Politics

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

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Who will join Mark Pritchard in the reluctant Inners club?

Tory MPs have been buzzing today about Mark Pritchard’s announcement that he would be supporting the campaign for Britain to remain in the European Union. The well-known eurosceptic MP wrote a significant piece for the Sunday Times yesterday setting out his reasons for becoming a reluctant Inner, which include the risk of weakening Nato, and an end to ‘Britain’s political and diplomatic counterbalance to France and Germany’s strategic clumsiness’. What’s interesting about Pritchard’s intervention is that he had actually made up his mind on the matter in March 2015, and had told his staff and Downing Street that he would be backing the Remain campaign then. Most of his colleagues

Steerpike Steerpike

A warning flag on David Cameron’s Brussels negotiations

In the past week, David Cameron has held a number of last-minute talks with EU counterparts in the hope of agreeing a deal that can be put to EU leaders ahead of a summit on 18 February. This included a visit to Brussels on Friday to hold renegotiation talks with EP president Martin Schulz. Alas a flag gaffe on the part of workers at the European Parliament may have led to distress all round. Word reaches Steerpike that on the day of Cameron’s visit, the Union flag outside Parliament was hung upside down. The thick white parts of the diagonal cross ought to be above the thinner white parts — as historical advisor

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Does John McDonnell have any savings for a rainy day?

It is very sporting of John McDonnell to release his tax return for us all to inspect. It is reassuring to see that he isn’t posing as a hero of the working man while living off rent from a property portfolio, and that he hasn’t been working on the side for Vodafone or Google while laying into their tax affairs. Presumably it is the very simplicity of his tax return with which he hoped to impress us. But that is what is bothering me – the lack of entries. Apart from his income of £61,575 as an MP and a pension of £14,421 from his career in local government he

Anand Menon

EU referendum: A third of MPs could still back Brexit

How many MPs will come out for Brexit? After hearing endless best guesses, we got rather fed up, and used Ipsos Mori’s Reputation Centre to conduct a proper survey of MPs. The total sample size is just under 100, with respondents included front and backbenchers, weighted accordingly. In total, half of respondents said they would be voting in favour of remaining in the EU, 11 per cent said that they would be voting to leave – but a full third said that their views would depend on the terms of any renegotiation. A further 3 per cent did not know how they would vote (and one respondent said that they

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

State education hypocrites aren’t new, but does Cameron really want to be one?

You can expect an oddly muted response to the news that the Camerons may be sending their son Elwen to Colet Court, the feeder prep for St Paul’s (public…i.e. private) school. All those pundits who are usually reliably furious at social immobility and Tory cuts are, I find, prone to pull their punches on this one. The reason is a certain diffidence about having to out themselves as users of private education themselves. Tu quoque, other people observe, and the impeccably liberal commentators slink off to expend their moral indignation on legal aid or the migrant crisis, things usefully remote from their own lives. I haven’t seen quite such a

Steerpike Steerpike

Keith Allen: Corbyn is drawing Blairite disease out of the Labour party

Although Jeremy Corbyn is facing calls from Michael Dugher to step down in 99 days unless he proves himself, the Labour leader can take heart that not everyone is against him. In fact in a Sunday Times interview, Keith Allen professed his love for the man of the moment. The comedian says Corbyn is ‘drawing Blairite disease out of the Labour party’: ‘Jeremy Corbyn… love him. Right person, right time. He’s like a poultice, drawing Blairite disease out of the Labour party. Like those f—— who just resigned. Where are this generation’s Dennis Skinners and Tony Benns?’ What’s more, contrary to popular opinion — and poll ratings, Allen says Corbyn is

Sunday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Emergency brake breakthrough, claims Downing Street

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/whysexmatters-thedeathofsportandistheeusinkingwhetherbrexithappensornot-/media.mp3″ title=”Isabel Hardman, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson discuss whether the European project is in grave danger – regardless of Brexit happening or not” startat=1420] Listen [/audioplayer] Donald Tusk will not circulate the proposed draft UK/EU deal tomorrow. It had been thought that Tusk would put out a draft on Monday after final talks over supper with Cameron this evening. Instead, there will be further meetings between UK and EU diplomats, before Tusk decides whether or not to circulate a draft text to the other member states on Tuesday. In a statement tonight, Downing Street has said that the European Commission accepts that the current UK immigration situation would

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Cameron seeks to beef up ’emergency brake’ as eurosceptics fight each other

David Cameron and Donald Tusk have been discussing Britain’s beef with the European Union over a dinner of beef this evening. The European Council president has just left, telling reporters there was ‘no deal’. Top of the Prime Minister’s menu was the issue of benefits that has been so chewy for him during his renegotiation. Cameron now appears to be seeking to beef up (sorry) the emergency brake offer that his eurosceptic critics described only on Friday as a ‘sick joke’, arguing that it must come into force straight after the referendum result, that the present levels of EU migration to the UK could be sufficient to trigger it, and that

Steerpike Steerpike

John McDonnell challenges George Osborne to publish his tax return

Today is deadline day for all self-assessment tax returns, with those who fail to submit their return in line for a late-fee penalty. Happily John McDonnell looks set to escape this fate — he tweeted a picture of his tax return this morning. What’s more, the shadow chancellor of the exchequer is challenging George Osborne to do the same: After the #googletax deal for openness and transparency I've published my tax return today. Now it's Osborne's turn pic.twitter.com/Zrkecsk2M7 — John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) January 31, 2016 Given that MPs were on a salary of £67,060 for the tax year ending April 2015, the £61,575 declared may be a reduced figure in light

Toby Young Toby Young

David Cameron is plain wrong about Oxford and race. Here’s why

I applaud the Prime Minister for pointing out the scandalous lack of black students at Britain’s top universities, but he’s wrong about whose fault it is – at least when it comes to Oxford, his alma mater. Yes, it’s true that Oxford only admitted five black British Caribbean applicants in 2013, a disgracefully low number, as David Cameron points out, but there’s no evidence to suggest that the cause is ‘ingrained, institutional and insidious’ attitudes, i.e. racism, on the part of Oxford’s admission authorities. How do I know this? Because Oxford already publishes a wealth of data about admissions – the new law Cameron is drafting to force universities to

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: John Bercow takes Anna Soubry to task in Commons showdown

Last year Alex Salmond told Anna Soubry to ‘behave yourself, woman‘ after the pair clashed in the chamber. While it was Salmond who found himself in the firing line on that occasion for his choice of words, Soubry is now back in the spotlight over her Commons etiquette. John Bercow took the small business minister to task on Friday during a debate about job losses in Sheffield where Labour MPs accused her of lacking compassion. Soubry repeatedly heckled Gordon Marsden as he spoke, leading him to ask: ‘will the minister stop chuntering from a sedentary position?’ The Speaker then launched into a rant — urging Soubry to show ‘a basic dignity’: ‘Order! Minister, you have had your

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Downing Street expects draft EU deal to disappoint

We are only days away from seeing Donald Tusk’s proposed text for the UK/EU deal. The President of the European Council is expected to circulate a draft early next week following his Sunday night supper with David Cameron. But, as I write in The Sun this morning, Downing Street is keen to stress that the publication of this draft doesn’t mean that the renegotiation is over. They are adamant that Cameron will have a chance to toughen up the terms at the European Council on February the 18th. Cameron’s problem is that he would like a deal at the February Council, so that he can have a referendum in June.

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Immigrants and curry: George Osborne vs Rowan Atkinson

Mr S notices that the above video is circulating a lot on social media at the moment. An unfortunate choice of words, from a pro-immigration Chancellor. Perhaps George Osborne was paying homage to Rowan Atkinson’s Not the Nine O’Clock News sketch. Or perhaps the Chancellor needs to get a little better at not walking into such traps if he hopes to succeed David Cameron.  

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

With an 18-point lead in the latest poll, momentum is with the EU ‘in’ campaign. 

Why is David Cameron having such trouble persuading Jean-Claude Juncker to give in to his minimal demands for EU reform? The Prime Minister pledged, in a Tory manifesto, to restrict welfare for migrants for the first four years they’re in Britain: not as an ‘emergency’, but as a matter of routine. He was returned with a majority, and under British democracy this means it ought to happen. If the Lords were to try to frustrate this, the PM would overrule them because it was a manifesto pledge, voted on by the public. Why accept a veto from the EU? But the polls show a clear lead for ‘in’ – a ComRes

Will Straw

The evidence shows that EU membership boosts our economy

The Spectator is the latest publication to wade into the argument about facts in the EU referendum debate. As a campaign, we pride ourselves on using figures that come from expert sources like the Confederation of British Industry, the Centre for Economic and Business Research, The European Commission, the UK Government or bodies such as the Office of National Statistics. Indeed we make a virtue of publicly highlighting the sources we use to support our case. The £3,000 figure quoted in The Spectator‘s leading article is illustrative of the economic growth that arises from our membership of the EU and is an order of magnitude greater than the net cost. The £450

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Friday 29th January

Haven’t had a chance to follow the day’s political events and interviews? Then don’t worry: here, The Spectator, brings you the best of today’s audio clips in one place for you to listen to. David Cameron said that the offer of an ’emergency brake’ on in-work benefits for EU migrants was ‘not good enough’. Speaking after meeting Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, he went on to say: ‘We’ve made some progress today, it’s not enough’. John Redwood helpfully reminded the PM of what will be waiting for him when he does reveal the results of his EU renegotiation. The Eurosceptic Tory MP said the idea of the ’emergency brake’ was a

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

David Cameron’s EU renegotiation headache as pressure mounts to get a deal

David Cameron gave all the appearances of being in a bullish mood as he said negotiations so far over Britain’s relationship with the EU were ‘not good enough’. Speaking after meeting Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels today, the Prime Minister said: ‘We’ve made some progress today, it’s not enough.’ He also again paid lip service to being seen to be grafting hard to get a good deal for Britain – repeating his line from last week when he said renegotiating was ‘hard work’. He added: ‘The British people and I want a system where you have to pay in, before you get out. We don’t want a something for nothing society.

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

The trouble with Rhodes’s enemies is that they are not anti-racist enough

  When Cecil Rhodes was drawing up his will his final dream was of British world domination. He pledged funds for ‘To and for the establishment, promotion and development of a Secret Society, the true aim and object whereof shall be for the extension of British rule throughout the world, the perfecting of a system of emigration from the United Kingdom, and of colonisation by British subjects of all lands where the means of livelihood are attainable by energy, labour and enterprise, and especially the occupation by British settlers of the entire Continent of Africa, the Holy Land, the Valley of the Euphrates, the Islands of Cyprus and Candia, the

John McTernan

Is George Osborne destined to be a lame tribute act for proper Labour politicians?

Claiming credit for things that are nothing to do with you is where trouble starts in politics. You can claim that you have abolished ‘boom and bust’, even when occasionally qualified as ‘Tory boom and bust’, but the economy will disprove you – as Gordon Brown spectacularly found out during the Global Financial Crisis. George Osborne has, of course, mimicked Brown from the outset. He has promised deficit reduction he has never yet delivered, and a rebalancing of the economy that has proved to be just so much hot air. Both of these are unnecessary, self-inflicted injuries reminiscent of Brown. On Monday, Osborne and Bill Gates announced a fund of

Steerpike Steerpike

Jess Phillips puts her foot in it: ‘Cologne attacks similar to a night out in Birmingham’

Since Jess Phillips was elected as the MP for Birmingham Yardley in May, the Labour politician has become known for her outspoken views — previously telling Diane Abbott to ‘f— off’. However, her straight-talking approach reached new heights during last night’s episode of Question Time after she likened the Cologne sex attacks to a night out in Birmingham. Discussing the refugee crisis on a panel made up of Angus Robertson, Patrick McLoughlin and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Jess Phillips was asked whether Britain could cope with more immigrants in light of the Cologne sex attacks in Germany or the woman who was killed in Sweden. However, discussing the Cologne attacks — which saw over a 100