Politics Archives

Monday

3 Dec 2007

Can Clegg be caught?

Following this weekend’s release of a YouGov poll that showed Nick Clegg ahead of Chris Huhne by 56 to 44, the Clegg camp have released their own internal numbers which show him with 61 percent of the vote. But things might not be as comfortable for the front runner as these figures suggest. A party source tells the BBC that only around half of party members have voted so far. Those who’ve delayed sending in their ballots must have noticed how Huhne has been dominating the air waves in recent days while Clegg has been nowhere. If Clegg wins, the next hurdle for him is to beat Huhne by a

James Forsyth

What’s at stake in Scotland

Perhaps, more extraordinary than anything going on south of the border with donor-gate is the situation in Scotland. When it was revealed on Friday that Wendy Alexander had sent a letter to the Jersey businessmen Paul Green thanking him for his donation, which he was unable to make under electoral law and which Alexander had previously denied knowledge of, it seemed inevitable that she would have to go. Alexander clung on, though. Then, came yesterday’s suggestion that her office might have had doubts about Green’s eligibility to donate far earlier than previously thought. But Alexander came out fighting. Even, though, her argument that she did nothing wrong intentionally seems rather

Sunday

2 Dec 2007

James Forsyth

How bad will this week be for Labour?

Last week events drew forth plenty of “worst week ever” headlines in the Sunday papers. But there is reason to think that this week could be even worse for Gordon Brown. First, there’s the situation in Scotland where Wendy Alexander’s position looks increasingly untenable. Second, there is the fact that David Abrahams has no intention of going quietly—articles in the Guardian on Saturday and the Independent on Sunday are hardly suggestive of a man trying to keep his head down. While his comments about who knew about how he was funding the party have been phenomenally damaging. Third, the question of who in the Labour party knew about how Abrahams

James Forsyth

The succession chatter just got a lot louder

If you haven’t already, do read John Rentoul’s column in today’s Independent on Sunday. It is the first time that a major commentator sympathetic to New Labour has seriously suggested that Gordon Brown won’t make it to the next election. Rentoul predicts that Brown will recover and then fizzle again. Here’s what happens next in his scenario: “This time next year, therefore, after Brown’s second bounce has dribbled away, the party is likely to turn to David Miliband. Fittingly, he foretold Brown’s woes. Nine months ago he said on BBC1’s Question Time: “I predict that when I come back on this programme in six months’ time or a year, people

James Forsyth

Abrahams causes more damage to Labour

David Abrahams has plunged the hierarchy of the Labour party further into crisis with an article in the Independent on Sunday describing how he donated to the party. Here’s the passage that is generating headlines this morning, My political friends in the party’s northern region were unaware of any donations whatsoever that I was making; only a very few officials and party figures in higher echelons of the national party structure were aware. Perhaps as a result I was received warmly at functions and was occasionally contacted to make further donations. On 25 April of this year at a British Board of Deputies dinner in London at which Gordon Brown

Fraser Nelson

Tories must say no to more state funding

Hazel Blears’s appearance on Marr provides yet another example of how Team Brown likes putting up women on TV when it’s in real trouble; perhaps, it is because the women have more guts. Anyway, she was making the case for state funding. “Politics does cost money” she says, and if the public will not supply it voluntarily it evidently follows that it will be taken from them under pain of imprisonment under the tax system. It’s an appalling proposal, which the Tories should reject outright. I hope there is consensus under the £50k cap.

Saturday

1 Dec 2007

Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 1 December 2007

It is undeniably enjoyable to see Gordon Brown squirming about the £600,000 his party will have to pay back to David Abrahams, the man of many aliases. If Peter Watt, the resigning general secretary of the Labour party, really, as he claims, saw something devious about the practice of taking money under other names only when the letter of the law was pointed out to him, that shows how our culture has replaced conscience with compliance. And what is the point, by the way, of the treasurer of the party, Jack Dromey, who, despite his title, seems to be too grand to know anything about money, including the £5,000 which

Alex Massie

Kicking a Man When He’s Brown

I used to think that the feebleness of the scandals that occasionally brought down a minister or two in Edinburgh was matched only by the embarrassment one felt watching the Scottish press corps work itself into a frenzy in anticipation of feeding upon cheap cuts that properly corrupt countries would never consider feeding their dogs with. There’s something similar in the air about the fund-raising scandal that is destroying Gordon Brown’s government. Except, of course, that after a decade of mendacity, he deserves it. Still, the scandal itself – laundered campaign contributions and a ridiculous scramble in which everyone does their best to implicate everyone else – is scarcely of

Matthew Dancona

Spot the spoiled ones

Amanda Platell, a must-read columnist as well as a hugely experienced former editor and political adviser, hits the nail on the head today with her piece on New Labour’s ‘trustafarians’. She applies the term to the privileged younger generation of Government ministers who have never had to struggle in Opposition or fight for the privilege of office. It’s spot on: a label that deserves to enter the political lexicon.

James Forsyth

What Gordon Brown should have done

As this scandal drags on it is becoming clearer that Gordon Brown made a huge political mistake on Wednesday morning. When Jon Mendelsohn confirmed Nick Robinson’s report that he was aware of the arrangements by which David Abrahams was funding the Labour party, Brown should have sacked him. Brown could have issued a statement saying that he had requested the resignation of anyone in the party who was aware of what was going on with Abrahams. His failure to do so means that Brown has effectively endorsed Mendelsohn’s actions and anything that damages Mendelsohn damages him. There is now a row going on between Mendelsohn and Abrahams about who knew

The Spectator

Brown’s fatal flaws

As prophecies go, it had none of the ritual majesty of the Sybil of Cumae’s pronouncements, none of the blood-chilling qualities of Cassandra. But it has, in its own way, come to pass nonetheless. Jonathan Powell, the chief of staff to Tony Blair, once told our former editor that Gordon Brown’s political career would be a ‘Shakespearean tragedy’. And with every day that passes the tragic quality of Mr Brown’s premiership is underlined. A politician of formidable gifts, powerful intellect and great passions is, nevertheless, finding that he simply doesn’t have what it takes to make a success of the most demanding job in politics — as the events of

Peter Oborne

At the heart of the Labour funding scandal is the moral collapse of a once-great party

‘Get me a Bishop. Get me a f—ing Bishop!’ Peter Mandelson, then Labour’s political strategist, yelled these words across the floor of Labour campaign headquarters at a rare moment of crisis before the 1997 general election. Inquiries were made, soundings taken in ecclesiastical and other circles. With surprising speed, lo and behold! there emerged out of pontifical obscurity the austere figure of Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford. The ecclesiastical potentate obligingly anathemised John Major and his works. Ever since then the Rt Revd Harries has been reliably on hand with spiritual solace for Labour party politicians in times of trouble. When Michael Howard accused Tony Blair of bad faith over

Fraser Nelson

Blair may be about to convert, but will that make him a Catholic?

Tony Blair’s coming conversion to the Catholic faith will not be welcomed by all Catholics. There are many in the Vatican, and the Catholic church in this country, who wonder how a politician with his voting record can be admitted to the church. ‘My First Confession’ would be a great title for Tony Blair’s memoirs. At any rate, though the book may be years away, Tony Blair will soon confess his sins to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, and later (no one is sure, but the Vatican has heard it will be after Christmas) Mr Blair will be received into the Roman Catholic Church. And in true Blair style, his decision to

Hugo Rifkind

Freedom of speech is a foggy issue with no absolutes — and that’s sort of the point

It is a weird business when stories combine, even if they only do so in the mind of the commentator. On our screens, Tony Blair is about to fret about Jesus, making him look like a loony again. In Oxford, David Irving and Nick Griffin are cast, preposterously, as defenders of free speech. And in Sudan, that poor schoolteacher is banged up for allowing toddlers to call a teddy bear ‘Mohammed’. There is a link here, somewhere, although it’s foggy, and it bothers me. Does freedom of speech entail the right to call a teddy bear ‘Mohammed’? If not, do we have a problem? Oxford first. Ridiculous situation. What little

Simon Nixon

The Liberal Democrats’ sound money man

I met Vincent Cable recently at a dinner party with a mixture of City and business bigwigs: a few FTSE-100 bosses, a smattering of hedge-fund tycoons, the odd private-equity baron. The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman was the only politician at the table and the debate inevitably focused on financial worries: the credit crunch, Northern Rock, the soaring oil price, foreign takeovers of British companies. There was quite a bit of hand-wringing by the business chiefs, but the shy, mild-mannered Cable gave as lucid and articulate a defence of open markets and free trade as I have heard from any political leader. It was impressive stuff — and afterwards I noticed

Edie G-Lush

Free at last: the next web revolution

Edie G. Lush explains why we’re rarely asked to pay for online news and entertainment these days Amid the shockwaves caused by Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, one significant policy shift attracted relatively little attention. When the ink finally dries on the deal, one of Murdoch’s first moves will be to remove the ‘pay wall’ from the Journal’s website. The news that WSJ.com will henceforth be free may come as a pleasant surprise to its many loyal users, but it isn’t so great for other entrepreneurs who are trying to make money via online subscriptions. Whether web-based or not, businesses like subscription models

Martin Vander Weyer

Northern Rock’s blonde knight?

Is it time for a reassessment of Sir Richard Branson? Chosen by the Treasury as the ‘preferred bidder’ for Northern Rock, he’s back where he craves to be and so often manages to put himself: in the headlines. And like every time he grabs the nation’s attention, two quite different caricatures of him have been projected. On the one hand, there is the tirelessly creative, totally unconventional adventurer-entrepreneur whose brand image can sell anything and whose two-fingers-to-stuffy-old-corporate-capitalism has such powerful appeal to consumers even after many of them have had rotten experiences of his trains and his mobile phone service. The brand power of Virgin Money is clearly a

Friday

30 Nov 2007

James Forsyth

A note of caution

Any Tory feeling almost light-headed about the speed with which things are collapsing around Gordon Brown, should read this typically intelligent posting from John Rentoul on the danger of the Tories thinking they can just coast to victory. Another sobering thought comes from Martin Bright, who writes “In terms of the loss of trust in the political class I really don’t think it could get any worse. But then I thought that last week too.” If the Tories do win the next election, as looks increasingly likely, restoring people’s faith in politics will be one of the biggest challenges that faces them.

James Forsyth

Another poll with a big Tory lead

The latest IPSOS-MORI poll has the Tories nine ahead, with Labour down three to 32. Although, the Tory lead is considerable this poll will not send Labour into a tailspin. As long as the party is above 30 and the Tory lead is less than 15, Labour MPs will not start thinking the unthinkable. Hat Tip: Conservative Home

James Forsyth

The limit to Alan Johnson’s ambition

If–and this is still phenomenally unlikely–this current sleaze scandal either topples Gordon Brown or brings about a challenge to him, Alan Johnson is being tipped as the man to watch. He is certainly the opposite of Brown—charming, comfortable in his own skin and English—and is, as Nick Boles wrote in The Spectator during the Blair era, the Labour figure the Cameroons fear most. But Johnson suffers from a self-inflicted wound that makes it very hard for him to consider running even if Gordon had been forced out. When Johnson appeared on Desert Island Discs, Kirsty Young asked him about why he didn’t rune for leader. Here’s what he said: “I don’t