Uk politics

Thursday

Fraser Nelson

The joke’s on Brown

It took a while, but I spotted Labour’s April Fool trick: an attack document on the Tory economic agenda. It looks real at first, but when you go through it the con becomes transparent. APRIL FOOL ONE: “The Conservative Party wants to face two ways at this election, promising extra tax cuts and spending commitments while at the same time claiming they would reduce the deficit further and faster than Labour’s plan to halve it in four years.” REALITY: Labour pretends to be unaware of the basic economic concept that if you have a lower tax rate, business grows faster – generating more revenues. There is such a thing as

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gordon Brown claims his inheritance tax policy recognises marriage

Despite what the headline might make you think, this item is not an April Fool. In a web chat with Saga magazine, Brown said: “We made it possible for people to transfer their allowances so…between husband and wife…and that means widows for example can have the full benefit of the husband’s previous allowance, and that meant for a large number of people the effective point at which they started paying inheritance tax was above £600,000. So you know for most people that situation has changed quite dramatically over the last few years by the doubling, effectively, of the allowance that is available to a family, and it’s a recognition of

David Blackburn

Revolt fermenting in Surrey East

Michael Crick reports that the Sunday Mirror will splash the news that 100 members of the Surrey East Tory association have signed a petition to urge David Cameron to de-select Sam Gyimah. The original selection process was controversial – members complained that the shortlist excluded straight white men. That dissent has never subsided. On Tuesday, Crick reported that dissent was turning to revolt. Private Eye’s allegations about Gyimah’s failing business interests, which were apparently suppressed during hustings, were the tipping point.   In reality, the infamous A-list has struck again. Having reinvigorated their campaign, the Tories could do without the party’s re-branding being called into question, regardless of whether the

David Blackburn

The High Court saves Labour’s bacon, for the moment

Commuters won’t be alone in celebrating tonight. The High Court’s award of an injunction against the RMT’s planned Strike Action will have champagne corks popping in Downing Street. The Union movement’s sudden renaissance is both embarrassing and dangerous for the government. First, it has shifted the election spotlight back onto Labour. Before the BA strike, the Tories were driftwood – powerless to determine the direction in which they were headed. Unite’s political and social prominence exacerbated tensions within the Labour party, with divisions between New and quintessentially Old Labour becoming more stark. As Ed Howcker wrote last night, the next line in the prelude to internecine war is being written

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories’ campaign is sharpening up

As declaration day (the rather pompus name that news organisations have come up with for the moment when Gordon Brown actually calls the election) draws nearer, the Tory campaign is sharpening up. This morning’s operation on National Insurance was impressive, enabling the party to get a second set of headlines out of its plan to stop Labour’s National Insurance rise. The letter from 23 business leaders supporting the Tory position worked on several levels. First, it got the Tories’ tax cut back on the top of the news agenda along with its clear message: seven out of ten workers will be better off under the Conservatives. Second, it strengthened the

Peter Hoskin

There’s a serious message behind the Tory April Fools’ campaign

Most press releases don’t really catch the eye.  But when one hits your inbox from The Department of Government Waste, you can’t help but take notice.  In it, the Secretary of State for Government Waste, Robin Ewe (geddit?), celebrates 13 years of “waste-maximisation,” and there are links to a departmental website, complete with reports and videos. No surprises that it’s a Tory campaign.  And to up the fun quotient, CHHQ have even managed to plug it via a cheeky advert in the Guardian.  But although there’s a comic tinge to it all, and although it’s rather straightforward, this is still a smart message for the Tories to get out there. 

David Blackburn

A morning of to-and-fro

Who’s in the ascendant this morning? As Pete noted earlier, David Cameron’s barnstorming morning stalled on the Today programme when pressed to cost his National Insurance tax cut. The government went to it press conference scenting blood – understandably vague Tory tax pledges can be easily represented as indicative of general incoherence. Mandelson was in political warlord mode, flanked by Liam Byrne and Alistair Darling, his unlikely musclemen. But they blew it. First, Byrne and Mandelson asserted, with absolute certainty, that the Tories will raise VAT. Opaque pledges cannot be successfully criticised by baseless soothsayings. Alistair Darling then compounded the error by suggesting that the Tories were too incompetent to

Peter Hoskin

Cameron defends his spending cuts – and suggests there won’t be more before the election

Want some more David Cameron?  Well, the Tories are happy to oblige.  After their party leader’s speech yesterday, he is interviewed in the FT and appeared on the Today programme earlier.  The FT interview was certainly the more comfortable of the two.  In it, Cameron stikes a confident note – saying that his party have “come a long way,” and that “people are gagging for change”.  And he stresses that he thinks – and, apparently, Ken Clarke thinks – that George Osborne is “the right person” to be Chancellor. But Cameron had a tougher time in his Today Programme interview.  It started well, with Today highlighting the supportive letter that

Wednesday

Ed Howker

Mandelson finally gets his man

For months now Lord Mandelson has been encouraging his friend and former colleague Tristram Hunt to continue the quest for a safe Labour seat. Indeed, there was a furore last month when Labour supporters in the Leyton and Wanstead constituency – a Labour stronghold – objected to the support Hunt was receiving from Downing Street in his bid for that candidature. At the time, the Standard ran quotes from a local member stating bluntly: “We do not want a No 10 candidate being pushed on the constituency.”   Duly, the candidature was given to John Cryer and not another word was mentioned. Until this Monday that is, when the FT

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A new Brownie Buster

Michael Scholar: hero. The newish head of the UK statistics authority is finally coming to the aid of the statistics nerds who have been protesting that Gordon Brown makes things up. Normally, the ONS do not censure Mr Brown when he misrepresents their data: that’s not their job. But as head of the Statistics Authority, Sir Michael has – wonderfully, inspirationally – written an open letter to the Prime Minister telling him not to lie. Well, not quite in so few words, but this is the plain implication. What is significant is that Sir Michael is using his job to protect  the integrity of statistics in Britain. One of my

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Curbing the state

This morning, David Cameron and a large chunk of the Shadow Cabinet were talking in some detail about how the Conservatives will enable a Big Society. To do that, they are going to have to stop state-run organisation crushing community initiatives.   Take the case of MyPolice. This website was set up to let people offer tips on how policing in there area could be improved. Earlier this month, they were contacted by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) who told them that they were launching a site called MyPolice. The original MyPolice objected.But HMIC went ahead anyway, using the url mypolice.org.uk. This better funded website now comes top when

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Money down the toilet

I have heard two examples of government waste this morning which make you realise just how much money there is to be saved. The first was of a £1000 photocopier that cost £35000. The second was of a toilet worth £10000 bought for £50000. Both  of these examples of waste come from the education budget. Just imagine what the £34000 saved on a photocopier could have done in that school. No government can cut out waste entirely. But by moving away from central ordering and restoring discretion you can save money. If you doubt this just look at how much a tin of instant coffee costs in catalogues of office

Peter Hoskin

Cameron’s winning optimism

Last week, it was all doom, gloom, debt, the deficit and austerity from the Tories – and rightly so.  But, this week, they’ve returned to the sunny uplands.  First, we had George Osborne’s tax cut for seven out of every ten people.  And, today, we had David Cameron’s closing speech at the Tory Big Society event.  I lost count of how many times he dropped words like “hope” and “change”.  And, yes, he even namechecked Barack Obama.  But don’t give up just yet  – there was more to it than that. Cameron’s main point was, effectively, a dividing line: between what he called the “short-term” and “centralised” politics of Labour,

Peter Hoskin

Prepare for an annual Big Society Day

The Tories have just distributed the policy document to go alongside their event today. There’s stuff in there about new funds for social enterprises, a recruiment drive for community organisers, neighbourhood grants, and so on. But it’s the last page of the document which caught my eye… Apparently, the Tories would introduce an annual, national “Big Society Day” to “celebrate the work of neighbourhood groups and encourage more people to take part in social action projects.” Hm. I suppose that’s all well and good, if you’re into that kind of thing. But you can expect this to become a political sticking point, as the left questions whether it’s really an

Peter Hoskin

The joys of DIY government

One of the main problems with the Tories’ Big Society/post-bureaucratic/responsibility agenda is how to sell it to the public. At the moment, it all sounds a bit too metropolitan, a bit too vanilla latte, a bit too wonkish. How do you better convey the often solid thinking that lies behind the management consultancy speak? Well, I think Grant Shapps has just given it a good go. He described the warm feeling that he gets from DIY work – from, say, putting up his own shelves – and then expanded this to wider society. Imagine being the person who helped rejuvenate a post office, or who set up a school, or

Peter Hoskin

Hammond’s honesty

Philip Hammond gave the first presentation at this Big Society event, and he admitted something that the Tories don’t admit too often.  First, he attacked Gordon Brown for doubling the national debt. And then he added that, “unfortunately, we’re on a trajectory where the national debt will double again over the next few years.” Hammond’s right to highlight this. The danger for a Tory government is that their attacks on Brown in 2010 could look hypocritical in 2015, when they would have presided over rising debt as well. The key thing is to pin the blame for this situation on Brown, and ask whether he can be trusted to keep

Peter Hoskin

The speed of schools reform

Michael Gove is always worth listening to when he speaks on schools reform – offering passionate rhetoric supported by detailed policy. But this morning he excelled himself. If you want a clear sense of what the Tories have in mind for making “opportunity more equal,” then I’d recommend you track down a copy of his presentation. I’ll try to link to it, if it appears online later. One point that jumped out at me was when Gove said a Tory government would introduce a bill “within days” of entering power, aimed at “making it harder for bureaucracies to block the creation of new schools”.  He added that he’d hope to

Peter Hoskin

Take that, Tony

Yesterday, David Cameron offered a punchy response to Tony Blair’s return to the frontline of British politics, saying: “It’s nice to see him make a speech he’s not being paid for”. But I reckon the more stinging rebuke might come today. Nestled in the schedule at today’s Tory ‘Big Society’ event are two video messages from a couple of the most prominent independent political figures of the Blair era. The first is Anthony Seldon, the reform-minded headmaster of Wellington College, who has written numerous books on Blair, and who has recently done some eyecatching work on the big subject of Trust. And the second is Ray Mallon, the zero-tolerance elected

David Blackburn

Whitehall’s hung parliament contingency plans vindicate Tory alarm over the economy

There it is. The Tories’ premier weapon emblazoned across the front pages of the Guardian and the Telegraph: Brown could stay on as PM in a hung parliament, even if the Tories win more seats. To be fair to Brown, the headlines are misleading. It is his duty to remain in office until it is clear that David Cameron or another politician commands the confidence of the House, which may take weeks in current circumstances. Mandarins are drawing up radical contingency plans to ensure that some modicum of economic stability is maintained during that period. These measures include temporarily proroguing parliament for 18 days after the election (rather than the