Politics

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

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

The quitting game

A quick update to my earlier post: according to the Evening Standard, ten ministers are now prepared to quit in protest at Brown’s leadership.  Of course, they may not go ahead with it.  But the story still fuels the idea that dissatisfaction with Gordon Brown is hardening, rather than fizzling away over the summer as Downing Street would have hoped.  Apparently, most in Labour now consider a revolt at the beginning of September “highly likely”.  It’s becoming increasingly difficult to disagree.

Peter Hoskin

When politicians shut themselves away

What happens when politicians shut themselves away, and stare into an abyss both political and personal? After Bruce Anderson’s revelations about Gordon Brown yesterday, I think we need to know. So I re-watched Robert Altman’s 1984 film Secret Honor last night, looking for a bit of elucidation. Secret Honor gives us a fictionalised, post-Watergate Richard Nixon. He locks himself in a room – not with a computer and the garbled recollection of a Dominic Grieve quote, but with a bottle of scotch and a loaded gun – and delivers his political testimony to a tape recorder.  That’s what we get for the next 90 minutes. Stephen yesterday referred to Brown’s actions as “more that political paranoia”. 

Peter Hoskin

An escalation

Rachel Sylvester’s article in today’s Times is a perfect summary of the plots threatening the Labour leadership. Two passages jumped out at me: “Civil servants – who can sink or save a politician – have not warmed to Mr Brown. ‘People say he’s charming in private but it’s completely untrue,’ an official who has worked closely with him said. ‘He’s incredibly rude. He doesn’t remember names. His e-mails are brusque demands. And his defining characteristic is anger. I’ve seen him kicking furniture.’” And “I spoke to a junior minister yesterday who claims to be prepared to resign in September in protest at Mr Brown’s leadership and believes that nine other government

Monday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Which Prime Minister has fared worse than Brown?

Bruce Anderson says if Brown went now he’d be a “strong candidate for the accolade of ‘worst Prime Minister since 1900’” and it’s got me thinking – why just a candidate? Who would compete with him for this title? My take is that in politics (as in life) you play the hand you’re dealt. The Callaghan years were a disaster, but Sunny Jim was dealt a bad hand – and, crucially, was more popular than his party. You can argue that without him Thatcher would have had a far larger majority than she did in 1979. As for Eden – as Iain Martin pointed out yesterday – he did manage

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 28 July 2008

…here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Rory Sutherland says it’s out with the flash and in with the smiles to curb speeding on our roads. James Forsyth tips Alan Johnson as the main threat to the Tories, and claims that Cameron wants us to think that the torch has passed to another generation. Fraser Nelson reveals the Shadow Cabinet Rich list, and suggests that Barack Obama needs a history lesson. Clive Davis visits Tintern Abbey. And Americano praises the Obama rethink about Iraq.

Peter Hoskin

A Coffee House challenge: how can Cameron improve?

Despite the CCHQ euphoria about Brown’s predicament, there’s still the occasional bit of news which should give the Tories pause for thought. The latest is a YouGov poll in today’s Telegraph; the “first detailed analysis of the public’s perception of the Tory leader”. It’s a mixed bag for Cameron. The good news is that respondents generally consider him to be likeable and caring. But the less-than-good news is that 39 percent regard him as “somewhat shallow”, and 44 percent think he’s “not in touch with ordinary people.” Barring an unforeseeable mishap, catastrophe or tragedy, David Cameron will be the next Prime Minister of this country. That’s why it’s important he looks at

Sunday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Might Brown cry off sick?

I wonder what Gordon Brown thought of the Kennedyesque overtones which Obama wanted to put on his European visit. Kennedy is Brown’s hero, of course, and he nicks hugs amounts from his speeches. As Brown paraded Obama in No10’s back yard yesterday for the cameras, waving his arms to show he was imparting his wisdom not vice versa, he will have been praying that a little of Obama’s stardust will have worn off on him. It’s a dangerous tactic for a British Prime Minister, though. In my News of the World column today I reprint a picture of the last time a British Prime Minister tried that: Macmillan with JFK

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The Shadow Cabinet Rich List – Part 2

Here, as promised, is the Shadow Cabinet Rich List published in today’s News of the World – reproduced with kind permission.  You can read my introduction to the list here. 1: Lord Strathclyde: £10m 2: Philip Hammond: £9m 3: George Osborne: £4.3m 4: Jeremy Hunt: £4.1m 5: David Cameron: £3.2m 6: Dominic Grieve: £3.1m 7: Francis Maude: £3m 8: William Hague: £2.2m 9: Alan Duncan: £2.1m 10: Andrew Mitchell: £2m 11: David Willetts: £1.9m 12: Theresa May: £1.7m 13: Oliver Letwin: £1.5m 14: Caroline Spelman: £1.5m 15: Owen Paterson: £1.5m 16: Cheryl Gillan: £1.4m 17: Liam Fox: £1m 18: Grant Schapps: £1m 19: Michael Gove: £1m 20: Eric Pickles: £700,000 21:

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The Shadow Cabinet Rich List – Part 1

The Shadow Cabinet Rich List is published today by the News of the World (where yours truly is a columnist). It shows there are 19 millionaires around that table. Conservatives, of course, tend to come from a business background, whereas Labour come from public services. Wealth from previous jobs tends to be stored in the form of property – which has, of course, boomed in the last decade thus augmenting their net worth. And does all this moolah matter? I’d say so. Labour, for example, argue that the Tories can afford to be enthusiasts for cleaning up Commons expenses when they’re all minted. And from the other side, a Tory

Saturday

The Spectator

Must Try Harder

The wonder of the National Curriculum Tests marking scandal is that it has taken a decade for the inadequacies of the school exam system to become widely known. As Liz Brocklehurst, a former exam marker, reveals in this issue (see page 21), the exam system has been in crisis since being politicised in David Blunkett’s days as education secretary. For ten years, markers have been put under pressure to interpret answers in a bizarrely over-generous fashion, even to the point of marking obviously wrong answers as correct. Little has been revealed about such practices because the markers have been sworn to secrecy. As the results got better and better, allowing

John Laughland

Meet Italy’s answer to Boris

Gianni Alemanno, Rome’s new right-wing mayor, tells John Laughland that it’s time for the Eternal City to adopt a ‘zero tolerance’ approach There are few people, I imagine, who could make Boris Johnson jealous, but Gianni Alemanno is probably one of them. Two days before Boris’s election as Mayor of London, the conservative Alemanno conquered Rome after the Italian Left had held the city for a decade and a half. His victory was part of a dramatic overall national victory for the Italian Right, whose no-nonsense political discourse may now set the tone for European politics as a whole. While Boris governs London from a hideous blob of glass and

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 25 July 2008

Here are some of the posts made this week on Spectator.co.uk: Chris Grayling wants your questions. George Osborne answers your questions. Fraser Nelson reports on the SNP’s stunning victory in the Glasgow East by-election, and claims that the West needs to solve the Pakistan problem. James Forsyth says Ed Balls should take responsibility for the Sat fiasco, and spells out how reform-minded Labour MPs can establish a case for toppling Brown. Peter Hoskin analyses James Purnell’s strategy for getting to the top, and says that taxpayer subsidy of Commons bars has to stop. Melanie Phillips gives her take on Gordon Brown’s speech to the Knesset. Stephen Pollard asks: what’s the point of fiction? Clive Davis gives his reponse to Stephen’s question. Trading Floor exposes the CV

Peter Hoskin

Put your questions to Chris Grayling

Chris Grayling has kindly agreed to a Q&A session with Coffee House.  So, post your questions for him in the comments sections below.  And, in a week-or-so’s time, we’ll pick out the best ten and put them to the shadow work and pensions secretary.  He’ll get back to us all a few days later.  And the commenters whose questions are chosen will all win Coffee House t-shirts and copies of the special 180th Anniversary issue of The Spectator.  

Peter Hoskin

Osborne responds – Part II

Here are George Osborne’s answers to the last five questions put forward by CoffeeHousers.  For Part I click here GS London “What are the realistic possibilities of a flat-rate taxation system? If not, please explain why not, and, failing that, would a conservative government make effort to drastically reduce the complexity in current taxation?”  There are important lessons we can learn from the flat tax. Under Labour, Britain’s tax code has more than doubled in length, adding to the administrative burden for businesses and individuals across Britain. That’s why I have set out a long-term commitment to make our tax system simpler and fairer, and asked Lord Howe to develop

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

No such thing as a safe seat

 Dunfermline, Crewe, Glasgow East – the phenomenon of safe Labour seats being upended is one that deserves a little more attention. Let’s consider that incredible turnout in Glasgow East – 42% in a seat where 48% turned up for the general. For the first time in decades, a political party (the SNP) campaigned hard there. People knocked on doors. The nationalists raised, and deployed, an army of people and asked Glasgow East voters what they thought, they engaged with them. And it worked.   Remember the BNP’s electoral successes – such as they are – come from exploiting the forgotten people in Labour’s modern-day rotten boroughs. They were the first

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Schadenfreude but not much else for the Tories

Aside from schadenfreude, there is not much in the Glasgow East result to make David Cameron smile. It reminds us that what is happening nationally is a fury directed at Labour, not Obama style enthusiasm for the Tories. I had initially thought coming third was quite a result for Cameron but went to bed before calculating voting shares. As CoffeeHousers pointed out, Cameron has made no progress in Glasgow East with his 6% voting share unchanged. And that in spite of an excellent candidate. Of course in these by-elections, voters wishing to stir things up pick the nearest stick to beat Labour with. In Dunfermline and West Fife, Brown’s home

Peter Hoskin

Cameron throws down the gauntlet

David Cameron on Sky News this morning:  “I think the PM should have his holiday but then I think we need an election. We need change in this country and that’s how change should come about.” Hat-tip: Politics Home

Peter Hoskin

Are the numbers against the would-be leaders?

In his victory speech a few hours ago, John Mason exclaimed that “this SNP victory is not just a political earthquake, it is off the Richter scale”. It’s hard to disagree. After all, overturning a 13,507 majority is impressive stuff, whichever way you slice it. So impressive, in fact, that it can only reinforce the idea that pretty much any Labour seat is now a viable target for opposition parties. Which creates a particularly nasty conundrum for Labour MPs. Ousting Brown will become increasingly attractive, as he leads them towards oblivion in 2010. But many of the names being bandied around to replace him have smaller majorities than that overturned

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A stunning victory

It’s official – the SNP has taken Glasgow East with a majority of 365 in what is, quite simply, a stunning victory. [And quite a result for Cameron, he’s pushed the Liberal Democrats into third place, getting real traction in a constituency where Tory vote is normally no higher than staff members and blood relatives]. This is most momentous Scottish by-election since Hillhead in 1982. The SNP’s greatest victory since the Hamilton by-election which put it on the map in 1967. And a result which has fought off very tough competition to be Gordon Brown’s worst setback yet. Westminster will want to know tomorrow what this means for Gordon Brown. The question