Politics

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

Wednesday

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Attorney General was inside No 10 when Cameron recorded Coulson statement

Mr Justice Saunders, who presided over the phone hacking trial, is not impressed with David Cameron and Ed Miliband. He has branded the various political interventions of yesterday afternoon as ‘unsatisfactory so far as justice and the rule of law are concerned.’ Stern words from the bench. One wonders what the government’s lawyers make of them. Indeed, Mr S understands that Dominic Grieve QC, the Attorney General (the government’s chief legal officer), was actually inside No. 10 when Cameron was recording his ‘full and frank apology’ yesterday. Did Grieve advise the Prime Minister? Mr S contacted Grieve’s office. A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office reiterated the long standing convention that they neither confirm

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The hacking trial has seen the Tories unite, but may have damaged Cameron’s character

Today must have been the first that David Cameron thought ‘thank goodness for the Leveson report’ as he prepared for Prime Minister’s Questions. He used the report as a shield in his exchanges with Ed Miliband, waving it about at the despatch box and saying that he had ‘totally disproved him using the evidence’ on a series of accusations that the Labour leader had made about whether or not he ignored warnings about hiring Andy Coulson and bringing him into Downing Street. listen to ‘PMQs: Cameron and Miliband on Coulson’ on Audioboo

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gus O’Donnell: I was not involved in Coulson’s appointment

David Cameron’s claim at PMQs that Gus O’Donnell had been asked at Leveson about whether he had offered any warnings on the hiring of Andy Coulson, was met with bafflement. But O’Donnell’s written submission does address this point. Question 30 – Please set out in full for the inquiry details of your role, if any, in relation to the appointment by the Prime Minster of Andy Coulson to a post in No.10. Your account should include a full explanation of the basis on which you were asked to advise. Mr Coulson was brought in as a special adviser to the Prime Minister. I was not involved in the process of

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The Snooper’s Charter is back – and Nick Clegg will kill it again

That Theresa May is now making a last-ditch effort to revive the ‘Snooper’s Charter’ should come as no surprise to Coffee House readers: we reported in June 2013 that the Tories were mulling introducing something after the 2014 Budget as the Lib Dems would not be able to retaliate with a mansion tax or other such Lim Demmery. May is unlikely to succeed in doing this, though, as the Lib Dems are quite clear that they won’t roll over on a new Communications Data Bill. But the Home Secretary is clearly trying to make the case for some more legislation in the future – and perhaps she hopes that her

Charles Moore Charles Moore

If I were Polish, I’d side with Radek Sikorski — not David Cameron

In his Spectator Notes this week, Charles Moore discusses Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister and former Spectator contributor, who made some disobliging comments about David Cameron this week. Here is a preview of his column… Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, is undoubtedly one of the most dashing figures on the world stage. I first met him in the mid-1980s, possibly when I was a guest of the Oxford Union and Radek who, I seem to remember, was wearing white tie and tails, was on the standing committee. At that time, he was a refugee from communist Poland, having helped organise resistance to martial law, and — though I

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Can Labour weaken Cameron with the hacking trial verdict?

The phone hacking jury will only be about an hour into their continued deliberations when Ed Miliband stands up at Prime Minister’s Questions today, but the Labour leader does seem determined to raise the question of David Cameron’s judgement in hiring Andy Coulson all the same. Harriet Harman did the Labour late shift yesterday on Newsnight in which she pointed out that the Conservative leader ignored warnings about Coulson. Labour’s thesis is that Cameron hired Coulson in spite of those warnings because he was desperate to get closer to the Murdoch empire. The party is certainly right that Cameron was desperate: the Conservatives were not particularly worth joining in 2007

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Gove vs Labour on Cummings, round 56

Michael Gove has this afternoon replied to Labour’s questions about Dominic Cumming’s access to the Education department since finishing as a special adviser. Coffee House has got hold of the letter first. Labour became oddly fixated on whether or not Cummings was still visiting the department, rather than on his stinging criticisms of David Cameron and the Number 10 operation as ‘bumbling’ and a stumbling block for reform. So Gove’s reply to Kevin Brennan’s letter demanding more details is quite easy. He says he doesn’t know how often Cummings has visited the department. And that’s that, save for a gratuitous and teasing reference to the long-term economic plan… Here’s the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

David Cameron: I’m sorry for my ‘wrong decision’ in hiring Andy Coulson

In the past few minutes, David Cameron has apologised in Downing Street for a ‘wrong decision’ in hiring Andy Coulson. He said in 2011 that he would apologise if he had been lied to about phone hacking, and now he has. It wasn’t the longest of apologies, but it came quickly. He said: ‘Well, I take full responsibility for employing Andy Coulson, I did so on the basis of undertakings I was given by him about phone hacking and those turn out not to be the case. I always said that if they turned out to be wrong, I would make a full and frank apology and I do that

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

There’s poison in the Shadow Cabinet – and it could cost Ed Miliband the election

That Ed Miliband is even having to state that he wants to carry on as Labour leader if he loses the general election when his party is ahead in the polls shows what a mess the operation around him is. There are a number of Shadow Cabinet members who seem more interested in what happens after the 2015 election than in their party’s chances in that election. Perhaps this is because they have decided that though their party is ahead now, voters will panic about Miliband as they start to try imagining him as Prime Minister. Better to get your off-the-record briefings in now, and not make too much of

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Queen refuses to play Game of Thrones

The Queen has visited the set of Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland. Frankly, she did not look that enamoured with the Iron Throne. Much to the disappointment of the gathered media, she did not sit down. In fact, she seemed indifferent to the hype…

David Skelton

Britain must realise George Osborne’s vision of a northern powerhouse

If you walk around our great northern cities, you’ll see stunning examples of civic pride. Albert Square in Manchester and Leeds Town Hall reflect resurgent local confidence. Old narratives of northern decline are out of date. When Guardian writer Andy Beckett launched a hatchet job on the north-east a few weeks ago, claiming that the region was the ‘next Detroit’, the response was visceral and immediate. Beckett managed to write an entire article about the north-east without mentioning Nissan – the most productive car plant in Europe. The North is home to new tech hubs, advanced manufacturing, superb universities and world-leading culture, from sport to music to art. The north-east

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Liam Byrne’s burger flip

‘As someone who started work behind a fry station in McDonald’s, I know that any job is better than no job,’ says former Labour minister turned Miliband demotee, Liam Byrne in a speech today. ‘But I also know that a good job is better than a bad one and right now we’re simply not producing enough good jobs’. Byrne graduated to become a merchant banker at Rothschild. But he hasn’t always been so critical of his ‘would you like fries with that’ days? Just a few months ago, he was reading from a very different menu: ‘One of the highlights of the week was a visit to Bordesley Green McDonalds [sic]. I started my

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Hunt: Better to be isolated and right in Europe

Is it a good thing that David Cameron now appears isolated in Europe as he continues to dig a hole that Jean-Claude Juncker almost certainly won’t fall into? Jeremy Hunt tried to argue on the Today programme this morning that it was, saying that people would respect an isolated Prime Minister who was prepared to make the right argument. He said: ‘Sometimes leadership is lonely, but if it is the right thing to do for Britain, I’m glad that we have got a strong prime minister who’s prepared to take those steps, even if it means that he is isolated from time-to-time, I think people in Europe will respect the

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

What we learned from leaked tapes showing Poland’s Radek Sikorski turning on Cameron

Other than the revelation that politicians like to use bad language (hardly a shock to Coffee House readers), what have we learned from the tapes, leaked to Polish magazine Wprost, of Polish government ministers and officials? The tapes include conversations about Britain’s European policy, and they are not complimentary. Open Europe have translated the key exchanges, and offered some points here, but here are a few further thoughts: 1. Senior Polish politicians are resigned to Britain leaving the EU in 2017. Former Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski and Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski discuss David Cameron’s EU strategy, with Rostowski concluding that ‘I think it’ll be the case that [Cameron] will lose

James Forsyth James Forsyth

David Cameron is determined to fight Jean-Claude Juncker to the end

The family photo at this week’s EU summit will be a particularly awkward affair. EU leaders will have just come from listening to the last post at the Menin Gate, the memorial to the British and Commonwealth dead of the Ypres campaign, but they will know that they are about to have an unholy row over dinner as David Cameron tries to stop Jean-Claude Juncker from becoming President of the European Commission. Aware of how bad all this looks, the head of the EU Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has been busy trying to prevent a row at Ypres. Cameron and Van Rompuy had a ‘full and frank’ discussion about the

Michael Fabricant

Michael Fabricant: my 20-year record has been undone by a tweet about Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

I could never appear on a discussion prog with @y_alibhai I would either end up with a brain haemorrhage or by punching her in the throat — Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) June 20, 2014 Tony Blair, when Leader of the Opposition, berated Prime Minister John Major across the Dispatch Box: ‘The Tories are racists, misogynists, homophobes and xenophobes’ he claimed. I shouted from the backbenches ‘I’m not!’ and Blair agreed. I had already voted for greater rights for women seeking an abortion, lowering the age of homosexual consent to 16 and for improving the rights of immigrants in the UK. I was a social liberal when it was unfashionable in the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Even Nick Clegg likes George Osborne’s HS3 rail commitment

George Osborne’s commitment to a third high speed rail link in the future has gone down well this morning with a nice spread of business groups, northern MPs and Conservatives worried about the Tory appeal (or lack thereof) in the North. It has even gone down well with Nick Clegg, who has released a statement welcoming the Chancellor’s commitment, while of course arguing that the Lib Dems got there first. Clegg’s spokesman said: ‘Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have led the charge in government to rebalance our economy so that it benefits 100,000 square miles of the country, rather than just one square mile in the City of London.

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Is Lord Coe the ‘suitable candidate’ for the BBC Trust?

Applications to become Chairman of the BBC Trust close on Friday. Plenty of noise was made early on the race about the need for a totally committed successor, after Chris Patten stood accused of not giving the £110,000 a year job his full attention. The official job specification published by the Cabinet Office stated: ‘The time commitment for the Trust Chairman has been 3-4 days per week (or 12-16 days per month).’ Late in the day though, a source familiar with the selection process points out that an additional sentence has been added to the advert: ‘However, suitable candidates able to offer a lesser time commitment will also be considered.’

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

George Osborne: I want to create a Northern powerhouse

Ever since George Osborne took on Neil O’Brien as one of his advisers in the Treasury the Chancellor has shown a growing interest in the need to heal the North/South divide and the difference between Planet London and the rest of the UK. Today Osborne will underline that concern about the way the country’s economy is lopsided by announcing his intention for a third high-speed rail link to connect Leeds and Manchester. At a speech in Manchester, Osborne will say: ‘We need a northern powerhouse too. Not one city, but a collection of northern cities – sufficiently close to each other than combined they can take on the world. Able