Uk politics

Friday

Alastair Benn

Why do Tories love Ayn Rand?

From our UK edition

Our new Home Secretary Sajid Javid is a big Ayn Rand fan: twice a year, he reads the courtroom scene in ‘The Fountainhead’. He said so in an interview with The Spectator: “It’s about the power of the individual … About sticking up for your beliefs, against popular opinion. Being that individual that really believes in something and goes for it.” This curious fetish for Ayn Rand extends to conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic – Paul Ryan often gives Rand’s novel 'Atlas Shrugged’ as a Christmas present. Javid is a capable figure who has no less of a chance of ascending to the top than any other of the Tory leadership hopefuls. If he is successful, the party of Burke and Oakeshott might just become the party of Rand.

Katy Balls

How Redditch, Peterborough and Nuneaton saved the bank holiday weekend

From our UK edition

Ahead of the local elections – and the predictions of a bloodbath for the Conservatives – it seemed a safe bet that on the night the official Tory MP WhatsApp message group would be filled with complaints about bad results – possibly bad leadership – and a number of Conservative MPs warning emotional colleagues to hold it together and get behind Theresa May. Instead, the problem was of another variety: 'where's my graphic?' Tory MPs used the thread to complain not about their leader but the fact the 'Tory held' or 'Tory win' Twitter banners weren't ready in time to share. As Theresa May goes into the weekend, her position looks safe.

Steerpike

Watch: Martin Lewis schools Labour MP on Question Time over tuition fees

From our UK edition

In the flurry of excitement over the local elections, Chi Onwurah’s Question Time appearance has been cruelly overlooked. Happily, Mr S is on hand to right this wrong. The Labour MP's attempt to criticise the Tories over student loans backfired last night. The Labour MP spoke of her apparent fears that a working-class student could be put off university by the amount they would have to pay back. But Onwurah didn't account for a furious Martin Lewis, who was also on the Question Time panel, taking her to task for her comments: Astonishing scenes on #bbcqt as a furious moneysaving expert Martin Lewis destroys Labour’s Chi Onwurah over her attempts use student debt as a political football.... Lewis brings the house down.

James Kirkup

The Tories should learn from Wandsworth – not celebrate it

From our UK edition

I live in Wandsworth. It’s nice. That’s not a political comment, just an observation on the borough. OK, it’s not edgy or cool or even wildly imaginative, but neither am I. It is also the sort of place the Tories should win at a canter. There’s a reason it’s called a flagship council, after all. It’s still Conservative today and Tories are celebrating that: Theresa May has been in the borough lauding “success” and noting that Labour threw a lot of resources at Wandsworth and appeared to believe that it really might turn the borough red. Of course, a win’s a win and nothing else really matters, but I can’t help thinking May might have found a better place to celebrate the absence of Tory disaster in the local election stalemate.

Steerpike

Watch: Red Ken doubles down on Hitler

From our UK edition

Has Labour’s anti-Semitism row cost the party in the local elections? Given their disappointing results in areas with a large number of Jewish voters, such as Barnet, it would seem so. So is Ken Livingstone feeling apologetic for repeatedly talking about Hitler? Not so, if his interview on Sky News just now was anything to go on. Instead of apologising for embarrassing his party, Ken doubled down on his comments, and again droned on about Adolf Hitler’s view of zionism: 'There is a lot of Jewish people not just in Barnet but all over the place who believe I said Hitler was a zionist. That was the big smear on the day that I was suspended.

Steerpike

Ukip’s general secretary compares party to the black death

From our UK edition

Ukip has had a dismal night in the local elections: the party is so far down 92 seats, and retains only two council seats across Britain. Some politicians might do their best to try and put a gloss on things – but not Ukip's general secretary, Paul Oakley, who has compared his party to the black death. Oakley told the Today programme: UKIP's general secretary @PaulJamesOakley compares his party to the Black Death. ☠️ He claims that's not a bad thing and says it's not over for his party. #Election2018 #r4today pic.twitter.com/dJ0Tim3Mns— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 4, 2018 'Think of the Black Death in the Middles Ages. It comes along, goes dormant, and then comes back' So was the comparison the result of a lack of sleep overnight for Oakley?

Steerpike

Watch: John McDonnell loses his temper

From our UK edition

It's been a somewhat disappointing night for Labour, and Mr S wonders whether his party's failure might have upset John McDonnell. Earlier this morning, the shadow chancellor was taken to task for his comments about Esther McVey being lynched. Claire Perry called for McDonnell to say sorry – an opportunity McDonnell turned down. Here's how their exchange unfolded on BBC News: Perry: Are you going to apologise now? This is your chance to say sorry. Look at this hand gesture: get back in your box, woman. McDonnell: This is unacceptable in a programme like this   So, Minister Claire Perry tries to get John McDonnell to apologise for saying he thought Esther McVey should be lynched. Instead, he tries to shut her up.

Steerpike

Local election analysis: Owen Jones’s success* rate

From our UK edition

Owen Jones has been on a mission of late – a mission to unseat Tories. The Guardian columnist has been taking his campaign to key Labour target seats. Only despite the Guardian columnist's best efforts, Labour have had a rather underwhelming night in the local elections. So, in order to help with future planning, Mr S thought it might be helpful to examine the varying degrees of success* when it comes to Jones's campaign work: Owen Jones visited Kensington Tory HOLD Owen Jones campaigned in Kensington where Labour had high hopes of making gains and perhaps even taking control of the council. This would have been the crown jewel in their campaign. Alas it wasn't to be, there was only one Tory loss despite the Tory council coming under heavy criticism for the handling of Grenfell.

James Forsyth

Theresa May’s good night

From our UK edition

Theresa May has not had a good week. She has lost her Home Secretary and had the Brexit inner Cabinet knock back her customs partnership. But the overnight results in the local elections won’t increase the pressure on her. For the Tories have quite comfortably beaten expectations, which were—as Katy says —pretty low. Back in January, those Tory MPs who want May out thought that the local elections results would provide an opportunity for a renewed push against her. This is now clearly not the case. No one will be sending their letters in because of these results and no Tory MP will be more worried about losing their seat at the next election than they were this time yesterday.

Katy Balls

Conservatives win the expectation management game in disappointing night for Labour

From our UK edition

The Conservatives have had a successful night – at least when it comes to their expectation management campaign. There will be sighs of relief in CCHQ this morning over the first influx of local election results after the much anticipated Tory bloodbath in the local elections appears to have been more of a light wound than anything fatal. The Tories have managed to hold control of both Wandsworth and Westminster. There had been a consensus growing that were they to hold on to just one of these council it could be spun as a success. If they can hold on to Kensington – which they are now expected to – and stop Labour from taking control of Barnet then the London results will start to look rather positive relatively speaking.

The Spectator

Live local elections 2018: Labour falls short in London

From our UK edition

The key results from the 2018 local elections: The Tories win Barnet and hold Westminster and Wandsworth, despite predictions Labour could seize the two Tory strongholds Labour take control of Plymouth from the Tories The Lib Dems win Richmond and Kingston-upon-Thames, on a good night for Vince Cable Ukip's falling vote share hands the Tories control in Basildon and Peterborough.

Thursday

Nick Cohen

Britain is changing and conservatives are failing to keep up

From our UK edition

Conservatism would be an admirable idea if only its adherents followed it. Fear of change, or at least a wariness about its capacity to lead to unintended suffering, is by no means an irrational emotion. If your society is just about managing, to coin a phrase, it is not reactionary to worry that meddling could take it from bad to worse. Even those of us who have never voted Conservative can see the wisdom in the conservative philosopher Michael Oakeshott’s description of politics: ‘Men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place nor appointed destination. The enterprise is to keep afloat on an even keel.

Steerpike

Reasons to vote Conservative: Numbers 1-4

From our UK edition

As voters head to the polls today, the Conservatives are hoping their reputation for bin management will trump any concerns over the government's Brexit plans. However, Mr S suspects not all of the Tory literature used will have the desired effect. In Ilford Town, a leaflet went out to residents listing four reasons to vote for the area's Conservative candidates. Only a printing error meant that these 'reasons' consisted of dummy text – rather than any achievement: 'Three lines of text about what issues/projects/policies you've already fone or are doing or will be doing in your ward/area.' Readers are welcome to enter their own suggestions in the comments below.

James Forsyth

Theresa May’s diminishing authority

From our UK edition

What happened yesterday is quite remarkable. The Prime Minister summed her inner Cabinet to discuss the biggest question facing the country, the defining issue of her premiership. She told them what she thought the right solution was. Then, a majority of the committee rejected her preferred outcome. What makes this rebuff of Theresa May all the more extraordinary is that two of the members of the committee who went against her are people who she has recently promoted. On Monday, Theresa May elevated Sajid Javid to a great office of state. On Wednesday, he took the opposite position to her in this crunch meeting of the Brexit inner Cabinet.

Steerpike

Tory MP: I take a spanking without any problem

From our UK edition

MPs are busy debating criminal barristers in the House of Commons: not the most exciting of topics, admittedly, but some are at least doing their best to liven up the discussion. Step forward, Tory MP Bob Stewart, who responded to being rebuked by John Bercow by saying: 'As ever I take a spanking without any problem' Sounds painful...

Ross Clark

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s critics are missing the point

From our UK edition

Surprisingly though it may be to some of my readers I have never been that bothered about Brexit. I even voted Remain – not on the strength of the economic arguments, which I thought fairly evenly balanced – but because I could see the danger in precipitating the break-up of the European Union: that it might lead to the drift back eastwards of former Soviet bloc countries. But once the decision was made I was very happy that it be executed, so long as it be in an economically liberal way and done properly; not leaving us stuck in some halfway house where we are bound to EU rules, bound to its trade policy, paying into its coffers and yet without a hand on the tiller.

Tom Goodenough

The key battlegrounds to watch in the 2018 local elections

From our UK edition

The Tories are in for a torrid time in today's local elections if the polls are anything to go on. Results are expected to be particularly bad for the party in the capital, with the Conservatives trailing Labour by 22 points in London, according to YouGov. But can the polls be trusted? Or could Tory gains in the Midlands undermine Labour’s success in the south? Here are the key battlegrounds to watch overnight: 1am: Basildon: Ukip was the only party to make gains in Basildon in 2016; two years on, their prospects are rather bleaker. The Tories – who have 19 seats on the council – will be hoping to snatch away some of the ten seats Ukip are defending in order to take back overall control of the council.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

May’s Customs Partnership takes a hammering at Brexit cabinet meeting

From our UK edition

Theresa May will be wishing Amber Rudd was still Home Secretary tonight following a fiery meeting of her Brexit inner cabinet on the issue of the customs union. The Prime Minister convened a three hour long meeting of her senior ministers in a bid to finally thrash out a plan for a post-Brexit customs arrangement to put to Brussels. However, things did not go quite to plan – with a decision delayed after a number of ministers raising serious concerns with No 10's favoured option. The most revealing aspect of the meeting relates to the customs partnership that Downing Street wants to push. This hybrid customs model would in theory keep trade flowing freely by having the UK collect tariffs on the EU’s behalf.

Steerpike

Revealed: the truth about Evening Standard’s Conservative MP ‘defection’ letter

From our UK edition

Although the Conservatives have managed a successful expectation management campaign ahead of the local elections, were the Tories to lose control of Kensington council, it would be hard to spin it as anything other than a total disaster. So, a letter from a former Conservative MP in today's Evening Standard declaring his intention to vote Labour in the borough appears to be a taste of bad things to come. Keith Raffan – the Conservative MP for the Welsh seat of Delyn from 1983–92 – says he was left with no other choice after meeting two less than ideal Tory candidates: However, before the Tories get too worried it turns out Raffan's 'defection' isn't such a scandal as the paper suggests.

Lloyd Evans

Jeremy Corbyn’s PMQs capitulation

From our UK edition

It was a masterclass in capitulation, a stunning act of self-slaughter. And yet, in a way, it was pitifully inept. At PMQs, Corbyn behaved like a quicksand victim who sucks in his breath in order to speed his descent.  May arrived at the House in trouble. Her Home Secretary has resigned and the PM has not yet picked her way clear of the Windrush omnishambles. Corbyn seemed unaware that Amber Rudd’s scalp was dangling from his belt and he surrendered the trophy as soon as he opened his mouth. He blamed Windrush on ‘successive home secretaries’. May pounced on this lazy soundbite, and extended its scope: 'Including the last Labour government.