Uk politics

Saturday

Isabel Hardman

Can any government really expect to carry out ambitious reform?

That Universal Credit is one of the government projects at risk of failing is not a surprise, especially not if you’re a Spectator reader. We warned back in September 2012 that the Whitehall machine was already trying to put the brakes on the project. Officials did try their very best yesterday to avoid a big fuss about the danger this project, and others, is in, by publishing the Major Projects Authority’s annual report late on a Friday afternoon with as little fanfare as possible. It was a cynical thing to do, and also underestimated the ability of journalists following the progress of Universal Credit to read a press release properly.

Thursday

Norman Lamont

Norman Lamont’s diary: Green shoots, George Osborne and Mark Carney

I was surprised to be told, by the editor of this magazine, that next week will mark the 20th anniversary of my standing down as Chancellor. The anniversary had entirely passed me by. I was asked this week why, if the economy was turning, George Osborne didn’t announce that he had spotted ‘green shoots’, as I observed in 1991. Although my remark, much rubbished at the time, turned out to be surprisingly prescient, I think Osborne is right to be cautious. Economic statistics are revised so often, trying to steer the economy as Chancellor is, as Harold Macmillan observed, like trying to catch a train using last year’s timetable. The

Isabel Hardman

The friendless Help-to-Buy scheme

Is there anyone left who thinks the Government’s Help to Buy scheme is a good idea? This week’s Spectator splashes on the risks of this property bubble wheeze. Merryn Somerset Webb warns that the scheme, which underwrites mortgages, will lead to rising house prices. She argues that ‘if anyone other than the government manipulated a market to this extent, it would be illegal’: The latest is the one that worries even the king of stimulus himself, Sir Mervyn King. It’s called Help To Buy, Osborne’s latest market-distorting scheme that effectively forces the already overcommitted taxpayer to underwrite £12 billion of mortgage lending to people who haven’t got an adequate deposit

James Forsyth

Why it’s not the 1990s all over again for the Tories

The last twenty four hours have been a reminder of David Cameron’s poise as a national leader. He has the ability to project a sense of resolve and calm. Before this vile attack in Woolwich, all the talk in Westminster was of Cameron’s difficult relationship with his own party. Despite a fortnight of good economic news, the headlines were all about Tory tensions over Europe and splits over gay marriage. To many Tories, including some Cabinet ministers, it feels horribly like the 1990s all over again. But there are two crucial differences with then. First, there’s been no Black Wednesday. However far off his deficit reduction plan he may be,

Isabel Hardman

PM avoids knee-jerk response to Woolwich attack

It goes without saying that when it comes to serious national tragedies, David Cameron is the right man to give a statement from Downing Street. His response today to the Woolwich killing underlined how good he is at producing sensitive and thoughtful speeches which, though written swiftly, avoid any knee-jerk reaction. He should be commended for taking special care to insist that yesterday’s attack ‘was also a betrayal of Islam an of the Muslim communities who give so much to our country’ and that the fault for the killing ‘lies solely and purely with the sickening individuals who carried out this appalling attack’. His statement contained a long section on

Alex Massie

You’re going to lose. It is only you against many.

If, in the aftermath of an act of would-be terror, the people refuse to be terrorised does it still remain a terrorist act? Perhaps but there’s a sense, I think, in which we should not grant yesterday’s guilty men the title “terrorist”. Murderers, surely, will suffice? There is no need to grant them the war they so plainly desire. This murder in Woolwich was an uncommon act of barbarity; the product too of a kind of mental illness. That does not excuse the act, far from it, and there’s no need to be sparing in our condemnation. But, appalled as we may be, it seems important to recognise and remember

The Spectator

David Cameron’s statement on the Woolwich attack

What happened yesterday in Woolwich has sickened us all. On our televisions last night, and in our newspapers this morning, we have all seen images that are deeply shocking. The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger. Today our thoughts are with the victim and with his family. They are grieving for their loved one and we have lost a brave soldier. This morning I have chaired a meeting of Cobra and I want to thank the police and the security services for the incredible work they do to keep our country safe.

Wednesday

James Forsyth

The chancellor survived the IMF report, but there’s another challenge ahead

George Osborne has got through the IMF’s report on the UK economy. It is far from a ringing endorsement of his approach but, as Isabel notes, its criticisms are couched in such opaque language that I doubt they’ll have much political impact. I also suspect that the Treasury is not unhappy about being told that it needs to get on with returning RBS and Lloyds to the private sector. Selling even a tranche of these bank shares before 2015 would be politically powerful, aiding the Tories in their attempt to argue that they’ve been clearing up the mess that Labour left behind. The next challenge for the Treasury is the

Isabel Hardman

Cameron leaves the goal open for Clegg and Miliband on tax avoidance

It’s fashionable to say Downing Street isn’t very good at strategy. So fashionable, in fact, that sometimes journalists worry they’re being unfair to the Tory leadership. But today we saw yet another example of the Prime Minister leaving an open goal for not just the opposition party but also his own Coalition partners to score. On Monday, Google’s Eric Schmidt visited Downing Street for the regular Business Advisory Group meeting. He was allowed to leave by the back door, and the Prime Minister’s aides were adamant that David Cameron wouldn’t ‘confront’ the Google boss on his company’s tax arrangements. All he planned to do was to take the group through

Isabel Hardman

IMF verdict on the UK economy: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The International Monetary Fund published its long-awaited Ofsted report on the UK economy this afternoon. As usual, the written assessment contains enough to keep everyone on all sides of the debate happy, but while avoiding telling the government to abandon Plan A, it does instruct George Osborne to invest in supply-side measures to boost growth, warning that ‘planned fiscal tightening will be a drag on growth’. Here’s a summary of the good bits from the IMF’s concluding statement, the awkward bits, and the downright bad news. You can read the full concluding statement here. The Good The Government’s ‘essential’ plan for cutting the deficit has earned it credibility, the IMF

Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg: I’m the grown-up in this Coalition

Ever the helpful friend in times of strife, Nick Clegg is giving a speech today in which he will soar above the troubles the Tories currently find themselves in to tell everyone that the two parties will remain manacled together until the 2015 general election. There has been plenty of speculation that this won’t be the case, with Benedict Brogan reporting yesterday that Downing Street has been mulling contingency plans for an early split prompted by Clegg being ousted in a Lib Dem coup. So the Deputy Prime Minister is attempting to put those rumours to bed, while positioning the Lib Dems as the mature party of government. He will

Tuesday

The Spectator

Same Sex Marriage Bill: how MPs voted

This is the full Hansard of list of how MPs voted on tonight’s third reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. It was a free vote, and the Bill passed 366 to 161. AYES Abbott, Ms Diane Abrahams, Debbie Alexander, rh Danny Alexander, rh Mr Douglas Alexander, Heidi Ali, Rushanara Allen, Mr Graham Andrew, Stuart Ashworth, Jonathan Bailey, Mr Adrian Bain, Mr William Baker, Norman Baldwin, Harriett Balls, rh Ed Banks, Gordon Barclay, Stephen Barker, rh Gregory Baron, Mr John Barron, rh Mr Kevin Barwell, Gavin Bayley, Hugh Beckett, rh Margaret Begg, Dame Anne Benn, rh Hilary Benyon, Richard Berger, Luciana Betts, Mr Clive Blackman-Woods, Roberta Blenkinsop, Tom Blomfield, Paul

James Forsyth

Gay marriage easily passes third reading vote in the Commons

After all the parliamentary back and forth yesterday, gay marriage passed third reading by the comfortable margin of 366 to 161. Tory sources are briefing that fewer of their MPs voted against at third reading than second reading, though we’ll have to wait for the division lists to confirm that. We probably now have only a couple more Commons votes left on this; there’ll be on any amendments made to the bill by the House of Lords. The atmosphere in the House as the result was read out did not seem particularly historic. There was some clapping from the Labour front bench, but the Treasury bench didn’t join in and

Isabel Hardman

Labour claims credit for gay marriage bill

Some might say it was rather audacious of Yvette Cooper to send an email to Labour activists this evening urging them to tweet something along these lines: I’m proud to be part of @uklabour today and proud that we’re one step closer to #equalmarriage in Britain. — Sheila Gilmore (@SheilaGilmoreMP) May 21, 2013 I feel privileged to be a @uklabour MP today helping to bring #equalmarriage in Britain one step closer — Chris Williamson (@ChriswMP) May 21, 2013   I’m proud to have played a small part in helping #equalmarriage come a little closer with @kategreensu — Chris Bryant (@ChrisBryantMP) May 21, 2013   But then why not, if the

Miles Windsor

David Cameron has caused a crisis in conservatism

David Cameron’s letter to party members added insult to injury after a week of headlines about ‘Loongate’ and the Tory leadership’s decision to bulldoze through the Same Sex Marriage Bill with the help of Labour. He suggested that ‘you change things not be criticising from your armchair but by getting out and doing’. Who does he think is knocking on doors week after week, taking the flak for his unpopular lurch from ill-conceived policy to ill-conceived policy? Many of us have been involved in the fight for conservatism all our lives. But under Cameron’s watch we are seeing a crisis in conservatism and polling results which would have been unthinkable

Martin Bright

Cameron has reached the tipping point

The combination of complacency and incompetence that seems to have afflicted the Conservative Party is a wonder to behold. Janet Daley wrote at the weekend of her frustration at David Cameron saying he is ‘relaxed’ about the situation. She is right that welfare, education and the criminal justice system are in need of reform, although I am not convinced this government is going about it in the right way or with the right personnel. The competence factor is becoming a huge issue for this government, across individual departments, in the management of the parliamentary party and the wider membership (swivel-eyed or staring straight into the headlights). The Labour Party managers

Isabel Hardman

Sir David Nicholson to go: but will it change the culture at the top of the NHS?

Health Service Journal has a great scoop this afternoon that NHS boss Sir David Nicholson will retire in March 2014. The man who was in charge of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust when the serious failings in care took place had long been considered a busted flush, but his departure seems to be set for a great deal later than those pushing for it had hoped. I’ve spoken to Conservative MP Charlotte Leslie, who has long been after Nicholson’s scalp. She says: ‘I don’t think it’s soon enough and he should go immediately. If you want to oversee a massive culture change from the bullying and stifling of whistleblowers, then you

Isabel Hardman

The Tory grassroots were feeling neglected long before ‘swivel-eyed loons’ claims

Whether or not Lord Feldman made his ‘mad, swivel-eyed loons’ comments, the story has given the Conservative grassroots the perfect opportunity to tell David Cameron, via the media, how unhappy they are with the way they’re treated. On the World at One, Conservative Grassroots chair Robert Woollard complained about ‘some very derogatory comments from some of [Cameron’s] Praetorian Guard’. He said: ‘I’m not going to repeat them here. You’ve heard about the ‘mad, swivel-eyed loonies’ – it doesn’t surprise me at all because some of us, not just us in Conservative Grassroots but some in constituencies that we talk to are quite used to this treatment and, frankly, there is

Alex Massie

Scottish independence: it’s still (almost) all about oil.

The Scottish government published a paper on the national economy today that, according to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, makes the case for independence. You can read the pamphlet here or the BBC’s summary of it here. Most of it was relatively uncontroversial. As Salmond himself said “even” Unionists agree Scotland could survive and perhaps even prosper as an independent nation state. It would be depressing if this were not the case after 300 years of Union. But since we all – or most of us, anyway – agree with that one wonders why so many nationalists continue to argue as though anyone who disagrees with them (on just about

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Hunt attacks Labour for A&E crisis

Andy Burnham summoned Jeremy Hunt to the Commons this afternoon for a shouty hour about who loves the NHS more. The Health Secretary’s answer to Labour’s urgent question on the government’s plans for changes to the GP contract and the crisis in Accident and Emergency departments was largely a direct attack on decisions the opposition took when it was in government. He decried Labour’s ‘disastrous changes to the GP contract’ which had led to a significant rise in the number of patients visiting A&E, and ‘the disastrous failure of Labour’s IT contract’. He also told Burnham that his government had failed to address the disconnect between social care and the