Uk politics

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

How oil companies could be inflating petrol prices

Conservative backbencher (and thank goodness he remains on the backbench, where he seems to wield an impressive level of influence) Robert Halfon has continued digging away at fuel prices over the summer, and this morning he has another victory to report. The Office of Fair Trading has agreed to examine whether it should investigate oil companies for price-fixing and market manipulation. Halfon has spent the summer compiling a hefty dossier which he says shows how oil companies are charging motorists more than they should. You can read the full document here, but it says there is a three week delay between a fall in oil prices and a drop in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Jeremy Hunt and NHS spending

Reshuffles are significant when they change policy and not just personnel. The reason that so much attention is focused on Transport is that the decision to move Justine Greening does suggest that Number 10 wants, at the very least, more room to maneuver on aviation policy. But speaking on the Today Programme this morning, Matthew d’Ancona – the coalition’s biographer —suggested two other departments where a personnel change could be a prelude to a policy change. He said that George Osborne was keen to have new Secretaries of State in the Department of International Development and the Department of Health so that he could explore removing the ring fences round

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Reshuffle row on Heathrow takes off

Though the reshuffle, which continues today, saw very little movement at the top of the government, fans of the changes believe the Prime Minister still managed to remove one large obstacle to growth by taking the two women – Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers – opposed to a third runway at Heathrow out of the Transport department. Tory MPs I spoke to yesterday know that this will be one of the big rows of the autumn, as the commission examining aviation capacity gets to work. Some believe the government should get on with the decision, upset a few MPs whose constituencies are affected (including Vince Cable, who will be more

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Reshuffle: the full list of jobs

Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service Rt Hon David Cameron MP Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform) Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP Foreign and Commonwealth Office First Secretary of State, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs – Rt Hon William Hague MP Senior Minister of State – Rt Hon Baroness Warsi (jointly with the Department for Communities and Local Government) Minister of State – Rt Hon David Lidington MP Minister of State – Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP Minister of State (Trade and Investment) – Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint (jointly with

Sebastian Payne

Revealed: the victims of Osborne’s latest green belt assault

David Cameron’s choice of Nick Boles as the new planning minister sends a clear signal that he is serious about planning reform. The founder of Policy Exchange is a close confidante of the Prime Minister and has been trusted with reforms that have been attempted once and damaged Cameron’s reputation. If the Chancellor is the winner from relaxed development regulations — which will be a core part of his Economic Development Bill next month — then his party stand to be the losers. The Campaign to Protect Rural England is already gearing up for a second battle: ‘If planning restrictions are relaxed, you’re not going to get any increase in the

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Ken Clarke: A Political Giant Mistreated by his Youngers and Lessers – Spectator Blogs

Say this for David Cameron’s autumn reshuffle: it hasn’t unravelled as quickly or spectacularly as George Osborne’s last budget. Hurray for that. But nor has it been deemed a grand success. See Telegraph writers here, here and here for evidence of that. If you want to make a difference – that is, if you wish the general public to sit up and think, By Jove, he’s finally got it – you need to defenestrate an admiral or two. A reshuffle that leaves the Great Offices of State as they were cannot pass that test. Which means, I’m afraid, that only sacking George Osborne would have made this a memorable reshuffle.

Sebastian Payne

Will one of David Cameron’s female stars be our next PM?

The real winners of the reshuffle have been the 2010 intake of Tory MPs. Several star names — including Nick Boles, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid — have been moved up to junior ministerial posts today. While David Cameron was criticised for removing several females as Secretaries of State, he has attempted to make up for this by appointing four female hopefuls as under secretaries. All of these recruits are members of 2010 intake and look to be interesting members of the reshuffled government. Ladbrokes have gathered the odds for each minister’s chances as future Conservative leader, so here are the four female stars of Cameron’s reshuffle: Liz Truss –

Alex Massie Alex Massie

I Think Paul Krugman is Mistaken – Spectator Blogs

The great sage – once described to me by someone who attended a (highly) derivative speech he made on the Scottish economy as Woody Allen with statistics and no jokes – blogs that George Osborne is “Britain’s Paul Ryan”. Remarkably, this seems unfair on both Mr Osborne and Mr Ryan. Anyway, Krugman writes: Osborne’s big idea was that Britain should turn to fiscal austerity now now now, even though the economy remained deeply depressed; it would all work out, he insisted, because the confidence fairy would come to the rescue. Never mind those whining Keynesians who said that premature austerity would send Britain into a double-dip recession. Strange to say,

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris seizes the reshuffle day

Reshuffles always leave a pile of bruised, vulnerable ex-ministers waiting for someone to come along, pick them up and make them feel loved again. This year, that person is Boris Johnson, who can make good use of those leaving the government as allies within Parliament. This is why he popped up so quickly today to attack the decision to move Justine Greening. He said: ‘There can be only one reason to move her – and that is to expand Heathrow Airport. It is simply mad to build a new runway in the middle of west London. Nearly a third of the victims of aircraft noise in the whole of Europe

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Downing Street reshuffle

It is not just ministers who are being moved around today: the Downing Street operation is also changing around. Though the people involved in these moves are less well-known than Cabinet ministers, in modern-day government — with its centralization of power in Number 10 — they are almost as important and in some cases more so. Oliver Dowden, who currently links up Number 10 and CCHQ, is becoming deputy Chief of Staff. I’m told that Dowden, widely regarded as one of the most able operators in the Conservative party, will have a particular emphasis on ensuring that domestic policy is driven through the government machine. The move is a recognition

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Rebel MP: Reshuffle is Cameron’s ‘last chance’ to stand up to Clegg

Party discipline is one of the key themes of David Cameron’s reshuffle today. It is essential to bring Tory MPs, who have started to run riot of late, back into check, which is why Andrew Mitchell is now the chief whip. But I’ve spoken to MPs today who have argued that there is a far wider problem than the lack of an aggressive whipping operation. The strongest criticism comes from Angie Bray, who was sacked as a PPS when she voted against the government at the second reading of the House of Lords Reform Bill. She is miffed that while she had to lose her job to vote against something

Steerpike Steerpike

How Danny Finkelstein botched the reshuffle

Word reaches Mr Steerpike that Times columnist Danny Finkelstein played a decisive role in the reshuffle. As is widely known, Danny speaks to George Osborne regularly and those inside Whitehall know that what he says (or writes) today you can normally expect Osborne to say or do tomorrow. So when he started explaining to Newsnight viewers the rationale for moving Iain Duncan Smith out of the DWP it became clear what Downing St was thinking. IDS, said the Fink, “has reached the point where he has tried to introduced the reforms and it might be a different person you want to implement the reforms. So you would change Welfare Secretary at this

Shiraz Maher

Blair should not be cowed by Tutu

Far from being upset about Archbishop Desmond Tutu repeating something he first said nine years ago, Tony Blair should be proud of his achievements in Iraq. This aspect of Blair’s legacy was raised again over the weekend when Tutu pulled out of an event where he was due to share a stage with the former Prime Minister. It is curious that while Tutu refused to associate with Blair he has happily endorsed the ‘Global March to Jerusalem’. Its members include Ahmed Abo Halabiya who is part of the Hamas administration in Gaza. During a speech he told followers: ‘Have no mercy on the Jews, no matter where they are, in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Morale, communication and party discipline are key to David Cameron’s first reshuffle

Iain Duncan Smith’s decision to stay at DWP means that the reshuffle is not quite as radical as some in Downing Street were hoping it would be. But it still represents some significant shifts. First, party discipline and morale have been prioritised. Andrew Mitchell will lead a more robust Whips office and Grant Shapps will be an energetic chairman, though it is worth remembering that he had made clear in recent weeks he would prefer a department. In policy terms, there appears to be a well-calibrated move to the right. Chris Grayling will argue for rehabilitation from a distinctly Conservative point of view. The departure of Greening and Villiers from

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Morning of the Blunt Knives – Spectator Blogs

Provided you remember a few simple rules the Expectations Game should be the easiest test to pass in politics. It is not complicated: under-promise and over-deliver. Or, more succinctly, never hype anything. So only fools trail a cabinet reshuffle with the suggestion it will be some kind of transformational shot-in-the-arm for the government. First, doing so concedes that your government is not doing very well at present (otherwise there’d be no need for the reshuffle); second it all-but-demands the press responds to the reshuffle with extra vinegar and cynicism. Is this it? Blimey. Better by far to promise little and actually clear the bar you’ve set at a modest level

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Exclusive: why IDS was offered Justice, and how he turned it down

Yesterday afternoon, David Cameron met with Iain Duncan Smith. According to a Downing Street source, IDS was offered the job of Justice Secretary. But the Prime Minister did make clear that the former Tory leader could stay at DWP if he wished. I understand that there were three reasons for the proposed shift. The first was articulated by Danny Finkelstein on Newsnight last night, IDS is a visionary and welfare reform — and the universal credit in particular — is now moving into the implementation phase. It was thought that Chris Grayling, a former management consultant, would be better suited to that task. The second reason was identified by James

The Spectator

David Cameron’s reshuffle as it happened

This was a live blog from 4 September 2012. The latest entries at the top and you can scroll down to read the event as it happened. 20:00: That’s all folks – it’s time to close up the blog. Downing Street have released their final list of ministerial appointments today. We hope you have enjoyed our live coverage of David Cameron’s first cabinet reshuffle and do come back to Coffee House for the latest developments from Westminster. Good night! 1938: Looks like Cheryl Gillan’s ex-PPS Glyn Davies is pleased to free from his shackles: Like frisky young heifer in spring when first turned out to grass – free to gambol. Now my

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Two groups to keep an eye on in the reshuffle

The reshuffle is now under way. We already know that Andrew Mitchell is taking over as the chief whip, Baroness Warsi has just announced her departure via Twitter and the word now is that Ken Clarke is likely to move from Justice Secretary to Leader of the House. There will be live updates on Coffee House throughout the day as MPs start filing in and out of Downing Street, but before the shuffling begins properly, here are some names worth keeping an eye out for. These are the coalition casualties: MPs who served on the Conservative front bench when the party was in opposition but were not offered ministerial posts

Monday

Isabel Hardman

George Osborne booed at Paralympics

George Osborne was booed by a hefty contingent of the 80,000-strong crowd in the Olympic stadium this evening. He was handing out medals for the Paralympic T38 400m, and as his name was read out over the tannoy, the crowd let out a loud volley of boos. I was fortunate enough to be sitting in the stadium this evening watching the athletics, and the boo that echoed around the stands did not come from one part in particular. It was a deep, pantomime-villain boo. ‘Why does nobody like that man?’ the girl behind me asked her mother. ‘He’s – well, it’s complicated – but he’s the head of the economy,

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Conservative party has an empathy problem. Does it care about that? It should. – Spectator Blogs

For people in the communication business politicians have an uncanny ability to confuse even their better intentions by resorting to clumsy, even stupid, language. Thus David Davis earlier today. When normal people hear the phrase “shock therapy” I’m pretty sure they associate it with pretty awful, even ghastly, measures that, most of the time, don’t even have the saving grace of working. You wouldn’t want any of your relatives to be given shock therapy. It’s A Clockwork Orange or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest stuff. Davis is not alone. Dominic Raab says the “talented and hard-working have nothing to fear” from removing “excessive” employee protections. I suspect many hard-working