Politics Archives

Wednesday

4 Jul 2012

Ed’s ahead with banking inquiry

Low party interest parading as high political principle. That was the theme of today’s PMQs as the party leaders clashed over the scope and nature of the inquiry into the Libor scandal. David Cameron’s pungent language was intended to reflect public anger at the banks. He spoke of ‘spivvy and illegal activity’ in the City, and he promised that crime in financial centres would be pursued as rigorously as crime on the streets. One of the grandest of Tory grandees, Nicholas Soames, warned him that new regulatory mechanisms mustn’t be allowed to damage the City, ‘which remains a vital asset for our country.’ And he was followed by the

Tuesday

3 Jul 2012

Martin Bright

Is Michael Gove the government’s only true radical?

I have been waiting more than two years for this government to say or do something really radical. By this I don’t mean taking the Blairite revolution to its logical conclusion (or is it reductio ad absurdum?) by introducing pseudo-markets deeper into every area of the public sector and reforms to the welfare state New Labour certainly considered but never dared to carry out. But what was genuinely counter-intuitive for the Labour Party is not necessarily so for the Conservatives. For Tony Blair to embrace the private sector, distance himself from the trade unions and challenge the received wisdom of Labour’s state-ism was a genuine break with the past. For

Shiraz Maher

The struggle to deal with foreign terror suspects

Abu Qatada, the Islamist cleric once branded ‘Osama bin Laden’s ambassador to Europe’, has dominated headlines in recent months as the government struggles to return him to Jordan. Theresa May wanted to take a hard line against foreign clerics operating from Britain but has found her hands tied by the European Court of Human Rights. Indeed, she pledged to deport Qatada, only to be overruled by the European courts. This setback took on added significance yesterday when the United Nations confirmed that it has removed Saad al-Faqih from the al-Qaeda sanctions list which freezes the assets of persons believed to be associated with the group. None of the fifteen member

Isabel Hardman

Cameron hints at Coalition split on EU review

Yesterday the Prime Minister made a point of showing his backbench how very willing he was to listen to their concerns about the European Union. Today, as he gave evidence to the Liaison Committee, David Cameron made a point of suggesting his Liberal Democrat coalition partners are a little less willing when it comes to reviewing the EU’s powers. Asked when he would launch the balance of competencies review, which will examine the impact of EU law on Britain, the Prime Minister said: ‘I hope that we will be able to start the process before the summer, but we need to seek full agreement before we launch it.’ He added:

Isabel Hardman

Diamond does not last forever

Bob Diamond’s resignation with immediate effect as chief executive of Barclays gives plenty of people in Westminster the scalp they were looking for. Labour had called for Diamond to go after the Libor scandal surfaced. The Lib Dems had called for Diamond to resign, with Vince Cable threatening to use as a last resort his powers to disqualify directors. In fact the Lib Dems have been so focused on getting Diamond out that I understand they have been intentionally avoiding the brewing row between Labour and Tories about the parliamentary inquiry, headed by Treasury Select Committee chair Andrew Tyrie. Diamond’s resignation statement to the stock exchange was not exactly dripping

Steerpike

Hereditary Lords

House of Lords reform? Most politicos are debating whether to elect senators or maintain the status-quo. Not so the Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives, who held an evening discussion about whether the Lords should return to the hereditary principle. Mr Steerpike hears that it was a popular motion. Leading the charge was James Bethell, head of Westbourne Communications by day and 5th Baron Bethell by night. Lord Bethell stated that his great-grandfather bought his peerage for £10,000 in 1922. He said that the sum works out at over three million pounds in today’s money, which appears to be much more than the asking price for an elected seat.

Isabel Hardman

Clegg: I feel lobotomised in government

Nick Clegg gave a rather sombre speech to the CentreForum summer reception last night. Addressing the guests from a pulpit in the vaulted cloisters of Westminster Abbey, as the rain poured down outside, the Deputy Prime Minister admitted he felt ‘lobotomised’ in government. It was actually a clumsy attempt to praise the work of the Lib Dem-aligned think tank in helping the party retain its brain by dreaming up new policies when the constraints of Coalition might otherwise prevent it, but it did not go down well with those listening. Andrew Neil tweeted that Lord Steel, who he was standing next to at the event, had rolled his eyes at Clegg’s turn of

Monday

2 Jul 2012

Steerpike

Amateur sport

It’s Euro-mania in SW1. Always reliable for hard hitting analysis, Tory foghorn Louise Mensch summed up what she saw as her party’s position on the EU: ‘We want a Diet Coke version. A skinny latte. An EasyJet ticket. An IKEA flat-pack. Pain, vin, Boursin. You know. Just the basics.’ And who said a referendum would dumb down a complicated issue? Those paid to walk the line are less happy though. One Tory spinner whispers to me: This ding-dong is almost as interesting as the tennis. Less civilised though…

Isabel Hardman

A fresh deal and a fresh settlement

Pressure has been building all weekend for the Prime Minister to give some form of concession to his eurosceptic backbenchers in his statement on the outcome of the Brussels summit. James blogged shortly before David Cameron stood up in the Commons that Tory MPs were being reassured that they were going to like what they would hear him, which a pro-European MP suspected would be ‘feeding a beast with an insatiable appetite’. This is the meat the Prime Minister threw to the eurosceptics: ‘Far from ruling out a referendum for the future, as a fresh deal in Europe becomes clear, we should consider how best to get the fresh consent

James Forsyth

Cameron’s position on Europe grows clearer

David Cameron’s position on Europe is becoming clearer. ‘Fresh settlement, fresh consent’, the soundbite he kept using, is simply a euphemism for renegotiation followed by a referendum. It seems that this renegotiation will span the next election. Indeed, it will start as soon as a new EU treaty is proposed. In response to a question from Peter Lilley, Cameron said he will try to use any forthcoming treaty to attempt to bring powers back to this country. Those close to Cameron say that the plan is to get as much back before the next election and then accelerate the process as soon as there is a treaty negotiation under a

Sebastian Payne

Warm words on a referendum won’t kill off UKIP

Has David Cameron now shot the UKIP fox? The Prime Minister has now put a referendum on the political agenda. No.10’s thinking, as revealed by James Forsyth weeks ago, is that the weekend’s high-profile posturing will see off the UKIP threat. The PM has given it a decent amount of welly in the Commons today too, calling for a ‘fresh deal’ and ‘fresh consent’ on Europe. We can take this to mean renegotiation followed by a referendum on membership. But today, Cameron also made clear he’d campaign for an ‘in’ vote, stating: ‘I don’t believe leaving the EU would be right for Britain, but nor do I believe voting to

James Forsyth

Cameron feeds the eurosceptic beast

Nick Clegg won’t be sitting next to the Prime Minister in the chamber for today’s statement on the EU Council. He has, I’m told, got other meetings to attend. This absence might be for the best given what Tory MPs are planning to ask Cameron. As Isabel revealed earlier, a string of Eurosceptic backbenchers are planning to push the Prime Minister to go further than he did in his Sunday Telegraph piece. Number 10 is also expecting a question from Liam Fox. Tory MPs are being reassured that they’ll like what they’ll hear from Cameron on a referendum. It does seem that the statement will be firmer than what William

Isabel Hardman

More remorse and apology from Diamond?

It’s hard to believe that executives at Barclays had much confidence that the resignation of Marcus Agius as the bank’s chair would place a stopper on the Libor scandal. Ed Miliband drove those doubts home this morning when, appearing on Daybreak, the Labour leader reiterated calls for Bob Diamond to resign. He said: ‘I don’t think that he can carry Barclays forward, Bob Diamond, because he was there, he was actually in charge of the part of Barclays where some of these scandals took place years back and we will obviously hear what he has to say at the Select Committee on Wednesday but I really don’t believe that the

Isabel Hardman

Ministerial aides push Cameron on EU

David Cameron’s attempt to placate backbenchers clamouring for an EU referendum by writing a piece in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph has not gone down particularly well. Backbenchers are more than mildly irked that the Prime Minister focused mainly on the problems with an in/out referendum, when the letter co-ordinated by John Baron (which you can read here) did not call for that. They are also disappointed that the Prime Minister suggested that the time for a referendum was not now, as their demand had been for legislation in this Parliament which would provide for a referendum in the next. One MP told me the response was a ‘smokescreen’. Baron has not

James Forsyth

Osborne savages Balls on Libor

The Osborne/Balls clash today was one of the most brutal I have seen in parliament. Osborne, leaning across the despatch box, mockingly enquired, ‘who was the City Minister when the Libor scandal happened? Put your hand up if you were the City Minister?’ Balls looked increasingly cross as Osborne continued down this path, demanding that the shadow Chancellor take ‘personal responsibility’ for the failures of the regulatory regime. Labour argues that the public are turned off by this kind of stuff; that they want to see answers rather than point-scoring. Even Darling — hardly an admirer of a man who coveted his job for so long — offered a partial

Sunday

1 Jul 2012

David Blackburn

Banging on about Europe

It’s funny how things turn out. David Cameron said in opposition that there was nothing worse than the Conservative party banging-on about Europe. These days, it bangs-on about little else. The prime minister is a repeat offender. He said on Friday that there should not be an in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union. It’s a different story today. In an article for the Sunday Telegraph, Cameron says that he is not afraid of the words Europe and referendum. But don’t mistake that for a pledge. Cameron writes, ‘I don’t agree with those who say we should leave and therefore want the earliest possible in/out referendum. Leaving would

David Blackburn

Ideologues and pragmatists

Over at the books blog, former Tory MP Jerry Hayes has reviewed James Hanning and Francis Elliott’s Cameron: Practically a Conservative. The key to Hanning and Elliott’s analysis resides in their title. David Cameron is a practical politician, not an ideologue; his quiet values instilled by a comfortable upbringing and a natural talent for conciliation. Jerry concludes: ‘Personally, I would hate to be governed by an ideologue who had to jump through self-imposed Jesuitical hoops before making a decision. I much prefer someone who tries to do the right thing, even if they don’t always succeed.’ I recommend reading the review in full (and Jerry recommends all to read the

Fraser Nelson

The EU referendum, you read it here first

Many Spectator subscribers, picking up today’s newspapers, will be a bit puzzled. Is it news that David Cameron has come round to the idea of an EU referendum? Haven’t they read that somewhere before? This sensation is called Déjà Lu, and it I’m afraid afflicts all Spectator subscribers. Cameron’s decision to change his position on the EU was revealed by James Forsyth back in May. As so often, his weekly political column gave real-time updates of the No10’s decision-making process as it happened. He wrote then: ‘A referendum on Europe is the obvious answer. It is one the leadership seems set to embrace. The popularity of Cameron’s EU veto made

Isabel Hardman

Be careful what you wish for, Bercow plotters

Tory MPs are plotting to oust Speaker Bercow, the Sun on Sunday reports today. They are apparently furious that Bercow allowed Chris Bryant to brand Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt a ‘liar’ in his party’s opposition day debate calling for a full investigation into Hunt’s conduct. The Speaker refused to censure Bryant because he argued the unparliamentary language mirrored the wording of Labour’s motion for the debate. This attempted coup is another sign of the fierce loyalty that backbenchers feel for the Culture Secretary. You insult Hunt, and you insult the party: the Lib Dems learned that after they allowed their MPs to abstain on that motion and lost any goodwill

Saturday

30 Jun 2012

James Forsyth

Miliband calls for a banking inquiry

The momentum for a public inquiry into banking is growing. The Daily Mail front page demands ‘Put Bankers In the Dock’. While Ed Miliband has given an interview (£) to The Times in which he calls for an inquiry into the ‘institutional corruption in the City’. Miliband thinks that this inquiry should be tasked with drawing up a code of conduct for investment bankers equivalent to the one governing solicitors. Bankers who breached this code would be struck off. Now, many will say that Labour have a cheek lecturing on banking regulation given the total failure of the new system they introduced. James Chapman also reports that ‘government sources