Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Monday

Steerpike

Listen: Dominic Grieve and Philip Hammond booed at Brexit event

Mark Francois, Arlene Foster and John Redwood have just taken part in a panel discussion on Brexit at Manchester's Comedy Club (where else?). Francois quoted Robert Frost's poetry as he made his plea to the audience that he wanted 'to live in a free country' outside the EU. It won't come as much of a surprise that there was no love lost for Brussels' bureaucrats at the event, but there was a bigger bogeyman in the audience: Francois's former Tory party colleagues. The Tory Brexiteer and self-declared 'Spartan' reeled off a list of names of those who he said would never support Britain leaving the EU.

Tom Goodenough

How Brexit is winning over ‘never kissed a Tory’ voters for the Conservatives

Brexit is seen by some as the Conservative curse. The theory goes that David Cameron called the referendum to resolve the EU problem once and for all, only for this to blow up in his – and his party’s – face. Where this was once a Tory issue, now it is everyone’s problem. But might that view be wrong? And might Brexit actually be a big opportunity, rather than a hindrance, for the Conservatives to win over supporters who would never in their wildest dreams have even thought about voting Tory? That’s the view put forward by Esther McVey, who spoke of her experiences on the doorstep, and how she thought Brexit has changed what people now say about her party.

James Kirkup

The genius of Boris’s Brexit slogan

I can’t say I like it much, but the slogan for the Conservative Party conference in Manchester is a work of political genius: 'Get Brexit done: invest in our NHS, schools and police'. In ten words, it offers a simplicity and clarity of intent that none of those who stand opposed to Boris Johnson have yet summoned up. Arguably, that slogan captures something that could even be described as the missing centre-ground in British politics: socially conservative (Brexit as reassertion of the nation state and the rejection of liberal internationalism) and economically liberal (Spend! Spend! Spend on the strong state!). If – big if – the Conservatives fight a general under that banner, my money would be on them to win.

Isabel Hardman

Tory MPs on ‘red standby’ to leave snoozy conference for Brexit vote

The Tory MPs who've bothered to turn up to conference this week are torn between two places. They're on a three-line whip in case anything kicks off in Westminster, where parliament will continue sitting this afternoon. Solicitor General Michael Ellis joked this morning that he was on 'red standby' to return to the House of Commons if there is a vote. The Labour party is on a two-line instruction, though many of its MPs are attending the sitting to try to make a point about holding the government to account while the government is away. It's not yet clear whether they will hold any votes, though there is a need to justify the sitting beyond appearing to debate Brexit pointlessly and without conclusion, which parliament has done plenty of over the past few years.

Steerpike

Ben Bradley: Tories are locked in Corbyn’s car

Ben Bradley is full of optimism about the Tory party's future. 'This could be the best thing since Mrs T', he said at a Blue Collar Conservatism fringe event last night. Bradley said the government's plans to splash the cash on police officers and hospitals would go down particularly well with voters. But he was somewhat less rosy about the current situation: 'Unfortunately we find ourselves in the parliamentary situation where we are locked in the boot of Jeremy Corbyn’s car. We were in handcuffs, we were unconscious. But we’re figuring it out. We’re going to pick the lock. We’ll break free and post the 31 October, we've got some bloody good policies to be delivered.' Mr S wishes them well on their escape bid...

Cindy Yu

Has Rishi Sunak revealed the government’s plan for HS2?

One of Boris Johnson’s first acts as Prime Minister was to announce a review of HS2. With a panel of critics and supporters, the review has so far conducted its work quietly, with little sign of what its final assessment will be. But at a Conservative party fringe event last night, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak gave a hint to where the government’s own sympathies may lie. Tackling a question on HS2, he made a clear distinction between phase 1 from London to Birmingham – ‘the bit that’s causing all the controversy at the moment’ – and phase 2b – which would take the route from Birmingham into Manchester on one branch, and into Yorkshire on the other.

Steerpike

Hall of Shame: The worst jokes at Tory conference

Dying is easy, comedy is hard. It seems it's even harder when you're a Tory politician. Mr Steerpike has barely had time to pick himself up from the floor after this afternoon's humorous offerings from the Conservative party conference stage, with dreadful jokes infiltrating both the speeches and the awkward panel discussions between ministers. Here are some of the worst. Please do let us know if you've come across any more howlers. Jake Berry: The only homes we are not going to build in the North of England is Sherlock Holmes! *** Esther McVey: While the Conservative party is building homes for the future, the only thing the Labour Party is building is a Brexit fence to sit on! *** Liz Truss: I’ve just flown round the world meeting our key allies.

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: The Spectator guide | 30 September 2019

It's Sajid Javid's time to shine on the second day of Conservative party conference. Today will be Javid's first major speech as Chancellor, after his first outing was pulled by Number 10 in August. Here are the highlights on the main stage and on the fringes: Main agenda: 10.00: Boosting our Public Services Rishi Sunak MP, Matt Hancock MP, Thérèse Coffey MP 10.45: Creating a World Class Education System Gavin Williamson MP 11.20: Spreading Opportunity Across the Country Esther McVey MP, Nadhim Zahawi MP, Jake Berry MP 14.00: Growing our Economy and Protecting our Environment Andrea Leadsom MP, Zac Goldsmith MP, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Theresa Villiers MP 14.45: Chancellor of the Exchequer speech Sajid Javid MP 15.

Sunday

Katy Balls

Conservative party conference special: Liz Truss II

26 min listen

Liz Truss is the Secretary of State for International Trade and holds the Women and Equalities brief. On the podcast, she talks about why Boris picked her for the job (having heard her speech about cheese exports), the limitation to trans rights, and how punchy language is all just a part of politics.Presented by Katy Balls.

Paul Embery

Did I witness the moment Boris became an enemy of Jeremy Corbyn?

I see library footage on a news channel of Boris Johnson slinging insults at Jeremy Corbyn over the despatch box and feel a strange sudden sense of déjà vu. I know I have witnessed this performance before. The penny drops. It is winter, 2002. I and my fellow firefighters, on strike over low pay, are shivering on a picket line outside Islington fire station. Local MP Corbyn, ever the ally to workers in struggle, is standing with us. From the corner of my eye, I spot a figure with a red face and blond hair approaching us on a bicycle, pedalling like billy-o. As he whizzes past, he throws curses — ‘Get back to work!’ or something similar — at our huddled band of brothers. It was local resident Johnson, of course.

Steerpike

Robert Buckland hits out at ‘unaccountable’ critics of judiciary

The judiciary has come in for a hard time following the Supreme Court's decision that Boris Johnson's prorogation of parliament was unlawful. But Lady Hale and her ten fellow justices found a staunch defender at Tory party conference this evening in the form of Robert Buckland. The Lord Chancellor hit out at critics who said their decision was politically motivated. And he told those gathered at the fringe event to ignore anonymous briefings from 'unaccountable' people: It's been quite a few weeks as a member of Cabinet, but I can tell you as well that our judiciary is in good heart, too, because whatever one thinks about the merits of decisions that are made, one iron rule has to apply: We have an independent judiciary. We have respect for the rule of law.

Steerpike

Jacob Rees-Mogg: it’s time to reform the House of Lords

After a successful turn on the main stage at Conservative party conference today, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg made his way to a drinks reception this evening to continue the festivities and to give another speech. There, the Cabinet minister began by listing the three areas where he felt the UK had been held back the most by the 'protectionist, Bismarckian market system of the EU': fishing, agriculture and trade. The first of which, he said, meant the government had a 'debt of honour' to repay to fishing communities, after the way they were treated when the UK joined the EU.

Steerpike

Dominic Grieve’s surprise turn at Tory conference

What does a Tory rebel do after they have had the Conservative whip withdrawn and then voted against the Tories having a conference recess? Go to Conservative party conference of course. Dominic Grieve has caused a stir this evening at the party’s annual meet in Manchester. The former Conservative MP – who has said he would bring down the government to prevent a no-deal Brexit – made a surprise appearance at the Tory Reform Group’s One Nation Conservative reception. Among this group of pro-EU Tories, Grieve received close to a hero’s welcome – with many attendees thanking him for his efforts to prevent no deal.

James Forsyth

Arlene Foster: I’ll look at a time limit on the backstop

At a Policy Exchange fringe meeting at Tory conference, Arlene Foster has just ruled out any regulatory checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain that extend beyond agriculture, eliminating one of the possible Brexit compromises. She did say that she’d be prepared to consider a time limit on the backstop. But she thought that Leo Varadkar wouldn’t even be prepared to entertain this. Foster made clear that she could never accept a customs border within the United Kingdom. She argued that would be unacceptable on both constitutional and economic grounds, highlighting that Northern Ireland does far more trade with Great Britain than it does with the Republic of Ireland.

Steerpike

‘Tories not welcome here’: Pictures from the anti-Tory rally

Boris Johnson came in for criticism last week for his language in Parliament, but are his critics any better? Mr S headed down to a protest in Manchester timed for the start of Tory party conference to find out. It was mostly good natured, with clowns banging drums, a Boris blimp and a decent turn out despite the miserable weather. But some of those demonstrating certainly had ruder words than 'humbug' on their placards.

Steerpike

Watch: Jacob Rees-Mogg’s revealing summary of the state of British politics

Jacob Rees-Mogg has just given a pretty accurate summary of the state of British politics. The leader of the House of Commons pulled no punches as he addressed the Tory faithful at party conference. Mogg said Corbyn is a 'weak man', likened shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer to Brutus and said the Lib Dems were 'extremists' over their Brexit stance. Still, at least Mogg did have some kind words to say about one politician: his sister, Annunziata: Like Gulliver tied down at Lilliput, we are tied down by a ragtag, motley collection of feeble, fickle, footling politicians. All in desperate pursuit of a single ignoble aim – to renege on the solemn promise they made to the British people and try to cancel the largest single democratic mandate in our history.

The Spectator

Full text: Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Tory party conference speech

It is a great honour to be speaking at this conference. I, like many of you have belonged to this party since I was a mere youth - and I was once a youth. I have sat in these seats since the days conferences were held at the seaside and I am glad that the members are once again rightly the focus of these sessions. It was here in Manchester that Disraeli captured the essence of Conservative principles in his 1872 speech at the Free Trade Hall, when he set out our priorities for the constitution and the condition of the people, especially their health. He also noted that the audience he was addressing was of the highest intelligence, but not one that could compete with the brilliance, the luminescence of this gathering here today. As he knew, the Conservative Party is a grassroots party.

Robert Peston

Why Margaret Beckett could become caretaker prime minister

Dame Margaret Beckett – the former Labour deputy leader and ex-foreign secretary – is emerging as the most likely compromise candidate to be caretaker prime minister, according to sources involved in opposition talks about ousting Boris Johnson. As I mentioned last week, the Scottish National Party would be prepared to accept Jeremy Corbyn as temporary PM, with the express purpose of securing a three month Brexit delay and holding a general election. But it has become clear in talks between the opposition parties that the Lib Dems and expelled or self-exiled Tory MPs won’t agree to install Corbyn as PM. "We cannot win a vote of no confidence if Corbyn is the candidate," said a senior opposition MP.

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Boris insists no-deal Brexit still possible

Boris Johnson - Death threats against MPs are not 'humbug' With the Conservatives gathering in Manchester for their party conference, the Prime Minister was Andrew Marr's big guest of the day. After an eventful few weeks, Marr was not short of topics to discuss. He began with the furore created during the recall of Parliament, when Johnson appeared to dismiss complaints about safety by the Labour MP Paula Sherriff as 'humbug'. Johnson responded that he took MPs' security concerns seriously, and that his remarks were taken out of context: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1178226290874126336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw BJ: I want to make a very important distinction between... threats and abuse directed at MPs, which is totally unacceptable...

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson won’t surrender the metaphor

In a feisty interview on The Andrew Marr Show, Boris Johnson defended his use of the term ‘surrender act’, calling it a ‘martial metaphor’ of the type that has long been used in British politics. He said that he had been a 'model of restraint' in his own language. He did, however, express regret for sounding so dismissive of the Labour MP Paula Sherriff’s concerns about death threats. It was clear that Boris Johnson had three intentions in this interview. First, to ram home his message that the Benn Act is a ‘surrender act’ – I lost count of the number of times he used the phrase. Second, to try and turn the conversation to the Tories' domestic agenda.