Uk politics

Thursday

Ross Clark

The interest rate rise is better late than never

When interest rates were lowered to an ‘emergency’ level of 0.5 per cent in 2009, the market consensus was that rates would probably rise again by the following February. I am sure that absolutely no-one would have predicted we would have to wait until 2nd August 2018. Not even Mark Carney, then still governor of the Bank of Canada. How many times has he given us ‘guidance’ on when interest rates would rise – only for it to be no guide at all? Exactly five years ago, for example, he said that rates would rise once the unemployment rate, then 7.8 per cent, fell below 7 per cent. It is

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Labour’s anti-Semitism row has left Jeremy Corbyn isolated within his own party

When Labour’s leadership and the NEC were debating how to tackle anti-Semitism in the party, Andrew Murray – Jeremy Corbyn’s close adviser and chief of staff to Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey – argued that Labour should embrace a much simpler and less contentious code of conduct than what its ruling National Executive ultimately adopted. His recommendation, I understand, was that the Labour Party should employ the widely used IHRA definition of anti-Semitism with all-but-one of its examples – rather than seeking, as it has done, to resile from four of the examples, and create its own illustrations of anti-Semitic language and conduct. He took the view, shared by many

Matthew Lynn

The City’s resilience after Brexit could be bad news for the EU

The Gherkin would be re-zoned as social housing. The Walkie Talkie would be turned into a massive TK Maxx with a couple of fried chicken shacks at ground level. Canary Wharf would be paved over and turned into a giant trampoline park, while houses in the better parts of Chelsea and Notting Hill would fall in price so much that just about anyone could buy them again. When the UK voted to leave the EU, it was confidently predicted that the City of London would be wiped out, with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenues. And what happened? According a report by the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cabinet Brexiteers want May to ready her Brexit back up plan

Number 10 have long been convinced that if they could talk to the member states, rather than the Commission, they’d have a better chance of getting a reasonable Brexit deal. So, the Salzburg meeting on the 20th of September, where May will get to speak to the leaders of the EU27 directly, has taken on huge importance. But, as I say in the magazine this week, while the heads of government might be more understanding of May’s political predicament, they still won’t accept her Chequers plan. Rather, they’ll—at best—push for further concessions from her. What May must decide over the summer, is what she’ll do when they ask for this.

Steerpike Steerpike

Chris Williamson turns on Momentum

While the likes of Owen Jones are finally realising that it might not be a wise idea to back Peter Willsman following his rant about anti-Semitism, the same can’t be said for all prominent Corbyn supporters. Step forward, Chris Williamson. The Labour MP is doubling down on his endorsement for Willsman, in defiance of calls from Momentum for Willsman to resign from Labour’s National Executive Committee. In a show of solidarity, Williamson has updated his Twitter biography to ‘JC9’ – a reference to Willsman’s election to the NEC. But he hasn’t stopped there. Williamson has also retweeted messages of support for his hard-left chum, including one suggesting that Momentum’s u-turn on Willsman is ‘idiotic,

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Hunt’s wife gaffe goes from bad to worse

Jeremy Hunt started his new job as Foreign Secretary with a bang on Monday with a gaffe that rivalled those of his predecessor Boris Johnson. On a visit to China, Hunt told his hosts that his wife was Japanese. The problem? She is Chinese: ‘Erm, my wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. That is a terrible mistake to make’ Hunt was quick to apologise – and even documented his attempts to make it up to his wife by buying her flowers: In Paris choosing some flowers to bring back to Mrs H pic.twitter.com/iGzWyj0oOA — Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 31, 2018 However, Mr S suspects one bouquet won’t cut

Wednesday

James Forsyth

The dilemma facing Labour MPs at the next election

John McDonnell’s response to the latest episode in Labour’s anti-Semitism scandal is another reminder of how he grasps the political danger of this to the Corbyn project so much better than Corbyn himself does. The shadow Chancellor appears to get, in a way that Corbyn doesn’t, just how much this issue could damage Labour. One of the striking things about politics right now is that the Corbynite economic agenda has become relatively uncontroversial within the Labour party. At the start of Corbyn’s leadership, the party committing itself to a universal basic income would have caused a major row. But today’s announcement has passed off without controversy. Rather, what is causing

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Corbyn dodges questions on anti-Semitism

Labour’s anti-Semitism problem isn’t going away. But it seems Jeremy Corbyn is hoping it will do. When the Labour leader was asked whether he was the man to patch things up between the Jewish community and the party, Corbyn was somewhat lost for words: Reporter: ‘Are relations between the Labour leadership and the British Jewish community broken beyond repair? …Can you fix the relationship, Mr Corbyn?’ Jeremy Corbyn: ‘Good morning, nice to see you. Goodbye…Can you close the window please.’ Mr S. thinks this is hardly the best way for Corbyn to reassure people that he is taking the problem seriously…

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Fewer British workers are sick, so why isn’t the Guardian celebrating?

I know the Guardian is desperate to stop Brexit and will dredge up anything to try to back its case – daily running fanciful predictions of economic Armageddon made by think-tanks as if they were fact, even though those same think tanks have been hopelessly wrong in the past. But honestly, there comes a point when even the newspaper’s editors must be beginning to realise that their demented doom-mongering is making them look ridiculous.     This week the Office of National Statistics (ONS) put out figures showing yet another decline in the number of days lost to sickness by British workers. It is now down to an average of 4.1 days

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why Boris Johnson is now the favourite to succeed Theresa May

As Theresa May and her ministers spend their summer holiday trying to convince European leaders of the merits of her widely-panned Chequers Brexit blueprint, one of her departed ministers has cause for celebration. According to the latest ConservativeHome poll of Tory members, since resigning as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has become the favourite among party members to be the next leader. Supported by nearly a third of members, this is an impressive turnaround given that a month ago – when he was still in government – he was backed by only 8 per cent of members.   However, it’s also not that surprising. As I said in the i paper last week, Johnson

Ned Donovan

Why have the Tories abandoned their promise to fight ‘burning injustices’?

This week the Conservative Party quietly abandoned the promises made by Theresa May to the British people on the steps of Downing Street when becoming Prime Minister. As a then-new First Lord of the Treasury, May vowed to her fellow citizens that she would right the ‘burning injustices’ that confronted society’s worst-off and prevented them from meeting their fullest potential. The United Kingdom would, she said, ‘be a country that works for everyone’ and made reference to the disadvantages facing minorities in areas like the justice system. The speech had One Nation Tories like me on the edge of their seats, applauding what sounded like a new direction after years

Tuesday

Steerpike

Arron Banks’ G7 fail

With Theresa May’s Chequers proposal unpopular across the board, there are many politicians and would-be politicians now asking themselves: could I do a better job? For quite a lot of these people, the answer is ‘yes’. However, this afternoon Leave.EU’s Arron Banks offered a reminder that sometimes the basics are harder than they look. The Brexit campaigner took to social media to correct Chuka Umunna for sharing a graph detailing growth in G7 countries. Banks’s complaint? Canada, the USA and Japan aren’t in the G7. The problem? They are. Canada , the USA & Japan aren’t in the G7, dopey https://t.co/7cgHisXAgs — Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) July 31, 2018 Probably for

Steerpike Steerpike

Chris Grayling’s Love Island opportunity

CCHQ’s attempt to latch onto ITV2’s Love Island fanbase by releasing a number of Love Island-themed water bottles with Conservative attack lines hit a bump in the road after it transpired that they had not been given permission to use the reality show trademark. Nevertheless, Mr S suspects that one Cabinet Minister is particularly thrilled to learn that the non-branded water bottles are in abundance in a cupboard at headquarters. Step forward Chris Grayling. Earlier this month PopBitch reported a visitor to the offices of the Secretary of State for Transport noting that all the staff there were trying to beat the heatwave with snazzy new Love Island water bottles. Everyone, that

Steerpike Steerpike

Momentum’s NEC candidates: a beginner’s guide

Labour’s latest anti-Semitism row has gone from awful to even worse thanks to a recording leaking in which veteran left-winger and NEC member Peter Willsman dismisses some of Corbyn’s critics in the Jewish community as ‘Trump fanatics’, suggests critics could ‘falsify social media’ and questions whether his colleagues had actually seen anti-Semitism in the party. While Labour grandees and young Corbynista pundits have been quick to condemn the comments, a number of Corbyn allies are staying schtum. The problem is that with fresh elections underway as of last week to decide who will be elevated to Labour’s governing body, the National Executive Committee (NEC), this comes at a bad time for the

Monday

Brendan O’Neill

Why won’t the left speak up for Sarah Champion?

Where’s the concern for Labour MP Sarah Champion? Where are the leftists demanding that this female MP stop being harassed merely for expressing her views? Where are the tweets drawing attention to Ms Champion’s plight — the fact that she now needs an actual security team because people who hate her political views want to physically harm her? In this post-Jo Cox era, I thought we were all meant to have the backs of elected politicians who are under threat from extremists. And yet when it comes to Champion — just such an elected politician — people seem to be looking the other way. It isn’t hard to work out

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Are Labour moderates walking into a trap over the latest deselection threats?

The news that Labour Brexiteers Kate Hoey and Frank Field are both facing deselection threats for rebelling on a crunch Brexit vote has been met with notable silence from many Labour moderates. After the pair voted with the Tories on a crucial customs amendment which the government won by just five votes, they have both lost ‘confidence’ votes in their local parties. The no-confidence vote does not mean any imminent action but constituency party members could now seek a trigger ballot with the potential to deselect the sitting MP. Hoey and Field’s sin isn’t just that they broke with official Labour Brexit policy – there are plenty of Corbynistas who can

Rupert Darwall

How Brexiteers can still save Brexit | 30 July 2018

Brexit hangs by a thread. The Chequers Plan has already failed. Public hostility and its one-sided nature mean that it cannot provide a durable basis for the UK’s future relationship with the EU.  Only eighteen months ago, the Prime Minister was saying that Britain could not possibly stay in the EU Single Market. It would mean “not leaving the EU at all.” Yet this is precisely what the Chequers Plan does, with its acknowledgment that the Single Market is built on a balance of rights and obligations and its proposal for a new framework that “holds rights and obligations in a fair and different balance.” Fair and different is not

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Jeremy Hunt’s Chinese wife gaffe

Jeremy Hunt might have some explaining to do when he gets home from his trip to China. The Foreign Secretary has been in Beijing drumming up trade for Britain, but during discussions with his Chinese counterparts he accidentally referred to his Chinese wife as Japanese: ‘Erm, my wife is Japanese. My wife is Chinese, sorry. That is a terrible mistake to make’ Oh dear…

Steerpike Steerpike

Project Fear latest: Brexit means… super-gonorrhoea

Oh dear. With Tory MPs and Opposition MPs alike united in their dislike of Theresa May’s Chequers proposals, talk of a no deal Brexit is rife. Only this time around no-one seems able to agree on where Project Fear stops and Kamikaze begins. In today’s Telegraph, a Brexiteer MP accuses May of being the most Kamikaze of all thanks to her new penchant for releasing no deal preparation notices. Far from being the stuff the UK should show to Brussels to prove they are ready, they say, talk of plans to stockpile food and bring in the army to deliver it are aimed at scaring Brits into accepting her compromise.

Sunday

Charles Moore

Don’t let Jeremy Corbyn gloss over his eurosceptic past

Here is quite a good trick question. Which current Member of Parliament has voted most often against pro-EU measures? I have not done the count, but I suppose it would be natural to guess Bill Cash, who entered Parliament in 1984. In fact, it is much more likely to be Jeremy Corbyn who came into the House in 1983 and has defied his party more often on the subject than has Sir William. It is fascinating how Mr Corbyn’s tenacious Bennite Euroscepticism has been glossed over by the media. The most likely candidate, however, must be Dennis Skinner, who entered Parliament in 1970 and must be the last person still sitting