Uk politics

Monday

Steerpike

Greg Hands makes life difficult for the Foreign Secretary

With a key vote on Heathrow’s third runway due later today, the bulldozers ominously loom whilst the Foreign Secretary is missing in action. The once anti-Heathrow Boris Johnson will helpfully miss today’s vote though the exact whereabouts of Johnson remain unknown – with the Prime Minister saying last Thursday that ‘[he] will be what I would describe as the living embodiment of global Britain’. Alas not all of Johnson’s colleagues seem so impressed. Robert Halfon hypothesised on Daily Politics that he might be in India or China ‘to buy a cheaper bulldozer’ than the one he previously threatened to lie down in front of should Heathrow expansion occur. Meanwhile, Greg Hands

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Heathrow vote: Conservatives attempt to look decisive

Today Parliament is expected to finally give plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport the green light. The vote will not be without its dramas. The Conservatives (along with their friends the DUP) are on a three-line whip to vote for it. This decision has seen Greg Hands resign as a trade minister and Boris Johnson mysteriously absent for the vote – thanks to Foreign Office business. Given that the Foreign Secretary once said that he would ‘lie down in front of those bulldozers’ were the expansion to happen it may be that his protest will come later. As for Labour, Jeremy Corbyn’s party have been granted a free vote

Sunday

Steerpike

Tory MPs turn on Gavin Williamson

Despite the good weather and England’s good World Cup result, it hasn’t been a relaxing weekend for all. Step forward Gavin Williamson. The ambitious defence secretary has found himself in the line of fire, with the Mail on Sunday splashing on reports that he has threatened to topple the prime minister unless defence spending is increased by £20bn. Given that Theresa May doesn’t yet have a firm plan in place to fund her £20bn NHS pledge, it’s hard to see her signing up to this anytime soon. Allies of Williamson – known as Private Pike in the Treasury – have moved to deny the reports. However, regardless, the incident has not

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Jeremy Hunt – Airbus’s Brexit threat was ‘completely inappropriate’

The Health Secretary joined Andrew Marr this morning for a discussion on the NHS, but it was Hunt’s remarks about business that have caught the headlines. The pan-European aviation company Airbus and car manufacturing giant BMW have said that a no deal Brexit could potentially see them leave the UK, and the organisations have said that they want ‘clarity’ by the end of the summer. Hunt urged people to ignore these ‘siren voices’ and put their faith in the Prime Minister: Health Secretary @Jeremy_Hunt says it is completely inappropriate for businesses like @Airbus to make warnings about moving jobs because of Brexit #marr pic.twitter.com/9lorFsLfYu — The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow)

Steerpike Steerpike

Anti-Brexit protesters turn on Labour leader: ‘Where’s Jeremy Corbyn?’

This time last year, Jeremy Corbyn was standing on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury to adoring chants of ‘Oh-Jeremy-Corbyn’. Last weekend, Corbyn-mania attempting a resurgence at JezFest – Labour’s very own music festival – but failed to deliver the Labour leader another Glastonbury moment – with only faint chants to be heard. Happily, Corbyn can take heart that his name was chanted en masse this weekend. Only it wasn’t for the reason that his supporters had in mind. At the anti-Brexit People’s Vote march in London, protesters angrily chanted ‘where’s Jeremy Corbyn?’ https://twitter.com/Jack_Slater/status/1010519215034560513 It turns out that Corbyn was busy visiting a refugee camp. However, the point remains that had Corbyn

Andrew Marr

Why has Brexit made some people uncontrollably angry?

After any major interview, I turn with great interest to discover from Twitter whether I am currently a sinister Marxist undermining the Tories; a foam-flecked believer in the hardest of hard Brexits; or a mildly outdated Blairite propagandist. Maybe, I’m all three. Or, just possibly, I ask the questions, rather than taking responsibility for the answers. Our job at the BBC is not to denounce, lampoon, deride or sneer at elected politicians but to ask them, politely, direct and relevant questions — pause — and let the viewers decide. The number of viewers watching the show suggests the majority understand this. But there’s no doubt that the vote to leave

Friday

Steerpike

Love Island education: A beginner’s guide to Brexit

When Love Island contestant Hayley Hughes used a conversation about Brexit to ask whether there would still be trees after Britain leaves the EU, there was widespread ridicule. With the reality star now out of the ITV2 villa, Hayley appeared on Daily Politics to be given a Brexit education via the BBC’s Adam Fleming. ‘I’m finding it really interesting,’ she mused. Given the disagreement over the past few weeks about what a meaningful vote really means and what a backstop is, Mr S suspects that the number of people confused by the whole thing goes well beyond the Love Island cast.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Gavin Williamson meets the US ambassador

The new US ambassador has set the cat among the pigeons this morning with the Telegraph splashing on his call to Britons to stop being ‘defeatist’ about Brexit and instead be inspired by Trump. The comments from Woody Johnson were made as part of a new Channel 4 documentary – Inside the American Embassy – out on Monday. While the programme is sure to cause a stir when aired in full, Mr S understands that it could actually be a Cabinet minister who finds the documentary to make for the most uncomfortable viewing. The three part fly-on-the-wall documentary – for which Channel 4 was given unprecedented access inside the U.S. embassy for

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Hands off, Hollingberry in: does anyone notice ministerial resignations any more?

Are ministerial resignations even interesting any more? There are more of them in Theresa May’s government than there are solid policy announcements or indeed any sort of decision at all. Today it was the turn of Greg Hands, who announced that he was stepping down as a junior trade minister in order to vote against Heathrow expansion. The vote on building one more runway at the airport finally comes on Monday, and Tory MPs will be whipped to support it. Hands, always a loyalist, was very polite when he announced he was off, describing it as an ‘honour’ to serve Theresa May and previously David Cameron, but he needed to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Could Article 50 end up being extended and Brexit delayed?

The 30th March 2019 is the date in every Leave-backing MP’s mind. It is the first day Britain will be legally outside of the EU. But as I say in the magazine this week, Cabinet Brexiteers are concerned that this date may slip. One tells me that the UK is ‘likely to face at some point soon a huge amount of pressure to extend Article 50’. At first, this seems surprising: why would the EU want to do that? After all, the ticking clock favours them in this negotiation. But this minister explains that the EU’s aim would be to extend Article 50 further without guaranteeing the UK the transition

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Treasury X Factor: Tory MPs belatedly summoned to find the money for NHS pledge

How do you find the money to pay for a £20bn NHS funding pledge? Usually such discussions – and eventual calculations – would be made before the money was announced. However, Theresa May decided to ditch the rulebook this week when she unveiled her government’s funding package to boost health spending by an average of 3.4 per cent over the next five years. Far from a fully costed pledge, May referred to a rarely-sighted Brexit dividend, potential borrowing and future tax rises. The uncertainty has led to criticism from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour – not usually known for fiscal restraint. But happily it seems the Treasury now has a plan – or

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Brexit has become England’s white whale

Brexit must happen. Of course it must, for the people have decreed it should and, in this instance, their command cannot, as it can be in other circumstances, be countermanded. That leaves ample room for argument over the precise shape of Brexit – for it turns out there are many kinds of Brexit – but the essence of the matter is clear: Brexit must mean Brexit. It is possible to be sanguine about this and to recognise that even as the net impact of Brexit is likely to be negative in an economic sense, some sectors of the economy may benefit from it. In many areas, there is undoubtedly an

Wednesday

Steerpike

Policy Exchange summer party: Theresa May takes a swipe at Michael Gove

It’s summer party season in Westminster. Tonight it was the turn of Policy Exchange with the think tank securing a speech from Theresa May. In a buoyant mood after narrowly dodging a Tory rebellion on the EU withdrawal bill, the Prime Minister spoke about the need to respect the EU referendum result. However, May’s speech was notable for two other reasons. Firstly in an apparent case of déjà vu the set began to dissolve around her – thanks to a gust of wind. Secondly, the Prime Minister used the opportunity to have a go at Michael Gove. With the Defra secretary earning a reputation for speaking at multiple think tank

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Rebels climb down on ‘crunch’ Brexit vote – again

One of the laws of Brexit is that every Commons division and Cabinet meeting billed as being a ‘crunch vote’ or ‘crunch talks’ ends up postponing the crunching again, and again and again. This afternoon, Dominic Grieve announced that he would ‘accept the government’s difficulty’ on the matter of a meaningful vote and ‘support it’. He was speaking in the Commons shortly before a division was supposed to be called on this matter, and not long after the government had offered a compromise. That compromise involved David Davis issuing a Written Ministerial Statement which clarifies that the Speaker can decide whether or not a motion issued by the government using

Steerpike Steerpike

Phillip Lee’s bad press

The Remain rebels have this afternoon backed down and found a compromise to the government’s meaningful vote amendment that they can live with. So, was it all worth it? That’s a question Phillip Lee may well be asking himself – following his decision to resign his junior ministerial post last week so he could speak freely on his issues with the government’s Brexit strategy. Alas, it seems not everyone in Lee’s Leave-voting Bracknell constituency about his escapades. Today’s issue of the Bracknell News sees the MP for Bracknell on the front page along with the headline ‘MP faces fresh calls to resign’: ‘Furious residents are calling for the resignation of Dr

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour councillor who said ‘no proof’ Isis exists to help protect children from radicalisation

Remember Safia Akhtar? Back in May, Mr Steerpike reported how the Birmingham Labour candidate had ‘waltz[ed] to victory’ in the local elections and been elected as a Labour councillor. Given that the Labour representative once said there was ‘no proof’ that Isis existed, not everyone was thrilled by her appointment. After Khalid Masood murdered five people including PC Keith Palmer in the March 2017 Westminster terrorist attack, Akhtar posted to her Facebook: ‘Can people relax and stop fighting on Facebook, sadly people died in Westminster today but people die everyday in Syria Palestine Africa Rohingya Kashmir.. Need I carry on?!! Grow up and stop pointing fingers!’ A few days later, she added:

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Jeremy Corbyn lets Theresa May off the hook at PMQs

PMQs today was a missed opportunity for Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn chose to go on the NHS, rather than Donald Trump’s border policy. But this needn’t have been a mistake. Corbyn, after a rather long preamble, started off by asking what taxes would rise to pay for this increased spending. Theresa May replied that Philip Hammond would set all this out in due course. At this point, Corbyn should have asked May to rule out specific tax increases, for example an increase in National Insurance, or to embrace certain measures, such as removing the earnings cap on National Insurance contributions. This would have put May on the spot more. Instead, he

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Minister taken to task over ‘Brexit dividend’

Theresa May has said a Brexit dividend will help fund the NHS cash boost, but does it actually exist? It was left to health minister Jackie Doyle-Price to convince viewers on the Daily Politics that it does. But Mr S wasn’t entirely convinced by her explanation: Andrew Neil: It surely stands to reason that there is no Brexit dividend to finance these rises. Jackie Doyle-Price: Well, the secretary of state made clear in his statement that this would come in a reduction of subscriptions (to the EU) but also, we will have to look at taxes as well. AN: But there is no reduction of subscriptions in 19/20 or 20/21,

Steerpike Steerpike

David Davis makes an entrance

To the Westbourne summer party where James Bethell and Iain Anderson were celebrating the new merger between their respective companies Westbourne and Cicero. Only the speech didn’t go quite to plan. To much laughter, Bethell told partygoers that the Cabinet big beasts hadn’t been able to make the bash – but had sent their apologies. Boris Johnson had wanted to have his cake and eat it, Theresa May to try and bake a cake and David Davis was too busy delivering said cake… Only as the public affairs honcho was reading out the Brexit Secretary’s ‘excuse’, Davis walked in to the party and grabbed the mic: ‘Let me read it

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Macron is restoring France’s dignity

Has there ever been a time when the leaders of France and Great Britain are so diametrically opposed in character and style? One is weak and indecisive, a Prime Minister who avoids confrontation, the other is forthright and forceful, a president who relishes a fight. Emmanuel Macron seems to take a perverse delight in upsetting his compatriots; one can detect in his behaviour a healthy contempt for a section of French society. These are the slackers to whom he referred in a speech last year, the coasters, the self-entitled, the people he believes have grown up believing the state will look after them, whatever. Last week he railed against a social