Uk politics

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: leadership defeated on Justice and Security Bill

From our UK edition

As predicted earlier, the Lib Dem leadership has just suffered an embarrassing defeat on the conference floor this afternoon on a grassroots motion on the Justice and Security Bill. The wrecking amendment which removed the call for parliamentarians to defeat the legislation received just a smattering of votes, and the overall motion was carried unamended. During the course of the debate, the amendment received support on stage from Julian Huppert, Alistair Carmichael and Tom Brake. That MPs were turning up to oppose the party's grassroots is not a good sign: remember that the pause in the Health and Social Care Bill came about because of a groundswell of anger within the Lib Dem membership that those in Parliament did not pick up on until much later.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: rebellion brewing on ‘secret courts’

From our UK edition

The Liberal Democrats do love a good policy motion, and the tradition at most party conferences is for the attending media circus to stay well away from the debates and votes on the conference floor as they are rarely game changers. But this afternoon, the party's leadership could face its first defeat on the conference floor when delegates debate a motion on the Justice and Security Bill from 5pm. The motion itself says the proposals for closed court hearings 'did not form part of either the Liberal Democrat or Conservative manifestos in 2010, nor the Coalition Agreement', and calls on Lib Dem MPs and peers to press the government to withdraw part II of the Justice and Security Bill, or to vote against it in parliament.

Sebastian Payne

Lib Dem conference: police remain unhappy about Mitchell and elected commissioners

From our UK edition

'I can see there are several journalists here, so we might as well get Andrew Mitchell out of the way'. Channel 4's Michael Crick decided to kick off his lunchtime fringe session with the big political row brewing far away from the Brighton Centre. Irene Curtis, president-elect of the Police Superintendents' Association, began by venting her frustration that the matter remained 'unresolved', highlighting the integrity of the police force and its officers as her key concern. Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, took the view that there is little else for police to say since the officer has accepted Mitchell's apology. But like the other panelists, Orde said it was not up to him whether the Chief Whip should be sacked.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: Oakeshott calls for Cameron to take one for the team on universal benefits

From our UK edition

Nick Clegg's attack on universal benefits such as the winter fuel payment and free bus passes this afternoon was a nice little morsel of red meat to his party, as he said it would be 'difficult to explain' a failure to reform these payments when other benefits are being slashed. He told the World at One: 'My own view is for the future that it would be very difficult to explain - and it would be quite interesting if you could ask the Labour party for this, because they appear to be saying that at a time when people's housing benefit is being cut, we should protect Alan Sugar's free bus pass.' But I've just had a chat with Lord Oakeshott, who is impatient that the Lib Dems should be looking at this sort of thing while they are in government rather than discussing their next manifesto.

Melanie McDonagh

The one thing worse than universal benefits? Means-testing them.

From our UK edition

There’s nothing, but nothing, easier than for politicians to sound off about universal benefits, and sure enough, Nick Clegg was complaining on the World at One today about the iniquity of, as he says, paying for Alan Sugar’s bus pass. He was being asked about the sustainability of universal benefits and perks following Don Foster, one of his MPs, grumbling about it being absurd that someone like him is entitled to a winter fuel allowance. Mr Clegg went on to make clear that as part of the coalition deal for this parliament there wouldn’t actually be any fiddling with things like the fuel payment for oldies, but after that, these universal perks would be up for grabs.

Douglas Murray

Lib Dems in Brighton: the prattling of the pointless

From our UK edition

Are there any words in the English language more soporific or depressing than: ‘Liberal Democrat Party Conference’? My paucity of blogs in the last few days can be put down solely to this fact. Even the many fascinating and disturbing things occurring in the world are somehow made damp by the knowledge that this annual general meeting of the bogus is going on. I suppose it comes down to one thing in particular. There is simply no purpose in the Liberal Democrats. There never has been. It is just a collection of people who for various reasons – understandable dislike of the other parties, hilarious opportunism or simple ignorance – wandered into a party and then tried to agree on what the people they find themselves among could be said to agree on or believe in.

Alex Massie

Schools Do Furnish A Nation – Spectator Blogs

From our UK edition

Also elsewhere today, I've a piece for the Scotsman arguing that Andrew Adonis was the third-most important person in the Blair-Brown governments and that, by god, Scotland could do with some of his reforming zeal too. Most sensible people in England agree academies have been a success (though there's still a long way to go); unfortunately most people in Scotland seem to think there's precious little need for reform. This complacency is unwarranted. Adonis has written a memoir – Education, Education, Education: Reforming England’s Schools – that should be read by every MP and MSP. It’s probably the most important political book of the year.

Alex Massie

This Scotland Small? Why, Yes, Actually It Is – Spectator Blogs

From our UK edition

Saturday's Rally for Independence in Edinburgh was such a non-event that, as best I can discover, Getty Images doesn't even have any pictures of the march. Hence the tat illustrating this post. But, in a way, that's the point. A march that even on the most generous estimate attracted no more than 10,000 people is a flop. This is so even if those who were present enjoyed themselves and thought it a braw occasion. They're not the whole audience for this kind of caper. I write about this at Think Scotland today: Watching foorage of Saturday's march for independence in Edinburgh I found myself contemplating Hugh MacDiarmid's waspish assertion that the chief problem with Scotland is that there's no-one worth shooting. It often seems as though we are an apathetic nation.

Isabel Hardman

Leaked Lib Dem briefing: ‘We have no evidence our tactics are working’

From our UK edition

Lib Dem internal documents leaked to the Spectator warn that the party has no branding strategy, staff 'lack research literacy' and campaigns are based on 'received wisdom' rather than any evidence that current tactics are working. I've been passed a presentation seen by aides close to Nick Clegg, staff at Lib Dem HQ, MPs and SpAds over the past few months which is damning about the party's preparations for 2015.

James Forsyth

Lib Dem conference: The morning after the Vince before

From our UK edition

Vince Cable’s speech yesterday setting out how he thinks there’ll be another hung parliament was a significant moment. It was clear last night, that it had placed in peoples’ minds the question of whether Cable was more likely to hold Lib Dem seats than Nick Clegg and whether he would be able to better exploit a second hung parliament. This has added to the importance of Nick Clegg’s speech tomorrow. I understand that on Wednesday Clegg will be forceful rather than apologetic, it will be a book end to his sorry over tuition fees. He intends to use it to set out where he is taking his party.

Sebastian Payne

Can Andrew Mitchell hold on following dining and police log revelations?

From our UK edition

Andrew Mitchell's future as Chief Whip is not looking bright thanks to two stories in today's papers. The first is from the Times, which reports (£) that Mitchell went for two expensive outings on the 'long and hard day' the incident occurred. At lunchtime, the Chief Whip visited the Cinnamon Club - a £50-a-head Indian restaurant in Westminster. Later on, after Mitchell rode off from the Downing Street altercation, he visited a Tory private members' club — the Carlton Club in St — as a guest speaker at a private dinner. Neither will chime with most people's perception of a long and hard day. The second story comes from the Telegraph, which has obtained the official police log of the incident.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: Tim Farron on Labour

From our UK edition

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem president, underlined his popularity with grassroots as he jogged up to the stage at the Independent's fringe event to the fervent cheers of activists. They were eating out of his hand as he answered questions for an hour with Steve Richards. Farron threw his weight behind Nick Clegg as leader, praising the Deputy Prime Minister's ability to remain a warm and engaging man in spite of the trials of his job. But he blew pretty cold on his leader's tuition fee apology, emphasising that it was a 'totemic' issue, and arguing that Lib Dems would be wrong to expect this to be a 'turnaround' for the party's fortunes as reneging on the pledge had damaged their standing for a 'generation'.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: Senior figures attack ‘potty’ eurosceptics

From our UK edition

One of the areas Conservatives and Lib Dems are more than happy to distinguish themselves on is Europe, although the issue always gets far less attention at Lib Dem conference than it does at Conservative gatherings. A Conservative might find this odd: surely a party so wholeheartedly in favour of Britain remaining within the European Union would want to make the case for why Europe is so wonderful. Instead, senior figures today attacked Conservatives who want Britain to leave the European Union as 'potty'. In a fringe this lunchtime, Lord Oakeshott told the audience that a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU was not necessary as the electorate could express its view through the ballot box at general elections.

Sebastian Payne

Lib Dem conference: Paddy Ashdown hits out at opinion polls, Tories and pessimism

From our UK edition

Polls don't and shouldn't matter to Liberal Democrats, so says Paddy Ashdown. The ex-Lib Dem leader managed to whip activists into a yellow-tinged frenzy this afternoon at a packed out polling discussion. Ashdown refuted that his party has been smothered with an 'atmosphere of political gloom' and ordered the rank and file to 'ignore these polls and get on with the politics'. However, an overview of Times/Populus polling on voting intentions presented at the discussion highlighted how the Lib Dems' fortunes have changed since the election: Ashdown insisted this is nothing to worry about, citing Margaret Thatcher as an occasionally unpopular leader who was still able to win elections.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dem conference: Vince Cable attacks the “headbangers”

From our UK edition

Never a man to avoid confrontation, Vince Cable decided to tackle gossip about his conversations with Labour head on when he appeared on stage at the Lib Dem conference this lunchtime. He has 'excellent communications with politicians across the spectrum', he joked, then reached into his pocket for his phone, joking that he had a message from Ed. He followed the same pattern as Tim Farron in criticising Labour's record in government, just to make clear that the Lib Dems are fervently independent, rather than hankering after partnership with one party or another. But it was interesting that the majority of mentions for other parties in the Business Secretary's speech were limited to criticism of Conservative 'head bangers'.

Sebastian Payne

Lib Dem conference: Danny Alexander reaffirms support for Osborne’s Plan A

From our UK edition

Danny Alexander had reason to be very chuffed this morning when his party gave its overwhelming support to a motion he tabled, praising George Osborne's Plan A for the economy. The motion also welcomed the recent infrastructure announcements from the government, underlining that these investments were possible as a result of the government's 'hard-won fiscal credibility'. This motion was about reminding Liberal Democrats of the cause the coalition had united over, and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury took care to present Labour as the villains in this, insisting that 'Labour is wrong on the economy'.

James Forsyth

Lib Dem conference: The battle for the soul of the Liberal Democrats

From our UK edition

The Liberal Democrats are a party facing an identity crisis. During their many years in opposition, they had a slight all things to all men quality. But now they are in government, they are rapidly becoming defined in the public mind. How to respond to that is a question that they have been grappling with for the past two years. In a packed and over-heated fringe meeting last night, Nick Clegg’s former director of strategy Richard Reeves provided his answer—which is, although more starkly stated, the leadership’s. Reeves’ argument is that the party should become a Liberal party of the radical centre. In other words, he wants to take off the Social Democratic hand brake. Reeves makes this case with verve and one can see the political space he’s talking about.

Isabel Hardman

Confirmed: Boris Johnson is a jellyfish

From our UK edition

I've long believed that Boris is a particularly powerful blond jellyfish, swimming along under the radar, looking quite harmless, before delivering a series of painful stings to an unsuspecting victim. Normally the poor recipient of these verbal stings is David Cameron, whose face now forms a classic mask of horror whenever the Mayor approaches, knowing that not only will he be upstaged as Prime Minister by the Mayor, but also stung in the process by a sugary yet deeply patronising reference to 'Dave'. But today it's Nick Clegg, treading water at the Liberal Democrat conference, who gets stung. Boris' column this morning in the Telegraph is full of praise and flattery, while managing to undermine the Deputy Prime Minister rather spectacularly.

Isabel Hardman

Andrew Mitchell fails to kill Gategate story with new public apology

From our UK edition

'I've apologised to the police, I've apologised to the police officer involved on the gate, and he's accepted my apology. I hope very much that we can draw a line under it here.' Andrew Mitchell hoped that his public apology outside those Downing Street gates that caused him such grief last week would mean Gategate would start to fade away.

Sunday

Sebastian Payne

Lib Dem conference: Tim Farron discovers his coalicious side

From our UK edition

Distinctive not destructive — that's Tim Farron's view on how the Liberal Democrats can redefine themselves within government. Speaking to the New Statesman after his muted conference speech today, the Lib Dem president blamed the media's narrow perception of the coalition for a misunderstanding of their partnership with the Tories. Tantalisingly, he made reference to a potential partnership elsewhere: 'We're either seen as cats in a sack or having a love-in. No one seems able to understand that this is a just a business arrangement...a relationship that could exist with another party' Sadly, Farron made no reference to whom exactly that might be with.