David cameron

Wednesday

Steerpike

Queen’s Speech Tory slogan bingo

Anyone would think that those drafting the Queen's Speech might have had a bet on to see how many Tory soundbites they could shoehorn in. Apparently the Queen's government will 'adopt a one nation approach', with a nod to 'supporting aspiration'. Of course, her 'government will continue with its long-term plan'. It could have been a Cameron election stump speech. The biggest grin of the day came from George Osborne when Her Majesty uttered his favourite slogan: the 'northern powerhouse'. But it wasn't the silly sound bites that are getting the most attention.

Sebastian Payne

2015 Queen’s Speech: the new bills announced

Her Majesty has just delivered the first Conservative Queen’s Speech in 19 years — or as David Cameron described it, a ‘One Nation Queen’s Speech from a One Nation Government’. Here are the key pieces of legislation the government will be looking to pass over the next 12 months. Full Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill (and related legislation): To freeze the main rates of the majority of working-age benefits, tax credits and child benefit. Pensioners and extra costs relating to disability will be protected. The benefit cap will be reduced to £23,000 per year. A new Youth Allowance for 18-21 year olds will be introduced, with stronger work conditions. Automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds will be scrapped.

Sebastian Payne

What to expect in today’s Queen’s Speech

The new parliament officially begins with the grand State Opening of Parliament ceremony today. The Queen will deliver the first Conservative Queen’s Speech in 19 years this morning, outlining the topics her government intends to legislate on over the next year. Plenty of details have appeared in the press already, with numerous reports suggesting that it will be 'one-nation' speech, with a blue-collar tinge. But what will actually be in the speech, and what's expected to be missing? EU referendum: as per the Conservative manifesto, the government is likely to introduce a bill for a referendum on Britain's EU membership (again) — to take place before the end of 2017.

Tuesday

James Forsyth

Cameron tries to bring the campaign into government

Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech will be almost cut and pasted from the Tory manifesto. Partly, this is because Number 10 believes that the Salisbury convention dictates that the House of Lords will not block policies that have a manifesto mandate. But it is also because the Tories wish to carry on in office where they left off in the campaign. They believe that continuing with both the message and the discipline they exhibited in the election is crucial to their future success. This desire to bring the campaign into government can be seen in Cameron’s latest staff appointments too. Giles Kenningham, who has been in charge of the highly effective CCHQ press operation for the last two and a bit years, is moving to Downing Street to become one of Cameron’s special advisers.

Sebastian Payne

Michael Gove: Tories will not be forgiven for ‘fudging’ the EU referendum

Michael Gove’s gusto has returned after his elevation back to top level of the Cabinet. On Friday evening, the Justice Secretary spoke to Hampshire Conservative activists and members of the AECR group in the European Parliament. In his first speech since joining the Ministry of Justice, he acknowledged the role Daniel Hannan MEP has played in fighting for the upcoming EU referendum and said the government has to deliver ‘fundamental reform of our relationship with the European Union’ — and not just for Britain’s sake: ‘The exertions that the Prime Minister will devote to that task are driven not just by a desire to get a better deal for Britain, and to fulfill our manifesto promises, but also a desire to transform Europe for the better.

Douglas Carswell

Why David Cameron should take his time with the EU referendum

Exhilarating, isn't it? A referendum on Britain's continued membership of the European Union is at hand. For the first time in a generation, there's a real possibility that Britain might leave. With that prospect so tantalisingly close, it's tempting to want to rush ahead. 'Bring it on!' many regular readers will say. Hold on. Let's make sure we maximise our chances of winning. Like it, or not, a great many voters - despite all that Brussels red tape and all those ghastly EU commissioners - have yet to be convinced that we should leave. If you think that winning over fifty percent of the votes is easy, just cast your mind back to election night in your constituency... For almost forty years, we Brits have complained about Europe.

Isabel Hardman

Cameron’s EU charm offensive must seem genuine

There is so little detail on David Cameron’s talks with Jean-Claude Juncker that it is almost outweighed by the briefing on what the pair ate while at Chequers (a spring salad, followed by pork belly and vegetables and a dessert of lime bavarois). What we were told was that ‘Mr Juncker reiterated that he wanted to find a fair deal for the UK and would seek to help’ and that ‘they talked through the issue at some length in the spirit of finding solutions to these problems. They agreed that more discussion would be needed, including with other leaders, on the best way forward’.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron is trying to manage the referendum – and his party – properly

The government’s announcement that EU migrants will not be able to vote in the EU referendum tells us a number of things about the way David Cameron is approaching this vote. Firstly, he’s keen to show everyone that he’s getting on with it - indeed, the Prime Minister seems reinvigorated on all fronts at the moment - and making announcements about the franchise is just one example of that. The second is that Cameron does not want the debate about the referendum to be one of an Establishment stitch-up. Allowing EU citizens to vote would be one way of encouraging such a narrative from certain parts of the ‘Out’ camp. And thirdly, Cameron is keen to preserve party unity as much as he can on an issue that naturally splits his party.

Friday

Isabel Hardman

Cameron confident about renegotiation result: but will it please voters?

David Cameron was in an extremely confident mood when he addressed the press at the end of today’s EU summit in Riga. He continually joked about journalists needing to write stories about the trials and tribulations of his EU renegotiations over the next couple of years, but those stories not meaning very much at all. ‘My advice would be - a bit like the election, really - wait for the result!’ he said gleefully when asked whether he would get what he wanted from the renegotiation. But he later admitted that ‘I’m not going to say I was met with a sort of wall of love when I arrived.

Sebastian Payne

Alistair Carmichael responsible for Nicola Sturgeon leak

During the election campaign the Telegraph reported that Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to remain Prime Minister, after a memo was leaked to them which included an account of a private conversation between Sturgeon and the French Ambassador. Naturally, the SNP leader was furious and demanded an inquiry. The Cabinet Office has now finished their investigation and concluded that the former Scotland Secretary Alistair Carmichael and his spad Euan Roddin were responsible for the leak. When asked about the leak at the time, Carmichael said that 'The first I heard of this was when I received a phone call from a journalist': https://twitter.

Sebastian Payne

Mr Cameron goes to Latvia

Five days before the Queen’s Speech, David Cameron is taking on the first big challenge of this new Parliament: renegotiating our relationship with the EU. He’s undertaking a whistle-stop tour of European capitals today, focusing on the smaller countries at first. As the Prime Minister sets off for a summit in Riga in Latvia, he was keen to point out that it's far from a hop, skip and jump to a referendum next year: ‘These talks will not be easy. They will not be quick. There will be different views and disagreements along the way. But by working together in the right spirit and sticking at it, I believe we can find solutions that will address the concerns of the British people and improve the EU as a whole.

Thursday

Tarek S Arab

Cameron’s seven-day GP service is a mad promise straight out of ‘Yes, Prime Minister’

I love the series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister for many reasons, among them the timeless, elegant dialogue that can be applied to today's politics. Hearing the pledge emanating from Number 10 that very soon the UK will enjoy a 'seven-day a week GP service', conveniently devoid of any details as to how that service will be funded, staffed or brought to fruition, I am reminded of the following exchange: “Humphrey, I’ve been thinking.” “Good.” “I’m sure you will agree that so far my Premiership has been a great success” “Oh indeed!” “Yes, and I’ve been asking myself what I can do to continue this run of success.” “Have you considered masterly inactivity?” “A PM must be firm.

James Forsyth

Camilla Cavendish to head Number 10 policy unit

As British politics becomes more presidential, the structure of Number 10 matters more and more. David Cameron values continuity, collegiality and calmness in his senior team and what is striking is how many of his team are staying on post-election. The word coming out of Downing Street today is that Ed Llewellyn will remain as chief of staff in this parliament. But Llewellyn will also be the Prime Minister’s point person on the EU renegotiation, a hugely time consuming task. Number 10 is emphasising that the two deputy chiefs of staff, Craig Oliver and Kate Fall will be taking on more responsibilities to ensure the efficient running of the Cameron operation when Llewellyn is absent. Oliver becomes the Political and Communications director.

Isabel Hardman

The Tories try to deal with latest net migration target failure

One of the odd decisions that the Tories made before the election was to pursue their net migration target, in spite of the fact that they cannot meet it. Today’s figures underline that, with net migration at 318,000 last year, which is the highest total for a decade. The Office for National Statistics said this represented a ‘statistically significant’ rise of more than 109,000 from 2013. Knowing that these figures were coming and wouldn’t be a particularly comfortable experience — more comfortable, though, than had they been published during the election campaign — the Conservatives are setting out their own plans to crack down on the things that annoy people about immigration more than numbers.

Daniel Hannan

Gove vs the Euro-judges

[audioplayer src="http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/michaelgovesfightforjustice/media.mp3" title="Daniel Hannan and Greg Callus discuss the battles ahead for Michael Gove" startat=42] Listen [/audioplayer]They have taken to calling themselves the ‘Runnymede Tories’: those Conservative MPs who, knowing that David Cameron has a majority of just 12, want to sabotage his manifesto commitment to end the direct jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Britain. Well, sorry chaps, but that name is taken. The actual Runnymede Tories — that is, the Conservatives elected to Runnymede Borough Council — will be gathering next month on the bank of the Thames to celebrate the anniversary of Magna Carta.

James Forsyth

A small majority means big challenges

In ancient Rome, when a general rode in triumph through the city, a slave would stand behind him whispering into his ear, ‘Remember you are mortal.’ Today, there is no shortage of people volunteering to make the same point to David Cameron. First, there are Tory backbenchers with long-standing grudges who are already making clear their desire to cause trouble. David Davis, the man Cameron defeated in the leadership contest a decade ago, didn’t even wait to be sworn in again as an MP before he started warning of rows to come over plans set out in the Tory manifesto to limit the powers of the European Court of Human Rights.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Labour should now define itself as in favour of both a referendum and the EU

The three main Labour leadership candidates have now all said that they want a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU. But the party’s ‘official’ position - that is, the policy it went into the last election with that everyone seems quite keen to disown - is that there should not be a referendum. The party will not have chosen its leader by the time of next week’s Queen’s Speech, even if MPs seem to be making their minds up pretty quickly, and so when the EU referendum bill is published in that speech, the party will need to respond. It would perhaps make sense if that response wasn’t a repeat of the old Miliband policy, given all the candidates likely to succeed him want a referendum.

James Forsyth

Germans propose linking the British renegotiation to Eurozone reform

Wolfgang Schäuble’s decision to link the British renegotiation to changes to the governance of the Eurozone is highly significant. In an interview the German Finance Minister told the Wall Street Journal that he has discussed George Osborne ‘coming to Berlin so that we can think together about how we can combine the British position with the urgent need for a strengthened governance of the eurozone’. Schäuble went on to say that ‘the structure of this currency union will stay fragile as long as its governance isn’t substantially reinforced. Maybe there is a chance to combine both goals’. Schäuble’s comments are the most encouragement that the government has had on the renegotiation front.

Steerpike

Steve Hilton talks Cameron, Crosby and Vincecablefreude at book launch

David Cameron's former director of strategy Steve Hilton is in town this week to promote his new book More Human. Mr S was a guest at the book launch in East London where Cameron was serenaded by a violinist while George Osborne and Ed Vaizey raised a glass in celebration of the tome. In his speech, Hilton couldn't help but offer his own verdict on the election, making sure to pay tribute to his former boss: 'I am very happy to say welcome Prime Minister. I think the real reason this book is helpful to the Prime Minister is that he can actually say "see, see what I had to put up with all those years".

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

What should Jeremy Hunt do next to the NHS?

The Tories barely talked about the NHS during the election campaign. It was an area of Labour strength, and one Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham were keen to talk about as much as possible. But now they’re back in with a majority, the Conservatives are keen to start talking about the health service again, and to start trying to erode that Labour poll lead on the issue. David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced their plans for a seven day NHS, but though announcements are always very handy for getting attention, the Tories need to strike a balance between lots of new initiatives and too much meddling that upsets people again. For however many years he has as Health Secretary, Hunt must work out how to fill his time, and how to improve the way voters view the Tories on the NHS.