Politics

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

Tuesday

14 Jul 2015

The Iranian regime is anti-Western and anti-Semitic. Can we really trust its nuclear deal?

It is often said that British ambition and influence in the world are on the wane. But there can be few greater demonstrations of this than our country’s lack of attention to one of the biggest issues of our time. I am in Washington at the moment, and have been admiring how intensely the Vienna negotiations have been on the political and news agendas here. But in Britain? Obviously the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, has been involved in the P5+1 talks. But it would have been easy to miss the fact. There has been no meaningful criticisms from within the Conservative party to the deal which Philip Hammond has

Sebastian Payne

Liz Kendall’s Facebook Q&A offers a window into the Labour party’s madness

Liz Kendall spent an hour on Facebook this evening answering questions from Labour supporters. Those sitting on a social network on a Tuesday evening are clearly not entirely representative of the party’s membership, but this Q&A suggests Kendall has a perception problem in some quarters. The sheer vitriol of the comments from those who claim to be Labour supporters shows that some folks really do not like Kendall. Here is a selection some of the users had to about Kendall being a supposed closest Tory (these posts enviably had the most likes, far more than her responses): ‪Paul Whiteley‪: Hi Liz…..sorry but don’t you think with your right of centre policies & views that you might not

Isabel Hardman

What should be done about welfare? Don’t ask the Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow Cabinet has split all ways on what to do about welfare. Andy Burnham says he wants a reasoned amendment to the second reading of the welfare reform and work bill that protests some of the policies, but I understand he indicated in Shadow Cabinet that he would go along with the official party line anyway when the vote comes. There is, though, quite a lot of confidence that Harman will capitulate and allow a reasoned amendment, which would make things much easier. If she does not, then not opposing the legislation will be ‘difficult’ for Yvette Cooper, sources on her campaign team say, given rebelling against the party would

Sebastian Payne

Tim Farron interview: what I will do as Lib Dem leader

Tim Farron is a confident man. By this time Thursday, he will be announced as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats — if the bookies are to be believed. Ladbrokes currently say he is a ‘huge odds-on certainty’ to win at 1/33, compared to 12/1 for his rival Norman Lamb. Farron graced the front seat of my Mini this morning to discuss his agenda as leader. His first job on Friday morning is to underline the point that Lib Dems can no longer be orientated around representation in parliament. ‘Organisationally for the Liberal Democrats, the leader’s office has traditionally been in Westminster in the Houses of Parliament,’ he says. ‘Frankly

Steerpike

Mhairi Black: I’m the only 20-year-old George Osborne will help with housing

Last week the SNP MP Phil Boswell made a ‘depravity’ gaffe in his maiden speech. Happily, his colleague – and Parliament’s youngest MP – Mhairi Black had more luck today when she gave her first speech in the House of Commons. The 20-year-old SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South began by praising her predecessor Douglas Alexander, Labour’s election strategist. ‘Firstly in my maiden speech I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Douglas Alexander, he served the constituency for many years. After all I was only three when he was elected, but it was because of that fact that I want to thank him for all he did in the constituency and I

Isabel Hardman

What next for the pro-hunting lobby?

Supporters of relaxing the hunting ban are relieved that the government has pulled tomorrow’s vote after it became clear that it would fail. They feel that there is little point in expending political capital on something they will lose. But they are now trying to work out what to do next that will ensure they can get their way eventually. One of the ideas that is circulating is that the government launch an Animal Welfare Bill at some point, which could address fox hunting as part of a number of issues, including animals in circuses and one of the most popular items in many MPs’ inboxes: chicken welfare (just ask

James Forsyth

Tomorrow’s vote on the hunting ban has been pulled

The government has confirmed that it is pulling tomorrow’s vote on the relaxation of the hunting ban. A Downing Street source is frank about why they are doing this, the vote would be lost with the SNP voting against and so there’s not much point in having it. Indeed, even the Countryside Alliance accepts that no good would come from pressing on. This brings to an end David Cameron’s attempt to allow a full pack of hounds to be used to flush out a fox, first revealed by Melissa Kite in The Spectator. What has done for it is the SNP’s opportunism in saying that it will vote against a measure

Isabel Hardman

Andy Burnham may end up supporting Harman’s line on welfare bill anyway

Andy Burnham has been vociferous in his opposition to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, and made his views clear at a stormy meeting of the Shadow Cabinet this morning. He followed that meeting with a speech to the press gallery about his candidacy to become Labour leader in which he repeated his opposition to that legislation. He even went so far as to lump Harriet Harman in with George Osborne in one of his jokes, which won’t stop sniping from some sections of the party that Harman is behaving in a ‘Tory’ manner (this comes as a great surprise to anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to

John McTernan

Labour has lost its senses if it thinks Liz Kendall is a Tory

Here are four things that Liz Kendall has said during the Labour leadership campaign. First, that she would never close a successful school. Second, that the country should always come first, not the party. Third, that the UK should spend at last 2 per cent of GDP in defence. And finally, that Harriet Harman is right — Labour need to understand that the voters did not trust them on welfare, and that regaining that trust is as important as gaining a reputation for economic competence. To a voter, none of this is particularly controversial. Good schools, patriotism, strong defence and fair welfare — that’s what they want, that’s what government

Toby Young

An independent Scotland could easily have been the next Greece

I wonder how many Scots who voted ‘Yes’ in last year’s referendum are watching events unfold in Greece and having second thoughts? It’s not quite a ‘there, but for the grace of God’ moment, but it’s not far off. This analogy depends upon two big assumptions, both of which will be disputed by the nationalists. The first is that Scotland would not have automatically been allowed to remain in the EU following a ‘Yes’ vote, but, as a new state, would have had to apply for membership and, as a condition of joining, would have been forced to join the euro. How questionable is this assumption? The Scottish government’s position has

Sebastian Payne

Norman Lamb interview: we are living in ‘the liberal age’

In 48 hours, either Tim Farron or Norman Lamb will be announced as the next leader of Liberal Democrats. Lamb kindly agreed to hop in my Mini for a chat about the leadership contest two weeks ago (during the hottest day of the year) — you can watch the highlights from our chat above. If you haven’t been following the contest, Lamb is the 57-year-old Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. During the coalition government, he served as PPS to Nick Clegg, employment minister, care minister and is currently the Lib Dem’s spokesman on the economy. Despite the endorsement of Paddy Ashdown, Ming Campbell and the rapper Dappy, Lamb has consistently

Sebastian Payne

Nicola Sturgeon: SNP is using foxhunting to kick the Tories — and will intervene on English issues again

It has only taken the SNP 68 days to jettison its principles for some good old Tory bashing. On the Today programme, Nicola Sturgeon gave three reasons as to why the SNP will be voting against relaxed foxhunting restrictions in England. Combined with an ‘overwhelming demand from people in England’ and a potential future debate about Scottish foxhunting laws, the First Minister happily admitted that the decision had ‘less to do with foxhunting’ and more to do with giving David Cameron a kicking: ‘Since the election, David Cameron’s government has shown very little respect to the mandate that Scotland MPs have. On the Scotland Bill, reasonable amendments backed by the overwhelming majority of Scottish MPs have been voted down. The English

Steerpike

Revealed: the documentary the BBC doesn’t want you to see

Nate Silver has a lot to answer for. Yes, he called the US general election correctly – but he then led the fashionable view that opinion polling technology is now so advanced as to be able to predict what people are feeling to a high degree of accuracy. So confident was Silver in his computers that he thought he could, from the other side of an ocean, predict the UK general election with ‘90 per cent confidence.‘ The BBC lapped this up, and filmed a Panorama with the hubristic title “Who will win the election?”. Richard Bacon joined Silver as he visited the UK ‘to try and forecast the outcome of the

Monday

13 Jul 2015

Alex Massie

Tally No: the SNP abandons its principles to tweak the Tories

In 2008 Alex Salmond told Total Politics that: ‘As you know, by choice, SNP MPs have abstained from every vote on English legislation that does not have an immediate Scottish consequence. If you’re asking me should people in England be able to run their own health service or education system, my answer is yes. They should be able to do it without the bossy interference of Scots Labour MPs. We had this in reverse through the 1980s.’ A year earlier, Angus Robertson, MP for Moray, had asked the Prime Minister if he agreed it was ‘completely iniquitous’ that English MPs ‘are not able to decide on matters in Scotland but Scottish MPs from

Isabel Hardman

SNP to vote against relaxing the hunting ban

The SNP’s 56 MPs will vote against relaxing the hunting ban on Wednesday, the party has announced. The party’s stance was decided at a meeting of the party this evening, with the SNP saying it is ‘right’ that the party ‘assert the Scottish interest on fox hunting by voting against the Tories’ proposals to relax the ban’. There are only 90 minutes to debate the measure on Wednesday, but inevitably some of that precious time will be taken up with MPs asking what the ‘Scottish interest’ on this matter is. What this means now, as I explained earlier, is that the measure is likely to fail. It is one thing

Sebastian Payne

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn’s cantankerous interview on his ‘friends’ in Hamas

Jeremy Corbyn is finally receiving the scrutiny he deserves. On Channel 4 News this evening, the hard-left Labour leader hopeful was quizzed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on comments about engaging with ‘friends’ in Hamas and Hezbollah over the Middle East conflict. Corbyn refused to apologise for using the word ‘friends’ and snapped several times at Guru-Murthy for not letting him finish a long-winded answer: ‘I’m saying that people I talk to, I use it in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk. ‘Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that

Isabel Hardman

Harriet Harman urges Labour: We can’t campaign against the public

Harriet Harman has just finished addressing the PLP about the party’s official position on welfare cuts. There was a reasonable amount of applause for the interim Labour leader when she finished speaking, but party sources described the meeting as ‘quite split’ and that ‘obviously there were a lot of people who were quite uncomfortable’. She started by telling MPs that all of them recognised what a profound shock the election result was, and that many of her constituents will be affected by the changes that will take place as a result of this Budget. But she also reminded people that in the last phase of Opposition, Labour voted against every

Isabel Hardman

Pro-hunting MPs hopeful of victory – if the SNP stay away

A very organised unofficial whipping operation is underway for Wednesday’s free vote on hunting (first revealed by Melissa Kite in the Spectator last week). I understand that the Tories who are in favour of changing legislation so that hounds can be used to flush out foxes think they will win the vote if the SNP decide to take the unusual step of voting on the issue, which does not affect Scotland. The pro-hunting camp believe they have around 285 MPs – mostly not exclusively Tory – on their side, and there are around 260 MPs across the Commons who will vote against the change. The most prominent among them is

Isabel Hardman

Labour tries to calm row on welfare reform

Labour is trying to clarify its position on welfare reform ahead of tonight’s PLP meeting. Sources say that the party will abstain on the ‘broad brush’ of the Welfare Reform Bill, though it is not yet clear whether the abstention will be on a three-line whip, given a good number of MPs do want to turn up and vote against the legislation. The abstention will be at the Second Reading of the Bill, but as Harman has already pointed out, the Committee stages come once the new leader has been elected, and so the party may take stronger positions on more issues. ‘Is that a matter for the new leader?

Brendan O’Neill

A beginner’s guide to Euroscepticism

As a long-time Eurosceptic, I should be happy about the Johnny-Come-Latelys now swelling the sceptic ranks. Following Euro-institutions’ wicked treatment of Greece, many European liberals have finally realised that Brussels might not be the hotbed of liberalism, internationalism and bunny rabbits they thought it was. So, bit by bit, they’re becoming the thing they once looked down upon, the thing they once forcefielded their dinner parties against: Eurosceptics. But I’m not feeling very welcoming to these latter-day doubters, currently live-tweeting their Euro-existential angst and clogging their newspaper columns with tortured questions about whether the EU really is a ‘great achievement of enlightened internationalism’. (Answer: no, you donuts.) For two reasons.