hotly coveted role of Boris Johnson’s chancellor. Speaking at Tuesday night’s Policy Exchange summer reception, Javid reflected on what he was proud of from his campaign: ‘As for the leadership campaign, I’m not sure what more I could have done! I showed off my little dog, Bailey, I showed off my mother and her cooking, even my daughter’s letter. Although I didn’t have to reveal any unusual artistic hobbies that I might have.

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs: If only Theresa May had been this aggressive towards the EU

The US jobs miracle continues. Donald Trump has just created another vacancy at the British embassy in Washington. Sir Kim Darroch’s resignation was the opening issue at PMQs and Theresa May expressed her shock and regret at the diplomat’s departure, ‘after a lifetime of service to this country,’ she added pointedly. Sir Kim isn’t the only victim of an unfair campaign to oust him. The PM usually favours formal attire at PMQs but today she was sporting a white t-shirt and a knee-length kung-fu jacket. Lime green, loose around the bust and faintly shiny, it looked like a sex club bathrobe. Jeremy Corbyn brought up her ‘burning injustices’ speech when

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Why won’t Brexiteers stand up to Donald Trump?

There’s a new way of testing if someone is genuinely committed to the ideal of national sovereignty. Let’s call it the Darroch Test. Will you stand up to any foreign leader who arrogantly presumes the right to tell Britain who its ambassadors overseas should be? Or will you cave in to that foreign leader and effectively let him or her dictate the make-up of Britain’s diplomatic corps? That’s the Darroch Test. That’s the new national sovereignty test. And, sadly, many Brexiteers, the people who are meant to be standing up for the sovereign rights of the British nation against foreign oligarchies and bureaucratic bullies, have failed it. Yes, this concerns

John Connolly John Connolly

‘A personal tragedy’: the Foreign Office responds to Kim Darroch’s resignation

As a lifelong diplomat, it was probably the closest Sir Simon McDonald, the head of the UK diplomatic service, has ever come to publicly showing a sliver of emotion, when speaking to MPs today about the resignation of the Sir Kim Darroch. The head of the diplomatic service had been summoned by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee to discuss the leaking of sensitive diplomatic cables to the Mail on Sunday, which were highly critical of the US President Donald Trump. Shortly before the committee, Sir Kim Darroch announced his shock resignation. McDonald began the hearing by explaining that Darroch had left his post for two reasons: the pressure on his family,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Corbyn and May were busy fighting other people at PMQs

Jeremy Corbyn took a bizarre approach to today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, choosing largely to have a go at the likely leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson, rather than the woman opposite him. He choose to focus his questions to Theresa May on cuts to legal aid, branding them a ‘Lib Dem decision’ and pointing out that Jo Swinson was the junior coalition minister who took the cuts through the Commons. It was additionally odd that Corbyn chose to talk about legal aid, given it offered a reasonably easy leap for May into the way the party is handling tonight’s Panorama on anti-Semitism. But the big story of the day

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Northern Ireland, gay marriage and the great liberal power-grab

Yesterday, the Welsh government announced new guidelines to make school uniforms gender-neutral, which would mean an end to trousers being advertised for boys and skirts for girls. You can imagine the outrage if the UK government now tried to over-ride that decision, saying it was a load of silly nonsense. The rumblings in Cardiff would bring down a building or two: how dare you interfere with the decisions of Wales’ democratically-elected government, would come the cries. And they would have a point. When the Welsh voted – very narrowly – for devolution in 1997 that was that. Many areas of governance were handed over to the Welsh and they were

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why Boris Johnson failed to defend Kim Darroch

Boris Johnson’s failure to rebuke Donald Trump for his unpresidential attacks on the serving British prime minister and our US ambassador show that he takes for granted he’ll be the next PM, despite his insistence on the ITV debate last night that it would be presumptuous for him to do that. He is looking beyond the short-term attraction of being seen to stand up for Britain against a bullying US, to the relationship that he thinks will determine whether his early weeks in office are forceful or farcical. Johnson has been attacked by putative Tory friend and foe alike for refusing to manifest adequate solidarity with Sir Kim Darroch, who

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Sir Kim Darroch resigns as British Ambassador after leak

In the past few minutes, Sir Kim Darroch has resigned as UK Ambassador to Washington. The Foreign Office has just released a letter in which Sir Kim says says the leak of diplomatic cables in which he described President Trump as ‘insecure’ has made it ‘impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like’. He may well be right that it is now impossible for him to continue working with the Trump administration. It might also have been impossible for him to continue in the role for much longer, given Boris Johnson is set to become Prime Minister, and pointedly refused to back him last night. But