Politics Archives

Thursday

5 Sep 2013

The Spectator’s Notes | 5 September 2013

David Cameron says that he will not come back to the House of Commons again about the question of Syria because Parliament has spoken. Obviously, having sought its opinion, he cannot now try to override it. But no one can know how the issue will now play out, and it may well be that new circumstances (major foreign interventions, for example) will change everything. Parliament cannot make foreign policy decisions in advance of facts, and therefore should not try. Foreign policy is not like legislation: it is protean. The House of Commons should support the government when it gets it right and arraign it when it gets it wrong. It

Isabel Hardman

Liam Byrne’s vulture strategy

David Aaronovitch’s furious Times column this morning described Ed Miliband as a vulture, swooping down on problems caused by this government rather than leading. If he wanted another example of how this leadership style has affected the rest of the Labour party, he could have done worse than to attend the Commons urgent question on universal credit this morning. There, Liam Byrne attacked Iain Duncan Smith’s handling of the project, saying: ‘What I want to say to the Secretary of State, however, is this: he has let this House form a picture of universal credit, which the nation’s auditor’s say is wrong. The most charitable explanation is that he has

Sebastian Payne

Michael Gove: I deplore the teaching unions, but not striking teachers

With the upcoming teaching unions’ strikes, is Michael Gove battling the teachers? Just days after the new school term has begun, the unions have announced the dates of the strikes — including one in the middle of the Tory conference — while blaming the Education Secretary for not listening to the concerns of their members. As Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, said on the World at One today: ‘With pay, pensions and working conditions being systematically attacked and an education secretary who refuses to listen or negotiate teachers now have no other choice’ listen to ‘Michael Gove & Christine Blower on the teaching unions’ strikes’ on Audioboo

Steerpike

Nick Boles meets his doppelganger

The world of social media often goes through the looking glass, but today has been particularly bizarre. Housing minister Nick Boles has decided to join the fun and games on Twitter, announcing his arrival this afternoon. The problem is the popular parody account, General Boles. The General’s satirical pictures (such as the one above) and funnies enjoy a cult following in the Westminster village. And he can be a plausible imposter; our friends at the Guardian, for instance, were taken in when he appeared. In fact the General is such a power in the land that the real Boles, a minister of the Crown no less, has prostrated himself before this

Isabel Hardman

Iain Duncan Smith turns up the jargon on universal credit

Iain Duncan Smith was in an aggressive mood when he appeared before MPs this morning to explain the latest awkward report on universal credit to the Commons. He combined his anger with a plethora of jargon. This made for an interesting debate, as it’s very difficult to sound punchy and angry while talking about ‘agile processes’, ‘roll-outs’ and ‘pathfinders’ (although mercifully he didn’t use ‘pathfinder as a verb’, as he and other colleagues have in the past). listen to ‘Iain Duncan Smith defends his welfare reforms in the Commons.’ on Audioboo At one point the Work and Pensions Secretary forcefully told MPs that he was looking at ‘rolling out in the

The Spectator

Toby Young: Should I be an MP?

In this week’s Spectator, columnist Toby Young toys with the idea of standing as a Conservative candidate in in Hammersmith. He examines the factors stacked against any chance of success, and the reasons he has for standing: Suppose I won. Then what? I’d be faced with the pride-swallowing siege that is the life of a newly elected MP. Forget about affairs of state. The only decision I’d have to make would be who to suck up to more, George Osborne or John Bercow? Neither prospect fills me with joy. Being a backbench MP is drudge work for the most part and I’d have to take a salary cut to do

Fraser Nelson

David Aaronovitch: Syria vote shows Ed Miliband is a ‘vulture’ not a ‘leader’

David Aaronovitch’s column in The Times today (here) is fairly devastating for Ed Miliband. He’s angry about the Syria vote, but this has crystalised his misgivings about the character of the man who would be Prime Minister. Miliband could have accepted Cameron’s motion and taken credit for getting proper process established, he said. But instead he chose to exploit and scavenge. It was said of Gordon Brown that he was a destructive force, and could not build – as Blair had built. Aaranovich gives an even worse verdict for Miliband: he’s so hopeless that cannot even destruct. He just waits for people to fall into trouble, and then swoops. He

James Forsyth

Syria vote? What Syria vote? David Cameron’s strategy is to forget it ever happened

The political conference season may be lacking in party activists nowadays, but it has lost none of its importance to the party leaders. For David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband, the next four weeks are a chance to position themselves for the final, full parliamentary year before the general election. Clegg needs to get his party members to sign off on the policies he has pursued in government, to prevent any manifesto embarrassments. Miliband needs to find an iconic policy which tells voters what his government might be like. Cameron needs to protect his right flank from Ukip, while still appealing to the centre. But none had planned for

Matthew Parris

You can’t demand democracy in Syria but ignore it at home

After David Cameron’s decision to seek parliamentary approval for air strikes against Syria, two lobbies came charging in, banners aloft. Now their attention has moved to Barack Obama’s decision to seek approval from the US Congress. Though on opposite sides of the argument, these two groups have something in common, and it depresses me. Both see democracy as capable of securing a right decision. Neither sees democracy as capable of making a decision right. Let me explain. The anti-interventionists are of course delighted (as was I) that our Prime Minister sought a Commons mandate for military action. They’re even more delighted now that Parliament has said no. They may not

Peter Lilley

Parliament has finally woken up – because voters are keeping their MPs in line

They should have seen it coming. A government defeat on an issue of war may be unprecedented, but defeat on the Syria vote did not come out of the blue. You can certainly blame poor party management, failure to prepare the ground, underestimating the poisonous legacy of Iraq — but such failings are common enough. The biggest single factor is one that ministers, the media and MPs themselves have failed to understand: Parliament has changed. The consensus has long been that Parliament no longer matters. It is assumed to be the docile creature of the government, full of spineless or ambitious MPs who are the slaves of the party whips.

Wednesday

4 Sep 2013

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: George Osborne discovers Wikipedia

On this balmy summer’s evening, George Osborne has popped over to east London to get down with some of the tech kids at the Campus Party in The O2. Judging from the above picture, the chancellor is quite impressed at what Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, had to show him: Just don’t expect tax rates anyone can edit.

James Forsyth

William Hague tells the 1922 that ‘lessons will be learned’ from Syria vote

William Hague’s appearance at the 1922 Committee has underlined the fact that the Tory party is now split on foreign policy. I’m told that the questions that the Foreign Secretary received were pretty much evenly split between the passionate supporters of intervention in Syria and its passionate opponents. Those present calculate that the room was evenly split between the two factions. Hague, I understand, made a robust case for why Britain needs to remain an outward looking nation that is prepared to use its military forces. But he did say, when asked, that ‘lessons will be learned’ from how the Syria vote was handled. This answer will fuel Westminster speculation

Lloyd Evans

PMQs: Playing politics with dead children was avoided. Instead, Prince George got the attention

It never happened. That’s what happened at PMQs today. Westminster fans tuned in expecting to see the ugly moment when MPs would start accusing each other of playing politics with dead babies. Instead it was a live baby – Prince George – who got all the attention. David Cameron wished ‘a happy and healthy life’ to the royal rug-rat. Then up stood Ed Miliband. The Tories cheered and jeered at him with ironic savagery. Clearly, he was about to be rinsed in the Westminster car-wash. He glared at the government benches wearing his favourite expression of indignant grandeur. If only it made him look like a leader rather than like

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: does David Cameron have any idea of MPs’ real concerns with the Lobbying Bill?

There’s nothing wrong with the Prime Minister turning up to PMQs with a snappy line that he wants those watching to remember. But sometimes as the exchanges wear on, the risk grows that the clever line isn’t going to get a showing because the questions haven’t been quite right. And so the line gets shoehorned into an answer that isn’t quite relevant. Take today’s question from Margaret Beckett on the lobbying bill that last night some Tory MPs decided to vote against. Beckett asked: ‘Why does the PM believe that his plans to restrict lobbying are opposed by organisations from the Salvation Army, Countryside Alliance, Oxfam, the British Legion and so

James Forsyth

PMQs: David Cameron’s hatred towards Ed Miliband is palpable

MPs piled into the Chamber expecting a blood and thunder affair. But instead it was rather subdued. Ed Miliband chose to ask six questions about the Syrian situation concentrating on the humanitarian and diplomatic situation and Cameron had to respond in measured tones. Though, one could sense that Cameron would have loved to have gone for Miliband. listen to ‘Miliband questions Cameron on Syria at PMQs’ on Audioboo The most needle came in their finale exchange when Miliband declared that last week’s vote had not been about Britain withdrawing from the world but ‘preventing a rush to war’. Cameron witheringly replied that his regret was that Miliband had chosen ‘to

Isabel Hardman

‘To sack Jesse Norman over a moral issue like whether to support war is outrageous’

Jesse Norman’s departure from the policy board hasn’t come as a huge surprise to many Tory MPs: I was with one after the vote who was subjecting his twitter feed to a lengthy examination to work out whether Norman was stranded overseas. The only evidence available was that Norman went to a beer festival on 26 August and found out about the recall from the BBC and Easyjet. ‘I love beer festivals, but I also know when to turn up,’ grumbled the MP. It would have been a terrible message to send to other backbenchers if Norman hadn’t been moved from his job. This is a sign of Number 10

Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: Jesse Norman to leave No.10 policy board after Syria vote

Jesse Norman is to leave the Number 10 policy board after abstaining in last week’s vote on Syria, I have learned. It was made clear to the Tory MP, who is known to have disagreed with the government’s position on Syria, that this was an inevitable consequence of avoiding a three-line whip vote. But I understand that the decision was made more in sorrow than in anger, and sources hope the path back for Norman will be a quick one. An announcement on his replacement will be made shortly. The policy board hasn’t, as I revealed in the politics column last week, gelled brilliantly yet, but colleagues found Norman impressive

Isabel Hardman

Tom Watson: the Labour man with a plan

Ed Miliband needs to reassure his backbenchers that he does indeed have a good plan after the GMB union announced it was cutting its affiliation funds to the party by 90 per cent. But someone else already has a plan: and it looks strangely like one that will cause the Labour leader a bit of grief. Tom Watson has this morning written a blog in which he suggests that ending the link between the party and the unions ‘is a very serious development that threatens a pillar of our democracy that has endured for over one hundred years’. He writes: ‘Over the next year we have been asked to consider

Isabel Hardman

GMB funding blow for Labour shows need for a clear plan from Miliband

Has Labour got a plan? If it does, the GMB doesn’t like it, announcing this morning that it will cut its affiliation funds from £1.2 million to £150,000, effective from january 2014. The cut is to reflect the number of the union’s members who it estimates would choose to affiliate to the Labour party under the new reforms announced by Ed Miliband. In a statement this morning, the union said: ‘GMB CEC expressed considerable regret about the apparent lack of understanding the proposal mooted by Ed Miliband will have on the collective nature of trade union engagement with the Labour Party. ‘A further source of considerable regret to the CEC

Tuesday

3 Sep 2013

Isabel Hardman

Will Tories rebel again over the lobbying bill?

MPs will vote on the second reading of the unpopular lobbying bill at around 7pm. It has not had a particularly enjoyable introduction to the Commons this afternoon, with attacks from Labour and nervous questions from Coalition MPs worried about its effect on innocent charities. Some Tory MPs – including Douglas Carswell – intend to vote against the second reading, but from conversations I’ve had with backbenchers this afternoon, it looks as though a bigger rebellion will come on the programme motion, which puts the bill into a committee of the whole house (good) but with a guillotine – or time limit – for debate (bad). The reason the guillotine