Conservative party

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

Liam Fox, the morning after

From our UK edition

It is as you'd think: a sea of news coverage and commentary about Liam Fox's departure. Some of its currents are merciless, such as the Mirror's front cover. Some are more circumspect, such as an excellent pair of articles by The Spectator's own Matthew Parris (£) and Charles Moore. But, on the whole, there is a strange absence of finality about this story. A Defence Secretary has resigned – and rightly so, I think – but we still cannot be completely sure why. Maybe it is just the "appearance of impropreity," as Philip Stephens puts it, that killed this Fox. Or maybe there is something more poisonous waiting to emerge in the next few days. The dots are still being connected, the knots of Adam Werritty's business dealings still being untangled.

Friday

James Forsyth

Greening’s rapid promotion

From our UK edition

David Cameron has sent the Cabinet’s safest pair of hands to the Ministry of Defence. Philip Hammond, a robust Euro-sceptic with a belief in firm fiscal management, will bring calm and stability to the department. He’s also the Cabinet minister most likely to be able to sort out the longstanding problems of defence contracts going hugely over budget. As a close political ally of George Osborne, Hammond will be well placed to win extra funding for the department in the, sadly increasingly unlikely, event of the public finances having been put back on a sound footing by the end of the parliament. Hammond is followed at Transport by Justine Greening. Greening voted for Fox in the 2005 leadership election.

Thursday

James Forsyth

The Fox story rumbles on

From our UK edition

It has been a relatively quiet day on the Liam Fox front today. It now seems that the report into this whole affair will not be ready until next week; Adam Werritty has not yet had a second interview with Cabinet Office. For his part, Fox has looked more confident today and by all accounts was impressively calm as he sat on the front bench today. Interestingly, one ministerial ally of Doctor Fox feels that last night’s report by Nick Robinson was more damaging for the defence secretary than most people have realised. His fear is that having people pay Werritty to push a specific agenda, even if it was ideological not commercial, is deeply problematic and makes it more likely that Sir Gus O'Donnell’s report into the whole matter will not be sympathetic to Fox.

Peter Hoskin

Happy Birthday, Mrs T

From our UK edition

It is, you may have heard, Margaret Thatcher's 86th Birthday today. By way of a congratulatory toast to the Iron Lady, here's a thought-filled article that T.E. Utley wrote about her politics, for The Spectator, some 25 years ago: Don't call it Thatcherism, T.E. Utley, The Spectator, 19 August 1986 There is no such thing as Thatcherism. The illusion that there is is in part a deliberate creation of Mrs Thatcher's enemies. They have proceeded on the age-old maxim that there is nothing (certainly not private scandal) more likely to injure the reputation of a British politician than the suggest that he has an inflexible devotion to principle. This maxim is only partly true, but is an unshakeably established belief, a fact which helps to make it truer than it otherwise would be.

Peter Hoskin

Miliband and Balls, in tandem

From our UK edition

So, CoffeeHousers, are Eds Balls and Miliband a gruesome twosome or the most sparkling partnership since Torvill and Dean? I ask only because they're really pushing the double-act shtick today. There's their first-ever joint interview in the Evening Standard, for instance, in which they reminisce about the Shadow Chancellor's 30th Birthday party, among other things. And then there was their joint appearance to officially launch Labour's 'plan for growth' campaign this afternoon. They were talking policy, but there was also a strong emphasis on their personal relationship: eye contact, anecdotes, that sort of thing. Blair and Brown we are not, they seemed to be saying. As for the policy, if you heard Ed Balls' speech to the Labour party conference, then you've heard it before.

Jonathan Jones

The centre ground’s there for the taking

From our UK edition

YouGov recently repeated its occassional exercise of asking people where they'd place themselves, the parties and the leaders on the left-right spectrum. Anthony Wells reported some of the findings on Saturday: Cameron is seen as slightly less right-wing than his party, while both the Tories and Labour appear to have moved away from the centre-ground since the election. One thing these YouGov numbers allow us to do is see where on the spectrum the parties get their support from. First, how people voted in 2010 and then how they say they'd vote now: This looks broadly as you'd expect, with Labour dominating among left-wing voters and the Tories doing likewise on the right.

Wednesday

Alex Massie

Mitt Romney’s Haggis Problem

From our UK edition

Michael Kinsley begins his latest Bloomberg column with an observation so old it's even been made in these parts: If Mitt Romey ever becomes President, it will be because his supporters are convinced that he's a liar. True enough. Kinsley continues: Romney’s campaign is hoping he gets through the primaries without losing his appeal to independents and moderate Democrats in the general election. Meantime, his attempts to enlist the right are like serving haggis (sheep’s stomach stuffed with oatmeal -- yum!) to your distant cousins from Scotland when they visit. You can’t stand the stuff, but they’re supposed to like it. If you can ignore that ignorantly sarcastic "yum!" you'll agree that Kinsley's haggis-point is accurate.

Tuesday

David Blackburn

Cameron tackles internet porn with more government

From our UK edition

David Cameron is taking his woman trouble seriously. He will unveil plans to curb internet pornography at a meeting with the Mothers’ Union later today. The government will force internet users to opt in to view pornographic websites when they initially chose their internet providers. The government will also clamp down on sexualized advertising and a new website, Parentport, will be established to allow parents to report inappropriate images, articles of clothing, TV programmes etc. This is a fairly blatant pitch for the wandering female vote, which is exercising Cameroon minds at present. It’s a clear attempt to say: We’re going to help you to protect your children.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

Fox in the clear?

From our UK edition

Liam Fox demonstrated today why he'll be staying in Cabinet. He's a tough, eloquent and effective Commons performer who does not fall to pieces when the going gets tough. George Osborne and Michael Gove were both on the front bench with him. One MP told me he saw Eric Pickles in the corridors, giving Fox a hug that almost killed him. All this reflects well on them: in politics, it's always worth noting who stands by colleagues, and who scarpers, when it hits the fan. Fox has, finally, made the two steps required to get on top of this scandal: an apology, and full disclosure to stop the drip, drip of allegations which was giving this story such lethal momentum.

James Forsyth

Fox defies the hounds

From our UK edition

To the joy of the Tory benches, Liam Fox has just come out swinging in the House of Commons. In his initial statement, Fox apologised to the House for allowing the lines between his personal and professional life to become blurred out of “personal loyalty to a friend.” He then conceded that Werritty had travelled on 18 overseas visits with him since May 2010 and visited the Ministry of Defence 22 times. The presence of George Osborne and Michael Gove on the front bench showed how determined the Cameroons are to indicate support for the defence secretary despite the political differences between him and them. Jim Murphy missed the target in his reply. He was overly theatrical and failed to make clear what he actually wanted answers to.

David Blackburn

The Fox hunt distracts from louring clouds

From our UK edition

The furore surrounding the defence secretary is distracting attention from some stories that are threatening the coalition’s tranquillity. Benedict Brogan reports that the Health Bill is being amended out of existence by a cabal of Lib Dem peers, a campaigned that was mooted during the party conference season. The rebellion is apparently aggravating Number 10, which understood that Nick Clegg had secured his party's support for the diluted programme which emerged after the recent "listening exercise". Labour's numerical superiority in the House of Lords means that ministers will have to be at their most mellifluous to bring the errant Lib Dems back to the fold, because Tory backbenchers are clear that they will not stomach further revisions.

Robin Harris

In defence of Liam Fox

From our UK edition

The feeding frenzy over Liam Fox tells us a great deal more about what is wrong with the Conservative Party than it does about Dr. Fox. The Defence Secretary has been an ass. He admits that he allowed “distinctions to be blurred” between his “professional responsibilities and [his] personal loyalties to a friend”. But if someone has known you and counselled you and worked for you over the years it is all but impossible to maintain such distinctions when you are in power. You just have to cut them off, brutally. Fox’s biggest weakness, and one which was well known before this, is that he is too kind. You might say he is too human. It made him a good doctor. But in the higher echelons of politics or business it is a fault.

Sunday

Daniel Korski

Fox would lead anti-coalition Tories

From our UK edition

So far, the Prime Minister seems to be playing down any potential fallout from the crisis dogging Liam Fox. No 10 seems to be saying "if the Defence Secretary goes, it won’t be such a big issue". Much remains to be seen about the Defence Secretary’s career – and he may survive the crisis that is currently engulfing him. But it looks increasingly hard for him. Evidence is emerging daily that Adam Werritty was somehow a member of the Defence Secretary’s team, closer to Fox even than junior ministers. And there may be more trips to be uncovered and more meetings that he joined. He was, for example, spotted at the Tory conference last week. To survive the next 48 hours, Fox will need to show enormous contrition at the despatch box.

Peter Hoskin

Fox on a knife edge

From our UK edition

Another deluge of awkward news stories for Liam Fox this morning, with almost every paper providing new details for our consideration. The Observer has video footage and emails which suggest that Adam Werritty was indeed a close participant in the Defence Secretary's meetings with foreign dignitaries and businessmen. The Sunday Telegraph quotes Fox as saying that "I have absolutely no fear of complete transparency in these matters," but adds a warning from Whitehall sources that he "could be gone within days". And, perhaps most concerning of all, a senior MoD type tells the Independent on Sunday that "[Werritty] appears to have been involved in arms contracts all over the place". The story is now taking on a dangerous, two-tone complexion for Fox.

Saturday

Daniel Korski

How safe is Fox?

From our UK edition

This weekend's gossip is all about Liam Fox and his ministerial future. Ministers and journalists are calling each other, weighing the evidence, trying to find out the latest gossip. Nobody should underestimate the Defence Secretary's fight — he is an alumni of the school of hard knocks. But two things go against him. First, having annoyed many colleagues — not least in No 10 — not everyone is rushing to his defence, as they did during the suspicions that dogged William Hague. No.10 has now given him its "full backing," but, as history shows, that can mean anything from support to sayonara. David Cameron would prefer not to reshuffle his Cabinet, that's clear.

Peter Hoskin

Fox hunt

From our UK edition

This is one Fox who doesn't have the benefit of a hole to bolt into. He is on open ground, and exposed even more this morning by fresh revelations surrounding his relationship with Andrew Werritty. A business card and a self-aggradising title, that certainly smelt of impropriety. But now we're talking about sensitive business meetings arranged by Werritty, and attended by both him and Fox. It's a whole different level of concern. And it leaves Fox in a most difficult position. The FT has the full story, but basically Werritty arranged for Fox to meet a group of businessmen in Dubai looking to transfer "communications technology" to the Libyan rebels. One of the suits present at the meeting tells the paper that, "His business card looks very official.

Friday

Daniel Korski

Commercial quandary

From our UK edition

Britain's diplomacy needs to help British business. The Prime Minister made this clear soon after the coalition was formed and William Hague has followed up, reorganising the Foreign Office and putting commercial diplomacy at the top of the agenda. To some, this risked making diplomats into salesmen and there was even dark talk of "mercantilism". Both criticisms were far off the mark – there is nothing mercantilist in trying to help British businesses. A year in, however, the policy is facing a number of other, more fundamental challenges.

James Plunkett

Tories dodge a bullet on childcare

From our UK edition

In the past year the government has proven good at cauterising self-inflicted wounds. This morning's announcement from Iain Duncan Smith on childcare stems another potential bleeder. His department have found an extra £300 million to prevent further cuts to childcare support. It’s a welcome reversal of an ill-advised plan and a narrowly averted political foul-up. The extra money is needed because of IDS's big welfare reform project, the Universal Credit. One of the big advantages of the UC is that it will smooth out all those ugly ‘cliff-edges’ in the benefit system, particularly rules that say you don’t get help if you work fewer than 16 hours a week.

Peter Hoskin

How bad is it, Mervyn?

From our UK edition

Remember when Alistair Darling said that we faced the worst financial crisis for sixty years? Now Mervyn King has trumped that piece of doom-mongery by telling Channel 4 last night that "This is undoubtedly the biggest financial crisis the world economy has ever faced" (see video above, three minutes in). The Governor of the Bank of England saying that this is the worst crisis ever? On the day that he rushed another £75 billion into the economy? As mood music goes, it is a particularly dreadful symphony.       It is also the sort of situation that Ed Balls will relish, especially with the Pre-Budget Report approaching. And it is true: George Osborne is in a tight spot, both politically and economically.