Politics Archives

Wednesday

26 Apr 2017

How to vote to save the Union

When launching the Scottish National Party’s election campaign, Nicola Sturgeon said the word ‘Tory’ 20 times in 20 minutes. For much of her political lifetime, it has been used by the SNP as the dirtiest word in Scottish politics. Nationalists have long liked to portray the Conservatives as the successors to Edward Longshanks: an occupying army with little affinity for the people they were trying to govern. But things are changing fast in Scotland. Amid the other political dramas of the past few months, the revival of Tory support north of the border has gone relatively unnoticed. They had only one MP after the last election, but a poll this

Lloyd Evans

Parliament’s departing greybeards enjoy one final waffle at PMQs

There was astonishment at the start of PMQs as Michael Fabricant’s wig flew up into the air. Fortunately its owner was rising to speak at the same time so no embarrassment was suffered. John Bercow indulged the house in this last session before the election and let MPs give speeches rather than ask questions. The results were mixed. Was it classic Westminster-in-action? Or classic Westminster inaction? The exchanges lasted twice as long as normal and were less than half as informative. Theresa May crammed every sentence with Crosby buzz-phrases. ‘Strong economy’, ‘stable Conservative leadership’ she said about a zillion times. Her remote-controlled backbenchers followed suit. May’s willingness to repeat these

Katy Balls

Tim Farron sacks David Ward – but the damage is already done

When the snap election was called last week, it looked like plain-sailing for the Liberal Democrats. Tim Farron’s party appeared on course for significant gains by simply appealing to the 48pc and talking about Brexit from a Remain perspective. However, a week on and it’s questions of religion that are proving a headache for the party. After Tim Farron attempted to put an end to speculation over how ‘liberal’ his Christian beliefs are (telling the BBC he does not think gay sex is a sin), his party were swiftly plummeted into another media storm when it transpired that David Ward had been selected as the party’s candidate for Bradford East. The former Lib

Charles Moore

Tim Farron is the victim of a witch hunt

Journalists have hunted down Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, about Christian views of homosexuality. Originally, they asked him the wrong question, doctrinally, by inquiring whether he thought ‘homosexuality’ was a sin. This was an easy one for him to repudiate, since an involuntary disposition is not a sin. I forbore to point this out, since I didn’t want to make their persecution of poor Mr Farron any easier, but by the beginning of this week, they had realised their mistake and began pressing him to state whether gay sex was a sin. (The Times covered this with the surprising headline: ‘Farron shrugs off gay sex row to target veteran’s

James Forsyth

Ditching the triple-lock pensions bung is a risk May can afford

PMQs went on for an almost an hour today as John Bercow attempted to get in as many valedictories from retiring MPs as possible. But there were two significant pieces of news made in today’s session. First, in answer to Angus Robertson, Theresa May refused to say that the triple lock would continue if the Tories win this election. This is the clearest indication we have had yet that it won’t be in the manifesto and will, sensibly, be jettisoned after the next election. The Tories are 20-odd points clear and have an even bigger lead among the over 65s, jettisoning this expensive electoral bung is a risk that May

Steerpike

Sadiq Khan’s speech at Sarah Sands’ leaving do – Corbyn’s plans for No 10 and Farron’s big act

Last night, politicians including Boris Johnson, Nick Clegg and Sadiq Khan put their party political differences to one side for the night as they came together to bid Sarah Sands farewell at her Evening Standard leaving do. Speaking at party at The Ned, the Mayor of London paid tribute to Sands for her work as editor at the London paper — and wished her luck in her new role as the editor of the Today programme. However, Khan also couldn’t resist a few digs at his political rivals: ‘Tonight also gives many of us gives us a night off from the general election campaign. It means Tim Farron has a

Tom Goodenough

If Keir Starmer is Labour’s great hope the party really is in trouble

Is Keir Starmer Labour’s great hope? That’s what some longing for the day that Jeremy Corbyn calls it a day have said. The shadow Brexit secretary was centre stage yesterday as he spelled out the party’s plan for leaving the EU. But for those pinning their hopes on Starmer, today’s newspaper editorials make miserable reading. Labour’s plan for Brexit ‘is a joke’, says the Sun, which blasts the shadow Brexit secretary for his ‘waffle and wishful thinking’ yesterday. The paper says that Starmer’s argument that we should return to the negotiating table in Brussels if MPs reject the Brexit deal would give the ‘EU licence to play hardball for years’. Starmer

Tuesday

25 Apr 2017

Steerpike

David Ward stages a comeback

Today Tim Farron attempted to put a stop to questions over his Christianity, as he declared that he does not think gay sex is a sin. However, just a few hours later and the party have been plunged into another row. David Ward has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Bradford East, where he lost his seat at the last election. The former Liberal Democrat MP is an interesting choice given Farron has said he wants his party to be a ‘warm home’ for Jews left alienated by Labour’s anti-semitism scandal. In 2013, Ward was forced to apologise after saying on his website that he was ‘saddened that the Jews,

Steerpike

News from Labour: Corbyn held ‘transition’ talks with Whitehall

Of late, Labour’s press releases haven’t offered much cause for amusement. But today’s was a turn up for the books. With Labour currently predicted a catastrophic defeat come June 8, a spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn emailed to say the Labour leader had met with Sir Jeremy Heywood to discuss the transition to government if Labour wins the General Election: ‘The Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, today met the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to discuss the transition to government if Labour wins the General Election. The meeting, with the support of staff and colleagues, was detailed and productive, and will now be followed by departmental discussions. Jeremy would like to put

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May’s Brexit blunder

Theresa May is playing it safe during this election cycle and doing her best to leave the blunders to Labour. With the likes of Dawn Butler touring the airwaves, it’s a strategy that appears to be working wonders for the Prime Minister. But even a supposedly safe pair of hands like May isn’t immune to making a mistake. On a campaign trip to Wales today, the PM has been attempting to convince voters to back the Tories ahead of the snap general election. She’s also been talking up Britain’s prospects after Brexit. All was going well. Or at least it was until May appeared to suggest that her plan for

Steerpike

Karen Danczuk’s political comeback on shaky ground

The race to be the Labour candidate for Bury North has attracted some unprecedented media attention this week thanks to Karen Danczuk’s announcement that she has her sights set on it. The self-proclaimed ‘selfie’ queen — and former wife of Simon Danczuk — has applied to be Labour’s candidate in the marginal constituency. Announcing her bid, the former Labour councillor said: ‘Politics is changing, you only have to look across Europe and the rest of the world. Parliament needs more common sense and someone who can connect with voters. I really believe I’m a voice of the people.’ Alas not everyone agrees. Candidates in seats where there is no Labour MP, such as Bury

Alex Massie

What’s the point of the SNP?

Well, golly, Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland, says this general election has nothing to do with the arguments for or against Scottish independence. In one sense, this is correct in as much as independence is not the question on the ballot. But in another, deeper, more genuine sense, everyone knows Sturgeon is pulling your leg here. The election is a proxy referendum on the question of whether there should, at some point in the next couple of years, be another independence referendum. Everyone in Scotland, including SNP supporters, knows this. Even so, as the Tories have noted, this is a familiar SNP argument. In

Nick Hilton

Labour’s decimation would be a disaster for Britain

Today’s polls suggest that Theresa May could be on track to secure a Commons majority of 150, reversing – in just 20 years – the landslide that was inflicted on the Tories in 1997. These figures, from the Daily Telegraph, reveal no fresh agony for Labour: already the worst case scenario being floated in Labour circles would involve a catastrophic loss of about 100 MPs. This is an apocalyptic vision, mainly propagated by centre-leaning folk who have seen their influence wane over the past two years, and is something of a long-shot (the bookies currently favour a Labour seat band of 150-199, but only price 100-149 at 5/2). But let’s say

Tom Goodenough

Labour’s Brexit plan was doomed before Keir Starmer even opened his mouth

Brexit comes in all shapes and sizes: hard, soft, clean. Today, Labour added a new type: a ‘reckless Tory Brexit’. That’s what Keir Starmer accused the Government of trying to drive through as he detailed Labour’s plan for waving goodbye to the EU. The main purpose of Starmer’s tour of the airwaves was to clear some of the mud out of the water of Labour’s Brexit tonic. To be fair to Starmer, he did manage to offer some clarity: there would be no second referendum under Labour, which puts helpful space between the party and the Lib Dems who have promised voters a second say. Staying in the single market

Ross Clark

Macron’s marriage shows how different Britain and France really are

If Emmanuel Macron were British, would he be a Tory, Lib Dem or a Blairite? Or would he be blubbing into a handkerchief in a TV studio calling himself a ‘survivor’ of seduction by his teacher while his wife was banned from the teaching profession, if not put through the mill by investigators from Operation Yewtree? If anyone doubts the gulf in societal attitudes between Britain and France, the relationship between Macron and his wife Brigitte Trogneux provides a rather good illustration. While there is no suggestion they had sex while he was a minor, enough is known about the couple to know how the nature of their meeting would

James Forsyth

What does Emmanuel Macron mean for Brexit?

It was a badly kept secret in Westminster that very senior figures in the UK government wanted Francois Fillon to win the French presidential election. He was regarded as being the best candidate for Britain, and the one most likely to be pragmatic on Brexit. But with Fillon out, attention switches to Macron—the overwhelming favourite. Macron is emotionally and ideologically pro-EU. He has been clear that he doesn’t want a sweetheart deal for Britain. On his campaign visit to London, he talked aggressively about luring businesses to France post-Brexit. However, as Oliver Wright points out in a typically insightful piece in the Times this morning, one of Macron’s closest advisers

Steerpike

Momentum activist’s food bank appeal leaves a sour taste

Today Jeremy Corbyn took to social media to promise that a Labour government would mean people on low-income no longer need to rely on food banks. REVEALED TODAY: Number one cause of people using foodbanks is low-income. Labour's real Living Wage of £10/hour will eradicate poverty wages pic.twitter.com/RPQtLtl3hZ — Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 25, 2017 However, when the Labour leader suggested focussing on food banks in the campaign, Mr S is pretty sure he didn’t mean physically targeting them. So, Steerpike was curious to learn that Kate Knight — the Hove Momentum and Hove CLP executive officer — has adopted a novel method for campaigning on behalf of Corbyn. The Momentum activist has

Steerpike

Corbyn wins his first celebrity endorsement of the snap election

In recent months, Corbyn-mania has appeared to be on the wane. From Charlotte Church to Glenda Jackson, former cheerleaders for the Labour leader have gone cold on the one-time left wing messiah. However, Jeremy Corbyn can take heart that he has now received his first celebrity endorsement of the snap election. Step forward Ronnie O’Sullivan. Yes, the champion snooker player says he has joined the Labour party in a bid to help Corbyn become prime minister — asking others to do the same: Let’s hope for Corbyn’s sake that O’Sullivan’s endorsement lends him more luck than it did Ed Miliband back in 2015…

Fraser Nelson

The Tories don’t need Zac back in Richmond. They need Luke Parker

Are the Conservatives sharp enough to be able to beat the Liberal Democrats in battleground Remain-voting seats? We hear today that they might put forward Zac Goldsmith as their candidate for Richmond Park – the same Zac Goldsmith who quit the party in protest at the Heathrow decision, then triggered a by-election and ran as an independent. But he lost to a Lib Dem. So now he has decided to rejoin the party and run again – and oddly, they’ve let him. He’s in the final three. To select him would be a huge tactical own goal for the Tories: as Neil Kinnock found out, when voters turn something down, they don’t like to be

Monday

24 Apr 2017

Nick Boles

Why Matthew Parris is wrong about a Tory lurch to the right

Exaggeration is the political pundits’ stock in trade: nobody built a loyal readership on equivocation. But Matthew Parris’ recent commentary about the Conservative Party’s direction under Theresa May borders on the hysterical. A few weeks ago he used his Times column to hyperventilate about a Conservative Party ‘paralysed in the headlights of a dangerous surge of reckless populism and in thrall to its own right wing’. Last Saturday, he returned to the theme and wrote of a ‘deep, deep shift under way in our party…leaving anyone once attracted to the strong strand of tolerance and moderation we found powerful in the Conservative tradition feeling cowed, discouraged’. You would have thought