Uk politics

Tuesday

Steerpike

Liz Truss speaks freely: we need to be Tories with attitude

It’s been a rough few months for the Conservatives so last night’s launch of Freer made a welcome change. Cabinet ministers and MPs gathered to celebrate the new initiative intended to promote a freer society and a freer economy. Or, Liz Truss’s leadership ambitions, depending which way you look at it. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury – and rising social media star – gave a lively speech at the Conrad hotel to kickstart the project. Truss entertained the crowd with anecdotes from her time as a young Conservative, plans to win over younger voters and criticism of a ‘po-faced’ opposition: Truss’s early years: ‘They don’t want to be told what

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: The verdict on the Brexit transition deal

It wouldn’t be Brexit if everyone was happy, so it is no surprise that not everyone is pleased with the latest developments in negotiations. Britain’s Brexit transition deal has been called a betrayal, while Jacob Rees-Mogg said the government had given away too much in a ‘very unsatisfactory’ agreement. But the Sun says it won’t join in those criticising the deal. After all, the paper points out, ‘no one gets everything they want from a negotiation’. Of course, it is right to ‘sympathise’ with Scottish fisherman who will be disappointed that the EU will, for now, continue to set fishing quotas. Yet it is clear that ‘the agreement could not

Monday

Isabel Hardman

Why Jeremy Corbyn’s hat matters

What did you do this weekend? It seems a significant number of Jeremy Corbyn supporters spent it talking about a hat. The claim that Newsnight photoshopped a picture of Jeremy Corbyn so that he looked ‘more Russian’ has gone viral, earning tens of thousands of shares across Facebook and Twitter. The BBC actually photoshopped Jeremy Corbyn's hat to make it look more Russian for this smear on Newsnight. Let that sink in. The BBC is being used as an anti- #Labour propaganda machine. pic.twitter.com/IFrmhy2wCk — John Clarke (@JohnClarke1960) March 16, 2018 The BBC has had to deny photoshopping Corbyn’s hat to make it look bigger, which is a strange denial

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Brexiteers smell something fishy in the transition agreement

The Brexit transition draft agreement is in – and it’s not all smooth sailing for the UK government. In a press conference, Brexit negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis heralded the proposed terms for the implementation period as a ‘decisive step’ towards achieving an orderly Brexit. However, it’s clear that the government will have to rein in some disorderly MPs before it’s signed off by the EU27 on Friday. As proposed, the transition period will end New Year’s Eve 2020, three months earlier than expected. In terms of the pros for the UK side, the government will be able to negotiate and sign trade deals during the transition period and there is no longer a

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The electoral spending figures highlight the Tories’ social media problem

The Electoral Commission has released details of the different parties’ spending on the snap election and it doesn’t make pretty reading for the Conservatives. Not only did they manage to lose their majority in that disastrous election, they also managed to spend the most money of any party in the process. The Tories spent a record £18.5million on their campaign, while Labour spent just over £11million and the Lib Dems around £6.8million. It’s already well documented that the Conservatives misallocated their resources and spent money in seats they wanted to win (and didn’t) when they should have been focussing on a defensive campaign in seats like Kensington, which they lost by

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: May’s ‘spot on’ response to Putin

Vladimir Putin’s re-election was never in doubt. And following last night’s result in which the Russian president won 76 per cent of the vote, Russia is now facing the prospect of six more years of Putin in charge – making Putin the longest serving Russian leader since Stalin. The Russian president’s ‘gangster state is an affront to democracy’, says the Sun, which urges Theresa May to continue her ‘hardline stance’ against the country. The PM’s reaction to the Salisbury poisoning has been ‘spot on’ so far, says the paper, which says it is high time that we ‘take the threat’ of Putin’s regime ‘very seriously’. So what should the government

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Boris accuses Russia of stockpiling Novichok

Vladimir Chizhov – Porton Down was a possible origin of the Salisbury attack Once again, the shocking attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal is dominating the political landscape. In a statement on Wednesday, the Prime Minister declared in the House of Commons that there was ‘no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian State was culpable for the attempted murder of Mr Skripal and his daughter’, and announced that 23 Russian diplomats were to be expelled from the United Kingdom. She also identified the nerve agent used in the attack as a ‘Novichok’. The Russian Ambassador to the EU joined Andrew Marr this morning to put forward his country’s

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will Russia disrupt the local elections?

Will Russia disrupt the local elections? That’s the question being asked in Westminster. But rather than worries over Russian meddling and subterfuge, the issue at hand is whether Jeremy Corbyn’s questionable response to the attempted murder of a former Russian double agent on British soil will help boost the Conservative vote come May. Those local elections are expected to be a blood bath for the Tories, with Labour predicted to win big – particularly in the capital. The Conservatives are so worried about the vote that the managing expectations operations includes suggesting that it would be a disappointing night for Labour if the party didn’t win every London council. But in

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Jeremy Corbyn’s Phrygian cap

Gimson’s Prime Ministers, out this week, is a crisp and stylish account of every one of them. I happened to be reading Andrew Gimson’s admiring essay on George Canning (PM for 119 days in 1827) just after Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary remarks about the Salisbury poisoning. The way Mr Corbyn talked, one got the impression that it was Britain which had caused Mr and Miss Skripal to be poisoned. Canning had a gift for light verse. He satirised the sort of Englishman who adored the French Revolution: ‘A steady patriot of the world alone,/ The friend of every country but his own.’ That Phrygian cap fits Mr Corbyn perfectly. It is

Saturday

James Forsyth

Two things that must change after Salisbury

As I say in The Sun this morning, one of the things about the Salisbury attack that has disconcerted the UK government is how–relatively obvious–the Russians have made it, that it was them. They clearly wanted to send a message. In Whitehall, the thinking is that there were three things that Moscow was trying to achieve with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal. First, to show Russia’s enemies that they are never safe. If they can hit a former spy for Britain who was keeping a low profile in a small English City then they can get to anyone. Second, they think that the Russians were trying to test Britain. This

Friday

Steerpike

Corbyn’s ‘political enemies’ within the Labour party: a who’s who

Jeremy Corbyn’s reaction this week to the poisoning of a former Russian double agent on British soil has re-opened old wounds within the Labour party. The Labour leader’s apparent refusal to condemn Moscow involvement was made worse when his spokesman Seumas Milne appeared to cast doubt on the analysis by British intelligence agencies – suggesting that ‘there’s a history in relation to WMD and intelligence which is problematic to put it mildly’. Since then, key Corbyn ally Chris Williamson has branded Labour MPs who back Theresa May’s stance on Russia – rather than Corbyn’s – as ‘political enemies’. So who’s saying what and which MPs are considering a break with Corbyn? Some

Steerpike Steerpike

Toff takeover at Conservative Spring Forum

Today the Conservatives gather for the party’s Spring Forum. The annual two-day event is intended to rally the party as they prepare for the year ahead. However, with troublesome local elections around the corner, it won’t be all cheer. Happily, the Conservatives’ No 1 celebrity supporter has found the time to join them… at least in spirit. Jungle queen Georgia – ‘Toff’ – Toffolo has spoken to the crowd via video link: With Conservative chiefs previously blocking proposals to bring Toff into the fold, it seems that the pro-Toff wing of the party has won.

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

The charge sheet against Tory Britain

There’s a book I’d like to send to Theresa May: ‘Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain’. The Prime Minister might not be minded to devour a left-wing journalist’s charge sheet against Tory Britain but she ought to. James Bloodworth, the author, took a series of zero-hours roles, from Amazon grunt to Uber driver, to see what the ‘gig economy’ is really like. His account makes for grim but necessary reading and takes us behind the breezy, banterful facade of hipster capitalism, where we find exploitation, cynicism, and a cold, mechanised view of those who do the least rewarding jobs.  Bloodworth’s book gives an insight into deindustrialised Britain, depicting how once-proud

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The Russian spy row could help Corbyn

It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Jeremy Corbyn, in a comment piece in the Guardian, continues to insist that Putin might not have been behind the Salisbury attack – when even his shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, says there is ‘prima facie evidence’ of the involvement of the Russian government. Labour backbenchers sign a motion pointedly calling for ‘unequivocal’ recognition of Russian government involvement – exactly what Corbyn has refused to give. And that is just the internal opposition from within the Labour party. Political commentators are scathing of his position, myself included. His attempt to use Wednesday’s statement by the Prime Minister as an opportunity to attack government cuts in

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Jeremy Corbyn has been unmasked

Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Salisbury poisoning has been widely criticised, with many of his own MPs siding with the PM rather than their leader. In spite of the backlash, Corbyn has doubled down on his refusal to point the finger at the Russian government, suggesting that the Russian mafia could be to blame. The Daily Telegraph says that Corbyn has finally been unmasked, arguing that his refusal ‘to condemn Russia straightforwardly’ now risks ‘undermining efforts to forge a collective international response to the Salisbury poison attack’. So why is Corbyn so reluctant to point the finger at Putin? The ‘public can see right through’ the Labour leader, according to

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn backs his spokesman on Russia

Just in case you had grown confused, the big international story at the moment is actually about Theresa May’s response to Russia’s involvement in the Salisbury attack, not the internal war in the Labour Party. It’s not actually all about Labour, though Jeremy Corbyn and his allies are doing their damnedest to make sure that they get a disproportionate share of the attention. This evening, Corbyn has backed his spokesman’s line on Russia, writing a piece in the Guardian which repeats the post-PMQs claim that British intelligence on chemical weapons has been ‘problematic’. The Labour leader writes: ‘There can and should be the basis for a common political response to

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Gavin Williamson shows his inexperience

As Jeremy Corbyn comes under pressure from his own party over his stance on Russia, Theresa May is looking increasingly statesman-like by comparison. The Prime Minister’s handling of the attempted murder of a former Russian double agent on British soil has won her praise – with a SkyData poll today finding that 69pc surveyed would prefer May to deal with Russia than the Labour leader. So, more’s the pity for the Conservatives that today Gavin Williamson put in some rather un-statesman like behaviour. The Defence Secretary used an appearance in Bristol – where he pledged £50 million for a new chemical weapon defence centre – to issue Moscow with a warning.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May’s fist bumps a Salisbury resident

Although Theresa May has earned a reputation for being robotic and predictable, today she did something that took almost everyone by surprise. On a visit to Salisbury in the wake of the poisoning of a Russian double agent, May met with locals. When one put out their fist to greet her, May went in for a fist bump: Perhaps there’s hope for the Maybot yet…

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Macron backs May over Russia

President Emmanuel Macron has offered his full support to Theresa May and said that France may take its own action against Russia after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury. On a visit to Touraine on Thursday morning, the president was asked about the incident and he replied: “Everything leads us to believe that responsibility is in fact attributable to Russia. I will announce in the coming days the measures that we intend to take.” Macron is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Friday and it’s expected that the pair will make a joint announcement in which they reiterate their support for Britain. The president’s intervention came

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Alex Salmond’s defence of Russia Today is inexcusable

On his RT television show this morning, Alex Salmond shrugged-off criticism that, by working for the Russians, he has reduced himself from erstwhile statesman to useful idiot. Look, he said, RT is no different from the BBC, ITV or Sky. It is regulated by Ofcom and so, “by definition”, cannot be a “propaganda station”.  “I hold no brief from the Kremlin, nor am I required to have [one]” Salmond said. “No-one has tried to influence the contents of this show in any way, shape or form whatsoever.” But then they don’t need to, do they? Not when, as evidence of his editorial freedom, Salmond is happy to offer a platform,