Politics

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

Monday

Martin Bright

Does George Osborne finally have a big idea?

Listening to George Osborne on Today (and stripping away the visceral prejudice I always feel at his sneering patrician tone) I have to recognise that he was saying something very interesting. The idea of throwing open the public sector to worker-control is very, very intriguing. Co-operatives are the future of Britain: this is not something I ever thought I would hear from the mouth of a Conservative politician. I don’t know if George Osborne has any experience of living or working in a co-op (it strikes me he is not the type). They can be a mixed bag, but the principle is great one. I have long thought Gordon Brown

Martin Bright

Now Gordon Brown has to live with himself

It’s not hard to see why the Prime Minister opted for a soft interview with Piers Morgan as his latest attempt to relaunch himself with the British public. Forget that he said he wasn’t the kind of politician who used his family as political props (always a daft thing for someone in public life to say). The Life Stories show is perfect format for the purposes of the celebrity-politician, designed to reveal only that which the guest carefully intends to share with the public. It is anti-journalism.  All the pre-briefing and carefully-managed reaction was designed to leave all control in the hands of the invitee. This is particularly true of

Sunday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The best publicity Brown is ever likely to get

Brown is very lucky to have a friend in Piers Morgan. He did him a great service in the ITV interview tonight – and while it would have made CoffeeHousers nauseous (if they watched it), it will be the best television the PM will get this year and probably ever. Mark my words: the Labour Party will not produce anything that shows Brown in such a sympathetic light. It was powerful, I’d say, because it was not party political propaganda: Morgan genuinely likes Brown and did his utmost to project the human side of him. Those hours of coaching from Alastair Campbell paid off. He kept smiling in a credible

David Blackburn

Ashcroft returns fire but the ‘scandal’ rolls on

Lord Ashcroft looks like a man not to cross and he will do anything to protect his privacy. He faces down criticism with complete silence, patient before turning on his detractors. According to the Sunday Times, Ashcroft has attacked Labour over its ‘smears’ about his tax status. His tone is derisive but his intention is clear: back off. He has obtained documents held by the Labour party, detailing its strategy to expose Ashcroft. One activist wrote: ‘Think the Guardian most likely to go for it.’ Smart chaps these Labour wonks. Sure enough, the front page of the Observer trails an interview with Eric Pickles, who is ‘frustrated’ by his deputy’s obfuscation.  Reading Pickles’ comments, the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

It is Brown and Balls versus Darling and Mandelson again

If there was a story in the Sunday papers of a split between David Cameron and the two most senior figures in the shadow Cabinet over economic strategy it would be the talk of the town. But because it is about Brown and Balls versus Darling and Mandelson it is on the inside pages; it is as if the split over economic policy between these four men is priced into Labour’s standing. Patrick Hennessy reports that Brown and Balls would like to use the Budget as a pre-election springboard, announcing larger than scheduled increases in public spending and challenging the Tories to match them. Such a move would be economically

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Cameron steps up his game

There’s something about a trip to Scotland that brings out the best in Tories giving speeches, and David Cameron lived up to the occasion the other evening. He reprised his social justice passage – easily the best part of his 2009 conference speech. Listing how Labour has made the rich richer and poor poorer, and how the Tories are the party of Wilberforce etc. Promising a “radical zeal” Conservative party – Amen to that. “Some people will say ‘you can’t do things like that.  You can’t afford to take those risks.’ I say with so little money and so much failure we can’t afford not to.” That’s the spirit.  “Those

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

Cameron brings some clarity to the table

Maybe it’s just a slow Saturday, but the Conservatives’ latest WebCameron video (see below) strikes me as one of the most effective yet. The pitch is straightforward: make an appeal to people who voted New Labour or who “have never voted Tory before”.  So things like Sure Start and the minimum wage get a namecheck. But, aside from that, it’s striking just how clearly and unequivocally Cameron sets out Tory commitments such as recognising marriage in the tax system. Indeed, the passage on the “root causes of our social breakdown”, and how the Tories would deal with them, harkens back to his powerful address at the party conference.  Only, this

Martin Bright

Think Tank Clash: The Future of Political Debate

I am pleased to report that the New Deal of the Mind Think Tank Clash at the Soutbank Centre on Tuesday went down a storm. The event sold out the Purcell Room, which suggests that there is an audience for ideas out there.   We wanted to have a series of quickfire debates (two minutes per speaker) on the pressing issues of the between the directors of Britain’s think tanks. Each think tank was then asked to produce a star witness to bank up its argument. So the bouts were as follows: Progress v ResPublica on Red Toryism; Fabians v Reform on Equality; Demos v RSA on Character and IPPR

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Tim Montgomerie’s broad church

The FT Magazine has a cover boy today: Tim Montgomerie. It’s about how “a small group of Christian Conservatives are rewriting party doctrine,” and has positioned Tim in such a way that there appears to be a halo behind his head with his eyes heavenwards. Something tells me this was not the picture Tim was expecting. The front cover tease sounds like one of these conspiracy theories you get in America: the capture of a political party by a small band of idealogues etc etc. Read on, and the piece is fair and instructive: it tells the important – but hardly controversial – part of a key aspect of Conservative

Peter Hoskin

A ceasefire in the VAT war?

Has another dividing line faded into the sand?  It sure looks like it, going off this Times report on how both Labour and the Tories are considering hiking VAT to 20 percent.  If you recall, it was thought that Brown blocked Alistair Darling’s plan to introduce the rise in last year’s Pre-Budget Report – and all so he could attack the Tories over reports that they would do similar.  The PM will find it a lot harder to stage that attack after this morning. A few weeks ago, the rumour was that Labour would make keeping VAT at 17.5 percent a “main election pledge”.  Whether that pledge now appears, or

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The war over Joanne Cash — and what it tells us about Cameron’s Conservatives

James Forsyth reviews the week in politics If a committee of David Cameron’s advisers were to design what they regarded as the perfect Tory candidate, the result would look something like Joanne Cash. She is intelligent, successful, a talented lawyer, educated at a state school and with staunch, considered conservative principles. She was duly earmarked for a must-win Labour-Tory marginal: Westminster North. After she was selected she became even more of a Cameroon poster child as she is expecting a child. She could be used as living, breathing proof of how Mr Cameron has succeeded in modernising the party. But the best-laid plans of Cameron HQ can go awry —

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Spectator debate: ‘We must quit Afghanistan now’

Chair – Andrew Neil Proposing – Correlli Barnett, Simon Jenkins Opposing – Charles Guthrie, Andrew Roberts Farce very nearly visited the debate on Afghanistan on Tuesday. A parliamentary three-line whip prevented the MPs Liam Fox and Peter Kilfoyle from reaching the hall. So our ancient democracy threatened a debate on Afghanistan’s brand new one. The issue that kept them in parliament? Democratic reform. Correlli Barnett proposed the motion and lamented that America’s ‘panic and rage’ had precipitated the war after 9/11. Accepting the consequences of retreat would be bolder than propping up the ‘posturing clown’ Hamid Karzai. We should leave by September. Rapid evacuations were achievable, he said, and cited

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

The euro may be heading for cataclysm, but that’s no reason to be rude about pigs

Martin Vander Weyer’s Any Other Business I was sorry to hear Gillian Tett, the FT’s fragrant financial commentator, calling the eurozone’s southern members ‘pigs’ last week. In sunnier times, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain were referred to collectively as ‘Club Med’, but lately the acronym of their initial letters has come into common usage, with connotations obviously intended to be negative. It’s true that Greece and Portugal in particular are deep in the porker-manure, with the bond markets repricing their debt (Greek government bonds currently yield more than double those of Germany) in a way that suggests they may soon be unable to finance their spiralling deficits at all. They

Friday

Peter Hoskin

Darling enters election mode

There must be something about stepping back onto Scottish soil that invigorates Alistair Darling, because his Edinburgh speech is one of the most political and confrontational he has delivered for some time.  Sure, Darling is a Labour man, so it’s part of his job to oppose the Tories.  But, compared to his Cabinet colleagues, he’s normally so restrained about it.  Here, though, the gloves are well and truly off. The Chancellor calls Cameron a “real risk to Scotland’s future,” and throws in a dash of Thatcher-baiting (“The Tories … are as out of touch now as they were 30 years ago”).  But, really, there are two passages worth dwelling on,

James Forsyth James Forsyth

There is a massively important principle at stake in Northern Ireland

The Times continues its attack on the Tory policy of trying to field candidates in Northern Ireland today. In its leader on the subject, it declares that the Tories should abandon their efforts and that this is relatively easily done as ‘there is no great ideological cause at issue.’ This is wrong. There is a massively important principle at stake here, a party that aspires to govern the United Kingdom should run candidates in all parts of it. To put it another way, the people of Northern Ireland deserve a chance to vote for the Tories. David raises some valid points about the problems the alliance between the Tories and

The Spectator

The week that was | 12 February 2010

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson ponders the re-birth of history. James Forsyth offers a note of caution over Cameron’s welcome attack on lobbyists, and says that the Tories’ death ads are the sort of hardball politics the Tories should play. Peter Hoskin condemns the Tories’ attack poster as Brownite politics at its worst, and sees the Cameroons fleshing out the agenda that may define them. David Blackburn argues that the Tories’ dirty tactics are distasteful but effective, and is uneasy about Cameron’s personal attack on Brown. Lloyd Evans sketches a perky PMQs. Daniel Korski writes an obituary for Charlie Wilson.

David Blackburn

Mending Britain’s broken politics

If it turns out that a transparently self-serving referendum on AV isn’t an instant fix to Britain’s political problems, what are politicians to do? As Pete noted, the stalk your MP i-Phone app is a step in the right direction. Another welcome measure is Winkball’s unique video hustings. Over 3,000 parliamentary candidates of all hues are given a few minutes to summarise their broad manifesto and detail which local issues are important to them. Viewers can leave comments and lodge questions so some sort of dialogue is maintained. Although this initiative possesses an air of the gimmick every little helps, and understanding what you’re voting for at a constituency level

David Blackburn

The hunt for Hoon’s successor

Not the most arresting headline I grant you, but bear with me. Geoff Hoon’s political corpse is still warm (well, lukewarm as it’s Hoon), but the search for his successor is underway. The indefatigable Paul Waugh has the runners and riders: John Knight (the leader of Ashfield District Council), James Connell (Hoon’s former SpAd) and Michael Dugher (another former Hoon SpAd who is now Brown’s Chief Political Spokesman). Mischievously, Waugh asks: ‘Will Labour insist on all-women shortlist? And if not, why not?’ Why not indeed? Perhaps Joanne Cash could complete her volte face and stand for Labour. What strikes me most about Waugh’s list is that all of the candidates

David Blackburn

The Tories’ meddling is undermining the Unionist cause in Northern Ireland

The Times reports that Owen Paterson, the Tories’ Northern Ireland spokesman, will review the process by which the Northern Ireland First Minister is appointed – by creating a Northern Irish executive and official opposition. The prospect of what Paterson describes as a “voluntary coalition”, presumably between the Unionist parties, has the potential to keep Sinn Fein permanently in opposition. Such a coalition jeopardises Cameron’s neutrality if he becomes Prime Minister, a point that Sinn Fein will exploit. The Conservatives seek to move Ulster’s politics away from sectarianism and into the mainstream, concentrating on public services. That is a welcome aim but their means are ill-conceived, stemming from a misunderstanding of