Uk politics

Wednesday

Katy Balls

What the 48 ‘no confidence’ letters speculation is missing

From our UK edition

The speculation that Theresa May is perilously close to the 48 letters required for a confidence vote has – as Steerpike documents here – been going on for some time. That's not to say it won't happen. Morale is at low point within the party. But as a consequence of that, the sheer number of downcast MPs means that if May's critics really wanted a confidence vote this week they could make it happen. There are over 48 MPs unhappy with May's leadership – and who think the party would be better off with a new leader. For example, the StandUp4Brexit campaign group alone has now had 50 MPs publicly sign up – meaning they all oppose Chequers: https://twitter.

Tuesday

James Forsyth

From Dante’s first circle of hell to Black Wednesday, this week’s Cabinet meeting

From our UK edition

If last week’s Cabinet was a unified affair with everyone agreeing about the problems with the EU’s version of the backstop, today’s was not. On the one hand, you had Geoffrey Cox warning that the backstop would be like being stuck in Dante’s first circle of hell. On the other, you had David Lidington, the effective deputy Prime Minister, telling ministers that he was the only one who had been an MP on Black Wednesday and they couldn’t have that level of chaos again, which—by implication—there would be with no deal. I understand that Jeremy Hunt spoke very forcefully about how the UK couldn’t be stuck in an indefinite backstop and that the EU mustn’t be able to unilaterally stop this country from leaving it.

Ross Clark

Why James Dyson isn’t a hypocrite for manufacturing in Singapore

From our UK edition

Remainers’ first response to the news that James Dyson will build his new electric car in Singapore was to accuse him of hypocrisy. Here is a man who expects others to be patriotic, goes the argument, and yet when it comes to his own interests he dumps Britain and takes his business elsewhere. But those who try to make such accusations miss the point entirely. James Dyson has never argued for a protectionist, Britain-first policy. On the contrary, he has always argued for free and open markets. He just happens to think that those markets should extend beyond the borders of Europe. Singapore has won Dyson’s business because it offers a lower-cost location which will enable the company to compete better in international markets.

Isabel Hardman

May to face 1922 Committee as rumours of rebel letters swirl

From our UK edition

Theresa May is to face her MPs at the 1922 Committee tomorrow, it has been confirmed. There had been calls for the Prime Minister to do so, after feverish speculation that Tory MPs were plotting to remove her because of her disappointing Brexit performance. She has clearly decided to take on those critics and face her party, rather than hide and hope that this is all going to go away. One of the reasons MPs are increasingly dissatisfied with the Prime Minister is that she isn't offering any sense of progress towards a deal, and there will again be demands for her to show that she will win a concession from Brussels and secure a deal.

Steerpike

Will Bercow get his Betty Boothroyd moment?

From our UK edition

This week the House of Commons commission will meet to discuss its response to the Cox report on bullying and harassment at Westminster. The report concludes that a number of officials, including one John Bercow, could need to stand down in order for real change to come about. Only there is very little chance of that happening as Labour MPs have rallied around the Speaker on the grounds that they think Bercow will be sympathetic to their cause on important Brexit decisions. As Margaret Beckett put it, Brexit ‘trumps’ bullying. So, what role will Bercow play in the coming months? If no deal has been reached by 21 January, it has been thought that who ever is in the Speaker's chair would get to decide whether MPs could amend the Brexit motion.

Monday

Katy Balls

Theresa May tries to calm Tory nerves over Brexit – ‘we are 95 per cent there’

From our UK edition

Theresa May tried her best to persuade grumpy MPs that a Brexit deal was still in sight when she addressed the Commons this evening. With colleagues from across the Conservative party losing faith in No 10's negotiating strategy, the Prime Minister insisted that '95 per cent of the Withdrawal Agreement and its protocols are now settled'. The trouble is the remaining 5 per cent is the most difficult. As May herself admitted, the main sticking point is 'a considerable one': the Irish border. With the Brexit talks at an impasse over the terms of the Irish backstop – the arrangement the UK would fall back on to avoid a hard border if no new trade deal is in place by the end of the transition – few believe a solution is in sight.

Katy Balls

Hell month – week III: Theresa May attempts to reset the dial

From our UK edition

Theresa May is entering her third week of Brexit hell. With no resolution in sight on the issue of the Irish border and suspicion growing over No 10's grand plan, the Tory party is looking more fractious than ever. As James notes on Coffee House, although every week there are reports of plotting and an incoming confidence vote, it does seem as though there has been a further deterioration of party morale that could prove the last straw. In a bid to avoid that fate, May has penned an article for today's Sun in which she strikes a more personal tone than usual and promises to press on: 'Turn on the TV most days and you’ll find someone speculating about what the Brexit talks mean for Theresa May. Has it been a good day or a bad day for me? Am I up or down?

Sunday

James Forsyth

What has changed with Tory leadership plotting

From our UK edition

Ever since Chequers there has been almost constant speculation about an attempt to remove Theresa May but with nothing actually happening. So it is tempting to ignore it all, to conclude that those agitating against Mrs May are all hat and no cattle. But this weekend, something does appear to have changed. Whether it leads to anything remains to be seen, but the shift in the mood does seem worth relating. Yesterday, I received a phone call from a former Cabinet Minister who had never told me before that May should go. This time, he was clear not only that she should, but that there was an active effort underway to bring this about. The thing that I was struck most about was this former Secretary of State’s anger, there was much Anglo-Saxon language and talk of national humiliation.

Saturday

Steerpike

People’s Vote march placards: the good, the bad and the ugly

From our UK edition

It's the day of the People's Vote march and over half a million protesters are estimated to have descended on the capital to call for a second referendum. The pro-EU protesters have brought with them a range of placards – while some parents have opted to simply save paper and write pro-EU slogans on their children's backs. Mr S will leave readers to rank today's offerings: https://twitter.com/brokenbottleboy/status/1053612226219831296 https://twitter.com/HenryCPorter/status/1053646639750098945 https://twitter.com/mpvine/status/1053678434369572864 https://twitter.com/mpvine/status/1053681304376614914 https://twitter.com/mpvine/status/1053679945598296065 https://twitter.com/mpvine/status/1053677481092374529 https://twitter.

Steerpike

Hugh Grant marches for the people… from France

From our UK edition

The EU flags, glitter berets and bad taste posters are out in full force today as the People's Vote march hits London. Among the big names expected to attend are Alastair Campbell (still trying to work out what makes this march different to the anti-Iraq one in terms of effectiveness) while Philip Lee – the one time junior minister – may join later. As for Hugh Grant, the pro-EU Notting Hill actor has unfortunately had to send his apologies. Grant is currently in France – but has promised to perform a solitary march from the French village he is holidaying in: https://twitter.com/HackedOffHugh/status/1053606027332120576 That will show them.

Steerpike

People’s Vote campaigner’s sick suicide jibe

From our UK edition

Oh dear. Today hundreds of thousands of 'People's Vote' campaigners are set to take to the streets as they campaign for a second referendum – or to use their words: a vote on the final deal. Only it's not got off to the best start. A Twitter account by the name of Chesterfield EU has been sharing pictures of their branch's journey to London – including a picture of the bus they are on. The vehicle is adorned with pro-EU slogans: https://twitter.com/ChesterfieldEU/status/1053559506750373888 But there's one in particular that caught Mr S's eye: 'UK now in so much trouble government appointed Suicide Minister! Don't top yourself... Demand a People's Vote.' https://twitter.com/wallaceme/status/1053590579068702720 Stay classy now.

Ross Clark

Is William Hague to blame for the Tories’ troubles?

From our UK edition

If Britain crashes out of the EU with no deal and the Conservatives plunge to a defeat against Labour in a subsequent general election, Theresa May, not without reason, will take the blame. But the blame will not be all hers. William Hague will deserve a fair slice of it as well.   It has become quite clear that May is not going to achieve a decent deal. The task is beyond her. She does not have the imagination to know where to go next, and she has already painted herself into a corner. She staked her entire authority on her Chequers plan – a solution which, it soon became clear, had virtually no support other than that of May herself.

Friday

Katy Balls

Johnny Mercer is just saying what a lot of Tory MPs are thinking

From our UK edition

Theresa May's Hell Week 2.0 has aptly ended with a Conservative backbencher branding the current operation a 'sh-t-show'. In an interview with The House magazine, Johnny Mercer has let rip – complaining that were he not a Conservative MP he wouldn't vote Conservative. Mercer says the party's values have changed since the Cameron days and if he weren't an MP already 'there would be absolutely no chance that I would try and be a Member of Parliament' in the current climate. Mercer also rules out taking a job in the current administration – though it's safe to presume that No 10 won't be particularly minded to give one to him after this outburst. So, is Mercer throwing his toys out of the pram – or does this intervention touch on a wider problem?

Steerpike

Watch: Alastair Campbell grilled over Brexit march hypocrisy

From our UK edition

This weekend thousands of anti-Brexit protesters are expected to take to the streets in the name of the People's Vote march – the campaign calling for a second referendum. Of all the 'People's Vote' cheerleaders, Alastair Campbell is one of the loudest and he appeared on This Week to plug the event. Only Andrew Neil had a question to ask which seemed to catch Tony Blair's former spin doctor by surprise: 'Over 1m people marched, urging the government - of which you were a central figure - not to invade Iraq. You ignored them. Why should this government take any notice of 100k Remainers calling for a second referendum?' https://twitter.com/bbcthisweek/status/1053059262958600192 Mr S couldn't have said it better himself..

Steerpike

Conservative MP: I wouldn’t vote for the Conservatives

From our UK edition

Oh dear. It's not going great for Theresa May right now what with Brexiteers calling on her removal and Remainers also tiring of her dithering. But despite the rise in blue-on-blue hostilities, an interview with Johnny Mercer still manages to surprise. The Conservative backbencher – who has been branded a rising star – has used an interview with the House magazine to describe the current political situation as a 'sh-- show'. What's more, he says that were he the Johnny Mercer who left the military in 2012, he wouldn't go and vote for the Conservatives – or anyone for that matter: 'I wouldn’t go and vote. Just being honest, I wouldn’t vote. Of course I wouldn’t, no.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Theresa May tries to de-dramatise the transition period

From our UK edition

With Conservative MPs across the spectrum seeing red over a mooted extension to the implementation period after the UK leaves the EU, Theresa May attempted to dial down the rhetoric in her EU Council press conference this afternoon. After a disappointing evening which saw the Prime Minister granted neither dinner nor sufficient progress by the EU27, May insisted to hacks that a good Brexit deal was still in sight. On reports that No 10 is planning to extend the transition period by up to a year in a bid to reach a deal, May did not deny the claims – but insisted that this wouldn't really be an implementation period extension per se.

Isabel Hardman

Chuka Umunna’s £451-an-hour new job will help his opponents no end

From our UK edition

The news that Chuka Umunna is getting paid £451 an hour to chair a new centrist think tank will go down very well indeed with some of his Labour colleagues. It's not so much that those MPs are just delighted for Umunna, as it is that they can use his £65,000 salary to undermine the chances of the new centrist party that this think tank might be working for. The Labour leadership is naturally worried about the idea of a breakaway centrist party, as it could rob Jeremy Corbyn of his chance to become Prime Minister at the next general election. But the Corbynite attack line against such a party being merely an establishment stitch-up is pretty good. And Umunna's new job plays perfectly into that attack line.

Steerpike

Watch: Tory MP’s Glaswegian accent troubles

From our UK edition

We've all been there. Having to ask someone to repeat themselves because you couldn't understand them is embarrassing enough. Spare a thought then for Sir Paul Beresford. In the Commons just now, the Tory MP failed to understand the Glaswegian accent of the SNP’s David Linden. Twice. Luckily for Beresford, deputy speaker Lindsay Hoyle eventually stepped in to spare his blushes: “I think the answer might be helped if you can reply in writing,” he said. Oh dear...

Robert Peston

These are dangerous days for Theresa May

From our UK edition

I am very sorry to do this to you, but it turns out that the incendiary extension to the UK’s period as a non-voting member of the EU – the mooted extra months in “transition” – isn’t really an extension. It is an “option” on an extension, the right to have an extension. Yes you guessed it: what we are talking about is another flipping backstop. And yes I too am losing the will to live as these Brexit talks descend from giant geopolitics to nightmarish logical puzzles. Here is the background. The EU cannot – it insists – agree our preferred version of the Northern Ireland backstop as part of the Article 50 Withdrawal Agreement.

James Forsyth

Extending the transition period won’t solve May’s Brexit woes

From our UK edition

There is no Brexit transition period without a withdrawal agreement. There can be no withdrawal agreement without a deal on the Irish border, the trickiest issue as I say in the magazine this week, so extending the transition cannot solve this problem. Now, some say that extending the transition makes it less likely that the Northern Irish backstop would ever have to be used. But it is worth remembering that the DUP’s objections to the backstop are philosophical as much as practical, they don’t like even acknowledging the idea that Northern Ireland should be treated so differently to the rest of the UK.