Uk politics

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Corbyn is missing an opportunity each week at PMQs

Neither Theresa May nor Jeremy Corbyn are great Commons’ performers. PMQs is, more often than not these days, a no score draw. Today’s exchanges were slightly better than usual. The collapse of Carillion is right in Jeremy Corbyn’s wheel-house. But, once again, his failure to be forensic let him down. At the end of the session, we didn’t know any more than we did at the beginning.  Corbyn failed to come back on the question of whether the government was awarding contracts to Carillion because of, not despite, its profit warnings. His blanket opposition to private sector involvement in the provision of public services also meant that he didn’t hammer home how the Tories have failed to break up the outsourcing oligopoly.

James Kirkup

In praise of Michael Gove and his reusable cup

I’m drinking coffee as a write this. That’s not unusual. I drink a lot of coffee, much of it bought from the Pret a Manger that is almost dangerously close to my office in Westminster. (I judge my days by how many meals I eat from that Pret: often two and sometimes three. My life is awesome.) What is unusual is that the coffee isn’t in a paper cup. It’s in a mug, an ordinary ceramic mug, which I put in my pocket and took to Pret. I handed it over to be filled up and instead of paying the 99p Pret normally asks for a filter coffee (tip for fans of what a dear colleague used to call 'ghetto latte': ask for hot milk) I was charged 49p. Then I walked back to my office with my mug. Why am I bothering you with the mundane details of think-tank life?

Alex Massie

Nicola Sturgeon is running out of popularity – and time

Time is beginning to run out for Nicola Sturgeon. That, at any rate, is one conclusion to be drawn from today’s YouGov poll for the Times. As many Scots now disapprove of Ms Sturgeon as approve of her and the SNP’s poll ratings continue to show no signs of benefitting from the Brexit bounce the party expected.  That bounce continues to elude the nationalist movement. And if this has surprised the SNP, it has also surprised every other party leader in Scotland just as, to be frank, it has surprised most of us in the commentary game too. It turns out there is limited enthusiasm for responding to one constitutional clusterfuck with another.  Even so, it is important to note that support for independence – at 43 per cent – has only barely diminished.

Katy Balls

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s new Brexit role will worry No 10

Although Jacob Rees-Mogg missed out on a promotion in last week's reshuffle, the Moggster has at least got a new string to add to his bow. The Conservative backbencher has been appointed chairman of the all-powerful 'European Research Group' – replacing Suella Fernandes. The group has been described by the Times as the 'most powerful opposition force in British politics' but in effect is a place for the Conservative party's most dedicated Brexiteers to congregate, liaise and come up with a counter to any position (government or not) that looks a bit too Remain for their liking. In that vein, they have a special Tory WhatsApp group – separate to the main Conservative MP one – to meet their aims.

Gavin Mortimer

Theresa May could learn a lot from Emmanuel Macron

Theresa May hosts Emmanuel Macron at Sandhurst tomorrow, an encounter that is unlikely to paint the British Prime Minister in a flattering light. Their styles of leadership are chalk and fromage, one assertive and confident, the other apologetic and diffident. In particular, May's growing custom for contrition is eroding her authority. Unless she's personally responsible for spreading Aussie flu why did May say sorry for the recent NHS crisis? It's not a Prime Minister's job to grovel to the public; it's her ministers. But now she's set a precedent and so every time something goes wrong her opponents will demand an apology. If she refuses, they'll say she's callous. Macron doesn't do apologies.

Stephen Daisley

Labour’s beleaguered moderates must act now before it’s too late

When is left-wing not left-wing enough? Veteran Labour organiser Ann Black is finding out the hard way. Yesterday morning, she was the respected chair of the disputes panel, the party’s internal disciplinary committee, and responsible for investigating anti-Semitism and other accusations against members. Now, she is the respected former chair, ousted in a Momentum-led coup as the far-left celebrates its majority on the National Executive Committee with a bit of muscle-flexing.  Black is not some Blairite ultra. She was elected on the leftist Grassroots Alliance slate. What changed? Well, some comrades have not been impressed by her handling of suspensions.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

The case for more NHS cash is growing

Theresa May likes to boast at Prime Minister’s Questions that mental health spending is increasing. The problem is that this is rather difficult to see on the ground. The King’s Fund today published a report saying the gap between spending on hospitals and mental health widened further in the last year. The think tank even said that there was an increased risk to patient safety in more than a half of mental health trusts because of staffing shortages, and that ‘the government’s mission to tackle the burning injustices faced by people with mental health problems will remain out of reach if things stay the way they are’. The King’s Fund’s analysis found that income for mental health trusts rose by less than 2.

Steerpike

Watch: Ken Clarke sends fellow Tory MP to sleep

Ken Clarke is back on his feet talking about Brexit in the Commons again – but his speech has not gone down well with all of his colleagues. Sitting behind him, his fellow Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne struggled to stay awake as Clarke talked about the rights of EU citizens. Swayne even appeared to nod off at one point. Mr S thinks Swayne could be forgiven for thinking he had heard it all before...

James Forsyth

Donald Tusk’s Brexit comments should worry the government

Donald Tusk’s comments, echoed by Jean-Claude Juncker, that Britain could still change its mind on Brexit should worry the UK government. Why? Because as long as senior figures in the EU think there is a chance Brexit won’t happen, there’s very little incentive for them to think creatively about the future relationship. Instead, the temptation for them is to offer as little as possible in the hope that this might prompt a change of heart in London. Now, realistically, I think Brexit is going to happen. The referendum and the parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50 means that it is very hard for it not to, though what kind of Brexit it is—obviously—is very much up for grabs.

Ross Clark

Has the era of low inflation really come to an end?

How many times have you heard in recent months that the era of low inflation is at an end?  The case for that assertion is beginning to look somewhat shaky. This morning brings news that the rate of inflation last month – at least as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) – fell slightly in December from 3.1 per cent to 3.0 per cent. While that is hardly a dramatic move it shows that, once again, the surge in inflation predicted by some has failed to materialise. Now that the inflationary effect of a fall in the pound in the second half of 2016 has dropped out of the annual figures there is every reason to suspect that November’s CPI figure of 3.1 per cent will represent the peak of the current inflationary cycle.

Steerpike

Andrea Leadsom sees green over Gove

Whether it's authentic or not, the Conservative party is going green. Following Michael Gove's reinvention as resident eco-warrior, the party has been pushing green policies – from extending plastic bag charges to saving trees in Sheffield – in a bid to prove they care. Today Gove's Cabinet colleagues were brought into the fold – each being gifted a re-usable coffee cup this morning at Cabinet. However, could it be another Cabinet member who is really behind the green revolution? Step forward Andrea Leadsom. It's been remarked to Mr S that Gove's predecessor in Defra 'never misses the chance' to mention that many of good news green initiatives coming from that department were started when she was Defra Secretary.

Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Carillion represents a catastrophic failure by politicians

Theresa May has said the collapse of Carillion is 'extremely regrettable'. But with tens of thousands of jobs at risk and the firm's numerous contracts now in jeopardy, ‘it is worse than that’, says the Times. The paper argues that the outsourcing giant’s ‘failure calls into question the government’s ability to agree and manage contracts with such companies’. It also raises another question: why did ‘ministers fail to anticipate this fiasco’? After all, the firm’s troubles were no secret: Carillon has issued a number of profit warnings and hedge funds have been betting against the firm for a number of years, the Times points out.

Monday

Steerpike

John Humphrys, equal pay crusader

It's been an awkward week or so for John Humphrys. The Today programme presenter – who is thought to earn over £600,000 per annum – found himself in the naughty corner when an audio surfaced of Humphrys appearing to make light of his colleague Carrie Gracie's decision to stand down as China editor over 'pay discrimination'. His comments were met with fury by many BBC colleagues concerned over the corporation's gender pay gap. So let's spare a minute to pay tribute the bright spark at the Beeb who decided it would be a good idea to get Humphrys to grill the Guardian's Katharine Viner over potential gender pay imbalance at the Grauniad.

James Forsyth

What does Momentum’s NEC clean sweep mean for Labour?

Perhaps, the most remarkable thing about Momentum’s clean sweep in Labour’s National Executive Committee elections was how expected it was.  If even two years ago, you’d have told people in the Labour party that Jeremy Corbyn would not only still be leader but have solid support in the shadow Cabinet and a majority on the NEC they’d have been shocked and fearful about the Corbynite left’s ability to rewrite the rules of this party. So, what will the Corbynite left do with this power? There’s lots of speculation today about mandatory re-selection and a purge of moderate MPs. But I am sceptical as to whether this will happen anytime soon. At the moment, there’s limited resistance within the Parliamentary Labour Party to what Corbyn is doing.

Steerpike

John Bercow lectures Gavin Williamson on the perils of press briefings

Ever since Gavin Williamson was appointed Defence Secretary, there has been a briefing war between the Ministry of Defence and the Treasury over defence spending. Keen to prove his defence credentials, Williamson – or Private Pike as the Chancellor's allies prefer to refer to him – has hardly discouraged backbench MPs from kicking up a fuss over planned cuts to his department. With cost-cutting proposals for the military leaked – including plans to axe 11,000 Army troops and 2,000 Royal Marines – just days ago, this afternoon Williamson was summoned to the Commons to answer an urgent question from Julian Lewis on the reported plans in the review.

Steerpike

Eddie Izzard left out in the cold… again

Here we go again. The results of the latest election for Labour's National Executive Committee are in and it's a clear run for Momentum. The three members selected are all Momentum candidates: Jon Lansman, Yasmine Dar and Rachel Garnham. Alas, not everyone is a winner. Or more precisely, Eddie Izzard is not a winner. The comedian-turned-aspiring-politician has missed out on a place on the NEC for the second time – coming in fourth. https://twitter.com/jonlansman/status/952870325733285888 Still, Mr S could have predicted this would happen. Every campaign the cross-dressing comedian attaches himself to has a tendency to end in failure.

Rupert Darwall

The Tories’ green wheeze won’t win them the next election

Conservative ministers are going through a green fit in an attempt to appeal to voters they lost at the last election. They want to show the world they’re doing good. ‘You know what some people call us – the plastic bag party,’ seems to be the political re-branding calculation. As the former No.10 spin doctor Katie Perrior remarked in the Times last week, the Prime Minister’s enthusiasm for protecting the environment may not be insincere, but it is certainly new. In reality, the May government’s greenwashing is classic displacement activity. Productivity numbers released by the Office for National Statistics earlier this month should be front and centre of every government policy.

Nick Cohen

How to ban newspapers and influence people

How to signal your virtue is one of the most perplexing problems in modern etiquette. It has to be done, obviously. No one can get on in life, or at least on Twitter, without making clear to friends and strangers that they are for good things and against bad things. So pressing has the need for self-promotion become, people stop me in the streets and ask: “How do I do it, Nick? How do I boost my profile and maybe getting a slot on Radio 4, while I’m about it?” I’m tired of being bothered, so I’ll put my reply on the Web. The path of the self-righteous is strewn with obstacles, I reply. You can set off in the morning, face shining with holiness, your limbs strong and supple as you stride forward, only to find yourself tumbling over a cliff by lunchtime.

Stephen Daisley

A digital toolkit for young Tories

OMG. New Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis has announced a ‘digital toolkit’ to help young right-wingers battle the Left on social media. Lewis wants 'more of our activists and people who support some of the principles we're outlining... getting out there in the digital world saying so and spreading that message with us'. To that end, he will be supplying Tory students with ‘graphics, Gifs and videos’ to communicate party values and policy positions. Srsly? Srsly. Lulz. I've had a sneak peek at one of Lewis’s starter packs. It looks promising... Draw on all the latest online internet memes to get your point across Say things like: ‘Charlie bit your finger? When will Sadiq Khan tackle London’s violent crime epidemic?

Ross Clark

Henry Bolton’s critics should tread carefully

Were I a politician observing Henry Bolton’s embarrassment with glee I think I might just stop short of demanding his resignation as leader of Ukip. What point, anyway, in trying to destabilise a party which has destabilised itself to the point at which nearly every credible challenger for the leadership seems already to have left – along with quite a few incredible ones? Why not just sit back and enjoy the sight of an old fool falling in love with young glamour puss and falling flat on his face? Any public figure who goes further might find that it comes back to haunt them. As Lara Prendergast wrote in this week's Spectator, the age of social media has become a trap for anyone with any kind of past online life.