Society

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

ComRes has Labour within one point of the Tories

The consensus  in Westminster is that the Tories are back on the front foot following the PBR and the Damian Green arrest, but a ComRes poll in the Independent (reported on by Political Betting) has Labour closing the gap to one point. This is drastically at odds with the other polls that have come out since the PBR which have shown increased Tory leads. It is even more surprising when you consider that ComRes’s last poll has the Tories ahead by 11 points.  I’m tempted to dismiss it as a rogue poll but I’ll defer to the judgement of Anthony Wells who has yet to weigh in.  Hat Tip: Politics

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ken Livingstone: I favour 75 percent tax

Ken Livingstone tonight made two quite remarkable statements tonight at the latest Soundings / Comment is Free debate on ‘Who owns the Progressive future?’ The first was boneheaded, the second demonstrated a quite remarkable disdain for democracy and human freedom. John Harris, who was chairing the event, pressed Livingstone on whether he welcomed the introduction of the 45p rate in the PBR and whether he saw this as an important shift—albeit more symbolic than anything else—to the left. Livingstone replied: ‘I’d rather have 45 percent than 40 percent but I’d rather have 75 percent.’ A few moments later, Livingstone mused that ‘real change is going to come out of China’ So

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Profiting from profit-making

School reform is by some margin the best Conservative policy, but could it be better still? The Independent today runs a piece in which Michael Gove is told he’s making a “terrific mistake” by refusing to allow his proposed independent schools to make a profit. The comments come from Mikael Sandstrom, a state secretary (or spad, as we call them) but one of the world’s leading authorities on school reform. He is more than just an adviser and has written academic papers showing how much better the “free schools” (as they are called in Sweden) perform. Sweden has reams of data, thousands of students: it isn’t theoretical over there. It

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The new crew

Elections have consequences as John McCain likes to say. So it would be unrealistic of us hawks to expect the president-elect to appoint the kind of national security team that John McCain would have. But from a hawkish perspective, the team unveiled in Chicago this morning is about as good as it gets. Hillary Clinton is one of the soundest Democrats on foreign policy; we can be confident that she will be an advocate for a robust line on Iran. Robert Gates was not an initial supporter of the surge but as defence secretary he has shown an appreciation for what it has achieved. His retention suggests that Obama is

Peter Hoskin

The mole speaks

Nothing surprising in Christopher Galley’s statement just now, but it does support the general idea that Damian Green hasn’t acted in a particularly improper way, and that the police response was disproportionate to the supposed offence.  Here are the key quotes: “If ever there was a case of don’t shoot the messenger, this is surely it… …Most would describe it as embarrassment material and material that is part of the public interest. It’s really not national security, terrorism, financial jeopardy, loss-gain to others.  Nothing remotely like that.”As I see it, the key questions that need answering are still about who in Parliament knew what, and when.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Chris Galley to speak at 4.30

The Guardian is reporting that the civil servant involved in the Damian Green leak furore will hold a press conference at 4.30. We’ll obviously have more coverage here on Coffee House once he’s spoken.

Peter Hoskin

Heads roll in Haringey

It’s taken longer than many may have reasonably expected – and it’s hardly edifying that those involved effectively needed to be pushed – but Haringey officials have now lost their jobs over the tragic death of Baby P.  Following the release of what Ed Balls has called a “devastating” report into the matter, the Head of Children’s Services, Sharon Shoesmith, has been sacked.  While both the council leader, George Meehan, and cabinet member for children and young people, Liz Santry, have resigned.  Given the early warnings that were received by the Government, one wonders whether punitive measures are being felt higher up the political ladder.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labour’s leaky position

There are few finer columnists than Martin Bright and his volley at the Progress conference on Labour ministers’ reaction to the arrest of Damian Green hit upon an important point: “It is important to debate the end of ideology. But what about the end of principle? I was told I had five minutes for introductory comments, which is always too much on these occasions, but all that really needs to be said is two words: Damian Green. What a disgrace this incident has been. To hear Labour Cabinet ministers who happily fed journalists leaked information during their years in opposition defending the ‘independent operational action’ of the police is quite

Peter Hoskin

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 1 December – 7 December 

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron should fix the shadow cabinet while the sun is shining

Tucked away in the Whip column of The Sun is this item: “Now senior Tories are aghast at rumours that David Cameron was rubbishing them during a private dinner recently. He is said to have told a pal: “I’ve got six or seven people in the Shadow Cabinet capable of working in the government. The rest are useless.” The way—and where—The Sun has reported this story suggests it is not totally confident in it. But it is far from the first time that something like this has been reported. Last December, Fraser revealed how: “David Cameron has meanwhile been going back to his constituency and preparing for government. This has

Peter Hoskin

The Home Secretary’s role

Although I don’t agree with her contention that Boris’s involvement in the sacking of Ian Blair was some sort of high water mark in the politicisation of policing, Jackie Ashley does write forcefully on Jacqui Smith this morning.  Ashley idenitifies the key question hovering above the Home Secretary right now: is she lying about what she knew or just plain incompetent?  Here’s the key passage: “You can’t separate politics from policing, and you never have been able to: political judgments are so often behind what the police do. In this case, it is simply risible to push off the responsibility for the invasion of Green’s home and offices by anti-terrorist officers

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 1 December 2008

Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson says that the system overreach must come to an end.  James Forsyth speculates on what’s really behind the arrest of Damian Green, and wonders what’s next for Gordon Brown after the political failure of the PBR. Peter Hoskin asks Alistair Darling how much we’ll have to pay, and observes the political shrapnel ripping through the government. Melanie Phillips gives her take on the Mubai atrocities. Clive Davis writes on the policing of YouTube. And Americano asks whether Obama will create an American DFID.

Peter Hoskin

A question of grooming

This morning’s newspapers throw up the next round of questions in the Damian Green affair. The latest is that the Tory MP is accused of “grooming” his source in the Home Office to provide a series of leaks. Now, if this accusation is anything like a plank in the case against Green, then clear dividing lines need to be spelt out. How does this “grooming” differ from an MPs’ traditional methods of cultivating a relationship with a source? Is it because of the number of leaks? Is it because the source hadn’t leaked before? Is it because the source was relatively young? Is it because the source was given instructions

Sunday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What might really be behind the arrest of Damian Green

The latest rumour doing the rounds about the Damian Green affair is that the Home Office is worried about a much bigger, more embarrassing leak that might soon emerge. It is this, so word has it, which explains both why Sir David Normington, the permanent secretary at the Home Office, called in the police and why the police were prepared to go to such extreme lengths. This theory was bolstered this morning by Jacqui Smith’s declaration on Andrew Marr: “There are four leaks that are in the public arena. The point is that this started as an investigation into a systematic series of leaks about which, of course, it was

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another calamity for Clegg | 30 November 2008

The Sunday Mirror has an amusing account of Nick Clegg discussing rather too loudly the strengths and weaknesses of his frontbench team on a plane flight to Scotland. He is apparently flirting with idea of demoting his old leadership rival Chris Huhne. He’s also no fan of Steve Webb, he apparently said of the Lib Dems’ energy and climate change spokesman: “He’s a problem. I can’t stand the man. We need a new spokesman. We have to move him. We need someone with good ideas. At the moment, they just don’t add up.” Clegg reportedly concluded that David Laws—“ probably the best brain we have”—should be moved to energy and

Peter Hoskin

Just how much do we have to pay, Mr Darling?

After the events of the past week, the Pre-Budget Report seems more than only six days old.  But six days old it is, and already Alistair Darling is suggesting that the much-vaunted “fiscal stimulus” may need to be supplemented in the near-future.  In his interview in today’s Observer, the Chancellor admits that “we’re almost certainly going to be doing additional things”.  Of course, you could say that this isn’t a surprise; that the Government has to respond continuously to the changing circumstances of the downturn.  But, to my mind, this just raises more questions about how effective the Government’s spendthrift approach is, and whether it’s worth the increased borrowing and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A higher standard

The heavy-handed arrest of Damian Green has highlighted one set of threats to freedom of speech, thought and inquiry in Britain. But there are others, notably our draconian libel laws. As Nick Cohen writes in The Observer today: “Listen as hard you like, but you will never hear a Law Lord tell Eady that he cannot censor writers at the behest of plutocrats, or New Scotland Yard and the Home Office tell Quick that he cannot arrest opposition MPs, or the CPS tell Thames Valley detectives that they cannot harass an innocent reporter. No one in authority ever seems to say to the bewigged authoritarian or uniformed goon: ‘This isn’t

Peter Hoskin

Political shrapnel rips through the Government

The theme of Jacqui Smith’s interview with Andrew Marr this morning?  Responsibility-dodging.  Not once did the Home Secretary apologise for the disgraceful arrest of Damian Green, but she took every opportunity to stress the “operational independence” of those investigating the Tory MP.  In other words: not my fault, guv. Thing is, Dominic Grieve has since suggested that Smith knew more about the arrest of Green that she’s letting on.  He told Sky News that: “I think she knew there was an MP involved in this investigation and she decided to simply sit back on her hands…” And that’s only one entry in this morning’s catalogue of charges aimed at the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another poll indicates that the PBR failed politically

This time last week there were anxious conversations in Tory world about how the parliamentary party would react if Labour moved level or ahead in the polls after the PBR. But the PBR has not had the political effect Labour hoped it would. The main story coming out of it has been how bad the public finances are, not the dividing lines that Brown was so desperate to draw. This morning, Mori—like ICM on Saturday—shows the Tories increasing their poll lead after the PBR. Mori has them 11 points ahead on 43 percent, an eight point increase in their lead. When you consider that the Tories will probably get a