Politics

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

Thursday

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Why Labour deserves a crushing defeat in Stoke

Never in recent years has a party deserved to lose an election, to be demolished by people’s ballots and fury, as much as Labour does in Stoke. The way Labour has treated this northern constituency is a microcosm of the metropolitan contempt it now feels for all the rough-handed, gruff-voiced non-Londoners who once made up its support base but who now irritate the hell out of it by doing stupid things like voting for Brexit and believing in democracy. Were Labour to receive a bloody nose from the people of Stoke it would be a wonderful day for British politics, and, who knows, possibly a wake-up call for a left

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Brexit and the rise of the superliar

For an exercise in popular sovereignty, which was meant to take decisions away from the hated ‘elite’, the Brexit referendum has, inevitably,  produced Britain’s greatest outbreak of political lying. Yesterday’s liars look pale and wan in comparison with the latest models. It is as if the long-awaited singularity has occurred. But rather than advances in technology creating a new species of artificial superintelligence , the advance of plebiscitary politics has created a new species of artificial superliar. The liars of the past were often furtive figures. Like the man who has staggered home at 3 a.m. and tried to explain away the beer on his breath and lipstick on his collar,

Henry Jeffreys

Wetherspoons

Of all the stories I’ve heard about the fallout from Brexit — families divided, work jeopardised, friendships ended — the saddest was someone on Facebook who declared that he would never again visit a Wetherspoons because the proprietor, Tim Martin, pushed for a Leave vote. This seemed to me the definition of cutting your nose off to spite your face; imagine turning down cheap beer because of the EU! But it also disrupts one of the fundamentals of a liberal society: that you do business even with those whom you disagree. Voltaire marvelled at this concept on his visit to the London Stock Exchange: ‘Here Jew, Mohammedan and Christian deal

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The new third Way

Forget left and right — the new divide in politics is between nationalists and globalists. Donald Trump’s team believe that he won because he was the America First candidate, defying the old rules of politics. His nationalist rhetoric on everything from trade to global security enabled him to flip traditionally Democratic, blue-collar states and so to defeat that personification of the post-war global order, Hillary Clinton. The presidential election in France is being fought on these lines, too. Marine Le Pen is the nationalist candidate, a hybrid of the hard right and the far left. She talks of quitting the European single currency and of bringing immigration down to 10,000

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Against Queen Camilla

How would you feel about a Queen Camilla, as in the wife of King Charles? Personally I’d be dead against, for reasons I’ll bore you with later, but what matters is how the nation feels. Because the Prince of Wales very much wants Camilla to be queen when he becomes king. As has been reported elsewhere, there’s now a veritable ops department at Clarence House — jovially called ‘QC’ by its members — who are responsible for ensuring that the middle class is prepared for just this outcome. Actually, that’s probably over-egging it. Seems QC is more of a concept than a war cabinet, but also that if you’re not

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Jeremy Corbyn challenges Labour to a race to the bottom

The so-called leader of the so-called opposition gave another so-called performance today. Jeremy Corbyn seems to have challenged the Labour party to a slalom race. Target: rock bottom. Go Corbo! his enemies cheer as they watch his hapless figure slithering and shimmying down the ice-floes of public contempt. Today he came to the Commons with grounds for hope. Which, for Corbo, means a bulletin of despair issued by a public body with a fancy title and some embossed note-paper. The Marie Curie Foundation worries that nurses are struggling to care for dying patients. And the British Medical Association complains that 15,000 beds have been trundled out of NHS wards and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Corbyn fumbled his NHS attack at today’s PMQs

When Ed Miliband was asking the questions at PMQs, we didn’t think we were living through a vintage age of parliamentary debate. But every week, Miliband’s performances looks better by comparison. Jeremy Corbyn went on the right topic today, the NHS, but his questions were all over the place and lacked coherence. Indeed, at one point it was hard to tell what the actual question was. But, I suspect, that Labour will feel that if Corbyn has managed to bump the NHS up the agenda ahead of the two by-elections on Thursday, then it will have been a worthwhile exercise. But it is telling that any advantage Labour gained from

Rem Korteweg

A quick trade deal with the US after Brexit is less likely than we think

It is many a Brexiteer’s fantasy: In 2019, shortly after the UK formally leaves the EU, Theresa May welcomes Donald Trump to Downing Street to ink a trade pact. Out with the old, in with the new, and the ‘special relationship’ standing tall. But how likely is that scenario? A trade deal would certainly be politically meaningful for both sides. For Trump, who is facing pressure over his protectionist rhetoric, it would be an opportunity to boost his pro-trade credentials. While Theresa May could use it to show that Britain has trade options beyond the EU. The prospect of a deal with the US could also boost her hand when it

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Why Sajid Javid needs to listen up to shopkeepers

If Britain really is still a nation of shopkeepers, the Government seems to be picking its enemies rather unwisely with its plans to ramp up business rates – in some cases by as much as 400 per cent over the next five years. The policy – and the somewhat bungled attempt by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid to defend the plans – has already sparked a big row, which shows no signs of calming down. The Daily Mail is clear who we should point the finger at: Sajid Javid. The paper says the Communities Secretary made a ’magnificent’ arrival on the frontline of British politics with his speech in 2015 in which he

Steerpike Steerpike

Owen Jones turns to fake news to endear himself to the Left

In today’s world of left wing politics, many Labour supporters find themselves classed as Tories and Zionists. In fact, even Owen Jones – the one time poster boy for the Left – has found himself on the receiving end. After the Guardian journalist was revealed to be speaking at a Jewish Labour Movement memorial event, Jones took to social media to complain that he was being denounced as an ‘Israeli government dupe’. To show that he is not an ‘Israeli government dupe’, Jones shared a video of him attacking Israel on Question Time: https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/834074154886426624 Only there’s a problem. In the video in question, Jones accuses the Israelis of killing a young Palestinian boy.

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour’s Stoke candidate has a change of heart over Ed Miliband

As part of Labour’s last-ditch effort to hold onto Stoke-on-Trent Central in Thursday’s by-election, Ed Miliband headed north on Monday to help the party’s candidate Gareth Snell campaign. Although Snell has made a number of questionable comments about women on Twitter, the former Labour leader didn’t seem to mind as he posed for pictures on the campaign trail. Fantastic to welcome @Ed_Miliband and @SKinnock to #StokeCentral today -huge thanks to them & the huge number of volunteers here again today pic.twitter.com/VWo0Q3lRRh — Gareth Snell (@gareth_snell) February 20, 2017 Only Mr S can’t help but wonder if Snell was being genuine when he said it was ‘fantastic’ to welcome Miliband to his

Tuesday

Charles Moore Charles Moore

George Osborne is to blame for the business rates fiasco

It is almost always unwise to postpone the introduction of a big, scheduled tax change, but often tempting at the time. George Osborne, when Chancellor of the Exchequer in the coalition government, postponed the revaluation of business rates, when it was due two years ago, for obvious political reasons. So now it is happening, and it hurts worse than it would have then. The current rates are based on the rental value of business properties in 2010. Since then, the scene is transformed. The internet has called the whole concept of the ordinary, physical shop into question. Values have vastly altered and the political problem – as with the poll tax

Matthew Lynn

Mark Carney finally gets it: the real risk is a Brexit boom

It is possible that Mark Carney is not quite the last person to notice that the post-Brexit economy is positively booming. Jean-Claude Junker might be too busy working out new ways to ‘punish’ Britain to have paid attention to the statistics. Gina Miller is possibly working on some bizarre High Court action to keep us in the EU. There might even be a leader writer somewhere at the FT who is still worrying away about the collapse of the economy. But just about everyone else has woken up to the fact that ever since we voted to leave the EU, the British economy, far from falling off a cliff, seems

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP’s Bercow plot fails to land a blow

After John Bercow announced in the House of Commons that he would block any calls for President Trump to speak in Westminster Hall on his forthcoming state visit, there was an outcry from Conservative MPs who accused the Speaker of grandstanding. Given that Bercow failed to consult the Speaker of the Lords and President Trump has never even expressed an interest in speaking before Parliament, they appeared to have a point. So, when James Duddridge, the Tory MP, tabled a motion of no confidence ahead of recess, there was much chatter that the Speaker could be on the way out. Expectations were later reduced somewhat, with Conservative sources predicting that around 150 MPs

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Cabinet wastes time with discussion on something it already agrees on

If ever you wanted to understand what Theresa May’s relationship with her top ministers is like, today’s Cabinet meeting provides some insight. The ‘majority’ of the session, which lasted more than an hour, was taken up with a discussion about the importance of the Union. Not a discussion in which any of the problems raised by Brexit for the Union, such as the problems with the land border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, were addressed, but a general discussion on how everyone present supported the “most successful political union of countries that has been seen”. Individual ministers then ‘spoke out in support of the Union, particularly in relation to the

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: Jeremy Corbyn and Seumas Milne’s nicknames

Although Owen Jones, Derek Hatton and Glenda Jackson are just a few of the Labour left to turn on Jeremy Corbyn of late, the Labour leader can always rely on comrade Seumas Milne. Corbyn’s director of strategy and communications has stuck by Jeremy through thick and thin, even ending his leave with the Guardian to move to the Leader’s Office on a permanent basis. So perhaps it’s little surprise the pair have formed a special bond. In fact, word reaches Steerpike that the bromance is so strong the pair even have nicknames for each other. The talk of Labour staffers is that Corbyn refers to Milne as ‘TGM’ which stands

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: The Lords’ Brexit debate is an unwelcome sideshow

Peers can continue their Brexit debate in relative peace today without the watchful glare of the Prime Minister gazing over them. Theresa May’s brief appearance at the start of the Lords’ Article 50 debate yesterday was unprecedented but given how long she stayed you’d be forgiven for thinking it was little more than a publicity stunt. For the Sun, however, the PM’s decision to swap chambers in Parliament did send out an important message. Those ‘unelected members still struggling with the concept of a democratic mandate’ should remember that the PM had ‘most of the public and a vast Commons majority behind her’ as she sat on the steps of

Monday

Coffee House

Are we doing enough to secure Britain’s digital future?

The UK’s digital economy represents nearly one third of the UK economy, and if nurtured properly, it could transform government, society and culture. But are we doing enough to secure Britain’s digital future – and if not, what more can be done? This was the topic discussed by politicians and financial and technology experts at a recent Spectator dinner, hosted by Mastercard. One of the main topics of conversation was around British start-ups and the investment opportunities available in the UK. Jeremy Silver, CEO of the Digital Catapult, has built and sold two technology businesses in the past fifteen years – selling both of them to American tech companies. That’s

James Tilley

The working-class vote is fed up with democracy

We’re told that the story of Stoke and other similar working-class constituencies is the advance of Ukip; yet more important is the advance of ‘none of the above’. Turnout in by-elections is notoriously low, and Thursday will be no exception, but even at the last general election fewer than half the electorate voted in Stoke. This was not always the case. Turnout in Stoke was barely six per cent below the national average in 1987, yet in 2015 it was 16 per cent lower. This is just a weak reflection of the growing divide in political participation among people in different social classes. While differences in turnout between rich and poor

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Theresa May makes the most of her political capital

With an ICM poll out today showing the Conservatives have an 18-point lead over Labour (one of the four worst results for Labour since the poll began in 1983), Theresa May clearly has a lot of political capital in the bank – and today she has been making the most of it. As the government’s Article 50 bill arrived in the Lords for its second reading, the Prime Minister, too, made her way to the Second Chamber to observe the start of the debate. Sat on the steps below the royal throne, May’s presence acted as a reminder to the unelected house that ministers are taking the Lords’ deliberations very