Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
David Cameron had hoped to agree a deal today, return from Brussels this evening, hold a special Cabinet meeting and then start the referendum campaign. So much for that. We have news from the European Council summit, and it’s not about the eating arrangements, apparently (though for those on the edge of their seats about what
EU leaders have a funny way of going about their negotiations. The best way, it seems, is to conduct most of the talks in the middle of the night in order to create a sense of urgency and pressure, and then spend the next day sleep-deprived and not eating. The ‘working breakfast’ that was originally
After three hours’ sleep, David Cameron returned to the European Council summit with the five areas on which he is seeking change still unresolved. As he walked into the summit, the Prime Minister said: ‘I was here until 5 o’clock this morning working through this and we’ve made some progress but there’s still no deal
If David Cameron still hopes to wrap up his European negotiations by tea time today, he’s got an intense, caffeine-fuelled few hours ahead of him. The Prime Minister left the European Council building just after 5.30am local time after meetings with Donald Tusk and President Hollande. A source said: ‘It’s hard going. Some signs of
As the night gets going in Brussels, there is some pretty heavy briefing about the progress being made in the talks. British officials say leaders are still stuck on the major issues, including benefits, and that Cameron could walk away from the summit with no deal. There are some major issues to resolve, sources said,
This is from tonight’s Evening Blend, a free email round-up and analysis of the day’s events. Subscribe for free here. Good evening from the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, where David Cameron is tonight trying to persuade European leaders of the merits of his renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with the EU. For a deal that
Journalists are waiting in the glass smoking pen at the Justus Lipsius building for the next development in the negotiations over Britain’s EU deal and the migration crisis. There’s a working session focused on the renegotiation followed by a working dinner this evening, where leaders will discuss migration. Nigel Farage is also strolling around the
David Cameron has arrived in Brussels, using his ‘battling for Britain’ soundbite again as he walked into the European Council summit. In fact, he used most of his soundbites about his renegotiation again, telling the cameras that ‘if we can get a good deal, I will take that deal, but I will not take a
David Cameron – and the travelling circus of officials and journalists around him – is in Brussels today for that long-awaited European Council summit at which the Prime Minister hopes he can get his EU deal. Bearing in mind that Cameron never really wanted a referendum, let alone to spend months banging on about Europe
David Cameron is having more meetings today to seal his EU deal ready for Thursday and Friday’s EU summit. Though he had ‘constructive discussions’ with President Hollande last night, the Prime Minister hasn’t had as much luck this morning, with European Parliament President Martin Schulz saying this morning that there was ‘no guarantee’ the European
David Cameron has conceded that he cannot force his Cabinet ministers to wait until the Tuesday after the European Council summit to discuss his deal with EU leaders. Sources in Downing Street have indicated that, if there is time, he could hold his Cabinet meeting in which he sets his frontbench free to take whichever
Eurosceptics may have only a few days before their ministerial colleagues can join them in campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union. But they’re currently very unhappy at the sort of briefing they’ve been hearing about what might happen to those ministers after the referendum. The official line is that the Prime Minister will not
The Tories risk playing ‘petty, grubby’ politics by planning to delay the Commons vote on Trident renewal, former head of the Navy Lord West has warned Coffee House. A group of former senior military figures, ex-ministers and MPs are writing to David Cameron and George Osborne next week to urge them to push ahead with
As expected, Jeremy Hunt has just announced in the Commons that he will impose the junior doctor contract after he was advised that there was no longer any chance of an agreement with the British Medical Association on the issue. And as expected, the BMA has said that it does not accept the contract and
A row about the way opposition parties are funded is set to erupt in the Commons today. Labour’s Chris Bryant has an urgent question in the Commons today on Short money, which, as Coffee House readers already know, is causing a rather big row among all the Opposition parties. The government’s plans to cut the
One of the more intriguing exchanges at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was between Julian Lewis and David Cameron on Trident. The chairman of the Defence Select Committee asked the following: ‘The debate and vote on the Trident successor submarine should have been held in the last Parliament, but was blocked by the Liberal Democrats. Given
What will Jeremy Corbyn lead on today at Prime Minister’s Questions? The Labour leader could ask David Cameron about the junior doctors’ strike, about Europe, or about party funding, given Labour is currently fighting the Trade Union Bill, and given it was the Tory Black and White Ball this week. But almost as interesting as
Ukip’s announcement this afternoon that it will be backing Grassroots Out in its bid for designation as the official ‘Leave’ campaign in the EU referendum has caused consternation in its ranks. The party put out a press release saying that the National Executive Committee, MEPs and its Local Councillors Association are backing GO, which was
Shadow Cabinet members are a little disorientated after the heated discussion on Trident that they were expecting at today’s meeting didn’t go ahead. Officially, the reason that Jeremy Corbyn and his top team didn’t talk about the party’s defence policy review is that they had a discussion on Europe and the economy, which were considered
How can Ruth Davidson become the Leader of the Opposition in Holyrood? The leader of the Scottish Conservatives made her pitch to do just that this week, and also set out her own vision for tackling inequality in a speech last night. She has become a popular figure in political circles, respected by right and left