Politics Archives

Sunday

7 Jul 2013

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Wimbledon special

Forget the expressions of joy and pain flitting across Kim Sears’ and Judy Murray’s faces as Andy served, volleyed and leapt to win Wimbledon: David Cameron and Alex Salmond’s reactions to the match were far more entertaining. Cameron seems to have spent more of the afternoon looking behind him to check what it was that Salmond was up to: …which was entirely unsurprising, given this photobomb from Scotland’s First Minister: Meanwhile Salmond seemed a little disturbed by one of his fellow spectators: Mind you, at least Cameron and Salmond did enjoy most of the match… …while Ed Miliband seemed a little, well, distracted: Perhaps he was thinking about doing this:

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband prepares for his most testing week yet

While the Tories bask in the glory of Abu Qatada’s deportation, the progress of James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill, and the general good atmosphere in the party, Labour is trying to work out what the best response to its terrible week is, and how to get to a situation where it is on top of the story, rather than jogging after it. The Independent on Sunday quotes one senior figure today as saying that Ed Miliband only has two weeks in which to resolve the Falkirk row, and his acolytes were out in force today to underline that the fightback is already under way. Michael Dugher has just appeared on

Fraser Nelson

Audio: Wimbledon champion Andy Murray says he’s ‘a British winner’

A Scot has ended Britain’s 77 years of hurt: it’s a glorious day, and Andy Murray’s was a glorious victory. Anticipating this, there were three party leaders watching. From the moment Alex Salmond settled down in Centre Court, you knew what he was up to: he’d have packed a Saltire in his lunchbox and would wave it when the cameras were on him. He was planning to photobomb. Why? Because, to the SNP, sport is more political than politics: their world is all about what flags you wave, which sportsmen you cheer – and which you don’t. The First Minister even tried to hawk the idea of ‘Scolympians’ last year,

Steerpike

Sorry, Salmond, but Britain is cheering a British champion at Wimbledon

The Wimbledon men’s final is now underway and the glamorous (Victoria Beckham, Colleen Rooney) are being joined by the wannabe-glamorous (Miliband, Cameron and Salmond). Mr Steerpike noted Dave – who was gladhanding all and sundry on the way in – was coldshouldered by Salmond. The curry king – who had also been quick to stand and greet everyone else passing – stayed glued to his programme and pretended nothing was happening as the PM loitered to his left. Dave quickly moved on. For Salmond, sport is more political than politics. To the nationalists, it’s all about flags and identity, who you cheer on and who you don’t. Salmond would love

Friday

5 Jul 2013

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband and Len McCluskey’s acrimonious rally

Wham! Len McCluskey and Ed Miliband have spent this afternoon hitting criticisms back and forth over the Falkirk row. Earlier, the Labour leader sent a challenge shooting over the net to the Unite boss, telling McCluskey he ‘should be facing up to his responsibilities’. Then the Labour party said it was referring the matter to the police. McCluskey slammed back on Sky News, saying Unite had ‘done nothing wrong’. He said: ‘I’m afraid the way it has been handled by the Labour party headquarters is nothing short of disgraceful.’ And he warned Ed off having a confrontation with the unions: ‘It’s depressing that Labour leaders seem to want to have

Isabel Hardman

MPs back EU referendum bill 304 votes to 0

James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons by 304 votes to 0. The Labour Party’s decision to abstain on the vote, and Conservative backbenchers’ insistence that a vote be held does make the chamber look rather North Korean this afternoon. But what have we learned from just under five hours of debate? Tory HQ’s answer would be five neat points, all entitled ‘Only the Tories will Let Britain Decide’. In reality, the result of the debate wasn’t very interesting (aside from which Labour MPs backed the bill, on which more shortly), but there are still some useful lessons from the debate itself

The Spectator

Sir Ian Kennedy’s speech on MPs’ pay

The Chair of IPSA, Sir Ian Kennedy, gave a speech at the IPPR this morning on MPs’ pay. Here’s what he said: There’s never a good time to do anything about MPs’ pay. The pressing issues of the moment always make it a bad time. This is the sad history of attempts to introduce changes in the way MPs are remunerated. It’s a history that goes back centuries. It’s a history punctuated from time to time by some long overdue catch-up or some kind of fix. There was even a time during the Middle Ages when each community paid its own MP. A number of cunning plans emerged – some

Isabel Hardman

‘Len McCluskey should be facing up to his responsibilities’: Ed Miliband stands up to Unite

Ed Miliband’s supporters have been arguing that he needs to show muscle on the Unite row before his opponents successfully argue that he is a weak leader in thrall to the union puppet masters. While Conservative MPs joked abut Tom Watson’s ‘Buddha’ comments in the Chamber this morning, the Labour leader did speak out about Len McCluskey and the Falkirk row. To his credit, he has shown that muscle. He is referring the Falkirk allegations to the police this afternoon, and this morning, he said: We will act without fear or favour. Instead of defending what happened in Falkirk, Len McCluskey should be facing up to his responsibilities. He should

John Baron

Why Parliament must have a say before Britain decides to arm the Syrian rebels

The uprising against President al-Assad shows little sign of reaching a conclusion. The civil war is causing huge suffering – with atrocities perpetrated on both sides. There are no easy answers. Some in Government actively push for Britain to supply weaponry to the rebels. But this would be a mistake of historic proportions, as it could tilt the conflict towards a truly regional war. This is one reason Parliament should be consulted before lethal support is provided to the rebels. Our debate next week attempts to draw this line in the sand as we head into the summer recess. So far the debate about providing lethal support has been confined

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Shock Unite resignation

Lib Dem MP Martin Horwood resigns from Unite after taking offence at jokes made by Labour MP Ian Davidson about ‘snivelling liberals’ in the House of Commons. Here is the exchange: Ian Davidson: Well, the Whips have been to see me and they deployed the ultimate threat. They said, “If you think of voting for this, we will send round Len McCluskey.” I said, “I know Len McCluskey. Len McCluskey is a friend of mine. I had Len McCluskey’s support in the last general election. I had the support not only of Len McCluskey but of the GMB, Unison, UCATT and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, while

Isabel Hardman

Douglas Alexander’s evasive EU referendum speech suggests his party could change its mind

The Tory party have been having a very fun morning in the Chamber so far. The debate about James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill for an EU referendum has had the atmosphere of a children’s party. David Cameron was smiling on a frontbench like the indulgent father watching his child getting a little over-excited. William Hague played the part of conjurer, producing a magnificent speech attacking Labour and, to a lesser extent, the Lib Dems, for not giving voters a say. listen to ‘William Hague speaking at the European Union (Referendum) Bill Second Reading’ on Audioboo Dennis Skinner even offered a quick performance at the start, but this time he wasn’t

Isabel Hardman

#letbritaindecide fever grips excited nation

It’s eurosceptic party-time in Westminster today. Finally, the time has come for the Conservatives to show that they are the only ones who will #letbritaindecide. When I arrived in Parliament this morning, I was half-expecting a brass band and bunting to celebrate the momentous occasion of the second reading of James Wharton’s Private Member’s Bill, so excited are Tory MPs. But instead, CCHQ has placed digital posters at a number of sites across London, including the Vauxhall roundabout. You could be forgiven for thinking that the general election is this year, not 2015. The Bill is highly likely to pass its second reading, and the chances are that the Tories

Thursday

4 Jul 2013

James Forsyth

Nick and Dave are ready to rumble. Ed, on the other hand …

The coalition parties have governed together for more than three years now, but they remain culturally very different beasts. When the Liberal Democrats held an away day last week, it was at a conference centre in Milton Keynes — picked, in the words of one Lib Dem, ‘because there are no distractions there’. The Tories are also conducting a bonding exercise: in the Downing Street garden and the chamber of the House of Commons. No. 10’s decision to light the barbecue and put out the bunting for Tory MPs is typical of its new-found interest in party management. It had realised that it was in danger of a vote of

Christopher Sykes

Christopher Sykes’s diary: David Hockney, Bridlington lobster, and the risks of a third martini

I began my week with a trip to Bridlington, the closest seaside town to my childhood home. ‘Brid’, as it’s known to the locals, has a special British charm, comprising miles of unspoilt beach, beach huts, a pretty little harbour, fish-and-chip shops galore, rows of guest houses and The Expanse, a splendid old-fashioned hotel. The council are, however, missing a trick. Brid’s main fishing industry these days is lobsters, as delicious as any you will ever taste. You wouldn’t know it, however, as, apart from a few expensive ones kept in tanks at the Blue Lobster on the harbour, they all go to Europe. So, come on Brid, how about

Sebastian Payne

The View from 22 — the new God squad, Labour’s campaigning quandary and the secrets to a successful marriage

Are Lambeth Palace and the Vatican about to undergo a significant transformation in how they operate and present themselves in public? On the latest View from 22 podcast, the Telegraph’s Damian Thompson explains how the evangelicals are taking over both the Catholic and Church of England, which will result in a dynamic shift in how they are viewed by the outside world. He also examines the similarities surrounding the appointment of both Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby. James Forsyth also discusses the problems Labour face on running their general election campaign, and why David Cameron has won a major concession on the EU referendum bill. With the resignation of Tom

Isabel Hardman

Len McCluskey tells Labour how it should be done

Yesterday Len McCluskey made it very clear that Ed Miliband was definitely, definitely the leader of the Labour party. He said: ‘There can be absolutely no question about who runs the Labour party: it is Ed Miliband and he has my full support. Yes, there may be issues we disagree on, that is allowed in a democratic party, but Unite is fully behind Ed Miliband and after today’s performance by Cameron the sooner he is prime minister the better.’ Which was unhelpful, really, as it’s never good when the unions have to issue a statement clarifying who the leader of the Labour party really is. But Len’s hands-off approach doesn’t

James Forsyth

What Tom Watson’s resignation means for Labour

Tom Watson’s resignation from the shadow Cabinet won’t draw a line under the row about Unite’s influence over Labour. But, rather, it will escalate it. This is now a serious enough issue to have drawn a shadow Cabinet resignation. Watson’s self-indulgent resignation letter makes clear that he’s going partly because of Blairite criticism. As he puts it, ‘There are some who have not forgiven me for resigning in 2006’. This puts the whole Blairite / Brownite narrative back at the heart of Labour politics. It is a reminder that a party does something awful to its soul when it removes a totemic, election winning Prime Minister mid-term. I also suspect

Isabel Hardman

Breaking: Tom Watson resigns

Tom Watson has announced he is standing down from his role as Labour general election co-ordinator. You can read the full text of his resignation letter to Ed Miliband below. Given the letter says he offered to resign on Tuesday, the lines prepared by Miliband on Watson for yesterday’s PMQs make a little more sense now. James also reveals in his column this week that ‘several of those close to Miliband have doubts about [Watson’s] work rate and priorities’ when considering whether he should be running the party’s 2015 campaign. Dear Ed, I said that I’d stay with you as general election co-ordinator within the Shadow Cabinet as long as

Steerpike

The Spectator’s summer party, in pictures

Last night, a terrific party was held in Old Queen Street for The Spectator. Our editor Fraser Nelson, looking a little bleary eyed two days after the birth of his third child, still somehow managed to smile at Pippa Middleton, our sports and adventure correspondent. Here is a selection of photos from the bash, courtesy of Alan Davidson and Danny Welch Fraser Nelson and Pippa Middleton Photo: AD Freddy Gray, Pippa Middleton and Nico Jackson (Photo: DW) Rachel Johnson and Paul Johnson (no relation) Photo: AD Michael Howard, Dorrit Moussaieff and Martin Sorrell (Photo: AD) Taki , of High Life, and Chris Ruddy of Newsmax (Photo: AD)

Tony Lodge

Ed Miliband is wrong: we need more, not less rail competition

Last month the Labour party moved two debates in the Commons pushing for Government to keep running the important East Coast Main Line (ECML) rail franchise between London King’s Cross, Newcastle and Scotland. The state has run this service since National Express East Coast was hit by the downturn in 2008 when it became unable to make the necessary government repayments for operating the franchise. Tory ministers want to quickly see the franchise back in private hands. Labour’s more vocal stance on rail has important undertones; the party is increasingly echoing the left-wing rail unions and the TUC in its policy towards the sector. The party’s belief that Government should