Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.
The Spectator 180th Anniversary blog has been launched. Visit it here. Fraser Nelson confronts the striking teachers, and charts how Labour has hurt the poor. James Forsyth questions the moral authority of the Brownites, and considers the revelation that an Israeli strike on Syria was targeted at a nuclear reactor. And Peter Hoskin observes the feud between Charles Clarke and Ed Balls, and thinks Brown is running scared from further rebellions.
In a pre-record for GMTV on Sunday, a Plaid Cymru MP – Adam Price – has said there is “no veto” on coalition with the Tories. That’s an understatement. The nationalists will be praying for an hung parliament so they (plus some Ulster MPs) can jump into bed with the Tories. The Welsh and Scottish nationalists act as one party in Westminster today, and there will be more of them after the election. Only the Tories share their agenda: to move towards a Englishness agenda where Scots and Welsh MPs can’t decide on uni tuition fees, foundation hospitals etc. Labour may share their lefty principles, but has far less incentive
Another issue of PR Week, another scoop for David Singleton. Today, he’s used his Downing Street sources to reveal that Brown’s “obsessed” with the Tories’ press man, Andy Coulson. So obsessed, in fact, that our Prime Minister can talk about little else. Brown may try to convince us that he wakes up thinking only of how to help “people wanting opportunities”, but this constant stream of PR Week exclusives tells us differently. This Prime Minister’s at least as spin-centric as his predecessor. Sadly for him, it’s an obsession which threatens to split No.10 apart.
If Labour does as badly as the polls suggest it will on May 1st, one of the few options left to Gordon Brown will be to reshuffle his cabinet. Today’s Mirror predicts that this will see Alan Johnson become the government front man and chief whip while Hoon moves to BER and John Hutton to another big cabinet job. (There was talk recently that Hutton might go to defence.) In truth, this is hardly a dramatic reshuffle—the holders of the four great offices of state would remain the same—and it seems aimed at remedying the fact that Alan Johnson didn’t win the deputy leadership more than anything else.
Matthew Norman’s article in the Independent today is among the liveliest, and most condemnatory, accounts of the Government’s 10p tax U-turn. The whole thing’s well worth reading, although I thought I’d pull out the last couple of paragraphs – if recent comments are anything to go by, they should chime with CoffeeHousers: “Perhaps with hindsight this will seem a Pyrrhic victory. Maybe one day Mr Field will reflect from the Opposition benches on whether the wisest thing, for Gordon and the party, would have been to refuse those concessions – justifiably so when the Treasury has no idea what precisely they are – and put the PM to the sword in
Um, whatever happened to PJ O’Rourke? Once upon a time he was funny, even deliciously so. Of course it’s harder for a humourist to shine when his side is in power and O’Rourke’s jaded sardonicism is a style especially ill-suited to team-play. Perhaps that explains his sadly drab, unconvincing piece in the latest issue of The Weekly Standard. It’s all a long way from Republican Party Reptile and Parliament of Whores. Ostensibly an account of a day O’Rourke recently spent aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, O’Rourke makes the mistake of trying, rather too hard – and none too successfully – to use his trip as the foundation for a Mass
Actually, in the circumstances Gordon Brown may have done about as well as he could have at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday. But still, as this edited footage demonstrates, Brown was received a vicious flogging from David Cameron (start from the 2 minute mark):
After that ICM poll suggesting the Tory lead had shrunk to 5 points, tomorrow’s Telegraph gives Cameron just what he wants ahead of next week’s local elections: an 18 point lead. Breakdown is 44-26-17. It’s YouGov, in my view the most reliable pollster. When YouGov had the Tories with 16 point lead it was seen as a freak, until everyone else reached a similar figure eventually. To win, Cameron needs the biggest swing ever achieved by the moderen Conservative party in Opposition. And yet, such a goal is starting to look increasingly likely.
Iain Martin is right to highlight Yvette Cooper’s dreadful performance on Newsnight yesterday evening. She personified the Government’s actions over the 10p tax rate – confused and unconvincing. Here’s footage, for your viewing pleasure:
As ever, Martin Bright’s column in the New Statesman is well worth reading. Here’s the key paragraph: “Brown and his poll-obsessed allies may find some comfort in the latest figures, but there is rebellion in the air. It is important to remember that he does not have the authority of an electoral mandate to face down backbenchers who defy him. His authority is based largely on economic competence and a reputation for knowing how to win elections, and on both counts it has been seeping away.” I’d also add that Brown and his allies have no moral authority when they demand that the party rallies behind its leader. Add all
Hm. The latest post (entitled ‘Secrets’) over at Nadine Dorries’ blog is very intriguing. Do CoffeeHousers have any ideas what she might be getting at? UPDATE: It seems to have been taken down. Curiouser and curiouser…
Is Ken getting worried? Until now he’s been tight-lipped about the prospect of defeat – but that changed this morning at the launch of his full manifesto. He told the assembled journos how Boris should take on the role: “My advice would be don’t rush to make rapid change, try to take your time to people and listen, and actually organise a more graduated transition … Because someone who comes [in] with ‘slash and burn’ might then find after six months that was a big mistake. So I’d take your time.” And even revealed his post-defeat plans: “If I don’t win, come 6 May I will be taking the kids to school
During the kerfuffle after the Jacqui Smith told The Sunday Times that she wouldn’t feel safe walking the streets of London her aides made great play of the fact that she had recently gone to get a kebab in Peckham albeit with security detail in tow. Now, Boulton and Co are reporting that three men were stabbed on the street outside the kebab shop last night.
As Fraser said yesterday – and as Peter Riddell writes in today’s Times – we may be entering a phase in which Labour rebellion and dissent become commonplace. “After all” – Labour MPs might be thinking – “we turned Brown over the 10p tax issue, so let’s use the same tactics again-and-again until we get exactly what we want.” It’s a set-up which could fatally undermine Brown’s premiership – and he knows it. As Jon Craig points out over at Boulton & Co, the vote over controversial detention plans has – as of yesterday – been put back from May to June. A hefty rebellion’s expected. Is the Government just trying to
Can Boris run London? That’s the question that Matthew answers with a resounding “Yes!” in the latest issue of the Spectator. His article’s just been uploaded to the website, so check it out here. Do you agree with Matthew? Have your say – and discuss all matters mayoral – in the comments section.
I’m just out of a More4 studio debating Brown with Francis Beckett, author of a very good (and, to my mind, under-appreciated) biography of the Dear Leader. He’ll carve a niche for himself, I thought, being the talking head supporting Brown over his two remaining years in power. But even he struggled to say that Brown is cut out for office – or that he is decisive. He wanted to be supportive, but Brown as a PM? Even he didn’t seem to see it. Producers who set up these TV pundit debates often moan about the problem of balancing them. It’s getting harder and harder to find anyone not on his
Apparently Brown (or, more likely, Carter) didn’t think the PMQs performance leant itself to the right kind of footage for the evening news. So political editors are being summoned to interviews with the Dear Leader in a more respectful setting. Great atmosphere in the Commons. Labour MPs mainly relieved it’s all over, some annoyed Field caved too early. But as I said earlier, now that the rebels have learned that the laddie is for turning, they will now turn him over regularly. Drama and rebellion will return to the Palace of Varieties. And not before time.
Jonathan Powell’s essay on the Northern Ireland peace process in the May Prospect sets out his position on talking to terrorists with complete clarity: “To argue that al Qaeda and the Taleban are different and that therefore you can’t talk to them is nonsense. Of course they are different, but terrorists are terrorists. What they do is evil, regardless of the cause. But you need to find a way to deal with them.” To be fair to Powell, he prefaces this by saying that you should not concede to terrorists’ demands in response to violence or the threat of violence. But Powell does seem to be arguing that you should talk
For those who want to know what a U-turn looks like, the Guardian has a scanned copy (pdf) of Alistair Darling’s 10p tax letter to John McFall.
Cameron said it should be called Prime Minister’s U-Turn, not PMQs. I disagree. It should be renamed Wednesday Whoppers or – as we say here in CoffeeHouse – Brownies. A new one was minted – involving a claim that 600,000 is “almost a million”. Plenty of Brownies aired. Let’s get stuck in. Brown’s PMQs now start with a Labour backbencher asking the most poisonous question of the day, in hope of denying the Opposition the chance to do it. Cameron just asks what he wants even if it is a repeat. But this lets Brown make his peace with backbenches before Cameron gets stuck in. Hilariously, Brown started by trashing