Politics Archives

Saturday

14 Nov 2009

Can Cameron deliver?

There is something about ‘compassionate conservatism’ that infuriates the Labour party, as if the very phrase were a deceitful contradiction in terms. The notion sends Gordon Brown into apoplexy. He can handle the Tories talking about economic efficiency or immigration, but he regards concern for the poorest as a subject purely for Labour. And for too many of the last 20 years, it has been. As a result Labour has incubated, through its dysfunctional welfare state, the most expensive poverty in the world. From the beginning of David Cameron’s leadership, he has focused on this outrage. It was for ‘hugging hoodies’ that he was lampooned early on, and it was

Fraser Nelson

Cameron’s licence fee cut – and how he’ll pay for it

All hail, Jeremy Hunt, the axe man. Cameron’s first tax cut will be a licence fee cut* – and Hunt is planning to axe some stations to pay for it. Hunt is thinking of axing 1Extra, apparently, with BBC3 and BBC4 already under threat. Also under Hunt’s axe would be the National Lottery’s runnng costs. The Sunday Times apparently has the details tomorrow, but I give Hunt this warning: if he even tiptoes in the direction of Cbebbies then he will have a revolution on his hands. Parents depend on it now, utterly. Personally, I’d pay £100 a year just for it – just for its kid-sedating powers. But it

David Blackburn

No longer a racist party, but a party of racists

The Guardian reports that the BNP membership is going to vote overwhelmingly in favour of allowing non-whites to join the party. The BNP’s electoral success entitles it to a fair hearing in the political mainstream. The Spectator has maintained that the party’s domestic policies are inspired by racial supremacist ideology and that its economic policies are like Dagenham – that is, three stops beyond Barking. The membership’s decision, forced on them by a court order with which they must comply, changes nothing. There is more chance of Dennis Skinner being elevated to the peerage than there is of Afro-Caribbeans and Asians joining the BNP. But this development is a

Fraser Nelson

In answer to your questions

So, what is The Spectator coming to? Dishing out trophies to Harman and all these Labour types? Has the editor’s chair made me crawl up to people like Harman and Darling? Am I angling for a political seat? The comments to my earlier blog post raise some excellent points – about politics, polemic and The Spectator itself. I thought they deserved a response in a post rather than a comment. The Spectator’s tradition of honouring talent on all sides of the political divide in its annual awards is a long one: La Harman was our 24th Parliamentarian of the Year. While Harman was speaking, Boris and I were holding her

Rod Liddle

Why is everyone determined to be outraged all the time?

There’s been a rather wonderful debate bubbling along at the Guardian, about the French minister Pierre Lellouche’s use of the word ‘autistic’ to describe the English Tories. Well, in fact that’s not quite what the debate has been about; everyone is agreed that Lellouche is beyond the pale. The debate has been about whether or not the Guardian was right to report what was said by the chap in a headline. Quite a lot of readers thought that it wasn’t. Elsa and John Wingad, for example, wrote: ‘We know that the use of “autistic” in your headline was a quote, however by choosing to repeat it in such prominence [sic]

James Forsyth

The trouble with Grieve: Cameron may regret leaving the law to a lawyer

James Forsyth reviews the week in Politics After a good meal, Tory MPs like to play a game: guess the first resignation from David Cameron’s Cabinet. For a party that loves plots and intrigue, this goes some way to making up for the fact that everyone will be on their best behaviour between now and the election. When it comes to who might walk on a point of principle, one name comes up more frequently than any other: Dominic Grieve, the shadow justice secretary. This is, perhaps, appropriate given that Grieve was thrust into the limelight by David Davis’s self-immolation over 42 days. Straight after Davis resigned as shadow home

Friday

13 Nov 2009

David Blackburn

The tactics of political insurgency

That Labour held one of its safest seats is newsworthy either indicates how desperate the party’s predicament is or that it is a very slow news day. Anything other than a Labour win, and a substantial one at that, was unthinkable; even the resolutely fanciful SNP must have acknowledged that privately. However, this by-election raises some interesting points nonetheless. As Alex Massie notes, the gloss has come of the hubristic SNP. Salmond’s Braveheart act about winning 20 seats and seeing Westminster “hanging from a Scottish rope” looked optimistic-to-mad when first performed; now it just looks mad. Salmond’s tactic of simultaneously posing as ruler and insurgent has backfired: Labour can play

The Spectator

The week that was

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson says the city expects George Osborne to do his duty, and explains why Harriet Harman is the parliamentarian of the year. James Forsyth charts one of the worst weeks in Gordon Brown’s political career, and argues that Brown is in a nigh on impossible position over Afghanistan. David Blackburn says that the government’s immigration proposals do not address the issue that made the BNP popular, and believes that Ken Clarke must serve in a Cameron government. Mark Bathgate argues that the government made two elementary fiscal mistakes that have left the economy not waving but

Alex Massie

Is heroin more popular than Toryism in Glasgow?

Chris Dillow estimates that there are more heroin users in Glasgow North East than Tory voters*. For that matter, there are probably four heroin users in Springburn for every plucky citizen prepared to vote Liberal Democrat. I suspect Labour won’t want to use this factoid for fear it foster the impression that heroin use is much more widespread than it really is. *In, admittedly, a by-election with a 33% turnout.

David Blackburn

I dunno, how many hedgerows have we lost since the war?

There’s a tremendous post on the FT’s blog, inviting 20 influential public figures to ask questions that they believe incoming MPs should be able to answer. Jim Pickard explains: ‘But what should we be looking for in the people we elect to run the country? The question of what knowledge and expertise the ideal MP should possess is not much debated. So FT Weekend invited 20 experts in various fields to come up with questions that – in their opinion – any would-be MP should be able to answer. This exercise throws up an obvious problem right away: the areas of knowledge that our questioners address are so disparate that

Alex Massie

Lessons from Glasgow North-East

The result hasn’t been officially announced yet but it’s clear that Labour have won a handsome victory in the Glasgow North-East by-election. That’s no surprise. I don’t think the SNP ever really expected to prevail though, of course, they hoped they might be able to repeat the Miracle of Glasgow East. Still, they thought they’d be more competitive than they have been. Then again, this seat has been Labour for 74 years so a loss in Springburn might have done for poor old Gordon Brown. Happily for Labour the party was able to run as an opposition party, protesting against the SNP’s alleged parsimonious attitude towards Glasgow. The (surprising) cancellation

Thursday

12 Nov 2009

David Blackburn

Nursing is the new Media Studies

Administering injections is not an academic process. Like construction and policing, nursing is an essential professional and appropriate training is a pre-requisite. Procedures must be mastered and techniques known by rote. 2 year nursing diplomas have always provided that function effectively. Academic degrees develop critical intellect, something I’m sure nurses will appreciate as individuals but which will add nothing to their professional skill. Melanie Phillips argues that ‘nursing has been in the grasp of an ultra-feminist orthodoxy which regards the essence of nursing as demeaning to women.’ The plan is to furnish nursing with an equivalent status to doctors. I can’t comment on whether ultra-feminists are responsible for this change

David Blackburn

Electoral fraud

“Postal voting on demand is lethal to the democratic process. Wholesale electoral fraud is both easy and profitable.” That statement sounds like a description of Afghan electoral practices, but it was delivered by Richard Mawrey QC after an inquest into UK postal voting. The Orange Party blog has an intriguing post about the sudden surge in postal ballots for the finally convened Glasgow North East by-election. Now, the Orange Blog may be being mischievous or merely preposterous, but it suggests that fraud could be a factor. History shows that Labour benefit from postal voting, notably at the comfortable Glenrothes by-election victory last year, when every indication was that the

Daniel Korski

No Brits likely in top EU jobs

The process to pick the two new EU jobs – that of Council President and High Representative – is nearing completion and Britain looks set to walk away empty-handed. Tony Blair’s candidacy is unacceptable to many EU leaders – both because of his record, particularly over the Iraq War, and because of Britain’s odd-man status in Europe. Last night at the Queen’s Diplomatic Reception, a senior ambassador remarked to me that if Blair had really wanted the EU job, he should have started lobbying for it a few years ago – or at least shown a post-No 10 interest in European affairs. Blair, said the envoy, could have given a

David Blackburn

British jobs for British workers

Further to Alan Johnson’s immigration statement on Monday, Gordon Brown will give a speech on the topic. The intention is to re-engage with core voters who have defected to the BNP. In an interview with the Mail, Brown acknowledged that the public were right to be concerned, especially in times of economic uncertainty and hardship. Brown is expected to tighten migrant employment controls so that migrants are only used where there are labour shortages. He will strengthen the ‘Labour Market Test’ by extending vacancy exclusivity for UK citizens from 2 weeks to a month, and pledges to retrain British workers. The proposals are welcome and the rhetoric is tough, giving

Alex Massie

Three Cheers for the House of Lords

Everyone, and not without reason, holds the House of Commons in some degree of contempt. This has provoked any number of proposals for reforming the lower house. One simple, if admittedly difficult and controversial, measure, however would be to grant the House of Lords more power, relative to the Commons, than it currently enjoys. It is hard to see what harm this could do, not least since frustrating the Commons ought to be an objective, not a tactic. And then there’s the splendid nature of the Lords, even now that they’ve been denuded of backwoods hereditary peers. Consider this exchange at this week’s edition of Transport Questions. The matter under

Wednesday

11 Nov 2009

David Blackburn

PMQs Live Blog | 11 November 2009

Stay tuned for live coverage from 1500. Later than usual this week because PMQs was pushed back as a mark of respect for Armistice Day. Serving soldiers are in the gallery to watch proceedings. I’m interested to hear Coffee Housers’ thoughts on all this. 15:04: Brown opens up by paying tribute to the Great War generation and succeeding generations of servicemen and now he reads the butcher’s bill. Tragically, this is becoming an expert way of wasting time. 15:05: Ann Begg asks about military equipment and a possible surge. Brown reiterates that he has pledged to send more troops and they will be fully equipped. Brown says that Obama will

Alex Massie

The Miliband Dilemma

Brother Blackburn’s suggestion that David Miliband risks, perhaps, being something of a Labour version of William Hague should he succeed Gordon Brown. And Danny Finkelstein’s column arguing that Miliband should change his mind and put himself forward for the post of EU High Representative is, in many, many ways, compellingly persuasive. But if Miliband were to go to Brussels he might find himself all alone. His enemies in the Labour Party are unlikely to look kindly on Miliband serving a term as High Representative before returning to Britain, finding safe seat, and strolling into Westminster to become the next-but-one leader of the Labour Party. Meanwhile, he might find that he

David Blackburn

The centre left asks how? Well, here’s how

The One Nation sentiments that David Cameron expressed at last night’s Hugo Young lecture have been almost uniformly applauded. Labour’s sneers about Cameron being an uber-Thatcherite are isolated from mainstream. Only Johann Hari dissents, suggesting that because Cameron is an OE and comfortably off it follows that ‘he has never known’ a poor person. Of course, if Cameron were the re-incarnation of Lord Salisbury, then Dave would have ample understanding of, and who knows perhaps even intimacy with, the various retainers, ostlers, scullery maids and farriers in his employ. Patricians have long since retired to enjoy what’s left of their estates, and Cameron’s sentiments are genuine and inflect his politics,

David Blackburn

On the road to recovery? Don’t be daft

I’d forgotten what it felt like to read positive news about the British economy. To be honest life is full of much more thrilling experiences, but my lack of enthusiasm is partially explained by the fact that a 6,000 employment rise is not proof of recovery. That half the population of Cranleigh have found employment over three months is seen as salvation puts Britain’s economic reality firmly into perspective. If you delve into the Labour Market Statistics the picture becomes clear. Unemployment was expected to rise and will continue doing so, but the employment figure is an anomaly. Britain is still visibly contracting, albeit at a decelerating rate. Vacancies fell