Uk politics

Monday

Philip Hammond

Full text: Philip Hammond’s Conservative conference speech

From our UK edition

Liz, thank you for that introduction……and for tearing yourself away from your beloved Instagram account for a few minutes. And thank you too for being such a great Chief Secretary and stalwart defender of the public purse. My kids think I’m tight with money…but they haven’t met Liz Truss. And in a world obsessed with stories of division and rift in Whitehall… I want to hold up my fantastic team at the Treasury as an example of how we can - and do – work together and support each other. So a big “thank you” to all of them.

Roger Awan-Scully

The humiliating end to Leanne Wood’s Plaid Cymru leadership | 1 October 2018

From our UK edition

'The morning had been golden; the noontide was bronze; and the evening lead.' So said Churchill about the career of Lord Curzon. But these words could also summarise the leadership of Plaid Cymru by Leanne Wood – a leadership that came to an abrupt and rather humiliating end on Friday. Most observers of politics outside Wales, and plenty of people even within Wales, only really became aware of Leanne Wood after the televised leaders’ debates during the 2015 general election. By that point, she had actually been leader of her party for more than three years. Wood was a surprise leader – even to herself. First elected to the Welsh Assembly in 2003, she was probably best known for being booted out of the chamber for referring to the Queen as 'Mrs Windsor'.

D Reilly

The Tories’ Boris Johnson problem

From our UK edition

I watched the Tory party conference on television this morning for as long as I could take it. Obviously I wouldn’t under normal circumstances – nobody sane would – but I’d been left in sole charge of a six-month old child (my son) and I wanted him to understand that life is very often pain. We made it through Dominic Raab’s bore-athon, but during Philip Hammond’s effort one of us filled his pants and so I turned it off. It seemed an appropriate protest. Why were the speeches so bad? And, more to the point, why did the speakers seem such unbelievable dullards? There’s no excuse. This is their job. The great cliché of speechmaking is that if you’re nervous you try to imagine the people in the crowd you are speaking to naked.

Steerpike

Watch: ‘Sack the woman’ – Jacob Rees-Mogg heckled at Brexit rally

From our UK edition

It's safe to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg isn't keen on the Prime Minister's Chequers plan. But Rees-Mogg has still stopped short of calling for Theresa May to go.  Some other Brexit supporters don't agree and think it is time for Tory Brexiteers to call an end to May's time in office. One such activist made their feelings knows at a 'Leave means Leave' rally on the fringes of Tory conference this evening: Rees-Mogg: 'This is exactly what the Prime Minister said she would not do at Lancaster House.' Heckler: 'Sack the woman!' RM: 'No, no.' Heckler: 'Sack her now – get your letter in.' RM: 'Certainly not! But thank you – I always like a bit of robust heckling, it is very British.' Mr S is sure that the Prime Minister is grateful for Rees-Mogg's support...

Isabel Hardman

Michael Gove gives Tory activists something to finally cheer about

From our UK edition

We may have just witnessed the first outbreak of genuine interest from the Conservative conference floor. Michael Gove was speaking to the not-full room, and bookended his speech with praise for the history of the Tory party. He started by telling the hall that ‘As we know all too well from our history, if you want a mess cleared up you need a Conservative Government‘, and turned again at the end to listing Conservative achievements:  ‘Some people might say that we are setting our sights too high. To them I say, you don’t know our party.

Michael Gove

Full text: Michael Gove’s Conservative conference speech

From our UK edition

Our island nation has been defined by its relationship with the sea. It has been our doorway to global trade, a treasure house of oil and gas, and the home to teeming stocks of fish. But now our oceans are in danger. Danger from climate change, from chemical residues, from exploitation and indeed from plastic. The equivalent of a dumper truck of plastic is dropped in the sea every minute of every day. Unless we change course, by the year 2050 the seas will contain more plastic than fish. We cannot, and we will not, allow that to happen. Which is why we need, in the words of Winston Churchill, action this day. And we are acting. Already the plastic bag charge has cut the number distributed by almost 90 per cent.

Katy Balls

Jacob Rees-Mogg: We need to stop the ‘Ukip-isation’ of Brexit

From our UK edition

The star of Conservative party conference so far can't be found in the main hall. Instead, they are best spotted at fringe events – each of which ends up being an oversubscribed event that involves a massive queue. Step forward Jacob Rees-Mogg. The arch-Brexiteer has been causing a scene wherever he goes with activists stopping him for photos. At today's Policy Exchange fringe event – titled 'Can the Conservatives win in Canterbury and Middlesbrough at the same time?' – the Moggster only needed to take his seat on the panel to trigger cries of 'Mogg for PM!' from the audience.

Isabel Hardman

Philip Hammond’s plan won’t help the Tories defeat Labour

From our UK edition

Philip Hammond's speech showed quite how insecure the Conservatives are feeling about themselves at the moment. The Chancellor was trying to defend the Tories on their more traditional ground, giving a hug-a-business speech designed to counter both Boris Johnson's 'f*** business' line and the fears expressed by ministers and donors that the party has forgotten how to talk to the private sector.   He was also on the defensive after acknowledging that the Labour Party has tapped in to a genuine feeling of frustration among voters, but instead of trying to match the Opposition's narrative, he decided to pitch the Conservatives as the party of realism. He said: 'But let me be clear about one thing: while Labour's answers will solve nothing, their questions deserve a response.

James Forsyth

The problem with Philip Hammond’s speech

From our UK edition

Tories used to laugh at Jeremy Corbyn. But today, Philip Hammond said that the questions Labour are asking ‘deserve a response.’ He acknowledged that people feel that ‘they are working for the system but the system isn’t working for them.’ Hammond tried to deliver a response based on Tory pragmatism, making the case for evolution rather than revolution. But he warned the Tories that if they ‘look for a moment like the party of “no change”’ then Corbyn will have his chance.' The problem with Hammond’s speech, though, is that the Tories are being so incremental on domestic policy at the moment that they do risk looking like the party of ‘no change’.

Steerpike

Watch: Liam Fox blasts ‘crazy’ Lib Dems

From our UK edition

Liam Fox was once a minister in a Tory-Lib Dem government. But seven years is a long time in politics. Now, Fox has changed his mind about his former coalition partners, branding the Lib Dems 'crazy': 'When we leave the European Union, people will no longer regard themselves as leavers or remainers, a few, mostly crazy Liberal Democrats – is there any other sort? They will be the rejoiners. But in the mainstream of our politics, there will not be many rejoiners.' Fox's comments on the Tory conference fringe seemed to go down well with activists. But given that Dominic Raab has used his speech today to call for 'tolerance' in the Brexit debate, Mr S wonders whether it might be worth Raab having a quick word with his cabinet colleague...

Steerpike

Boris Johnson’s fake field of wheat

From our UK edition

Mr S was intrigued by reports that the former foreign secretary had been photographed running through a field of wheat this morning. Was it trolling Theresa May for her infamous “fields of wheat” comments during the snap election? https://twitter.com/danbloom1/status/1046685446145740800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw But on closer inspection, Boris isn’t running through a field of wheat. Indeed, the harvest has been gathered. This looks like either scrubland or a fallow field, on the basis of the plants surrounding him as he trundles along. There are the seedheads of umbellifers such as hogweed, the leaves of what looks like Field bindweed, and the seedheads of grasses, not wheat.  What can all this mean?

Isabel Hardman

Chris Grayling fails to deliver

From our UK edition

Chris Grayling opened his conference speech by talking about a 50 year delay. Initially he could have been mistaken for describing a standard train journey in the north of England, but he was actually congratulating the government on reaching a decision on aviation capacity.  Given the number of delays, cancellations and mistakes in his portfolio, the Transport Secretary had a pretty tough gig today. He did apologise for the disastrous changes to the timetable and promised that the same thing wouldn’t happen again. But while he claimed that the rail network did need ‘revolution’ rather than ‘evolution’, he then failed to announce anything that matched up to the noisy promises from the Labour Party.

James Forsyth

Dominic Raab’s conference speech won’t harm his leadership ambitions

From our UK edition

Dominic Raab has just given an impressive, grown-up speech to Tory conference that will see his stock rise still further. The Brexit Secretary began his speech by appealing for tolerance, pointing out that there were good arguments—and good people—on both sides of the referendum campaign.  He even acknowledged that some Brexiteers had been too quick to dismiss Remain’s warnings about how difficult leaving would be. It was a reminder of how much easier it is for someone who isn’t trying to prove their Brexit credentials to adopt the emollient tone that’s needed if the country is to be brought back together. Raab walked a tightrope on Chequers, defending the principles of the deal but not ruling out a different approach.

Steerpike

Watch: Philip Hammond rows back on Boris criticism

From our UK edition

It's day two of Conservative party conference and the Tory wars are in full swing. This morning it's the turn of Philip Hammond to cause trouble. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Chancellor repeatedly mocked Boris Johnson, saying that his former cabinet colleague is incapable of grown-up politics. But while Hammond was happy to dish it out, on his morning broadcast round just now he seemed somewhat more shy about repeating his criticism of Boris: https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1046647875713863680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Asked about his criticism of Boris being incapable of grown up politics, Hammond had this to say: 'No I didn't say that at all. I said Boris has his own way of doing things.' Over on the Today programme, Hammond was also fronted up about his remarks.

Sunday

Andrew Marr & Theresa May

Marr vs May on Windrush: the transcript

From our UK edition

Andrew Marr: Let me ask you about another burning injustice which you didn't mention but I think a lot of people would regard as a burning injustice: the treatment of all of those West Indian people who came here in the 1950s and 1960s – asked here to work, people from the Caribbean and elsewhere. We were very, very short of jobs in those days. We brought them into this country. And as a result of your hostile environment policy, their lives have been turned upside down. I'm talking of course of the Windrush generation. Do you not think that was a burning injustice? Theresa May: I think – and I've apologised for what happened to the Windrush generation – and it was something that was taking place over a number of years, across governments, what matters is...

Isabel Hardman

Tories try to reinvigorate their party with money for ‘diverse’ candidates

From our UK edition

The Tory conference hall is, so far, struggling to replicate the size and excitement of Labour's gathering last week. This isn't entirely the party's fault: the venue itself might be great for listening to an orchestra, but it tends to dampen what atmosphere there is. But the decline in audience enthusiasm has been taking place over a number of years across a number of venues. The reasons for this are manifold. One is that the Tories simply do not have the grassroots membership that Labour does. Another is the way Conservatives struggle to give rousing speeches about what drives them in the way that Labourites do.

Steerpike

Tory MP: Conservatives resemble ‘the armed wing of Ukip’

From our UK edition

It's day one of Tory conference and already the blue-on-blue warfare is rife. Aside from Boris-bashing in the main hall, the fringes have been witness to some choice comments. This afternoon's ‘How Can Conservatives Win Back Under 45s in 2022’ fringe event, saw a panel comprised of Justine Greening, Neil O’Brien, David Willets, George Freeman and the Times’ Rachel Sylvester gather to let off steam about Brexit and Theresa May. Freeman complained (again) that May’s Tories have ‘no vision’. However, the comment that got Mr S's attention was his claim that his party is starting to resemble the ‘armed wing of UKIP'.

Katy Balls

Jeremy Hunt talks tough on Brussels – and stokes leadership talk

From our UK edition

The most notable thing about this year's Conservative conference is the disconnect between the leadership and the members. This afternoon the fringes have been ram–packed – particularly those with Brexiteers. Meanwhile, the hall and its ministers has at points seemed rather empty. So, perhaps it makes sense then that rumoured leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt used a large part ofspeech to play up his Brexit credentials. In his first conference speech as Foreign Secretary, the reformed Remainer covered a wide range of topics – and talked tough on Europe. He compared the EU to the 'prison' of the Soviet Union as it tries to prevent member states from leaving.

Tom Goodenough

Has Priti Patel found the answer to Corbynism? | 30 September 2018

From our UK edition

What’s the antidote to Corbyn? Thatcher, according to Priti Patel. Britain’s former PM might be public enemy number one in the eyes of the Corbynistas, but it’s vital the Tories return to Thatcher’s ideas and her way of doing things. That, at least, is the verdict of Patel, the Brexit-backing former international development secretary. Patel said that Britain is now at a crossroads: a similar juncture to the one it faced when Thatcher came to power in the seventies. Back then, she said, regressive socialism was in danger of taking control. The same is happening now, according to the Tory MP, and it’s vital that the Conservatives and the government learns from a prime minister that ‘fought the left very successfully’.

Steerpike

Brandon Lewis fails to draw a crowd

From our UK edition

Oh dear. Ahead of Tory conference there had been talk among the European Research Group of plans to 'empty-hall' Theresa May's leader's speech in protest of her Brexit plan. That plot has since been abandoned. But it turns out that some Cabinet ministers are still being 'empty-halled' all on their own accord. This afternoon party chairman Brandon Lewis held a 'Challenge the Chairman' event exclusively for party members in the conference hall. Here they were given the opportunity to ask Lewis anything. Only it seems they didn't have much they wanted to say to him. Only a handful of members could be bothered to show. Mr S's mole has sent a photo of Lewis mid-session: Perhaps they were too busy preparing to get in line for the packed 17.