Society

Friday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Navigation errors

Oh come on! Paul Waugh, whose blog is normally excellent, is fuming about the Tory MP for Clwyd West claiming for a sat-nav. He asks: “…does any self-respecting MP really need a satnav to find their way around their constituency? Isn’t it an admission that they are a bit disconnected from their voters?” This is just silly. I’m sure Paul Waugh knows London very well, but I’d be shocked if he knew where every street was. More reasonably, Waugh asks whether it is reasonable to charge the cost of the sat-nav to the taxpayer. I think it is on the grounds that if any company required one of its employees

James Forsyth James Forsyth

This disdain is a result of far more than expenses

One thing that the new Speaker must remember is that the expenses scandal has hardened—not created—the public’s contempt for Parliament. As Camilla Cavendish writes today, “one of the reasons public anger goes a lot deeper than Sir Peter Viggers’s duck pond is because we feel we can no longer change our laws by voting out politicians. The EU machine marches on, constraining everything from the future of the Post Office to what vitamins we can take. The promised referendum on the Lisbon treaty has been ditched. The quango nanny state has acquired a momentum of its own. Politicians have given away powers that they held in trust for the people.

Peter Hoskin

The Labour leadership candidates flash their reformist credentials

We keep talking about which party leader is taking the lead on expenses but – from a Labour perspective – it might be more useful to look at which Cabinet ministers are doing all the running.  After all, with Brown on the ropes, his potential replacements might be looking to seize the mantle of de facto leader. That’s why two passages from recent papers have caught my eye. This in today’s Times: “Gordon Brown is being urged from within the Cabinet to lead a new public debate about state funding of the parties and reform of the electoral system, to intensify the clean-up of politics after the expenses scandal. Senior

Peter Hoskin

Back to the planning stage

Uh-oh.  It sounds like Gordon Brown is going to unleash a “national plan” on the country in the aftermath of the June elections.  Here are the details from today’s Indy: “A ‘national plan’ for Britain will be unveiled by Gordon Brown as he tries to fight back after Labour’s expected elections rout next month, The Independent has learnt. The Prime Minister wants the blueprint to be a route map for how the Government will lead the country out of recession and extend its public service reforms. It will cover the economy, industry, health, education and crime. … The aim of the ‘national plan’ is to show that Labour has not

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The power of celebrity candidates

Should celebrities stand to become MPs? I have just done a phone-in on Richard Bacon’s Five Live programme where I was in favour of it. My point was that voting in someone like Esther Rantzen sends an important democratic message: that the voters think the Westminster menu is uninspiring. This is an entirely legitimate means of democratic protest. But, Bacon asked, don’t you think they have that message? Well yes, but they only really take action if there is an electoral price to pay. Independent candidates are thorns in a traditional politician’s side. And often they prompt action – think about the effect of the Referendum Party. It’s not impossible

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Three down today, more to come tomorrow

The expenses saga shows no sign of coming to an end. Today saw three departures from political life. The Tory Sir Peter Viggers is leaving Parliament at the next election to spend more time with his duck pond. Ben Chapman, a Labour MP, who over claimed on his mortgage is stepping down. And the Lib Dem campaign guru Lord Rennard is quitting as the party’s chief executive. Though, he claims this is not related to revelations about his expenses. Word is that tomorrow’s Telegraph will bring another set of embarrassing revelations. There are several backbench Tories in the frame apparently. As this story goes on, public anger grows. Although Cameron

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Same time, same place but so very different

From Bret Stephens’ review of Edmund Morgan’s latest book: in Philadelphia in 1787, Mr. Morgan uncovers one more instance of witch hunting, this one barely remembered, concerning an old woman named Korbmacher who died soon after being brutalized by a mob. Not much else is known about the incident, but Mr. Morgan is struck that this outbreak should occur in the same place where the Founders were gathering for the Constitutional Convention, the very summit of Enlightenment thought and action. There is no record that the founders took note of poor old Korbmacher. But the event was widely noted in the Philadelphia press, and Mr. Morgan suspects an influence on

Peter Hoskin

Keener to have an election, but less keen to vote

Ok, so what to make of the latest Populus poll?  Here are the headline figures: Conservatives — 39 percent (unchanged from a poll 10 days ago) Labour — 27 percent (up 1) Lib Dems — 17 percent (down 5) I imagine CCHQ will be slightly pleased and slightly concerned, but not by much either way.  The 12 point lead isn’t to be sniffed at, and an unchanged position from 10 days ago is far from nightmarish.  But the Tories are below that magic 40 percent mark again, and they might have expected a little more buoyancy given Cameron’s assured response to the expenses scandal.   But what about the Lib

Peter Hoskin

Ann Widdecombe to run for the Speakership

There have been strong rumblings throughout the day, but now ConHome have confirmed it:  Ann Widdecombe will run for the Speakership.  The big problem, of course, is that she’s standing down as an MP at the next election – so she’d only be an interim Speaker – and I’m not sure either the public or Parliament have the appetite for a temporary fix to the problem.  Still, her natural popularity should ensure she picks up some support among those who think its rightfully time for a Tory.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Lance Armstrong and the Giro d’Italia

Among the plethora of things I hold against Lance Armstrong is the way that his story – no matter how inspiring and heroic and extraordinary it has been – has accentuated the English-language press’s belief that there’s only one bike race of any importance each year. Apparently it’s the Tour de France first, the rest nowhere. This is irritating. True, matters have improved in recent years and this year’s Giro d’Italia is receiving more coverage (thanks Eurosport!) than it has sometimes done in the past. Granted, this has something to do with Armstrong’s return from retirement (which is less astonishishing and, perhaps, less difficult than some might have you believe:

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s reshuffle headache

Oh dear.  With each day that passes, it gets clearer that Brown’s June reshuffle may cause him more trouble than it’s worth.  For instance, this passage from today’s Mail caught my eye: “A senior Labour figure said: ‘You can’t plan a reshuffle around those who have transgressed on their expenses because that would quickly involve a whole lot of people.’ Mr Darling is also resisting any attempt to move him amid Whitehall talk that the PM would like to replace him with his most trusted ally Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary. Foreign Secretary David Miliband is fighting for his job behind the scenes in the face of a campaign by

Peter Hoskin

The Lumley effect

So Joanna Lumley continues to cast a spell over British politics, as Gurkha veterans finally – and deservedly – get the right to settle in the UK.  Standing outside Number 10, she now has kinder things to say about Gordon Brown – calling him a “brave man who has made a brave decision”.  But the warm words just serve to highlight the political stupidity and moral directionlessness of Brown in the first place.  How he could have done with them a few weeks ago, when Clegg and, to a lesser extent, Cameron were basking in the Lumley glow.  But, instead, the PM needed to be strongarmed into recognising Gurkha rights. 

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Talking to the Taliban

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Dexter Filkins reports in the NYT that talks have been taking place between the Taliban, the Afghan government and warlords such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Sirajuddin Haqqani as to how some kind of “peace” agreement could be reached in Afghanistan. As Mr Filkins drily notes, most, in fact all, of the terms for negotiation “seem incompatible” with American policy. Still, in some senses, this may be the key part: “America cannot win this war, and the Taliban cannot win this war,” Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former Taliban ambassador and one of the intermediaries, said in an interview. “I have delivered this message to the Taliban.” Maybe

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Talent needs a seat

The expenses scandal has already created three vacancies in extremely safe Tory seats, and the word is that there could a dozen or so more before this is all over. The temptation for the Tories will be to opt for the safety first approach and fill these seats with solid but unexceptional local candidates. But that would be a mistake. Instead, the Tories should be aiming to substantially improve the talent pool from which their ministers will come from. There are already a host of people advising the Tory leadership who have more influence than the average backbencher. However, until these people become MPs there is, for obvious and proper

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Downgraded finances

Standard & Poor has just become the first credit rating agency to downgrade the UK from a “stable” assessment to “negative” – and given that the Tory borrowing proposals until 2014 are virtually identical to Labour’s, it is a warning that should chill Cameron. It’s feasible to fund your government with IOU notes now, with the Bank of England printing money to buy them, and a global flight-to-safety making a bull market in bonds. But after the next election, with equity markets recovering and the QE policy exhausted, how will Cameron find buyers for the £150bn a year debt he currently envisages issuing? The S&P note is not public, but

Peter Hoskin

Field declares his interest in the Speaker’s job

Seems like the CoffeeHousers’ choice for the Speakership is thinking about taking on the job after all.  Here’s the headline-grabbing snippet from Frank Field’s article in the Telegraph today: “The next Speaker will only be the most powerful in our history if he or she is elected on a programme that points to how we can best shape the next phase of our Parliamentary development. I have been asked whether I will throw my hat into the ring. I am thinking about that, as I accept there may be too many colleagues on my own side who would block any such possibility. I am spending the next 10 days or

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The GOP’s in a Hole; Only a Terrorist Attack Can Save It…

In the course of defending Dick Cheney’s assault on the Obama administration, Bill Kristol has this to say: But of course an intelligent and knowledgeable advocate–even if he’s personally not so popular–can do a lot to get an issue front and center. And the debate of that issue can do political damage to the existing administration and its congressional allies. The real question any Republican strategist should ask himself is this: What will Republican chances be in 2012 if voters don’t remember the Bush administration–however problematic in other areas–as successful in defending the country after 9/11? To give this issue away would be to accept a post-Herbert-Hoover-like-fate for today’s GOP.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

In between the lines

The IMF has published its verdict on Britain – who it may very well be bailing out in the next couple of years – and a suspiciously warm phrase is up there, and being singled out by government spin doctors: “The UK government response to the global financial crisis has been “bold and wide-ranging,” adding that “aggressive action” by the government succeeded in containing the crisis and avoiding a breakdown. So what’s up? First, this is an Article IV report from the IMF and, as such, it has to be “agreed” with the government. So it’s not really independent – this format limits how honest it can be, and vastly

Peter Hoskin

The CoffeeHousers’ choice

So the votes are in, and Frank Field is the CoffeeHousers’ choice to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons.  He secured 36.5 percent of the vote in our poll – well ahead of Sir George Young, who finished in second with 13.7 percent.  The worry is that David Cameron will have inadvertantly scuppered Field’s chances, by quoting one of the Birkenhead MP’s more acerbic comments about the Government in PMQs today.  But I doubt that will put off his supporters – they’ve already established a “Frank Field for Speaker” Facebook group…

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Michael Martin’s by-election chaos

You might think this impossible, but there is more chaos from the Michael Martin’s office. They said yesterday that he was resigning as an MP as well as a Speaker – ergo by-election in the summer. I spoke to the SNP and to ministers about it: everyone was geared up. But now it transpires that Martin himself hasn’t said anything. In fact, word is that he intends to canvass opinion from his constituency at the weekend – with the expectation that they will say “No, Mick, stay. You were wronged. Scapegoated. Don’t put us on the political map, let us languish here as a rotten borough”. I ask you.