Politics

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

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Lib Dems all at sea over the Lisbon Treaty 

CoffeeHouse has just been brought up in the Commons – Mark Harper has challenged Ed Davey to clarify what on earth Lembit Opik is on about. Is it true, he asked, that Lembit is not a rebel as he claims because the LibDems plan to abstain on the issue of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty? Davey cryptically said that we will have to wait and see – and said that one option open to them was “constructive abstention,” whatever that is. Answer: no one in that disorganised party has the faintest idea what their policy is. They can’t even decide if they will sit on a fence.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The oddest thing about Lembit Opik

Do read Lesley White’s sympathetic profile of Lembit Opik in today’s Times. There is, though, no getting away from the fact that Opik has some strange views and none stranger than this: “He talks about the transference of psychic energy, how his crossness that our Virgin train was late had put a spring in the step of the woman who later showed us to a meeting at Shrewsbury hospital.”

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown and Cameron back at it

Back refreshed from the recess, Cameron (41) starts off by wishing Brown a “happy 57th birthday” – when “happy birthday” would have done. Nothing groundbreaking in their exchange. Cameron had a few good lines responding to what Brown had just said. “There always is an inquiry with this government. Frequently a police inquiry.” And then “That facts were left on a civil servant’s desk for a year he presents somehow a triumph of government policy.” And bad jokes “nationalisation that would make Castro proud”. I suspect these were memorised – Cameron’s speciality is reeling off memorised lines with the fluency of a stage actor. At PMQs, it works. Clegg was

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Happy Birthday, Mr. Prime Minister

It’s our Dear Leader’s birthday today: Gordon Brown is 57 years young. He’s a famous bibliophile – and I figured we could send him a list of books. Here’s five to start with. 1) Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff – how to stop control freakery leading to misery 2) Wikinomics – why hierarchies are collapsing and the age of big government really is dead 3) Littlejohn’s Britain – he can take a view of his government from the bottom up. 4) Words That Work – Frank Luntz on why repeating “stability” seven times a day is a route to lose elections. 5) The Power of Charm – because it’s never

Peter Hoskin

Banking on another holiday…

There was a nice vignette on Today in Parliament last night; centred around Lord Foulkes of Cumnock’s request for another bank holiday in the UK.  Sir Digby Jones was the main voice against the proposition, stressing that each bank holiday results in a £2.5 billion loss for British coffers. Whilst its supporters cited imbalances (England gets eight bank holidays, compared to the European Union average of eleven), or even the inexplicable ranking of saints. As Lord Butler put it:  “My Lords, is not St Patrick’s Day a bank holiday in Northern Ireland? Can the Minister explain why St Patrick is favoured over St David, St Andrew and, indeed, St George?”  The bank

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Brown tries to outflank the Tories on welfare reform

The Tories had a head start on welfare reform, but Brown is fast catching up.  When Chris Grayling launched his Wisconsin-style proposals last month, there were (typically) fears internally that they were too harsh. Yet there were two surprise factors: the overwhelmingly positive public reaction, and Brown’s inability to decide whether to accuse them of heartlessness or plagiarism. Brown then decided to follow, perhaps sensing the anger over this. He is making fast progress – rhetorically at least, which at election time is 80% of the battle.  Reading today’s press trailing a Purnell announcement, it seems Labour is briefing hard and recognises in welfare reform a powerful agenda which Brown

Neil Clark

Castro’s Cuba was no place for a socialist like me

It’s a country where the vast majority live in poverty, while a tiny, corrupt elite live in luxury. It’s a place where, 14 years after South Africa abolished apartheid, a form of it still operates. And it’s a country where you can be threatened with prison not just for criticising the country’s leadership, but also for querying a medical bill. Welcome to Cuba, the ‘socialist’ paradise built by that great egalitarian Fidel Castro, who after 49 years at the helm has finally decided to hand over power — in the manner of a true democrat — to his brother Raúl. My wife and I, as unreconstructed paleo-lefties who support Clause

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Opik tries to set the record straight

Lembit Opik calls up to set me straight. Here was I portraying him as a principled rebel true to his manifesto by pledging to abstain, rather than vote against, the totemic issue of whether the British public should have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Au contraire, he says. ‘On this occasion, I am being a good corporate citizen’ because Clegg has decided to allow his 65 MPs to abstain on the issue of a referendum after all. So people like Lembit are off the hook. Rather endearingly, Lembit admitted he wasn’t 100% sure but would call back if he found out any different. Good luck to him finding out

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Rocking with the non-doms

Ron Sandler, the Treasury appointed chairman of Northern Rock, is a non-dom, Robert Peston confirms. Add to this the brewing row about how much the new management team is being paid and the political connections of some of those appointed to the board and you can see how Northern Rock is going to be a constant irritation to the government. The bad news for Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown is that they probably won’t be rid of Northern Rock before the next election. 

Rani Singh

The immediate aftermath

It’s curtains for the “King’s Party” – the PML (Q), President Musharraf’s political prop – which has all but lost its power base after key figures were felled in yesterday’s vote.   The PPPP, (the Benazir Pakistan Peoples’ Party adds a P for Parliamentarians to distinguish it from separate Bhutto family member-run factions) has taken the National Assembly seat lead, with 86 announced at the time of reporting, followed by Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N), currently at 65.   Schools and educational institutions remain closed for a second day while all election results are compiled. They await confirmation.   The Provincial trend commenced at the beginning of Monday evening

Peter Hoskin

The disaster that backgrounds Northern Rock

Hamish McRae writes an excellent article in today’s Independent; reminding us that the Northern Rock debacle pales in comparison to the Government’s mishandling of public finances:  “The much more substantial charge is that the Government has mishandled public finances, borrowing far more than it planned, year after year.  We are heading into a global downturn, with a bigger fiscal deficit of more than 3 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.  That is bigger than that any other large developed nation.  We have a government that spends £11 for every £10 that it receives in taxation, borrowing the balance at higher interest rates than the US, Germany or France.  And there

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Opik joins the yellow rebels

A cheeky little bird has leaked me this text, from a letter Lembit Opik sent to a constituent – saying he will defy Nick Clegg and abstain from a vote on a referendum for the Lisbon Treaty: “The question of a referendum on the Treaty itself is a hard question.  As you well know, others say that the treaty is so much like a Constitution that it warrants a referendum on its own. I think the best thing I can do is abstain on the specific vote about a referendum on the treaty, while pushing for a vote in accordance with our position that the real referendum that needs to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Don’t worry Darling

David Cameron is calling for his head, the City has lost confidence and the bookies are offering 5/2 that he will be gone from the Treasury by the end of the year. Yet, I suspect that Alistair Darling has more job security than most. Darling was a temporary appointment; no one believes that Brown will keep him in post after the next election which explains why some young Brownites were so keen on an early election. But to move Darling before polling day would be a huge risk. First of all, it would call into question Brown’s judgement in appointing him in the first place. Second, it would add considerably

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Taking the puppet-master with him…

A few months ago, I rather unkindly suggested that Alistair Darling is no more a Chancellor than Captain Scarlett was an actor. This may now be his salvation. Reading Rachel Sylvester’s column, we learn that Brown watered down capital gains tax reform and made his volte-face on Scottish tax proposals without consulting his Chancellor. If Darling is letting it become known that the strings are indeed being tugged from No10 then he’s also saying that if this puppet goes down, he’ll take the puppet master with him. A stand-off to savour.

Rani Singh

Shock defeats for pro-Musharraf party chiefs

Staunch Musharraf allies and Pakistan Muslim League (Q) supremos, Party President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein and former federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed both lost their supposedly safe seats. According to reports, former federal minister and former PPP Secretary General Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has comfortably defeated the PML (Q) Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein by at least 13293 votes. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the former Chief Minister of Punjab, cousin and brother-in-law of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein, and President of the PML (Q) party in Punjab, has lost too – a huge blow to the pro-Musharraf party and a slap in the face for the three feudal politicians. The news is making top story on

Monday

Rani Singh

Violence & vote-rigging, as results come in

PML (N) and PPP in front for National assembly; many more results expected Asif Ali Zardari is reported to be in Islamabad tonight for an emergency strategy meeting with Nawaz Sharif and other party leaders amid widespread fears of rigging. Results are coming in, but the picture can still change. The PML (N) and the PPP, formally known as the PPPP (Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians) to differentiate them from other PPP factions, are in front of the pack as far as National Assembly results are concerned. If they hold their joint lead then this will be a dramatic result but, I repeat, the night is still young. Provincially, Balochistan has

James Forsyth James Forsyth

So much for a united European front

The issue of whether or not to recognise Kosovo demonstrates once again why the idea of a common European foreign policy is absurd. On this issue—as on pretty much any other contentious foreign policy decision you can think of—the European Union is split. 17 of the Union’s 27 members either have recognised Kosovo or will do so in the next few days. A common European policy would have had to gone against the wishes of one of these groups. Ironically, for years it was thought that the European Union was the solution to the Kosovo question. Serbian officials dropped heavy hints that they would accept independence for Kosovo if Serbia

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Chancellor’s lucky break

Alistair Darling really should send Mohamed al-Fayed a thank you note. Fayed’s testimony is bound to bump Northern Rock off at least the front pages of the tabloids tomorrow. Perhaps this knowledge explains why Darling produced a calmer and more confident performance in the Commons today than many of us expected he would. The most effective speeches came from Vince Cable and Ken Clarke. Cable took a well deserved victory lap and landed as many hits on George Osborne as Darling; Cable is clearly keen to keep ownership of this issue. While Clarke pointed out in his typical saloon bar style just what a distorting effect on the market the