Politics Archives

Saturday

7 Jun 2014

Cameron should stop the Tory wars – or send for the man who can

Modern Conservatives seem to be allergic to success. Every time things are going right, the party spasms. Sir John Major’s government nurtured a remarkable economic recovery, yet was beaten after its infighting appalled voters. In opposition, David Cameron acquired a habit of blowing opinion poll leads — a habit he did not, alas, shake off in time for the general election. And now, just as a Conservative victory at the next election looks likely, war has broken out again. What should have been a day of success for Michael Gove has ended in his being forced to apologise for briefing against officials in Theresa May’s department. And the Home Secretary,

Isabel Hardman

May adviser resigns as Cameron takes control of extremism row

Theresa May’s adviser Fiona Cunningham has resigned as part of the fallout from the Cabinet row over extremism as David Cameron seeks to regain control of his ministers. The Prime Minister today received the results of Sir Jeremy Heywood’s investigation into the row, which exploded onto the front page of the Times and spread like wildfire through other media as the Gove and May camps briefed against one another. Both have been set tasks by the PM to demonstrate that this row is over. Gove has written to Charles Farr and Cameron apologising for his briefing over lunch to the Times which sparked the row. As for the furious response

James Forsyth

Michael Gove’s moral mission

Few modern-day political speeches need to be read in full, but Michael Gove’s today does. The speech to Policy Exchange’s Education Conference contains what must be the moral core of modern-day Conservatism, that disadvantage must not be destiny. Though, the speech does take a very Blairite approach to means. Gove declares that ‘what’s right is what works’. The headlines have been grabbed by Gove’s argument that illiteracy can be ended in a generation. This is a noble aim and there’s no reason why this country should be so accepting of educational failure as it is. It is hard to dispute this part of Gove’s argument: ‘How can it be right

Fraser Nelson

Why politicians should turn, turn, turn to the bible for timeless prose

The Bible may be creeping its way back into England’s classrooms if advice from University of Exeter study is taken But it misses a trick by suggesting that kids are asked. to re-tell Bible stories – rather than study its best passages as examples of word craftsmanship. When the folk singer Pete Seeger died recently, a BBC announcer explained that he had written the song ‘Turn, turn, turn” (the Byrds’ version is posted above). He had a little help: the song is straight from Book of Ecclesiastes with one word, ‘turn’, slotted in by Seeger. As he knew, these words have lost none of their power over the millennia. The

Friday

6 Jun 2014

Jeremy Browne

In a saturated political market, the Lib Dems must define themselves by their liberalism

The British political marketplace increasingly represents a busy bazaar. It is chaotic and unpredictable. The old assumptions about fixed allegiances are crumbling. Customers shop around. They feel little obligation to be loyal. Their attention can be attracted by innovative new propositions. To succeed in this furtive and fluid environment every political party needs to have a distinctive core proposition. The politicians who capture the public imagination have a clearly defined sales pitch. They stand for something unambiguous and argue for it with conviction. Their positions are black-and-white and their style is colourful. In this new era the absence of a unique selling point is a big problem. There is little

Isabel Hardman

How the Conservatives turned Labour’s attack dog into their PR agent

Here’s a clever way to get more exposure for your political slogan. You say it so often in speeches, press releases and planted questions from the whips that it seeps everywhere, you start dreaming it, and your opponents get very cross indeed. Then your opponents accidentally say your political slogan while all mithered. Then they get a bit jealous that it’s popping up in every single piece of government literature so they complain about this political slogan, which they mention, again, thus ensuring it reaches more and more and more people. Bravo to an opposition that stays calm in the face of a barrage of ‘long-term economic plans’ designed to

Isabel Hardman

George Osborne has won over the IMF to austerity. Now can he win over Eric Pickles to planning reform?

Fresh from celebrating the Tories’ victory in Newark, George Osborne is continuing a very joyful day by celebrating the International Monetary Fund admitting that it got it wrong on austerity. Christine Lagarde today conceded that ‘we underestimated the growth of the UK economy in our growth forecast a year ago’. The report the IMF published today contains its usual mix of things that all parties can celebrate: plenty of compliments for the Government such as ‘the economy has rebounded strongly and growth is becoming more balanced’, along with criticisms that Labour finds useful for its press releases. Osborne has very little to worry about immediately from the main criticism, which

Sebastian Payne

Six things we’ve learnt from the Newark by-election

So, the Tories have managed to hold onto Newark with a surprising 7,000 majority. For Ukip, it was a disappointing evening as they failed to come close to taking the seat. Despite adding 22 points to their 2010 vote share, the march of the People’s Army has encountered some unexpectedly difficult terrain. There were some interesting signs about the state of the parties and some hints as to what we might see in the general election next year. Here are six things that we’ve learnt from Newark: 1. Ukip are far from a Westminster breakthrough Despite picking a local candidate in Roger Helmer and putting in a significant amount of

Fraser Nelson

Scotland’s mature teenagers make the case for all voting to start age 16

I went back to my old school last week, Nairn Academy, taking my family to my native Highlands for half-term. I learned two things: that the gorgeous northeast of Scotland is one of the best places in Europe to go with young kids, knocking the spots of any of the overseas venues where I stupidly tried to holiday before*. The second, more important lesson is that the pupils of Nairn Academy are not just ferociously bright but thought-leaders to boot. A few months ago, they rejected independence in a referendum – and a survey out today shows that two-thirds of the 16- and 17-year olds able to vote in September intend to

Isabel Hardman

The Tories have triumphed in Newark. Can they do the same in a national campaign?

The Tories now have a great deal of confidence after Newark. It’s not just, as George Osborne said on the Today programme this morning, that ‘this all shows that if you’ve got a plan that is working for the country and you’ve got a good local candidate, as we did in Robert Jenrick, people respond to that’. It’s also that the party managed to run a very slick and energetic campaign. listen to ‘George Osborne: Newark result a ‘disastrous result’ for Labour’ on Audioboo

Rod Liddle’s ‘humour with a philosophical purpose’

At times hilariously funny and full of insight, Selfish, Whining Monkeys is a profound analysis of how British culture has changed in the last 60 years. Rod Liddle advances his argument by comparing the attitudes and beliefs of his parents’ generation with the equivalent today and skilfully interleaves tales from his own childhood and early life. The values of his parents are summed up as ‘work hard, save money, don’t shag around, marry for love and for life, don’t get pissed, don’t gamble, do as you’re told’. He doesn’t want to go back in every respect. There have been many beneficial improvements but, he concludes, ‘I, and my generation, seem

James Forsyth

Tories hold Newark with a 7,000 majority

The Tories have held Newark with a comfortable majority of 7,000 plus. The party will be relieved to have won and delighted with the size of their majority over Ukip which was far larger than the 2,500 that Nigel Farage had been predicting earlier in the night. There will be relief in Downing Street and CCHQ that they have sidestepped this banana skin. Considering that the by-election was a result of the disgrace of the previous Tory MP Patrick Mercer and took place only 11 days after Ukip had topped the poll in the European Elections, it had the potential to be a disaster for the Tories that could have

Thursday

5 Jun 2014

Peter Jones

What Julius Caesar would have done about Nigel Farage

Our politicians are desperately keen to turn the toast of the people, Nigel Farage, into toast himself. But is that wise? Time to consider the career of the Roman general Marius (157–86 BC). Noble families — i.e. those who had held high office — dominated Roman politics. Marius did not come from a noble family, but it was wealthy, and it did have good connections, which Marius later improved by marrying an aunt of Julius Caesar. Thanks largely to his considerable military prowess, he worked his way up the slippery pole, and made his mark in 107 BC when he became consul on a people’s programme, and six times subsequently. First,

The Spectator

Now it’s Gove vs May – will Tory wars ever stop?

[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_5_June_2014_v4.mp3″ title=”Zac Goldsmith, Chris Skidmore and Fraser Nelson discuss the latest Tory wars” startat=40] Listen [/audioplayer]Modern Conservatives seem to be allergic to success. Every time things are going right, the party spasms. Sir John Major’s government nurtured a remarkable economic recovery, yet was beaten after its infighting appalled voters. In opposition, David Cameron acquired a habit of blowing opinion poll leads — a habit he did not, alas, shake off in time for the general election. And now, just as a Conservative victory at the next election looks likely, the party has decided to lose its head again. The feuding between Michael Gove and Theresa May is, in part, a problem

Charles Moore

Jean-Claude Juncker is stale, grey and likes his booze. That’s why Cameron should back him

David Cameron is surely right to think that Jean-Claude Juncker is not the man to relieve the European Union’s woes, but I wonder if it is worth a fight. It reminds me of a similar battle by John Major, in 1994, to prevent a fat Belgian called Jean-Luc Dehaene from getting the job, on the grounds that he was too federalist. The post then duly went to Jacques Santer — like M. Juncker, a Luxembourgeois with an alleged fondness for alcohol (he was known as ‘Sancerre’). M. Santer was no better, from the British point of view, than M. Dehaene, and some European diplomatic chips were pointlessly used up. Given Mr Cameron’s stated

The Spectator

Is it normal for monarchs to abdicate? Yes!

Game of thrones The Spanish king, Juan Carlos, announced that he is to abdicate in favour of his son, Prince Felipe. Is the Queen becoming unusual among Europe’s remaining monarchs in declining to abdicate with age? Belgium: Philippe became king in 2013 following the abdication of his father, Albert II, at the age of 79. Denmark: Queen Margrethe, 74, became queen after the death of her father, Frederik IX, in 1972. Luxembourg: Grand Duke Henri ascended after his father, Grand Duke Jean, abdicated in 2000 aged 79. Netherlands: Willem Alexander became king after the abdication of his mother, Queen Beatrix, in 2013 aged 75. Norway: Harald V became king on

The Spectator

As it happened: Newark by-election results

Welcome to our live blog for the results of the Newark by-election. We’ll be providing commentary and analysis throughout the night. This page will automatically reload every minute. 4:00am: James Forsyth concludes our live blog with his take on the by-election results: The Tories have held Newark with a comfortable majority of 7,000 plus. The party will be relieved to have won and delighted with the size of their majority over Ukip which was far larger than the 2,500 that Nigel Farage had been predicting earlier in the night. There will be relief in Downing Street and CCHQ that they have sidestepped this banana skin. Considering that the by-election was

Charles Moore

What’s the fuss about Juncker? Better a drunken, useless federalist than an effective, sober one

David Cameron is surely right to think that Jean-Claude Juncker is not the man to relieve the European Union’s woes, but I wonder if it is worth a fight. It reminds me of a similar battle by John Major, in 1994, to prevent a fat Belgian called Jean-Luc Dehaene from getting the job, on the grounds that he was too federalist. The post then duly went to Jacques Santer — like M. Juncker, a Luxembourgeois with an alleged fondness for alcohol (he was known as ‘Sancerre’). M. Santer was no better, from the British point of view, than M. Dehaene, and some European diplomatic chips were pointlessly used up. Given Mr Cameron’s stated wish

Peter Robins

Clement Attlee’s conversion

In the early 1960s, The Spectator ran a series called ‘John Bull’s first job’ – reminiscences by various prominenti about how they started out. One of the most startling, published in the 13 December 1963 issue, was by the former Labour prime minister Clement Attlee, respectfully bylined ‘Lord Attlee’, on his time as a young barrister. His verdict on himself was characteristically terse and frank, and gives a vivid impression of a turning point in his life: ‘I got very few briefs and occasionally devilled for someone else, but made very little headway. I was at the time ridiculously shy. I was not really much interested in law and had

James Forsyth

Nigel Farage is trying to modernise Ukip

Get Nigel Farage talking about Ukip and its political strategy, and you’ll soon notice how he uses the phrase ‘New Ukip’ to describe the party’s more targeted approach. It is a sign that, unlikely as it may seem, Farage is a moderniser. Farage knows that Ukip needs MPs at Westminster if it is to become a permanent presence on the political scene. He also knows that to win these seats it is not enough to just appeal to disillusioned Tories. So, Ukip trying to broaden its reach, to win over disaffected Labour voters even at the risk of alienating some of its existing support. The party made some inroads into