Politics

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

Tuesday

27 Apr 2010

The British constitution is in dire need of reform

The UK Conservative leader David Cameron says that any Prime Minister not ‘directly elected’ by the public should be forced to hold a general election within six months. He has in mind his Labour opponent Gordon Brown, who in June 2007 was catapulted into the position by a secret ballot in his own party, rather than by an open election of the people. And if, after the forthcoming general election on May 6, Labour chose to ditch Brown and catapult that gap-year kid…ah, yes, David Miliband…into the top job in order to stitch up a coalition deal with Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, well, Cameron would give him only six months

David Blackburn

The battle for the middle ground

The New Statesman has interviewed Douglas Alexander, who appeals, as Andrew Adonis has, to Liberal Democrat voters to back Labour to inaugurate what he terms a ‘New Dawn for Labour and progressive politics.’ Progressive is a vague term, but the best definition for it is reform to encourage social mobility. In this morning’s Times, former Fabian Stephen Pollard argued that only the Tories can guarantee this. For the time, Pollard says, he will vote Conservative and all because of Michael Gove’s schools reform. ‘Mr Gove has promised that within four years of a Tory government, all parents will have the option of sending their child to an independent school

Peter Hoskin

Where is the axe going to fall?

If you want a sense of where our politicians are when it comes to sorting out the nation’s finances then I’d recommend you read this briefing paper which the IFS released earlier today. What it shows, in stark graphs and charts, is what Adam Boulton, Andrew Neil et al were getting at in Labour’s press conference earlier: yes, we know that there are significant cuts to come, but none of the parties are really letting on just where they will come from. To my eyes, this chart tells the story particularly well. It depicts how much each party will cut “unprotected” departmental spending by – and how much of

Alex Massie

Paxman vs Wales

Not a great showing by Jeremy Paxman last night as he wrestled with a Welshman* (who seemed to be named after an Icelandic volcano) and lost. And it wasn’t even close. Immensely entertaining, therefore. The real fun starts just after the two minute mark: *Plaid Cymru’s** economics advisor Eurfyl ap Gwilym. **Typo fixed, Jeremy.

Fraser Nelson

Cameron’s secret weapon is amiability

David Cameron has just taken his first real “kicking” of the campaign from a parent of a disabled child. Handled it brilliantly, I think. The parent is angry, understandably, about the problems he has finding a normal school for his wheelchair-bound son. The Tories are suspicious of the “inclusion” agenda – often a code for denying special-needs children the extra tuition that they deserve. But, as the father of a severely disabled son, Cameron knows more about this subject than almost anyone else in Westminster. “It should be your choice, sir” he said: and he’s right. The voucher system would make a disabled child worth north of £22,000 a

David Blackburn

The government, not Chris Grayling, is misleading the public over violent crime

The New Statesman’s George Eaton admonishes Chris Grayling repeating his ‘false claim that violent crime has risen dramatically under Labour.’ Eaton cites the British Crime Survey’s findings that violent crime has fallen by 41 percent since 1997. True, the BCS asserts that violent crime has fallen since 1997. Changes in recording practice in 2002-03 mean that comparing current statistics with those compiled a decade ago is inherently inaccurate – a point conceded by UK Statistics Agency head Sir Michael Scholar with regard to Grayling’s police statistics, but not the BCS’. The independent House of Commons Library gave a more accurate assessment, finding that violent crime rose from 618,417 to 887,942

James Forsyth

Nothing to offer except personality politics

Labour’s press conference this morning highlighted the party’s problem. Labour is demanding that the media cover policy more than process and personality. But when the discussion turns to the biggest policy issue of the day—how to cut the deficit—Labour doesn’t want to engage. This morning, Nick Robinson, Adam Boulton, Andrew Neil all pushed Mandelson, Balls and Cooper on this issue. All of them were clearly frustrated by Labour’s lack of answers. Ironically, all the memorable lines from Labour’s press conference came when process and personality were discussed. Mandelson raised a laugh when he suggested that if you flirt with Clegg you’ll wake up not only with David Cameron but with

David Blackburn

Has Nick Clegg ruled out a pact with the Tories?

No, in short, he hasn’t. Clegg was deemed to have compromised his party’s intricate anti-politics strategy by ruling out a ‘progressive’ coalition with Labour led by Gordon Brown, a stance that suggested Clegg sought the affections of David Cameron. Clegg has since clarified his position: “I think, if Labour do come third in terms of the number of votes cast, then people would find it inexplicable that Gordon Brown himself could carry on as prime minister. As for who I’d work with, I’ve been very clear – much clearer than David Cameron and Gordon Brown – that I will work with anyone. I will work with a man from the

Martin Bright

Who Said Never Underestimate the Lib Dems? I Did

In September 2005 I wrote about the “stampede for the centre ground” in an article for the New Statesman. I had just been underwhelmed by the Liberal democrat conference in Blackpool and noted how easy it was to sneer about the centre party from the Westminster village. The Lib Dems were not making it easy for themselves as they struggled to come to terms with the rise of so-called “Orange Book” Lib Dems such as David Laws and Nick Clegg on the right of the party. However, I said at the time: “It is tempting… to dismiss the Liberal Democrats. It would be unwise to do so yet. Those in

Alex Massie

Who’s Afraid of a Hung Parliament?

So it seems you have to vote Conservative to accept the party’s invitation to join the government of Great Britain? Who knew? Tory warnings of the dire consequences of a hung parliament are understandable but, I suspect, unfortunate. There is little evidence that the electorate believes that a hung parliament will be a disaster, far less than they can be cajoled into thinking that they’re letting Britain down if they don’t vote Conservative. And that, my friends, is the underlying message sent by the Tories’ blitz against a hung parliament. A hung election might not be ideal but it might also be a fitting end to this exhausted, depressing parliament.

Monday

26 Apr 2010

David Blackburn

The Tories in a PR pickle

Clegg won’t join without proportional representation; Cameron says he won’t countenance such a ‘con’. Indeed, it runs deeper than that. Iain Martin has canvassed Tories from across the party and found that Cameron will get short shrift if he tries to reform the voting system at all. There is another consideration. This election has the potential to blow traditional party structure out of the water. Labour’s right will be marginalised by the unions’ grip over the party and Liberal Democrats like David Laws and Clegg (up to a point) have more in common with the One Nation Tories than they do with out and out left wingers like Kennedy and

Daniel Korski

A Human Rights Minister?

Britain’s role in protecting the downtrodden and protecting the weak has significant historical pedigree. The British role in abolishing the international slave trade was one of the first liberal interventions. And as Abigail Green’s biography shows, Britain’s Sir Moses Montefiore was not just a pre-eminent Jewish figure of the nineteenth century, but his pioneering approach to the problem of Jewish persecution helped transform the international response to abuses of human rights. No party, though, is going to the election with the kind of commitment to promote human rights abroad as Robin Cook did when he unveiled his ideas for an “ethical” foreign policy. This is hardly a surprise. Ten years

David Blackburn

The Tories’ latest campaign image

Arresting, to the point and right. But tactically it leaves the Tories open to claims about ‘scare tactics’, of which the Tories accuse Labour. UPDATE: This one is more effective because it avoids the other one’s tactical shortcomings.

Alex Massie

The Worst Coalition in Recent British History?

It makes sense for the Conservatives to argue that a hung parliament doesn’t do the country many favours. It’s in their interest to make this case and, certainly, there’s something to be said for the Conservatives winning a clear and comfortable majority. That would be preferable to a narrow Tory victory, not least since the government would not be held to ransom by a handful of recalcitrant backbenchers. But, as matters stand right now, a comfortable majority looks unlikely. The Tory argument is that a hung parliament is bad because: An increase in “behind closed door politics” where politicians make deals among themselves; Indecisive and weak government where parties worried

Alex Massie

The Axeman Cometh

Fed up with how all the political parties emphasise the need for spending restraint while promising increased investment in popular services? Fed up too with all the talk of “savage” or “Thatcher-level” spending cuts without any clear indication where these savings may be made? Well now, thanks to the Financial Times, you can play Fantasy Treasury, swinging an axe through Whithall to find billions of cuts to reduce the deficit while avoiding huge tax increases. Ticking the boxes is easy: it becomes a little harder when you the FT tells you what each of these cuts actually means “on the ground”. In other words: most of the cuts will be

James Forsyth

Attacking Clegg’s self-interest

Cameron is now in Lib Dem held Romsey. After a walk-about, where he received a largely positive reception, he delivered a stump speech. His message was that Nick Clegg, with his comment that PR is a pre-condition to getting Lib Dem support, is trying to hold the whole country to ransom. “It is now becoming clear he wants to hold the whole country to ransom just to get what would benefit the Liberal Democrats.” The aim is simple: portray Clegg as just another politician, interested in power and his own self-interest. As I say in the magazine this week, how quickly the Clegg bubble bursts will be determined by how

Alex Massie

High Times for Dave and Nick

A good spot by Ewan Hoyle: The Telegraph has gone after Nick Clegg’s support for a more sensible approach to the “War on Drugs”. It seems that when he was an MEP the Liberal Democrat leader supported decriminalisation. This, we are supposed to believe, is a Bad Thing. Which makes it amusing or interesting that way back in 2005 David Cameron also called for “fresh thinking and a new approach” to drugs policy. That, as you know, means keeping at least an open mind about decriminalisation. Now proposals for a sensible drugs policy are, alas, unlikely to feature prominently in the next Queen’s Speech and I don’t expect much from

David Blackburn

Latest projections confirm deepening Labour decline, will it be terminal?

Well no surprise there – the Politics Home poll projection suggests that the Tory recovery, started by Cameron on Thursday night, comes at the expense of Labour but remains indecisive: ‘In the new projection, which incorporates all polls published up to and including Sunday 25th April, The Conservatives would be thirty six short of a majority, with 289 seats – 11 more than they were projected to win last week. Labour are projected to win 234 seats and the Lib Dems 94. Labour’s projected total has fallen by nine, while the Lib Dem total has fallen by four. The Tories are projected to gain a 35.1 per cent share of

Daniel Korski

Coalition government may be minimal government

Post-election deals are tough for those on the wings of political parties – the activists, the die-hards, the idealists. Those in the middle, by definition the pragmatists, find it easier to prioritise aims or to compromise in the short-term in order to win over the long-term. Any Con-Lib deal will be tough for the left-wing of the Lib Dems and the right-wing of the Conservative party. But both will have to accept that power is better than opposition and that being able to implement part of your party programme is better than carping on the sidelines, your manifesto languishing on never-visited websites. To make the most of a political shotgun

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 26 April 2010

…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson explains why Cameron is right about the regions, and argues that the Tories must work harder to sell the Gove schools plans. James Forsyth watches Cameron make the Big Society more accessible, and catches Cable flip-flopping on yet another issue. Peter Hoskin wonders who the Lib Dems will work with, and observes the Tories growing used to the idea of a hung parliament. David Blackburn considers Labour’s Catch 22. Daniel Korski reports on some American scepticism of the Tories’ Euroscepticism. Martin Bright urges Gordon Brown to manage himself with dignity. Rod Liddle questions Peter Mandelson’s strategic