Politics Archives

Tuesday

21 Feb 2017

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

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

20 Feb 2017

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

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

Steerpike

Baroness Chakrabarti, the champagne socialist

As the House of Lords begins to debate the government’s Article 50 bill, Baroness Chakrabarti appears to have used the week before to relax and recharge. Eye Spy MP reports that Shami was spied in the Grosvenor Hotel with a glass of fizz. Shami, keeping champagne socialism alive, at the Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria. pic.twitter.com/34DKX1tdLB — Eye Spy MP (@eyespymp) February 20, 2017 Unkind souls have suggested she was drinking champagne while parliament was sitting. But Mr S would like to defend her honour: champagne is clearly a drink Baroness Chakrabarti reserves for drinking during parliamentary recess. It’s good to see Jeremy Corbyn’s team are doing what they can to brush off the party’s metropolitan

Isabel Hardman

The one consolation for Labour? Ukip aren’t a slick fighting force

Theresa May has been visiting Stoke-on-Trent today ahead of the ‘really important’ by-election in the city on Thursday. That the Prime Minister is bothering to pitch up to a campaign in a Labour heartland suggests that the Tories at least think they are in with a fighting chance of winning the seat – otherwise it would be not just a waste of May’s time but also a bit embarrassing if they were seen to have thrown not just the kitchen sink but also the PM at the fight. Labour, meanwhile, is throwing kitchen sinks wildly and at great expense in the two by-elections due this week, including buying the front

Steerpike

Labour’s shadow cabinet fail

Given the frequency of shadow cabinet reshuffles under Jeremy Corbyn, even the most eagle-eyed Westminster residents now have difficulty identifying who makes up Labour’s frontbench. However, up until now Mr S had thought that the party at least knew. Alas not. Steerpike has been passed an internal Labour party email sent on Friday which details a lucrative job vacancy as a ‘political advisor to the shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs’: Role: Political Advisor to the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Location: Westminster Salary: Dependent on experience Duration: Fixed term contract for the period only that Grahame Morris is the Shadow

Steerpike

What by-election? Tristram Hunt starts his new job

When Tristram Hunt resigned as the MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central last month to take up a job as director of the V&A, he insisted the decision was driven by the offer of a job that combined his ‘lifetime passions’ rather than ill feeling over the direction Labour had taken under Jeremy Corbyn. So, with polling day this Thursday and the results expected to be tight, surely Hunt is doing everything he can to help his party’s candidate Gareth Snell retain the seat for Labour? Well, not everything. While the Prime Minister is up in Stoke today to boost Tory support and Ukip continue to knock on doors, Hunt is otherwise engaged.

Harry Wallop

Could Brexit mean cheaper food? Don’t open the prosecco yet

‘Brexit to chop food bills’, said the headline in the Sun on Sunday this weekend. The paper ran some research from the campaign group Leave Means Leave, which claimed food prices could fall by hundreds of pounds a year if tariffs are axed after Brexit. Though nobody knows what deal we will strike with trading partners once we leave the EU, it’s worth exploring the basis of Leave Means Leave’s research. It hopes we will enter into a completely tariff-free world. No more eye-watering taxes slapped on the likes of Tate & Lyle’s imported sugar cane, which caused the company to lose £20 million last year. All that new-world wine and South American beef, which

Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Why we’ve ‘had enough’ of Lord Mandelson

After Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell returned to urge a revolt against Brexit, only one thing was missing: Peter Mandelson, who turned up on Andrew Marr’s sofa yesterday. Ever on-message, he repeated Blair’s line that the 52 per cent of the country who backed Brexit ‘had no idea of the terms on which the government would decide to leave the EU’. So is the ‘prince of darkness’ simply up to his old tricks? Mandelson’s intervention certainly hasn’t earned him a warm reception in the newspaper editorials this morning. The Sun describes Mandelson as ‘disgraced’ and says the peer’s ‘contempt for democracy’ was the exact reason that ‘led to the demand for Brexit’

Steerpike

Mandy’s BBC interview riles the Corbynites

Oh dear. Yesterday Peter Mandelson appeared on the Andrew Marr Show to warn of the dangers of Brexit. The New Labour grandee used the primetime slot to criticise the government’s handling of Brexit and call for an Article 50 rebellion in the Lords. While Mandy managed to refrain from attacking Jeremy Corbyn, Mr S understands it wasn’t enough for Labour’s high command. In fact, a number of senior Corbynites are rather annoyed with the BBC that he was on so close to two crucial by-elections in Leave areas when the slot could have been given to a member of the shadow cabinet — or the dear leader himself. Then again, given that Corbyn is

Sunday

19 Feb 2017

Katy Balls

Peter Mandelson rises up and calls for a Brexit rebellion in the Lords

As the government’s Article 50 bill makes its way to the Lords this week, the ghosts of New Labour past are fighting to prevent a hard Brexit — or any Brexit at all. Following Tony Blair’s speech on Friday calling for the public to rise up and stop a ‘Brexit at any cost’, today it was Lord Mandelson’s turn. The former ‘prince of darkness’ appeared on the Andrew Marr show to warn of the new risks of Brexit under Theresa May. Asked whether Brexit was really going to happen, Mandelson assured viewers that Parliament would respect the decision of the referendum — before pointing out that only ’36pc of the public voted to leave’. Mandelson warned that immigration would

Saturday

18 Feb 2017

James Forsyth

Labour has no alternative

In normal times, by-elections are bad for governing parties and good for oppositions. But it is an indicator of how much trouble Labour is in, as I say in The Sun this morning, that they are the ones who are nervous ahead of Thursday’s by-elections. Some in the Labour machine seem almost resigned to losing Copeland to the Tories and are concentrating on trying to hold off Ukip in Stoke. Given that Labour is polling as low as 24% and Jeremy Corbyn’s ratings are worse than Michael Foot’s were at this point in his leadership, and the epic defeat Foot led Labour to in 1983 paved the way for 14

Lucy Vickery

Poems on the triggering of Article 50

The request for poetic previews of the day Article 50 is triggered produced passionate voices from both sides of the Brexit divide with many of you recruiting distinguished poets to your cause. D.A. Prince cleverly appropriated ‘Vitaï Lampada’, Sir Henry Newbolt’s tribute to English patriotism: ‘There’s a dread-filled rush in the House tonight/ With Article 50 poised to go,/ After lies black as pitch and the blind claiming sight/ And nothing to halt, now, the whole sorry show’; Jennifer Moore’s entry channelled the spirit of Dr Seuss: ‘The sun did not shine./ We were too sad to work,/So we cut out Farage/ And threw darts at his smirk.’ And Paul

Friday

17 Feb 2017

Steerpike

Ukip’s only MP gives Ukip conference a miss

Although Paul Nuttall made a quick escape from today’s Ukip Spring Conference in order to avoid the pesky press, compared with Douglas Carswell it was an admirable effort. Mr S understands that Ukip’s only MP has deigned not to bother turning up today. While there are over 25 Ukip politicians speaking at the event, Carswell will not be one of them. Instead the MP for Clacton will appear through the medium of video — opting to record a video message rather than make the journey up North. While Nuttall has promised to give Labour a run for its money in the party’s traditional heartlands, Mr S suspects the message would hold a

Alex Massie

Tony Blair is right about Brexit

I don’t know about you but if I were to make a speech arguing that democracy should be abandoned, I probably wouldn’t begin by saying ‘I want to be explicit. Yes, the British people voted to leave Europe. And I agree the will of the people should prevail.’ That’s just me, however. When Tony Blair says this, he apparently means to encourage an anti-democratic insurrection. Which, I suppose, makes sense if you still suffer from an acute case of Blair Derangement Syndrome. Plenty of people evidently do. If Blair is really as toxic and irrelevant as his critics aver, there’d be no need for all this fury. Blood vessels could remain

Brendan O’Neill

Brexit was a revolt against snobs like Tony Blair

The brass neck of Tony Blair. The Brexit vote was ‘based on imperfect knowledge’, says the man who unleashed barbarism across the Middle East on the basis of a student dissertation he printed off the internet. Who marched thousands into unimaginable horror on the basis of myth and spin. That NHS claim on the side of the Leave bus is small fry, infinitesimally small fry, in comparison with the guff this bloke came out with. It didn’t cause anyone to die, for one. For Blair to lecture the British people about truth is an affront to memory and decency and reason. No self-respecting citizen should put up with it. Blair

Katy Balls

Nigel Farage sets Paul Nuttall up for a fall

It’s less than two hours into Ukip’s Spring Conference in Bolton and already the cracks are starting to show. Although Paul Nuttall promised to unite the party as leader, his predecessor Nigel Farage has set the cat among the pigeons with a speech on the future of Ukip. The former leader said he was concerned that ‘too many people’ in the party now wish to turn their back on the bold strategy of ‘thinking the unthinkable’ and ‘saying the unsayable’ that got them where they are today: ‘This party succeeded because we had guts, we had passion, we were brave. But now I sense there are too many people in Ukip —

Tony Blair

Tony Blair’s Brexit speech, full transcript

I want to be explicit. Yes, the British people voted to leave Europe. And I agree the will of the people should prevail. I accept right now there is no widespread appetite to re-think. But the people voted without knowledge of the terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind. Our mission is to persuade them to do so. What was unfortunately only dim in our sight before the referendum is now in plain sight. The road we’re going down is not simply Hard Brexit. It is Brexit At Any Cost. Our challenge is to expose relentlessly what this cost is, to show how the decision