Politics

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

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Nicola Sturgeon is running out of popularity – and time

Time is beginning to run out for Nicola Sturgeon. That, at any rate, is one conclusion to be drawn from today’s YouGov poll for the Times. As many Scots now disapprove of Ms Sturgeon as approve of her and the SNP’s poll ratings continue to show no signs of benefitting from the Brexit bounce the party expected.  That bounce continues to elude the nationalist movement. And if this has surprised the SNP, it has also surprised every other party leader in Scotland just as, to be frank, it has surprised most of us in the commentary game too. It turns out there is limited enthusiasm for responding to one constitutional

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s new Brexit role will worry No 10

Although Jacob Rees-Mogg missed out on a promotion in last week’s reshuffle, the Moggster has at least got a new string to add to his bow. The Conservative backbencher has been appointed chairman of the all-powerful ‘European Research Group’ – replacing Suella Fernandes. The group has been described by the Times as the ‘most powerful opposition force in British politics’ but in effect is a place for the Conservative party’s most dedicated Brexiteers to congregate, liaise and come up with a counter to any position (government or not) that looks a bit too Remain for their liking. In that vein, they have a special Tory WhatsApp group – separate to the

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Theresa May could learn a lot from Emmanuel Macron

Theresa May hosts Emmanuel Macron at Sandhurst tomorrow, an encounter that is unlikely to paint the British Prime Minister in a flattering light. Their styles of leadership are chalk and fromage, one assertive and confident, the other apologetic and diffident. In particular, May’s growing custom for contrition is eroding her authority. Unless she’s personally responsible for spreading Aussie flu why did May say sorry for the recent NHS crisis? It’s not a Prime Minister’s job to grovel to the public; it’s her ministers. But now she’s set a precedent and so every time something goes wrong her opponents will demand an apology. If she refuses, they’ll say she’s callous. Macron

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Labour’s beleaguered moderates must act now before it’s too late

When is left-wing not left-wing enough? Veteran Labour organiser Ann Black is finding out the hard way. Yesterday morning, she was the respected chair of the disputes panel, the party’s internal disciplinary committee, and responsible for investigating anti-Semitism and other accusations against members. Now, she is the respected former chair, ousted in a Momentum-led coup as the far-left celebrates its majority on the National Executive Committee with a bit of muscle-flexing.  Black is not some Blairite ultra. She was elected on the leftist Grassroots Alliance slate. What changed? Well, some comrades have not been impressed by her handling of suspensions. As Paul Waugh notes, Black wrote last year: ‘Anyone who

Tuesday

George Bathurst

The free market is the key to fixing Britain’s railways

As the political argument over the East Coast railway franchise continues, it’s easy to lose sight of the passenger interest. Last year, the Campaign for Better Transport found that nationally over 50 per cent of trains were late or cancelled. This is despite fares and costs that have risen sharply for the last 14 years. Chris Grayling, confirmed last week as the Secretary of State for Transport, is right to be reforming the franchises, such as re-integrating track and train, to address the confused responsibility for poor service that characterises the current system. But tweaks to the status quo will only get us so far. Also heralded in the government’s

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Momentum’s purge of the NEC is a sign of things to come

The election of three Momentum candidates – including key Corbyn ally Jon Lansman – on Monday to Labour’s national executive committee was reluctantly accepted by moderates for want of a better option. Several Labour MPs anonymously complained to the press that they would go independent should the party try to bring in trigger ballots – but the fact these quotes are anonymous shows that no-one is willing to take the fight public just yet. The events of today, however, will give Labour centrists food for thought. With the Corbyn-wing of the party now boasting a clear majority on the committee, members were given a glimpse of what that means in

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Ken Clarke sends fellow Tory MP to sleep

Ken Clarke is back on his feet talking about Brexit in the Commons again – but his speech has not gone down well with all of his colleagues. Sitting behind him, his fellow Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne struggled to stay awake as Clarke talked about the rights of EU citizens. Swayne even appeared to nod off at one point. Mr S thinks Swayne could be forgiven for thinking he had heard it all before…

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Donald Tusk’s Brexit comments should worry the government

Donald Tusk’s comments, echoed by Jean-Claude Juncker, that Britain could still change its mind on Brexit should worry the UK government. Why? Because as long as senior figures in the EU think there is a chance Brexit won’t happen, there’s very little incentive for them to think creatively about the future relationship. Instead, the temptation for them is to offer as little as possible in the hope that this might prompt a change of heart in London. Now, realistically, I think Brexit is going to happen. The referendum and the parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50 means that it is very hard for it not to, though what kind of Brexit

Steerpike Steerpike

Andrea Leadsom sees green over Gove

Whether it’s authentic or not, the Conservative party is going green. Following Michael Gove’s reinvention as resident eco-warrior, the party has been pushing green policies – from extending plastic bag charges to saving trees in Sheffield – in a bid to prove they care. Today Gove’s Cabinet colleagues were brought into the fold – each being gifted a re-usable coffee cup this morning at Cabinet. However, could it be another Cabinet member who is really behind the green revolution? Step forward Andrea Leadsom. It’s been remarked to Mr S that Gove’s predecessor in Defra ‘never misses the chance’ to mention that many of good news green initiatives coming from that

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could Brexit benefit Britain’s financial services?

Now that the EU has agreed to move Brexit negotiations on to a trade deal there will be much focus on financial services. An industry which produces annual revenues of £200 billion, accounts for 7 per cent of UK GDP and employs 1.1 million people is going to be a crucial part of any deal which Britain does with the EU, yet it is one to which other EU nations have long turned a greedy eye. In December, the House of Lords European Union Committee claimed that 75,000 jobs in financial services could be lost to other EU countries or to other countries. Not everyone, however, has been so pessimistic.

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What does Momentum’s NEC clean sweep mean for Labour?

Perhaps, the most remarkable thing about Momentum’s clean sweep in Labour’s National Executive Committee elections was how expected it was.  If even two years ago, you’d have told people in the Labour party that Jeremy Corbyn would not only still be leader but have solid support in the shadow Cabinet and a majority on the NEC they’d have been shocked and fearful about the Corbynite left’s ability to rewrite the rules of this party. So, what will the Corbynite left do with this power? There’s lots of speculation today about mandatory re-selection and a purge of moderate MPs. But I am sceptical as to whether this will happen anytime soon.

Steerpike Steerpike

John Bercow lectures Gavin Williamson on the perils of press briefings

Ever since Gavin Williamson was appointed Defence Secretary, there has been a briefing war between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury over defence spending. Keen to prove his defence credentials, Williamson – or Private Pike as the Chancellor’s allies prefer to refer to him – has hardly discouraged backbench MPs from kicking up a fuss over planned cuts to his department. With cost-cutting proposals for the military leaked – including plans to axe 11,000 Army troops and 2,000 Royal Marines – just days ago, this afternoon Williamson was summoned to the Commons to answer an urgent question from Julian Lewis on the reported plans in the review. With Williamson unable to

Steerpike Steerpike

Eddie Izzard left out in the cold… again

Here we go again. The results of the latest election for Labour’s National Executive Committee are in and it’s a clear run for Momentum. The three members selected are all Momentum candidates: Jon Lansman, Yasmine Dar and Rachel Garnham. Alas, not everyone is a winner. Or more precisely, Eddie Izzard is not a winner. The comedian-turned-aspiring-politician has missed out on a place on the NEC for the second time – coming in fourth. Really honoured to now represent almost 600,000 members on the national executive of @UKLabour – at last the 21st century version of the Socialist party I joined 44 years ago pic.twitter.com/53ot5DMpjO — Jon Lansman 🟣 (@jonlansman) January 15,

Rupert Darwall

The Tories’ green wheeze won’t win them the next election

Conservative ministers are going through a green fit in an attempt to appeal to voters they lost at the last election. They want to show the world they’re doing good. ‘You know what some people call us – the plastic bag party,’ seems to be the political re-branding calculation. As the former No.10 spin doctor Katie Perrior remarked in the Times last week, the Prime Minister’s enthusiasm for protecting the environment may not be insincere, but it is certainly new. In reality, the May government’s greenwashing is classic displacement activity. Productivity numbers released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month should be front and centre of every government

Ed West Ed West

Is political correctness speeding up?

One of the most influential and popular ideas of the post-war era was that of the Authoritarian Personality, which linked fascism with a number of personality traits, including conventionalism, anti-intellectualism and prudery. Conservatism, in other words. It has become popular to believe that being right-wing is synonymous with being authoritarian. Society may have no common culture or religion or body of literature, but everyone knows who the Nazis are. So as Nazism has pushed out everything else in the collective memory, it has become an attractive weapon against conservative ideas. And yet authoritarianism is probably found both equally on the left and right; it just manifests itself in different forms. One example is the

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Henry Bolton’s critics should tread carefully

Were I a politician observing Henry Bolton’s embarrassment with glee I think I might just stop short of demanding his resignation as leader of Ukip. What point, anyway, in trying to destabilise a party which has destabilised itself to the point at which nearly every credible challenger for the leadership seems already to have left – along with quite a few incredible ones? Why not just sit back and enjoy the sight of an old fool falling in love with young glamour puss and falling flat on his face? Any public figure who goes further might find that it comes back to haunt them. As Lara Prendergast wrote in this

Sunday

Steerpike Steerpike

Listen: John McDonnell’s comments about Esther McVey being lynched

The return of Esther McVey to the Cabinet is bad news for John McDonnell and Labour’s claim of a kinder, gentler politics. It has led many hacks and broadcasters to return to remarks he made about ‘lynching’ McVey, at a Remembrance Sunday event back in 2014. But when they do so, Labour complain. The shadow chancellor’s defence is that he was quoting someone else who (he claims) wanted to lynch her – rather than wanting to lynch her himself. Happily, for clarity’s sake, the Sunday Politics today aired the recording: Here is the clip of @johnmcdonnellMP from 2014 repeating comments about 'lynching' Tory MP Esther McVey #bbcsp pic.twitter.com/92MJTbYLX9 — BBC

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Nicola Sturgeon – IndyRef2 decision will be made by the end of 2018

The Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was given the prime interview slot on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. Noting the change in SNP rhetoric since before the 2017 election, Marr pushed Sturgeon for a timeframe as to when Scottish voters could expect to see a second independence referendum: NS: There is a lot of confusion, this is a complex issue… and people want to see the clarity emerge about the state of the relationship between the UK and the EU. At that point, what I’ve said is that we will look at that and determine at that stage if Scotland should then have the right to choose between whatever

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Michael Gove’s green crusade is a smart way to sell Brexit

What is Michael Gove up to? The Environment Secretary seems to be on a tree-hugging rampage at the moment, announcing a new green measure every week. Not content with unveiling the Tories’ 25 year environment plan last week, Gove has given an interview to today’s Sunday Times in which he attacks the water companies for using tax havens. The water companies are interesting enough, given Jeremy Corbyn has called for them to be renationalised. But what’s really revealing about what Gove’s overall mission is comes later in the interview, when he says: ‘Brexit creates opportunities, particularly in my area. Brexit could be the catalyst for some of the biggest, boldest

Saturday

Steven Woolfe

Nigel Farage is wrong and the EU must prepare for no deal

Nigel Farage met Michel Barnier on Monday and is now calling, inexplicably, for a second EU referendum. He wants to rerun the whole thing. Well, I too have just got back from Brussels and no doubt Barnier said the same things to me and my three colleagues as he did to Nigel. That being the case, I think Nigel has lost the plot. I met Barnier on Wednesday along with Digby Jones, John Longworth and John Mills, all experienced and talented businesspeople with a deep understanding of the issues. We had a long discussion with Barnier, put our case for the EU accepting Brexit gracefully and acting with positivity in