Politics

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

Thursday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn’s Israel comments prompt a fresh outbreak of Labour civil war

On a day when the Conservative party leadership has been thrown into disarray, there ought to be an opportunity for Labour to turn the Tory chaos to their advantage. Instead, today is shaping up to be one of Corbyn’s most catastrophic days as leader yet. At today’s anti-Semitism inquiry press conference, Corbyn managed to throw the party into another anti-Semitism row after he appeared to compare Israel to Isis: ‘Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organisations’ His team have since taken steps to downplay any such interpretation — explaining that he was

Anthony Horowitz

I always defended Michael Gove. Then I met him | 30 June 2016

This piece first appeared in The Spectator on 15 March 2014.  A few weeks ago, I was a guest at a huge tea party for children’s authors, publishers and commentators at the South Bank, but the atmosphere, over the cupcakes and finger sandwiches, was decidedly frosty. There were three keynote speakers and their speeches all targeted a man so vile and destructive that the audience visibly recoiled every time his name was mentioned. He was, of course, Michael Gove — and I wasn’t sure I should tell anyone that I had always rather admired him and, moreover, was about to interview him for this magazine. It might be better to keep

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why did Michael Gove suddenly withdraw his support from Boris Johnson?

So, what happened? As late as yesterday afternoon, Michael Gove was trying to persuade fellow Cabinet Ministers to back Boris Johnson. This morning, he announced that not only that he was running but that ‘Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead’. Hours later, Boris – reeling from this blow – announced that he would not be running. Well, one aspect of all this appears to be Gove’s frustration with the way Boris operated. The referendum campaign had led Gove to revise his opinion of Boris, to see him as someone who could be a good Prime Minister. But Gove backers say that, when removed

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: Team Gove explains why he dropped Boris

Michael Gove’s newly-formed campaign team have been ringing around shocked Tory MPs in the past couple of hours to explain why the Justice Secretary pulled out of running Boris Johnson’s Tory leadership campaign to launch his own bid, I understand. Dominic Raab, who had also been signed up to the Boris campaign, has been telling colleagues that Boris had proved to be flaky, and that he had not been offering key jobs to figures such as Andrea Leadsom when he had been supposed to – hence Leadsom’s own declaration this morning. They were also disappointed with the quality of people around Boris – a comment that has infuriated other Tory

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

This must be what happens when you put journalists in charge

Are we learning, rather painfully, what happens when you let journalists take over? Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are political hacks, by instinct and experience, so perhaps it is not surprising that Brexit is starting to look and feel like a post-modern sequel to the novel Scoop.  Deadlines, panic, laziness, brilliance, incompetence, disaster, highs, lows, sheer bloody madness — this is the new politics. Triumph snatched from the jaws of disaster, and then days later the reverse. It makes for great copy, and is (go on, you can admit it) very funny. But is it any way to run a country? What sort of professional other than a journalist would pull off a great political coup, put himself on the

Steerpike Steerpike

Is Michael Gove the Brutus to Boris Johnson’s Caesar?

Boris Johnson managed to surprise commentariats and colleagues alike today when he used his supposed leadership launch to announce that he was actually bowing out of the race. Johnson’s allies feel that he was forced into the decision after his fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove announced just an hour earlier that he would stand in his own right. With Johnson believing that Gove was helping rally support for his leadership bid, this has been viewed by many as the ultimate betrayal. Although the former Mayor of London is yet to directly comment on his one-time friend’s betrayal, was there in fact an oblique reference to it in his speech? There was one line in particular that spiked Mr S’s attention: ‘A

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The official candidates to be Tory leader and their pitches to the party

The 1922 Committee has announced the final line-up in the Tory leadership race, after an extremely dramatic morning. The official contenders are as follows: Stephen Crabb Liam Fox Michael Gove Andrea Leadsom Theresa May Conservative contest rules mean that MPs only need two nominees at this stage, and there will be tectonic shifts taking place in the party as supporters of Boris Johnson move, either to Michael Gove or other candidates. It is fair to say after talking to a number of Boris supporters that some of them are currently so white hot with fury at what Gove has done in turning on his colleague at the last minute that

Geoffrey Alderman

Why Jeremy Corbyn is absolutely right not to resign as Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn is absolutely right not to resign as Leader of the Labour Party. Those calling for his resignation – including those members of the Parliamentary Labour Party who supported the vote of no confidence against him – betray an astonishing misunderstanding of what the project called ‘The Labour Party’ is all about. Here’s the history lesson they all need to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. The project now called ‘The Labour Party’ owes its origin to a conference called in London in 1899 to discuss the palpable erosion of trade-union rights as a result of a succession of legal judgments. Out of that conference something called ‘The Labour

The Spectator

Boris Johnson: I will not be the next Tory leader

Boris Johnson has ruled himself out of the Tory leadership race. Here is his full speech: Last week the people of this country voted to take a new path and a new direction for Britain in a decision that I passionately support. And it is vital now to see this moment for what it is. This is not a time to quail, it is not a crisis, nor should we see it as an excuse for wobbling or self doubt. But as a moment for hope and ambition for Britain. A time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson: Next Tory leader ‘cannot be me’

‘My friends, you have waited for the punchline of this speech’ said Boris Johnson after 11 minutes of what sounded very much like a leadership speech. ‘That having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament I have concluded that person cannot be me.’ Theresa May has been slightly ahead of Boris in the surveys of Tory members and voters so far. Now she is the front runner. But it is worth remembering that Gove always receives a rapt reception at party conference and many Conservatives went into mourning when he was moved from the education brief. Gove has also been the key driver in government of the

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn sparks anti-Semitism row… at Labour’s anti-Semitism inquiry press conference

Given that Jeremy Corbyn set-up Labour’s anti-Semitism inquiry to examine the extent of the problem in the party, he will have been hoping that it would help resolve the crisis. In fact, given that Shami Chakrabarti’s inquiry concluded today that the Labour Party is not overrun by anti-Semitism or other forms of racism (though there is an ‘occasionally toxic atmosphere’) you could be forgiven for thinking it’s done exactly that. Alas things haven’t gone quite to plan today thanks to… Jeremy Corbyn. Speaking at the press conference, Corbyn concluded: ‘Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Chaos and fury in Team Boris as support bleeds to Gove

Boris Johnson is about to go ahead with his leadership campaign launch without the man who has pulled so much of it together. MPs entering the event are baffled by this morning’s shock announcement by Michael Gove that he will run for leader himself: he was the man who invited them. Others, such as Dominic Raab, have already announced they have switched to the Gove campaign. Funnily enough, behind the scenes there is utter fury in the Boris camp. One prominent supporter points out that the Justice Secretary repeatedly insisted that he didn’t want the top job. ‘How can anyone believe a word Gove says on anything ever again?’ they

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris Johnson’s water cannon splurge comes back to haunt him

Today Boris Johnson has found himself attacked on all sides with his leadership bid now seen to be over before it even began. With his fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove running against him for leader, Theresa May has used her own leadership launch to pour cold water on BoJo’s ability to lead the country. The most cutting remark came when she was asked about her ability to lead negotiations with countries like Germany. At which point she brought up Boris’s track record on… buying water cannons: ‘I seem to remember the last time he did a deal with the Germans, he came back with three nearly new water cannons.’ Mr S suspects that

Emily Hill Emily Hill

Why Michael Gove is the leader shy Tories need

In February The Spectator’s Emily Hill explained why Michael Gove was the leader the Leave campaign needed – and why he is the right leader for shy Tories. Here’s her article: Lately, people only have to look at me to splurge their deepest, darkest secret. Last May, they did a terrible thing. They voted Tory. Now they’re contemplating greater deviance: voting to leave the EU — if only, they say, the campaign was fronted by someone they could believe in. And who do they want? The answer surprised me. Theresa is no temptation, as it turns out, nor even Boris. No, it’s Michael Gove they fancy. Westminster types might read this and

The Spectator

‘I’m Theresa May and I’m the best person to be Prime Minister’

‘My pitch is very simple, I’m Theresa May and I think I’m the best person to be Prime Minister’, she said. here’s the rest of the speech: I want to start by paying tribute to the Prime Minister. It’s easy to forget how far the Conservative Party and our country have come since David Cameron was first elected leader in 2005. Thanks to David we were elected into government for the first time in 18 years, we won a majority in the House of Commons for the first time in 23 years and in difficult times we stabilised the economy, reduced the deficit and helped more people into work than

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Theresa May launches her Conservative leadership bid

Theresa May has launched her Conservative leadership bid this morning. Her scheduled announcement came just moments after Michael Gove announced that he was also entering the race in a surprise move, having broken ranks with Boris Johnson’s own campaign. In her speech, which you can read in full here, the Home Secretary said: ‘My pitch is very simple. I’m Theresa May and I think I’m the best person to be Prime Minister of this country’ May spoke at length of her reasoning for wanting the top job during her 16-minute speech. On Brexit, she said the country had emerged from a ‘bruising and divisive campaign’. Admitting she called for Britain to ‘Remain’,

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gove goes for it

In the most dramatic development yet in the Tory leadership race, Michael Gove has announced that he is running. As late as last night, Gove was working with Boris Johnson and everyone in the Tory party assumed that the pair were running as a joint ticket. But Gove has now decided to run himself, saying that he ‘wanted to help build a team behind Boris Johnson so that a politician who argued for leaving the European Union could lead us to a better future. But I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.’ One prominent Boris backer

Michael Gove

Michael Gove: why I’m standing for the Tory leadership

The British people voted for change last Thursday. They sent us a clear instruction that they want Britain to leave the European Union and end the supremacy of EU law. They told us to restore democratic control of immigration policy and to spend their money on national priorities such as health, education and science instead of giving it to Brussels. They rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country. There are huge challenges ahead for this country but also huge opportunities. We can make this country stronger and fairer. We have a unique chance to heal divisions, give everyone

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gove running for the Tory leadership

Michael Gove has just released a statement saying that he’s running for the Tory leadership, and not supporting Boris Johnson. Here’s the statement: STATEMENT BY MICHAEL GOVE MP Immediate Release The British people voted for change last Thursday. They sent us a clear instruction that they want Britain to leave the European Union and end the supremacy of EU law. They told us to restore democratic control of immigration policy and to spend their money on national priorities such as health, education and science instead of giving it to Brussels. They rejected politics as usual and government as usual. They want and need a new approach to running this country.

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: The Tory leadership contest turns nasty

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. A week after Britain backed Brexit, politics shows no sign of slowing down. David Cameron has resigned, Michael Gove has pulled out of Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign before launching his own. And Boris has decided not to run in the contest. We now have a final slate of five candidates vying for the top job. In his Spectator cover piece this week, James Forsyth says the Tory party is in a ‘deeply emotional state’. But he also points out that the leadership candidates who