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.
That Ed Miliband is even having to state that he wants to carry on as Labour leader if he loses the general election when his party is ahead in the polls shows what a mess the operation around him is. There are a number of Shadow Cabinet members who seem more interested in what happens
In the past few minutes, Andy Coulson has been found guilty on one count of conspiracy to hack phones. The jury has not given its verdict on all counts yet, but this is the verdict that David Cameron dreaded. As Coulson was his former director of communications, it again raises questions about his judgement in
Is it a good thing that David Cameron now appears isolated in Europe as he continues to dig a hole that Jean-Claude Juncker almost certainly won’t fall into? Jeremy Hunt tried to argue on the Today programme this morning that it was, saying that people would respect an isolated Prime Minister who was prepared to
Other than the revelation that politicians like to use bad language (hardly a shock to Coffee House readers), what have we learned from the tapes, leaked to Polish magazine Wprost, of Polish government ministers and officials? The tapes include conversations about Britain’s European policy, and they are not complimentary. Open Europe have translated the key
Departmental questions have, by this stage of the parliament, all developed their own characters. There is the colourful combat of Treasury questions, often involving one Tory minister deploying a lengthy analogy involving handing over the keys to a car or arson to describe Ed Balls. Then there’s Michael Gove and Tristram Hunt’s lesson in rhetoric
George Osborne’s commitment to a third high speed rail link in the future has gone down well this morning with a nice spread of business groups, northern MPs and Conservatives worried about the Tory appeal (or lack thereof) in the North. It has even gone down well with Nick Clegg, who has released a statement
Ever since George Osborne took on Neil O’Brien as one of his advisers in the Treasury the Chancellor has shown a growing interest in the need to heal the North/South divide and the difference between Planet London and the rest of the UK. Today Osborne will underline that concern about the way the country’s economy
The Cabinet is split between doves and hawks on whether Britain should back US involvement in Iraq, but this morning Liam Fox argued on the Andrew Marr Show that whether or not the Uk avoids military action, it will not be able to avoid the threat from jihadists. he said: ‘Remember, the West is seen
Ed Miliband is in Wales with the Shadow Cabinet today, and they’ve been busy praising the Labour government there for ‘leading the whole of the United Kingdom into economic recovery’. It’s interesting that the Westminster Labour party is so keen to hang out with Welsh Labour, as doing so simply allows the Tories to attack
It’s tempting given the optimistic mood on the Conservative benches at the moment to think that everything is just great with the economy. Not so, according to today’s borrowing figures from the ONS, which show that government borrowing was higher than expected: George Osborne borrowed £13.3bn in May, up £0.7bn from the same month last
A tough message on welfare is one of the ways that both Labour and the Tories think they can win in 2015. Ed Miliband upset some on the left yesterday with his plans to freeze child benefit and dock jobseekers’ allowance from under-21s not in employment or training, while the Tories constantly trumpet the gains
Mike Hancock has settled the civil case brought against him by a constituent alleging that he sexually assaulted her (Julie Bindel outlined the case for the magazine here). In a statement released today, the MP, currently suspended as a Liberal Democrat, apologises for his behaviour. He says: ‘In October 2009 you first came to me
Like all good select committees, the Education Select Committee is rarely a helpful chum of Michael Gove. Its warnings on the reform of GCSEs, for instance, played a part in one of Gove’s biggest volte-faces. But its report this morning on ‘underachievements of white working class children’ (a group it then narrows to ‘poor white
As expected, Nick de Bois’ amendment to the Criminal Courts and Justice Bill passed 404 votes to 53. It owes nothing to the Conservative frontbench, which abstained for reasons I’ve tried my best to outline here (it’s difficult to explain something that doesn’t make a grab deal of sense, especially when both parties have voted
As I reported earlier, Number 10 is adjusting its commentary on Jean-Claude Juncker’s bid to become president of the European Commission to include plenty of conditional verbs. David Cameron appears to be giving up the fight, too. At his press conference in Downing Street with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the Prime Minister said: ‘There is
Keith Vaz has a better nose for a story than a lot of journalists: this afternoon he’s organised Home Affairs Select Committee hearings on the passport backlog and on extremism in schools. Passport Office chief Paul Pugh faced a good old headline-worthy grilling on whether or not he would resign as a result of the
Funnily enough, the government seems a little less bullish about blocking Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission than it did a fortnight ago. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman was asked about the reports that the die is now cast for Juncker, and whether his appointment could bring forward the UK referendum on the
The Commons will host another odd coalition situation this afternoon, as MPs vote on Nick de Bois’ amendment to the Criminal Courts and Justice Bill which introduces mandatory minimum sentences for repeat knife offences. Nick Clegg and David Cameron have agreed to waive collective responsibility for this vote. The Lib Dems who have publicly opposed
What happens if, as reports suggest today, David Cameron fails in his bid to block Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission? It will make the Prime Minister look weak. It will make his renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with Europe and his call for reform of the European Union as a whole much more
It doesn’t really matter whether Dominic Cummings’ Times interview was unhelpful to Michael Gove. Labour has just been about as helpful to the Education Secretary as it possibly could be without announcing that it supports everything he does, right down to the detail of the history curriculum. Education questions this afternoon was the perfect opportunity
