Politics Archives

Thursday

31 Jul 2014

David Cameron can’t afford any more slip-ups

From now until September 18th, the Scottish referendum will rightly dominate national politics. Tuesday night’s debate between Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond is the Yes campaign’s last and best chance to gather the momentum it needs to pull off an improbable victory. But, as British Election Survey data shows, the result of the referendum is not a foregone conclusion. If the ‘undecideds’ keep breaking the same way, the result will be No 53.6 per cent, Yes 44.6 per cent. This is too close for comfort. But if Scotland votes No, attention will quickly shift to next May’s UK election. It is a sign of how speeded-up our politics has become

Steerpike

Fifty shades of Grayling

With the delicacy of an Israeli F-16, the Tories entered the summer campaign today with an achingly dull speech in Westminster. Something about Labour and the unions. Mud flew everywhere. You know the drill. It was less than a minute — forty seven seconds to be precise — before the charisma-free zone that is Chris Grayling spluttered the Tory catchphrase ‘long term economic plan’. The fun did not end there. Oh no. Grayling is the model of the modern politician; but, even so, it is impressive for a man to speak for twenty minutes almost entirely in banal cliché. Apparently it’s all a ‘big con’. Labour, you see, would ‘turn

Alex Massie

Tunes of Numpties: Scottish novelists on independence

There are many ways to commission fat-headed political analysis but, in my experience, by far the easiest is to ask a novelist his (or her) opinion on the great issues of the day. Better still, ask several. That way you can be sure you’ll get something even the student version of the Socialist Worker might think twice before publishing. There are, of course, exceptions. Some of them quite close to home, in my view. Nevertheless (as Miss Spark so often said) the general rule applies: asking writers for their views on politics is no more useful or sensible than asking gravediggers or sheep shearers their opinion. It may be interesting;

James Forsyth

Why this could be David Cameron’s last summer in politics

[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_31_July_2014_v4.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Alex Massie discuss the election and the Scottish referendum” startat=1808] Listen [/audioplayer]At this time of year, whenever you see a British politician looking particularly busy, you can take it as a sign that they are about to go off on holiday. In this puritanical age, nearly all political leaders are afraid to be seen enjoying themselves, and few dare take a break without making sure we all know they’ve earned it. Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg are splitting their summer holidays in two this year to avoid being accused of slacking off. Any sensible politician should make sure of a proper rest this summer.

Wednesday

30 Jul 2014

The Spectator

‘Unity at home and strength abroad’. Britain prepares for WW1 by postponing Irish home rule

The outbreak of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in July 1914 forced British politicians to postpone the Amending Bill for Irish home rule. This was momentous because Nationalists and Unionists had been on the verge of civil war (see picture above) over the amendments, which concerned the exclusion of the six counties of Ulster. The Spectator noted, gravely, that a continental war appeared to be unavoidable, so the nation must pull together. ‘Unity at home and strength abroad,’ it demanded. The Spectator also suggested that the ‘national energy is best conserved and best applied by a Liberal Government supported by a Unionist Opposition’ with Asquith’s Liberal Cabinet supplement by prominent Conservatives such as Lord

James Forsyth

Why won’t the Salmond / Darling debate be shown in England?

The future of Britain is at stake, but you wouldn’t know it from how ITV is behaving. On Tuesday, STV will broadcast a live debate between Alex Salmond and the leader of the No campaign, Alistair Darling. This promises to be one of the pivotal moments in the referendum campaign. But, depressingly, the only way anyone outside of Scotland will be able to watch it is on the internet via STV Player. The failure to put it on ITV across the whole of the UK reflects the failure to understand that, while only the residents of Scotland may have vote in the independence referendum, the result will affect all of

David Blackburn

David Cameron hints at tax cuts for Middle England

The Telegraph’s Christopher Hope tweets the news that David Cameron is open to raising the threshold for the 40p rate: NEWS! PM: “I would love to raise the 40p tax threshold, I understand the problem, but would have to look at the books before doing it” — Christopher Hope (@christopherhope) July 30, 2014 The Telegraph has been pushing for this change for some time. Cameron has, in political terms, flashed a bit of thigh at Middle England. One of the strange features of this parliament is how little credit the government gets for keeping taxes low. This sense was reinforced recently by one of Lord Ashcroft’s polls, which found

Henry Robinson

British farming cannot turn its back on the EU

Much has been made of the political debate at the 2014 CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace. The attendance of the new Environment Secretary Liz Truss, Ukip leader Nigel Farage and former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson (less than a week after the government reshuffle) has given rise to a general debate about where the rural constituency, or countryside vote, currently sits on the political map. The CLA is studiously apolitical. It is a membership organisation with more than 33,000 members who together own and manage more than half the rural land in England and Wales and represent over 300 types of rural businesses. Our priority is to represent our members’

David Blackburn

Labour wants you to pay more tax. But what about its tax bill?

Westminster has got in a tizz overnight because Andy Burnham has been taped saying that he still favours a ‘death tax’ of 10-15%, on top of 40% inheritance tax, to pay for social care. Burnham concocted a similar plan before the last election, only for Gordon Brown (even dear old Gordon Brown recognised a loser) drop it. Guido has a recording of Burnham’s comments, which were made at the Fabian Society’s Summer Conference in June. Burnham was musing aimlessly, rather than articulating party policy. But, that said, one might easily draw the conclusion from this and other musings, such as Harriet Harman’s views on sports betting and football, that Labour

Tuesday

29 Jul 2014

Alexander Chancellor

Why Ed Miliband’s public image matters

For a politician to draw attention to his own deficiencies is a desperate attempt to curry favour with the electorate that has been tried before with dismal consequences. The most famous case is that of the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith who, at his 2002 party conference, addressed the problem of his dullness as a political performer by saying that no one should ‘underestimate the determination of a quiet man’. One result was that Labour backbenchers would raise a finger to their lips and say ‘shush’ whenever this croaky-voiced man was speaking in the House of Commons. He tried to sound tougher at the next year’s Conservative conference by

David Blackburn

Moeen Ali reminds us that sometimes sport is the only place for politics

Moeen Ali, the England cricketer, faces a possible reprimand after the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game’s governing body, censured him for wearing two wristbands, one saying ‘Save Gaza’, the other ‘Free Palestine’. International cricketers are, you see, prohibited from making political statements on the field. The English Cricket Board, which is not above making political statements (as its various boycotts of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe suggest), dissents from the ICC’s view, and says that Moeen’s stance is ‘humanitarian not political’. What, then, of ‘Save Gaza’ and ‘Free Palestine’? There is politics here. And, yes, it is partial. The ECB is disingenuous to suggest that this is a merely ‘humanitarian’ sentiment. But

Steerpike

Ed Miliband’s ‘new politics’ update

Derision met Labour when news emerged that more than half of its prospective parliamentary candidates are former special advisers, party workers, researchers, lobbyists or ex-MPs. Ed Miliband (PPE, Corpus Christi College, Oxford) heralded a ‘new politics’ when he took over the party; yet his top team embodies the political class: Ed Balls (PPE, Keble College, Oxford), his wife Yvette Cooper (PPE, Balliol College, Oxford); Angela Eagle (PPE, St John’s College, Oxford) and her sister Maria Eagle (PPE, Pembroke College, Oxford). Some Labour frontbenchers who didn’t go to Oxford worked as Special Advisers for the last Labour government; many others did both. Most of us, of course, have done neither. There

Miriam Gross

Why does Richard Evans choose to vent his spleen on untrained teachers?

I knew that the historian Sir Richard Evans was a rather abrasive and quarrelsome man, but I was staggered by his vicious attack on Michael Gove in the Guardian last week. Here’s Evans’s first sentence: ‘Gove presided over the disintegration of our school system; he opened up teaching to untrained people in state schools, because he had contempt for professional educationalists. The restoration of professional teaching in our schools must now be an urgent priority.’ What? Those who follow these things will know that the two men have a history of exchanging insults, but how bizarre of Evans to vent his spleen on untrained teachers. Many great teachers are untrained

Steven Woolfe

Ukip: David Cameron’s immigration policy is vacuous and cynical posturing

I have described David Cameron’s posturing on immigration today as vacuous and cynical, for that is exactly what it is. Cynical because once again he seems determined to fool the British people into believing that we can seriously have our own immigration policy whilst remaining inside the EU. We can’t. Vacuous because his policy solution seems to consist of tinkering around the edges of the problem instead of dealing with it head on. Under his government, net migration levels per annum remain in the hundreds of thousands, with citizens from twenty-seven other nations allowed to come and go as they please. What Britain really needs is a tough, solid, Australian-style immigration system.

Steerpike

The mysterious case of David Ruffley’s letter

There is much hullaballoo this morning about how slow the Tories were to act over David Ruffley, the disgraced MP who announced last night that he will not stand for Bury St. Edmunds at the next election following the fallout from his accepting a police caution after a violent domestic incident with his former partner. Mr S understands that Ruffley told Tory High Command that his former partner had written a letter which downplayed the domestic incident and said that Ruffley’s acceptance of a caution was a way to resolve the issue quickly and amicably. It was thought that this letter, when produced, would head off criticism of Ruffley. But the stern

Alex Massie

Who cares whether English commentators like or respect Scotland?

Because the Commonwealth Games are a thing and because newspapers need to fill their pages every day it is natural, even unavoidable, that they have in recent days been stuffed with pundits pontificating on the political significance of the games. Being a mere and humble freelance hack I wrote one such piece for the Daily Mail earlier this week even though I also stand by my suspicion that the political implications of these games are much too easily and keenly exaggerated. But that does not mean all such commentary is worthless or lacking interest. Here, for instance, is Lesley Riddoch writing in today’s edition of the Scotsman: [A] subtle and powerful political point

Andy Silvester

After Mercer, Hancock, Miller and now Ruffley, we need a proper MPs Recall Bill

There seem to have been few people who did not offer their two cents on David Ruffley. From domestic violence charities to his political opponents, in the chattering classes and in the blogosphere, all kinds of people felt the need to share their opinion about whether it was appropriate for the Bury St Edmunds MP to remain in Parliament after accepting a police caution for assaulting a former partner. However, save a few local political and religious leaders who have a platform from which to be heard, one group has been if not entirely silent then entirely powerless throughout: the constituents whom Mr Ruffley serves. Indeed, the people who sent

David Blackburn

David Cameron aims at Ukip and attacks Labour with immigration clamp-down

The government has unveiled a set of measures to curb immigration. David Cameron has written an article in the Telegraph about what the government has already achieved and what it plans to do now. He has three themes. 1). To tackle illegal immigration. Cameron says that the government has shut more than 750 of ‘bogus’ colleges. He wants to go further: colleges will lose their licenses if 10 per cent of their pupils are refused visas. Cameron also repeats some of the provisions of the Immigration Act 2014. From November, for example, a system will be imposed to ensure that landlords have to account for the immigration status of their

Monday

28 Jul 2014

James Forsyth

David Ruffley to stand down as an MP

David Ruffley has announced that he is standing down as an MP at the next election. Ruffley’s decision follows the story about him being cautioned by the police following a domestic incident with his partner going from being a local story to a national one, driven in large part by the indefatigable Guido Fawkes. Ruffley’s decision to resign has spared the Conservatives what would have been a difficult decision. On the one hand, there was the issue of domestic violence and its total unacceptability. On the other, there was the duty of care that the party owed an MP who has had some difficulties in the past few years. But

James Forsyth

Betty Boothroyd and peers set to rebuke Cameron over Baroness Stowell’s exclusion from Cabinet

Update: In a sign of the strength of feeling in the Lords on this matter, Boothroyd’s motion rebuking Cameron passed by 177 votes to 29. This foolish, unforced error now promises to make Cameron’s life more difficult than it needs be between now and March next year. What should worry Cameron most is how cross the peers, including the Tories, are about the whole situation. A considerable number of Tory peers, including some you would view as Cameron loyalists, are intending to turn up and vote with Boothroyd tonight. This makes a government defeat more likely than not. Ministers, though, seem surprisingly unbothered about the prospect of losing this vote. I suspect