Uk politics

Sunday

Katy Balls

Will Theresa May make it to the summer recess?

Will Theresa May make it to the summer recess? It’s just over a week until Parliament breaks up for the long summer break yet the obstacles the Prime Minister must overcome before then are rapidly increasing in size. After May finally showed her Brexit hand, she has seen a growing Eurosceptic rebellion which shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. Over the weekend, her former minister Steve Baker accused No 10 of being part of a secret plot to render the Brexit department a ‘Potemkin structure to [distract from] what the Cabinet Office Europe unit was doing for the prime minister’. Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg offered a memorable soundbite –

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Theresa May’s hard-headed Brexit

Theresa May: People voted from the heart, but I must be hard-headed After an outbreak of discontent in the Conservative party over her Chequers Brexit plan, the Prime Minister took to the Andrew Marr Show to defend her policy. The plan led to David Davis and Boris Johnson quitting the cabinet, and there are rumours that more ministers could follow in the coming days. There is also the possibility that May could face a vote of no confidence in her leadership at any point. Marr asked her if the Chequers Agreement was letting her party and the country down: AM: There are an awful lot of Conservatives…and members of your

Katy Balls

Theresa May fights for her premiership – and reveals Trump’s advice

Theresa May appeared on the Andrew Marr sofa with her premiership at its most vulnerable point since the disastrous snap election. After a week of frontbench resignations, a US Presidential visit that resulted in humiliation, a growing eurosceptic rebellion and a downturn in the polls, May belatedly tried to sell her Brexit blueprint to the public. The Prime Minister began by attempting some honesty – she told Marr that she did accept that the position agreed at Chequers last Friday was different to what was set out in her Lancaster House speech. However, she insisted that the change was minimal and that competitive free trade deals were still possible –

Charles Moore

The irreplaceable Lord Carrington

Lord Carrington, who has just died, may well have been longer in public life than any non-royal person ever. He took his seat in the House of Lords in 1946 (having already won the MC at Nijmegen in 1944), and never really retired until ill health confined him 70 years later. Hereditary privilege, I suppose, put him in; but what kept him there, giving him office under six prime ministers, as well as making him high commissioner to Australia, secretary-general of Nato etc? The obvious answer would be that, as someone who could not be elected, he was like the eunuch in the seraglio. Certainly prime ministers were disposed to trust

Saturday

James Forsyth

Three things that Theresa May can do to try and avert a political disaster

If Theresa May gets a Brexit deal and it can’t get through parliament, then we are heading towards the most dangerous political crisis in living memory, I say in The Sun this morning. For I very much doubt that the 80 percent of MPs who are opposed to no deal, would let Britain leave without an agreement. But disregarding the result of the referendum—either by abandoning Brexit or leaving only to make Britain, effectively, a non-voting member of the EU—would cause a democratic shock. 17.4 million voters would be, understandably, furious about having their vote ignored. So, what can Mrs May do to avert this disaster? Well, I think there

Charles Moore

On Brexit, the Germans are against us

Why do the British turn to the Germans in their moments of European trouble? It never works. When Jacques Delors conceived his single currency plans, Mrs Thatcher over-relied on Karl Otto Pöhl at the Bundesbank to squash them. Dr Pöhl preferred to side with Helmut Kohl. When Britain was struggling to stay in the ERM in the late summer of 1992, the Major government put faith in what they thought were German promises to help them out. These failed to materialise. When David Cameron sought a new EU deal which would win him the 2016 referendum, he placed his greatest hopes in Angela Merkel, who offered him concessions so feeble

Friday

Freddy Gray

Admit it, Trump is right about Sadiq Khan

I’m sorry to say this, but Donald Trump really doesn’t think much about Britain at all. He may have some sentimental attachment to Scotland, because of his mother, but we’re not nearly as precious to him as we like to think. He may be blowing British minds today with his explosive Sun interview, but he’ll just shrug it off, go play golf, then meet Putin. But what Trump does have is an unthinking genius for sniffing out weakness, and he’s unthinkingly sniffed it out in Sadiq Khan. “I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad. I look at cities in Europe, and

Steerpike

Tory minister: Boris Johnson would make a terrible PM

It’s all kicking off in the Conservative party. After a week of Eurosceptic rebellion, resignations and in-fighting, Theresa May has been dealt another blow to her Brexit position in the form of President Trump. The US President has used an interview with the Sun to criticise the UK Prime Minister and appear to rule out a UK/US trade deal. He also appeared to open the door to backing a successor for May – telling the paper that Boris Johnson would make a great prime minister. Alas not everyone agrees. Margot James – a DCMS minister – has taken to social media to say that, actually, her colleague would be ‘terrible’:

Tom Goodenough

Jacob Rees-Mogg adds to Theresa May’s woes

Poor old Theresa May. Donald Trump’s Brexit comments have overshadowed the president’s long-awaited visit, but even after Trump departs for the golf course, her troubles won’t go away. Jacob Rees-Mogg offered an unwelcome reminder of that on the Today programme this morning, saying that he thought Trump had a point. Rees-Mogg said that all the president had done is spell out what was actually in the Brexit white paper. Take a look, he said, at this passage in the Brexit white paper: For once, it seems, Trump has actually done his reading. In his comments to the Sun, Trump made it clear that Theresa May’s Brexit plan would mean the

Steerpike

Watch: Nigel Farage on winding up Team Trump ahead of UK visit

President Trump’s official UK visit has turned into a nightmare for Downing Street after the US President used an interview with the Sun to suggest Theresa May had wrecked Brexit and a UK/US deal could be off the table. The comments are a gift to those Brexiteers pushing for May to change course and alter her Brexit blueprint. So, is it pure coincidence Trump has taken the side of May’s Brexit critics? Mr S only asks after Nigel Farage last night set the cat among the pigeons on BBC’s This Week. In an interview with Andrew Neil, the Ukip leader suggested that he had been winding up Trump and his team

Katy Balls

Donald Trump becomes No 10’s nightmare guest

Oh dear. After some incendiary comments earlier in the week, Donald Trump has delivered a sucker punch towards Theresa May and her Brexit plan. As the Prime Minister pulled out all the stops for the US President with a black tie dinner at Blenheim Palace, the Sun published its front page – in which Trump declares that May has ‘ruined’ Brexit and the US/UK deal is off. pic.twitter.com/YmM2ZGgAaS — Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) July 12, 2018 The US president goes on to add insult to injury by saying May’s rival Boris Johnson would make a great Prime Minister. As for that deal, he says: ‘If they do a deal like

Thursday

Jacob Rees-Mogg

The Brexit White Paper is a bad deal for Britain

This (Brexit White Paper) is the greatest vassalage since King John paid homage to Philip II at Le Goulet in 1200. This White Paper has not needed age to turn yellow. There are very few signs of the Prime Minister’s famous red lines. It is a pale imitation of the paper prepared by David Davis, a bad deal for Britain. It is not something I would vote for, nor is it what the British people voted for. In particular, this paper sets out that the UK will be subject to EU laws while having no say in their creation. The Common Rule Book will not be Common, it will be

Katy Balls

Raab talks tough on Brexit White Paper – as Brussels responds

Dominic Raab’s Commons debut as Brexit Secretary didn’t go exactly as he would have hoped. He was greeted with louder heckles than normal from the Opposition owing to the fact that the Brexit white paper had not been given to MPs prior to the statement. Despite this, Raab put in a solid performance as he tried to show it was business as usual despite a turbulent week for the government which saw David Davis and Boris Johnson quit the frontbench – and a Eurosceptic rebellion brewing. The publication of the White Paper is unlikely to calm nerves. The issues that are set to stoke the most interest include the fact the

Steerpike

Trump on May’s Brexit plan: ‘I don’t know if that is what they voted for’

Theresa May’s Chequers’ Brexit blueprint hasn’t got off to the best start this week. Before the white paper has even been published, she has seen her Brexit Secretary and Foreign Secretary quit – along with a growing backbench rebellion. Now President Trump has offered his verdict – and it’s not what you could call a diplomatic help: ‘I am going to a pretty hot spot right now with a lot of resignations. I would say Brexit is Brexit. The people voted to break it up so I would imagine that’s what they would do, but maybe they’re taking a different route – I don’t know if that is what they

Ross Clark

What happened to the Brexit exodus of foreign students?

Brexit will, of course, lead to a crash in the number of foreign students coming to racist, xenophobic Britain. We know this because the Guardian keeps telling us so. To quote one headline in the paper from April: “Vice-chancellors urge action to stop predicted 60 per cent fall in EU students”. The story went to quote Prof Julia Black, pro vice-chancellor for research at the LSE, who said: “It is hard to model how many students would pay fees 50 per cent higher when they could be taught in English in other countries for less or for free. We know from research studies that these European students just want to

Isabel Hardman

Can Sajid Javid really change immigration policy?

When Sajid Javid became Home Secretary, he did so on the basis that he would be able to undo some of the political damage done by the ‘hostile environment policy’. Last night, he rather quietly announced that a key element of this policy would be paused, something Labour’s David Lammy immediately seized upon, hauling Javid’s junior Caroline Nokes to the Commons for an urgent question. Noakes insisted that this pause was ‘temporary’, adding that she would not give consent to the data sharing between government departments and other organisations until she was confident ‘that we will not be impacting on further members of the Windrush generation’. Lammy was largely unhappy

Steerpike

Trump protests: Ash Sarkar vs Piers Morgan – ‘I’m a communist, you idiot!’

As the protesters gather for President Trump’s impending visit to the UK, a debate is going on over whether it’s all got a bit too much. Given that the US president managed to visit Emmanuel Macron in France with little hoo-ha, are some Brits overreacting over this instance of international diplomacy? That was the topic of conversation at least on the Good Morning Britain this morning. In an interview, Piers Morgan accused Ash Sarkar – the left-wing blogger – of hypocrisy for protesting Trump’s visit over his policy of splitting families on the Mexican border when she hadn’t done the same for her ‘hero’ Obama’s previous visit over his own

Freddy Gray

Donald Trump does Brexit

PART I President Donald Trump is less than impressed with Theresa May’s Brexit plan, it seems. ‘I’m not sure that’s what they voted for,’ he says. But how would he do Brexit? Boris Johnson said recently ‘Imagine Trump doing Brexit — what would he do. There’d be all sorts of breakdowns, all sorts of chaos. Everyone would think that he’d gone mad. But you might actually get somewhere.’ Well, let’s imagine … June 24, 2016 5 a.m. The votes are in and Britain has elected to leave the European Union. Prime Minister Trump leaves Downing Street and calls a special press conference at his golf course, Turnberry, in Scotland. 7.15

Brendan O’Neill

The Remainers are in charge now

There has been a Remainer coup. Remainers now inhabit virtually all of the highest offices in the land. Overnight, adherents to this minority political viewpoint seized the final levers of political power. This is the one downside — and what a downside it is — to the belated outbreak of principle among the cabinet’s Brexiteers: their walking away has allowed Theresa May to further surround herself with fellow Remainers, and pretty much expel the Brexit outlook from her cabinet. The new foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, voted Remain. As did his replacement at the Department of Health, Matt Hancock. Hancock is a former acolyte of George Osborne, arch-Remainer and now chief

Alex Massie

Theresa May’s weakness is a virtue

Something rather remarkable happened yesterday: Theresa May had a good day. This counts as news and is itself testament to the miserable time she has endured since she became Prime Minister. Some of this – much of it, in fact – was her own fault. Or at least her own responsibility. If she had called an election in September 2016 it seems likely she would have been rewarded with a handsome majority and, just as usefully, a thumping mandate for her own interpretation of Brexit. Delaying until June 2017, however, meant she missed her chance. By that stage the moment had passed. The election became another unwanted imposition. Voters, given