Uk politics

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

The Osborne/Balls stalemate

From our UK edition

George Osborne and Ed Balls are now locked into something of a staring match over the Libor scandal, with one waiting for the other to flinch. After Paul Tucker's evidence to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday cleared the Shadow Chancellor and his ministerial colleagues in the Labour government of leaning on the Bank of England, Balls demanded an apology from Osborne for his comments to the Spectator. Andrea Leadsom, one of the members of the committee, saw enough in Tucker's testimony to publicly call for an apology. This is significant because Leadsom is not the sort of MP who openly briefs against her bosses. She may have a slightly rebellious streak over Europe, but she's no Nadine Dorries when it comes to making pronouncements on the Government.

Fraser Nelson

Yellow dove down

From our UK edition

The Lib Dem dove has been shot by a well-aimed Tory arrow tonight, and you can bet that more than a few of Nick Clegg’s allies will feel deeply betrayed. The Lib Dems walked on the coals of the tuition fee rises, and for what? The Tory leadership cannot really claim to be giving its full backing to Lords reform. Yes, William Hague was sent on the radio this morning – in theory to urge obedience over the reform. But when the Foreign Secretary started laughing you had the feeling that he did not quite take his mission very seriously. Every Tory MP knows that the whips have given mixed messages, and did not tell them that there was no way back if they rebelled. You can't send the majority of your backbenchers to Siberia.

Monday

Shiraz Maher

‘Unprecedented’ sanctions could still be powerless

From our UK edition

Are sanctions among the most pointless tools in contemporary diplomacy? That certainly seems to be the case in Syria where sanctions have been in place against the Assad regime ever since he launched a brutal crackdown against his own people 16 months ago. Last week, Wikileaks began releasing a massive tranche of emails from Assad’s inner circle which will make uncomfortable reading for many companies in the West. They reveal that in May 2011 a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, the Italian defence manufacturer, sold over £30 million worth of equipment to the Syrian government just when an EU trade embargo was being placed on the regime.

James Forsyth

Charlotte Leslie becomes the latest 2010 MP to oppose Lords reform

From our UK edition

Charlotte Leslie becomes the latest star of the 2010 intake to come out against the coalition’s version of Lords reforms. Explaining her decision, she emphasised to The Spectator her concerns that while the new Lords would be elected ‘they would not carry the great benefit of democracy, accountability'. As Leslie points out, this means that a Lord ‘could get elected on a myriad of populist promises, then fail to honour any of them'. She also has worries about the loss of expert knowledge from the chamber when it is elected. But her objections are, perhaps, best summed up by her attack on the argument that Tories should vote Lords reform through for the sake of the coalition: 'This is not about our inter-relationship in the next 800 or so days to come.

Fraser Nelson

Is the Work Programme working?

From our UK edition

School and welfare reform are the signature missions of David Cameron’s government – but is welfare going wrong? Labour is crowing that today’s figures from the Work and Pensions department on welfare-to-work show it’s a failure. I’ve just come back from a DWP briefing with Chris Grayling, the minister responsible, and thought Coffee Housers would be interested in his take. It was Labour who first involved private companies into welfare-to-work, and the coalition has continued it – but pressed the reset button. Their scheme is called the Work Programme, the largest welfare-to-work programme on the planet with 750,000 clients. It means the government pays a £4,000 fee to a company that can place someone with a job for 18 months.

Isabel Hardman

What Labour did next on banking

From our UK edition

When Ed Miliband gave his speech to Labour's autumn conference last year, he rather tied himself in knots about how to end predatory capitalism. The Labour leader was trying to make it clear that he would stand up to vested interests, but the message was lost under a row about whether he was pro- or anti-business. Today Miliband managed to put that speech into context a little more, by announcing Labour's plans to change the culture of banking in this country. Instead of predator banks, he wants 'stewardship banking', which builds 'a long-term, trusted relationship with their customer' and serves the real economy as well as the industry itself.

Isabel Hardman

The day of the Lords arrives

From our UK edition

Lords reform makes its way into the Commons today, but it's hardly a relief for the whips that after weeks of threats from the rebel camp, the legislation is finally being debated. With tales circulating the House that there are 110 Tory MPs prepared to defy the whip on the programme motion, this could be the first time the Government is defeated on its legislative programme. The BBC's Norman Smith tweeted this morning that the rebels were being told to vote against second reading rather than the programme motion if they were unhappy with the legislation. But even if, as Paul Goodman argues, not every rebel on that list of 110 actually sticks to the commitment they've given to the rebel whips, Labour only need 50 Conservative MPs to join them in voting down the programme motion.

Isabel Hardman

Shots in the arm for the economy

From our UK edition

There's an interesting paper out from a number of members of the Conservative Free Enterprise Group this morning. The report, called Policy Bites: Seven Shots in the Arm of Britain, makes these seven recommendations for reforming the economy: 1. Over 65s still in work should continue to pay National Insurance contributions on their earned income to fund NIC holidays for young low-paid workers. 2. Exempt businesses with up to three employees and less than £75,000 annual turnover from employment regulation. 3. Reform the Treasury to place greater emphasis on supply-side reform. 4. Give planning permission for a third and fourth runway at Heathrow. 5. Create a new Ministry of Infrastructure covering transport, communications and utilities. 6.

Isabel Hardman

Tucker denies Labour leant on Bank over Libor

From our UK edition

So Labour ministers did not 'lean on' the Bank of England to encourage lowballing of Libor rates, according to Paul Tucker. The Deputy Governor of the Bank told the Treasury Select Committee this afternoon that he had held conversations with officials about how able Barclays was to fund its operations. This is the exchange between Pat McFadden and Mr Tucker. McFadden asked whether any minister had tried to 'lean on' him over Libor: 'Absolutely not.' Asked whether Shriti Vadera had leant on him: 'I don't think that I spoke to Shriti Vadera throughout this whole process.' Ed Balls? 'No' Other ministers?

James Forsyth

Is Lords reform heading for a slow or quick death?

From our UK edition

At the end of last week, Number 10 was optimistic that it and the whips were having some success in limiting the rebellion on the Lords. Some were even suggesting that the vote on the programme motion was winnable, after all. But that feeling has evaporated this morning. First, the weekend ring round by various senior figures did not meet with great success. Second, the 'dear colleague' letter signed by 74 MPs means that the programme motion is now pretty much certain to be defeated. Indeed, the rebels number considerably more than 74 when you include the PPSs who are planning to vote against it, the backbench opponents trying to fly under the radar and the Chairman of the 1922 Committee Graham Brady, who is also opposed but has not signed the letter.

Isabel Hardman

Tucker’s down on his luck

From our UK edition

'This doesn't look good, Mr Tucker.' Andrew Tyrie made this observation towards the end of his Treasury Select Committee's evidence session with Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker. He was talking about the minutes of a meeting in 2007 which suggested Tucker was aware of the lowballing of Libor, but he might as well have been summing up the witness's hopes of taking the reins as the Bank's next Governor. Tucker insisted he was not aware that lowballing was taking place, but the minutes themselves said: 'Several group members thought that Libor fixings had been lower than actual traded interbank rates through the period of stress.' John Mann leapt on this, saying the minutes quite clearly referred to 'people submitting returns below what in fact were the traded rates'.

James Forsyth

Clegg takes a hammering over Lords reforms

From our UK edition

Nick Clegg was standing at the despatch box to move the second reading of the coalition’s Lords reform bill. But the reception he got was reminiscent of what used to happen to Lib Dem leaders at PMQs. He was barracked mercilessly by both Labour and Tory benches while his own benches remained oddly silent, only one of his MPs intervened on his behalf.   Watching the Tory benches during Clegg’s speech it was hard not to imagine a considerable rebellion tomorrow night. At one point, the interventions were coming in so thick and fast that Clegg appeared to be almost ducking at the despatch box. The Tories seemed to be relishing the trouble that the Deputy Prime Minister was in. Even as sober a figure as Malcolm Rifkind was chuckling at one point.

Friday

Shiraz Maher

Prevent strategy still needs political will

From our UK edition

West Midlands Police have just announced seven arrests as part of an investigation into alleged terrorist activity. This follows the detention of six individuals on similar charges across London yesterday. Together, they reveal just how active the Islamist network in the UK remains and the potency of its ongoing threat. One of those arrested in London yesterday, a convert, Richard Dart (also known as Salahuddin al-Britani) first came to prominence last year when his step-brother featured him in a documentary called ‘My brother the Islamist’. It offered a rare observational view on the inability of one family to comprehend the militancy and millenarianism of their son.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dems push the boundaries

From our UK edition

That the Liberal Democrats might try to scupper the boundary reforms if they don't get their way on Lords reform has been the talk of the tearooms in Westminster for months. But today the threat comes to the fore as Nick Clegg's departing head of strategy Richard Reeves warns the Independent that there will be 'consequences' if Tory MPs try to block reform of the upper chamber by voting down the Government's programme motion for debating the legislation. This is what he told the newspaper: 'There would be broader consequences for the Government's programme, particularly around political and parliamentary reform. The idea that a failure to deliver a government commitment on Lords reform would be consequence-free is for the birds.

Isabel Hardman

‘David Cameron stands for being Prime Minister’

From our UK edition

'What do you think David Cameron stands for?' a Tory MP asked me recently. Unsure of his point, I burbled something about 'responsibility' and couple of other random abstract nouns. The MP shook his head grimly. 'No,' he said. 'I'll tell you what David Cameron stands for.' I leant forward, intrigued. 'David Cameron stands for being Prime Minister.' It turns out that this MP isn't the only one who thinks this way about Cameron's motives. A survey of ConHome readers, published today, found that 50% believed he was only interested in being Prime Minister and did not have a strong vision for the country. The list of questions the site asked its readers has produced some fascinating results, and it is well worth reading it in full here.

Thursday

Richard Marsh

Closing cardiac units might be right, but it won’t be easy

From our UK edition

Yesterday, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley reported to MPs on the state of the NHS. The state of the NHS, you'll be relieved to know, is good, or at least it is in Mr Lansley’s estimation. Budgets are in surplus, waiting lists are down and, unless you are very unlucky, you won’t have to hang around for more than four hours in A&E before they see you. One thing, however, that the Health Secretary didn’t volunteer - curiously, since it was the biggest NHS news of the day - was the reorganisation of heart care for children, and the closure of three specialist surgery centres in England.

Jonathan Jones

QE is no substitute for a growth strategy

From our UK edition

So the Bank of England is firing up the presses again, and injecting another £50 billion of Quantitative Easing (on top of the £325 billion we’ve had so far), in a desperate bid to get the economy moving. The Bank’s certainly right that growth’s not forthcoming. GDP in the first quarter of this year was 0.2 per cent below where it was in the first quarter of 2011, and the prospects for Q2 aren’t looking too bright either — especially with the extra Jubilee bank holiday.

Isabel Hardman

The battle to be the party of the armed forces

From our UK edition

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has the unenviable task today of announcing a cull of army units as the force is cut from 102,000 to 82,000. The Army 2020 review, the launch of which was delayed beyond Armed Forces Day last weekend, also doubles the number of reservists to 30,000. This leaves it half the size it was during the Cold War era, and the smallest since the Boer War. This is obviously deeply unpleasant for those troops whose units are being abolished. It is also uncomfortable for the Tories, who have long enjoyed the reputation of being the party of the armed forces. Tim Montgomerie tweeted this morning: 'Biggest tax burden since WWII. Smallest army since Victorian times. This isn't Conservatism.

James Forsyth

QCs could be the solution to the banking inquiry row

From our UK edition

There are, though partisans don’t want to admit it, problems with both a judicial inquiry and a parliamentary inquiry into the Libor scandal and the wider culture it has revealed. A judicial inquiry would drag on and, judging by the Leveson Inquiry, there’s no guarantee that the judge would understand the industry he’s meant to be examining. But, as yesterday demonstrated, the standard of questioning at any parliamentary inquiry is going to be patchy.   John Thurso, a Lib Dem member of the Treasury select committee and one of the most respected MPs, has been out floating a compromise solution. His idea is that the Joint Committee should have the power to take on QCs.

Isabel Hardman

‘Welfare suicides’ are awful, but they’re still a red herring

From our UK edition

One of my first jobs as a junior reporter was covering the inquest of a man who had committed suicide at the end of a legal battle against a rise in his rent. His council house had been transferred to a housing association, and the rents were set to rise by £5 a week. Like all inquests, it was a grisly affair. It took evidence from a sobbing young relative, and included the details of how he killed himself. This case was a terribly sad mess, and there doubtless should have been more support at hand for a man frightened about falling into arrears with his rent. But his death did not stop the housing association putting up its rents, and nor should it have done, as the rise was to fund work on the homes to bring them up to a decent standard.