Uk politics

Wednesday

Sebastian Payne

Ed warns energy firms: don’t reinforce perception you are the problem

From our UK edition

Following the announcement of his plan to tackle rising energy prices — and the accompanying backlash — Ed Miliband has fired a warning shot at energy providers this morning, suggesting unless they get on board with his proposals, they will be seen as part of the problem, not the solution, by their customers. Here is the full text of his letter: 'In recent years we have discussed the need to rebuild public trust in the energy market many times. I think we all agree on the importance of that objective if we are to build a market that both delivers for consumers and underpins the investment in future clean energy capacity that we all want to see.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Tessa Jowell: Ed should expose himself to many people

From our UK edition

The Labour party recently reached a stage where the only person in the entire country not giving Ed Miliband advice about how to lead was Ed Miliband himself. That has died down now, especially after another crowd-pleasing conference speech. But this evening Tessa Jowell offered a little bit more in the way of help. She told a fringe after her leader's speech that the party's job was now to take today's policy announcements to the country, saying: 'I think Ed should just go on travelling around the country, exposing himself to many people.' Crikey! But didn't the leader vow to keep his kit firmly on if he became Prime Minister (' if I become Prime Minister I won’t take my shirt off in public, I mean it is just not necessary is it?')?

Isabel Hardman

Jack Dromey: Labour let Thatcher become the champion of aspiration

From our UK edition

When Margaret Thatcher passed away and the broadcasters, newspapers, and casual drinkers in pubs picked over what her legacy really was, one of the key policies mentioned - and praised - time and time again by those from all sides of the political spectrum was the Right to Buy. It was an iconic housing policy that helped people who would never have had a chance of making it onto the housing ladder realise the dream of owning their own property. It was an empowering policy (the detail, of course, is slightly more complicated: the way the policy was designed led to a reduction in the overall size of the social rented sector, but as an iconic gesture to a group of people who were not traditional shire Tories, it's hard to beat this one).

Alex Massie

Ed Miliband: You Are The Quiet Bat People And I Am On Your Side

From our UK edition

Ronald Reagan once quipped that  "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help." As was so often the case the Great Communicator was only half-joking. He knew government had important jobs to do, jobs only government could do. What was needed was a rebalancing. Government had become too invasive. It needed pruning. (Never mind that not much pruning took place; the rhetoric and the positioning was what mattered.) I didn't watch Ed Miliband's speech to the Labour party conference this afternoon but no-one, I think, would say he possesses a Reaganesque delivery.

Isabel Hardman

Ed’s tough message to the unions?

From our UK edition

If Ed Miliband wanted to use this speech - rather than the one he gave two weeks ago to the Trades Union Congress - to set up a confrontation with the trade union barons, then he's got a funny way of doing confrontation. His section on party reform, which he rather built up by joking 'here's the bit you've all been looking forward to - party reform'. Everyone laughed, expecting a lengthy section on why the union link needed to change. But it wasn't particularly lengthy or enlightening. He said: 'Now let me say to you - change is difficult and uncomfortable. Let me explain to you why it's so important: with all the forces ranged against us, we can't just be a party of 200,000 people.

Isabel Hardman

Dr Miliband finally trusts his instincts and prescribes socialism to make Britain better

From our UK edition

For three years, though we've been told all about who Ed Miliband is, we've often wondered whether we're getting his real thoughts when he speaks. The Labour leader has often given the impression that he doesn't trust his instincts, that he thinks that he should be speaking from the centre ground rather than as 'Red Ed', and that his forays into tougher welfare and immigration policies are things he'd rather not do. But today the Labour leader decided to embrace what he truly believes in: big government. Big socialist government. He announced price controls - 'if we win the election in 2015 the next Labour government will freeze gas and electricity prices until the start of 2017' - and a 'use it or lose it' planning policy that seems to include beefing up compulsory purchase orders.

Sebastian Payne

Podcast special: our verdict on Ed Miliband’s speech

From our UK edition

James Forsyth says it's the most left-wing speech he has heard from a political leader. Fraser Nelson thinks that socialism has now returned to British politics. Isabel Hardman thinks the plans for 200,000 new houses could be based on an error.  Our verdict of Ed Miliband's speech to the Labour Party conference is now in, with a special edition of our weekly podcast the View from 22 (below).

Sebastian Payne

Video: Ed Miliband’s plans to freeze energy prices

From our UK edition

Labour have released an audio trailer which reveals the big announcement of Ed Miliband's conference speech — energy prices will be frozen to 2017 under Labour plans: 'How do you feel when you see your energy bill sitting at the front door? And you know its going to be even higher than the last one? And how do you feel when you read in the newspaper that your energy providers profits are up? Yet again. 'Millions of ordinary families are struggling to keep up with bills. Bills that are rising faster than wages. Since David Cameron became Prime Minister, he's allowed gas and electricity bills to rise by an average of £300 a year. And sat by as energy companies make record profits. Under this government a privileged few come before hard working families.

Isabel Hardman

How the Tories made it easy for Labour on OBR announcement

From our UK edition

Naturally, the leader's speech is the most important part of the Labour conference, but the general feeling behind the scenes is that things are going pretty well. Sunday was a bit of a messy day, although strategists think the childcare announcements are still an overall win. But yesterday went extremely well - good speeches from Ed Balls and Chuka Umunna and only a little bit of chuntering from Len McCluskey. And the reason a lot of MPs feel it went particularly well is that the Tories played into their hands on Ed Balls' announcement on the OBR. The Shadow Chancellor wasn't just trying to improve trust in politics, as he claimed yesterday, by calling for the OBR to audit opposition parties' manifestos. He was also setting up a test for the Tories.

Isabel Hardman

The uncertainty about Labour’s uncertainty on HS2

From our UK edition

So now there isn't just uncertainty over Labour's support for HS2, but also uncertainty over the uncertainty after Maria Eagle tried her best to deliver as upbeat a speech as possible about the high speed rail link. The Shadow Transport Secretary did deal with the issue, and she made clear that Labour's support is now conditional. But what she didn't do was suggest that Labour was questioning the value of the whole project. Eagle told the conference hall: 'That's why we support High Speed 2. And, unlike the Tories, no blank cheque for any government project.

Isabel Hardman

Labour conference: who knew about HS2?

From our UK edition

Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle has the unenviable task this morning of standing up in front of the conference and trying to espouse Ed Balls' new We-don't-know-to-HS2 strategy. The Shadow Chancellor didn't say he was dropping Labour's support for it yesterday, but neither did he say that this new North/South railway is going to be Britain's national ambition and will solve everyone's problems. When you tell a packed conference hall that a project your party has previously been gung-ho for has question marks over whether its £50bn cost is worth it, you're giving the best indication you can that it's heading for a derailment. So how will Eagle address the HS2 problem?

Isabel Hardman

Ed Miliband’s give and take away business strategy

From our UK edition

Far be it from anyone to criticise a party that wants to build more homes, but Ed Miliband's plan to announce in his speech that Labour would build 200,000 new homes a year by 2020 isn't a particularly interesting one. It's not that it's not a good idea to fix our broken housing market, but that politically it's a reasonably predictable move. Which probably means it's a good thing, and it certainly fits in with the party's cost of living drive. But there is another policy being unveiled today that's more interesting because it tells us something important about the way Labour relates to groups and organisations around it. Labour is trying to work out what its relationship with business should be.

Sebastian Payne

Labour conference: Tuesday fringe guide

From our UK edition

Every morning throughout party conference season, we’ll be providing our pick of the fringe events on Coffee House. We've reached the third day of Labour’s annual conference in Brighton, and as the saying goes, the early conference bird catches the fringe worm. There's plenty of past and present frontbenchers making appearances, on a variety of topics, throughout the day: Title Key speaker(s) Time Location Governing from the Left: Economic competence... Margaret Hodge 08:00 Lancing 1, Holiday Inn Returning to growth: How can Britain build a stronger economy? (invite only) Lord Adonis 08:00 Brighton Media Centre Value and values: What is a One Nation business model?

Monday

James Forsyth

Ed Balls asks: what else could Labour spend £50 billion on if it scrapped HS2?

From our UK edition

Ed Balls has just taken the scalpel to HS2 in an interview with Steve Richards. He talked about the project having ‘huge fiscal implications’ and questioned whether the ‘benefits are really there’. He then went on to stress that the question was not just whether HS2 provided value for money, but whether it was the best use of £50 billion. As he emphasised, £50 billion could be used on other transport projects or new housing, hospitals and schools. One could see Balls gleefully contemplating just how much fiscal wriggle room cancelling HS2 would give him. Now, Balls did say that Labour had not reached a final decision on what to do about HS2.

Alex Massie

Thank Heavens for Godfrey Bloom

From our UK edition

I was at a funeral on Friday and so late catching-up with the latest entertainment provided by UKIP. But, gosh, thank heavens for Godfrey Bloom. Not just because he and his ilk have injected some welcome craziness into British politics - the circus always needs new clowns - but because by doing so they have reminded us of the stakes involved. Bloom - last heard decrying aid squandered on feckless Bongo Bongo Land - one-upped himself with his talk of sluts who fail to clean their kitchens properly. Sure, there was something refreshing about hearing Nigel Farage admit all this amounted to a disaster for UKIP but the bigger point is that it should concentrate Tory minds. Far too many Tories seem to think UKIP might be rascals but rascals-with-their-heart-in-the-right-place.

Sebastian Payne

The View from 22 podcast special: Labour’s money day

From our UK edition

On the second day of Labour's annual conference in Brighton, The Spectator's Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss Ed Balls' and Chuka Umunna's speeches on the economy and business. We also spoke to shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rachel Reeves about what she thought of Ed Balls' speech.

Isabel Hardman

Len McCluskey: My party, my way, or the highway

From our UK edition

So far the tensions in the Labour party over Ed Miliband's plan to reform the link with the trade unions have stayed below the surface at this conference. The closest it came was, unsurprisingly, when Len McCluskey took to the stage. The Unite leader made another plea for the unions to 'set our vision of how we will build our country in government', and told the leadership (Ed Miliband had strangely disappeared from the stage at this point) that 'if OUR party is to have a future it must speak for ordinary workers and it must represent the voice of organised labour'. He also made his customary attack on the Blairite 'Them' that he likes to talk about whenever he defends the role of trade unions, saying: 'Zero hours in another age.

Isabel Hardman

Breaking: Ed Balls gives strongest indication yet he’ll drop support for HS2

From our UK edition

Ed Balls is currently addressing the Labour conference, and we'll post full analysis of his speech once he's done. But as he continues, it's worth highlighting that the Shadow Chancellor has just given his strongest indication yet that Labour will drop its support for HS2. He said: 'David Cameron and George Osborne have made clear they will go full steam ahead with this project – no matter how much the costs spiral up and up. They seem willing to put their own pride and vanity above best value for money for the taxpayer. 'Labour will not take this irresponsible approach. So let me be clear, in tough times – when there is less money around and a big deficit to get down – there will be no blank cheque from me as a Labour Chancellor for this project or for any project.

Isabel Hardman

Jim Murphy: Labour does believe in intervention

From our UK edition

When Ed Miliband dropped his support for the government's motion on military intervention in Syria, it was seen as a convenient way of the Labour leader avoiding the thorny question of what his party really thinks about the principle of intervention. He and his team were astonished when David Cameron said 'I get that' and took the option off the table entirely, but privately they admitted that it wasn't the most inconvenient thing that could happen. But today, Miliband's Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy delivered another one of his measured, impressive speeches on the party's defence policy in which he reminded party activists that in spite of the ghosts of Iraq, Labour does still support intervention.