Politics

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

Friday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The new Tory generation

The final reshuffle moves have now been announced. Chloe Smith, the winner of the Norwich North by-election, moves from the Whips office to become economic secretary to the Treasury. Expect Smith to, in time, do a lot of media. Greg Hands, Obsorne’s PPS moves into her slot as a whip. From this position, he’ll be able to continue running the parliamentary side of George Osborne’s highly effective political operation. Sajid Javid moves from being PPS to John Hayes to being PPS to the Chancellor. I suspect that Smith’s promotion will be seen by those Tories who held frontbench positions in opposition but missed out on jobs in government because of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Greening’s rapid promotion

David Cameron has sent the Cabinet’s safest pair of hands to the Ministry of Defence. Philip Hammond, a robust Euro-sceptic with a belief in firm fiscal management, will bring calm and stability to the department. He’s also the Cabinet minister most likely to be able to sort out the longstanding problems of defence contracts going hugely over budget. As a close political ally of George Osborne, Hammond will be well placed to win extra funding for the department in the, sadly increasingly unlikely, event of the public finances having been put back on a sound footing by the end of the parliament. Hammond is followed at Transport by Justine Greening.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Hammond fills Fox’s shoes

It’s official: Philip Hammond is the new Defence Secretary and it’s a wise choice. The tough work: making the cuts, axing Nimrod, leaving the east coast undefended etc.: has been done. I doubt Cameron would have been able to get that little lot past his party as easily had it not been done by Liam Fox. Now, the task is implementation. It requires mastery of detail and a sharp eye for financial irregularities, and Philip Hammond is the man for that. As Osborne’s number two in Opposition, he will, like Des Browne, approach defence from the perspective of fiscal management. The future of Trident is less assured: Hammond will not

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Fox unlikely to cause trouble for Cameron

As soon as the news about G3’s funding of Adam Werritty emerged, it became clear that Liam Fox was going to have to go. Downing Street had no desire to be seen to be pushing this Thatcherite out of the Cabinet, but its test has always been that Werritty could not have been receiving money from companies with any interest in defence. Once that line was crossed, Fox was always going to have to go. I suspect that the former Defence Secretary will not be a problem for Cameron on the backbenches. Fox values loyalty highly and his friends appreciate how the Prime Minister didn’t push Fox at the first

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Personal loyalty brings down Fox

When Liam Fox celebrated his 50th birthday, he invited friends – those who would be likely to turn up for his 60th no matter what political fate befell him. Political allies fall away, ran his argument, but not friends. No one would have imagined that he’d be able to test this theory within just three weeks. On Monday, it looked more likely than not he would survive: he gave what seemed like a full apology and made full disclosure. The Tory tribe had rallied behind him. It was embarrassing that his best man had turned up to share vodka martinis with him in various parts of the globe, but where

Jonathan Jones

Fox resigns, Cameron responds

Liam Fox has just resigned as Defence Secretary. Here is his resignation letter to the Prime Minister in full: Dear David, As you know, I have always placed a great deal of importance on accountability and responsibility. As I said in the House of Commons on Monday, I mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my Government activities to become blurred. The consequences of this have become clearer in recent days. I am very sorry for this. I have also repeatedly said that the national interest must always come before personal interest. I now have to hold myself to my own standard. I have therefore decided, with great

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Few think Fox can survive

I understand, from a Cabinet Office source, that Sue Grey, the civil servant who interviewed Adam Werritty on Tuesday, was completely baffled by Werritty’s explanation of how his funding arrangements work. This is yet another sign that events are beginning to move rapidly against Liam Fox. The Times’ front page story this morning has led to a significant fall away in support for Fox among Tory MPs. There is also considerable nervousness in Tory circles about what tomorrow’s papers are expected to bring. All this makes it increasingly hard to find people who expect the Defence Secretary to survive. Indeed, several people who have been defending Fox in the media

Daniel Korski

Coffee House interview: Kostyantyn Gryshchenko

Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ukraine’s foreign minister, clearly has his work cut out for him. The conviction of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko by a Pechersk court to a seven year prison sentence has been seen, almost universally, as a piece of bully-boy politics, which will set back Ukraine’s links with the EU. NATO has made clear it is “disappointed” by the sentence handed down while several European foreign ministers, including Foreign Secretary William Hague, have expressed their concern. I fielded these questions to Ukraine’s foreign minister via email. Daniel Korski: The conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko is clearly a foreign policy mess for Ukraine, giving that it will most likely set back

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

The pathology of the politician | 14 October 2011

With ministers behaving particularly oddly, we thought CoffeeHousers would enjoy Matthew Parris’ Spectator column from May, in which he explains the weirdness that afflicts politicians. Politicians are not normal people. They are weird. It isn’t politics that has made them weird: it’s their weirdness that has impelled them into politics. Whenever another high-profile minister teeters or falls, the mistake everyone makes is to ask what it is about the nature of their job, the environment they work in and the hours they work, that has made them take such stupid risks. This is the wrong question. We should ask a different one: what is it about these men and women that has attracted

David Blackburn

Ministers behaving oddly

It’s a rum deal being a Global Networker. This morning’s Times reports (£) that Adam Werritty has received nearly £200,000 in donations from clients who appear to have employed Werritty to lobby Liam Fox on ideological issues such as Israel, the Special Relationship and Euroscepticism; although why anyone thought it necessary to lobby Fox, who is a resolute neo-Conservative and Atlanticist, on these matters is something of a mystery. Meanwhile, the Telegraph reveals that Fox and Werritty enjoyed a $500-a-head dinner with American military figures in Washington, which the Ministry of Defence has not disclosed (perhaps because no British official attended the dinner). This suggests that Werritty and Fox may

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

Miliband and Balls, in tandem

So, CoffeeHousers, are Eds Balls and Miliband a gruesome twosome or the most sparkling partnership since Torvill and Dean? I ask only because they’re really pushing the double-act shtick today. There’s their first-ever joint interview in the Evening Standard, for instance, in which they reminisce about the Shadow Chancellor’s 30th Birthday party, among other things. And then there was their joint appearance to officially launch Labour’s ‘plan for growth’ campaign this afternoon. They were talking policy, but there was also a strong emphasis on their personal relationship: eye contact, anecdotes, that sort of thing. Blair and Brown we are not, they seemed to be saying. As for the policy, if

Daniel Korski

Ministers need their Werrittys

I’ve never met Adam Werritty and hadn’t even heard of him before a few weeks ago. I’m also of the belief that financial wrongdoing should not be the only test used to judge Liam Fox’s suitability for ministerial office. And I don’t think the fact that a previous government changed ministers too often is a reason to overlook inappropriate ministerial behaviour. Whether the Defence Secretary, in fact, behaved inappropriately remains to be seen. But the signs are not, at this stage, good – even if the airwaves are now dominated by “Foxies”: the Defence Secretary’s friend and allies. That said, I think the self-styled advisor is getting an unfair wrap,

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Mitt Romney, of all people, shows David Cameron a way ahead

Whatever may be said about his difficulties with the Republican base, there’s no doubt that Mitt Romney is a much more formidable candidate in 2012 than he was in 2008. It turns out that having form over course and distance really does matter. And, of course, it helps that he’s running to replace a Democratic, not a Republican, President. Indeed, Romney’s confidence is such that he’s already testing lines and strategy for the general election. This may yet prove presumptious but, while he’s at it, he’s inadvertently offering some good advice to David Cameron and George Osborne too. Consider this passage (highlighted by Ross Douthat) from the most recent GOP

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Voters, Damn Them, Refute the Tory Right

At the risk of careering round an old argument, Jonathan, the graphs you’ve produced on political affiliations are yet another reminder, if ever one were needed (and it is) that the Tory right’s argument that Cameron would have won a majority if only he’d run a blue-meat campaign is dreadfully mistaken. As you can see, more voters identify with the left than the right. This was Tony Blair’s legacy and the ground upon which Cameron was compelled to fight. I suppose it is possible that Cameron could move right without alienating voters who consider themselves – accurately or not – centrists but I suggest this is not probable.  As for

Jonathan Jones

The centre ground’s there for the taking

YouGov recently repeated its occassional exercise of asking people where they’d place themselves, the parties and the leaders on the left-right spectrum. Anthony Wells reported some of the findings on Saturday: Cameron is seen as slightly less right-wing than his party, while both the Tories and Labour appear to have moved away from the centre-ground since the election. One thing these YouGov numbers allow us to do is see where on the spectrum the parties get their support from. First, how people voted in 2010 and then how they say they’d vote now: This looks broadly as you’d expect, with Labour dominating among left-wing voters and the Tories doing likewise

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Mitt Romney’s Haggis Problem

Michael Kinsley begins his latest Bloomberg column with an observation so old it’s even been made in these parts: If Mitt Romey ever becomes President, it will be because his supporters are convinced that he’s a liar. True enough. Kinsley continues: Romney’s campaign is hoping he gets through the primaries without losing his appeal to independents and moderate Democrats in the general election. Meantime, his attempts to enlist the right are like serving haggis (sheep’s stomach stuffed with oatmeal — yum!) to your distant cousins from Scotland when they visit. You can’t stand the stuff, but they’re supposed to like it. If you can ignore that ignorantly sarcastic “yum!” you’ll

Daniel Korski

What is Labour’s foreign policy these days?

As William Hague found before last year’s election, getting your voice heard on foreign policy is difficult for an Opposition. You are, at best, reduced to providing commentary to on-going events, vying not with the government for access to the media but with an array of better-informed foreign policy experts. Having a distinctive take on the changes in the world and practical ideas for how to affect change is harder still. You don’t have a 1,500-person strong Foreign Office.   For Labour, there is a different set of problems. Does the party opt for Blairite interventionism, tempered by the fiscal and political realities? If so, what’s the difference to what

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Miliband attacks Cameron on jobs

Ed Miliband chose to ask all six questions on the economy today, making only the quickest of references to the Liam Fox story that the Westminster village is currently obsessing over. Armed with ammunition from the latest unemployment numbers, Miliband did a solid job of pushing Cameron onto the back foot. But there was one moment which will worry Miliband’s supporters: the spontaneous way the government benches fell about when Miliband claimed that Scottish and Southern Energy’s decision to start selling its electricity on the wholesale market was the result of his conference speech. Three Labour backbenchers did ask questions about Liam Fox. Cameron said he would look at publishing

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Case of Hope vs Salmond

I’m not convinced the Scottish parliament’s 2009 bill permitting individuals with pleural plaques to sue for asbestos-related damages was a good law. Nor ca one be wholly comfortable with retrospective legislation. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court today upheld the Court of Session’s judgement that the insurance companies could not credibly claim their human rights had been breached nor that the Scottish parliament lacked the standing to legislate on such matters, even when that legislation was a case of overturning or reversing previous Westminster* decisions. The Supreme Court offered a robust defence of the Scottish parliament’s prerogatives but were I a mischievous news editor mindful of the prickly relationship between Lord Hope

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Werritty’s donors

So, who paid for Adam Werritty’s air miles? This is the question going around Westminster this afternoon. James blogged yesterday that No10 has set two tests: was Werritty being paid by defence companies, and did Fox know about it?   From what I understand, the answers to both are “no”. Werritty was not paid by any defence company — or, indeed, any company at all. His funds were provided by individual donors, who do not have even a tangential interest in the defence industry. His job was to network and provide updates about politics in general. His donors are interested in affairs in the Gulf and the Middle East, about energy