All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Labour is in an almighty mess at the moment. Those involved in the leadership campaigns are surprised by how the mood in the party has changed from quite open acceptance of a need to change in the days after the election defeat to angry dissent when change is suggested, as evidenced by the reaction to
Grant Shapps has been given a second ministerial post at the Foreign Office this afternoon in which I understand is part of a rather apologetic rehabilitation process for the minister, who was brutally demoted in the reshuffle. Shapps lost his Cabinet post after allegations that he edited his own Wikipedia page and that of his
It wasn’t meant to work out this way. A month ago, Westminster watched to see if Jeremy Corbyn could get the support of the 35 MPs he needed to enter the Labour leadership race. At the time, it seemed a sort of joke. After all, the people who were lending him their backing weren’t doing
It’s hit Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and the New York Mets and now the Labour Party has become the victim of vote hijacking: people voting for an unlikely candidate for a joke, just because they can. The impeccably informed Stephen Bush reveals that: ‘”More than two thirds” of new recruits since the election are supporters of
‘Put that on your leaflets,’ snarled Cameron at PMQs. Inwardly he was gloating. Labour voted against Tory welfare reforms last night so the PM was able to boast that Labour is fighting the new living wage. Some say Cameron is lurching to the left with his Five Year Plans and his state-controlled pay rises. The
In case the Labour leadership fracas has distracted you, there is still a Tory leadership contest going on, albeit with a slightly longer timetable. George Osborne has had a good week or so in terms of his chances of succeeding David Cameron when he stands down, and today his main contender Boris Johnson had a
This was the last PMQs before the recess, and the Tory side of the House was in an end of term mood. When Harriet Harman stood up, the Tory benches enthusiastically beckoned her over — a reference to the anger in Labour circles at her openness to Tory plans to limit child tax credits to
No self-congratulatory tweets from George Osborne this morning: The UK has seen its first quarter-on-quarter rise in unemployment for two years, figures released by the ONS show. The number of people in employment fell by 67,000 in the three months from May to March, and the number who are unemployed rose by 15,000. The unemployment
When Martin Freeman endorsed Labour ahead of the election, his credentials were called into question after Steerpike reported that Freeman was a former supporter of Arthur Scargill’s far-left Socialist party. So Mr S was curious to hear Burnham last night reveal his own admiration for Scargill – who formed the Socialist party because he was so
Who is being more rational in the dispute over new striking laws: the government or the union barons? With just under a week to go until the summer recess, the government will begin fulfilling another manifesto commitment by introducing new legislation to the Commons today that will reform striking rules. The Trades Union Bill will
If you want to see our grievance-ridden, huckster-driven future, looks to Northern Ireland, which has always been a world leader in the fevered politics of religious victimhood and aggression. Just as the Tories and much of the politically-correct liberal centre think they can force us to be nice by allowing the cops to arrest those
From ‘Possibilities of Taxation’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915: Since the day when Bob Lowe attempted to impose a tax on matches the cost of production has been immensely reduced and the consumption has increased enormously. Matches are now so cheap that even a tax which doubled their price would not hurt the consumer. Good
It is often said that British ambition and influence in the world are on the wane. But there can be few greater demonstrations of this than our country’s lack of attention to one of the biggest issues of our time. I am in Washington at the moment, and have been admiring how intensely the Vienna
Liz Kendall spent an hour on Facebook this evening answering questions from Labour supporters. Those sitting on a social network on a Tuesday evening are clearly not entirely representative of the party’s membership, but this Q&A suggests Kendall has a perception problem in some quarters. The sheer vitriol of the comments from those who claim to be Labour
The Shadow Cabinet has split all ways on what to do about welfare. Andy Burnham says he wants a reasoned amendment to the second reading of the welfare reform and work bill that protests some of the policies, but I understand he indicated in Shadow Cabinet that he would go along with the official party line
When the Shah of Iran gave the order to create the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) in 1974 it is unlikely that he had any idea of just how controversial his move would ultimately prove. The AEOI brought order to what had hitherto been a disorganised programme and set the country on the path
Tim Farron is a confident man. By this time Thursday, he will be announced as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats — if the bookies are to be believed. Ladbrokes currently say he is a ‘huge odds-on certainty’ to win at 1/33, compared to 12/1 for his rival Norman Lamb. Farron graced the front seat
So now we all know what we’re dealing with. This SNP malice against the English and our democracy is no joke. After repeatedly promising that her party would not abuse its newfound power to interfere in matters relating only to England, Nicola Sturgeon has shown her true colours. She means war. She is up for
Last week the SNP MP Phil Boswell made a ‘depravity’ gaffe in his maiden speech. Happily, his colleague – and Parliament’s youngest MP – Mhairi Black had more luck today when she gave her first speech in the House of Commons. The 20-year-old SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South began by praising her predecessor Douglas Alexander,
Supporters of relaxing the hunting ban are relieved that the government has pulled tomorrow’s vote after it became clear that it would fail. They feel that there is little point in expending political capital on something they will lose. But they are now trying to work out what to do next that will ensure they
Today the Prime Minister has set out to ‘end the gender pay gap in a generation’. It would be an ambitious goal, if a wage gap actually existed. According to the latest ONS figures, women between the ages of 22 – 29 earn 1.1 per cent more on average than their male counterparts and women between
This morning’s mailbox gave Mr S cause for alarm. A message popped up from Lord Adonis explaining that he had been mugged on holiday in the Philippines and was ‘freaked out’. While Tony Blair’s former adviser had managed to keep possession of his passport, he apparently needed cash fast: Just as Mr S was about to dig deep, he
The government has confirmed that it is pulling tomorrow’s vote on the relaxation of the hunting ban. A Downing Street source is frank about why they are doing this, the vote would be lost with the SNP voting against and so there’s not much point in having it. Indeed, even the Countryside Alliance accepts that
Andy Burnham has been vociferous in his opposition to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, and made his views clear at a stormy meeting of the Shadow Cabinet this morning. He followed that meeting with a speech to the press gallery about his candidacy to become Labour leader in which he repeated his opposition to
Here are four things that Liz Kendall has said during the Labour leadership campaign. First, that she would never close a successful school. Second, that the country should always come first, not the party. Third, that the UK should spend at last 2 per cent of GDP in defence. And finally, that Harriet Harman is
Much has been made of the threat the Tories pose to the BBC after they said the corporation must take on the £750m cost of free TV licences for the elderly, which the government previously covered. As the BBC plan cost-cutting measures, including redundancies, in order to carry the financial burden, could the answer lie in the over-75s themselves?
I wonder how many Scots who voted ‘Yes’ in last year’s referendum are watching events unfold in Greece and having second thoughts? It’s not quite a ‘there, but for the grace of God’ moment, but it’s not far off. This analogy depends upon two big assumptions, both of which will be disputed by the nationalists. The
In 48 hours, either Tim Farron or Norman Lamb will be announced as the next leader of Liberal Democrats. Lamb kindly agreed to hop in my Mini for a chat about the leadership contest two weeks ago (during the hottest day of the year) — you can watch the highlights from our chat above. If you
It has only taken the SNP 68 days to jettison its principles for some good old Tory bashing. On the Today programme, Nicola Sturgeon gave three reasons as to why the SNP will be voting against relaxed foxhunting restrictions in England. Combined with an ‘overwhelming demand from people in England’ and a potential future debate about Scottish foxhunting laws, the First Minister happily admitted that the
Nate Silver has a lot to answer for. Yes, he called the US general election correctly – but he then led the fashionable view that opinion polling technology is now so advanced as to be able to predict what people are feeling to a high degree of accuracy. So confident was Silver in his computers that
From ‘Catching the Train’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915: ENGLISHMEN have many exasperating habits, but perhaps the most exasperating of all is that of running a train so fine that they only just catch it. What the normal healthy, unnervous Englishman likes to do is to arrive at the railway station one minute before the
In 2008 Alex Salmond told Total Politics that: ‘As you know, by choice, SNP MPs have abstained from every vote on English legislation that does not have an immediate Scottish consequence. If you’re asking me should people in England be able to run their own health service or education system, my answer is yes. They should
The SNP’s 56 MPs will vote against relaxing the hunting ban on Wednesday, the party has announced. The party’s stance was decided at a meeting of the party this evening, with the SNP saying it is ‘right’ that the party ‘assert the Scottish interest on fox hunting by voting against the Tories’ proposals to relax
Jeremy Corbyn is finally receiving the scrutiny he deserves. On Channel 4 News this evening, the hard-left Labour leader hopeful was quizzed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on comments about engaging with ‘friends’ in Hamas and Hezbollah over the Middle East conflict. Corbyn refused to apologise for using the word ‘friends’ and snapped several times at Guru-Murthy for not letting