Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Stephen Barclay – our Brexit proposals are ‘very serious’

The Brexit Secretary joined Andrew Marr to discuss the government's latest proposals for negotiation with the EU 27, which are aimed chiefly at finding a replacement for the controversial 'backstop' arrangement for Northern Ireland. The plans outline a new 'regulatory zone' which would have to be regularly agreed to by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Critics have suggested that the proposals are not realistic, but Barclay defended the government's new approach: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1180782963635580928 SB: We have put forward very serious proposals, which I think people across the EU recognise address many of their concerns... We've brought forward proposals on a regulatory zone, but with the crucial addition of consent in order to address the concerns that came up before.

Paul Dacre

The BBC’s Brexit coverage is a disgrace

Lord Patten, rejected by voters 27 years ago, is the embodiment of a smug un-elected elite. As former chairman of the BBC Trust, he appointed not one but two director–generals of utter mediocrity. Now he criticises the Corporation for its ‘craven judgment about what constituted balance in its news coverage’ in the run-up to the referendum. He’s partially right. For the first time in memory, the Eurosceptic–hating BBC astonishingly gave equal air-time to both sides of the argument, which may have been a small factor in the result. How pathetic that their former chairman should attack them for this, but then the Corporation (is its Europe editor Katya Adler actually employed by Brussels?

Saturday

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson will have to win a majority to get the EU to engage with his Brexit plan

The Brexit talks between the UK and the EU are making very little progress. Number 10 say that there is the ‘potential for some meetings next week’. But, as I say in The Sun this morning, there is little optimism about what will come from them. There is doubt as to whether the process will even make it into the tunnel, the EU’s term for intensive serious negotiations. One Number 10 source tells me, ‘Not going to get into the tunnel without more compromise but we’re getting to the limit of what we can do.’ There are two essential problems. The first is that Theresa May gave away so much with the original backstop.

Charles Moore

What would Margaret Thatcher do about Brexit?

‘What would Margaret Thatcher do about Brexit?’ people keep asking me. Why do they think I would know? If I have a ‘USP’ with my book, it is that I tend to know what she did do. I have no more idea than anyone else what she would have done. The speculation is idle, except to the extent that it might make people reflect on the contemporary relevance of what she thought or did. In this respect, her approach to the electoral importance of the idea of a referendum is suggestive. At the end of October 1990, when she had just returned, in a rage, from the Rome Summit which pushed forwards towards Economic and Monetary Union, I attended a reception at 10 Downing Street.

Claire Fox

An invitation to carry on insulting me and my fellow Brexiteers

After appearing on Newsnight last week, an #FBPE-monikered keyboard warrior wrote a much liked comment above my picture that read: "Bat shit crazy, howling at the moon @brexitparty_uk  neo Nazi fascist apologist tries to blame the judiciary. Straight out of the Hitler/Goebbels Handbook. We are living in dangerous times. #stopbrexit #RevokeA50 #SaveDemocracy". This was one of the more polite responses. We all know that the internet has become somewhat unhinged and I get a daily dose of such unrestrained invective. But it is a shock when such attitudes spill over into face-to-face encounters.

Friday

Isabel Hardman

Is Boris really going to ask for a Brexit extension?

Boris Johnson will seek an extension to Article 50 if there is no Brexit deal by 19 October, documents read out in court today have revealed. This contradicts the Prime Minister's assertion that he would rather be 'dead in a ditch' than delay Britain leaving to after the current deadline of 31 October. So what's going on? The revelation comes in the government's written case for a hearing on whether the Prime Minister will be in contempt of court if he doesn't send the letter to the European Union asking for the extension which he is mandated to do by the Benn Act. The document says that 'he cannot act so as to prevent the letter requesting the specified extension in the Act from being sent.

James Kirkup

Four reasons Rory Stewart could struggle in London

Could Rory Stewart become Mayor of London, disrupt the main political parties and strike a historic blow for humane centrism and political compromise? Possibly the best reason to bet against him is that quite a lot of people like me will be arguing – and hoping – that he can win. By “people like me” I mean the commentator-class. I know what I am. I run a think-tank at Westminster and I write about politics for newspapers and magazines. I don’t belong to any political party and have voted for at least five of them in my 43 and three-quarter years.

Dan Hitchens

Is not believing in transgenderism incompatible with human dignity?

Judges, like comedians, seem ever more convinced that their role in society is to broadcast their political opinions. As Jonathan Sumption put it in his Reith Lectures, the judiciary often resemble a ‘priestly caste’ who want their liberal values to be raised to the level of ‘fundamental human rights’. This week, an employment tribunal in Birmingham produced the most ludicrous example yet of judicial overreach. Much of the tribunal’s judgment is barely readable – more on that later – but it puts its central point clearly enough: a ‘lack of belief in transgenderism’ is ‘incompatible with human dignity and’ – yes – ‘conflicts with the fundamental rights of others’.

Cindy Yu

The Spectator Podcast: what happened to civilised debate?

As the debate about violent language in Westminster rumbles on, have MPs accidentally stumbled on to something? In this week’s episode, we take a look at what’s happened to civilised debate with people you disagree with (00:45). Plus, could Boris Johnson request an extension and still win a general election (17:00)? And last, is recycling all it’s made out to be (31:25)?

Isabel Hardman

Rory Stewart stands down – but says he’s staying in politics ‘in another part of the country’

Rory Stewart has announced that he will not be re-standing as an MP at the next election and that he is also resigning his membership of the Conservative party. That Stewart is going underlines how much things have changed in the party since the leadership election. He was one of the contenders, and stayed in that contest far longer than many had expected. Having pitched to lead the party, he has now left it just months later. And he is not the first to leave: Sam Gyimah defected to the Liberal Democrats after having the Conservative whip removed, though Gyimah was never considered a serious contender in the race (in fact his entry into it was what prompted the party to tighten up its rules as there were so many candidates who clearly didn't stand a chance).

Thursday

Toby Young

Is it time to revive our play about Boris’s sex life?

I’m writing this from the Conservative party conference where Boris’s attempt to ram home the message that he’s the only party leader capable of getting Brexit done is being drowned out by the claim by Charlotte Edwardes, a Sunday Times columnist, that he squeezed her thigh under the table at a Spectator lunch 20 years ago. In the #MeToo era, this is a bigger news story than our imminent departure from the EU. Or perhaps just a blessed respite from the relentless Brexit coverage. I didn’t help by making a throwaway gag on Monday at a fringe meeting organised by the TaxPayers’ Alliance where I was a panellist.

Charles Moore

If Boris snogged Nick Robinson, would he be forgiven?

 Manchester It could be caused by desperation, but this Tory conference is very jolly. At last there is something to support, and someone. Some might witheringly point out that it was fun on the Titanic until the iceberg got in the way, but I notice two phenomena. The first is confirmation of this column’s long-standing theory that the only job Boris Johnson knows how to do is the top one. He seems simultaneously energised and at ease. The second is that his opponents’ scorn, hatred and disapproval help him. Take allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Spectator

The Conservatives have become the true workers’ party

The party conference season has showcased two very different visions of Britain. Jeremy Corbyn speaks of the country as one giant Victorian-style workhouse. We are living in zero-hours Britain, apparently — a land where workers subsist on starvation wages and cannot even rely on those. So this is why Labour proposes a great upheaval, mass nationalisation, the confiscation of private property and — as of last month — the abolition of private schools. Corbyn would plunge Britain into a socialist experiment more radical than any seen since the 1970s — but the abject failure of the free enterprise system, he says, demands no less.

Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins: It’s hard to imagine that Leave would win a second referendum

On a book tour to promote Outgrowing God, travelling from London’s Festival Hall to Birmingham and then Manchester, I have plenty of time to listen to audio books, my new enthusiasm. This week it’s Douglas Murray’s The Madness of Crowds. The title is a well-chosen echo from Charles Mackay’s 1852 classic. Well chosen because our present epidemic of bullying ‘wokeness’ is disturbingly reminiscent of the witch-hunts of past centuries. I’ve had mixed feelings about Murray since he traduced me as a cowardly Islamophile (I’m accustomed to the opposite, equally unjust accusation). But his latest book is beyond brilliant and should be read, must be read, by everyone.

James Forsyth

Brexit rebels warm to Boris Johnson’s Brexit plan

The European reaction to Boris Johnson’s plan has been getting cooler today. But in parliament it has been a different story. In response to Boris Johnson’s statement earlier, several members of the so-called Spartans—those Brexiteers who voted against Theresa May’s deal on 29 March—indicated they would support it. At the same time, a slew of ex-Tory MPs who voted for the Benn Act made clear they were happy with it too. Frank Field urged Boris Johnson to stage a declaratory vote on this plan before he goes to the EU Council, to show European leaders that it could pass the Commons. Boris Johnson said that he would think about it but didn’t seem keen. Judging by today, though, this plan probably does command majority support in the House.

Steerpike

Watch: Peter Bone’s concern for John Bercow’s lost voice

Poor John Bercow is suffering from a lost voice this morning, which is somewhat unfortunate for a Speaker. But fortunately he has Peter Bone watching out for him. The Brexiteer Tory MP has taken to his feet in the Commons to express his concern for Bercow, suggesting he takes some time out to recover: 'The Speaker is clearly suffering from his voice and he does put enormous hours into the chair. Would it be appropriate, or would the leader recommend whether the Speaker is asked not to chair those sort of debates, particularly so on the European Union, to protect his health?' 'The expression 'dream on' springs to mind,' said Bercow. Oh well, you can't fault Bone for trying...

Steerpike

Watch: Extinction Rebellion ‘fake blood’ protest backfires

Extinction Rebellion protestors have just sprayed 1800 litres of fake blood over the Treasury using an old fire engine. Unfortunately their protest backfired somewhat when the hose flew out of control, leaving campaigners covered in red liquid: https://twitter.com/DavidSamFrancis/status/1179696406061293568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Oh dear...

Steerpike

Green MEP: Boris’s proposal is no good…but I haven’t read it

Vice President of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala has made her mind up about Boris Johnson's Brexit proposal: it's no good. The Finnish MEP said 'it’s not a very serious proposal'. But has she actually read the Prime Minister's letter to Jean-Claude Juncker? Err, no. 'But I am more or less aware of the proposal,' she said. Unsurprisingly Hautala got short shrift from Iain Dale, who was interviewing her on LBC. 'Can I suggest you actually read the letter? It does contain detailed proposals, it protects the integrity of the single market,' he told her.

Katy Balls

MPs get behind Boris Johnson’s proposed deal

As figures in Brussels mull over the Brexit proposal put forward by Boris Johnson, the initial signs are that EU leaders remain sceptical. However, over in the Commons the picture is somewhat rosier. After the government published the letter the Prime Minister had sent to Jean-Claude Juncker, cabinet ministers were quick to take to social media to describe it as a fair compromise – complete with a CCHQ banner highlighting its positives: https://twitter.com/JamesCleverly/status/1179653360905064448?s=20 More significant, however, is the number of backbench MPs and Labour MPs who have made positive noises about what's being proposed. Despite opposition party attacks, some MPs are speaking out in support.

Katy Balls

Why the Tories are talking tough on crime

Although Brexit remains the top of the news agenda, the Conservatives believe they will need to talk about more than just leaving the EU if they are to triumph in an early election. Boris Johnson used his conference speech to push a domestic agenda beyond Brexit. The areas he focussed on were the same ones that Downing Street has repeatedly pushed since the summer: the NHS, law and order, education and investment in the north.