James Forsyth

James Forsyth

James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.

The breakdown of Clegg’s Cabinet alliances

There used to be a time when some of the most important relationships in the government were between Tory reformers and Nick Clegg. The Lib Dem leader, to his credit, tilted the scales in favour of radicalism in both education and welfare. But those reformist alliances are now pretty much over. Indeed, Ken Clarke –

James Forsyth

School’s back, and a fight breaks out in the Westminster playground

Nick Clegg’s speech today on education has certainly garnered him some headlines. But it has also ruffled feathers in Whitehall. A senior Department for Education source told me earlier: “Clegg doesn’t understand that the 2010 Act means that Academies are the default mode for new schools, whether Local Authorities like them or not. His speech

James Forsyth

Osborne and Pickles defiant on planning reform

George Osborne and Eric Pickles’ joint op-ed in the Financial Times on planning reform is meant to send the message that the coalition won’t back down on the issue. They warn that “No one should underestimate our determination to win this battle”. Allies of Pickles are pointing out that these planning proposals are different from

James Forsyth

Darling lifts lid on Brown’s chaotic government

Tieless, Alistair Darling appeared on Marr this morning to discuss his memoir. As with so many of these New Labour autobiographies, there was the strong whiff of a therapy session. At one point, Darling said “if Gordon is listening to this” before remarking that he still felt a huge amount of “residual loyalty” to him.

There’ll be no u-turn on planning

This government has developed rather a reputation for u-turning. But I would be extremely surprised if it did one over its planning reforms. When you talk to ministers and advisers one is struck by how up for this fight they are. They’re convinced that it is only by taking on these vested interests that they’ll

James Forsyth

Who are the ‘undeserving rich’?

Westminster isn’t sure. But it’s suddenly obsessed with them Recently, one Tory cabinet member went for dinner at a top London hotel with some of the most famous members of the financial elite. Good food and better wine: it was the kind of occasion that, in days gone by, would have turned into an orgy

Lagarde sets about the Eurozone

When Christine Lagarde took over the IMF top job, it was widely assumed that she would simply continue her predecessor’s policy of almost unconditional support for Eurozone bailouts. But Ken Rogoff, the IMF’s former chief economist, has detected a hardening in the IMF’s approach. He thinks that Lagarde’s call for, as he puts it, “forced

Getting tough on discipline

A fortnight ago, The Spectator asked if Cameron was fit to fight? We wondered if he had the gumption to use the political moment created by the riots to push through the radical reforms the country needs.  So, it’s only fair to note that the government has today actually done something—as opposed to just talking

James Forsyth

The undeserving rich

Ever since the Elizabethan poor laws — if not before — society has tended to divide the poor into the deserving and the undeserving. But, as I write in this week’s magazine, our politicians are now taking aim at a new category, the undeserving rich. Who you consider to be the undeserving rich depends on

Cameron and Osborne wary of Vickers’ banking reforms

Banking reform has always been one of those issues that was going to test the unity of the coalition. Indeed, it was the subject of the very first inter-coalition wrangle when back in May 2010 George Osborne and Vince Cable tussled over who would chair the Cabinet committee on banking reform.   To date, these

James Forsyth

Whitehall leaks

The Department of Education is remarkably unbothered by yesterday’s Guardian splash about free schools. Why? Because they have known for months that the emails on which it was based had gone missing. Indeed, the only thing that surprised them about the story was that it did not appear three months ago in the Financial Times.

Coalition prepares for bank bust-up

There’s a big coalition split coming down the road. Next month the Vickers’ review into banking reform, which is going to suggest a ring-fencing of the investment and retail arms of banks, will come out. The Liberal Democrats — led by Vince Cable — will push for the instant implementation of the report’s recommendations. The

Merkel’s domestic difficulties threaten the Eurozone

As August draws to a close, Europe is bracing itself for a series of September sovereign debt crises. Events in Germany at the moment have the potential to make these crises into events that could break the back of the Eurozone. As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports, Chancellor Merkel might not have the votes to push the

The Lib Dem conference advantage

Traditionally the fact that the Liberal Democrats hold their conference first and still vote on party policy at it has been regarded as a disadvantage. But this year, I suspect that these two things will be in their favour. By going first, they will get to set the terms of debate for conference season. They’ll

James Forsyth

Politics: Will Gaddafi’s fall go to Cameron’s head?

David Cameron’s public utterances often appear to have been crafted to make him sound as much like Tony Blair as possible. David Cameron’s public utterances often appear to have been crafted to make him sound as much like Tony Blair as possible. But when he discussed the fall of Tripoli on Monday, he was trying

The advent of social impact bonds

Today’s announcement of social impact bonds is one of the best things that the government has done. These bonds offer a chance to deal with some of this country’s most difficult social problems at no cost and no risk to the taxpayer. The bonds see money raised from the private and voluntary sectors to fund

Beating Labour’s education legacy

If it is GCSE results day, there must be a row about government education policy. True to form, the NASUWT — a union whose role often appears to be to make the NUT look moderate by comparison — has come out with a comically hyperbolic statement accusing the coalition of a ‘betrayal of young people’

James Forsyth

Defining the government through argument

Every government spin doctor knows that one of the ways you can get media attention is by picking a fight. So, when the Cabinet all return to their desks in September, expect to see the coalition getting into some scraps to try and define itself in the public mind. Greg Clark, the newly appointed minister