Politics

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

Wednesday

The Spectator

Full text: Theresa May’s conference speech

When we came to Birmingham this week, some big questions were hanging in the air. Do we have a plan for Brexit? We do. Are we ready for the effort it will take to see it through? We are. Can Boris Johnson stay on message for a full four days? Just about. But I know there’s another big question people want me to answer. What’s my vision for Britain? My philosophy? My approach? Today I want to answer that question very directly. I want to set out my vision for Britain after Brexit. I want to lay out my approach – the things I believe. I want to explain what

Steerpike Steerpike

Conference party round-up: Theresa’s kiss is put on hold

After four days of speeches and panels at Tory conference, there is now at least a little consensus over what Brexit means Brexit means and much concern over the quality of Philip Hammond’s jokes. However, while a number of conference speeches proved dry, Mr S is glad to report that the after hours soirees were free-flowing. At the Sun‘s conference party — where guests were offered teetotal May Day cocktails — tributes were paid to two men who were unable to make it to Birmingham this year. The paper’s editor Tony Gallagher recalled what David Cameron and George Osborne had said to him ahead of the paper backing Brexit. ‘David and George took us aside

The Spectator

Full text: Ruth Davidson’s Conservative party conference speech

Friends, five years ago I came to this conference, seeking to win the leadership of our party in Scotland. We’d just had our worst ever Scottish election result on the back of two decades of decline. As career moves went, the omens didn’t look exactly ideal. We were being kicked around by our opponents. And the media was calling us a corpse that wouldn’t twitch. And that was on a good day. But conference, you always kept the faith. When I argued we could win again as Conservatives, you granted me the privilege of allowing me to lead. We weren’t being credited with much in the way of prospects but

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

David Davis: I’m 100 per cent sure EU migrants working in Britain can stay after Brexit

Theresa May has gone out of her way to repeatedly reassure people that Brexit means Brexit. But where the Prime Minister has been less eager to offer words of comfort is on the status of EU nationals living and working in Britain. That stony silence has been one of the big themes of the Conservative party’s conference this year. May’s refusal to commit has left a question mark dangling over millions of people. At a Spectator fringe event last night, David Davis went as far as any member of Government (or, indeed, any loyal cabinet minister) to reassuring those from the EU that they wouldn’t be removed from Britain. When

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Diane James stands down as Ukip leader

Diane James is standing down as Ukip leader after only 18 days in the job, blaming ‘personal and professional reasons’ and a lack of ‘sufficient authority’ within the party for her decision to quit. James said she didn’t have the backing she needed among fellow Ukip MEPs and party officers, but insisted she would still ‘concentrate fully’ on her role within the European Parliament. In a statement released last night, she said: ‘Having won the enthusiastic support of party members, I was nominated by them as the new leader at the Ukip conference. Since that time, I have been in discussion with party officers about the role. It has become clear that I do

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Damian Green strikes a softer tone on welfare

Under David Cameron, it was sometimes tricky to tell who was in charge at the DWP. Iain Duncan Smith favoured a softer approach to welfare reform while over at the Treasury, George Osborne’s interventions were more nakedly political. It all came to a head in March when IDS resigned after Osborne announced £4bn of cuts to disability benefits. That was just over six months ago and seems like a distant memory in the pre-referendum haze. Yet it’s rapidly becoming clear that under Damian Green, things will be very different at the DWP. As with other areas of Government, Theresa May’s work and pensions secretary has marked a signal departure with

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Ruth Davidson: why I talk about being gay

The three most magnetic politicians at this year’s Tory party conference are the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party.  I never thought I’d write this sentence but Ruth Davidson’s rise has been quite extraordinary. She has been campaigning for three years now: the Scottish referendum, the general election and Brexit. Now she doesn’t have a big fight planned, but she does still have plenty of energy. I just interviewed her during a fringe meeting to a packed room, and you could see the extent of her appeal. ‘The selfie queen’, quipped one Cabinet member earlier: she’s the type of politician that gets stopped by

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Justine Greening goes on the offensive over grammar schools

Although Nicky Morgan suggested yesterday that the government could be about to water down its grammar school proposals, Justine Greening showed no such signs in her conference speech. The Education Secretary received a standing ovation as she went on the offensive in defending Theresa May’s plans for a return to selective education. In a sea change from her claim this summer that she was simply ‘open minded’ to the idea, Greening put in a fiery defence of the proposal to lift the grammar school ban. After paying tribute to her own comprehensive roots – as the first ever Education Secretary to attend a non-selective state — Greening explained that education was at the heart of the

The Spectator

Full text: Jeremy Hunt’s Tory party conference speech

Conference, I believe totally and utterly in our NHS. I want it to offer the safest, highest quality care of any country in the world for you and your family. When I took on this role four years ago I said it was the biggest privilege of my life. Some say it’s the hardest job in government. Others say it’s the safest – because there’s not a long line of other ministers who want it. But for me it’s the chance to serve our country by guiding our most precious public service through difficult times. And that’s why I’m proud to be back in front of you wearing my NHS

The Spectator

Full text: Amber Rudd’s conference speech

I succeed one of the most successful Home Secretaries of modern times. You may define success as holding the post for longer than any prior Conservative incumbent since World War Two. You may judge it by introducing the Modern Slavery Act … Which has delivered tough new penalties to put slave masters behind bars. Or, you may judge it by the eventual, hard-won deportation of Abu Qatada – and the message that sent. Well, Theresa May is now Prime Minister, and I am honoured to be Home Secretary in her Conservative-only Government. It’s no secret that earlier this year I campaigned on behalf of the Remain side in the EU

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Theresa May’s Brexit vision gets the thumbs-up from the traditional Tory troublemakers

Theresa May hasn’t been Prime Minister for 100 days yet but already she’s achieved what few other Tory leaders before her have done: get her eurosceptic backbenchers on board. In doing this, May will have made the likes of David Cameron green with envy. So how did she succeed in this task? It seems her speech on Sunday lived up to the high expectations of the Brexiteers and managed to warm even the stoniest of hearts among the traditional Tory troublemakers. In return, they’ve spent this year’s conference determined to sing the joys of May. That show of support was on display last night from two of the biggest names

The Spectator

Full text: Michael Fallon’s Tory party conference speech

This week our party is putting forward a vision of a country that works for everyone. Where you can go as far as your talents take you. Ultimately the opportunity to get on depends on the security provided by our Armed Forces. Today British forces are fighting terrorism, countering aggression, and training troops in democracies as far apart as Iraq and Ukraine, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Here at home, they are patrolling our skies and seas. Serving around the world, around the clock – to keep our country safe. Each one of them deserves our thanks. In Theresa May we have a leader who puts security first. Her first act as

Steerpike Steerpike

Breaking: Brexit means breakfast

Brexit means Brexit. But for some, remembering that definition can be a challenge. For Welsh Tory leader Andrew Davies, it seems Brexit means something else altogether. Davies took to the stage at the Conservative party conference and proudly declared that: ‘Mark my words, we will make breakfast..Brexit a success’ Davies said after his gaffe that he would ‘have a word’ with the autocue. But Mr S is glad to see that in spite of his blunder, he still managed to see the funny side: Speech done at #CPC16…now off to sort out breakfast! — Andrew RT Davies (@AndrewRTDavies) October 4, 2016

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Theresa May’s passion isn’t yet matched by her policies

Theresa May has done enough, for now, to put Brexit into its box. The Prime Minister hasn’t offered up much, but the piecemeal announcements she has made at the Tory party conference – including setting out a rough Article 50 timetable – have helped stave off uncertainty. Crucially, they’ve also kept the Brexit band happy: with the traditional Tory troublemakers using their conference platforms to sing the PM’s praises for once rather than stick the knife in. Yet it’s clear that Theresa May wants her time in office to be about more than just the referendum. When she was asked about the Brexit vote, the PM had this to say on the

Steerpike Steerpike

The Notting Hill set stay away from Birmingham

At this year’s Labour conference, the absence of several centrist MPs at the annual event was taken as a sign that the party was far from a united one. So, what about the Conservatives? It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the majority of the once omnipotent Notting Hill set have stayed away from Tory conference in Birmingham. While Lord Feldman has bothered to show up, backbenchers George Osborne and Michael Gove are nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile fellow Cameroon Ed Vaizey was notably absent at a fringe event on Monday where he was scheduled to talk about the centre ground in politics. With only Nicky Morgan here to defend Cameron’s legacy, the former

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Jacob Rees-Mogg longs for the common touch

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been looking mightily pleased with himself at this year’s Conservative party conference. After the arch-Brexiteer spent years calling for Britain to leave the European Union, his wish was finally granted in June. However, he sill has work to do when it comes to convincing Remain-ers that Brexit will be a good thing. At a Politeia fringe event, Mogg recounted being teased on Question Time for suggesting Britain could get a good trade deal from Europe because French farmers still wanted to flog their champagne to Brits. It turns out that example was ‘too posh’ for some. So, Mogg revealed his new example to appeal to the common man: claret. This time, he said, it was

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Conservative party conference, day three: The Spectator guide

The Conservative party conference is now in full swing, with a host of top cabinet ministers taking to the stage in Birmingham today. Defence secretary Michael Fallon, Justice secretary Liz Truss and Home secretary Amber Rudd will all be speaking this morning. While Jeremy Hunt and Education secretary Justine Greening are up this afternoon. Here’s the full list of what’s on today: Main conference: 10.30am – 11am: Celebrating the union: Andrew Davies, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly for Wales, is joined by: Wales secretary Alun Cairns Scotland secretary David Mundell Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire 11am-12.30pm: A society that works for everyone Defence secretary Michael Fallon

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Liam Fox looks towards the sunny world of Brexit Britain

This afternoon’s session of speeches at the Tory conference might best be described as the ‘Why My Department Exists’ section. The ministers who spoke – Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox – all reeled off statistics about sport, the countryside, exports and so on to show that their portfolios really matter. Every year, we hear about the countries whose national products we are selling back to them, and how many trees ministers are planting (not personally, sadly). But this year, we had a new job description: that of the Secretary of State for International Trade. And as well as offering ripostes to

The Spectator

Full text: Liam Fox’s conference speech

There was a time when the terms ‘Britain’ and ‘trade’ would have been almost synonymous. For over two centuries we were the trading nation. From the intellectual pioneers such as Adam Smith, whose book ‘the Wealth of Nations’ made the case for free trade, to the Royal Navy’s patrol of the world’s trade routes to the might and resilience of the British Merchant Navy, this country was at the forefront of a free and open trading world. And this party also played its part. When Sir Robert Peel fought against the vested interests of the day to repeal the corn laws and prevent the exploitation of the poor, he set

Steerpike Steerpike

Gender equality low on the agenda in the Johnson household

Spare a thought for Rachel Johnson. After the Mail on Sunday columnist was invited to speak on gender equality at this year’s Tory conference as part of a Bright Blue debate, she thought that with her brothers — Boris and Jo — and father Stanley in town, it wasn’t entirely out of question that one would come and watch her. Alas it wasn’t to be. Speaking at the event, Johnson revealed that her father had declined an offer after discovering the subject of the talk was gender equality: ‘My father is here and two of my brothers are here and my father rung me about an hour ago and he said “cup