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Parkfield primary school is an unremarkable redbrick building in the socially deprived Alum Rock area of Birmingham. A decision by the school’s leadership to teach younger children about same-sex relationships has triggered a firestorm of anger. As a BBC correspondent covering the patch, it’s worth reflecting how it started, what happened and to what extent
It has suddenly become very difficult to have a conversation about terrorism that isn’t overtly politicised or faintly hysterical. This is because so much of the discussion is dominated by what the late American philosopher Robert Nozick scornfully described as ‘normative sociology’ – the ‘study of what the causes of problems ought to be’. ‘If X is bad’, Nozick wrote, ‘and Y,
In recent weeks, there has been a lot of inaccurate media coverage of Common Market 2.0, which proposes that the UK should remain a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) after Brexit. The fundamental purpose of the EEA Agreement is to extend the benefits of the single market to countries that are outside the
The results of the second set of indicative votes were announced this evening, and after showing once again that MPs had rejected every single alternative Brexit strategy, the Brexiteers in the Tory party were in a jubilant mood. None more so that ERG member Mark Francois, who spoke to Radio 4 shortly after the results
The second round of indicative votes has failed to break the Brexit deadlock. Again, none of the options got a majority. The customs union came closest for a second time, falling only three votes short on this occasion—273 to 276. Nick Boles’ Common Market 2.0 was 21 short of a majority despite the support of
Nick Boles has just quit the Tory party on the floor of the House of Commons. Minutes after his Common Market 2.0 Brexit plan was rejected by MPs, Boles took to his feet to announce his decision to resign the Tory whip. Here is what he said: ‘I have given everything to an attempt to
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MPs have once again failed to reach an agreement on their preferred Brexit option. The Commons rejected a customs union with the EU, Common Market 2.0, a confirmatory public vote and a bid to revoke Article 50 in the event of no deal being reached. Four amendment were considered – and voted down – by
Nick Boles’ Common Market 2.0 plan for Brexit has an awful lot going for it: it would honour the instruction of the British people to leave the European Union, while minimising the economic cost of that decision by keeping the UK largely within the Single Market. And the fact that the previous paragraph will drive
There are still a few hours to go until Parliament votes once again on Brexit, but it is already getting somewhat heated in the Commons. Anna Soubry attempted to take Jacob Rees-Mogg to task over his decision to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Here’s what she said: Would he like to tell the House why
There was a glimmer of hope for Theresa May and her Brexit deal on Friday when some Tory eurosceptics decided to vote for the withdrawal agreement after all. Richard Drax was one of them. But now he says he regrets doing so. He told the Commons this afternoon: I do feel I have not been
The Norway Plus campaign has had a big boost today with both Labour and the SNP saying they’ll whip in favour of it. Given that the plan might well be acceptable to the DUP – as it means that the backstop wouldn’t come into force – and the Cabinet will be abstaining, it has a
With another set of indicative votes taking place in parliament later today, talk is already turning to what happens if the House of Commons backs a Brexit deal where Britain stays in the EU’s customs union. And, if that took place, how this would be received by the Brexiteers within the Tory party, who see
Jon Snow has had a lot of flak for his ‘white people’ comment at the tail end of his report from the Leave Means Leave march on Friday. But in my view he hasn’t had enough. Because it seems pretty clear to me that he wasn’t simply disparaging whiteness and openly commenting on the racial
For some of those desperate for Britain to stay put in the EU, the Customs Union option functions as a handy obsession. Ministers, too, appear to be rallying behind this as a solution to the Brexit crisis, amid reports that dozens of senior Tories could vote for the UK to stay in a customs union in
Dogs might not bark because, as Sherlock Holmes observed, there’s no reason to bark when they see their master. Alternatively, dogs might not bark when fear reduces them to whimpers. Which is it for the British centre right? Is it friends with the far right or frightened of it? Look around and notice what isn’t
Labour has not tabled a motion for today’s indicative votes on a way through the Brexit mess – which feels like an important moment, perhaps because it has recognised that its proprietary version of Brexit is dead and its role instead is to work with all MPs to identify a deliverable alternative (which could be
The former Labour spin doctor and Remain campaigner Lord Mandelson was on the Today programme this morning, to put forward his case for a second Brexit referendum, which he argued could break the current impasse in parliament. Challenged by Martha Kearney though about whether this process could potentially create even more division and strife within Britain, the
Sometimes it’s worth addressing what didn’t happen. For one exasperating aspect of appearing on television news is leaving the studio kicking yourself for what you failed to say. Heading home from Broadcasting House, I’ll often impotently mutter all those killer arguments that fled my head when they might have counted for something. Yet during my
Just how hard is it to get through Mothering Sunday when you don’t feel unconditional love and gratitude towards your own mother? Every year I am reminded of a friend who finds it one of the most difficult days of the year. My friend, let’s call her B, breaks out in a cold sweat when
The vote of no confidence in Dominic Grieve shows the Tories are, like Labour, vulnerable to bolshiness in their own local associations. In fact, the Conservatives might turn out to be more effective at purging MPs because, for all of the noise, the Corbynites have not done much. And if Jeremy Corbyn ends up in
Some allies of the prime minister are desperate for a majority of MPs to back Ken Clarke’s motion to keep the UK in the customs union, at the close of round two of the Letwin process of the Commons bossing the government, Monday night. Yes you heard me right. They want MPs to vote for
Emily Thornberry – May is ‘out of control’ It is now two days since the UK was originally supposed to leave the EU, but with the government’s withdrawal agreement being defeated in parliament for a third time, events look more uncertain than ever before. Sophy Ridge was joined by the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry,
After the referendum, I retired from active party politics, saying I wanted my life back. And I’ve had a great deal of fun since. Better still, I no longer have to resolve arguments between association chairmen and branch secretaries over how to fold the napkins at their work Christmas dinners and so on. But I’ve watched
Since we abolished CVs for The Spectator’s internship scheme, it has acquired quite a reputation. There are fewer than two dozen journalists here in 22 Old Queen St and we recruit people rarely – but when we do, we seek to recruit from our interns. As do other people: The Spectator‘s no-CV internships helped a 48-year-old mum-of-three with no previous
Tory MPs who have backed a softer Brexit or Remain have had an acrimonious relationship with their local Conservative associations as of late, with one MP already deciding to quit their local party following threats of deselection. Last night, it was the turn of the former attorney general and Remain supporter Dominic Grieve to face
It’s come a day earlier than I expected, but we are now entering the ‘government of national unity’ phase of the Brexit debacle. Nicky Morgan, once a Tory Cabinet minister, said this on the Today programme: ‘It may well be that if you end up with a cross-party approach to finding a majority in the
After Theresa May’s deal was defeated in the House of Commons for a third time, there’s heightened speculation that we could now be heading for a snap election. With the Withdrawal Agreement defeated by 58 votes, even if No. 10 tries to put it to another vote it’s hard to see how May would manage the
MPs could have voted to take back control yesterday, instead—as I say in The Sun this morning—they decided to hand control to the EU. The EU Council will meet on the 10th of April to decide whether to offer the UK a further extension or not. It remains unlikely that the EU will force a
As MP for the constituency which covers Newmarket, health secretary Matt Hancock will have met a few bookmakers in his time. He has even won a horse race himself, of amateur jockeys in a charity event. He will know the Conservative leadership is the sort of open race with appetising prices – not least the
A levels, from the perspective of a ‘choice architect’, are a disaster. While pupils are free to pick and mix freely among the humanities, science is implicitly presented as an all-or-nothing package deal. Any aspiring scientist must study at least three of the big four: mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology. People who want to keep
Servant of the People is a hilarious Ukrainian situation comedy currently running on Netflix. It opens with a young high-school teacher launching into a foul-mouthed rant against the corruption and venality of his country’s political class. ‘Why are all the honest people fools and the clever ones are thieves?’ shouts nerdy but honest history master
It is worth rejoicing at Robert Mueller’s exoneration of the President, even if you do not like Donald Trump. Wherever possible, politics should not be pursued via legal processes and investigations. This sounds an odd thing to say, since democracies depend upon the rule of law. The trouble is that the rule of law quickly
It is not hard to make the case that vaccination programmes have been one of the greatest contributions to mankind over the past century. It is sufficient simply to list the most common causes of death in 1915 of British children aged under five, in descending order: measles, bronchitis, whooping cough, diphtheria, tuberculosis, pneumonia, infective