Theresa may

Maybe it was because of the contrast with Theresa May’s chilly, disingenuous monotone minutes before, but I really think Boris Johnson’s speech to the Conservative party here in Manchester was brilliant. It is a constant puzzle that senior politicians, who spend such ages worrying about how to communicate, do not learn how to make platform speeches. They make basic errors — failing to read autocues, misjudging the timing of applause. They also do not trouble to think about what makes a speech — its combination of light and shade, the sense of an audience of actual human beings both in and outside the hall. In the current cabinet, Mrs May is

What on earth is Theresa May playing at? As Home Secretary she vowed to cut net immigration down to the ‘tens of thousands,’ only to see it increase to a record high of 330,000. A bit embarrassing: the slogans that used to adorn Tory conferences boasting ‘immigration down’ have been quietly removed, and replied by the fictional achievement ‘deficit eliminated’. If I were her, I’d just drop the whole thing. Instead, she chooses this conference to inform us that the immigration she has presided over is bad for Britain, bad for our social cohesion. In her words: ‘When immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it’s impossible

When David Cameron announced that he wouldn’t serve a third term, he made it inevitable that Westminster would spend much of his second term wondering about who would succeed him. Well, in the new Spectator, Nicky Morgan becomes the first Cabinet Minister to make clear that she is interested in standing when Cameron steps down. She says that ‘A lot of it will depend on family’ but makes clear that she believes there needs to be a female candidate in the race and hopes ‘that, in the not too distant future, there will be another female leader of a main Westminster political party’. What I was most struck about when

David Cameron might not be remembered as the best prime minister in modern British history but he will probably be remembered as the luckiest. Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour party is proving worse — or, for the Tories, better — than anyone could have imagined. His wrecking ball is busy destroying everything that was built by Labour’s modernisers. He does not lack authenticity, belief and passion — but his beliefs are ones which would be more at home in a 1920s plenary meeting of the Moscow Soviet than in contemporary British living rooms. The Chancellor sees Corbyn’s leadership as a chance to further blacken Labour’s name. The

There must be an element of masochism in Theresa May that leads her to promise the electorate something she cannot give them: net migration in the tens of thousands. Figures released today show that the balance of people coming into the county rose to 330,000 in the year to March 2015, putting the Home Secretary further than ever—further than any Home Secretary in history—from the target. [datawrapper chart=”http://static.spectator.co.uk/6xuHX/index.html”] An increase of 84,000 in the number of people coming the UK, and a fall of 9,000 in the number of people leaving the country made up the 94,000 increase in net migration on the previous year. The balance of migrants from within the EU increased by

Water cannons at the ready: the Tory leadership contest is officially underway. How does Mr S know this? Well, in a clear sign that George Osborne means business, he has changed his Twitter profile picture. Osborne is now in Conservative blue, offering a confident grin as he embarks on his campaign to move into Number 10. The new photo also displays a slimline Osborne in contrast to the old photo, which depicted a more laid back Chancellor. While Mr S will of course keep readers updated as Boris Johnson and Theresa May develop their online presences, Steerpike can’t help wonder why Osborne didn’t opt for this week’s cover image of Octo-Osborne…

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/theosbornesupremacy/media.mp3″ title=”Isabel Hardman and George Parker discus how George Osborne rules Westminster” startat=38] Listen [/audioplayer]Against the heavy artillery fire of the Labour leadership battle, the struggle of the Conservative leadership contest goes almost undetected outside Westminster. It is no less intense, even though the Conservatives will not elect a new leader for at least three years. After a week of the parliamentary recess, there is no question about who is winning. This week, for the first time, George Osborne overtook Boris Johnson as William Hill’s favourite. Not so long ago, Osborne was a mere limpet on David Cameron’s wetsuit, clinging on thanks to the patronage of his boss. Booed

The spat between Boris Johnson and Theresa May over the acquisition of three second hand ones from the German police has the air of a dormitory water pistol fight that has left an unprepared Johnson standing in dripping pyjamas. It has become a received wisdom that the incident raises questions about Johnson’s fitness for high office. But does it? May’s claim that water cannon are dangerous is somewhat at odds with them being in routine use in Northern Ireland and deployed 364 times in the past four years without problems. The 67 reported issues regarding the ex-German water cannon are mostly trivial and have all been resolved to the satisfaction

David Cameron will outline the ‘struggle of our generation’ today: tackling Islamist extremism. The Prime Minister is set to deliver a significant speech in Birmingham, where he will say ‘the root cause of the threat we face is the extremist ideology itself,’ attacking those who blame the West’s foreign policy for the rise of extremism. Cameron will outline the beginnings of a five-year plan to take on the ‘discrimination, sectarianism and segregation’ ideas of groups such as ISIL — but what action will the government’s proposals entail? On the Today programme this morning, the Home Secretary Theresa May explained why the government believes tackling the ideology itself is key to tackling extremism: ‘Part of it is

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 bad day. Boris was sitting behind Theresa May in the House of Commons as the Home Secretary announced that she would not be giving permission for the Metropolitan Police to deploy three second-hand water cannons in London. The Mayor bought these cannons for £218,000. He pulled a range of unhappy faces as May announced that

With Tim Farron the favourite to be the next leader of the Liberal Democrats and Theresa May still hopeful that she can succeed David Cameron in No.10, the pair may soon get to relive the 1992 election. Nick Forbes, the Labour Leader of Newcastle CC, has revealed an old article from the election which saw Tim Farron, Theresa May and Hilary Armstrong compete for the seat of North West Durham. https://twitter.com/nick_forbes/status/619462693897027584 Although Hilary Armstrong won at the time, the other two may eventually have the last laugh. Meanwhile, Mr S is glad to see that the Home Secretary has always had such a sharp sense of style.

Harriet Harman has 16 years on David Cameron and she used that advantage very effectively today. After Cameron replied to her first question on the EU referendum with a string of mocking quips about Labour’s mass conversion on the subject, Harman scolded him for gloating and told him to ‘show a bit more class’. This dressing down took Cameron aback. For the rest of the session he wasn’t sure whether to tone it down or mock Harman for complaining. With Harman refusing to play along with the usual Punch and Judy show, Cameron turned to the SNP. He took advantage of Angus Robertson’s questions to mock the Nationalists for saying

David Cameron is by instinct not a radical leader. We have another example of his preference to keep the boat steady in today’s Telegraph, which reports the Prime Minister has decided Britain won’t quit the European Convention on Human Rights, much to the chagrin of Theresa May and Michael Gove. Although the Conservative manifesto promised to make the British Supreme Court ‘the ultimate arbiter of human rights matters in the UK’, it did not explicitly mention leaving the convention. Gove and May believe that leaving the convention — as well as a much-discussed exit from the European Court of Human Rights — is the only way to fulfil this pledge. But the Prime Minister disagrees. A senior government source tells the paper:

Leon Brittan’s memorial service on Tuesday packed the West London Synagogue, but there were some notable absentees. We in the congregation were informed that the government was represented by Lord Howe (the Earl Howe, not Geoffrey). He is an estimable man, but well below Cabinet level. Since Brittan had been Home Secretary, it would normally be customary for the present holder of the office, Theresa May, to attend. Was she absent because of the accusations against Brittan, among others, about ‘establishment’ cover-ups of child abuse in the 1980s? If so, it was cowardly. Absolutely nothing has been proved. Unless it is, ministers should stand up for those who have served

Unencumbered by the regressive Liberal Democrats, the new government has already managed to start taking extremism seriously.  The counter-extremism legislation which the Lib Dems managed to stall will be included in the Queen’s Speech next week. But the government already faces an early test of its policies. Muhammad Salah – a ‘star’ of Huda TV – is due to speak next month at ten venues across the UK, from Edinburgh to Crawley at a ‘Welcome Ramadan’ event. You can see the invitation from ‘Human Appeal’ here. Now Salah is a strange and disconcerting figure to ‘Welcome Ramadan’. And the Home Secretary can hardly deem his views to be conducive to the public

One of the odd decisions that the Tories made before the election was to pursue their net migration target, in spite of the fact that they cannot meet it. Today’s figures underline that, with net migration at 318,000 last year, which is the highest total for a decade. The Office for National Statistics said this represented a ‘statistically significant’ rise of more than 109,000 from 2013. Knowing that these figures were coming and wouldn’t be a particularly comfortable experience — more comfortable, though, than had they been published during the election campaign — the Conservatives are setting out their own plans to crack down on the things that annoy people