Politics

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

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown isn’t paid to lie to us

A new Brownie was born today at 7am. Gordon Brown came on to BBC Breakfast this morning to tell presenter Sian Williams about how, as a family man himself, he sympathises with Ruth Kelly wanting to devote more time to her children. He didn’t expect to be grilled on his untrue claim that he has lowered the national debt. He repeated his Sky/Marr line: that debt had gone down from 44% to 37% of GDP. Williams told him this was untrue, and that the Office for National Statistics said so last week. She told him, rightly, that he arrived at his figure by subtracting Northern Rock – which he can’t

Peter Hoskin

Is another Darling U-turn on the cards?

Today’s Standard reports that Alistair Darling is set to back down over his plans to increase vehicle excise duty.  It’s hardly surprising.  The proposal was always likely to prompt a backbench rebellion as well as public outcry – two things that the Brown Government can ill afford, particularly at the moment. I imagine that No.s 10 and 11 will try and spin any concessions as a “recognition that British people need supporting in the current economic climate”.  But if the 10p tax fiasco taught us anything, it’s that voters rightly remember who to blame for the original proposal rather than who to “thank” for the U-turn.  Labour certainly shouldn’t expect a post-back down poll boost. And

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Ruth Kelly abandons ship

So Ruth Kelly’s last act as Transport Secretary was to deny Gordon Brown the privilege of sacking her. Word of the reshuffle leaked last night – Geoff Hoon out and to succeed Mandy as European Commissioner (not a straight switch, Mandy’s there till Jun09). Des Browne to stay in Defence but (finally) cede Scotland to Paul Murphy who combines it with Northern Ireland and Wales. Liam Byrne to the Cabinet. Unusually, some of the above had confirmation of these moves, so doubtless word reached Kelly that she’s offski. So when journalists started making inquiries, rather than saying “I serve at the pleasure” she said she was offski. I’ve always quite liked

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Welcome to the new austerity era, Mr Cameron

Fraser Nelson says that the Tory leader must not be tempted by a ‘safety first’ strategy at his conference in Birmingham. The global financial crisis has transformed the political context and left an opening for the Conservatives to promise true radicalism and to be proudly bold The Labour party conference already had an apocalyptic aura without the preachers from the Plymouth Brethren gathering in Manchester to rub it in. But as they stood at the security entrance, quoting blood-curdling passages from Ezekiel at passing Cabinet members, the text certainly took on a new resonance. The Labour membership knows that the end is nigh, and is just about ready to pass

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

This charming man: an audience with the Gover

There are two reliable tricks which can fill the room at any Tory speaking event: offer free beer, or put Michael Gove on the panel. His fusion of almost comic politeness and intellectual ruthlessness have given him quite a following, whether he’s defending neoconservatism or David Cameron. In three short years he has been propelled to the Tory front bench, tasked with devising a supply-side revolution in education which would be the flagship reform for the next Tory government. When we meet he is full of tales about Sweden, where he had just been to visit schools that use the system he hopes to bring to England. His spectacles, which

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Dick Cheney’s Mission to Destroy Europe

I don’t nornally write about Euroloonies, partly because I have trouble taking the European Parliament any more seriously than I do the Liberal Democrats. That is to say, it – and they – cross my mind no more than twice a year. But this, via the indomitable Trixy, is sufficiently priceless as to merit attention: Questions over the funding of the No campaign in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty referendum Raising a point of order, Co-President Daniel Cohn Bendit (Greens/EFA , Germany) said: “Last weekend, the Irish press revealed that there possibly exists a link between the financers of the no-campaign in Ireland and the Pentagon as well as the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Brown’s Salvage Operation

So, Gordon Brown’s speech to the Labour party conferene wasn’t terrible. By which I mean that it clearly pleased his audience. And his “This is no time for a novice” line was an entertaining slap aimed at both David Cameron and David Miliband. But that carries danger too: Brown is trying to make the case that only he can be trusted to implement necessary reforms. He is betting that, come the election, voters will choose “experience” over “change”. Does that sound familiar? Well, it didn’t work for Hillary Clinton did it? And I’m not sure it’s going to work for John McCain either. Nor does Brown have the luxury of

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Quote, misquote

Bless. Dennis MacShane says Brown could not possibly be have used a false quote in his leadership speech. In his write-up of Brown’s speech for Comment Is Free, the ex-Europe minister has this to say: Brown sought to take the battle to the Conservatives. Did George Osborne really say that in the midst of a financial crisis “it’s a function of financial markets that people make loads of money out of the misery of others”? Brown quoted the shadow chancellor, and a prime minister has to be hyper-accurate in what he says, so this extraordinary quote from Osborne should be more widely known. Hyper-accuarte? MacShane should come by CoffeeHouse more

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown’s success

Brown’s hour-long speech may have been saved by his six-second “no time for a novice” line. He managed to smile as he said it, with a glint of menace that the cameras picked up quite well. And as for the rest of the speech – I’ve spoken to a few Labour delegates and have to report that Brown went down well. It was a wavelength thing: his claims about his triumphs and Tory failing struck us CoffeeHousers as absurd. But they strike chords with the faith-based community in the hall who actually believe this stuff. So when he promises to legislate to end child poverty – as if that will

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s speech: live blog

1400: Welcome to our live blog of Gordon Brown’s conference speech.  No sign of the man yet – he’s expected to take to the stage in around ten minutes time.  Early word is that his speech is going to be of the “personal vision” rather than the “specific policy annoucement” variety.  We can, though, expect some more details on that internet announcement. Stay tuned, then, for my thoughts, as well as analysis from James and Fraser in the conference hall.  Just keep refreshing the page to get the latest. 1410: This just in from Jon Cruddas: “We await the speech. Meanwhile rumours abound. My favourite- the existence of a Caroline

Peter Hoskin

The numbers are stacked against Brown

With none of the Cabinet yet stepping out of the shadows and confirming their opposition to Brown, this tidbit from Paul Waugh is worth noting: “…the Cabinet is roughly split three ways. One camp is the die-in-the-ditchers, another the wait-and-seers, another the get-him-nowers. That means that GB has at most a third of the Cabinet totally on board. Not a nice situation to be in, no matter what he says in his speech today.”

Matthew Dancona

Gordon 2.0 comes round to the wonders of the Web

Gordon Brown’s promise to fit broadband in every child’s home is eerily familiar of Tony Blair’s promise many years ago, when still leader of the Opposition, to link up every school in the land with a fibreoptic cable, courtesy of BT. Whatever happened to that cable, I wonder. At the time, The Spectator majestically described the policy as “Newt Labour” – a nod in the direction of Newt Gingrich who, in the wake of the 1994 Republican congressional revolution, was promising radical democratisation via technology. “Let them eat laptops,” was the mocking liberal headline. Whatever else Gordon says today, I am delighted that he is now a convert to the

Peter Hoskin

Miliband’s Heseltine moment: a climb-down

Having slept on it, I feel I might have got a little carried away last night over David Miliband’s alleged “Heseltine moment” comment.  It may have indicated that he’s thinking of doing a Heseltine, but it was also ambiguous enough as to be inconclusive.  As Iain Dale so rightly points out, “It really would have been a big story if he had said: ‘I wish I had gone further and done a Heseltine.'” And that’s assuming the story’s true in the first place.  I suspect it might be.  But the BBC lack one crucial element: hard proof.  That fact has allowed Miliband to simply deny the allegation, and return to the “I completely support Gordon Brown as

Peter Hoskin

The Blairs are fair game on the Labour website

Sure, Labour Central – the revamped Labour website’s news aggregator – is “neither responsible for, nor necessarily endorses the content of the Website to which you will go after clicking” their news links.  But they still pick the links nonetheless – which generally means that all the stories are completely neutral/positive towards Labour.  Odd, then, that their current top news pick (see screenshot to the left) is a story which starts: “How very different from the Blair years. Cherie Blair’s annual tour of the conference stalls used to be one of the minor highlights of the Labour conference – a must-attend event for journalists looking for a wacky picture and a salty

Monday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Cats lie down with dogs…

And other oddities. for perhaps the first time ever, I find myself agreeing, in broad terms, with John Prescott. How did this happen and how, for the love of god, did Prezza end up besting my old pal Fraser Nelson? Ah, yes, immigration… As Fraser put it himself: I’ve just done a BBC1 Politics Show where they introduced me as being from both The Spectator and The News of the World. As a result of this I was savaged by the Labour-supporting audience. Perhaps vengeance for my being rude to John Prescott in the middle bit, which was off-air . I have to say Prescott came out of the exchange

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Politics Explained

Nurse Bloomberg reveals all: “Nobody knows exactly what they should do, but anything is better than nothing,” New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Bloomberg assuredly knows much more about high finance than I do. Nonetheless, one should treat ideas and policies that have bipartisan backing with an extra level of scepticism. They are especially likely, after all, to function as a conspiracy against the public interest even as they claim, of course, to be furthering it. Equally, the notion that just because something must be done and this is something so let’s do this does not seem an entirely persuasive response to the current

Peter Hoskin

Miliband’s Heseltine moment

Has Miliband just let the leadership cat out of the bag?  The BBC are reporting an overheard conversation between him and his aides, in which he admitted toning down his speech today for fear of having “a Heseltine moment” – a reference to Michael Heseltine’s efforts to topple Margaret Thatcher. Short of Miliband resigning and starting a leadership campaign, nothing could quite so emphatically confirm that he wants to usurp Gordon Brown.  And, from this moment forth, his messages of support for the incumbent PM – which were dubious enough anyway – are pretty much meaningless.  The question now is of whether this chance happening will force either Brown’s or

Peter Hoskin

The Labour form book: Harriet Harman

Coffee House is running a series of posts on the contenders to succeed Gordon Brown as Labour party leader.  The latest is below.  Click here for our profile of David Miliband, here for Jon Cruddas, here for Alan Johnson, and here for Jack Straw. Harriet Harman, 58, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party among other roles Pros A complete change: On the surface of things, what greater change could there be from Gordon Brown than a female Prime Minister – and an ebullient one, at that?  Even this superficial difference can make a “renewal” agenda sound that much more convincing to the electorate, and it could also steal the thunder

Daniel Korski

Cold War in Georgia

The crisis in Georgia is now moving into the next phase, with the European Union about to deploy a team of unarmed monitors to police the EU-brokered agreement reached between Georgia and Russia. Further talks are expected to start up in Geneva in a month’s time between the parties, under the stewardship of French EU envoy Pierre Morel.   Against past practice, the EU looks set to get its monitoring mission off the ground quickly, having received promises of personnel and kit from the 27 EU member states. The mere fact of its deployment on 1 October will, in one sense, achieve a primary objective: triggering the beginning of the withdrawal