Politics Archives

Thursday

6 Oct 2016

I want my Brexit good and strong

What you really should have done if you were in Birmingham on Monday this week was skip the not notably riveting Philip Hammond speech, and head instead for the fringe event run by the Bruges Group starring me, Professor David Myddelton and Charles Moore. I can’t speak for my performance (modesty forbids me) but my fellow panellists were brilliant: funny, incisive and as optimistic as you’d expect of a pair of ardent Brexiteers addressing the victorious home crowd for probably the first time since that happy day in June. ‘Which of us here could ever have imagined that we’re actually part of the majority: the 52 per cent?’ I asked.

William Cook

Who comes after Merkel?

A year from now, 60 million Germans go to the polls in the most important general election in mainland Europe for a generation. The result will define German — and European — politics for the next four years. There are huge questions to be resolved, from the refugee crisis to the financial crisis, but right now the question in Germany is: will Mutti run again? Angela Merkel’s nickname, Mutti (Mummy) is a memento of happier times. A year ago, her position as matriarch of the Bundesrepublik seemed unassailable. And then, last September, she opened Germany’s borders to hundreds of thousands of fleeing Syrians. Over a million refugees arrived last year.

Wednesday

5 Oct 2016

James Forsyth

Theresa May’s ‘carpe Brexit’ speech

Theresa May’s speech was an attempt to seize the moment created by Brexit and Labour’s lurch to the left. She tried to set out a new centre-ground politics, promising to stand up to elites on behalf of ordinary people. She attempted to nationalise Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister who presided over the creation of the NHS, hailing him as one of her inspirations and promised government intervention to fix the housing, energy and broadband markets. In political terms, the speech was clever. There are an awful lot of voters who will nod along with her criticism of a ‘sneering’ elite who view themselves as ‘global citizens’ and her demands

Steerpike

Chipping Norton set cut out of May’s speech

It’s not been a great conference for the Cameroons. After George Osborne and Michael Gove decided to give the event a miss, Nicky Morgan was left alone to face the flak as the whips kept a close eye on her at fringe events. Now it seems the Chipping Norton set has, too, been left in the cold by the new regime. Once the place of power with David Cameron, Jeremy Clarkson, Matthew Freud and Rebekah Brooks all residents, the village has been cut out of Theresa May’s government’s plans. Just as the Prime Minister’s speech kicked off in the conference hall in Birmingham and was aired across the country, a power cut

Tom Goodenough

Coffee House Shots: The verdict on Theresa May’s conference speech

Theresa May has brought the curtain down on this year’s Tory party conference with a speech in which she made a snatch for the centre ground. The Prime Minister pledged to stick up for the working class and went on the attack against the ‘sneering elite’, who May said looked down on others. But how successful was her speech? And did it tell us anything more about May? On the Spectator’s Coffee House Shots podcast, James Forsyth says: I think she is keener on the state than most Conservatives are. I think there was a lot of aim taken at the liberal elite. There was a lot of vicar’s daughter

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

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

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

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

4 Oct 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

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