Uk politics

Monday

Sebastian Payne

Scottish voters don’t like independence, their Parliament, what it does or the leaders

What do Scottish voters think about the Scottish Parliament? Nothing particularly pleasant, according to Lord Ashcroft’s latest polling. The Tory peer has asked 12,000 Scots over the last few months what they think about their Parliament, the work it undertakes, its leaders and the notion of independence. The resulting picture isn’t a very happy one. Firstly, the role of the Scottish government. Just 14 per cent claim to have a ‘very good idea’ of how power is divided up between Holyrood and Westminster, while 40 per cent claim to have ‘very little idea’. Just over half think  Scottish Parliament elections are of equal importance to Westminster and 18 per cent

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg: Labour ‘perilously close’ to voters not knowing what they stand for

Nick Clegg gave his monthly press conference today. It might kindly be described as ‘wide-ranging’, which is often code in journalese for ‘not offering very much’. But the Deputy Prime Minister did offer a few nuggets which are worth exploring. The first is that he was very keen to put his name on the list of figures at the top of the Coalition trumpeting the improved economic circumstances. ‘I am not going to use that phrase,’ he said, when asked whether he could see ‘green shoots’ in the economy. ‘I’m happy to use any other euphemism: the clouds are lifting… the sinews of the British economy are starting to strengthen.’

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

George Osborne hits back on cost of living and trashes Plan B

One of the Tories’ real failings over the past few years has been to ignore the spores of a problem, and then wait until it has mushroomed into something they can’t handle. Take the bedroom tax, food banks, or zero hours contracts: all of which Labour has managed to brand as a sign of the evil coalition’s failure, complete with scary names, partly because ministers never bothered to frame these issues themselves. So this morning George Osborne attempted to trip up Labour in its latest charge against the Tories: the cost of living. And he got in before his opponents have made it up to full speed. It would have

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband’s zero hours gesture to the trade unions

Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman are keen to encourage unity at the TUC conference this week, while giving the impression they are determined to forge ahead with reforming the union link to the Labour party. Harman’s speech to the TUC dinner will include a call for unity and an attempt to explain the need for the reforms. She will say: ‘Ours is a deep-rooted and historic link but it is a relationship which has never been set in stone and is always changing. But, the thing that has endured is that our unity is the bulwark against reaction and the only hope for progress. ‘I am proud of the link

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Flodden 500 Years On: The Flower of Scotland, Lying Cold in the Clay

As best I can tell it is not permissable to talk or write about the battle of Flodden without first asking why it is not talked about more frequently? But of course there are good reasons why this calamity (a matter of perspective, I grant you) as slipped from mind. In the first place, contemporary Scotland feels less need to remember disaster. Or even, cynics might suggest, history. Secondly, for the English it was just another occasion on which they hammered the Scots. And they did it with their reserves, so to speak, commanded by the Earl of Surrey while Henry VIII was away battling the French. Nevertheless, Flodden was a catastrophe

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Sarah Teather: Another MP driven out of the Commons’ boy’s club

The Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather has decided to stand down at the next election. I realise that this will not be a popular view on here, but I think that’s a great shame. She has been an unflinchingly principled, honest and always thoughtful MP; in essence it is the nature of the coalition which has convinced her that modern politics is a foul and dispiriting business. There’s a case to be made that she’s in the wrong party, mind, but that’s the only real criticism I could level at her. She’s been attacked for her decision in the Daily Mail by that screeching agglomeration of recycled opinions and epic

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Osborne can be confident about the economy – but not HS2

George Osborne’s speech on the economy today will show how much the Chancellor’s stock has risen in the past year. It also shows that in spite of the embarrassing defeat on Syria two weeks ago, the Conservatives still feel they can be confident about their appeal to voters, because things are going well on the domestic front. If the growth forecasts were still terrible and key sectors such as manufacturing were still producing terrible figures, the Syria vote would have had far more dangerous consequences for the Tory leadership. But instead, they are able to bounce back from defeat with the statistics that make them look strong. As James pointed

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

Sarah Teather’s exit is just another growing pain for the Lib Dems

Sarah Teather’s decision to stand down at the 2015 election won’t surprise many people who know what a battle the Lib Dem MP would have had to hold onto her Brent Central seat. Her majority is only 1,345. But her public reason for standing down is interesting, too, even if some may suspect that the battle for Brent held more sway. Teather is an example of the Liberal Democrat party getting used to government, and, in the politest way possible, growing up. Her anger at some of the party’s policies has led to her feeling ‘desolate’, she told the Observer: ‘If you have fallen out with your party, if you

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Miliband has to win the fight that he’s started

When Ed Miliband was booed at the TUC in 2011, there was quiet delight among many of his closest aides. They thought that this jeering would help put some distance between Miliband and the unions and show that he wasn’t their puppet despite the role they had played in his election. But this year, the booing that Miliband is expected to receive will matter far more. Miliband is now engaged in a defining struggle with the union machine over his party reforms. As I say in the Mail on Sunday today, if he doesn’t get them through, then he’ll be a busted flush as a leader. Unite being cleared by

Saturday

James Forsyth

The coalition’s new case for HS2

The coalition government is preparing a new case for HS2. Concerned that public and political support for the project is slipping away, there’ll be a major effort to renew enthusiasm for it. In this new case, there’ll be far less emphasis on speed and far more emphasis on how HS2 is needed because the existing railway lines are full up. This marks a recognition inside government that the savings on the journey time to Birmingham, which are less than half an hour, are too small to act as a public justification for the project. Expect to see this new argument reflected in the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin’s speech on Wednesday.

Sebastian Payne

Syria, schools, David Frost and Universal Credit – this week in audio

It’s been a varied week on Coffee House, with domestic matters rearing their head once again while Syria continues to dominate the news agenda. Isabel, James and Douglas sat down on Monday for a View from 22 podcast special on the US situation in Syria: listen to ‘View from 22 Syria special – with Douglas Murray, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman’ on Audioboo http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/content/uploads/2013/09/TheViewFrom22_05092013_v4.mp3 In the Commons, the Defence Secretary insisted there would not be a second vote on intervention: listen to ‘Hammond: 'Circumstances would have to change very significantly' before MPs get another vote on military action in Syria’ on Audioboo

Friday

Isabel Hardman

Labour clears Unite and Karie Murphy of wrongdoing in Falkirk row

After going all out over the Falkirk selection row, Labour rather quietly issued a statement this afternoon conceding that neither Unite’s candidate Karie Murphy, nor constituency party chair Stephen Deans, nor the union itself were guilty of any wrongdoing. The party’s statement said: ‘The Labour Party began an internal process to examine the controversy surrounding the selection of a parliamentary candidate for Falkirk. At each step Labour’s general secretary and NEC have acted quickly to protect the interest of the party. ‘Since Labour began its internal process key evidence has been withdrawn and further evidence provided by individuals concerned. Karie Murphy and Steve Deans, who were suspended, will now be

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Barack Obama and public opinion on Syria

There are a number of obvious differences between last week’s vote in Parliament and the forthcoming Congressional vote on Syria. But today when he gave his closing statement at the end of the G20 summit, Barack Obama highlighted another very interesting divergence in the way he is approaching the vote. Asked whether he understood the concerns of members of Congress who will have to vote against the will of their constituents, Obama replied: ‘Now with respect to Congress and how they should respond to constituency concerns, I do consider part of my job to help make the case and to explain to the American people exactly why I think this

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

David Cameron: We can’t let Russia dictate other countries’ foreign policy

As well as having another extended Hugh Grant moment about how great Britain is (excluding David Beckham’s feet, but including One Direction), David Cameron got his chance to hit back at Russia’s intransigence on Syria this afternoon as the G20 summit drew to a close. Nodding to the lengthy declaration issued by the leaders – which fails to mention Syria or Assad – the Prime Minister emphasised that ‘this summit was never going to reach an agreement on what action is needed on Syria’. When Barack Obama spoke later, he said the discussions had reached unanimity that ‘chemical weapons were used in Syria, there was a unanimous view that the

Sebastian Payne

David Cameron’s Small Island songs

In response to some snarky comments from Russia about Britain, the Prime Minister has just released this bizarre statement on his Google+ page about how he feels about our country: ‘Britain may be a small island, but I would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience. ‘Britain is an island that has helped to clear the European continent of fascism – and was resolute in doing that throughout World War Two. ‘Britain is an island that helped to abolish slavery, that has invented most of the things worth inventing, including every sport currently played around the world, that still today is

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Builders promise HS2 ‘on time and on budget’ – if backbenchers don’t kill it first

Another day, another promise that a government project will be in time and on budget. Yesterday it was universal credit, today it’s High Speed Rail, with a letter from the construction companies behind the project in the Telegraph. The letter, signed by chief executives and chairmen of Arup Group, Atkins UK, Balfour Beatty, Kier Group, Laing O’Rourke, Moot MacDonald Group and Skanska UK, dismisses ‘artificially inflated figures’ on the project’s cost. It says: ‘We gladly accept the challenge of completing Phase One of HS2 on schedule – and for less than the Government’s target of £17.16 billion. ‘We applaud the Government’s support for investment in infrastructure and in particular HS2,

Andrew Freeman

Don’t blame the banks for not lending enough to small businesses

It is now a truism in Westminster to argue that banks are failing UK businesses, especially smaller ones, by reining in lending, thus thwarting growth. The problem with this truism is that it isn’t, er, true. And it also distracts attention from the real funding problems that businesses struggle with, which means government policy consistently misses the point. This myth about banks refusing to lend is based partly on anecdote and partly on the sharp decline in the stock of lending to small and medium-sized enterprises since the credit crisis. Demos Finance research published today shows that only a tiny proportion of businesses want bank loans but are unable to

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Fixing the civil service

Universal credit is having a bumpy ride: but whose fault is it? Yesterday’s Commons urgent question on the National Audit Office report turned into a bit of a blame game, with Iain Duncan Smith saying rather bitterly that he had expected his department to meet the challenge of delivering this big reform. His response to Bernard Jenkin on the importance of a good civil service was one of the most telling of the whole session: Bernard Jenkin: Is my right hon. Friend aware that the Public Administration Committee will produce an important report tomorrow about civil service reform? It comes as no surprise that the Comptroller and Auditor General has

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Small island will need to talk big on Syrian aid

Even though Vladimir Putin slotted Syria into the G20 agenda last night, no-one seriously thought that this meant the world leaders would come to a proper agreement on what to do about the conflict. In the last few minutes, David Cameron has told journalists covering the summit that ‘divisions are too great’ for a deal, and that Russia wants further evidence that the Assad regime was behind the terrible attack in August. George Osborne was on the Today programme earlier discussing the summit. He said: ‘We’ve set out what we think is the right response, obviously President Obama has set out what he wants to do and there is a