Uk politics

Thursday

James Forsyth

The NHS isn’t free

From our UK edition

If we are going to have a sensible debate about the NHS in this country, we need to deal with the myth that the NHS is free. Yes, the NHS is free at the point of use, but we all pay for it through taxation. I suspect that slightly fewer people would still ‘love the NHS’ if they knew precisely how much they were contributing towards its costs through all the taxes that they pay. I say this as someone who has no desire to import the US system. Before I went to live in the States, I was quite a fan of the US healthcare system. But having lived there for four years, I became more sceptical of it. I was lucky enough to work for a company that offered incredibly generous health insurance, but the system was incredibly bureaucratic.

Fraser Nelson

Finally, a stroke of good luck for Gordon Brown

From our UK edition

This UK-US spat over the NHS has spilled over into a snowballing twitter campaign, with comments flooding in from Brits. Nigel Lawson said the NHS was like a religion to Britain, and many have come to defend the faith. Brown has lent his support to the campaign, and it's perfect for him. It allows him to play the patriotic card, telling those yanks (especially - boo - the conservative ones who watch Fox news, and their neocon supporters like Class Enemy Hannan) where to shove it. He also gives President Obama - he of Obama Beach fame - some political support. Finally, it allows him to claim that the NHS is somehow a great success - and of course it was a great Labour creation that the wicked Tories would ruin etc etc.

David Blackburn

What’s wrong with being a career politician?

From our UK edition

Nadine Dorries has broken her holiday to argue that the fallout from the expenses scandal will alter the make-up of Parliament for the worse: ‘The new pernicious rule for MPs to declare hours spent on outside interests will prevent the multi-skilled, clever, articulate, learned individuals who are, by their own obvious track record of achievement, the type of people Parliament desperately needs to attract and retain - from even considering a life as an MP. Instead we will see the emergence of a new breed of MP: those who will enter Parliament because they are rich, or careerist.’ The contempt the public holds for politicians makes it unlikely that careerists will dominate Parliament.

Peter Hoskin

The Tory grassroots deliver their verdict on Alan Duncan

From our UK edition

The Tory grassroots have spoken, and they want Alan Duncan out.  Here are the main results from a poll which has just been published over at ConservativeHome: "A ConservativeHome.com poll of 1,622 Tory members carried out today finds 65% want Alan Duncan to resign and 55% think he should be sacked. A massive 91% think he should be moved from his current job where he has a role in deciding Conservative policy on MPs’ expenses and allowances. 61% are dissatisfied with Alan Duncan's performance. 31% are satisfied.  This makes him the least popular member of the shadow cabinet. 38% agreed that 'Alan Duncan was telling the truth - the antagonism toward MPs has gone too far.'  52% disagreed.

Peter Hoskin

Mandy: Brown would “relish” televised debates with Cameron

From our UK edition

So Mandy's brought up the idea of a public debate between Brown and Cameron again, claiming – in interview with Sky (see footage above) – that the PM would "relish" the opportunity to "take the fight to the Conservatives".  If you remember, the last time Mandy mentioned it, Downing St quickly moved to dampen all the speculation - the rumour was that Brown was going to challenge* Cameron to a series of debates in his conference speech, and was irritated at the PoD for giving the game away so early.  But now that Mandy has made the same point again – indeed, even more forcefully this time – I reckon it near confirms that Brown's challenge will come soon enough. * The word "challenge" is used in the loosest possible sense here.

James Forsyth

The real origins of the Mandelson Osborne feud and why Mandelson wants to keep it going

From our UK edition

One of the great misapprehensions about the Mandelson-Osborne feud is that Osborne was the instigator of it. The Independent in its piece on the relationship between the two says: “When, a couple of months later in October, Peter Mandelson was offered a peerage and brought back into the Cabinet as Business Secretary, Osborne began briefing journalists to the effect that Lord Mandelson, then a European commissioner, had spent his holiday dripping "pure poison" about Gordon Brown.” But my understanding is that Osborne gave the briefing in the summer. Osborne called Daniel Finkelstein, a former colleague of his from Tory central office who was at the time comment editor of The Times, straight after dinner to pass on what Mandelson had said.

Peter Hoskin

The next government will have to help this lost generation

From our UK edition

It's noteworthy enough when David Blanchflower - a member of the Bank of England's MPC until May this year - says that the government "isn't doing enough" to stem the unemployment crisis, as he does in an article for today's Guardian.  But his more specific points about the "lost generation" of unemployed young people are also worth highlighting. As Fraser blogged yesterday, this recession is taking a particular toll on those aged under 25.  Partially, this is down to school and university leavers being unable to find work.  But, as Blachflower points out, there's another effect at play - young people with jobs are the first in line to lose them, as firms make redundancies: "A policy of last in, first out is also operating.

James Forsyth

Alan Duncan is a very lucky man

From our UK edition

Guido has just blogged that he was offered the video of Alan Duncan complaining that MPs live on rations and are treated like sh-ts back in June. If Guido had run it then, Duncan would have been in far bigger trouble and might well have ended up being sacked. The expenses story was still much rawer then, the whole press corps would have been in full pursuit and Cameron would have had to answer questions about whether Duncan could stay or not in every interview he did. Duncan’s comments, though, again call into question his judgement.

Daniel Korski

In Kosovo, progress is clear but work remains

From our UK edition

Today Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the new NATO secretary-general, is visiting Kosovo as part of his get-to-know-the-job tour. What is so remarkable about this particular visit is, well, that it's so unremarkable. That there is so little attention paid to the newly-independent country at all. Those, particularly on the Left, who railed against the war - and Kosovo's declaration of independence almost ten years after NATO's air campaign - have moved on. Their interest in Kosovo, let alone the Western Balkans, was instrumental. Those who predicted that the declaration of independence would spark another cycle of violence and the election of irredentist Serbs in Belgrade were wrong. Violence has been minimal and moderate parties have won the last two elections in Serbia.

Peter Hoskin

The race to recovery is looking bad for Brown

From our UK edition

Oh dear.  Another blow to Brown's economic credibility this morning, as France and Germany announce that they've come out of recession already.  Both economies grew by 0.3 percent in the second quarter of the year - in contrast to the UK economy, which shrank by 0.8 percent. Whatever the factors behind it, this spells trouble for Brown.  A poor performance in the race to recovery not only calls his management of the economy into question, but it also undermines his anticipated "green shoots strategy".  The PM will find it hard to brag about our "green shoots" when other countries already have full-grown plants.

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson

The truth behind Mandy’s “half-a-million jobs” claim

From our UK edition

Anyone listening to Lord Mandelson’s claim this morning that the Brown stimulus saved “at least” half a million jobs would have smelt a large, whiskered rat. The Treasury has tonight told The Telegraph that the 500,000 figure was a maximum estimate, not a minimum as Mandy claimed. Your baristas here at Coffee House have asked the Treasury to show us their study – not available, it seems. So we have submitted a Freedom of Information request for it. While we all hold our breath, it’s worth looking at this claim in more detail because it is a Brownie we are highly likely to hear again.

Peter Hoskin

Duncan’s rations: now with added video

From our UK edition

Further to my post earlier, Sky have now produced an embeddable copy of Don't Panic's Alan Duncan video. The offending remarks come around 04:30 in: I know I said before that I'm inclined to believe Duncan's excuse - that the comments were made in jest - but the more I watch the clip, the less convinced I am. Intentional hyperbole - perhaps. A joke - hmm. Either way, it's a stark error of judgement on the shadow leader's part.

James Forsyth

Does Mandelson remember that Blair thought cross-dressing was a good idea?<br />

From our UK edition

Peter Mandelson has been getting very cross, and rather personal, about George Osborne’s ‘political cross dressing”. But during the Blair era, it was New Labour politicians who were keen on cross dressing. Indeed, on his farewell tour Tony Blair went out of his way to declare it as something that was here to stay: "Most confusingly for modern politicians, many of the policy prescriptions cross traditional left-right lines. Basic values, attitudes to the positive role of government, social objectives - these still divide among familiar party lines, but on policy cross-dressing is rampant and a feature of modern politics that will stay. "The era of tribal political leadership is over.

Peter Hoskin

Osborne should avoid Brown-style rhetoric on cuts

From our UK edition

Right, I know I keep banging on about Osborne's speech, but - Alan Duncan's loose lips aside - it's certainly the topic du jour in Westminster.  Yesterday evening, I noted a couple of qualms I had with what I thought was - on the whole - an important and effective address.  Today, I've got another concern to add to the pile; one prompted by Osborne's article in the Times. The headline to that article reads thus: "The new dividing line: radical reform or cuts".  And the sub-head runs: "Sceptics argue that reform is a luxury we cannot afford.  Without it, money for schools and health will inevitably be slashed."  Now, there are some major problems with that argument.

Daniel Korski

A new world order – don’t be silly

From our UK edition

Go to any international think-tank conference and you will hear one complaint repeated ad nauseam: the intenational system, built after World War II - and incorporating the UN, NATO, the IMF, WHO etc. - is no longer fit for purpose. It needs to change to accomodate new threats, like climate change, and new powers like India and Brazil. The last point is particularly oft-heard. If India provides the majority of UN peacekeepers, should Delhi not have a permanent say on the UN Security Council? Now that China has become a pillar of the global economy, should the Beijing government not have more votes on the IMF board? The limited representation of these states is thrown into relief when compared with the over-representation of European states like Britain and France.

Peter Hoskin

Something the Tories could do without…

From our UK edition

...Alan Duncan saying on video that MPs are treated "like sh*t", and that they're forced to live on "rations".  He's just apologised, saying that the remarks were meant in jest.  And I'm inclined to believe him: he was, after all, in conversation with the political pranksters over at Don't Panic (although he didn't know he was being filmed).  But, either way, it's easy work for his opponents to take these things out of context.  And many will argue that the expenses fiasco isn't a laughing matter in the first place.

Fraser Nelson

Brown’s children

From our UK edition

Why is this recession so cruel to the young? The unemployment figures - now up to 2.44 million - are bad enough. It's the largest single quarterly drop since data began in 1971. But look deeper and there's a striking disparity amongst the age groups. The under-18s – school leavers – are hit the most, with their employment numbers down 17% year-on-year. The 18-24 year olds are next worst hit. But there is actually a rise in pension-aged people returning to work. The bottom line: unemployment amongst the under-25s is a third higher than when Labour came to power. CoffeeHousers may remember how full of pious anger Gordon Brown was during the last recession, saying that youth unemployment was a particular outrage, and he called them "Major's children".

Peter Hoskin

When Mandelson can’t launch a convincing counterattack, you know things are bad for Labour

From our UK edition

Whatever you might think of George Osborne's speech on progressive politics yesterday - and I have some doubts of my own - it's hard to take Peter Mandelson's Guardian article about it particularly seriously.  As Tim Montgomerie says over at ConservativeHome, there's little in there beyond personal attacks on Osborne and a caricature of the Tory position, all underpinned by the insistent claim that progressive ends can only be delivered by Labour means.  For someone who lambasted the media for not "not talking about policy" in his interview with the Guardian on Monday, it's a rather poor show. But, worst of all for Labour, is that Mandy's position is confused and inconsistent.

David Blackburn

Renaissance of the Prince

From our UK edition

‘Kindly pussycat’? ‘Minister for fun’? ‘A benign uncle?’ This was how Lord Mandelson described himself in that pantomime of an interview with the Guardian earlier this week. But this morning, the Prince of Darkness returned. Perhaps running the government for three days maligned the would-be Widow Twanky of Monday, but it is more likely that Mandy couldn’t resist crossing swords with George Osborne again. He launches a scathing personal and political attack on Osborne and his progressive agenda in today’s Guardian. Here are the key sections: 'To be a progressive is to believe that we can make a better society and improve the conditions of individual lives by acting together...It is to believe in the necessity and value of social justice.

Tuesday

Peter Hoskin

Supplementary notes on Osborne’s progressive speech

From our UK edition

Earlier, I wrote that Osborne's speech today seemed to be a significant moment for Project Cameron.  Having attended the Demos event a few hours ago, I still think that's the case.  Sure, there wasn't anything particularly new in it - and the delivery didn't quite zing - but its central point that Brown's approach to the public finances is regressive, while spending cuts and the right reforms could deliver better services for all, is a necessary refinement of the Tory message.  Come election time, Brown is going to deploy all kinds of attacks on the "nasty Tories" and their "cuts in frontline services", so it's important for Cameron & Co. that they counter this in advance.