Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn heckled by his own MPs – ‘resign!’

It’s not proving to be a great day for Jeremy Corbyn. After over half of his Shadow Cabinet resigned, the Labour leader has now faced a revolt in the Chamber. While giving a statement on the European referendum, Corbyn called for MPs to refrain from in-fighting: ‘The country will thank neither the benches in front of

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn is going to fight to the bitter end

Despite the rolling programme of frontbench resignations in the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn is clearly planning to fight to the bitter end. Labour sources are repeatedly insisting that he will definitely be on the ballot paper in a new contest, and referring to the mandate he has already been handed by members. A Corbynite source

Isabel Hardman

New Tory leader in place by 2 September

Senior Tories have decided that their new party leader will be confirmed by 2 September, which means that the timetable for the leadership contest will be very short indeed. The decision was taken for a short, sharp battle so that there was as little uncertainty about the government as possible. This means that nominations for the race

Katy Balls

Alan Johnson throws Corbyn under the bus over Remain campaign

As the pressure piles in from Labour MPs on Jeremy Corbyn to stand down in the wake of the referendum result, Alan Johnson has added his voice to the cause. Johnson — who worked as the Chair of Labour In for Britain — has sent an email to Labour staff in which he criticises Corbyn’s leadership in

Isabel Hardman

Oliver Letwin to lead government Brexit unit

Funnily enough, today’s Cabinet meeting was rather dominated by a discussion on the result of the EU referendum. The majority of the ‘serious’ 90 minute meeting was taken up by that small matter, though ministers were also briefed by the head of MI5 and by Oliver Letwin on implementing other manifesto promises, such as the

Ed West

Brexiteers need to act now, or become the most hated people in history

The British constitution is built on compromise and moderation; it’s one of the main reasons why this country enjoyed a period of relative domination in the 19th century while our neighbours tore themselves apart. Referendums do not encourage compromise, which makes them such bitter devices, and why the last few weeks have been so painful.

Theo Hobson

No, Brexit wasn’t a defeat for humanist values – or for love

Perhaps the most important pundit to have emerged from the earthquake is Giles Fraser. As a left-wing vicar and longstanding anti-racism campaigner, he makes it harder for people to depict the Brexiters as closet racists. He disrupts the defeated Remainers’ assumption that they represent progressive values, humanism. The same applies to the handful of pro-Brexit

Isabel Hardman

Jexit: running tally of Labour frontbench resignations

Jeremy Corbyn has insisted he is staying put, despite a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs passing by a big majority. Frontbenchers have now been resigning one after since Sunday 26th June to show that they want Corbyn out. And moments after the party leader issued a statement to say he was staying put, the latest

Housing hyperbole: what’s next for house prices

Without wishing to add to the hyperbole over Brexit (from both sides), it’s fair to say that Britain is all over the place today. From the temporary suspension of trading in Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays shares and sterling’s continued slide against the dollar, to the slump in the return on government bonds and a profit warning from easyJet,

Brexit, businesses and price rises

In a bid to calm the markets and allay business fears, the Chancellor has said this morning that the UK is ready to face the future ‘from a position of strength’ and indicated there will be no immediate emergency Budget. He said there would be problems ahead, including an ‘adjustment’ in the UK economy but added

Brendan O’Neill

The howl against democracy

There’s a delicious irony to Remainers’ branding of Leave voters as confused individuals who have simply made a desperate howling noise, whose anti-EU vote was a ‘howl of anger’ (Tim Farron) or a ‘howl of frustration’ (JK Rowling). Which is that if anyone’s been howling in recent days, it’s them, the top dogs of the

Fraser Nelson

George Osborne as Foreign Secretary? A bad idea

We haven’t heard much from George Osborne since the referendum, but that will change tomorrow morning. He’s due to make a statement, according to the Times, which also says that the Chancellor he is considering giving his backing to Boris Johnson’s leadership ambitions in exchange for being made Foreign Secretary. I’m not so sure that

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn vows to fight on after day of resignations

Jeremy Corbyn’s enemies in the Labour party had hoped that the leader would do the ‘decent thing’ and stand down after the day-long programme of frontbench resignations had made it clear that he will not be able to run an effective opposition. But this evening he has made it clear that he doesn’t agree with

Isabel Hardman

Tom Watson breaks silence over Labour turmoil 

Freshly returned from Glastonbury, Tom Watson has spoken out about today’s turmoil in the Labour Party. The Deputy Leader has said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ to see Hilary Benn sacked and ‘equally saddened’ by the departure of so many colleagues from the Shadow Cabinet. He added, ominously, that tomorrow he will meet Jeremy Corbyn to

Why is the government missing in action?

It is now almost three days since David Cameron announced his resignation. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been in hiding ever since. And the Parliamentary Labour party is revolting against its own leader and members. It is one thing for the whole political class to be in disarray. It is quite another for the