Politics

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

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Theresa May’s apology to Andrew Mitchell

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee this afternoon, Theresa May said it would be ‘appropriate’ for the West Mercia chief constable to apologise to Andrew Mitchell over the way the ‘Plebgate’ allegations were handled. She was being questioned on the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s report, published this morning, which found that there was an ‘issue of honesty and integrity’ which went above ‘merely naive or poor professional judgment’ on the part of three Police Federation officers who gave an account of a meeting with Mitchell following the ‘plebgate’ allegations that contradicted the claims of the former chief whip. The report said West Mercia Police’s own investigation into the

Steerpike Steerpike

YouGov’s undercover conference

This year’s party conference season was hardly memorable, but YouGov’s Joe Twyman seems to have made the most of what was on offer. In a post on the polling organisation’s website, Twyman writes: ‘At the Labour conference in Brighton I met someone who, it subsequently transpired, had even gone as far as having ‘It’s the Economy, Stupid’ tattooed on her body, albeit out of public view.’ Mr Steerpike is intrigued by how it ‘subsequently transpired’ to Twyman that this woman had a private tattoo on her body.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Afriyie amendments continue to wait hopefully for supporters

Oh dear. Poor old Adam Afriyie. Just over a week ago he was boasting of a ‘cross party’ campaign behind his amendment to James Wharton’s EU referendum bill. Now the updated list of signatures has been supported, and there hasn’t exactly been a stampede of support. Last week, the amendments said this: Adam Afryie Keith Vaz Clause 1, page 1, line 4, leave out ‘before 31 December 2017’ and insert ‘on 23 October 2014’. Adam Afryie Keith Vaz Clause 1, page 1, line 5, leave out subsection (3). And this week, the updated amendments look like this: Adam Afryie Clause 1, page 1, line 4, leave out ‘before 31 December 2017’

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

EU red tape push will give Cameron cover for renegotiation

The government’s business taskforce will give a presentation today to Cabinet on its report on slashing EU regulation. David Cameron has already indicated that he will support the 30 recommendations in the report, compiled by M&S chief executive Marc Bolland, Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire, ATG Access managing director Glenn Cooper, BTG chief executive Louise Makin, entrepreneur Dale Murray and Diageo boss Paul Walsh. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said that he will look to resolve complaints about legislation burdening companies, and Cameron sees this as an important way of showing that Britain can lead on making the case for reform in the European Union as a whole.

Monday

Sebastian Payne

Can we talk about immigration?

Is immigration still a taboo subject? The debate may have opened up for politicians but voters are still anxious about discussing it, as a new poll from Sky News demonstrates. 42 per cent stated they think the current debate about immigration is being unfairly ‘shut down’ by accusations of racism, compared to just 24 per cent who think it is sensible and healthy. 40 per cent also believe they can’t discuss immigration openly because they are worried they will be seen as a bigot. As Nigel Farage has frequently warned, Westminster appears to take a rather different view of immigration. In the last 12 months, all three party leaders have

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Did the next coalition talks just start?

The Tory talk of backing an increase (£) in the personal tax allowance to £12,500 serves several purposes. First, it makes it easier for the Tories to champion raising the rate to £10,000 and it gives them a tax cuts that’s aimed at low and middle income earners. But it also draws a neat dividing line with Labour, which is not keen on this policy, ahead of any future coalition negotiation. Indeed, I understand that thinkers close to Miliband have urged Nick Clegg to drop his attachment to raising the income tax threshold and instead think about using the money for a big universal childcare offer. Danny Alexander has already been out

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Same old ding-dong as Reeves and IDS face off for first time

After insisting that her appointment in no way represented a ‘lurch to the left’ at the weekend by repeating the policy pronouncements that her predecessor was allowed to come out with, Rachel Reeves pitched up at DWP questions today with the same strategy that Liam Byrne had employed when taking on the Tories on welfare. The new shadow Work and Pensions secretary decided to focus not on who was the toughest on welfare, but on the delivery questions that had occupied Byrne towards the end of his tenure. When it came to her turn at topical questions, she rose and said: ‘We on this side of the House support the

Steerpike Steerpike

Lib Dem spinner: Damian McBride saved my life

Phil Reilly, a Lib Dem spinner, was hit by a car earlier today. He says that a hardback copy of Power Trip by Damian McBride, contained in a bag slung over his shoulder, took the brunt of the impact. ‘It’s possible a copy of @DPMcBride’s book saved my life,’ he tweeted. Readers will recall that Telegraph hack Matthew Holehouse survived being hit by a car last month when he ran across a road in Brighton to witness copies of McBride’s book being sold. Mr Steerpike recommends that Damian McBride fronts a road safety campaign.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson: Visa plan is unclear

It is just two weeks since Boris Johnson came over all loyal at the Conservative party conference. The Mayor, it was reported, was putting his weight behind David Cameron because of the presence of Lynton Crosby and the apparent private offer of a safe seat. But it looks like he’s back to being troublesome by immediately questioning the government’s announcement that it will be relaxing visa rules for Chinese tourists. He told the World at One: ‘Well, we’ll have to see how this scheme actually works because the detail is a little bit unclear to us at the moment and I’m initially very, obviously very supportive and would hope that

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Britain’s stated aim of getting Turkey to join the EU is mad

Rather to my embarrassment, I find that I missed last night’s episode of the BBC2 three-part series on The Ottomans, Europe’s Muslim Conquerors, in which I briefly featured. So Heaven knows what I actually said in it; it’s been a while since filming. But I’m rather hoping that the point I wanted to get across did, viz, that it’s nuts, barking mad, insane, away with the fairies, for Britain to be agitating for Turkey to be part of the EU. On David Cameron’s last visit to Turkey in 2010, he expressed anger at the delay in Turkey’s admission to the Union and blamed opponents for playing on fears of Islam

Steerpike Steerpike

Who wants to be Deputy Speaker?

A new Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons will be elected on Wednesday. Eleanor Laing is said to be the favourite; but Mr S has been reading the runes for the other candidates. Henry Bellingham surprised colleagues by giving a solid speech last week that, according to one backbencher, was ‘witty and had gravitas’. Bellingham, though, is probably too posh to pick up Labour votes. I detect a growing element of ‘who does Simon Burns think he is’ among Tory MPs: Burns is just out of government and now he wants to march straight into a new paid job. Burns is probably seen as too close to the government to

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

No 10: PM has ‘sympathy’ with calls for partial lift of hunting ban

Number 10 didn’t make any effort to shoot the fox hunting story that’s doing the rounds at today’s lobby briefing. Responding to calls from a cross-party group of MPs for a partial lifting of the hunting ban to allow farmers to use a full pack of dogs to flush out foxes, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said this morning that ‘the Prime Minister has some sympathy with these concerns’ around ‘the impact is has on particular farming communities such as hill farmers’. He added that it was significant that these questions had been raised ‘by MPs from across the house’, saying: ‘Given the cross party nature of concerns that have

Simon Hart

The hunting debate returns – and with it, the chance to strengthen the rural vote

So hunting returns to the front page of the Telegraph, just like old times. But today provides an intriguing variation on the norm. Instead of Tories calling on the Prime Minister to scrap the Act (my preferred route) we have Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru leading calls to make some relatively minor changes in the light of a new study into the Hunting Act’s failings. The detail is simple, if a little dull. At the moment farmers can only use two dogs to locate and flush a fox into the open so it can be shot to protect his livestock. The research shows that if you use two dogs instead

Steerpike Steerpike

What do you think of the EU now, Sir Richard?

So goodbye then, Sir Richard Branson. Just one question before you go: will you, from the comfort of your sunny Caribbean tax haven, continue to lecture us about the merits of remaining in the ruinously expensive EU? It would look a little off, no?

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The global race means swallowing pride every so often

George Osborne is in Beijing at the moment, drumming up support for Britain in the global race. Although that doesn’t quite work because Britain is obviously racing China in this global race, but all the same, he wants China to run alongside Britain cheering it, rather than sledging as it steams ahead. And to be able to do that, this country apparently needs to swallow some of its pride about the sort of country that China is. Osborne told Radio 4 this morning: ‘Well what we’ve said is the Prime Minister is not planning to meet the Dalai Lama but of course he did meet the Dalai Lama as previous

Sunday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The truth about Tristram Hunt’s ‘conversion’ on free schools

Much rejoicing in the ranks of education reformers today as just one sinner repents. Tristram Hunt has toldthe Mail On Sunday that Labour doesn’t think free schools are just for ‘yummy mummies’ and that now his party does support free schools, but under the ‘parent-led academies’ banner. This is supposed to be a Damascene moment for Hunt, but really he’s just explaining with greater clarity the stance his predecessor Stephen Twigg took in June. Here is the key line from the MoS: Will PLAs offer everything free schools have got? ‘Yes, but in an area of need, absolutely,’ Hunt enthuses. ‘The innovation, creativity, community engagement you see in the best

Saturday

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

The BBC’s bias on abortion in Northern Ireland is breathtaking

The establishment has a target in its sights; you can always tell from the tone of the Today programme. In this case, it’s Northern Ireland’s abortion law. The occasion is the genuinely tragic case of Sarah Ewart, who travelled to Britain this week in order to abort a foetus with the most severe case of spina bifida, which meant it didn’t have a head. She didn’t want to carry the pregnancy to term and Northern Ireland’s abortion laws at present don’t allow for abortions where the foetus does not actually threaten the life of the mother. Not unlike the intention behind the 1967 abortion law here, then, which is meant

Friday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The Spectator’s two-letter response to politicians’ plans for licensing the press

What part of ‘no’ don’t they understand? Our politicians have proudly unveiled their new plan to license the press, as if this was is in their power to do so. In fact, the press in Britain has been free from political interference for generations. The British government simply does not have the power to regulate the press, so it’s not clear why ministers have wasted their time acting as if this is their problem to solve. The mechanics of the new charter released today are not the issue. What the politicians propose is a near-duplication of the regulation which the press has already  to set up: the £1 million fines, the

Steerpike Steerpike

Further proof that politicians can occasionally be funny

On Wednesday I brought you the news that a politician could actually be funny occasionally. Many of you were shocked, disparaging or simply could not agree, so here is the case for the defence. I’ve got hold of the video of  Nick Clegg’s comedy turn at the LBC 40th Birthday party, so you can be the judge. Eat your heart out, ‘Slacker Johnson’.