Politics

Oh dear. David Cameron’s speech to the Confederation of British Industry got off to a shaky start today after he was heckled by Brexit protesters. While the CBI had opted to leave members of the Vote Leave campaign off of the invite list, two protesters managed to sneak in and get their own anti-EU message across. As the Prime Minister gave a speech in which he said that he could work with business leaders to keep ‘Britain in a reformed Europe’ after a successful renegotiation, protesters held up a banner and shouted that the CBI is the ‘voice of Brussels’: Exclusive: watch anti-CBI hecklers interrupt PM speech (& forgive my

Jeremy Corbyn is at odds with the military for the second time. On the Andrew Marr Show this morning, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, expressed concerns about the Labour leader’s position on Trident — in particular that he would never press the button. ‘Well it would worry me if that thought was translated into power as it were,’ Houghton said, also noting ‘there’s a couple of hurdles to cross before we get to that’. Although Houghton’s remarks may appear a little sinister, he explained his concerns about Corbyn were not personal. Instead, his aim is to ensure Britain has an effective nuclear deterrent: ‘But the reason I say this – and it’s not based

Labour is having the sort of day that Ukip used to offer up on a reasonably regular basis. Jeremy Corbyn’s head of policy Andrew Fisher has been suspended and faces an investigation by the party for urging voters in his constituency to back the Class War candidate over the Labour one. But Jeremy Corbyn has backed his head of policy, saying he hopes the matter can be resolved quickly. Corbyn said this afternoon: ‘I have full confidence in Andrew Fisher and his work. I respect the integrity of the General Secretary’s office and trust that this matter will be settled as quickly as possible.’ These sorts of stories are the

It is good to learn that the current management of the V&A want to reverse their predecessors’ lack of interest in Margaret Thatcher’s clothes. The museum’s original refusal showed a lack of imagination about how women have tried to gain greater power in a man’s world, and how clothes tell this story. Museums love to have suits of medieval armour. They reveal the amazing combination of defensive utility and elegant display which the age required. Even better if the armour was worn by a great warrior on a great occasion, like the Black Prince at Crecy. Mrs Thatcher’s clothes were her armour on her fields of battle — in Parliament,

‘It’s getting longer and longer,’ grumped David Cameron at PMQs. A microphone picked up the aside as the session over-ran by 10 minutes. Why the delay? First, the Speaker. He’s keen to give as many backbenchers as possible a chance to pass unrecognised on national TV. Secondly, he adores the limelight himself. At the slightest pretext he’s up on his feet demanding silence on behalf of an entity called ‘the public’. That’s his name for the handful of grumblers and job-seekers who write in each week to complain that politicians aren’t speaking in chapel whispers. Thirdly there’s the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who reacts to Tory jeers by standing statue-still