Politics

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

Wednesday

Tony Blair

In defence of Blairism, by Tony Blair

All wings of the Labour Party which support the notion of the Labour Party as a Party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement agree on the tragedy of the Labour Party’s current position. But even within that governing tendency, there is disagreement about the last Labour Government, what it stood for and what it should be proud of. The moral dimension of Labour tradition has always been very strong, encapsulated in the phrase that the Labour Party owed more to Methodism than to Marx. When I became the Opposition spokesman on law and order in 1992, following our fourth election defeat, I consciously moved us away from a

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Exclusive: Tony Blair writes for The Spectator about the ‘tragedy’ of Corbyn’s Labour

The Christmas issue of The Spectator hits the streets soon; we have David Cameron, Justin Welby and Tony Blair. Blair first wrote for The Spectator in August 1979, four years before he became an MP. Thirty six years later, he is back in the magazine. In his first intervention since Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour Party leadership, the former Prime Minister does not mince his words. In his first sentence, he says: All wings of the Labour Party which support the notion of the Labour Party as a Party aspiring to govern, rather than as a fringe protest movement agree on the tragedy of the Labour Party’s current position. What they don’t agree

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

OBR suggests Cameron’s benefits row with EU leaders is a bit pointless

What if David Cameron does win his fight – staged or otherwise – with European leaders to block benefits for EU migrants for four years? In terms of his pitch to the British public that voting to stay in the bloc is a good idea, this win would be very handy indeed. But would it actually materially change anything? Today, in an evidence session to the Treasury Select Committee, Office for Budget Responsibility Stephen Nickell rather undermined the importance of this row between leaders when he ended up telling MPs that it wouldn’t make much of a difference to immigration from other EU countries to Britain anyway. He said: ‘I

Steerpike Steerpike

Fake death threat Tory MP wipes herself from the web

Lucy Allan has come under fire this month after she was accused of faking a death threat from a constituent. The Conservative MP posted a message from a user by the name of Rusty on her Facebook which asked her to rethink her stance on Syria airstrikes. While the message was hardly polite, the worst part came at the end with a sign-off that read ‘unless you die’. However, the email’s author denied writing the final line and posted on her Facebook to confront her about the edit. Since the incident Allen has released a statement admitting that she did add the line ‘unless you die’. However, she insists that this was

Sebastian Payne

Michael Gove’s greatest success so far — not being Chris Grayling

Michael Gove’s tenure as Justice Secretary has been notable for U-turns on the most controversial things done by his predecessor, Chris Grayling. At Justice Questions in the Commons today, Gove confirmed another policy reversal to MPs which emerged last week: the criminal courts charge. Since April, the charge meant that convicted criminals had to pay £150 – £1,200 towards to cost of their cases. Some felt the criminal courts charge was unfair, acting as a perverse incentive to plead guilty, and 50 magistrates resigned in protest. Gove explained the government’s decision: ‘The government has listened carefully to the concerns which have been raised about the criminal courts charge and in the light

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Government goes to war with peers over votes at 16

The government will today try to overturn a Lords’ vote that introduces votes at 16 for the EU Referendum Bill. Under other circumstances, the Conservatives could find this difficult, as there is a group of Tory MPs roughly the same size as the government’s majority who support the principle, but who do not want to rebel and cause trouble on their flagship legislation enabling the referendum they spent the election boasting about. Former minister Damian Green will abstain on the legislation, I understand, as he supports the principle. The government has invoked financial privilege on this matter, arguing that the change will cost £6 million. Speaker Bercow agrees, which means

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

Not all Uber drivers are Islamists, just like not all London cabbies are John Worboys

Uber aren’t going to be thrilled to hear that Muhaydin Mire, the man who has been arrested on suspicion of knifing a man at Leytonstone station, while shouting ‘This is for Syria’, was reportedly one of their drivers. On social media, London cabbies have already started to capitalise on this, by making the case that you’re better off sticking with them if you want to avoid catching a ride with a jihadi. A new hashtag is currently doing the rounds: #HeWasAnUberDriverBruv – and the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association has been quick to adopt it, while also wondering how many more ‘TFL licensed terrorists’ are out there. While the tweet has now been deleted, it originally

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: why Gordon Brown wasn’t always such an asset to Pimco

After stepping down as an MP ahead of the general election, Gordon Brown has taken up a role on the advisory panel of Pimco, a global investment management firm. He joins a panel of ‘world-renowned experts’ who include Jean-Claude Trichet, the former president of the European Central Bank, and Ben Bernanke, the former US Federal Reserve chairman. Pimco have released a statement speaking of their delight at their global advisory board which they say boasts ‘an unrivalled team of macroeconomic thinkers and former policymakers’: ‘The global advisory board is an unrivalled team of macroeconomic thinkers and former policymakers, whose insights into the intersection of policy and financial markets will be a valuable input to our investment process.’

Sebastian Payne

Liz Truss defends government spending on flood defences

The flooding in Cumbria is continuing to cause misery for thousands of people and as often happens in these situations, attention has turned onto whether the government has done enough to protect people. Liz Truss, the Environment Secretary, popped up on the Today programme to defend the government’s flood defence plans. She described what has happened in Cumbria as a ‘devastating situation’, which was the result of an ‘extreme event’: ‘The scale of this was absolutely extraordinary – to have half a metre more of water than we’ve seen before in any of these towns and cities in Cumbria was extraordinary’. Despite ‘an environment where overall the government budget is reducing’ Truss

Steerpike Steerpike

Iain Dale’s ‘explosive’ interview with his old pal Donal Blaney

Yesterday the Young Britons Foundation called off their annual Activist Training Conference — following the suicide of Elliot Johnson in September, and the subsequent revelations of Tory activist bullying. Although six Cabinet ministers had cancelled their attendance at the event, and Elliot’s father Ray had written to David Cameron calling the YBF ‘a cult, indoctrinating young activists’, the organisation’s chief-executive Don Blaney appeared on LBC — with Iain Dale — to blame the cancellation on intrusive journalists. In the interview which LBC called ‘explosive’, Dale challenged Blaney on a number of points, though the exchange could hardly be called a grilling. Blaney spoke about his role in making Johnson redundant from his job ahead of his suicide, as well

Monday

Sebastian Payne

Tories begin to attack Sadiq Khan for his links to Jeremy Corbyn

Now Jeremy Corbyn has passed his first electoral test in Oldham West, the Conservatives are focusing on the next one: the 2016 London Mayor election. CCHQ has launched SadiqWatch today, a new website which shows off the Tories’ lines of attack against Sadiq Khan for the first time. Just like the Not Ken Again site from the 2012 Mayoral race, the videos and graphics don’t mention they’re from the Tories, but the site’s footer does say (in small print) they are produced at CCHQ. The most striking attack line is in the standfirst of SadiqWatch: ‘Holding Corbyn’s candidate to account’. As one of the 35 Labour MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader, the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Is David Cameron having a staged row with Donald Tusk?

Donald Tusk’s letter to European Council members highlights the choice that David Cameron faces in his renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with Europe. Either he insists that EU leaders meet his demand of a four year block on benefits for new migrants, thereby delaying the process, or he drops the demand in order to get consensus on the matter and then faces the prospect of selling a ‘new relationship’ that doesn’t look all that new and doesn’t contain a key change that most voters will understand. Tusk’s letter goes through Cameron’s four demands for reform. On the first three, he is reasonably positive, suggesting room for changes in the arrangements for

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour moderates launch fightback against deselection threats

After Corbynite group Momentum allowed leaflets from other parties campaigning for the deselection of Labour MPs to be distributed at one of its events last week, those opposed to the new organisation are starting to hit back. Labour First, which represents the Old Right of the Labour party, is encouraging constituency Labour parties to vote on a motion calling for ‘tolerance and solidarity in the Labour Party’. This motion has been written by members of the Hampstead and Kilburn CLP, who have tabled it for their next meeting in the New Year. That motion condemns bullying of MPs over the Syria vote, and calls upon the party’s National Executive Committee

Steerpike Steerpike

David Cameron: ‘you ain’t no Muslim, bruv’

Over the weekend a man attacked passengers at Leytonstone tube station, claiming he was acting in protest at the government’s decision to carry out airstrikes on Syria. One small ray of light to emerge from the incident — which left three injured — was a video of the aftermath in which a man shouts at the offender: ‘you ain’t no Muslim, bruv’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYjGaxYhDuQ Since then the phrase has gone viral, with many tweeting it online as an act of solidarity. All very well, until David Cameron decided to go one step further and quote the phrase in a speech today: ‘Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and soundbites and everything to this

Steerpike Steerpike

John McDonnell tweets abuse at himself

While the abuse Labour MPs — including Stella Creasy and Ann Coffey — have received since they voted for airstrikes has been much-reported, what about the Labour politicians who voted against airstrikes on Syria? According to John McDonnell, these MPs are subject to online abuse too. The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer appeared to try and prove this point over the weekend, by sharing a tweet directed at McDonnell which criticised him for showing ‘sympathy towards the cause of terrorists’. Alas, the mentioned abuse came from his own account, so he was in fact just tweeting abuse at himself: As users began to question whether he had meant to tweet abuse at himself from a

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

No decision this year on airport expansion, says Number 10

There is some irony in David Cameron giving a speech claiming that ‘this is a government that delivers’ on the day that Number 10 effectively concedes that he will not be delivering his decision on airport expansion as planned by the end of this year. At the lobby briefing this morning, the Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said he would ‘present a clear direction’ on airports policy by the end of the year, which is different to a clear decision. The spokeswoman insisted that the government was committed to ‘providing the next step forward by the end of the year’ but that the press shouldn’t get lost in semantics. The delay

Sebastian Payne

David Cameron opens up shared ownership scheme

David Cameron is marking his tenth anniversary as Conservative party leader with a speech in the West Midlands today on one of the party’s core issues: home ownership. The Prime Minister will announce an expansion of the shared ownership scheme — which allows people to part-buy and part-rent a property — by scrapping existing rules: ‘But, because it’s been heavily restricted, many of those people have missed out. We’ve had local councils dictating who is eligible, based on everything from salary to profession to where the buyer comes from. ‘From April next year, that will make 175,000 more people eligible for home ownership. It means some people will be able

Joseph Power

I used to mock non-interventionists like Corbyn, but events have proved them right

I hate to say it, but Jeremy Corbyn is right where I have been wrong. Corbyn’s protest that the Syrian intervention displays a ‘lack of a strategy worth the name, the absence of credible ground troops, the missing diplomatic plan for a Syrian settlement…’ was spot on. I am embarrassed to say that last year, I penned a rather conceited piece – for Spectator Australia, no less – in which I mocked proponents of non-intervention against the millennial, genocidal fascists of Isis. Having watched events since publication, I feel little but embarrassment. True, it makes little sense to restrict our campaign to Iraq: as James Forsyth rightly noted, Isis don’t

Saturday

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Inside the Corbyn crack-up

Jeremy Corbyn is a rarity among politicians. All his enemies are on his own side. For the Tories, Ukip and the SNP, Corbyn is a dream made real. They could not love him more. As the riotous scenes at the shadow cabinet and parliamentary Labour party meetings this week showed, his colleagues see Corbyn and John McDonnell as modern Leninists who are mobilising their cadres to purge all dissidents from the party. Conversations with Corbyn’s aides show a gentler side to the new regime, however. They suggest the Corbynistas are unlikely to be able to control Labour MPs when they can barely control themselves. ‘Chaos’ was the word that came

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Tory leadership aren’t to blame for the death of Elliott Johnson

When someone commits suicide, those close to that person naturally reproach themselves. In politics, and similarly contested areas of life, people reproach others too. So it is not surprising that when a 21-year-old Conservative party worker, Elliott Johnson, killed himself in September, accusations about Tory bullying arose. Judging from what is reported about Mark Clarke, the leader of the party’s campaign RoadTrip group, he should never have been in charge of any youth wing. But there are couple of other things to bear in mind. For some reason, it has not been reported, though it is widely said, that Mr Johnson had been in a relationship with a party colleague