All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
This morning, Labour was facing a rather awkward choice on the Same Sex Marriage Bill. This afternoon, the opposition party has turned the situation around so that it appears to be on the front foot. Initially the party needed to decide whether it would back Tim Loughton’s ‘wrecking amendment’ to introduce heterosexual civil partnerships, or
There’s a conspiracy theory doing the rounds in Westminster that the ‘wrecking amendment’ for the gay marriage bill is a nifty way of the government dropping the legislation because it is unaffordable, and blaming Labour for backing a reckless proposal. At the morning lobby briefing, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman wouldn’t directly speculate on what
Only in The Guardian could Britain’s humorous disdain for the Eurovision Song Contest be linked to the rise of UKIP and the decline of the British Empire: ‘I think Eurovision-bashing reflects a crisis of collective national identity in the UK; it’s a way of expressing feelings of unprocessed anger, frustration, and loss about the UK’s
The final stages of the Same Sex marriage bill in the House of Commons were never going to be easy, but it is still an odd situation when the minister guiding the legislation through Parliament is pleading with the opposition party to reject an amendment which ostensibly makes things a lot fairer. Maria Miller thinks
HMS Ark Royal leaves Portsmouth for Turkey today to be dismantled and sold for scrap; the Harrier jets she once carried are being sold to the Americans for spare parts. She’s being decommissioned early as we can’t afford to keep her now. Times are tough, and hard choices need to be made. The same bulletin
Parliament is a “brothel”. The state is an enterprise of “thieves” engaged in a conspiracy against “the good little people” and the “humble housewife”. Time, then, for a party that will stand up for “the little man, the downtrodden, the trashed, the ripped off, the humiliated”. Not, as you might suspect, the most recent UKIP
If four years ago, a Liberal Democrat politician had attempted to portray the Lib Dems as the natural party of government we all would have laughed. But that is just what Danny Alexander tried to do on The Sunday Politics. Being interviewed by Andrew Neil, he implicitly contrasted Lib Dem steadiness with Tory in-fighting. He
There is always something quietly devastating about a pronouncement from Lord Mandelson. Today more polls reveal the Labour party is failing to make headway when the Tories are in an almighty flap, and the New Labour peer gave his tight-lipped, politely-delivered prescription on the Marr Show for how Ed Miliband can salvage things: ‘I think
What a strange day. Lord Feldman, the Tory co-chairman, appears to have identified himself as the unnamed Cameron ally reported by several newspapers as referring to party activists as ‘swivel-eyed loons’. He strenuously denies making the comments, and for good measure says he is consulting lawyers. Here’s what he has to say: ‘I am very
Clearly it is not a good idea for the Prime Minister’s chums to call members of the Conservative party “swivel-eyed loons“. No, not even at a “private dinner party”. I suspect that the identity of the “senior Conservative” who is “socially close” to David Cameron will be out by close of play Sunday and that
Insulting your own side is a dangerous thing to do in politics and in the current circumstances for any prominent Tory to do it is positively incendiary. But one ‘senior figure, who has strong social connections to the Prime Minister and close links to the party machine’ is quoted on the front of The Telegraph
It feels like the only film anyone’s been talking about recently is The Great Gatsby. Given that even the release of the films’ multiple trailers created international news stories, it seemed inevitable that not everyone was going to love it. So, what does Deborah Ross say to the film’s critics? ‘You can tell them to
Nigel Farage has just met one of the most fascinating aspects of modern politics. He was surrounded in Edinburgh by left-wing ‘anti-fascists’ shouting ‘Racist scum. Go back to England’. The same mob also screamed ‘scum’ repeatedly at the top of their voice until they made him leave. This is probably the best demonstration so far
There’s plenty of speculation in Westminster today that Philip Hammond is busy positioning himself as a future leadership contender. Last night he had some pretty strong words about the Government’s proposals for same-sex marriage, saying: ‘There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the
Excelliarmus! Why do East Asian children feel they can relate to Harry Potter? Because he wears glasses, like so many of them do. The fascination with British wizarding students extends to British schools, and it’s safe to say that many Asian youngsters, not to mention their parents, picture the ideal institution of learning as being
Last month, in a rare and refreshing piece of pre-local election commentary written outside the Ukip prism, author and urbanist Leo Hollis stated that the government does not understand cities. His argument amounts to the claim that, because Labour has a stranglehold on city councils, the coalition’s efforts to engage with cities and their leaders
Ben Goldsmith, Partner at WHEB Partners and signatory to Business for Britain In the private sector, every business must provide regular and accurate accounts. Yet when you try to look into the European Union’s income and expenditure there is just obscurity, masking a black hole of inefficiency and waste. The EU’s finances are a mess –
Nigel Farage seemed rather rattled when discussing his Edinburgh escapade on Good Morning Scotland today. You can listen to the full clip below, which culminates in the Ukip leader announcing ‘I wouldn’t have met with such hatred as I’m getting from your questions and frankly, I’ve had enough of this interview, goodbye.’ listen to ‘Nigel
I’ve interviewed one of the heroes of last year’s US elections — forecasting expect Nate Silver — for the books blog, but I thought CoffeeHousers might be interested in what he had to say about UK elections. Silver’s attempt to predict the 2010 election didn’t fare so well (his model significantly underestimated Labour and overestimated
I am not quite sure I understand why Nigel Farage opted to launch UKIP’s Aberdeen by-election campaign in Edinburgh. Then again, UKIP are a puzzling party. In any event, it all went rather well. Not just because forcing Nigel Farage to “flee” and take “sanctuary” in a pub is the kind of hardship up with
MPs don’t always enjoy the best of reputations with the voters they represent. In fact, if an MP is notorious and disliked, then at least they are doing better than their colleagues: the Hansard Society found this week that barely 20 per cent of voters can name their MP. So if a politician doesn’t fancy
Reports today that the Conservatives are wargaming end-of-Coalition scenarios in the event of the Lib Dems leaving early won’t come as a surprise, given the bickering over the past few weeks on snooping, childcare and Europe. But in the interim, ministers are also trying to work out how both parties can practise a sensible differentiation
The National Audit Office has slammed High Speed 2 today, citing a £3.3 billion ‘black hole’ in the funding plans while suggesting the construction timetable is ‘over-ambitious.’ Not exactly an overwhelming vote of confidence, but does this mean the project is dead in the water? Far from it — it’s more likely to happen than
Sir David Tang and friends packed out the Dorchester Hotel last night to taste Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I last tasted Blue Label in an airport departure lounge, where the expensive tipple is ubiquitous. Old Mr Steerpike has a bottle on the go, which he uses from time-to-time to top-up his favourite 50-year-old malt. The sight of
If you ask what’s the problem with David Cameron’s European strategy, a cacophony of voices strike up. But it seems to me that most of their complaints are tactical when the fundamental problem is strategic: what does Cameron actually want back from Brussels? Some of those involved in preparation for the renegotiation tell me that
Anyone who watched the latest episode of Mary Queen of the High Street will have been mildly amused to see the retail diva encounter the good burghers of Margate. Urbane, fabulous and witty, with a mission tinged an air liberal imperialism, as if ‘to explore strange new worlds’. One can almost imagine her government reports:
Who is to blame for last night’s Tory uprising on Europe? It’s more entertaining to pin the blame on everyone, rather than one person, and in this case, it’s wrong to insist that the leadership is entirely to blame for the confusing fiasco of the past week. So here are the many, many different options
Well, the deed is done. Many thanks to those of you who sent your best wishes here or on Twitter or wherever. Very kind of you and much appreciated. It’s all still sinking in, frankly. Time passes agreeably slowly on the Hebrides and it scarcely seems only a week since we last spoke here. Time
The BBC loves nothing better than a narrative in which Tory anti-European eccentrics split their party, and a bewildered public votes Labour. It is certainly the case that some of the Tory sceptics are half-crazed by dislike of David Cameron. But the reason the subject keeps coming up is because it matters, and it remains
Does David Cameron have a plan for dealing with the EU? In this week’s Spectator magazine, James Forsyth reveals that No.10 has little idea of how they will actually renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Europe. Cameron’s position risks dividing the Conservative party and pushing us automatically down the road to withdrawal. On the latest View form
Never accept meat from strangers. That seems to be the lesson of the horsemeat scandal – at least for the ex-commercial director of Freeza Meats. In September 2012, an Environment Health Officer arrived to inspect their meat stores. Discovering a large block of meat in one of their freezers, the officer decided to quarantine it. When
The mis-selling of higher education is one of the least remarked-upon scandals of our time, but anyone under 40 should be familiar with the concept. You’re told, at school, that a degree will make you far better-off. Politicians even put a price on it: a degree will make you, on average, £100,000 better-off in your
Shockwaves this morning in both Fleet Street and BBC land as the news comes in the Guardian’s bridesmaid, but never the bride, Ian Katz, is finally bored of waiting for Alan Rusbridger to retire and has jumped ship to the BBC. The Guardian’s deputy editor will be announced today as the next editor of Newsnight,
So 130 MPs have backed the Baron/Bone amendment to the Queen’s Speech. There will be Labour and other parties in this group, but reasonable estimates suggest that 100 Tories went through the ‘aye’ lobbies. This isn’t a rebellion, because the whips have given backbenchers and PPSs a free vote, and to that extent things could
