Politics

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

Monday

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Good Afternoon

This is my first post for the Spectator. In the coming months I hope to be writing about the fight for liberal and democratic values in Britain – don’t worry I am not a Liberal Democrat, they are either sitting out the great struggles of our time or on the wrong side – culture, politics and anything else that comes along. The editor, a kind and caring man, warned me that posters here could sometimes be rather rough. I’m all for freedom of speech. But I in turn should warn you that I am an Observer columnist, and this is how we deal with readers who do not treat us

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

In celebration of Gordo

I know most of you are very glad to see the back of him, but as we watch the EU crumble before our eyes, we all have reason to be grateful to Gordon Brown. Joining the Euro was Tony Blair’s supposed “big project” of his second term but he was thwarted at every step of the way by his chancellor. Not least by Brown’s invention of those “five economic tests” which set the conditions for joining the single currency and which were, as we knew at the time, a lengthy synonym for “when hells freezes over”. It may well be that the main motivation for keeping Britain out was pure

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 22 November 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson heralds the death knell of the Euro. James Forsyth notes that Pakistan has rejected US pleas to extend the drone attacks, and draws comparison between Sarah Palin and Gordon Brown. David Blackburn says that Labour’s terror u-turn makes it no less authoritarian, and wonders if Nato has made progress to an Afghan solution. And Martin Bright unties Israel, Islamic extremism and the EDL.

David Blackburn

Ireland’s crisis is the fault of Fianna Fáil, not just the euro

In all likelihood, George Osborne will rise this afternoon to groans if not jeers. Britain looks set to lend Ireland £7bn as part of multilateral and bilateral bailouts. Many, particularly the Eurosceptic right, question our involvement, given our straitened financial circumstances and the apparent fact that Britain is sustaining the eurozone’s monetary and debt union, and will have to borrow to do so.     George Osborne has been adamant throughout: Ireland is too important to Britain’s recovery to risk collapse – British and Irish banks are closely linked, debts and borrowing are often co-dependent, trade is very profitable. That the bailout should strengthen the euro is a natural consequence of Ireland

Sunday

David Blackburn

Unite turns back the clock

Len McCluskey has won the race to lead Unite, Britain’s largest union. McCluskey will therefore have a major role in how the left respond to cuts in public spending. It would premature to label McCluskey but he comes with a reputation for militancy. He cut his teeth at the Transport and General Workers Union in the 80s and was a confidant of Derek Hatton’s. And he hasn’t forsaken childish things – being an integral figure in the long running and wholely counter-productive BA dispute. So, impeccable credentials for a man of the old left; akin to the roll call of Wellington, Sandhurst and the City for those on the right. But McCluskey must resist temptation.

David Blackburn

Labour’s terror u-turn doesn’t lessen its authoritarianism

It is a day for about turns. First, the Pope has taken a historic decision to approve the use of condoms to fight AIDS; second, Labour has vowed to change its position on terror legislation and law and order. The party feels its record in government has damaged its reputation as a guarantor of liberty. Generation Ed wants to make another break from the past. Ed Balls has masterminded a cunning sleight of hand. The proposal is nowhere near as dramatic as headlines suggest. Labour will support the government’s proposed reduction of detention periods from 28 days to 14, provided the police and security services are not impeded by the change. Balls

Saturday

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 20 November 2010

Who said that the Germans ‘pay half of the countries [in the European Union]. Who said that the Germans ‘pay half of the countries [in the European Union]. Ireland gets 6 per cent of their gross domestic product this way. When is Ireland going to stand up to the Germans?’ It was Nicholas Ridley in his infamous interview with Dominic Lawson in this paper just over 20 years ago. Now he has got his answer, sort of. Ireland is trying to stand up to the Germans, and probably failing. If you strip out the unwarranted anti-German sentiment in Ridley’s interview and concentrate on his analysis, he has been proved right.

David Blackburn

There was more to Blair than a winning smile

Following Sir Christopher Meyer’s review of George Bush’s Decision Points, here is the other half of the double act. The closest I’ve come to meeting Tony Blair was knocking into Michael Sheen on the street. I got no closer reading Blair’s memoir, most of which is beyond parody. Cherie Booth QC is a strong armed nocturnal adventuress; Anji Hunter is a bountiful babe; and Mr Blair is a would-be Casanova with a taste for premonitions and Schindler’s List. You barely notice New Labour’s reform programme under the torrent of erratic writing and bizarre digressions. The defence of the Iraq war is cumbersome; the sketches of his allies and adversaries too

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What Gordon Brown and Sarah Palin have in common

Gordon Brown and Sarah Palin are not two politicians one thinks of as having much in common. But reading Robert Draper’s New York Times magazine essay on Sarah Palin’s political organisation and Rachel Sylvester and Tom Baldwin’s piece on Brown’s Downing Street I was struck by the similarity between the two at least in terms of being disorganised and the boss’s refusal to delegate. It was a reminder of how much of politics is about organisation, about having the right team in place. Of course, no operation is perfect. The Blair one, which was far better than Brown’s, had its own imperfection as Andrew Adonis sets out in his review

David Blackburn

Miliband’s New Generation draws the line under donor peers

Patronage remains a strong statement of leadership, and an indication of a leader’s competence. As James noted yesterday, Ed Miliband chose the occasion to play one of his few picture cards: Maurice Glassman’s accession into red ermine is a major PR coup for Labour in the battle to be ‘progressive’ and community-focused. But Miliband’s list is also noteworthy for those it excluded. The Times has the details (£): ‘He decided against handing seats in the House of Lords to Nigel Doughty and Sir Ronald Cohen — who have given more than £6 million to the party since 2005 — as well as Jon Mendelsohn, Labour’s fundraising chief. All three had

Kevin Myers

Going south

The moral nadir of any state must surely have come when Mr Gerry Adams MP announces that he is its white knight. Yes, this IRA butcher and architect of countless bombings and killings is abandoning Northern Ireland politics, and even his empty seat in Westminster, to stand in Ireland’s general election next year. He actually thinks that he is entitled to berate the politicians of the Irish Republic for their conduct. And by God, he could well have a point. Just look at the latest nugget to emerge from the parliamentary sewer that is Leinster House — the equivalent of the Palace of Westminster. James McDaid, a retiring politician on

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Politics: Miliband’s Labour is in danger of becoming invisible

It is hard not to feel sorry for the ex-Cabinet ministers who have stayed on the Labour front bench. It is hard not to feel sorry for the ex-Cabinet ministers who have stayed on the Labour front bench. A year ago newspapers hung on their every word. Now they are lucky to find themselves quoted in the penultimate paragraph of a news story. They are ranked somewhere behind Simon Hughes and right-wing Tory backbenchers on journalists’ call lists. Why have they fallen so far? The simple answer is ‘the coalition’. Whenever the government issues a statement, the press’s first port of call is the other side of the coalition. In

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The future of defence procurement: a Spectator conference

War, debt and recession. Last month’s Strategic Defence and Security Review had to confront a unique combination of difficulties. Secretary of State Liam Fox, opening the Spectator conference on the future of defence procurement, explained the review’s aims. Proudly identifying himself as ‘a hawk on defence and on deficit reduction’ he re-stated his commitment to our front-line capability in Afghanistan. But, until 2015, the ministry will ‘rebalance our strategic direction’ (spend less money). After 2015 it ‘will be about re-growing capability’ (spending more). The MoD aims to order fewer equipment types and all new kit must be affordable, adaptable, inter-operable and exportable. Dr Fox wants to expand the defence industry’s

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

America’s satnav monopoly must be broken – even if it takes the EU to do it

Debates between columnists can be tiresome, but Douglas Murray writes so well that when he is wrong he is dangerous. I think he may be wrong about the European Union’s ‘Galileo’ project (‘Costs in space’, 13 November), and though bereft of his certainties, I should not let the other side to this argument go by default. Galileo is the EU’s answer to the Americans’ Global Positioning System (GPS). It aims to do the same thing: to enable any receiver to pinpoint its position in the world very precisely. It is fair to say (as Mr Murray does) that Galileo is behind schedule and over budget. It’s also fair to say

Friday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The kiss of death | 19 November 2010

Oh dear. On Wednesday night, we at The Spectator saw David Cameron handing Lord Young his Spectator/Threadneedle Parliamentarian of the Year in the category of Peer of the Year. “Over the decades,” said yours truly, “Prime Ministers have come to value his advice. As Thatcher put it: ‘other people bring me problems, David brings me solutions.’” Not any more – David has brought him a problem, followed by a resignation. Less than 48 hours after picking-up our award, his political career appears to be at an end.   It is true that there are some people who have had a “good recession”. That is: faced no danger of losing their

Daniel Korski

Neo-isolationism is NATO’s greatest enemy

As NATO leaders gather for a key summit in Lisbon, expect the newspapers to be full of the usual “why bother” commentary. NATO, they will argue, was founded for a different age and is not relevant for dealing with today’s threats – from cyber-attacks to nuclear non-proliferation. It is even struggling to deal with older threats, such as the Taliban insurgency. Most Europeans do not seem to mind. They feel safer than at any time before and worry predominantly about post-material threats, not conventional attack, as a think tank report showed recently. As a result, Europeans are set to spend less on defence. Germany expert Hans Kundnani has an excellent

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What the new peerages tell us about the party leaders

Today’s peerage list contains more interesting names than usual. Jullian Fellowes — Downton Abbey, Gosford Park, Snobs — is the one who will get the most attention. It is a sign of how confident David Cameron is feeling that he has risked the reopening of the whole class question. But perhaps, the most intriguing Tory appointment is Patience Wheatcroft. One imagines that she wouldn’t have taken the role unless it was a way to allow her to serve on the political front line. Howard Flight’s appointment to the Lords rights a wrong: his sacking as a candidate before the 2005 election was as unfair as it was hasty. A few

David Blackburn

Full list of peerages

Number 10 has published the full list of new peerages. There are 27 new Conservative peers, including Sir Patrick Cormack, Richard Spring, Julian Fellowes, Howard Flight, Michael Grade and Patience Wheatcroft. The Lib Dems and the Labour party have acquired15 and 10 respectively. General Dannatt is also to be ennobled, but will sit on the crossbenches, confirming his break-up from the Tory machine. Expect his strident voice to be a constant feature of the debate growing from the troubled strategic defence review.

David Blackburn

The transparency revolution gets under way

The press has gone to town on the government’s spending spree; more than £80bn of central government expenditure, itemised in this imposing document published today by Francis Maude. The government will squirm at some findings, notably on redacted defence procurement contracts, Libyan oil agreements and the 194,000 payments made to individuals and private companies (Capita has been paid £3.3bn for outsourcing government work, and De Beers, the diamond cutters, received nearly £1,200 from the Business Department). Already the blame game has begun, with Labour and the coalition sparring from a distance. But, for the most part, ministers will be gleeful: the Civil Service and public sector have been forced to expose their

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ed Miliband needs to make some noise

Today’s press will not have made happy reading for Ed Miliband and his supporters. Alan Johnson’s comments to The Times about the need to change the way Labour elects its leader has revived the debate about the legitimacy of Ed Miliband’s victory. Meanwhile in the New Statesman there’s a piece setting out the internal tensions within the party. Intriguingly, Lisa Tremble, who was David Miliband’s press chief during his leadership campaign, has put what could be considered a rather provocative quote on the record. She tells the magazine, ‘David’s rediscovered his excitement in politics…He’s looking forward to the new challenges. He’s not going anywhere.’ As I say in the new