Uk politics

Thursday

Peter Hoskin

The case for cutting middle class benefits

From our UK edition

Great work by my former colleagues at the think tank Reform today. In their latest report, they've figured out that the cost of "middle class benefits" to the Exchequer is some £31 billion. In other words, £31 billion worth of maternity pay, child benefits, fuel allowance and other transfers are dished out to middle income earners each year - that's around a quarter of all spending on benefits. Writing in the Times, Andrew Haldenby says that these middle class benefits should be an obvious candidate for cuts. It's hard to disagree. If we're all in this together, then it seems slightly perverse that money is being given out to people who - in many cases - don't strictly need it.

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Should MPs be able to employ their relatives?

From our UK edition

The 1922 committee of Tory MPs is meeting now and the word is that there will be a concerted push to defend the right of MPs to employ their relatives; something that MPs on all sides fear the Kelly review will try to ban. In a Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion way, it is easy to say that MPs shouldn’t be able to employ family members. But there is no doubt that there are a lot of relatives, and spouses especially, who are working extremely hard for their salary. Given the hours MPs work and the fact that they have to be in two places, one can see why so many favour this arrangement. A possible compromise being kicked about here at Westminster is that MPs might be allowed to employ one relative each. This strikes me as a sensible move.

Peter Hoskin

Postal strike to go ahead

From our UK edition

The Communication Workers Union has just confirmed that there will be a national postal strike tomorrow and on Friday, effective as of midnight tonight.  From a purely political perspective, this largely vindicates David Cameron's decision to major on the strikes during PMQs earlier.  You imagine that the story will dominate news broadcasts later, and the Tory leader can expect to have some of his attacks on Brown inserted into the coverage.

David Blackburn

They did it their way

From our UK edition

One argument against Sir Thomas Legg's repayment requests is that many are founded on inaccurate information. Norman Baker was charged for gardening expenses despite not having claimed any. Today, Sir Thomas has had to apologise for overcharging Ken Clarke by more than £4,000, and he has had to state that John Mann MP will not have to repay any money. It’s all a bit of a muddle. First, there was the retrospective repayments fiasco. Then the Leader of the House made it quite clear that she had no idea what would happen to MPs who did not repay their expenses. And now there is this godsend for the anti-Leggites. MPs are under enormous pressure to repay, but the increasingly chaotic Legg Commission offers them a possible get of jail free card.

Lloyd Evans

Nothing doing | 21 October 2009

From our UK edition

A poor showing by Dave today. All he managed was a spot of outmoded Labour-bashing and a biscuit joke that didn’t exactly take the biscuit. He attacked the PM over the postal strike and quoted a minister of state admitting that union militants had been emboldened by the government’s indecision over part-privatisation. ‘This trade union,’ said Cameron, ‘can sense weakness and they see weakness in this prime minister and this government.’ Brown got huffy – but not very. He accused Cameron of cynically trying to drag the strike ‘into the political arena,’ It’s already there, said Cameron, ‘not least because the communications workers pay half his bills.

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s lose-lose position will prevent our broken politics from being fixed

From our UK edition

An intriguing item in today's Telegraph, which suggests Brown is planning to offer MPs a pay-rise to stem backbench anger over both the Legg and Kelly reviews into expenses.  The idea is to boost the standard MP's salary by about £3,000 and pay for it by cutting ministers' salaries – so there'd be no further cost to the taxpayer.  But you imagine even that fact won't rally much public support for this idea. As I've written before, proposals to raise MPs' pay shouldn't be dismissed out of hand.  But it's dispiriting that these latest plans are all about saving Brown's hide, and have come about without consulting voters.  It's also indicative of the position our PM finds himself in.

David Blackburn

Brown’s Northern Ireland settlement is to be commended

From our UK edition

Gordon Brown has just told the House of Commons that he is offering Stormont a financial settlement to increase funds for policing and judicial administration in Northern Ireland. Crucially, future emergency security costs in future will be met by the Treasury, and elements of the complicated settlement will stand until at least 2014.  Northern Ireland has been badly hit by the recession. Power sharing became increasingly fraught as arguments escalated over budget allocations and the timing of judicial devolution. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that the recent escalation of violence might be related to rising unemployment and open political tension.

Peter Hoskin

Back pain, the unions and social-networking

From our UK edition

So how do you explain the postal strike when it makes little-to-no business sense whatsoever?  That's the question which Danny Finkelstein sets about tackling in his superb column today.  I won't set out his full answer here - you should read the full article for that - but suffice to say that it involves back pain in East Germany and the latest research into social-networking.  Overall, it makes a very persuasive case, and one which has clear implications for policymakers.  As Danny concludes: "If the Royal Mail dispute were about individual postal workers and their economic interest, it would be easy enough to solve. It could be ended in a conciliatory way with most people better off. Unfortunately things aren’t that simple.

David Blackburn

In Griffin’s world, squaddies will have to follow their Generals to Nuremberg

From our UK edition

Well, as Britain’s senior Generals goosestep their way to Nuremberg, plucky squaddies and veterans have leapt to their defence. In the video below, provided by Nothing British, Andy McNab plays loyal Fritz to General Dannatt’s Keitel. And these veterans of the Second World War, the Malaya campaign, the Falklands war and current conflicts, will feel the hangman’s noose on their necks also. The BNP has its roots in ‘Eurofacist’ movements that aligned Aryanism with hardline, regressive socialism, and believed that change would be effected by regenerative violence, not mainstream politics. The BNP remain national socialists and racial supremacists - opposed to all non-white British nationalities and ethnicities, not merely Islamic extremism.

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

The BNP responds with hate mail

From our UK edition

On Thursday night, we will most likely see a restrained performance from Nick Griffin - one which, in itself, gives little clue as to some of the disgraceful tenets of his party.  But, as Sunder Katwala points out over at Next Left, Griffin's official response to the letter released by military figures today leaves no room for doubt.  Here's a passage from it: "Those Tory generals who today attacked the British National Party should remember that at the Nuremberg Trials, the politicians and generals accused of waging illegal aggressive wars were all charged — and hanged — together.

Peter Hoskin

Inscrutable polls

From our UK edition

And so the strangeness continues: the latest Ipsos MORI poll has the Tories leaping a hefty 7 points to 43 percent, while Labour climb 2 to 26 percent, and the Lib Dems fall 6 points to 19 percent.  It's most likely a correction from their last poll – which had the Lib Dems above Labour for the first time since the 1980s – but the Tories' 17-point lead is still at odds with some of the other polls we've seen recently.  I'm sure CCHQ will be pleased, but, as I said yesterday, it's worth waiting a few weeks until the polls settle before drawing judgement. UPDATE: Guardian/ICM also gives the Tories a 17-point lead.

Peter Hoskin

Women only shortlists

From our UK edition

Now this is going to stir up some trouble.  Addressing today's Speaker's conference, David Cameron has said that the Tories still don't have enough women candidates, and, as a result, he may impose women-only shortlists on those constituencies which are yet to pick a candidate for the next election.  Putting aside the many persuasive arguments against "positive discrimination", you imagine this will just fuel more questions about the amount of central control that the Tory leader wields.  Cameron & Co. clearly believe that those questions are a price worth paying for the modernisation of their party, but I have my doubts.  I'm sure CoffeeHousers do too, so your thoughts please...

David Blackburn

The BNP’s appropriation of British institutions must be resisted

From our UK edition

Hardly a day passes without Nick Griffin cosying up to a poster of Churchill and the Few. Valour provides potent nationalist imagery, but Griffin has no right to it – as his distinctly ambiguous stance on the Ghurkhas’ residency rights makes clear. This morning, senior officers, in conjunction with Nothing British, condemned Griffin’s opportunism:   ‘We, the undersigned, are increasingly concerned that the reputation of Britain’s Armed Services is being tarnished by political extremists who are attempting to appropriate it for their own dubious ends. We deplore this trend for two reasons.

Peter Hoskin

Are we about to see a double-act?

From our UK edition

It's Tuesday, so it's time to sift through Rachel Sylvester's column for juicy quotes.  In her latest, she saves the best for last: a Cabinet minister saying that "It’s up to the brotherhood now".  No, not that brotherhood – but the brothers Miliband, Ed and David.  The intimation being that they need to take over from Brown – and sharpish. There's been plenty of speculation about the Milibands recently, so this latest titbit shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.  But, to my mind, it's interesting how this minister packages Ed and David together – as the "brotherhood".  It has generally been assumed that one or the other wouldn't run for the leadership if the other one did.

Peter Hoskin

When will they learn?

From our UK edition

Why argue your case when you can smear your opponent's name? According to this morning's Telegraph, that's the approach that a group of MPs are taking over the Sir Thomas Legg letters. The plan they're apparently considering is to use parliamentary questions to find out details such as Legg's pay, his team's expenses and how much they've spent on media advice. One Tory MP tells the paper that there are "legitimate questions" about these things.  Hm. It's not only a pernicious strategy, it's also stupid.  Even if MPs manage to uncover some sort of hypocrisy on Legg's part, do they really think it will divert public anger away from them?  And do they not see that they could end up with egg on their faces if Legg comes out squeaky clean?

Monday

David Blackburn

The political position in Kabul deteriorates

From our UK edition

It seems that a second Afghan election is now probable after Hamid Karzai’s share of the vote fell below 50%. The BBC reports that the drop is the result of the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission ordering that ballots from 210 polling stations be discounted. The pro-Karsi Independent Electoral Commission will deliver its verdict shortly, but is bound by the ECC, so a run-off seems likely. This turn of events is no surprise – rumours of corruption circulated months before polling. But the coalition is now in a very awkward position. Mr Karzai’s state of mind is frenetic – he views these allegations as more evidence that there is an Anglo-American plot to unseat him - and he will block any attempt to initiate a second round of voting.

Peter Hoskin

Those strange post-conference polls

From our UK edition

So what's the deal with the opinion polls we've been seeing in the newspapers recently?  There was some hubbub in Tory circles yesterday over the fact that two weekend polls – YouGov for the Sunday Times and ComRes for the Indy on Sunday – had Labour either gaining ground on the Tories or a maintaining boosted level of support around the 30 percent mark.  What had happened to the 19 percent lead that the Tories enjoyed in the immediate aftermath of their conference?  Had the Labour conference really been more successful than the Tory one, despite all appearances?  I've heard these, and similar questions, doing the rounds over the past couple of days. I rather suspect that there's some volatility involved in all this.

James Forsyth

Using legal measures to keep Griffin off-air will only benefit their target

From our UK edition

Any attempt to use legal measures to keep the BNP off Question Time will only have one winner: the BNP. The more of a fuss that is made about the BNP appearing on Question Time, the better for the BNP—it means that Griffin will get more publicity and if he is clever enough to disguise his vile views when on the programme then he could make some progress. Using the law is particularly foolish as it plays right into the BNP’s narrative that there is an establishment conspiracy to prevent any debate about immigration. The BBC, the political parties and the media have handled the BNP’s appearance on Question Time appallingly. The actions of all three groups have combined to create huge amounts of pre-publicity for this edition of Question Time.

Peter Hoskin

A few honest men

From our UK edition

Right, wrong, or somewhere in between?  I imagine that a few people who were fervently behind the Legg letters started having second thoughts when Frank Field announced his opposition to them over weekend.  After all, it's one thing when the usual, venal suspects start whining, but quite another when Field – one of the decent men* of Westminster – starts to murmur.  If you haven't read his blog post on the subject, then I'd suggest you do so here.   And it's also worth reading through Bruce Anderson's related article in the Independent today.

Peter Hoskin

Sheerman on the offensive

From our UK edition

Just what was in Barry Sheerman's coffee this morning?  So far today, the schools committee chairman has used a couple of media appearances to a) call Ed Balls a "bully", and b) criticise all three party leaders – including Brown – for their "cowardly party leadership" over the Legg review.  Punchy stuff, which makes you wonder whether he'll be the de facto "Get Gordon Out" candidate for PLP chairman, after all.