Uk politics

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

Cameron’s personnel issues

From our UK edition

The past fortnight has been instructive in just how little control David Cameron has over the make-up of his Cabinet. Every choice he makes, it seems, has to be weighed against the fragile balance of the coalition, as well as against the internal divides of the two coalition parties themselves. I mean, Vince Cable calls the Tories "ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal" — only the latest of a series of provocations — and his position doesn't look precarious in the slightest. Chris Huhne is mired in a scandal that may still terminate his political career, and yet there is little indication that the scythes of Downing Street are moving to cut him down.

Peter Hoskin

Inflation bites back

From our UK edition

  Good job we didn't unravel the bunting after last month's inflation figures. Because today we discover that CPI inflation rose again in April, by 0.5 percentage points, to 4.5 per cent — its highest level since October 2008. That drop in March does look like a blip after all. Even with RPI inflation continuing to fall (by 0.1 percentage points), we seem to have returned to a grim, upwards trajectory. Most forecasters predict that inflation will keep on rising for the rest of this year, outstripping wage growth along the way. The squeeze on living standards continues: We have dwelt on the political problems this creates for Osborne before, so suffice to say that they will not be eased by one-month, one-off falls in the rate of inflation.

Monday

James Forsyth

Leak shows that Fox objects to plans to spend more on overseas development

From our UK edition

A second letter from the Defence Secretary to the Prime Minister has leaked out. Tomorrow’s Times reports on a note that Liam Fox sent to the Prime Minister opposing the government’s plan to legislate for Britain to spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on overseas development aid. It won’t come as a huge surprise to anyone that Dr Fox is sceptical of aid spending. But for another letter from him to the PM to reach the press will further strain relations between the MoD and Downing Street. There will be those in the Cameron circle who think that it is not a coincidence that both of the missives that have leaked out have shown Fox taking the more classically robust Tory position than the Prime Minister.

David Blackburn

Labour’s apparent shift on free schools

From our UK edition

As I wrote on Friday, there is a sense that some on Labour's benches want to soften the party's education policy. It seems that the first subtle shift may have come over the weekend. Total Politics' Amber Elliott reports on a Fabian Society meeting where Andy Burnham apparently dropped his blanket opposition to free schools. Amber writes: 'Speaking at the Fabian Society conference at the weekend, Burnham signalled that he is not against free schools such as the one former-No10-strategist-turned-teacher Peter Hyman is setting up. Labour blogger Anthony Painter tweeted from the conference: "@andyburnhammp supports Peter Hyman's free school as a Labour alternative to the Tory concept. But also says whole system matters #Fabians.

James Forsyth

The battle over the 4th carbon budget

From our UK edition

At the weekend, it appeared that Chris Huhne had won his battle with Vince Cable and George Osborne over whether or not the government should sign up to the 4th carbon budget. This budget covers 2023 to 2027 and is all part of a plan to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 compared to the level in 1990; they have currently been reduced by 26.5 percent from the 1990 level. But it now appears that the greens in government might have been premature in declaring victory. First, the next set of cuts in UK carbon emissions is dependent on the European Union agreeing to embark on an equally significant emissions cut by early 2014. If this does not happen, then the UK carbon budget will default to the EU average.

James Forsyth

The Huhne story takes another turn

From our UK edition

The Chris Huhne story has moved along a fair bit today. It is now being openly reported that it was Huhne’s estranged wife Vicky Pryce who allegedly took the points, though Huhne repeated his denial of the whole story earlier today. The BBC is also saying. that Pryce was that evening at an LSE dinner. (The fact that the BBC is now actively reporting this story shows just how much it has moved into the mainstream.) If, and it is a fairly big if, Essex Police have retained a copy of the picture taken by the speed camera then this case should be resolved fairly easily. The time and the name on the ticket can be set against the diaries of those involved. As Pryce was then a senior civil servant, there’ll almost certainly be a record of where she was and when that day.

James Forsyth

The threat of Republican terror

From our UK edition

The Metropolitan Police has released a statement saying that they have received a bomb threat for central London today from dissident Irish Republicans. There’s no information on where in the capital or what time today the warning relates to.   The threat, for which the spurious attempt at justification is presumably related to the Queen’s visit to Ireland tomorrow, may well be a hoax. But if it is real, it would attest to the growing reach of dissident Republicans whose previous operations have been confined to Northern Ireland itself. (The best book on dissident Republicanism is Legion of the Rearguard by occasional Coffee House contributor Martyn Frampton).

Peter Hoskin

Osborne pledges more and more transparency

From our UK edition

The Post-Bureaucratic Age — mostly just plain and simple transparency, to you and me — barely got a mention once the Tories alighted on the Big Society, of which it is a component. But the thinking behind it never went away, as George Osborne's speech to the Google Zeitgeist conference testifies today. It may be unusual to hear an address from the Chancellor in which he doesn't mention the deficit, not even once. But, in talking about publishing details of government spending and contracts online, this is natural territory for him. The thinking behind much of the transparency agenda is simply to cut down waste and extravagance in the public sector.

Peter Hoskin

Huhne digs his feet in

From our UK edition

Chris Huhne has, at last, responded to the allegations set against him — and he has done so with some defiance. In a statement this afternoon, the Energy Secretary said that the claims made by his former wife are "simply incorrect," and that he welcomes the police looking into them. Here's a more complete transcript, courtesy of Andrew Sparrow: "All I want to say is simply that these allegations are simply incorrect. They have been made before and they have been shown to be untrue. And I very much welcome the referral to the police as it will draw a line under the matter. I don't want to say any more than that. I think the police can get to the bottom of this.

Sunday

Peter Hoskin

Lansley stands up for his reforms

From our UK edition

If there's anything that stands out from Andrew Lansley's interview with the Sunday Times (£) it is his air of quiet defiance. Of course, the Health Secretary sounds some of the conciliatory notes that have crept in to the government's rhetoric since they decided to pause, listen and engage on NHS reform. But he also stands up for the original reforms as he conceived them. "From my point of view," he says, "the White Paper was setting out what sensible, intelligent people inside the NHS were saying." For him, the concerns that remain are not with the general thrust of his reforms, but with "implementation, the nuts and bolts of how it will work." Lansley also makes sure to bind Cameron into the White Paper.

Matt Cavanagh

How to fix the National Security Council

From our UK edition

The National Security Council was a sound idea. But it has disappointed, both inside and outside Whitehall. The Ministry of Defence has complained that it "failed to give strategic direction". Among previous supporters in the media, Con Coughlin has commented sourly that “all it has achieved so far is the replacement of Blair’s much-derided ‘sofa government’ with a new, back-of-the-envelope approach”. James Kirkup was even driven to ask “What exactly is the point of it?” Where did things go wrong?

James Forsyth

The Huhne story speeds up

From our UK edition

Looking at today’s papers, it is clear—as Pete says—that Chris Huhne’s political career is in real danger. The most striking thing about the Mail on Sunday and Sunday Times stories about the allegation that he asked someone to take driving penalty points for him is that the person who took the points appears to have taped a recent conversation between the pair about the matter. This suggests a total breakdown in trust between them. The Sunday Times also includes the allegation that Huhne “is alleged to have entered another person’s name on the form, without consulting them.

Peter Hoskin

Huhne falls victim to another secret microphone

From our UK edition

The vultures appear to be circling closer and closer to Chris Huhne — does he have enough strength to shoo them away? After all, he was already diminished by last weekend's claims about his delinquent motoring practices. Today, he is diminished further still. Both the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Times (£) have published extracts from a taped conversation between the Energy Secretary and an unnamed someone who is alleged to have taken the fall for his speeding tickets. "There is no evidence for this story," says Huhne in one extract, "unless you give it some legs by saying something.

Saturday

James Forsyth

Another blow to the Lansley plan

From our UK edition

Number 10 has now taken charge of coalition health policy to such an extent that the Department of Health press office was caught unawares by the news that the Prime Minister was to deliver a major speech on health next week. David Cameron is determined to present the coming substantial changes to the Lansley reform plan as the changes he wants, not the ones forced on him by the Lib Dems. To that end, the head of the NHS future forum, a body Cameron has set up to oversee the NHS listening exercise, Steve Field telling The Guardian that he thinks all competition should be removed from the bill is helpful to Cameron. But these sentiments will exacerbate the growing concerns in Conservatives circles that the bill is going to end up being so diluted as to be pointless.

Peter Hoskin

Cable talks similarities, not differences

From our UK edition

Vince Cable, it seems, has notched his Tory-baiting down from 11 to about 8. Last weekend, in the bitter wake of the local elections, the Business Secretary labelled his coalition partners as "ruthless, calculating and thoroughly tribal". Today, in an address to the Fabians, he would only argue that the Tories will benefit most from tribalism in politics — and it was an argument delivered soberly and without obvious malice. He even praised David Cameron (along with Tony Blair) as someone who has tried to suck the poisonous partisanship from Westminster's bloodstream. Sunder Katwala has quoted the speech extensively here, so I won't dwell for too long on what was said.

Peter Hoskin

The man who hopes to win English votes for Labour

From our UK edition

Maurice Glasman and Ed Miliband do not think as one. But Miliband's Favourite Thinker™ is an undoubted influence on the Labour party — and, as such, it's worth tuning into his ideas from time to time, if you have a tolerance for such things. Glasman's "Blue Labour" philosophy has already enjoyed heavy exposure this year, and he has an interview in today's Times (£) to explain it even further. If you're not minded to buy, borrow or steal a copy of the Thunderer, then here are a few observations. First, it's striking just how much Glasman dwells on the personal. "If you want to know everything that was wrong about Scottish Labour and Labour," he urges, "then just look at the career of Gordon Brown.

Peter Hoskin

Back to the start on a military covenant

From our UK edition

I suppose you could call it an O-turn. First, the Prime Minister declared, in a speech aboard HMS Ark Royal last year, that a new military covenant would be enshrined "into the law of our land." Then, there seemed to be a U-turn, with the government committing only to review the covenant annually, not to lend it legal force. Yet, now, a U-turn on the U-turn, with the news that it will be etched into the staute books after all. The defence minister Andrew Robathan tells today's Telegraph that, "we are putting the military covenant on a statutory basis for the first time." The formal announcement is expected in the House on Monday, pending the outcome of some "final discussions".

Friday

David Blackburn

Gove takes the attack to ailing Burnham

From our UK edition

There are intriguing manoeuvres on the education front today. Michael Gove has written a letter to Andy Burnham, calling on his counterpart to guarantee to protect the Academies programme. There’s nothing unusual in this: politicians are always writing pointless letters to each other. But the timing of this one is quite significant, coinciding as it does with former Blair spinner Peter Hyman’s decision to create a free school, with, it is understood, the tacit support of Andrew Adonis. As I’ve written before, Burnham has forsaken his reforming instincts. Convinced that Gove is a weak link, he has not seen the need to leave ‘old Labour’s’ comfort zone on education. Now the mood seems to be turning against him.

Jonathan Jones

Labour councillors giving themselves pay rises

From our UK edition

As the country tightens its belts, some councils are taking the courageous decision to increase spending on certain essentials. The Labour councillors who run the London borough of Southwark have identified a deprived group in need of urgent help: themselves. The council is amending its constitution (Page 48) to create 8 new executive posts to be filled by its own councillors, each of whom will receive an additional £2,800 a year. This comes while they take the axe to lollipop ladies, street cleaning services and libraries. Incidentally, for the extra they're spending on these unprecedented "deputy cabinet members", they could save 6 of the 12 crossing patrols they're cutting.

David Blackburn

Another European squabble looms

From our UK edition

There is much excitement in Westminster at the moment about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s campaign to end ‘discards’ under the Common Fisheries Policy. DEFRA and non-governmental organisations estimate that perhaps as much as 60 per cent of a catch will be returned dead to the sea because the CFP’s controversial quota system is based on the amount of fish caught. DEFRA has been pressing the European Commission to reform the quota system for years. At last, they seem to have succeeded. The commission is due to announce in July that the quota system will now be based on the amount of fish landed in port. With that apparently comes a concession to reduce discards significantly.