Uk politics

The case against Boris Johnson

In the old days, if the Tory party was in trouble, old hands who had seen it all before would attempt to steady the buffs with a traditional rallying-cry: ‘pro bono publico – no bloody panico.’ Today, that message is needed as never before, but would the MPs take any notice? In the nineteenth century, an Irish Parliamentarian lamented that: ‘Ireland’s cup of troubles is overflowing – and it is not yet full.’ For Ireland, read the Tory party. It seems quite likely that on Thursday, the Tories will come fifth in the Euro elections, behind the Brexit Party, Labour, the Liberals and the Greens, struggling to get into double

The truth about the Brexit Party’s ‘dark money’

I have a question. How come when someone like Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez funds themselves through small donations it’s a sign of how engaged and democratic they are, but when the Brexit Party does the same thing it’s proof of how sinister and shady that party is? I think we all know the answer to this question. It’s because the liberal elite is staggeringly hypocritical and now applies a double standard to everyone in politics. If you’re on their side, you’re pure and clean; if you’re on the opposite side, you’re dirty and ‘dark’.  This is the news that the Brexitphobic sections of the political and chattering classes have

James Forsyth

Change UK’s latest transformation is its worst yet

As Change UK struggle for relevance, they have become a Revoke party. This is a significant shift from being a second referendum party. One might disagree with having a second referendum before the result of the first one has even been implemented; but there would be a check on the decision through the fact that the public would get to have a say before their previous vote was discarded. Parliament simply revoking Article 50, though, would be a fundamental breach of faith with the electorate. It would do untold damage to the democratic fabric of this country. Change UK’s argument, as made by Chuka Umunna on the Marr Show yesterday,

Sunday shows round-up: Both no deal and referendum should be legally ‘off the table’, says Stewart

Jeremy Corbyn – Labour supporters voted ‘both Leave and Remain’ With the European elections taking place next Thursday, several senior political figures took to the TV studios to reiterate their case, including a handful of party leaders. One of these was Jeremy Corbyn, whose Brexit position has been criticised for its lack of clarity. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Corbyn defended his strategy of not picking a side: JC: Labour supporters voted both Leave and Remain, and every other party in this European election is appealing to either one side or the other, defining everybody on 2016. We’re not. We’re defining people as hopefully supporters of us – but also, people who

One-nation Conservatism won’t help the Tories defeat Corbyn

There’s a useful rule of thumb in politics. When Conservative politicians pronounce themselves to be a One Nation Tory, you can be pretty sure they’ve got nothing sensible to say. Instead of addressing voters, they’re conversing with each other in a special form of Tory code. It’s an identifier without substance, a form of ritualistic preening often seen in the animal kingdom. Amber Rudd was at it last week. Claiming that the economy was her top priority, Rudd said she would oppose any Conservative leadership candidate who wanted to cancel HS2. The timing was unfortunate, with the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee subsequently producing a report recommending the government think

Meet the secret Brexiteers

Much has been made of the Brexit Party’s insurgency amongst people in Leave-voting communities, who have been subject to disparaging and patronising establishment contempt ever since they dared to vote the ‘wrong’ way in the EU referendum. But far less attention is given to the minority of Leave voters who work and live in the professions and other areas where support for Remain is the default position. One woman who approached the Brexit Party stall in Chester last week told me his: “I am a solicitor; my friend here is a physiotherapist and we are both fed up of being shunned by colleagues because we voted Leave. I just don’t

Behind the scenes at a Brexit Party rally: why Labour and the Tories should be terrified

In a small town in the Black Country last night, a political rally took place which should have the two main parties feeling extremely nervous. Willenhall, on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, doesn’t even have a train station. Yet well over a thousand supporters packed out a wedding venue to see the Brexit Party’s latest rally, filling every seat, standing in the aisles and exhibiting a greater enthusiasm than has been seen in British politics since the rise of Jeremy Corbyn. The Brexit Party launched only a few weeks ago but already this is looking like a movement which could have a profound effect on Britain’s politics. “I’ve never seen anything like this,”

Jeremy Corbyn and the Project Fear we should all be afraid of

Factories would move abroad to escape punitive tariffs. The ports would be blocked up. The hospitals would run out of medicines and fruit would remain unpicked on trees. Over the last three years, we have become used to wildly over-the-top predictions about all the terrible things that would happen to the British economy if we ever get around to leaving the European Union. But if you thought that was bad, and global investors were nervous about putting money into the UK markets, wait until you see what happens as they start to get to grips with the plans should Jeremy  Corbyn and John McDonnell ever move into Numbers 10 and

Corbyn’s half-baked plan to raise the minimum wage for under 18s

My fellow sixteen year olds can’t vote, but that doesn’t stop us being the target of Jeremy Corbyn’s magnanimity. His latest idea: to make sure we are paid the same as adults. So he proposes raising the minimum wage for everyone, including those under the age of 18, to £10 an hour. You can see the superficial appeal. Gone are the days of £5 an hour work. Thanks to Corbyn, a £20 top will take two hours of work to buy, as opposed to four. Which 16 or 17 year old could complain at that? But in reality, the idea isn’t so good. When applying for work, we’re not just

Robert Peston

Theresa May will be gone by August

Today’s joint statement by the 1922 Committee and the PM may seem opaque but it means something very simple and unambiguous: the Tories will have a new leader – and we will have a new prime minister – by August. That is what a majority of Tory MPs want. But for reasons of decorum, they have not spelled out the exact timetable ahead of the European Union parliamentary elections, which take place on Thursday, or before the fourth and final attempt to have the PM’s Brexit deal ratified, in the week beginning June 3rd. Theresa May is being allowed the flimsiest fig leaf of control over her destiny. But sources tell

James Forsyth

Theresa May is clinging on – but not for much longer

Theresa May’s promise to bring the withdrawal agreement bill to the Commons next month has proved enough for the 1922 Executive. A statement just released by its chairman Sir Graham Brady following their meeting with the Prime Minister says simply that he and her ‘will meet following the 2nd reading of the bill to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party’. If second reading of the bill fails, Theresa May will be out of options. At that point, she will have little choice but to stand down. Some loyalist MPs fear that a desire to hasten her departure will lead to

Steerpike

Watch: Change UK MP’s David Brent moment

Change UK are faring dreadfully in the polls with the party’s support down to just one per cent, according to a recent survey. But Joan Ryan – the Labour MP who defected to the fledgling outfit earlier this year – has a new strategy to try and turn things around: firing voters up with a motivational pep talk. Speaking to activists at a rally in Bath, Ryan told those gathered to ‘look at your hands please’. Once they had done so she then said: ‘That’s it, it’s there, it’s in your hands. So take your hands and get out there.’ Mr S wonders whether Ryan is trying to channel David

Robert Peston

How Nigel Farage could save the Tories

Is the Brexit Party the enemy or friend of the Tory Party? Is Nigel Farage its destroyer – or could he turn into its redeemer? This is not as crazy a question as it may sound, even though right now Farage’s new venture is set to humiliate the Conservatives in the forthcoming EU parliamentary elections. The answer is contingent on other events, and in particular who wins the power struggle within the Conservative Party after Theresa May stands down (which every Tory MP I ask believes will be before the June 15th extraordinary vote by Tory local association chairs and grassroots officials on whether she is fit to remain in office

Steerpike

Liz Truss’s numbers problem

With Theresa May on the way out, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet colleagues are gearing up for the upcoming Tory leadership contest. While several of the would-be candidates have openly declared their intention to run – Andrea Leadsom, Rory Stewart and Esther McVey – others prefer to run a covert campaign operation behind the scenes. Of the favourites to succeed May, both Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab are thought to have significant support when it comes to the number of MPs who will back them. Meanwhile, James Brokenshire has been stealing the headlines thanks to a paper interview in which it was revealed that he owns four ovens. Speaking on Wednesday

Do our Supreme Court judges have too much power?

In our tradition, courts do not and should not stand in judgment over parliament. It is for parliament, in conversation with the people, to choose what the law should be and the duty of courts is to uphold those choices. In the years before the UK decided to leave the EU, some judges reasoned that the constitution had evolved to the point where parliamentary sovereignty was redundant. They suggested it was time for judges to assert a power to quash laws they thought were unjust or unprincipled. Their view was always legal nonsense, and it is very unlikely that a British court will attempt to strike down a statute anytime soon.

Nick Cohen

Do Brexit Party supporters know who they are really voting for?

When people challenge my opinions I shrug, said Vladimir Nabokov. When people challenge my facts, I reach for my dictionary. Brendan O’Neill, formerly of the Revolutionary Communist Party and Living Marxism, now of Spiked, has had me reaching for mine. He accuses me of lying, a charge which might send a less liberal journalist than me to his lawyers. He says my charge that his comrades and the Brexit Party’s European Parliament candidates Claire Fox, James Heartfield and Alka Sehgal Cuthbert are cavalier about the abuse of children “are lies, straight-up, low-down lies,” “character assassination”, and an act of desperation by the remain side. The desperation is all his. For

Katy Balls

What the Brexit Party’s success means for the Tory leadership contest

As Theresa May promises to bring her Withdrawal Agreement back next month for a fourth vote, few in Government believe it has much – if any – hope of passing. However, May’s decision to announce its return has increased speculation that she will be forced to stand down next month – whether her deal passes or not. When that time comes, the contest to find her successor will begin. Cabinet ministers have been minded to put off that contest for as long as possible, in part due to the fact that a Brexiteer like Boris Johnson or Dominic Raab is likely to fare best if the contest occurs before the

Why do some remainers think ageism is acceptable?

Doubtless there is little cross-over between the readership of The Spectator and that of the New European. Not just because sales figures show that almost nobody reads the strange paper set up after the 2016 Brexit vote, but because while The Spectator includes a wide array of different views, the business model of the New European appears to be based simply on whipping up as much prejudice, grievance and malice as it is possible among those who voted ‘Remain’ in 2016. When people talk about the ‘politics of hate’ such a publication must surely be what they have in mind? But occasionally the publication and its contributors do something so