Uk politics

Monday

James Forsyth

In praise of the ‘brainy’ Brexit Brits

Democratic debate functions best when it is accepted that there are people of good will and good arguments on both sides. In the Brexit debate, this sense has too often been missing. There’s plenty of blame for this to go round. To put it crudely, too many on the Leave side have been too quick to question the motives of those arguing the Remain case. While too many of those who backed the status quo have refused to accept that there are any credible arguments for leaving the EU.   So the launch by two Cambridge academics, Robert Tombs and Graham Gudgin, of Briefings for Brexit is a welcome development.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Theresa May risks conceding the argument to Labour on tuition fees

After last month’s purge of the Department for Education and following months of speculation among Tory MPs, No 10 have finally showed their hand on university education. The Prime Minister is to launch a year-long review of university and adult technical education. The aim is to de-toxify the party among young voters who are worried about the current levels of student debt – be it by appealing to their parents and grandparents. On the menu of ideas being mooted are the return of university maintenance grants ( or ‘maintenance support’), lower tuition fees for courses that are cheaper to run such as arts degrees and cuts to student loan interest rates. There’s

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: The questions Corbyn must answer

The row over Jeremy Corbyn’s alleged contact with a Czech spy rumbles on. In its editorial, the Sun condemns the Labour leader, who it says has questions to answer over his ‘dealings with foreign spies and diplomats’. Labour is no stranger to ‘dodging basic questions’, the paper argues. But while it can get away with refusing to answer on issues such as the ‘economy or defence…this is a different kettle of fish’. Some have dismissed the allegations as unimportant given that they happened so long ago; others have said the stories were are simply ‘fake news’ – yet this ignores the documents suggesting there was contact between Corbyn and a

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

Damian Hinds reveals how constrained May is on domestic policy

Theresa May hasn’t had many opportunities to talk about domestic policy since the snap election. It’s probably fair to say, too, that the Prime Minister hasn’t exactly seized what opportunities there have been, either. This week, though, the Tories are talking about education, offering their response to Labour’s very attractive tuition fee pledge, and letting new Education Secretary Damian Hinds out to talk about his vision for the brief. Hinds has made clear today that he’s the sort of Education Secretary that Theresa May often wished she had over the past year. Justine Greening lost her job because of her visible lack of enthusiasm for May’s grammar schools policy, while

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Guy Verhofstadt – A trade deal will not be agreed before Brexit

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief representative in the Brexit negotiations, sat down with Andrew Marr to discuss at length the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Verhofstadt told Marr that a trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union will not be finalised before the 29th of March 2019. Instead, Verhofstadt hinted that this would take place during the two year transition arrangement, putting him at odds with the UK government’s policy that everything would be agreed ‘at the same time’: AM: Is it at all possible that by the time we formally leave in March next year, there will be a free trade agreement? GV: I

Steerpike Steerpike

Toff apologises to the Rees-Moggs

Since Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo was crowned queen of the I’m a Celeb… Get Me Out of Here jungle, the (majority of) Conservatives have been on a mission to hug their celebrity supporter close. In that vein, Toff was the centre of attention at this month’s Black and White ball, where she attended as Stanley Johnson’s guest. Happily her rising profile has not affected her manners. Writing in her Style column, Toff reveals that the first thing she did on arrival at the bash at the Natural History Museum was apologise to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wife Helena for calling her husband a ‘sex god’ in an interview: ‘Stanley and I arrive and

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The latest Labour bullying row highlights the moderates’ dilemma

Although it’s the Conservatives nowadays who are best known for in-fighting, this weekend we were offered a reminder of the divisions in Labour. At a meeting of the National Policy Forum (NPF), a row broke out between the Momentum contingent and the moderates. The subject of the row was – once again – Ann Black, the veteran activist who was ousted as chair of the Disputes Panel last month (and replaced with Corbyn favourite Christine Shawcroft) after the Corbynistas won a majority on the National Executive Committee. Black was expected to defeat union representative Andi Fox to be elected as chair of the policy forum, which sets Labour policy for future

Charles Moore Charles Moore

What Prince Charles should say to the Commonwealth

The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is headquartered in London, in the splendour of Marlborough House. The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Lady Scotland, is British (and also Dominican). Britain is about to take the chair of the Commonwealth for the customary two years, and so the next Heads of Government Conference — probably the last to be attended by the Queen — will take place in London in April. At the same time, Britain is leaving the European Union. So it would seem that circumstances combine to favour a push by the British government to make the Commonwealth work much more actively in our favour. Being a

Saturday

James Forsyth

There’s a Brexit deal to be done on security

Theresa May was pushing at an open door in her Munich speech when she warned against ‘rigid institutional restrictions’ harming security cooperation after Brexit, I say in The Sun today. Member states are reluctant to follow the Commission’s tough line on this as they know how valuable the UK’s contribution in this field is. I understand that when the Commission told the 27 that the UK would have to be treated like other third countries on security after Brexit, several member states pushed back. They argued that it must be possible to find sensible compromises. Security is where it is most clearly in the interests of EU member states to

Friday

Katy Balls

Theresa May and Angela Merkel’s curious conference

There was a cold front in Berlin today as Theresa May took to the stage for a joint press conference with Angela Merkel. The Prime Minister is in Germany to discuss post-Brexit security – with a speech scheduled tomorrow in Munich – but all anyone wanted to talk about today was Merkel’s Davos joke. The German chancellor is said to have regaled hacks at the meeting of the global elite with an anecdote about May having no idea what she wants from Brexit. Asked in the Q&A today whether she understood Merkel’s frustration that she is still unable to say what Britain wants, May insisted the government had a clear

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Labour deny that Jeremy Corbyn was a paid informant during the cold war

The case of Jeremy Corbyn and the Czechoslovakian diplomat has taken another turn today. The officer who met Corbyn has alleged that Corbyn took money from them and was a paid informant. The Labour leader’s office has vigorously denied the charge, citing the director of the Czech security force archive who has said that their records don’t back up this version of events. There’s clearly a contradiction between the accounts of Corbyn and the Czechoslovakian diplomat—and the Labour leader is entitled to the presumption of innocence on this point. Corbyn, though, would undoubtedly be the most anti-Western figure ever to become Britain’s Prime Minister. His record show that he has

Steerpike Steerpike

Gavin Williamson’s diplomatic incident

Since Gavin Williamson was appointed as Defence Secretary, the Conservative MP has been in a rush to prove his credentials. From battling the Treasury over proposed military cuts to posing with rescue dogs, Williamson certainly seems a man in a hurry. However, with speed comes mistakes. Today’s Financial Times reports of a diplomatic gaffe committed by Williamson this week. Ahead of Theresa May’s speech this weekend in Germany on a new security relationship with the EU, the Prime Minister has been doing her best to charm European leaders – recently hosting Emmanuel Macron. However, this week Williamson dismissed the importance of one of France in defence matters. Asked about the French President’s

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP’s Glastonbury blunder

George Freeman doesn’t have the best record with regards to the Glastonbury music festival. The Conservative MP found himself the subject of light mockery this summer over his plans for a ‘Tory Glastonbury’. Freeman organised the Big Tent Ideas Festival to try and reinvigorate his tired party. Now, he has tried to take aim at Glastonbury for failing where his festival will succeed. On hearing that plastic bottles will be banned at next year’s Glastonbury festival, Freeman asked: ‘why not THIS year?’ He went on to say that – by comparison – there won’t be any plastic bottles at this year’s Big Tent (so there): Only there’s a problem. The

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Why Corbyn cannot be allowed the key to No10

Jeremy Cobyn has been condemned by a former head of MI6 for reportedly meeting a Communist spy in the House of Commons. Richard Dearlove says that the Labour leader – who denies the accusations as a ‘ridiculous smear’ – was either ‘incredibly naive or complicit’. The Sun condemns Corbyn in its editorial this morning, saying that it is clear the Labour leader undoubtedly has ‘questions to answer’ over the alleged contact. His reported meeting is further evidence of Corbyn’s ‘shocking judgement’, according to the Sun, which says there is no doubt he was ‘wrong’ to meet with a Czech diplomat at the height of the Cold War, whatever was being discussed.

Thursday

Steerpike

Sarah Champion does a Leadsom

Here we go again. During the last Conservative leadership campaign, Andrea Leadsom came under fire for suggesting that having children made her a better choice to be prime minister than Theresa May. In an interview with the Times, the mother of three said having children meant she had ‘a very real stake’ in Britain’s future. The furore over Leadsom’s comments was a contributing factor in her decision to pull out of the contest. Now it seems that Sarah Champion has taken a lesson from the Leadsom rule book. In an interview with the House magazine, the Labour MP suggests that tackling child sexual abuse has taken a back seat since Theresa

Steerpike Steerpike

Ukip’s woes go from bad to worse

Poor old Ukip. The party is already in dire straits, with its collapsing vote share, lack of funds and a laughing stock for a leader. You might think that things couldn’t get any worse for Ukip. But you’d be wrong: the party’s troubles look to have just increased dramatically. Ukip has just been ordered to shell out for part of a £670,000 legal bill brought about as a result of a libel action made by three Labour MPs against Ukip MEP Jane Collins. The court order says: Ukip is already said to have little left in the bank, with reports that the party could struggle to afford to pay for

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How should the Tories attack Corbyn on foreign policy?

How should the Tories attack Jeremy Corbyn on foreign policy? Today’s Sun splashes on a story about the Labour leader and a Czechoslovakian communist spy. The paper claims that Corbyn briefed a communist spy – masquerading as a Czechoslovakian diplomat – during the cold war. Gavin Williamson has been quick to denounce Corbyn’s behaviour as a ‘betrayal of this country’. As for Corbyn’s response, his spokesman says he did meet with a diplomat but insists he ‘neither had nor offered any privileged information’. The story has divided opinion online with Corbyn’s critics quick to cite it as further proof that he hates the West and Corbyn’s fans quick to slam it as another

Steerpike Steerpike

Government’s Carillion fail

Oh dear. With the government already in the firing line over the decision to hand Carillion contracts despite profit warnings, ministers are attempting a damage limitation exercise as they deal with the fall-out of the company’s collapse. So, Mr S suspects whoever wrote today’s ‘update’ for Carillion workers will live to regret it. A ‘news story’ appeared on the government website this afternoon with an update for Carillion workers. The problem was that the update simply comprised of: ‘Blaah’ Somewhat unsurprisingly, the article has since been removed.

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

The SNP should reinvent itself

The SNP, you’ll be distressed to learn, are having a time of it. The party is embroiled in a deputy leadership contest that could have been designed by their worst enemies. Angus Robertson, who lost his Moray seat last June, has resigned, depriving the party of one of its most formidable and respectable advocates. His departure couldn’t have come at a worse moment. The SNP has tried Scots’ forbearance for constitutional agitation and now has a reputation for banging on about independence that more justly belongs to Ruth Davidson’s Tories. After more than a decade in power, the SNP government shows signs of wear and tear and perhaps some structural

Siobhan Fenton

Could direct rule solve Northern Ireland’s political crisis?

Power-sharing talks at Stormont have dramatically collapsed again. This is a shock to many in Northern Ireland, where an apparent thawing in the relationship between the DUP and Sinn Fein led to speculation that the announcement of a deal was imminent. Instead, the stasis continues. Northern Ireland has now been without a functioning government for just over 13 months, since Sinn Fein first plunged Northern Irish politics into limbo by pulling out of their pact with the DUP in January 2017. The reason for their decision to back out of the power sharing agreement was Arlene Foster’s apparent complicity – which she has denied – in the botched ‘cash for ash’