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Forty years of membership of the EU has taught us a lot. Many of us have learned a new language; most of us have learned new recipes for our supper; and our Judges have learned how to seize power from democratic institutions. For there has always been a fundamental cultural clash between us and most
In a dramatic decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that the prorogation of parliament was unlawful and that the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lords Speaker should bring parliament back at their convenience. John Bercow has already said that parliament should return as a matter of urgency. The Supreme Court verdict is
At first, I assumed it would be a one off. I’m chatting about nothing in particular with a friend at a teacher conference when, having checked that no one else was in earshot, she blurted out: ‘Look, don’t tell anyone, but I don’t think I can vote Labour any more. Their education stuff… it’s just
Below is a summary judgment released by the Supreme Court, explaining why the Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful and void. We have before us two appeals, one from the High Court of England and Wales and one from the Inner House of the Court of Session in Scotland. It is
Jeremy Corbyn has just delivered one of his better party conference speeches. It wasn’t just because it was much shorter than the average political address, but also because it made clear that Labour knows what it wants to do when it gets into power. There were a lot of policies in there. Some had popped
This is an extraordinary and precarious moment in our country’s history. The Prime Minister has been found to have acted illegally when he tried to shut down parliament.The highest court in the land has found that Boris Johnson broke the law when he tried to shut down democratic accountability at a crucial moment for our
In one respect Gina Miller is right. Today’s Supreme Court decision is bigger than Brexit. We are now in a civil war without bullets – between two sides who both claim to be fighting for democracy but who have very different ideas of what it entails. In the one corner are those who believe that
Ignore, with great respect, the people telling you today that the justices of the Supreme Court have waded into politics, exceeded their mandate and involved themselves in matters that belong to elected officials not the judiciary. Take five minutes to read the Court’s judgement on Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament, where you will find a
In a judgment that will ring down the centuries, the Supreme Court unanimously finds that a Conservative prime minister had unlawfully suspended Parliament, and press ganged the Queen into being his accomplice. A Conservative prime minister, I should emphasise: the leader of a party that once lectured us on the need to defend the British
What’s the biggest threat facing the Labour party? The Tories? The Lib Dems? Brexit? All wrong, says pro-Corbyn film director Ken Loach. The Kes filmmaker reckons its the likes of Tom Watson and other Labour MPs failing to line up behind Jeremy that is the thing to worry about right now. Loach told Mr S’s
Time was when the box office attraction at Labour conference was going to be Tom Watson’s speech this afternoon. The biggest drama would be activists who planned to walk out in protest at the deputy leader’s constant undermining of Jeremy Corbyn. That was before the Supreme Court verdict, of course, and now Corbyn will be
‘The king hath no prerogative, but that which the law of the land allows him’. So James VI & I was told by the courts in 1611 and so Boris Johnson has, in effect, been told today. There is something weighty, something dignified, about that. The Supreme Court’s ruling this morning, upholding the Court of
Less than two hours ago the Supreme Court released its verdict that Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament was both unlawful and void. In its judgement, the Court decreed that since Parliament was never, legally, prorogued, the House of Commons could return as soon as the Speakers of the Commons and Lords arranged for it
There is no precedent for the Supreme Court finding that a PM acted unlawfully when advising the serving monarch. There is no precedent for the Supreme Court ruling that an order in the Privy Council to prorogue parliament is null and void. There is no precedent at all for the august and magisterial ceremony in
Labour members are planning a mass walkout at Tom Watson’s conference speech this afternoon. And as for Brexit, it’s safe to say Labour remains divided on the issue of whether Britain should stay in or leave the EU. Not so, says Len McCluskey. The Unite boss was asked by Sky News’s Beth Rigby about the split
The Supreme Court ruling has provided Jeremy Corbyn with his most positive outing at Labour conference. On hearing the news that the Prime Minister’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful, Corbyn took to the stage in a dramatic point of order – to rapturous applause. He called on Boris Johnson to ‘in the historic words, consider
There’s been an uneasy mood at the Labour party conference in stormy Brighton this week, as the party has split over whether it should back Remain in a second referendum, argued over the abolition of its deputy leader Tom Watson, and fought over who should be the successor to Jeremy Corbyn’s throne. But despite all the flux,
If you’re a pro-Remain Labour member angry that the conference yesterday voted narrowly – and chaotically – to maintain the party’s ambiguity on Brexit, where do you go? A number of shadow cabinet members are hoping they can be the answer to that question. Emily Thornberry has perhaps been the most obvious candidate to take
There is no love lost between Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson, so the Labour leader will have to grin and bear it as his deputy takes to the stage this afternoon. Here is the pick of today’s events in Brighton: Labour events: 8:30: Policy Seminar 9:45: Morning Plenary Session: Tackling The Climate Emergency 12:35: Votes
‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words’ is perhaps the whitest thing anyone has ever said at the UN. What is the correct answer? Is it (a) Go to your room? Or is it (b) Forgive me, to make it up you, Daddy and I are going to set the
The biggest victim of the failure of Thomas Cook is the worldly reputation of its eponymous creator – a sober cabinet-maker from Leicestershire whose pioneering and fantastically successful package tours used a network of temperance hotels. His name is now synonymous with a company whose senior executives paid themselves millions while it crashed and burned.
Once again, question marks surround Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. This is not new. While I was at 10 Downing Street, with the small but significant possibility of a sudden Corbyn departure, we spent some time exploring the electoral impact of who might come next. To work out who might put up the best fight and how best to counter them,
When Labour last came to Brighton for its annual conference, I sat in a studio listening to people who had faced abuse because they were Jewish. I heard statements recorded at a fringe event suggesting it was fine to question whether the Holocaust had ever happened. As leader of the city’s council, I had to
Another fine lunch and a particularly fine Edinburgh venue for our encounter with finalists for the Scotland & Northern Ireland region of The Spectator’s Economic Disruptor Awards 2019. We’re in the Register Club, inside the Edinburgh Grand Hotel on St Andrew’s Square – a building which happens to have been the headquarters of Royal Bank
On paper, Labour’s conference has managed to unite around the Brexit position set out by the leadership. Delegates this afternoon overwhelmingly approved the NEC statement endorsing Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to decide how the party will campaign in a referendum at a special conference after a general election. They then voted down the rebel composite motion
Labour conference was mired in controversy this afternoon, as the party voted against backing Remain in a second referendum. While the party’s conference ended up passing Jeremy Corbyn’s preferred Brexit position, the key vote on whether Labour would back Remain was only dropped after Labour’s general secretary and Corbyn ally, Jennie Formby overruled the debate
In the next election, as in the last one, McDonnellism will prove a serious challenge to the Tories. John McDonnell, as chancellor, confirmed that in government, he and Jeremy Corbyn would make a full frontal attack on 40 years of economic and industrial orthodoxy, the precepts that markets know best and that our prosperity depends
These days everyone in politics is obsessed with ‘optics’, with making sure they never do or say anything that might look bad to the public. Which makes Emily Thornberry’s European Union outfit all the more extraordinary. Thornberry paraded around Brighton in a blue-and-gold EU dress like some wide-eyed devotee of the cult of Brussels. What
John McDonnell’s speech showed what Labour’s aim for this conference – were it going smoothly – is. The party wants to present a domestic policy agenda so radical that it drowns out discussion of Brexit. As the progress of this conference shows, though, that’s going to be very difficult. The shadow chancellor announced plenty of
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has promised that if Labour wins the next election it will use its first budget to ‘immediately close the tax loopholes used by elite private schools and use that money to improve the lives of all children.’ This slab of red meat went down well with the class warriors at
Labour conference will this afternoon vote on three different motions on its Brexit position. There are two – one from the NEC, and one from delegates – which endorse the leadership’s plan to put this decision off until after the next general election, and then to hold a special one-day conference to decide instead. Then
One of the downsides of all this snarking at David Cameron over Brexit is that the rest of his legacy is getting away relatively snark-free. Fraser Nelson has resumed his valiant campaign to repackage the Cameron years as a well-spring of progressive Toryism, specifically in job creation, the expansion of academies, and shifting the tax
So once again we learn just how committed the EU is to free trade. A trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur – comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – has been under negotiation for 20 years. The icing appeared to be on the cake, the ribbon about to be cut – but at
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell takes to the stage in Brighton today. Last year, he made an unashamedly socialist pitch. So expect more of the same. Here are the events to keep an eye on today: Labour conference: 8:30: Policy Seminars 9:45: Morning Plenary Session: New Economy John McDonnell’s Speech 12:35: Votes 12:45: Break 14:00: