Politics

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

Tuesday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Brexit means… a £40bn divorce bill

Ahead of the crunch EU council meeting next month, the government is doing everything it can to try and ensure the UK is given the green light from Brussels to move the negotiations on to trade. As part of this, talk has been rife that Theresa May is ready to considerably up her financial offer for the so-called Brexit bill. This afternoon, Peter Foster, the Telegraph’s Europe Editor, reports that British and EU negotiators have reached a deal over the bill in good time for Theresa May’s lunch with Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday. British and EU negotiators have reportedly agreed that the final figure, deliberately left vague, will be somewhere

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ministers have created their own mess in the Brexit impact assessments row

Nobody said Brexit was going to be easy, did they? It turns out that even talking about how difficult Brexit is going to be is pretty tricky, and the person feeling that most keenly is David Davis. Today the Brexit Secretary came under fire from all parts of the House of Commons for the heavy editing of some impact assessments on Brexit which it wasn’t entirely clear had ever actually been written in a form long enough for them to be edited down. Last year, Davis told MPs that ‘we’ve carried out or are in the midst of carrying out about 57, I think, sectoral analyses, each of which has

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The government’s deeply cunning Brexit plan comes unstuck

So, Frances Fitzgerald, the Tánaiste, has resigned. It now looks as though Leo Varadkar’s minority Irish government will not face a vote of no-confidence that it would likely have lost and, consequently, there will be no Irish election before Christmas. That’s a matter of considerable relief in Dublin but also in London.  Irish political scandals are often esoteric but this, frankly, was no time for an election and that recognition, above all else, compelled Fitzgerald’s departure. In other circumstances she – and Fine Gael – might have fought this to the final furlong. But these are not ordinary times in Dublin. It seems entirely probable, as matters stand, that relations between

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Brexit is the new low point of British democracy

As faith wanes in democracy, arguments against it have more power than arguments for the status quo. People still quote Churchill’s line about democracy being the worst system of government apart from all the others as if it settles the matter. For what it is worth, I think it is true. But as memories of the cataclysms of the 20th century fade, it sounds exhausted. ‘Our system is better than the Nazis’ has lost its purchase. Soon we will be living in a world where no one alive can remember the Nazis in power. The law of diminishing returns applies equally to the argument that at least our system is

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How not to waste your time as a backbench MP

Being a backbench MP can be pretty dull. In recent times, former members of the government have found the experience of merely being a member of the legislature so upsetting that they’ve downed tools and left Parliament altogether: David Cameron made a big show of saying he’d stay on and serve Witney from the backbenches, before finding himself on those backbenches sooner than he’d thought and scarpering. George Osborne, similarly, ended up as a backbencher, then quickly amassed as many other jobs as he could, before quitting politics ‘for now’. Perhaps these were rational individual choices given the comparatively lower pay and considerably lower prestige of the backbenches compared to

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Labour practise what they preach on commercial confidentiality?

Today MPs are working themselves into a bother over the government’s Brexit impact reports. Although David Davis has handed them to the Brexit select committee – as ordered by the Speaker – MPs have been left disappointed given that the document in question is rather sparse on details as it does not include anything the government has deemed market sensitive or damaging to the UK’s negotiations with the EU27. With Keir Starmer to ask an Urgent Question on the issue, Labour is expected to criticise the government for keeping out relevant information. However, Mr S suspects the Labour party ought to tread with caution before going on the offensive. When Hilary Benn,

Monday

Douglas Mcwilliams

Changing lifestyles, not zombie companies, are the reason for low productivity

The zombie company concept was developed in Japan, to suggest that persistent low interest rates allowed heavily indebted companies (who might, at more normal rates of interest, have been liquidated) to stay in business, thus preventing the Schumpeterian creative destruction that allows the business sector to innovate and improve. It has since been applied to the UK as a possible explanation of low productivity, most recently by Liam Halligan in the Sunday Telegraph. There are three problems with the claim. The first is that in the UK stagnant low productivity companies tend not to be heavily indebted but instead sit on cash. So low interest rates hinder, not help, them.

Steerpike Steerpike

Priti Patel: I would have told the EU to sod off

After Priti Patel had to resign as International Development Secretary over unofficial meetings with Israelis ministers, the MP promised to continue to be ‘a strong voice for Witham and Britain’. At tonight’s Spectator panel discussion ‘What is the future of the Tory party?’ at the Emmanuel Centre, she certainly seemed intent on doing the latter. Now able to speak freely from the backbench, Patel pulled no punches. The Brexiteer MP appeared to criticise Theresa May’s Brexit strategy – claiming the government lacked ‘conviction and clarity in terms of our end state’. And she did not stop there. As well as claiming the UK had been ‘ill-equipped’ in terms of preparations for the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Emma Dent Coad’s mistake is to think sneering makes a person seem bigger

Why does Emma Dent Coad continually get into trouble for spiteful comments, tweets and jokes about her political opponents and those with a privileged accident of birth such as members of the royal family? Perhaps the Kensington MP is suffering from a strange cognitive dissonance resulting from having to represent a fair few people whose accidents of birth have enabled them to live in the many prestigious parts of the constituency she won in this year’s election. Or perhaps she thinks she is being clever. The latest row that the Labour backbencher has sparked is over a retweet from a strange Twitter account called ‘Rachael Swindon’, which boasts that it

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can the government stop its industrial strategy from turning into a Brexit row?

Why is a Conservative government publishing an industrial strategy? This afternoon, Business Secretary Greg Clark tried to insist to MPs that the white paper he was presenting wasn’t a return to the mistakes of previous governments in picking winners and constraining businesses, but a means of ensuring that Britain was able to compete with other countries to solve some of the great challenges of our time. ‘This isn’t about protecting the past, it’s about taking control of our future as a nation,’ he argued in his statement, telling the Commons that the government had struck four sector deals in life sciences, construction, artificial intelligence and the automotive industry. He repeatedly

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

The SNP’s supporters have never been more angry and afraid

It’s quiet up in Scotland at the minute. We’ve not tried to secede in a few months, some MSPs are away pursuing reality TV careers, and Nicola Sturgeon is still deciding the best punishment for parents that smack their recalcitrant offspring. The downside is that when things are quiet, some geyser of nationalist lunacy inevitably explodes. Step forward, Eddi Reader — folk musician, celebrity separatist, and the first of what are bound to be countless victims of the burgeoning police state. She announced to her Twitter followers: ‘When I was stopped in Glasgow two days ago (MOT ran out) the sight of the policeman and the Union Jack on his jacket

Steerpike Steerpike

The politics of Meghan Markle

After Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry’s engagement to Meghan Markle, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive into what the Suits actress will mean for the monarchy – with some even suggesting the union is good news for the special relationship. Although the royal family is meant to stay strictly neutral with respect to political matters, Markle’s time as a public figure in the acting world means that several of her political views are already known.  First off, Markle is a Cameroon – previously praising David Cameron on social media for being a ‘class act’: https://twitter.com/meghanmarkle/status/753256000497520641 As for that special relationship, it’s unlikely she’ll wish to extend an invite to

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Gavin Williamson’s spiky debut at the despatch box

Speaking for the first time at the despatch box is a nerve-wracking experience for any politician. But speaking for the first time at the despatch box while also making your debut as a Secretary of State is enough to give most people cause for an impromptu sick day. Add to that the small matter of a threatened backbench rebellion if you don’t manage to reverse planned cuts to your department and one could be forgiven for feeling a little bit sorry for Gavin Williamson today. Following weeks of controversy about his surprise promotion, this afternoon the former Chief Whip made his debut as Defence Secretary. In Williamson’s first Defence Questions,

Steerpike Steerpike

Kensington MP picks on a woman over her appearance

Dawn Butler caused a stir at the weekend when she claimed to John Pienaar that Theresa May is ‘no friend of women’. That came as news to the female Conservative MPs who were helped to get where they are today through Women2Win, the campaign group May co-founded. Still, if Butler is really going to focus in on which women are and aren’t ‘friends’ to women, Mr S advises her to look at the most recent social media activity of her Labour comrade Emma Dent Coad. The MP for Kensington – who has been in the news for a series of comments on ‘ghetto boys’ – took to Twitter last night

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: It’s now or never for Labour moderates

The warnings about Brexit could not have been clearer: leaving the EU would lead to an exodus of foreign workers and students from Britain. So far though the reality hasn’t quite matched that prediction. The Sun picks up on news today that a record number of overseas students – 70,900 – applied to study in Britain last year. ‘NHS workers from the EU are on the up, too’, says the paper, which argues that, despite the warnings, Britain will remain ‘attractive for those wanting to better their lot’. Yet the large number of people who do want to come to Britain also means ‘it is right that we take control

Steerpike Steerpike

Johnson becomes PM

It’s no secret that the Johnson family is an ambitious one – particularly when it comes to politics. So, with two Johnsons currently in government – Boris and Jo – it was only a matter of time until one became Prime Minister. Step forward Stanley Johnson. Boris Johnson’s father Stanley has been elected Prime Minister. Unfortunately for him, it’s not Prime Minister of the UK (yet), but Prime Minister of the I’m a celebrity… get me out of here camp in Australia, where the Johnson patriarch is competing against the likes of Kezia Dugdale and Amir Khan to be crowned king of the jungle. The segment led Khan – the

Sunday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

No, the Kremlin is not behind Legatum – or Brexit

Given that most think tanks and universities are heavily against Brexit, the recent arrival of the Legatum Institute into the arena of trade policy mattered. It was filling a a gap in the market: proper research into potential trade relationships, on the basis that Brexit might not be a disaster. It has also acquired the services of Shanker Singham, an experienced trade lawyer. Both he and Legatum have come under the microscope today with a Mail on Sunday splash suggesting that the Kremlin might be behind it all. Its headline: ‘Putin link to Boris and Gove Brexit “coup”’. Did this relationship go too far, and did Singham end up advising Michael

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Borrowing and Brexit

Liam Fox: EU trade deal must be settled before Irish border The International Trade Secretary has stated today that no final decision can be reached on the border between Ireland and the UK until a trade deal is settled, defying an EU ultimatum that the border question must be settled within the next ten days. The Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has requested that the UK government gives a guarantee in writing that there would be no ‘hard’ border as a result of Brexit. Speaking to Sky’s Niall Paterson, Liam Fox asserted that the UK would be leaving the single market and customs union, but argued that this did not necessarily

Saturday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The Norway model: a new approach to immigration and asylum

Germany is this weekend seeing whether or not Angela Merkel will be able to form a government as she deals with the political fallout from her immigration policy. Quite a contrast from Norway, whose Conservative-led coalition recently entered its second term after taking a very different approach to refugees. Last week I met Sylvi Listhaug, who holds a recently-created position: Norway’s Minister for Immigration & Integration. She’s with the Progress Party, the junior partner in coalition. You often read about her being ‘outspoken’ or ‘controversial’ and I was interested to see what kind of radical views she holds. At the end of the interview, I was left wondering if her

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May’s inner Cabinet is considering a role for the ECJ after Brexit

‘It’ll be curtains for the process’ if the Brexit talks don’t move on to trade and transition in December, according to one of those familiar with the UK government’s negotiating strategy. In Downing Street, there is a feeling that Theresa May has twice made significant compromises—in the Florence speech and the enhanced financial offer the inner Cabinet agreed on Monday—and if the EU again pockets the concession and says still more is needed, it’ll be hard to see how the UK can stay at the table. Even one of the Cabinet Ministers most keen on a deal with the EU says that ‘we have to get through in December’. It