Politics

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

Friday

19 May 2017

Steerpike

Labour candidate’s campaign leaflet fail

Oh dear. Come June 8, Labour are hoping to take the marginal seat of Blackpool North and Cleveleys from the Tories. However, the party’s local candidate Chris Webb might want to consider re-printing his campaign literature. Mr S was curious to come across Webb’s campaign leaflet. He says that, as a local boy, he would put Blackpool and Cleveleys first. However, this claim is put into doubt by his second promise to… ‘never stop fighting my home town’: With Webb a Remain supporter in a Leave area, perhaps he is on to something after all… I've voted #Remain. Have you? #EUref #LabourInForBritain pic.twitter.com/KVcAOKawDa — Chris Webb MP (@ChrisWebbMP) June 23, 2016

Isabel Hardman

Labour’s elections chief expects party to be cut down to 140 seats

Labour’s elections team expects the party to be left with just 140 seats after the election, The Spectator has learned. I understand from two very good sources that this working assumption developed by Patrick Heneghan, the party’s elections director, is based on the party’s private data. This could mean that 89 sitting Labour MPs lose their seats – and means the party considers previously safe constituencies to be at risk. This internal prediction may well explain why Len McCluskey chose this week to set 200 seats as the sign of a ‘successful campaign’. Falling so far short of that threshold would give those on the Left who have previously supported Jeremy

Isabel Hardman

Have the Lib Dems learned the wrong lesson from the SNP?

That the Tories would enjoy this general election campaign and Labour would spend it alternating between abject misery and total panic was a given from the moment Theresa May announced she wanted to go to the polls. More of a surprise has been how uncomfortable the Liberal Democrats have looked so far. Tim Farron has spent far too much time defending and then apparently recanting various unpopular beliefs. The party is averaging nine per cent in the polls. One analysis suggests they could end up with fewer than the nine seats they currently hold. What’s going wrong? Aside from Farron’s awkward media encounters over his religious beliefs, the party may

James Kirkup

Forget Brexit. What really matters is rubbish

Pardon the heresy, but I have a suggestion to make about the general election, and politics in general: Brexit isn’t as important as you think it is. The fact that you, dear reader, are reading this, a Spectator article, says many things about you. Obviously, it denotes good taste, since this is a fine publication, notwithstanding the Editor’s peculiar accent, absurd hair and questionable choices in hiring old colleagues to write for him. But more importantly, it says you’re interested in the stuff that The Spectator is interested in, and almost certainly in politics. That, politely put, means you’re a bit weird. Most people aren’t interested in politics; they don’t

Charles Moore

Do the Tories want to become the party of unemployment?

‘Exclusive invitation: I want to hear from you, Charles’, it said in my inbox. Theresa May wanted me to take part in her ‘telephone town hall’, she told me, offering ‘an opportunity to voice your opinions and ask questions directly to me in a simple and open way’. Unfortunately, the line was open only between 7 and 8 on Tuesday night, and I was engaged elsewhere. One thing I might have asked was ‘Who do you listen to before you say something in public?’ Although Mrs May has a reputation for caution, she is capable of throwing out ideas which sound as if they have not been tested on the

Isabel Hardman

Can the Tories boast about giving parity of esteem to mental health?

Mental health only made it into all three main party manifestos for the first time in 2015. Two years later, and it would be impossible to imagine any serious political party missing it out. In fact, the first line on the ‘mental health gap’ in the Conservative manifesto suggests that they’ve already accomplished their aims: ‘It was Conservatives in government that gave parity of esteem to the treatment of mental health in the National Health Service.’ This is true – but also not very clear. It suggests mental health and physical health are now on an equal footing in the NHS. They are not. The Coalition government introduced a mandate

Thursday

18 May 2017

Peter Jones

Power and the middle class

The Labour party’s tagline for the forthcoming general election is: ‘For the many, not the few.’ Aristotle, who understood this as ‘For the poor, not the rich’, thought this a recipe for conflict and proposed a solution of which Mrs May would approve. Suspicious of monarchy, Aristotle favoured two styles of constitution: oligarchy and democracy. The problem was that both systems ran the risk of creating an inherently unstable state. In a democracy, the poor would be in control by sheer weight of numbers; in an oligarchy, the rich would gain control (presumably) by sheer weight of influence. In either case, the two, at opposite ends of the spectrum, would

Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 18 May 2017

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn did himself (and his party) a favour by skipping the ITV debate

By the standards of a ‘normal’ election, the ITV televised leaders’ debate might have seemed like a bit of a waste of time. The most prominent politician present was Nicola Sturgeon, who is not standing in the General Election. But she does have some claim to opposition, given that her party is the most disciplined and effective form of opposition in Westminster at the moment (given the misery of Labour and the tiny Lib Dem presence). Tim Farron – who must have been relieved not to have to talk about gay sex, abortion or faith healing – was the most prominent Westminster-based party leader. Jeremy Corbyn was not present. I understand that

Steerpike

Paul Nuttall lacks the personal touch in the leaders’ debate

Oh dear. With both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn opting to give tonight’s ITV leaders’ debate a miss, leaders of the other political parties had the perfect opportunity to step into the spotlight and make a good impression in front of the electorate. Alas Ukip’s Paul Nuttall appeared to miss the mark. Nearing the end of the debate, the Ukip leader referred to his opponent Leanne Wood — the leader of Plaid Cymru — as ‘Natalie’. To make matters worse, he then repeated the error later on. It’s thought ht may have confused Wood for the former Green party leader Natalie Bennett. It seems Ukip may have a women problem after

Fraser Nelson

Press freedom: it was Spectator readers wot won it

A few months ago, The Spectator sought the help of readers in defending press freedom. Theresa May’s government was consulting on whether to press ahead with a draconian new law that would make publications like ours liable for the costs of anyone who wanted to sue us, for whatever reason. The law, a hangover from the Leveson Inquiry, was intended as a way of bullying titles into signing up to Impress, a would-be press regulator bankrolled by the egregious Max Mosley. The legislation in question – Section 40 of the Crime & Courts Act – had been put out to consultation by the Culture Secretary and such things are often a

Ross Clark

How business-friendly would Theresa May’s government be?

When the main opposition party is proposing to jack up corporation tax from 19 per cent to 26 per cent the Conservatives don’t have to do too much to claim the mantle of the pro-business party, but with Theresa May suddenly attracting the nickname ‘Red Theresa’, just how business-friendly would a post 9 June May government be? First, the losers. First Philip Green and other company-owners who leave pension funds under-funded: the Conservatives are promising punitive fines and a possible new criminal offence for those who ‘deliberately or recklessly put at risk the ability of a pension scheme to meet its obligations’. With FTSE 350 companies running a combined pension

Steerpike

Watch: Workers Revolutionary Party march on the Daily Politics

Although the Mainstream Media would have you believe that the major political force in this election is the Tories, is it actually the Workers Revolutionary Party who are on the march? Mr S only asks after the WRP’s Frank Sweeney appeared on the Daily Politics to explain why it has to be the Trotskyist group at this election. However, if you don’t have a WRP candidate in your area, Sweeney says settle for Labour (even if they have sold out): ‘The leadership of the Labour party has sold out because of its political outlook. It’s a reformist outlook. If you look at their present manifesto, it’s a Fabian conception that the economic

Will Heaven

The Tory ‘dementia tax’ could backfire for Theresa May

The Prime Minister says there is no such thing as ‘Mayism’, only ‘good, solid Conservatism’. Fine. But let’s examine just how ‘good’ and ‘Conservative’ her party’s new policy on social care is, unveiled earlier today. The Tory manifesto says, in effect, that people who need care in old age will have to pay for every penny of it – no matter how big the costs – if they have more than £100,000 in assets, which will be protected. Payment can be deferred until after death, but there’s no escaping it. If you have a home worth, say, £216,000 (the national average), own it outright, and need to be looked after for a long

Alex Massie

Theresa May’s preachy government is on a mission to restore our confidence

Every political moment is informed by, and a reaction against, its predecessor. The Age of May is no exception. David Cameron’s successes were founded, at least in part, on the vague appreciation that he seemed like a nice enough chap. Theresa May’s victories are built on the fact that she isn’t. Being a ‘bloody difficult woman’, if also a bloody dull one, has its advantages and not just in terms of paying a measure of homage to the great ghost of the Iron Lady. Theresa will stand for no nonsense, you understand, and things will be done properly and with a sense of order and purpose. What you see is

Ross Clark

Earn less than £85,000? You might be better off under Corbyn

Recent elections have followed the same format: the Conservatives positioning themselves as the party of low taxes while Labour feels obliged to make its own commitments in order to try to neutralise the issue. This year is different. One of the notable omissions from the Conservative manifesto is any firm promise not to jack up the rate of income tax or national insurance. As expected, the Conservative manifesto does not repeat David Cameron’s ‘five year tax lock’ which committed the Conservatives not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT during the lifetime of the Parliament just ended. Reducing taxes on businesses and individuals has been reduced

Nick Hilton

The Spectator Podcast: The May manifesto

On this week’s episode, we discuss Theresa May’s lurch to the left, the NHS’s looming crisis, and how Americans should talk about Trump. First up: Theresa May has launched the Conservative party’s manifesto this week, but whilst much has been made of the slow death of the Labour party, the Tories appear to have borrowed rather liberally from Ed Miliband’s 2015 offering. This is what Fraser Nelson says in his cover piece, claiming that the Conservatives have become ‘the party of Brexit’ rather than of low taxation. He joins the podcast along with David Goodhart, who writes this week on how Theresa May is finding a new middle way. As Fraser writes: “The

James Forsyth

Theresa May’s new Conservative philosophy

When you go to the polling station, Tory campaign chiefs want you to be thinking about Brexit and who you want as Prime Minister negotiating for Britain. This point was underlined at today’s Tory manifesto launch. Theresa May was introduced by the Brexit Secretary David Davis and she herself concentrated on why Brexit makes the next few years so ‘defining’ for the UK and concluded by declaring that ‘every vote for me and my team’ will ‘strengthen my hand as I fight for Britain’. On the EU, the manifesto largely repeats the points made in May’s Lancaster House speech. But by making clear that the UK is leaving both the

Katy Balls

Five things we’ve learnt from the Conservative manifesto

Today Theresa May unveiled the 2017 Conservative and Unionist Party manifesto at an event in West Yorkshire. Parking her tanks on Labour’s lawn, the Prime Minister tried to appeal to working class voters as she revealed her vision for ‘a stronger Britain and a prosperous future’. Here’s what can be gleaned from the slimline document: A Conservative government would push back eliminating the deficit until 2026. Once again the party has delayed its target date for balancing the books. May has given herself until the middle of the next decade (so by 2026 at latest) to balance the books. Given that George Osborne promised to do this by 2015, it’s fair to take the latest

Matthew Lynn

The Tories’ biggest gamble? Over-estimating the strength of the post-Brexit economy

Unemployment is down. Retail sales are still strong. House prices are stable. Even the Great British Peso, the currency formerly known as the pound, has recovered much of its losses of the past year. After the vote to leave the EU, the UK economy has been remarkably strong. Even triggering Article 50, which some said would be the point when the whole pack of cards collapsed, doesn’t seem to have made any difference. With that wind in behind the UK’s sails, it is easy to understand why the Conservative party is feeling fairly secure about the state of the economy. And that may help explain why there is remarkably little