Uk politics

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows roundup: Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Theresa Villiers

David Lidington – Conservative family ‘must come together’ The Cabinet Office Minister and Theresa May’s de facto deputy David Lidington has urged his colleagues to unite behind her after a week that has highlighted her precarious position. Fears have arisen among Conservative MPs that the party is facing annihilation in London and Birmingham in the local elections this spring, and the Chair of the 1922 Committee has signalled that he is dangerously close to the threshold of signatures for an automatic vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Lidington put up a spirited defence of the government’s record and urged his colleagues to ‘come together’:

Steerpike Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s short-term memory on Iran

It’s happened. Jeremy Corbyn has finally broken his silence on Iran. To be fair, he was rather forced into doing so when Andrew Marr raised the topic live on air this morning. Marr put to the Labour leader – who says ‘to stay neutral in times of injustice is to side with the oppressor’ – that he had gone rather quiet on Iran after over 20 people died and more gone missing following clashes between protesters and security forces.   .@AndrewMarr9: "You've been very reluctant to condemn the government of Iran" @jeremycorbyn: "You're spending too much time reading the Daily Mail… "https://t.co/Yhj91ijeum #marr pic.twitter.com/g3bCzxZYV6 — BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 28,

Saturday

James Clark

Defence cuts should trouble us all

This week, General Sir Nick Carter, Chief of the General Staff, made it quite clear how he would like to fight the Russians should they invade Eastern Europe or start a war with NATO: We should identify Russian weaknesses and then manoeuvre asymmetrically against them. First and foremost, perhaps we should be in the business of building real institutional capacity in neighbouring states so that they have the strength and confidence to stand up to Russia and the internal resilience to withstand pressures designed to bring them down from within. Carter went on to say that we need to reduce our energy dependency on the East, better protect our critical

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

MPs are making the refit of Parliament all about them. It isn’t.

Theresa May likes to avoid awkward rows at all costs: that much we already know. Today’s papers carry two stories showing this: she is said to be abandoning plans to give a Brexit speech just in case it causes further divisions in her Cabinet, and is also racking up what The Times estimates is a £230 million bill by delaying the refurbishment of Parliament. Both the Cabinet and Parliament are dangerously unstable, with chunks falling from them every day. The latter, though, has been here a long time, is one of the most famous buildings in the world, and attracts vast numbers of tourists. Philip Hammond and Greg Clark don’t

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Theresa May’s lack of a Brexit vision is costing her, and the country

Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond are further apart on Brexit than anyone else in the inner Cabinet. But there is one thing they agree on, I say in The Sun this morning. In the last 10 days, both of them have expressed their frustration to close allies that Theresa May won’t make a decision; that Britain is at a nation-defining moment in its history and that there is no real leadership. Their interventions are an attempt to provide that leadership, to give people an idea of what Brexit will be like. Absurdly, the Brexit inner Cabinet did not meet this week despite the fact that there is not yet a

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Why isn’t the Tory power vacuum more exciting?

As I walked across Horse Guards one day last week, everything seemed eerily quiet. No one was about, and the only object I could see was a sleek limousine parked where one is not allowed to park, facing Downing Street. As I approached, I could read its number-plate, which said ‘1 VEN’. Was this the beginning of the long-awaited Corbyn coup, backed by fraternal aid from Nicolás Maduro? I cannot yet answer my own question for certain, because although Theresa May is still referred to as the ‘Prime Minister’ and even holds ‘cabinet meetings’, no one seriously suggests that she — or they — transact the business of government. Supporters

Friday

Katy Balls

David Davis attempts to ease Tory nerves over Brexit transition

A row is underway in the Conservative party over the Brexit transition period. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the all-powerful European Research Group (the Brexit wing of the Tory party), has said he would rather extend Article 50 than have a transition period in which the UK is a rule-taker from the EU. Despite this, a transition period is what’s on the menu for Britain come March 2019. So, David Davis attempted to use his speech today on the topic to try and calm Tory nerves. The Brexit Secretary tried to provide a voice of calm (and a voice of true Brexit) after Philip Hammond sparked anger on Thursday with

Matthew Lynn

The ‘experts’ must learn their lesson from Project Fear’s failure

Unemployment would soar. Trade would collapse. Factories would close, and house prices would be in freefall. Rewind to the spring and summer of 2016, when Project Fear was at its peak, and we were meant to be shivering in the streets by now, flicking through battered copies of ‘The Road’ for tips on surviving in a post-apocalyptic wasteland as a result of leaving the EU. Instead, we learned today that the UK economy is doing pretty well. It expanded by 0.5 per cent in the latest quarter, well ahead of forecasts. Even the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, one of the dark overlords of Project Fear, now agrees

Steerpike Steerpike

Amber Rudd’s fighting fund

Amber Rudd is frequently touted as a frontrunner in any Tory leadership race, but the Home Secretary has kept schtum on whether or not she actually fancies her chances. So, is Rudd secretly readying herself for a shot at getting the top job when May steps down? Mr S. only asks because Rudd lists a donation towards a ‘fighting fund’ in the latest MPs’ register of interests: Of course, the money is probably going towards ensuring that Rudd actually manages to cling on in her marginal constituency of Hastings and Rye. She narrowly avoided being ousted from the seat at last year’s snap election, beating her Labour rival by just

Steerpike Steerpike

Davos disagreement: Theresa May’s crowd size

It’s no great secret that Davos isn’t Theresa May’s natural habitat. Whether it’s eschewing meetings with businessmen to have a private fondue or giving speeches warning the guests at the event, the Prime Minister isn’t a natural at the flashy meeting of the global elite. So, reports that May spoke to a half-empty crowd yesterday have been quick to do the rounds on social media, with users joking that the one thing May and Trump have in common is an inability to pull in a crowd (as with his inauguration).  Politico report that the crowd’s reaction ‘was extremely muted’ – and that Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, ‘chose to join

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Donald Trump (sort of) says the hardest word

Wow. As far as I know, Donald Trump has only apologised twice since he emerged as a presidential candidate in 2015 — never apologise, never explain seems to be his usual rule. Once he said sorry after the famous ‘locker room’ talk Access Hollywood tape was leaked in 2016. And today, with his pal Piers Morgan, he offered an apology for retweeting Britain First’s videos, saying: ‘Here’s what’s fair. If you’re telling me these (are) horrible people, horrible racist people, I would certainly apologise if you’d like me to do that.’ WORLD EXCLUSIVE: In his first international interview since becoming US president, @realDonaldTrump says sorry for retweeting anti-Muslim videos. @piersmorgan https://t.co/kFCEKnYxyI

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Chris Williamson’s hostile reception on Question Time

Although Chris Williamson recently exited the Labour frontbench – by mutual agreement – the loyal Corbynista has vowed to do what he can for Jeremy Corbyn from the back bench. And this he did on Question Time on Thursday when he joining David Dimbleby for the weekly current affairs show. Speaking on a panel comprised of Michael Forsyth, Fiona Hyslop MSP, Maggie Chapman and Peter Oborne, Williamson did his best to fly the flag for the Labour leader. Only he soon ran into a spot of bother when an audience asked him why if the Labour party was so big and great, Jeremy Corbyn was the best they could come up

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Theresa May’s stop-and-search shake-up is costing lives

Theresa May has a very big failure to her name, but strangely few people seem to want to pick her up on it. The latest crime figures show a sharp increase in recorded offences in England and Wales, especially in knife crime, which rose 21 per cent to 37,443 incidents. This continues a trend which began four years ago, since when the number of recorded knife offences has risen by half. It reverses an equally sharp fall in recorded knife crime between 2010, when Theresa May became Home Secretary, and 2014. What happened to bring about the end of what looks like a very successful period of tackling knife crime?

Thursday

James Kirkup

Theresa May is safe, at least for now

This comes perilously close to making a prediction about politics, so I’ll probably regret it. Never mind. Here goes. There’s some talk at Westminster about a leadership challenge to Theresa May. Harry Cole of the Sun, who knows his stuff, reports that Graham Brady of the 1922 Committee, could be close to the critical total of 48 letters from MPs. Joe Murphy of the Evening Standard, a Lobby reporter with few, if any, peers, says he’s heard of two more letters going in this weekend. Joe also reports a Tory plotter saying that May’s local elections are the ‘maximum danger point’ for Mrs May. And on that basis, I make the following observation:

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Philip Hammond’s soft Brexit remarks are a mistake

This afternoon has provided a preview of just how difficult the next few weeks are going to be for Theresa May. First, we had word of a speech from Jacob Rees-Mogg, the new chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, warning that the government’s whole tone on Brexit must change and that it mustn’t be treated as just a ‘damage limitation exercise’. Rees-Mogg also made clear that, to his group, close alignment with EU rules is unacceptable. Then the FT broke news of Philip Hammond telling a Davos audience that he only wanted ‘very modest’ changes to the UK’s relationship with the EU. So as one Whitehall source put

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Brexit Britain is putty in Trump’s hands

President Donald Trump, famously, has two modes: flattery and hostility. Theresa May had a taste of the latter following Trump’s decision to cancel his trip to the UK. But he has changed mode again for Davos – and is now laying it on thick. At their press conference today, he told the PM: ‘There was a little bit of a false rumour out there, I just wanted to correct it. We love your country. We have the same ideals and there’s nothing that would happen to you that we wouldn’t be there to fight for you …  We’re on the same wavelength in every respect.’ Music to Brexiteer ears. In case there was doubt,

Steerpike Steerpike

Theresa May’s fondue dilemma

We’ve all been there. You go to Davos to hang out with the global elite and drum up business for Brexit Britain in the ritzy resort – but then you decide that actually all you want is a fondue in peace. So, spare a thought for the Prime Minister. In today’s Times, Theresa May’s former advisor Katie Perrior recalls what went on the last time the Prime Minister went to Davos. Rather than meet with one of China’s richest men, May opted to have a fondue: ‘For instance, Jack Ma is a business figure of global importance. But when one of China’s richest men sought a meeting with Mrs May

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Breaking: UK/US relationship upgraded from ‘special’ to ‘very special’

Brexit doom-mongers step aside. After weeks of speculation, the relationship that exists between Britain and the US has just been upgraded from ‘special’ to ‘very special’. Speaking at a joint press conference, Theresa May and Donald Trump were at pains to prove they had not fallen out –as recent reports had suggested following Trump’s decision to cancel his trip to open the new US embassy in Vauxhall. Heaping the treacle on thick, the US president dismissed such reports as ‘false rumours’ and praised the British Prime Minister: ‘We have great respect for everything you’re doing and we love your country, we think it’s truly great.’ So ‘great’ (and between them

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tory MPs are worried Theresa May wants to fight the next election

Theresa May remains in place because there is still no agreed successor, I say in the magazine this week. As one senior Tory backbencher put it to me, ‘We take the view that while things are bloody awful, we don’t want to risk making things worse’. So does this mean that despite all the drama of the last seven days, nothing has changed? Well, no—I think some things have changed. First, nearly all Tories now agree that the May government is listless. Perhaps the more remarkable thing about the reaction to that Nick Boles tweet is how no one is really trying to argue with the substance of it. Even

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How the Tories could stumble into a leadership contest

The weeks before a cabinet reshuffle are when a Prime Minister is at their most powerful. The threat of the backbench or the lure of promotion can be very useful when it comes to getting MPs to play ball. But as Theresa May is fast discovering, the weeks after a reshuffle – particularly an underwhelming one – can be the most dangerous. Today, the Sun reports that the recently knighted chair of the 1922 Committee Graham Brady has received almost enough letters (the required number is 48) from MPs to trigger a vote of confidence in May. The paper reports that Brady was ‘ashen-faced’ when he was handed one recently.