Politics

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

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

Alan Johnson, summarised

What became of the likeable lads, that group of New Labour politicians who seemed more decent than the government in which they served? Alistair Darling was one, and he has effectively retired from the frontline of British politics. Alan Johnson was another, and today he gives a frank and wide-ranging interview to Rachel Sylvester. In it, Johnson spends much time cheerleading for David Miliband, and criticising Ed Miliband quite harshly, but there are some points which are worth recording. So here goes: 1) What a drag. As Sylvester puts it, “The [leadership] contest has, in [Johnson’s] view, already gone on too long and should not have been extended until September.”

Peter Hoskin

The politics of the Lib Dem conference

It’s only gesture politics, but sometimes gestures matter – which is why the Tories are thinking seriously about dispatching a party envoy to the Lib Dem conference in September. The idea, naturally, is to cement the bonds of friendship between the two sides, as well as to suggest that the Tories are happy to mix it with the wider Lib Dem party. But there’s a problem: that wider party doesn’t seem eager to play along. As soon as there were rumblings that Cameron might speak at their conference, they slapped the idea down with the unswerving efficiency of an executioner. And they’ve done similar today in response to reports that

Jonathan Foreman

‘How many must be shot before Kashmir is news?’

It was unfortunate timing. At the very moment David Cameron was pleasing his Indian audience by criticising Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism, security forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir were gunning down civilian protesters in the streets of Srinagar, the summer capital of the disputed state. It is not clear why Cameron failed to mention the worsening crisis in Kashmir — the violence and civilian deaths have been all over the Indian media — particularly after he was so forthright about the Gaza crisis during his trip to Turkey. But the killings of demonstrators, curfews and riots in the Muslim-majority state have not gone unnoticed in the Muslim world, and Pakistan’s President Zardari

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Why is the ‘Director BBC North’ staying down south?

On his vast salary, Peter Salmon could buy Wigan, says Rod Liddle. But he and the rest of the corporation’s managerial elite will not be abandoning their cosy London lives any time soon Do any senior BBC executives wish to move to Salford, as is being urged upon the corporation’s exponentially less well paid staff, i.e. the ones who make the programmes you watch or hear? Peter Salmon is the latest exec to announce that he would rather hack off his own face than move his family anywhere remotely near the north. This is a problem because Peter is ‘Director BBC North’, a post given to him presumably because he

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

Why didn’t Labour have a leadership contest when it mattered?

Did you know that David Miliband’s favourite snack is a Twirl? I learned this yesterday while trawling the various Labour leadership websites, desperate to find some reason — any reason — to care about any of it. In his photograph at the top, David’s odd grey patch of hair seems curiously prominent, in a manner that suggests there might be a seagull circling somewhere overhead. I stared at that for a while. The Twirl thing was number 10 on ‘10 Things You May Not Know About David’. I already knew the other nine. It’s quite sparse, David Miliband’s website. Not like Diane Abbott’s website. Hers is great. It suffers, sure,

Friday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Succour for John Thomas

The “Most Irritating Politician” stuff was meant to be a bit a laugh, and I think most people took it as such. I think the appalling Harman (who has actually done quite well as stand-in leader,) was a fairly deserving winner, even if I thought you lot were rather too doctrinaire in your voting. But then, this is The Spectator, not The Herald. What do you expect, etc? And I agree with most (although not all) nominations. But contributor John Thomas has set a steeper challenge in the thread below. Name a few politicians of the last fifty years who have been sort of, you know, good.  So here’s some

The Spectator

The week that was | 6 August 2010

Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: Fraser Nelson says that there is no Cabinet rift on benefit reform. Peter Hoskin uncovers the equality landmines that Labour have left the coalition, and reports on a ranking of post-war prime ministers. Andrew Haldenby begins a series of posts by the think-tank Reform in anticipation of the Spending Review. Susan Hill asks for your advice. Rod Liddle reveals the most irritating politician of the last 50 years. Alex Massie gives his take on the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’. Melanie Phillips wonders who will come out on top in the welfare wrestling match. Faith Based highlights the problem

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

Cable, Cameron and speaking out in public

For the foreseeable, Vince Cable is going to be a political barometer figure: journalists and other innocent bystanders will sift through everything he says to check the temperature of the LibCon coalition. In which case, they’ll find little to excite or worry them in his cool interview with the Newcastle Journal today. The Business Secretary says all the right things about staying his role for the full five years (“that’s my intention, yes”) and about the internal dealings of the coalition (“it works in a very business like way”), even if he does quash the idea of a full merger between the two parties. It’s all unsurprising, uncontroversial stuff. Indeed,

Peter Hoskin

The battle over IPSA enters a new phase

MPs have never really got along with the new expenses body, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. But now their mood towards it seems to have become even frostier. I imagine that IPSA’s three-month anniversary, and the rather complacent-sounding celebrations that accompanied it, are something to do with that. Tom Harris’s wonderfully acerbic Birthday message, from a couple of days ago, captures how many MPs feel about the whole affair. In letters to the Telegraph today, Michael Fabricant and Denis MacShane ratchet up the attacks on IPSA. And while many will not see them as the ideal poster boys for a rebellion against an expenses watchdog, it’s worth remembering that they

Wednesday

Peter Hoskin

Andy Burnham, football mad

Humble hat-tips to Iain Dale and Jim Pickard for spotting this fun exchange in Labour Uncut’s interview with Andy Burnham: Q. (from Jackie): If you had the choice between playing for Everton in an FA cup final, or become the next Labour Prime Minister which would you chose? A. (after exactly two seconds) Everton, FA Cup final. press secretary: (howls) No! Q. That is a bold statement! press secretary: I’m going to kill him. Q. She is going to strangle you when I leave. press secretary: I am. Campaign manager Kevin: Can you re-answer that one please Andy. A. Well it’s a different choice isn’t it! That [playing in the

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Who are ten most irritating politicians since the second world war?

I daresay you’ve seen the ranking for British Prime Ministers since the second world war which, rightly, shows our Clem at the top and that jackanapes Eden at the bottom. Although I suppose if Eden had won in Suez then we might have been spared the misery of the first and second Gulf War, and Eden’s reputation unblemished if still unremarkable. However, more to the point, who have been the most serious bloody irritating politicians since the second world war? I will ask for your nominations and then we’ll have a vote on it. Try, if you can, to extend your memory back beyond the trauma of New Labour. Here

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Price of Nick Clegg’s Success

As Pete says, Danny Finkelstein’s column (£) today is characteristically excellent. The problems facing the Liberal Democrats now and, perhaps, at the next election are problems caused by success, not failure. The Lib Dems had three options after the votes had been counted: do a deal with the Tories, try and cobble something together with Labour or remain aloof from the hurly-burly and leave the Tories to govern as a minority – perhaps on a supply or confidence basis. Given those options Nick Clegg followed his own instincts (and those of the country as a whole) and opted for the Tories. This was both the right thing to do and

Peter Hoskin

The equality landmines that Labour have left the coalition

Oh dear, the Treasury is mired in another controversy about equality after the Guardian published a letter which Theresa May sent to George Osborne before the Budget. In it, she warned that the government could face legal action if it is unable to show that its decisions were made with a consideration to “existing race, disability and gender equality duties.” As she puts it: “If there are no processes in place to show that equality issues have been taken into account in relate to particular decisions, there is a real risk of successful legal challenge by, for instance, recipients of public services, Trade Unions or other groups affected by these

Peter Hoskin

How tightly are the Lib Dems bound to the Tories?

A thoughtful and thought-provoking column from Danny Finkelstein (£) in the Times this morning, which is well worth a trip beyond the paywall to read. In it, he makes a persuasive point: that, despite their plunging poll ratings, the Lib Dems aren’t doing too shabbily at all. After all, who, looking back at the party’s recent history, would have thought they would be in power in 2010? That they are suggests, in Danny’s words, that “this is not not the bottom for the Lib Dems, it is the top.” From there, an important point is made against those who still contend that the Lib Dems would have been better off

Peter Hoskin

The government could make political and fiscal gains if it reviews the Trident upgrade

On one level, there is something admirable about the government’s uncompromising support for a Trident upgrade: senior Tories really do believe in the deterrent’s strategic importance, and are not willing to sacrifice that. But, on many other levels, that same inflexibility is looking more and more unwise. Three former senior military figures write to the Times today with a new riff on a point that they have frequently made before. Why not squeeze another 15 years out of the current system, they say – by which time, “the anachronistic and counterproductive aspect of our holding on to a nuclear deterrent would be even more obvious.” This is an argument with

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

Why the government needn’t fear the strikes

With the threat of major strikes timed to coincide with Osborne’s spending review in October, I think it’s worth exhuming an important point that Julian Glover made in his Guardian column last month: “UK politics is often characterised as a contest for the centre ground, but that misdescribes the nature of the quest. Centrism implies banality, but I don’t think voters want their governments to be mundane. There is a willingness to endorse radical action if it is explained and if it looks practicable. It worked for the left under Attlee and Blair; it worked for the right under Thatcher; and it is working – so far – for this

Peter Hoskin

Balls: let’s remain on the centre ground and oppose cuts

As the New Statesman’s George Eaton suggests, there’s quite a lot packed into Ed Balls’s piece in the Times today (also on his website for those who can’t venture beyond the paywall). And, what’s more, some of it makes sense. Take his argument that Labour shouldn’t cede the “radical centre ground” of British politics to the coalition. That’s the right argument to make, even it if is rather undermined by Balls’s own efforts to drag the party leftwards. As usual, it all starts to unravel as soon as Balls gets to the public finances. His position is blunt and straightforward: that “Labour needs strong leadership to make a credible argument