Politics Archives

Wednesday

12 Oct 2016

Jeremy Corbyn changes tactics at PMQs – but he still lacks any killer instinct

Corbs is back. And he’s getting his act together. He showed up at PMQs looking estate-agent smart. White shirt, natty blue suit, a red tie mounting, nearly, to its correct position at the throat. His second landslide victory has suffused him with calmness and authority. As he boasted to Mrs May, his position as leader was confirmed by 300,000 members of his party. ‘More than her,’ he needled. The Labour leader is changing his tactics. He’s ditched his habit of using PMQs to pass on gripes from a mysterious Customer Complaints Desk at Labour HQ. This politically suspicious and psychologically whiney ploy was never likely to prosper. It painted Corbyn

Steerpike

Watch: John Bercow slaps down SNP MP for unstatesman-like behaviour

Since the — fast depleting — SNP 56 descended on Parliament last year, there have been a number of incidents — from clapping in the Chamber to trespassing through the Chancellor’s office — that suggest the majority are not taking to Westminster etiquette like ducks to water. However, could it be one of the SNP’s longest standing MPs who has the most to learn? Today Angus MacNeil — the MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar since 2005 — was taken to task in the chamber by the speaker over his unstatesman-like behaviour. Bercow accused MacNeil of chewing gum while contributing to the Brexit debate: ‘Mr MacNeil, you are an exceptionally boisterous fellow and in the

Steerpike

Labour: why not protest outside the American embassy?

Well that didn’t last long. Just minutes after Jeremy Corbyn completed a fairly successful turn at PMQs, his spokesman plunged Labour into another row over Russia’s behaviour in Syria. Following the Foreign Secretary’s call for the public to protest outside the Russian embassy, Corbyn’s spokesman thinks they might as well head to the American embassy while they’re at it: Jeremy Corbyn's spokesman tells us there is as much reason to protest outside the American embassy, as the Russian, over Syria attacks. — Heather Stewart (@GuardianHeather) October 12, 2016 Labour: "People are free to protest outside all the intervening powers' embassies." — Steve Hawkes (@steve_hawkes) October 12, 2016 Looks like Jeremy

James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn gives Theresa May a tougher time at PMQs

PMQs isn’t the total walk over it once was. Jeremy Corbyn has improved, albeit from a low base, and Theresa May hasn’t yet developed the mastery of the chamber that David Cameron had. Today, Corbyn led on the whole confusion over whether or not businesses would have to list their foreign workers. But May was fairly comfortable on her old Home Office turf. Corbyn then moved to Brexit, using May’s pre-referendum warnings about leaving the single market against her. May, however, had a decent line about a second referendum, saying that Labour MPs should know that you can ask the question again and still get the answer you don’t want.

Steerpike

Stop the War stay away from the Russian embassy – ‘we won’t contribute to the jingoism and hysteria’

Although little was agreed upon in yesterday’s debate on Aleppo with regards to a no-fly zone, one thing the Foreign Secretary did suggest was that the public stage mass protests outside the Russian embassy. What’s more, Boris Johnson queried just why the Stop the War coalition had failed to do this as of yet. So, why has the anti-war group — formerly chaired by Jeremy Corbyn — refrained from getting out on the streets to protest Russia’s actions in Syria? Well, because they are not the West — obviously. Although the group — which one compared Assad to Churchill, and defended Russia’s invasion of Georgia — were very active in opposing Britain’s plans for air

Steerpike

Breaking: Jeremy Corbyn wins over a Tory voter

Mr S has an apology to make. On Monday, Steerpike suggested that the news that Paul Weller — a man who wanted to vote for Russell Brand in the last general election — had endorsed Jeremy Corbyn wasn’t such a coup given that Labour need to convince Tory voters of his electability in order to have any chance of gaining power. However, it has now come to Mr S’s attention that the rocker is actually a former Tory. During Weller’s time in The Jam, the singer provoked controversy when he said the band supported the Conservatives: ‘I don’t see any point in going against your own country. All this “change the world” thing is

Tom Goodenough

Labour asks the Government 170 questions about Brexit. But has no answer on migration

Labour wants to ask the Government 170 questions about its plan for Brexit. Yet when it comes to answering questions themselves, it seems the party is much less willing to give an answer. Emily Thornberry, in her new guise as shadow foreign secretary, was quizzed on how Labour would handle migration from the EU after Brexit on the Today show just now. And in typical fashion, she did her best to dodge the question. Here’s what she said: ‘Our position is that we need to be open to the idea of reasonably managed migration. And we need to have it as part of a larger negotiation but we are open to

Tuesday

11 Oct 2016

Katy Balls

Aleppo, what can be done?

There was a sombre mood in the chamber this afternoon as MPs gathered to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Aleppo. After Russian planes dropped bombs that destroyed a UN aid convoy, Andrew Mitchell called for the Commons debate — drawing parallels between Russia’s disregard for international law today and the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy in the 1930s. Supporting Mitchell’s call for a no-fly zone, Labour’s Alison McGovern gave an emotional speech as she urged the government to do so ‘if it can be shown to be an effective way to protect civilians’. Referring to her late friend Jo Cox, McGovern — the co-chair of the friends of Syria group —

Katy Balls

The three Europhiles take on the three Brexiteers

Today it was a case of the ghosts of governments past as George Osborne, Michael Heseltine and Vince Cable were hauled before the Commons Business Committee to discuss the UK’s industrial strategy. What followed was a bit of a love-in as Heseltine commended Osborne for his time in the Cabinet – praising Cameron’s government for working on industrial strategy ‘on a bigger scale than any previous government’. Less popular during the session were the Brexit bunch. Heseltine mocked May’s three Brexiteers – Liam Fox, Boris Johnson and David Davis. When asked by Richard Fuller how important it was for Britain to secure free trade agreements, he jokingly replied that he

Tom Goodenough

The Treasury’s ‘Hard Brexit’ warning shows Project Fear isn’t over yet

Can someone please tell HM Treasury that the referendum is over? During that campaign, it made history by producing a claim that Brexit would make people £4,300 worse off per household. It was nonsense, debunked here at the time. It was not just a porkie, but a historic porkie: polls showed just 17 per cent believed this figure, around the same number that think Elvis is still alive. Even Sir Will Straw, head of the Remain campaign, admitted later that his case was actually damaged by this ridiculous campaign. The Treasury ought to be holding an inquiry into how such a wilfully misleading figure was eve produced by the civil service,

Ed West

It’s absurd to compare Amber Rudd’s immigration speech to Mein Kampf

The Tories want to turn us against migrants by dividing people between ‘us’ and ‘them’; well, let me tell you about another bunch of guys who believed in ‘us’ and ‘them’ – the Nazis. Radio presenter James O’Brien made near enough this exact parallel when he quoted from Mein Kampf to show the eerie similarities between Amber Rudd’s speech and the former German chancellor’s words. Of course, Mr O’Brien didn’t need to quote Hitler. He could have cited the former Labour leader, Ed Miliband, who had the same idea; he might be a less famous figure, but he’s marginally more relevant to British politics in 2016. Or instead of reminding

Monday

10 Oct 2016

Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn in the firing line over Russia at PLP meeting

Although Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman described tonight’s meeting of the PLP as barely registering on the Richter scale in terms of hostility, it could hardly be described as an hour of sweetness and light. While the meeting appeared to get off to a good start with loud cheers that could be heard from the corridor, it later transpired that the applause was for Rosie Winterton — the chief whip Corbyn sacked — rather than the Labour leader himself. When Corbyn praised Winterton for her work in the role over the past six years, he was heckled by MPs who questioned why he had fired Winterton if he really thought so much

James Forsyth

David Davis, parliamentary poacher turned executive gamekeeper

David Davis batted away demands for parliament to be given a vote on the timing of Article 50 or the government’s negotiating stance. Whenever his opponents—who included Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg—brought up how Davis himself had previously said there should be a white paper on the government’s negotiating stance, Davis side-stepped the issue. He also claimed that his views on how the executive should be accountable to parliament hadn’t changed, but that there was a difference between scrutiny and micro-managing. What the government wanted out of the Brexit talks, said Davis, was control of the UK’s borders and laws, co-operation on justice and security matters that is at least

Douglas Murray

Why are some trying to turn life into one big hate-crime?

After voting for Brexit earlier this year did you come over all homophobic? I mean after you did all the obvious stuff like beat up a few ethnic minorities and burn a Torah. A piece in the Guardian at the weekend explains that ‘Homophobic attacks in UK rose 147 per cent in three months after Brexit vote.’ It claims that this shows how ‘toxicity fostered by the EU referendum debate spread beyond race and religion, new figures suggest’. None of which makes any sense. Who would decide, after voting Brexit, to attack the gays? I suppose it is possible that some people thought Ian McKellen spoke for all of us (as he himself

Steerpike

Corbyn’s latest cheerleader wanted to vote for Russell Brand in general election

With the latest ICM poll putting the Tories on a 17-point lead over Labour, it seems as though Jeremy Corbyn’s beleaguered party are in a bit of a jam. But fret not — they have a plan. Today Momentum have released details of its new initiative ‘Concerts for Corbyn’. The plan is to inspire the nation to vote for Labour with music. What’s more Paul Weller will play at the first of these concerts. Explaining his decision, the rocker said he agreed to perform as he likes ‘what Corbyn says and stands for’. So, is this a sign of the swing voter finally being wooed back by Labour? Alas not. It turns out

Katy Balls

Tories open 17-point lead over Labour, in post-conference poll

Today’s ICM poll makes grim reading for Labour MPs. The poll – based on samples taken from Friday to Sunday – shows that the Conservatives have received an impressive post-conference bounce, opening a 17-point lead over Labour: Conservatives: 43pc (up 2) Labour: 26pc (down 2) Ukip: 11pc (down 2) Lib Dems: 8pc (down 1) Greens: 6pc (up 2) To put things into perspective, if this lead were to play out in an election — on old boundary rules — the Conservatives’ majority could be boosted to 114 seats. The 17-point lead is the joint second highest ever recorded for the Conservatives by ICM — which has been polling since 1992 — only being

Melanie McDonagh

Shami Chakrabarti isn’t alone in her selective stance on schooling

The only thing to be said for Shami Chakrabarti’s stance on selective education – she’s against the reintroduction of grammar schools because it’s tantamount to ‘segregation in schooling’ but her own son is going to Dulwich College – is that she’s not alone. Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary, sent two children way outside her constituency to a selective school; Harriet Harman ditto; Diane Abbott’s son went to private school. Yet they’re all against grammars. Frankly it would take less time to point out the Labour bigwig who isn’t hypocritical on this one, viz, Jeremy Corbyn, whose first marriage is said to have foundered, inter alia, on the grammar school question,

Sean Thomas

Why Brexit is just like having a baby

Since that moment in the early hours of June 24 when David Dimbleby said ‘The answer is: we’re out’, Brexit has been compared to many things. The Reformation. The Corn Laws. Weimar’s collapse into Nazism. Prohibition. The French, Russian and American Revolutions. But I think I’ve got a better comparison: first-time parenting. Scrolling through Twitter, reading about Brexit (as an anxious, just-about-Leave voter), I noticed my moods were rapidly cycling: from glee to gloom, from Bremorse to Brextasy, about every fifteen minutes. Indeed, there’s only been one other time in my life when I’ve been similarly prone to dramatic mood swings, and that’s when I was about to become a

Helen Nugent

RBS, Brexit, Pensions and Inheritance Tax

Royal Bank of Scotland secretly tried to profit from struggling businesses, leaked documents show. The bank bought up assets cheaply from failing businesses it claimed to be helping, the confidential files reveal. Staff could boost their bonuses by finding firms which could be squeezed in what it called a ‘dash for cash’. RBS said it had let some small business customers down in the past but denied it deliberately caused them to fail. The cache of documents, passed by a whistleblower to BuzzFeed News and BBC Newsnight, support controversial allegations in a report three years ago by the Government’s then entrepreneur in residence Lawrence Tomlinson. Brexit The leader of Britain’s biggest

Tom Goodenough

Should we be nice to foreigners? The new Brexit vs Remain divide

Amber Rudd’s proposal to make companies publish lists of how many foreign workers they employ inflicted significant damage to one of Theresa May’s oldest aims: to shake off the Tories’ ‘nasty party’ image. And it also drew expressions of disgust from across the board, with Steve Hilton – David Cameron’s former aide – saying it amounted to ‘shaming’ of foreign workers. Grant Shapps said he would not vote for it. To the many Conservatives who spent years trying to reset the Tories’ image, last week’s conference was an awful setback. This was made worse because Rudd’s proposal wasn’t even in her speech, but in the footnotes. It suggests that May’s