Uk politics

Friday

Stephen Robinson

Life after No. 10 is not what David Cameron was hoping for | 2 November 2018

From our UK edition

It can be cruel, the way politics plays out. At the very moment George Osborne was telling the bemused staff of the London Evening Standard  that his working life in politics had obscured a passionate desire to become a newspaper editor, a familiar figure could be seen in the fresh meat department of the Whole Foods supermarket almost directly underneath the paper’s Kensington newsroom. That man was David Cameron, and inevitably someone with journalistic instincts spotted him, snapped him on her phone, and tweeted it. We congratulate ourselves on the ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ nature of British politics.

Ross Clark

Have the Labour moderates forgotten how elections are won?

From our UK edition

Labour, as we know, is a party which has fallen into the hands of a dreamy left-wing idealist who is out of touch with the public, and who has managed to push out the party's down-to-Earth moderates - people who, like Tony Blair, understand that if Labour wants to win power it must appeal to broad swathes of Middle England. That, at least, is how it seemed until this week. But it all looks a little different after 20 backbench Labour MPs defied the whips to vote against the Chancellor’s decision to raise income tax thresholds. Jeremy Corbyn had instructed his MPs to abstain. It is astonishing to read the names of the rebels: Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, Lucy Powell, Jess Phillips, Margaret Hodge.

Robert Peston

Theresa May is rubbing salt into the wounds of the Tory Brexit bunch

From our UK edition

The flurry of overnight speculation that a deal had been done to guarantee post-Brexit access for the City to the EU was all a bit odd. It's true that a few weeks ago, the Treasury over the course of a couple of days successfully negotiated some "high level principles" for what the future access relationship might be for UK-based banks and other financial institutions to the EU's single market. But this is a million miles from a deal – which would not and could not be negotiated in its practical detail for months and even possibly years.

Cindy Yu

The Spectator Podcast: will the EU project crumble after Merkel leaves?

From our UK edition

Angela Merkel is stepping down but what is her legacy and can the EU project survive without her? On this week's Spectator podcast, we also take a look at whether WhatsApp has made it harder for MPs to plot; and ask: should Brits be allowed to forage for wild mushrooms? Merkel has been Germany’s Chancellor and Europe’s de facto leader for 13 years. In this week's cover piece, Douglas Murray argues that her departure is the end of the federalist EU project. On the podcast, Douglas is joined by Sophie Pedder, the Economist’s Paris bureau chief and Emmanuel Macron’s biographer.

Thursday

James Kirkup

Tracey Crouch’s resignation is a big blow to the Tories

From our UK edition

Tracey Crouch has resigned as a minister at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, over the Government’s handling of reforms to the rules around fixed-odds betting terminals. I don’t know much about the policy or the events that preceded this, but I know enough about Tracey Crouch to be confident that this is exactly what it seems to be: a minister resigning on point of principle because she could no longer defend the Government’s position on an important issue. If that sounds unusual and perhaps even a bit old-fashioned (politicians don’t do that sort of thing these days, do they?

James Forsyth

Tracey Crouch resigns over fixed odds betting delay

From our UK edition

The Budget appeared to have landed well. Tory MPs at PMQs on Wednesday were in a notably better mood than normal; a fight with Labour over a tax cut cheered them all up. But this evening some of the sheen has come off the Budget with the resignation of the Sports Minister Tracey Crouch. Crouch has gone over the fact that the stake limit for fixed odds betting terminals is not coming in as quickly as expected. Crouch’s resignation is embarrassing for the government as the main reason that this ban, which would take the maximum stake down from £100 to £2, isn’t coming in quicker is the amount of tax revenue the government makes out of these machines.

Tom Goodenough

Arron Banks facing police probe over Brexit campaign spending

From our UK edition

Arron Banks has been referred to the National Crime Agency in relation to alleged wrongdoing during the referendum. The Electoral Commission said it had ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect that Banks was not the ‘true source’ of an £8m loan made to Better for the Country, which ran Leave.EU’s campaign. It also said that the money being investigated might have come from ‘impermissible sources’. Banks’ Leave. EU campaign, as well as Liz Bilney, another senior figure in the organisation, are also now being investigated by the NCA.

Wednesday

Ross Clark

The simple solution to the V&A’s Brexit fears

From our UK edition

Now it is London museums bleating about Brexit. A memo from the V&A released under Freedom of Information laws, warns darkly: 'we will struggle to keep the museum open to the public in the immediate short term'. A no deal Brexit, it is claimed, could affect visitor numbers from the EU, diminish donations and also affect the ability of the museum to stage travelling exhibitions. As with so many Brexit scare stories, it has the whiff of hysteria. But if the V&A and other museums do ever feel the pinch they could, of course, resort to an action they should have taken years ago: start charging an entry fee. It is astonishing that our museums and galleries are prepared to forgo a source of income that virtually all other museums and galleries around the world take for granted.

Alexander Downer

Opening the e-passport gates to Australians is a smart move

From our UK edition

The announcement in this week’s Budget that Australians (as well as those from the US, Canada, Japan and New Zealand) will have access to e-passport gates when entering the UK is a welcome sign that Britain is serious about going global. The million or so Australians who visit each year are sure to be delighted by this gesture.   There’s a backstory here: when I was the Australian high commissioner in London, I told everyone in government with ears to hear (including the then-home secretary Theresa May) that Australians were upset about being subjected to long queues at Heathrow while EU citizens went through a special fast-track process. Frankly, given our history of fighting alongside Britain and our shared head of state, it was downright insensitive.

Steerpike

Watch: Peter Bone on Philip Hammond, ‘the king of Brexit’

From our UK edition

Peter Bone has previously said Philip Hammond needs 'slapping down' over his plan for Brexit, but the Chancellor's Budget this week seems to have made Bone change his mind about his party colleague. The Tory backbencher said he had always thought that Hammond was a 'bit iffy about Brexit'. 'How wrong I was', he said. He told the Commons: 'Prime Minister, I always thought that you could be the queen of Brexit, but did you ever think the Chancellor could be the king of Brexit?' Mr S is delighted to finally see an end to the hostilities within the Tory party...

Steerpike

What does Kanye West see in Caroline Lucas?

From our UK edition

Kanye West’s association with Donald Trump is well known. But there is another politician that the rapper-turned-political-activist likes to pay attention to this side of the pond: Caroline Lucas. While Kanye has nearly 30 million followers on Twitter, the list of those he follows is far more exclusive – numbering just 120. So imagine Mr S's surprise when among that distinguished group he spotted the co-leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas: Lucas is the only British politician Kanye follows. So what does Kanye see in her? Among recent pearls of wisdom shared by Lucas are tweets about beer duty, farming and fracking. Move over Trump, there is a new politician in town...

Steerpike

Will Cameron take his revenge on Merkel?

From our UK edition

As James Kirkup writes on Coffee House, David Cameron's misreading of Angela Merkel contributed to Brexit. The then Prime Minister and his team believed that Cameron's personal relationship with Merkel – who apparently saw him as a 'naughty nephew' – would be enough to secure some important compromises in the renegotiation. Those compromises never came but Mr S has reason to suspect Cameron could soon take his revenge on his one time ally. A little birdy tells Steerpike that Merkel will have a starring role in Cameron's upcoming memoirs - only it won't be a particularly positive one. 'I hear he will not hold back when it comes to pointing out the role Merkel played in all this,' whispers a Cameroon. Watch this space.

Rory Sutherland

John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work

From our UK edition

Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about giving people more leisure during their working life, we need to ask another question. If it really is so vital to the economy that people spend more time at work, then why does the government spend £41 billion every year (a third of the cost of the NHS) providing tax relief on pension contributions? This merely encourages older and more experienced employees to leave the workforce several years earlier than necessary. Remember, five years needlessly spent in retirement is 20 years that could have been spent enjoying a working life of three-day weekends.

Katy Balls

Tory fiscal hawks uncharacteristically relaxed about Hammond’s spending ‘gamble’

From our UK edition

Although Philip Hammond's spending splurge Budget has received broadly positive front pages and a cautious thumbs up from the public, the Chancellor has been given a reality check by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). After crunching the numbers, IFS director Paul Johnson has concluded that Hammond had 'gambled' on the public finances. Johnson said that the Chancellor ought to be 'thanking his lucky stars' for his £12billion windfall from a revised public borrowing forecast. With no plan set out for how to fund this level of spending in the future, Johnson concluded that 'inevitable tax increases' would have to follow in order 'to pay for our ageing population'. On the Tory benches, it's widely accepted that this was a Budget that put off the difficult decisions.

Steerpike

Watch: Polly Toynbee vs George Osborne – ‘the idea that he’s a centrist!’

From our UK edition

In recent years, George Osborne has attempted to rebrand himself. Once known as the austere chancellor, the Evening Standard editor is keen to be depicted these days as a liberal progressive – who has more in common with Emmanuel Macron than Boris Johnson. The problem is that many of those who regard themselves as progressive don't feel the same way. As was displayed on Newsnight when Grauniad hack Polly Toynbee launched a broadside on the former chancellor: 'This man has done such harm and damage to the country. He has been the most right wing chancellor we have ever had. Nor do I think your ideas are in the centre. The idea that he's a centrist. I mean you can talk about gay marriage – you'd never have done gay marriage if Labour hadn't done civil partnerships.

Tom Slater

What’s the real reason for the hold-up in the police’s Brexit probe?

From our UK edition

Brexiteers are occasionally depicted as being a little paranoid. If you listen to some elite critics of Brexit, you would think that a sizeable chunk of those who voted to Leave are sharing dodgy anti-George Soros memes long into the night. You might think, too, that a few Brexit voters see elite stitch-ups everywhere and never let the truth get in the way of their anti-Brussels prejudices. But if there is a paranoid style in British politics at the moment, it is not being practised by the 17.4million. It’s coming from that small set of elite Remainers in politics and the media who are resorting to desperate measures in their campaign to overturn the referendum result and stop Brexit.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Watch: Yvette Cooper clashes with Caroline Nokes

From our UK edition

Yvette Cooper got more than she bargained for when she had a go at immigration minister Caroline Nokes at today's home affairs committee. The Labour MP rebuked Nokes after she complained about the meeting overrunning, telling her: You have been incredibly generous with your time and we really appreciate it. I would also say, however, we have only five months until these no deal arrangements have to be in place. Nokes's response? And with only five months to go some of my time this afternoon might have been scheduled for planning Mr S thinks Nokes has a point...

Matthew Lynn

Why the IFS is wrong about a ‘no deal’ Brexit

From our UK edition

The growth forecasts might be too optimistic. The economy may yet turn down, the pressure on public services will only continue to rise, and, most of all, leaving the European Union may yet turn into a catastrophe. The Institute for Fiscal Studies did not waste much time in branding yesterday’s Budget ‘a bit of a gamble’, with plenty of risks attached to it. In saying so, the IFS no doubt reflects the mainstream view in the economics profession and probably among the professional scribblers of the City as well. And yet the truth is that Philip Hammond didn’t take enough of a gamble.

Martin Vander Weyer

Philip Hammond’s Budget plan won’t save the High Street

From our UK edition

How much did Philip Hammond’s giveaway Budget help dying town centres? Not enough, say campaigners, but let’s give the Chancellor some credit. A one-third relief in business rates for retail properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 means an annual saving of up to £8,000 for a huge number of small businesses; pubs where people still drink beer and spirits in old-fashioned style benefit from a duty freeze that one industry body says will ‘secure upwards of 3,000 jobs’; and there’s money to help convert disused premises into homes.

Steerpike

Ken Clarke: the British are not very good at being enterprising

From our UK edition

Last night was the Spectator’s 'Deal or No Deal' event, where six panellists convened to discuss all things Brexit, and say whether they thought Britain would 'crash out' of the EU or thrive on WTO terms. Nobly representing the Remain side was parliamentary titan, and Father of the House, Ken Clarke. And while Ken was somewhat outnumbered by Brexiteers on the panel, he made a valiant effort to fend off their attacks and put forward the Remainer case. That said, Mr S noticed that one of his comments certainly did not go down well with the crowd on the night.