Politics Archives

Saturday

28 Oct 2017

Philip Sime

European press on Catalonia: “Suddenly, Brexit doesn’t seem so bad”

“Look on the bright side…Brexit no longer seems so serious” Chappatte in Le Temps, Switzerland The events in Catalonia dominate Europe’s press this morning, seen as the biggest political crisis to hit the country since the attempted coup d’état of 1981. The Madrid-based El País says the invocation of Article 155 was done so ‘legally and transparently’ and does not constitute an act of aggression against Catalan self-government or the rights of Catalans. Rather, El País views Madrid’s response to the crisis as ‘legitimate and necessary’ in the face of the challenge posed by Catalonia’s ‘irresponsible and reckless’ political leaders. It calls a ‘quick, legal and legitimate’ return to self-government

James Forsyth

The Tories need a positive vision for Britain after Brexit

Political Cabinet on Tuesday was a fascinating occasion, as I say in The Sun, and not just because Andrea Leadsom took the opportunity to tell Theresa May she had a wonderful smile. The Cabinet were given a detailed presentation on the state of public opinion—and bits of it made for grim reading for them. David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, summed up the mood of the meeting when he told Theresa May, to chuckles, that his first impression from all the data was that she shouldn’t call an election anytime soon. The problem for the Tories is that the voters are wary of their values and fed up with austerity. A

Charles Moore

Moderate politics is struggling to get a proper hearing

It is interesting how moderate politics cannot get a hearing just now. I do not mean that it is banned — after all, the moderate establishment is still, just, in control — rather that few seem to want to listen. This must explain why Oliver Letwin’s new book Hearts and Minds has so far been pretty much drowned out by endless discussion about whether Mrs May must go. Is it too reasonable in tone for people to want to discuss it? A pity if so, since it is excellent. The book is mercifully short, very clear, and an engaging mixture of memoir and argument. There is a thought-provoking exposition of

Friday

27 Oct 2017

Jake Wallis Simons

In Spain, the words ‘civil war’ will now be on everyone’s lips

It was the option that had long been threatened, but few people imagined that the Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, would actually have the guts to follow it through. A few weeks ago, when I stood outside the parliament building in Barcelona after Puigdemont had apparently backed away from the brink, the mood was despondent as thousands of separatists, wrapped in Catalan flags, saw their dreams going up in smoke. Today, however, they were punching the air and partying after Catalonia’s regional parliament voted to declare independence following the referendum earlier this month, in defiance of the consistently aggressive dialogue from Madrid. But their jubilation may very well be short-lived. There

Enea Desideri

Catalonia’s quest for independence should serve as a warning to the EU

The Spanish Senate has just triggered Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to impose direct rule over Catalonia. The decision, which Madrid claims is necessary to restore constitutional order, was taken following the escalation of tensions since the 1st October referendum. That resulted in a declaration of independence that was initially suspended but then activated this afternoon. The situation is currently extremely tense. The Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has called an extraordinary Council of Ministers this afternoon, which will sign off the implementation of measures under Article 155, including forcing the Catalan leader Puigdemont and his ministers to step down. It is difficult to predict how things will unfold, although

Rob Flello

Labour’s new intolerance of the pro-life cause

I didn’t want to write this piece. I supposed I always hoped that Labour would come back to its roots; back to being a broad-church drawn from diverse backgrounds and cultures united in solidarity with workers and the poor, standing up for free speech and the weakest, most vulnerable in society. But as time has passed the drumbeat of intolerance has only grown louder. Labour used to be a party where conscience and difference were respected. A party where Jim Dobbin (of fond memory) and Harriet Harman could link arms against economic injustice while being diametrically opposed on matters of social policy. It is a sad irony that, while so

James Forsyth

Will Britain back Madrid for the sake of Brexit?

Theresa May’s official spokesperson has just issued a statement on Catalonia’s declaration of independence that will please Madrid. It makes clear that the ‘UK does not and will not recognise the Unilateral Declaration of Independence’. It says that the declaration is ‘based on a vote declared illegal by the Spanish courts’. It concludes by saying that ‘we want to see the rule of law upheld, the Spanish constitution respected, and Spanish unity preserved’. What is telling about this statement is that it doesn’t even included the kind of diplomatically phrased call for restraint that Donald Tusk’s tweet did. Now, you can say that the UK statement is not that dissimilar to

Steerpike

Tom Tugendhat takes a swipe at Boris

If proof was needed that deference is dead in Parliament, look no further than the interview Tom Tugendhat has given to The House magazine. The new chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee uses his first interview since winning the coveted position to make clear he’s ready and willing to be Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary or Defence Secretary should his services be required. However, the part that caught Mr S’s eye relates to the current occupant of the Foreign Office. Tugendhat – who was elected to Parliament in 2015 – appears to launch an attack on Boris Johnson’s modus operandi: ‘He’s certainly got a lot of passion for the United

Steerpike

Jared O’Mara discovers there’s no rest for the wicked

It’s been a tough week for Jared O’Mara. The MP for Sheffield Hallam had the Labour whip removed after a series of sexist and homophobic comments were unearthed online. Since then, allegations have been made regarding his behaviour towards women in his home of Sheffield. So, the news that he decided not to hold a surgery today should perhaps come as little surprise. But if O’Mara is looking to try and win over disgruntled constituents, Mr S suspects he could be well-served to put in some extra work at the local club he owns, West Street Live. A quick trawl of its Tripadvisor page reveals a series of reviews that

Thursday

26 Oct 2017

The Spectator

Identity issues

It was always going to be difficult for Theresa May’s government to secure a legacy beyond Brexit. With the negotiations running into difficulty, it becomes all the harder. Ministers must avoid, however, resorting to well-meant gestures which open the government to ridicule. Take, for instance, the revelation that Britain has insisted on the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights making reference to pregnant transgendered people — although it now denies that it objected to the term ‘pregnant women’. The purpose of the relevant clause is deeply serious — to dissuade malignant regimes from subjecting pregnant women to the death penalty. Britain’s approach, by contrast, has an air of

Richard Madeley

Diary – 26 October 2017

To ITV’s London headquarters at the ungodly hour of 3.30 a.m. Piers Morgan is sunning himself in Beverly Hills and I’m sitting in for him on Good Morning Britain. I’ve known and liked Piers for 30 years, from the days when he used to scribble for the Mirror’s showbiz page, and although we could hardly be more different we do have one thing in common: we’re both television Marmite. People either like us or loathe us. But in the mysterious, perverse alchemy of TV ratings, detesting a presenter doesn’t necessarily mean shunning their show. Viewers enjoy shouting at their bêtes noires, so it’s all good for business. I too have presenters I

Charles Moore

The Spectator’s notes | 26 October 2017

Theresa May’s style of negotiating with the European Union is coming spookily to resemble David Cameron’s. She is in the mindset where the important thing is to get a deal, rather than working out what sort of a deal is worth getting. The EU understands this, and therefore delays, making Cameron/May more desperate to settle, even on bad terms. Eventually, there is an inadequate deal which the British government then has to sell to a doubting electorate. Mr Cameron was punished for this at the referendum he had called. Mrs May is inviting punishment at a general election. It is interesting how moderate politics cannot get a hearing just now.

Hans-Olaf Henkel

The EU must open trade talks with the UK

Let me make it clear at the outset: I was against Brexit. However, I am appalled by the reaction to the referendum of the Europhiles in Brussels and elsewhere in the EU. Instead of taking the right lesson from Brexit, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Emmanuel Macron used it to promote their project of a United States of Europe. The European Parliament’s Brexit spokesman Guy Verhofstadt displayed an unacceptable arrogance towards the British voters during the recent Brexit debate in Strasbourg and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier continues to give the impression that he is out to punish them. Instead of developing a timetable for the negotiations together

Jake Wallis Simons

The left’s sinister disdain for Israel betrays their movement’s pro-Zionist origins

In the beginning, the Guardian was a friend of the Jews. Or rather, those Jews who believed that after millennia of persecution in exile, they deserved the right to live freely in their ancestral homeland. The overwhelming majority, in other words. The Zionists. The Labour party liked them, too. Three months before the Balfour Declaration, Britain’s key declaration of support for Jewish national aspirations – the centenary of which will be marked next month – Labour compiled a memorandum of policy priorities. ‘Palestine should be set free from the harsh and repressive government of the Turk,’ it said, ‘in order that the country may form a Free State, under international guarantee, to which such of the

Steerpike

Corbynite attempt to infiltrate Labour Irish Society falls flat

Oh dear. Since Labour’s surprisingly good defeat in the snap election, the hard left has managed to tighten its grip on the party. As last month’s conference proved, Jeremy Corbyn’s party is intent on socialism for the 21st century. But behind the scenes there are still battles being fought between the moderates and the Corbynistas. On Wednesday night, elections took place for the Labour Party Irish Society executive. Ahead of the event, Corbynistas plotted to try and elect some true believers to the executive in order to return it to ‘its radical roots’, with Squawkbox – the Corbynista website – running an article urging like-minded activists to help transform the society into

Sam Leith

Books Podcast: The art of the political speech

In this week’s Books Podcast I’m talking to the Times columnist and former speechwriter for Tony Blair, Philip Collins, about one of my favourite subjects: rhetoric. His new book When They Go Low, We Go High is a fascinating look at political oratory from Pericles to (Michelle) Obama, and a vigorous argument for politics itself as a bulwark against the false promises of populism. We talk about what it was like writing for Blair, the greatest speech he wrote that was never delivered, how a speechwriter can trick a Prime Minister into announcing a policy he didn’t expect to announce – and why he’s proud to be a “Centrist Dad”.

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn fights for gender equality… at Shami’s book launch

It’s fair to say Jared O’Mara has not done wonders for Labour’s fight for gender equality. The MP for Sheffield Hallam was finally suspended by the party yesterday for referring to teenage music fans as ‘sexy slags’. Yet while Jeremy Corbyn was apparently slow to act in bringing O’Mara to task, it seems that the battle for female empowerment is still important at least some of the time for the Labour leader. Last night, Corbyn popped up at the book launch of Shami Chakrabarti’s ‘Of Women’: Mr S. suggests he could do with lending his copy to O’Mara once he has finished with it…

James Forsyth

MPs are undermining Britain’s world-class university system

The debate about universities in the last few days has been extremely frustrating. Britain has the two best universities in the world, according to The Times Higher Education rankings, and five of the top 25. This should be a cause for national celebration. Politicians should be seeking to build on this strength, not doing anything to undermine it. But instead, MPs on both the left and the right are behaving in reckless and irresponsible ways. Oxford is the best university in the world. But a former universities minister, David Lammy, the shadow Education Secretary, the Tory chair of the Education Select Committee and 100-odd other MPs want to massively interfere

Isabel Hardman

The Tories are playing a risky game with Jared O’Mara

Why do politicians constantly bring plagues on their own houses? This week, the Tories have embraced the Jared O’Mara allegations with gusto, prompting Theresa May to speak about it at Prime Minister’s Questions, calling for emergency debates and writing letters about the matter. Some Labourites have been responding by pointing out that it’s highly unlikely the Tories will be entirely clear of sexists themselves. Of course, the Labour point is being deployed as whataboutery to distract from the party’s own nightmare with its Sheffield Hallam MP. But it is also true – and given there is now an appetite in the media for exposing other MPs for similar behaviour, it

Steerpike

Tory whips’ letch list

As concerns continue to be rise over Jared O’Mara’s conduct towards women, his Labour comrade John Mann has suggested such behaviour isn’t just limited to one MP in the party. With Mann threatening to expose a colleague who was sent home from a foreign delegation for inappropriate behaviour, the conversation has turned to who knew what and when. However, if Labour are in hot water over the conduct of their MPs at large, it’s unlikely that the government whips have cause to relax. As Katy Balls reported in the i paper last week, Tory whips have drawn up a ‘naughty list’ of MPs who could mean trouble for the government. Parliamentary