Uk politics

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Brexit is becoming a ‘just war’, with predictable consequences

Brexit could split the Tory party. So many people wrote articles arguing this before and after David Cameron called the EU referendum, but it was generally assumed that the split would involve disgruntled eurosceptics claiming they had been betrayed after Britain voted to stay in the bloc after all. It was also generally assumed that the split would at least involve something quite serious. But today MPs are locked in a war of words over whether or not they should get a ‘meaningful’ vote on the final Brexit deal. Those in favour defeated the government last night: Theresa May’s first serious Commons defeat since the snap election.

Katy Balls

How can May stop the Brexit mutineers from becoming the new Tory ‘bastards’?

The decision made by 11 Conservative MPs to rebel and back Dominic Grieve's amendment for a 'meaningful vote' on the final Brexit deal has received a mixed reaction in the Conservative party. Nadine Dorries – a one-time serial rebel herself – has suggested they ought to be deselected, while Henry Smith managed a slightly more nuanced tone on the Daily Politics when he said the rebels had 'betrayed' voters. Add to this, several hostile front pages naming and shaming the rebels and there's a feeling that ostracism is the preferred way to deal with them. As Robert Peston writes on Coffee House, in practical terms the Brexit rebellion is an embarrassment for May, not a disaster.

Ross Clark

Theresa May should have backed down in her Brexit battle with Parliament

This morning has brought predictable outrage about Tory ‘traitors’. The Prime Minister has been undermined, Guy Verhofstadt has had his fun describing it as a ‘good day for democracy’. The government has been reduced to damage-limitation, suggesting that last night’s defeat – which means that Parliament will now have the final say on a Brexit deal – won’t derail its plans. That is true. Allowing Parliament the final judgement on the deal almost certainly won’t alter the outcome: Britain will leave the EU on 29 March 2019 with whatever deal the government is able to cut with Michel Barnier and his team.

James Kirkup

Angry Leavers must accept that ‘hard’ Brexit died on election night

Some Brexiteers are angry. This is not news. This has been true since about 20 minutes after the referendum result was declared. There are some Leavers who have been looking, since 24 June last year, for a new grievance, fresh evidence they are being betrayed and denied, generally by some shadowy group they describe as 'the establishment' or 'the elite'. (Please note that I say 'some' Leavers, not all. More people in politics and journalism should distinguish between members of a group and the whole group). Some of that anger is understandable. For years and decades, anyone who espoused leaving the EU was ignored and marginalised and called a crackpot. I’d be angry too if someone told me my views were illegitimate or mad.

Steerpike

War of words: Tory MP vs Tory MP – ‘get over yourself Nadine!’

Although the 11 Tory rebels who led the government to defeat last night night on Dominic Grieve's amendment calling for a meaningful vote have been lauded as heroes by Remain groups, they are receiving a different reception within their own party. While some Conservatives – such as Nick Boles – say they respect the decision made by their colleagues, others have seen red. Take for example Nadine Dorries. The Leave-backing MP took to social media to suggest Grieve's disloyalty meant he did not deserve his prestigious role as chair of the Intelligence and Security committee. Only one of the Tory rebels took issue with Dorries tweet. Sarah Wollaston replied to tell Dorries: 'Get over yourself'.

Tom Goodenough

What the papers say: Theresa May’s bitter humiliation

The government’s defeat in the House of Commons last night amounts to a ‘bitter humiliation’ for ministers, says the Sun. It is also ‘a moment of shame for the Tory “rebels”’. In defeating the government, the Tory MPs who sided with the opposition ‘utterly compromised’ Theresa May as she heads to Brussels today. As well as making life difficult for the Prime Minister, they have also ‘handed a victory’ to those who want to reverse Brexit, says the Sun. Now the onus is on the PM to ‘find a solution’ to the challenge of negotiating a deal ‘without fearing Remainers in Parliament will kill it’.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

The government should have listened to the rebels, not tried to crush them

The government has just been defeated in the House of Commons on whether the final Brexit deal will get a ‘meaningful vote’ by Parliament. MPs voted 309-305 to pass the amendment to the EU withdrawal bill by Dominic Grieve. There were dramatic scenes in the Commons, as MPs had initially believed that the government had won. This was based on the way one of the tellers for the rebels was standing in the Chamber (the tellers are MPs who announce the result, and they stand according to whether the Ayes or Noes have it). Heidi Alexander only moved to the other side of the floor at the very last minute, revealing that there had in fact been a government defeat.

Isabel Hardman

May survives awkward PMQs on homelessness

Both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May turned up in good form to PMQs today. The Labour leader was unusually nimble with his ripostes, deploying statistics on home ownership straight after the Prime Minister’s mockery of the Labour party’s attitude towards home ownership. But as usual, he didn’t manage to make the homeslessness figures that he made his key theme for his questions into a matter of great discomfort for May. The Prime Minister, for her part, managed to recover from each attack pretty well, arguing that the Conservatives were the party who believed in building more homes so that people could have a roof over their heads. She did, though, deploy what might politely be called a sleight of hand in response to one question about homes being fit for human habitation.

James Forsyth

How Ruth Davidson plans to become First Minister of Scotland

Ruth Davidson is clear in her interview with Fraser Nelson and me that she won’t be making her mind up about standing for a Westminster seat until after the Scottish Parliament election in 2021. Why does Davidson want to wait until then before making any decision? Because she thinks she can become First Minister of Scotland. This might seem a bit bizarre, delusional even; the Labour revival in Scotland means that the Tories are sometimes coming third in the polls and it is hard to see what other party would back her for the job. But Davidson is convinced that there is a ‘clear route’ to the Scottish Tories taking power.

Katy Balls

Why the Conservatives are pushing a green agenda

One of the things MPs complain about when it comes to Brexit – aside from its handling by the government – is that it means there is little time left for the Conservatives to pursue much in the terms of domestic policy. The one area which appears to be the exception to the rule is the environment. Since Michael Gove was appointed Defra secretary, there have been a raft of good news announcements coming from the department. From a £140 million fund for developing countries to tackle climate change and a clean energy programme to reintroducing beavers into the wild and saving trees in Sheffield, the Conservatives are on a mission to rebrand themselves as the party of the environment.

Steerpike

Boris Johnson’s hostile reception

Ever since the EU referendum, Boris Johnson has found his local neighbourhood in Islington turn a little bit frosty. Residents in the Remain-voting borough have taken on occasion to heckling him over his pro-Brexit stance. Happily, the Foreign Secretary has since managed to find a safe space – even if it is a little far away. Speaking at the Foreign Office Christmas reception in Lancaster House, Johnson was lauded by government officials for proving Britain's global reach by receiving a warm reception on the streets of Tehran, on his recent trip to Iran– to try and free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Johnson proceeded to joke to a room full of diplomats: 'I think my reception on the streets of Tehran was in fact better than what I sometimes get on the streets of Islington.

Tuesday

James Forsyth

Why the Tories are wrong to restore the whip to Anne Marie Morris

The Tories have decided to restore the whip to Anne Marie Morris. The Newton Abbot MP had it suspended for using the phrase the ‘n----- in the woodpile’ at a think tank event. This decision is a mistake. Whatever Morris says, it is hard to see how anyone could use this phrase unintentionally and it is clearly offensive. Restoring the whip to Morris less than six months after it was taken away from her suggests that the Tories are not taking this incident as seriously as they should. This is the wrong call both politically and morally. Morally, this kind of casual use of racist language is deplorable bad manners.

Isabel Hardman

Tory MPs express fears about refuge cuts

Tory MPs are now sufficiently worried about the changes to the way that refuges for domestic abuse victims are funded that they have started to speak out publicly. This morning, in a Westminster Hall debate, three Conservative backbenchers told the Communities and Local Government minister Marcus Jones that the government ‘must intervene’ to stop refuges closing as a result of these funding changes. Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully, Bolton West MP Chris Green, and Ochil and South Perthshire MP Luke Graham all expressed concerns about the new funding model. Both Scully and Graham described how members of their own families had been victims of domestic violence.

Douglas Murray

Sadiq Khan should tell Trump the truth about multicultural London

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, likes to make a stand. Specifically he likes to present himself (and the city in which he has been elected Mayor) as an antidote to global concerns about immigration, human unpleasantness in general and Donald Trump in particular. For instance, on the BBC on Sunday morning he explained his opposition to President Trump receiving a state visit to the UK. Though he added: ‘If [Trump] wants to meet with the Mayor of London, of course I’d be happy to meet with him and show him parts of London where Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs, members of organised faiths and those that aren’t, don’t just tolerate each other but respect, celebrate and embrace each other.

Steerpike

Sajid Javid’s strong and stable jibe

With two new polls putting the Conservatives ahead of Labour for the first time since the snap election, there's reason for Christmas cheer in No 10. However, despite this, the result of the disastrous election remains a sore point in government. So, Steerpike was curious to see Sajid Javid make a joke at the expense of Theresa May and her election campaign in a speech to the Federation of Master Builders. Talking about the work the FMB does, the Secretary of State for local government said that not even Winston Churchill was immune to 'shoddy workmanship' – before going on to suggest May was: 'After all, none of us are immune from the kind of shoddy workmanship the FMB protects against. Even Winston Churchill.

Brendan O’Neill

Let’s hear the good news about Brexit more often

In my lifetime, I cannot remember any thing or idea or person getting as bad a press as Brexit has. It’s relentless. It’s not daily — it’s hourly, minutely, by the second. Open a newspaper, switch on the radio, browse the web, and there it is: more Brexit-fear, more predictions of economic calamity and national decline if we continue down this course dumbly mapped out for us by the electorate. It’s exhausting to read; heaven knows what it must be like to write it! I fear for the sanity of the Brexit Doom hack. No doubt reporters and columnists will say they’re doing their job and reporting uncomfortable facts. But to me — and, I imagine, to many people outside of the media bubble — it smacks of the politics of fear.

Matthew Lynn

The last thing the UK needs is higher Scottish taxes

A top rate of 50 percent? A wider range of tax bands? Lower allowances? Or some combination of all three? When it unveils its Budget on Thursday, the Scottish National Party is just about certain to use its power to increase income taxes. The only real debate is about who will take the hit. On the day, Nicola Sturgeon will no doubt wheel out the usual lines about the need to ‘invest’ in public services, reverse ‘Tory cuts’, and perhaps add in a sound-bite or two about the damage done by a ‘hard Brexit’. And yet, in fact higher taxes will only damage the Scottish economy, and by extension the whole of the UK. We will all end paying a price for the SNP’s recklessness.

Steerpike

Gavin Williamson’s Christmas cheer

It's party season in Westminster and last night saw the Women's Lobby drinks reception, Jeffrey Archer's festive drinks – or, if you were lucky enough to receive the invitation, Gavin Williamson's Christmas drinks. The newly-installed Defence Secretary invited a select group of MPs to the vaults of the Ministry of Defence, where he gave a reportedly inspirational speech – telling attendees that the time had come for him to listen to the needs of MPs rather than tell them how to act, as he had done in his previous incarnation as Chief Whip. With the speech one that would not look out of sorts in a leadership campaign, MPs are beginning to ask what Williamson's end game is.

Katy Balls

What is Gavin Williamson up to?

What is Gavin Williamson playing at? That's the question on the lips of Conservative MPs after two weeks of mayhem which have seen the beginnings of a defence budget rebellion complete with a briefing war with the Treasury. Since his surprise appointment as Defence Secretary, the former Chief Whip has been keen to prove his credentials – and commitment to his department – even if he does lack a military background. So far, this has involved banning Philip Hammond from flying in RAF jets until he paid his outstanding bill (now paid), a call for British jihadists to be hunted down and killed in the Middle East rather than allowed to return to the UK and a prominent role (including photo opp) in a campaign to save a pair of service dogs.

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May’s poll lead still gives the Tories little to cheer about

Corbynistas are curiously quiet this morning about the latest YouGov poll, which puts Theresa May narrowly ahead of the Labour leader for the first time since June. 42 per cent of voters back the Tories, with 41 per cent saying they would vote for Labour. May’s success in securing a deal with the EU in the first stage of Brexit talks seems to be the clear reason for this latest small boost. For a government low on confidence and on the back of a difficult year, it is a welcome sign. But this lead, which falls within the margin of error in polling, is nothing for the Tories to really cheer about. Indeed it still shows that the party is down on its support from the snap election, when it secured 42.4 per cent of the vote.