Politics

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

Tuesday

Hamish Macdonell

Who won in the fiscal framework battle?

It wasn’t quite David Cameron and his down-to-the-wire talks with the EU leaders, but it’s as close as we get in Scotland. For the last eight months, the Scottish and UK governments have been trying to secure agreement over the financial settlement which will underpin the new tranche of powers to come to Holyrood – the so-called ‘fiscal framework’. After weeks of torpor and inaction suddenly, this afternoon, we got a breakthrough. Nicola Sturgeon announced the deal to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, confirming that everything had come down to one crucial, central point. The Scottish Government favoured one model to work out Scotland’s funding from the Treasury for the future and the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Undecided Tory MPs feel the pressure over EU referendum

The number of Tory MPs who have yet to declare what their stance is in the EU referendum is dwindling. Some of those are away, including Tracey Crouch, who is on maternity leave and gave this very amusing response to those asking about her priorities, while others have decided not to reveal which way they will vote because they are holding public meetings between now and the vote, and want to stay neutral so that they can chair those. But some are either torn, or just trying to work out the best way of announcing their intentions. And for those MPs, the pressure is becoming rather more intense. Many were

Douglas Murray

Does Ken Livingstone really get his advice on Islamic theology from The Sun?

As some light relief from all this EU discussion, I thought readers might like to hear about Isis. Or at least what to do about Isis. The week before last I teamed up in London with General John Allen to argue that Western boots may be needed on the ground in Syria and Iraq to destroy Isis. We were opposed in the Intelligence Squared debate by Ken Livingstone and the journalist Rula Jebreal. A video of the event went out over the weekend on BBC World and is now available to view here. I should add a note to say that in order to fit the schedules the BBC edit has

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Philip Davies and David Cameron’s ‘loving hug’

Bernard Hogan-Howe was up in front of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee today where Keith Vaz did his best to soften up the Met Police commissioner at the start of the hearing by asking him for his views on the EU referendum. But Hogan-Howe said he wasn’t getting involved: Whilst on the subject of Lord Bramall and Lord Brittan, Hogan-Howe resolutely maintained his position. He told MPs that the apology he gave to Lady Brittan ‘was certainly a full apology’ for not having told her early enough that her husband was not being prosecuted: On the subject of the EU, David Cameron said he was ‘great friends’ with Boris

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour faces two Trident spats

Labour’s angst over Trident has taken something of a back seat over the past few days as the party tries – relatively unsuccessfully – to revel in the split opening up in the Tories on Europe. But this evening, those tasked with developing Labour’s foreign policy, and particularly its stance on the nuclear deterrent, are holding a two-hour meeting on security and defence. This is a meeting of the International Policy Commission, which includes Hilary Benn, Emily Thornberry, Diane Abbott and Pat Glass from Labour’s frontbench, and members of the National Executive Committee including Ken Livingstone. Corbyn yesterday afternoon attacked David Cameron for ‘trying to appease—or failing to appease’ half

Steerpike Steerpike

Ed Miliband meets Team Corbyn

Ed Miliband has been keeping a low profile since stepping down as Labour leader, but could he now be angling for a return to frontline politics? Miliband was spotted engrossed in conversation this lunchtime with Team Corbyn. A beady-eyed spectator snapped a photo of Ed having a coffee with Seumas Milne — Corbyn’s director of comms — and Kevin Slocombe — head of Leader’s media — in Portcullis House. Can you get me a meeting with @jeremycorbyn please @SeumasMilne? pic.twitter.com/JA2I6YuKD4 — Eye Spy MP (@eyespymp) February 23, 2016 Watch this space…

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

The BBC isn’t much help for navigating through the Tory EU wars

Trying to navigate your way through the internecine wars in the Conservative Party over the referendum? Please allow the BBC’s Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg to help. This was her intro on the BBC website yesterday: Silence abhors a vacuum, and forgive me if you are not a fan of political conspiracy, and on a day like today you don’t have to look very far for huge ideological disputes, even if they’re not quite yet punch-ups. Good, glad that’s clear, then. A sentence which is a string of non-sequiturs kicked off with a remarkable image. Does silence abhor a vacuum? I suppose it might abhor a vacuum cleaner, because they can

Steerpike Steerpike

Breaking: David Icke backs Brexit

Although the Out campaign has gained momentum since Michael Gove and Boris Johnson backed Brexit, there are still concerns that the campaign is yet to find a leader. However, could their prayers be about to be answered? Step forward David Icke. Yes, the Corbyn-loving purple-tracksuit-wearing-lizard-conspiracist has plumped for Out, with a series of eye-catching pieces of clip art: June 23 – NO to EU dark suits running your life (and they have hardly begun if we stay in): https://t.co/1KQCrXfyzj pic.twitter.com/aLOf6GUb11 — David Icke (@davidicke) February 21, 2016 Key figures choose sides as Cameron sets EU referendum date: https://t.co/bLNdP1bdn9 pic.twitter.com/F3CLVvAEVS — David Icke (@davidicke) February 21, 2016 The So-called German-Turkish Secret Pact

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Ukip activist sings for Brexit

Forget Boris Johnson or Michael Gove, it could be a former Ukip candidate that convinces the nation to vote for Brexit. Mandy Boylett — the party’s former candidate for Stockton North — has recorded a parody version of Three Lions — titled ‘Britain’s Coming Home’: ‘We’re coming out, we’re voting leave Believe in Britain coming home Scare stories already begun We’ve seen it all before From Lib/Lab and Cameron But we know the EU’s full of flaws And they’ve opened our doors, overruled many laws But we believe our flag’s red, white and blue More than just a star Only wanted trade, but now it’s gone too far They want prisoners to

Ed West Ed West

Why are so few big business leaders for remain?

How come so few big business leaders signed up to David Cameron’s letter in favour of remain? As the Daily Mail reported this morning: High street shops including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Next and banks such as Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland did not put their names to the letter published today. It had been suggested that bosses of 80 of the FTSE 100 firms would sign the pro-Brussels letter, but in fact only 36 have done so. One would have thought big business leaders to be largely in favour of staying, since membership suits big best; it is not just that they are most likely to be involved in exports,

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Bromley has spoken: South London council backs Brexit – but why?

First, it was Michael Gove. Next, it was Boris Johnson. Now, a slightly smaller political beast in the form of Bromley council has come out and backed Brexit. The South London council voted last night to say it believed Britain was better off out of Europe. It passed a motion saying: This council agrees that the negative impacts that the European Union has upon the efficiency and costs of Bromley Council activities mean Bromley Council would be better off if Britain was out of the European Union Bromley isn’t the first council to back Brexit, with Havering having done the same at the end of January. But what’s different about Bromley

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tories are approaching the referendum in the wrong way

David Cameron’s rather pointed digs at Boris Johnson in the Commons yesterday surprised his own MPs, who had thought that they were going to be ordered to be pleasant to one another, not attack senior colleagues who had taken different stances on the European Union. At the party meeting with the Prime Minister last night, MPs including Steve Baker asked Cameron to ‘be nice to Boris’, not because they are particularly worried about the Mayor’s spirit being crushed but because there is some dismay in the party that the referendum debate is already getting so personal. One Outer who likes Cameron observes sadly that ‘he was silly letting his temper

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson cheer up Labour MPs

Jeremy Corbyn was still stuck in the Commons chamber when the Labour Party held its weekly meeting this evening. He had been due to attend after MPs had complained that he was avoiding them, but this has now been moved to another week. Instead, Hilary Benn and Alan Johnson gave brief speeches on the EU referendum that left some centrist Labourites in an unusual state of joy. Both performances were described as ‘sparkling’ by those inside the meeting, with one saying it made them ‘proud to be Labour’, a phrase you don’t hear that often. The proud Labour MP continued: ‘We were at our best tonight – all about the

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

A selfish politician like Boris is better than one who believes he is guided by destiny

Poor Boris. Subjected to both the BBC PM programme’s satire and an evisceration by Nick Cohen right here. I just hope that, in time, he will be able to overcome both of these slights. If Boris was at fault it was in perhaps pretending to have an open mind on the issue of in-out. I have never known him to be anything other than viscerally, and cerebrally, antagonistic to Brussels and the EU. Perhaps he was waiting, like me, to see if Cameron really could bring something off. Something spectacular. It never seemed terribly likely, did it? But it was at least polite to wait. My own view is that

Toby Young Toby Young

Boris Johnson: A mixture of principle and opportunism, just like every politician

Boris Johnson is a slippery fish, but I don’t think Nick Cohen quite captures him in his blog post earlier today. To accuse him of putting career before country in the EU referendum campaign, as Cohen does, is to fall into the trap of viewing politicians too dichotomously, as if they’re all either men and women of conviction or unprincipled opportunists. Boris, like every front rank politician, is a mixture of conviction and careerism, rather than one or the other. Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher are both cases in point. Exhibit A in the case for the prosecution is Boris’s decision to join the Leave campaign. Like many divisive political issues,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Cameron takes aim at Boris in pointed Commons statement

The main difference between David Cameron’s statement to MPs on his EU deal and the two statements he has already given on the matter was that this one had added digs at Boris Johnson. Quite a few of them, in fact. The Prime Minister is clearly furious with the Mayor of London for his weekend announcement that he will be campaigning to leave, and inserted a number of extremely pointed lines into his feedback to the Commons that showed what he thought of Johnson’s decision. He ruled out the suggestion – one made by Boris himself – that voting Leave now would teach Europe a lesson and enable a better renegotiation

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP heckles Jeremy Corbyn: ‘who are you?’

Although the Conservative party is currently divided over the EU, some Tory MPs are still managing to remember to attack the opposition party — rather than their colleagues. Today the Commons returned firmly to ‘Punch and Judy’ politics following Cameron’s EU statement in the Commons. As Jeremy Corbyn gave his reply, Chris Pincher — the MP for Tamworth — couldn’t resist having the last laugh. The incident occurred as the Labour leader discussed his recent trip to Brussels: Jeremy Corbyn: Last week — like him — I was in Brussels, meeting with heads of government and leaders of European socialist parties, one of whom said to me… Chris Pincher: Who are you? While Corbyn insists this is

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: George Galloway clashes with Jo Coburn on Daily Politics

Over the weekend a number of Brexit activists walked out of an anti-EU Grassroots Out rally after George Galloway was revealed as the guest speaker. Although the Respect party leader was introduced by his new chum Nigel Farage at the event, even Ukip supporters voiced opposition to his involvement. So when Galloway appeared on today’s Daily Politics, it wasn’t out of the question that the presenter Jo Coburn might bring up the incident. Alas her attempt to ask him about whether his involvement could prove to a divisive issue fell flat, as Galloway took issue with her line of questioning. An excruciating exchange between the two followed: JC: But are you worried that you

Steerpike Steerpike

Parliament mystery: late night break-in at journalists’ bar

This weekend saw a host of EU drama unfold, as a number of Cabinet Ministers rebelled against David Cameron on Saturday — declaring that they would campaign for Brexit. Then came another blow to Number 10 on Sunday as Boris Johnson announced that he, too, would be supporting Out. So, did it all get a bit too much for one Parliamentary worker? Word reaches Steerpike that Moncrieff’s — the Parliamentary press bar — was subject to a break-in last night. It’s thought that someone broke-in in the search for a drink… or five. Police have cordoned off the area: The word in the corridors of power is that wine was the thief’s tipple of choice.

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Boris Johnson: Everything about you is phoney

Rather rashly, Boris Johnson published The Churchill factor: How one man made history last year. It was without historical merit, or intellectual insight, but Johnson did not intend readers to learn about Churchill. The biography was not a Churchill biography but a Johnson campaign biography, where we were invited to see our  hero as Winston redux. Both ignored party discipline and conventional routes of advancement, after all. Both were great company. Churchill stayed in the wilderness for years making a fortune from journalism, and so has Johnson. Churchill was a man of principle and so is… Hold on. That doesn’t work. It doesn’t work at all. For when we talk