Uk politics

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Theresa May has just shown she really is serious about Brexit

‘Brexit means Brexit’ has been Theresa May’s message since she started running for the Tory leadership. But Brexit could mean a whole variety of things. For example, a Norwegian-style deal with the EU would, technically, be ‘Brexit’. But now, Theresa May has shown real intent. She has demonstrated that she really is serious about this. She has appointed three leavers to the key Brexit-related jobs in government. David Davis will be Secretary of State for exiting the EU, Liam Fox gets the International Trade job and Boris Johnson the Foreign Office. The David Davis appointment is particularly striking. He resigned, unexpectedly, from David Cameron’s shadow Cabinet. Putting him in charge

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron’s legacy is out of his control

It was a rather cruel pathetic fallacy that the Prime Minister who had to resign early after creating a political storm by accidentally taking Britain out of the European Union gave his final speech from Downing Street under rumbling, rolling storm clouds. At one point, the wind whooshed back David Cameron’s hair and rain began to splatter on the hundreds of cameras watching his statement. Cameron clearly wanted to use the statement to tell the British people what he thought his legacy was, and to highlight the ways in which he thought he had performed particularly well. He of course listed his achievements on the economy, particularly when it came

Isabel Hardman

Where will Theresa May get her policies from?

Theresa May takes over as Prime Minister this afternoon much sooner than she expected at the start of the week. First on her agenda is to appoint her Cabinet, which we are expecting to happen later today, but then the new Tory leader will have a great number of gaps to fill in when it comes to what she thinks about policy. A full leadership contest would have revealed this, but instead we will have to get to know May as she does the job. Those looking for clues about what sort of policies the new Prime Minister will adopt could do worse than to look at the work the

Fraser Nelson

Labour and SNP join in standing ovation for David Cameron’s last PMQs

David Cameron’s last PMQs was as entertaining as you’d expect. ‘The diary for the rest of my day is remarkably light,’ he said in answer to the traditional first question about his day. The Blair-worshiper in him will remember Tony Blair’s last PMQs, when he spoke about his P45 and started finished with: ‘that is that: the end’ – to enjoy a then-unprecedented  standing ovation. Cameron, then opposition leader, stood up to join in then gestured for Tory MPs to do the same. Most did. This time, Cameron had prepped his own last words: ‘Nothing is impossible. I was the future, once.’ And with that the Tory benches stood up in applause, as joined

Charles Moore

Will Mark Carney Brexit by Christmas?

Critics say the Bank of England put itself under suspicion by entering the referendum fray. Now Mark Carney says its warnings are being borne out by the post-referendum economic reaction. He misses the point. By having made those warnings himself, even if he sincerely believed them, he became like a politician trying to win, rather than a public servant trying honestly to manage either outcome. The more loudly he tries to vindicate himself and attack the motives of his accusers, the more clearly this is proved. It would damage confidence if Mr Carney were to leave his job suddenly, particularly if the government pushed him; but surely he should quietly

Isabel Hardman

Labour chief whip complains to Corbyn and Momentum about abuse of MPs

Labour MPs are becoming increasingly agitated about the amount of abuse and intimidation they are receiving, to the extent that the party’s chief whip has complained to Jeremy Corbyn and written to the head of Corbynite group Momentum to seek assurances that it is cracking down on bad behaviour in its ranks. Rosie Winterton has been writing to Jon Lansman, who chairs Momentum, over the past week about allegations from a number of Labour MPs about activists from the group. The group has officially made it clear that people shouldn’t be protesting outside MPs’ offices, or intimidating their staff. But many parliamentarians are extremely upset by the level of abuse they

Tuesday

James Forsyth

Victory for Corbyn as Labour’s NEC puts him on the ballot

Jeremy Corbyn will be on the Labour leadership ballot. After a contentious meeting that lasted for almost six hours, the party’s National Executive Committee have ruled by 18-14 that as the incumbent his name will appear automatically on the ballot paper and so there is no need for him to gather nominations from MPs and MEPs. This is a massive victory for Corbyn and his wing of the party. He is now favourite to win this leadership election and if he does, the 172 Labour MPs who voted no confidence in him will either have to shut up or split off and form their own party. Crucially, if they leave

Brendan O’Neill

Thanks to the sneerocrats, the political bores are back in power

Never mind bureaucracy. Forget technocracy. Put to the back of your mind the rising lawyerocracy, like those 1,000 puffed-up, demos-fearing lawyers who yesterday insisted that the EU referendum result is not binding. For there’s a worse ‘ocracy than those, one which has an even greater draining effect on politics, one which leeches the life and colour from public debate. And that’s the sneerocracy, the rise of a meme-making, mick-taking, cynicism-stoking Twitterati and commentariat who never — but never — give a politician the benefit of the doubt and whose trade is snide rather than substance. Consider the fall of Andrea Leadsom. I know, I know: the only thing we’re meant

Monday

Harry Cole

‘The claws are never far away’: inside the court of Theresa May

There are plenty who have been left bruised by May’s decade and a half at the top of the Conservative party, but even her worst enemies concede that the woman who is to become the next Prime Minister has shown a remarkable durability in high office. She’s the longest-serving Home Secretary in half a century, and has made a success of what’s very often a career-ending job. A long-retired party grandee recalls May, then newly elected to Parliament, approaching him in 1997 to ask what she must do to succeed. ‘Ignore the little things,’ he replied. It’s advice that her critics reckon she has firmly ignored ever since. When he resigned as a Home Office minister, the

Rod Liddle

Why We Must Have A Second Referendum – Now!

Still the furore whips around. Some remain monkey showed me a bunch of pie charts ‘proving’ that the vote was unsound. Another described all 17.4m of us as being ‘racists, bigots and xenophobes’ (can you be a racist without being a xenophobe?). And no matter that the government has decided we shouldn’t have a second referendum, there are still marchers, and petitions and bile and loathing. So I have attempted to heal. Above is a video I did giving ordinary – and eminent – Remainers their say.

Isabel Hardman

Labour party split over whether to split

As well as all the other things that Labour MPs are anxious about at the moment, there is genuine anxiety in the party today that some MPs are considering splitting off to join a new, moderate group in politics. Certainly Labour MPs are pretty miserable about the state of their party – and about the way many of them are being treated by their own local parties. And many Labourites are starting to believe that a split is inevitable, with many arguing that it is wrong to be wary because of what happened to the SDP, as this would be a much larger chunk of MPs who would break off

Fraser Nelson

What George Osborne should have written in the Wall Street Journal

We have three months until we get a new Prime Minister but I’m not sure we can wait so long for a new Chancellor. George Osborne’s silence was bad, but his re-emergence is even worse – as his pitiful article in today’s Wall Street Journal shows. It is written as if some awful tragedy had befallen Britain, and that this visibly battered country is appealing for American support. His job is to sell Britain, its people and the historic decision they have just made, rather than disparage it. Osborne’s article is here. Below is what he should have written. On 23 July, the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union –

Isabel Hardman

And then there was one… Theresa May’s team prepare for government

Chris Grayling has given this very brief statement on behalf of Theresa May in the past few minutes: ‘Can I start by thanking on behalf of Theresa May and on behalf of everyone involved in Theresa’s campaign team by thanking and paying a warm tribute to Andrea Leadsom. Her actions this morning have shown what a principled and decent politician she is and how willing she is to put the interests of the country before her own. She is a true public servant. Theresa is currently on her way back to London from Birmingham and she will make a statement later today. But on her behalf I’d just like to

Lara Prendergast

Graham Brady rules out re-opening the Tory leadership contest

Following Andrea Leadsom’s announcement that she is bowing out of the leadership race, Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee, has confirmed that Theresa May is now the only remaining candidate. While he refused to confirm that she was now the country’s Prime Minister, he ruled out re-opening the contest, which means it is almost certain that May has got the top job. Gove has also voiced his support: Andrea Leadsom spoke with great dignity and courage today. I wish her every success in the future. We should now move as quickly as possible to ensure Theresa May can take over as leader. She has my full support as our next prime

Fraser Nelson

Andrea Leadsom drops out of leadership race

In what must be the shortest-lived leadership campaign in the history of the Conservative Party, Andrea Leadsom has just announced that she’s dropping out. She said in her resignation statement that there was not “sufficient support” from her colleagues – perhaps a nod to how many of them said that they would quit the party if she won. She said she wants “the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported Prime Minister”. And that woman, she said, must be Theresa May. In the four days since the formal leadership race began, it became painfully obvious that Ms Leadsom was simply unfit for the job. She messed up an interview with The Times, saying she didn’t want to attack

Sunday

Alex Massie

What kind of Brexit has Britain chosen? We need a general election to find out

Britain voted for Brexit so Brexit is going to have to happen. That’s the way it works and there’s no point in Remainers wishing otherwise. But if Britain evidently voted for Brexit it is far less clear what kind of Brexit it voted for. As with the death of old man Talleyrand, we are left to wonder what the British people meant by this. Some things are becoming clearer, however and one of those things is that Andrea Leadsom does not actually need to win the Tory leadership battle to win the Brexit war. If Brexit trumps everything else, Leadsom may win even if Tory members choose Theresa May. Theresa May

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn hints at legal challenge if he’s kept off the ballot paper

Jeremy Corbyn was insistent this morning on the Andrew Marr Show that he isn’t going anywhere. More than that: he insisted that Labour is ‘changing the way politics is done’. His opponents in the party would agree, as it happens. Corbyn is going nowhere, certainly not anywhere near to Number 10, but also nowhere near being a functioning Opposition leader. And he is changing the way politics is done, by making it more and more difficult for Labour to ever get into power. The interview itself was proof that under Corbyn, Labour cannot function as an Opposition. Even those in the party who support the direction in which he is

Charles Moore

Is a new political party for Remainers really the way forward?

Shocked Remainers want a new political party — pro-European, ‘pro-business’ and free of any viscerally right- or left-wing taint. They anxiously insist that it will not be like the SDP in the early 1980s, but it is hard to see why not. Both then and now, the appeal is to a particular idea of virtue in politics. Then as now, the new party defines itself by its distaste for people it sees as unvirtuous and lower-class. Then as now, it therefore lacks roots outside bits of London, university towns, and the well-off and well-educated. Above all — then as now — the new party underestimates the capacity of the Tory

Saturday

Isabel Hardman

Angela Eagle threatens Labour leadership bid on Monday

Finally, the Labour coup is about to begin. Or at least, Labour MPs are talking about the fact that the Labour coup is about to begin, after weeks of threatening it. After talks between the party’s Deputy Leader Tom Watson and Labour’s trade union backers broke up today, Angela Eagle has said she will launch her leadership challenge to Jeremy Corbyn on Monday. The talks broke down because Corbyn would not resign and the parliamentary Labour party would not accept his leadership after voting overwhelmingly in favour of a motion of no confidence two weeks ago, and so there was no possible compromise to reach. Corbyn’s camp are confident that