Politics

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

James Forsyth

Have the Scottish Tories been detoxified?

The referendum campaign was a mixed experience for the Scottish Tories. On the one hand, it was a reminder of how much they are still hated in Scotland: End Tory rule forever, was one of the more frequently heard Nationalist battle cries. On the other, they had one of the campaign’s most effective advocates, Ruth Davidson and were accepted in as part of the cross party campaign. Indeed, it was telling that the Better Together campaign together rather than hiding Davidson away used her more and more as the campaign went on. In his Scotsman column today, the former Labour spin doctor John McTernan declares that ‘Ruth Davidson’s campaign has

Fraser Nelson

In praise of Alex Salmond

Alex Salmond has proved himself the most effective party leader in Europe, let alone Britain. He has just run a terrifyingly effective campaign, perhaps the best I will ever witness. I could not disagree more with his aims, but to me that makes his achievement all the more remarkable. I doubt any other politician could have sold such a bad idea to 45 per cent of Scots. He ran rings around his opponents, outsmarting them all. He was so damn infuriating because he was so damn good: able to use humour, anger, audacity and caution when each was required. I can’t think of many politicians with his versatility. As a unionist, I’m delighted that the sharpest

Nick Cohen

The left cannot be an anti-English movement.

  During the referendum campaign nothing astonished me and Labour campaigners more than left wing English intellectuals embracing Scottish nationalism. It was not that they did not have the right to speak, but that they had so little regard for traditional left wing concerns about the welfare of the Scottish working class. Rather than thinking about the danger of ever-greater austerity in an independent Scotland, they were possessed by a loathing of England. Here, for instance, is George Monbiot telling Scotland to leave a few weeks ago. His country, Monbiot said, was ruled by a hereditary elite, beholden to a corrupt financial centre, and dominated by speculators and rent-seekers. Its

Steerpike

Celebrities react badly to the referendum result

As the Saltires are put away and the fireworks dismantled, some celebrities waking up to the Scottish referendum result took it rather badly, the poor lambs. Russell Brand was in his usual Citizen Smith mode: Fear is more powerful than faith. Until that changes none of us are free. — Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) September 19, 2014 Where at least Frankie Boyle was trying to be funny: I should have expected this, because if you’d asked me to estimate how many cunts there were in Scotland I’d have said about 2 million — Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) September 19, 2014 To be fair, I’ve always hated Scotland — Frankie Boyle (@frankieboyle) September 19,

Isabel Hardman

Indyref: Will Westminster really change?

Lord Ashcroft’s post-referendum Scotland poll gives politicians claiming they’ve ‘heard’ voters a number of clues if in reality they’re still a bit confused. It suggests that those last few days of panic from the ‘No’ camp didn’t really shift as many voters as some might have thought. The poll says 28 per cent of ‘No’ voters made up their mind within this year. 72 per cent had already decided before September 2013. Only nine per cent had settled on ‘No’ in the past week. And the reason more frequently cited for voting ‘Yes’ than any other was ‘disaffection with Westminster politics’, with 74% of those in favour of independence naming

David Cameron’s statement to the nation on devolution

Here’s the full text of the Prime Minister’s speech this morning in reaction to the ‘No’ vote in the Scottish independence referendum.  listen to ‘David Cameron’s statement on devolution’ on Audioboo The people of Scotland have spoken. It is a clear result. They have kept our country of four nations together. Like millions of other people, I am delighted. As I said during the campaign, it would have broken my heart to see our United Kingdom come to an end. And I know that sentiment was shared by people, not just across our country, but also around the world….because of what we’ve achieved together in the past and what we

Fraser Nelson

Podcast: the night Britain holds its breath

Well, it’s going to be a nail-biter. The voting has closed, and I’ve just spoken to Hamish Macdonell and James Forsyth for the podcast: both sides think that they have won. Why? The polls show it’s too close to call, so each side is going on anecdote – and risks a positive feedback loop. I’m in Inverness, near my hometown of Nairn, but the joy of being back in the Highlands is tempered by the chat. In the bar I was at (Hootananny, the city’s best venue for folk music) the punters were swapping stories about getting their friends and family out for ‘yes’. listen to ‘Both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ think they’ve

Scotland rejects independence – as it happened

No has won the referendum. Scotland won’t become independent, but it will get new devolved powers, David Cameron promised this morning. Follow the developments on the PM’s plans to change the constitution here. 08:13 The final result is in. Highland. Yes: 78,069 No: 87,739. That’s 47.1% to 52.9% on a turnout of 87.0% 07.10 am: What are these ‘further powers’ that Scotland – and indeed the rest of the UK – might be given? If we’re getting more powers I want telekinesis #indyref — Craig Rothney (@rothneychild) September 19, 2014 07.05 am: What happens next for the rest of the UK? Here’s what Isabel has to say: The Prime Minister will give his response to

Our Scottish campaign will encourage English Nationalism unless the voice of England is heard

This is an extract from a speech delivered by Tory MP Conor Burns at a Conservative association dinner in Chris Grayling’s constituency tonight: It would be extraordinary if I did not mention what is going on in Scotland this evening. I represent, as self-evidently, does the Lord Chancellor beside me a constituency in England. I have watched events in Scotland through that prism of course. But I have also watched as a staunch Unionist. I have always given equal weight to the full title of our great Party: Conservative AND Unionist. I was born and spent the early years of my life in Northern Ireland into a Catholic family with

Scottish independence referendum results: what to expect

Coffee House is ready to cover the independence referendum results, and we’ll be bringing you news and analysis throughout the night. Isabel Hardman, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson will be blogging – and you can follow them on Twitter @FraserNelson, @IsabelHardman and @JGForsyth for immediate reaction. Polls close at 10 o’clock tonight – but anyone still queuing will be allowed to vote. There’s no exit poll so we won’t have an immediate estimate of the result. Votes will be counted in each of Scotland’s 32 council areas, and as each council’s total is checked and accepted by the Chief Counting Officer, Mary Pitcaithly, the local counting officers will be able to announce their result.

Fraser Nelson

Whoever wins Scotland’s referendum, the ‘yes’ side has emphatically won the campaign

As I left Edinburgh this morning, en route to Inverness, I passed about four ‘yes’ activists cheerily wishing me good morning, asking if I have voted and would I like a ‘yes’ sticker if I had. It worked: on the way to Waverley, people were wearing the ‘yes’ stickers with nary a ‘no’ to be seen. If I were a ‘no’ voter heading for the polling station, I may wonder if I was actually on the wrong side of history. That a party was happening in one room, and I was heading to another – but that there was still time to change my mind. You have to hand it

A No vote will create a schism between the voters of Scotland and its artists and writers

With the Scottish independence referendum drawing closer, two Newsweek Europe magazine correspondents and friends – Finlay Young (Scotsman), and Simon Akam (Englishman) – travelled the length of the United Kingdom together. They tried to get to the bottom of the independence debate, interviewing politicians, writers, artists, activists, and ‘ordinary’ citizens en route. In this excerpt from their unique dual-narrative 20,000 word account Scotsman Englishman, they meet two well-known Glasgow artists in favour of Yes, author Alasdair Gray and Belle & Sebastian songwriter Stuart Murdoch. Finlay Young (FY) – On this almighty Glasgow Wednesday, on the Yes side we will meet arguably Scotland’s greatest living writer, arguably Scotland’s finest living songwriter, arguably Scotland’s

Fraser Nelson

The Union is saved – but at what cost?

The worst has not happened; Scotland has not seceded from the United Kingdom. But David Cameron will have known some time ago that, whichever side won in the referendum, there would be no victory. This morning, the United Kingdom wakes up to one of the biggest constitutional messes in its history. Given that the unionists had the best product to sell — Britain — it is alarming that they were supported by only 55 per cent of Scots. For months, the opinion polls had suggested far bigger support. The unionists may have won the election, but the separatists emphatically won the campaign. The Prime Minister had to turn to Gordon

Hugo Rifkind

The ‘no’ campaign’s problem was that it sounded like me

Journalistically speaking, it’s been a good year to be Scottish and Jewish. Had I been a Welsh Zoroastrian, say, I doubt I’d have had nearly so much to say. In recent months, obviously, it’s been the Scottish thing that has really taken off. I used to be marginally Scottish, irrelevantly Scottish; never realising that a period of being helpfully Scottish was just around the corner. I suppose it’s a bit like the presumptions that some bilingual people have, that other people must, must be able to speak other languages really. I think I just assumed that the rest of London’s media knew plenty about Scotland, but tended not to talk

The brutal truth? Britain lacks the reach to bring any ISIS killer to justice

The words are strong, the sentiment behind them no doubt heartfelt. ‘We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes,’ said David Cameron, speaking as Britain recoiled in horror at yet another jihadist beheading video, this time of a British man, David Haines. Sadly, Cameron’s promises are empty. Ask a Whitehall official how many suspected murderers of British hostages have been brought to justice and there is a long silence. ‘Let me get back to you on that,’ said one this week. There is a depressing pattern. In 2004, Ken Bigley, from Liverpool, was beheaded in Iraq by

Isabel Hardman

Salmond uses final rally to congratulate campaigners

Anyone listening to Alex Salmond’s final pro-independence rally tonight in Perth might have been forgiven for thinking the ‘Yes’ campaign was in the lead in the polls. He used most of it to congratulate his side for running such a successful campaign and for changing Scotland before the final result had even been declared. There was much less of a pitch for any undecided voters watching, unless the First Minister had concluded that anyone who was still wavering would be swayed by the idea that his guys had already won. listen to ‘Salmond: The referendum is ‘our opportunity of a lifetime’’ on Audioboo He told the audience that ‘what has emerged

Vote for Britain to be a force for good in the world. Vote to keep the Union

I have been almost silent about the Scottish independence campaign. Not just because, like a lot of British people, I had assumed that this terrible matter would never have been opened unless people who know more than me were certain that the union would continue. But also because there has been a stifling of debate which has even carried me along. Since the start of this campaign there has been a whittling down of who is and who is not a suitable person to speak about it. Anybody who doesn’t live in Scotland at the moment – even if we have in the past, or were born and brought up there – has

Fraser Nelson

The Scottish jobs miracle is an argument for Union, not independence

One of the more bizarre aspects of the Scottish independence debate is the idea that UK welfare reform somehow doesn’t fit Scotland. On the contrary, it was designed for Glasgow – the Easterhouse housing scheme, to be specific, after a visit which changed Iain Duncan Smith’s whole career. And the other point about these reforms is that they’re actually working. Today’s figures show that the number of Scots in employment is rising by almost 500 a day. A grand total of 2.62 million are now at work in Scotland – never in the country’s history has it had so many in work. And why? It’s the same phenomenon that you see