Politics Archives

Monday

2 Feb 2015

Freezing the education budget won’t hurt pupils. Here’s why

David Cameron has today been refreshingly honest about his plans for school funding in England: budgets will be flat, which (when you factor in inflation) will mean a drop of 7 per cent over the next parliament. Cue much mockery from Labour. But what will this mean for the future of education quality? Not very much, if the experience of the Labour years is anything to go by. Under Blair and Brown, school spending more than doubled while England hurtled down the world education performance tables. So if doubling the budget didn’t help, then why should freezing it hurt? The strange thing about education is that it’s not so responsive to cash. A brilliant teacher

James Forsyth

Is fear of Mandelson holding Labour back on tuition fees?

Patrick Wintour has a fascinating piece in The Guardian on Labour’s dilemma on tuition fees. Particularly striking is that Ed Balls is deeply concerned about how Peter Mandelson might react to any new policy. Wintour writes: ‘Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, also knows there are serious figures in the party, including the former business secretary Lord Mandelson, who will voice their concerns if a half-baked policy emerges that might damage the status of UK’s world-class universities. Mandelson made a technical criticism of the plans for a mansion tax, but supported the concept of a wealth tax. He will be less restrained if he thinks the revised tuition fees policy damages

Sebastian Payne

Labour is still not trusted to run the country

Labour may be level with the Conservatives in the polls but it is still not trusted by the public. Lord Ashcroft’s latest national poll has the two main parties on 31 per cent of the vote — both down one point from last week. 59 per cent say they have already made up their minds about they’ll vote on 7 May. There aren’t many positive views in this poll about the Labour Party. Although roughly half think the policies of the last few years have failed, a majority don’t think Labour has the answers. According to Ashcroft’s poll, 58 per cent think Labour has ‘not yet learned the right lessons from

Isabel Hardman

Which party has the strongest message?

One interesting nugget from Lord Ashcroft’s latest batch of polling is what his focus groups in two seats – Sutton and Cheam, and Elmet and Rothwell – had to say about the parties’ messages. Here’s a quick summary: Conservative: ‘Finish the job and get back on track’. Labour: ‘Vote Labour to save the NHS’, possibly adding ‘and stop the cuts’ or ‘and tax the rich’. Liberal Democrat: ‘Vote Lib Dem to balance the extremes – to split the difference’. Ukip: ‘Leave the EU and control immigration.’ Greens: ‘Vote Green to save the planet.’ Ashcroft was also struck by the cut-through achieved by the Greens’ now-defunct policy of decriminalising membership of

Melanie McDonagh

There’s an ethical debate to be had about ‘three-parent babies’ but nobody seems keen

There doesn’t seem much doubt about which way the Commons vote today on ‘three-parent babies’ will go, does there? A combination of dismissive metaphors, characteristically British sentimentalism and morally astigmatic scientists seems likely to do the trick. Today in the Telegraph, Lord Winston, IVF supremo, opined that the thing was no more problematic than a blood transfusion. In the Times, Matt Ridley, dismissed the importance of mitochondrial donation (the ‘third parent’ bit) as no more important to us than our gut bacteria. A Daily Mail journalist on the Westminster Hour last night brusquely observed that the technique was rather like changing a spare tyre. Add to the mix a photogenic would-be beneficiary of

Isabel Hardman

Osborne uses meeting with Greek finance minister to tell people to vote Tory

Even though he wasn’t quite prepared in the sartorial stakes for the visit of Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, George Osborne was ready to use the meeting between the two as another messaging moment. Following their discussions, the Chancellor has released this quote: ‘It’s clear that the standoff between Greece and the Eurozone is fast becoming the biggest risk to the global economy, and it’s a rising threat to our economy at home. In Europe as in Britain now is the time to choose competence over chaos. I urged the Greek finance minister to act responsibly, but it’s also important that the Eurozone has a better plan for jobs and

Steerpike

Meet the people who really, really, really like Ed Miliband

It’s not the narrative we have come to expect: a bunch of people who really like Ed Miliband. Yet Mr S was surprised to find such group exists. EM4No10 may sound like a dodgy chemical used to make sweets, but it’s actually the rallying banner for a unique clique of Labour Party devotees who think Ed is bloody brilliant. This loyal clan spend all day sharing supposedly inspirational quotations on social media, each trying to outdo one another with their photoshopping skills and love of the dear leader: The king of this niche online subculture is a chap called Jon Swindon. He describes himself as a c0-founder of the hashtags #webackEd

Rod Liddle

History will be kind to our modern sensibilities because we intend to rewrite it

Should we pardon all homosexuals who, in the past, were convicted under laws prohibiting sodomy or indecency or soliciting? The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell thinks we should: ‘Pardon all convicted gay men, not just (Alan) Turing’ is the headline of his latest press statement. It certainly makes more sense than simply pardoning Turing, retrospectively, simply because he was quite handy with a computer. I simply don’t understand how Turing can be pardoned when others, convicted in the same period, will still have the crimes written against their names. It is grotesquely unjust. But then I’m not sure about this pardoning business, full stop. It is a product of the

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband proves he can be normal

What do you say when asked what life experience you have as a politician? Probably not ‘I was an economic adviser in the Treasury’ and ‘I taught at Harvard’. But to be fair to Miliband, his answer to one of the trickiest questions levelled at him this morning on Sky wasn’t much different to the one the other party leaders would give, which is essentially ‘not much’. A political Four Yorkshiremen skit wouldn’t be particularly competitive. listen to ‘Ed Miliband discusses his qualifications for being PM’ on audioBoom

Isabel Hardman

Two U-turns in one morning: Greens drop citizens’ income and hug-a-jihadi policy

Natalie Bennett has just been taking questions as part of the Sky leaders’ debates for younger voters, and delivered the second Green U-turn of the day, this time on terrorism. After struggling on the Sunday Politics to explain why her party thinks that membership of a terrorist group alone should not be a crime, the Green leader decided to say that actually, her party thought that it was: ‘Obviously [Islamic State] and al-Qaeda are hideous terrorist organisations that advocate and support violence. If you are involved in them, support them in any way, then you are participating in inciting violence, that’s a crime, rightly, and should be pursued to the

Dennis Sewell

If Cameron wants an ‘all-out war’ on mediocre schools, why did he get rid of Gove?

It is odd to hear David Cameron promise an ‘all-out war on mediocrity’ in education. An admirable sentiment, but it’s hard to reconcile with the fact that he demoted the very person who was working so successfully for that precise aim. Here’s what he intends to say in a speech later today: ‘So this party is clear. Just enough is not good enough. That means no more sink schools – and no more ‘bog standard’ schools either. We’re waging an all-out war on mediocrity, and our aim is this: the best start in life for every child, wherever they’re from – no excuses.’ When a politician says ‘this is clear’

Sebastian Payne

Mini Election: Nicola Blackwood on fighting to hold one of the most marginal seats

If the Liberal Democrats stand any chance of making gains at the Conservatives expense, then Nicola Blackwood is precisely the sort of MP they need to depose. She won her seat, Oxford West and Abingdon, with a gossamer majority of 176 and its in the top three Lib Dem targets. Perhaps for that reason she has been in campaigning mode ever since she was elected. Vital statistics Seat Oxford West and Abingdon Party Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood Main opponent Liberal Democrats Majority 176 Latest Ashcroft poll 4% Lib Dem-Con swing Given Blackwood’s majority, few in 2010 would have expected her to hold onto the seat this time around. But since

Isabel Hardman

Can Labour afford a battle with Boots?

Is Labour wise to go to war with the head of Boots for warning that a Miliband government would be a ‘catastrophe’ for Britain? The party, which has spent considerable effort trying to persuade business that it is friendly after all, seems to be reversing over that hard work by turning on Stefano Pessina in the way it has. Pessina’s company says his remarks were taken out of context, but Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna said voters would ‘draw their own conclusions when those who don’t live here, don’t pay tax in this country and lead firms that reportedly avoid making a fair contribution in what they pay purport to

Steerpike

MPs take the vape fight outside

Reports have emerged of a new row that has engulfed parliament: where and where not to vape? After complaints of people using e-cigarettes near the chamber, the House of Commons authorities are mulling over how to treat the craze. Some MPs are pushing for a revival of the traditional Smoking Room so they can puff away on their new-fangled devices in a convivial setting. Alas Mr Steerpike hears that they are likely to be disappointed, as officials have proposed banning e-cigarettes in ‘enclosed areas’. Furthermore, with so many policies in this place, the idea looks like having an unexpected and expensive side effect for the taxpayer. An internal paper reveals that bosses want to ensure

Sunday

1 Feb 2015

Isabel Hardman

Who is in charge of the Education department?

The Tories are embarking on an ‘education week’, which means they won’t just be fighting Labour but also the Lib Dems, as the latter like to strike up a fight whenever something involving Michael Gove crops up. Indeed, some Tories suspect the Lib Dems in the Education department as being the source of today’s Independent on Sunday splash about Michael Gove continuing to meddle with education policy – though others point out that he’d probably receive most of them anyway through ministerial ‘write-rounds’ (more on this here). Today to launch the education week Nicky Morgan appeared on Marr, where she said she was ‘absolutely fighting for the schools’ budget to

James Forsyth

Labour MPs’ minds wander to a post-election contest

With the opinion polls so tight at the moment, we’re having to look for other ways to try and work out what the general election result will be. One indicator worth watching is which party is spending more time thinking about the leadership contest that would follow an election. Now, there has been plenty of speculation about this on both the Tory and Labour benches in recent times. But in the last few weeks, I’ve picked up more of it from the Labour side. One Labour frontbencher calculates that the focus of ‘half the party is on what happens next’. Last week’s Labour kerfuffle over NHS policy was driven, in large

Saturday

31 Jan 2015

James Forsyth

Why France so worries European policy makers

Today’s huge Podemos rally in Madrid is a reminder that Syriza’s victory in Greece has emboldened the anti-austerity left across the Eurozone. What worries Angela Merkel and other northern European leaders is, as I say in the magazine this week, that any concessions to the new government in Athens, will lead to Podemos—a party which was founded less than 12 months ago—wining the Spanish elections later this year. But the country that most worries European policymakers isn’t Greece or Spain but France. Its economy is showing no signs of recovering and its politics are threatening to become very ugly indeed. A new poll published this week shows the Front National’s

Lucy Vickery

Spectator competition: Ed Miliband’s bacon roll blues (plus: new ways with Sonnet 18)

The most recent challenge asked for blues songs from well-known politicians contemplating the forthcoming general election. In a small but accomplished entry the Lib Dem leader dominated the stage. John O’Byrne’s Nick Clegg drew inspiration from B.B. King’s ‘Worry, worry’ — ‘Apologies, apologies, apologies/ Apologies are all I can do’ — and the ghosts of Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy were never far away (‘It was a dream, just a dream I had on my mind/ And when I woke up, baby, not a voter could I find…’). Bill Greenwell’s contribution was in the talking blues tradition. John Whitworth and Richard Mollet earn honourable mentions, Brian Murdoch pockets the

Friday

30 Jan 2015

Isabel Hardman

Ukip: We won’t do pacts with other parties

Who wants to work with who after the General Election? It’s a question that pundits like to chew over, partly because few politicians can afford to rule anything out with the polls suggesting quite such a jumbly outcome in May. But today two parties effectively ruled out a coalition with one another, even though they’re ideologically close. Grant Shapps was first, telling his press conference this morning that ‘I can rule out… we are not going to do pacts and deals with Ukip’. This afternoon, Ukip has released this statement: ‘UKIP are not promising pacts with anyone. For us politics is about getting something done, not about stitching up deals

Sebastian Payne

Grant Shapps defends ‘successful’ defection of Ukip MEP Amjad Bashir

January has been 30 days of chaos for Labour, according to Grant Shapps — but what about the Tories’ bad headlines? In a press conference this morning, Shapps outlined all of the negative press Labour has received in 2015 so far (pdf of the document here). But he ended up having to defend his party over the defection of Ukip MEP Amjad Bashir. ‘I welcome anybody, regardless of where they’ve been in the past —with the exception of extreme parties,’ Shapps said in response to a question about Bashir’s alleged membership of the Respect party. He contended that he’s more concerned about people’s ‘ideas’ and ‘how they see this country