Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

Today’s politicians have got the T-shirt, without the requisite ‘been there, done that’

From our UK edition

Anyone surprised by the revelation that workers manufacturing those expensive Fawcett Society/Whistles T-shirts are paid just 62p per hour will probably get a nasty shock if they research the origins of the clothes in their own wardrobes. That's why it's a little hard to pass judgement on Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman for not knowing where those £45 T-shirts came from. Alex wrote a splendidly provocative blog a while ago about sweatshops which reminded us of the alternatives that are realistically available to most of the workers who crouch over sewing machines to produce tops that only survive a few washes anyway.

Friday

Isabel Hardman

Fiona Woolf resigns as chair of child abuse inquiry

From our UK edition

4.50pm - It is difficult to see how Fiona Woolf can stay on as chair of the child abuse inquiry. Labour has decided to call for her resignation, with Yvette Cooper this afternoon saying: 'Theresa May has put Fiona Woolf in an impossible position. We had hoped the Home Secretary would be able to sort this out, so that the inquiry could get going this month, but she has failed to do so. Sadly it is now impossible to see how Fiona Woolf can carry on in this position. 'It should not be beyond the wit of the Home Secretary to establish a credible inquiry.

Isabel Hardman

Labour wins South Yorkshire PCC by-election

From our UK edition

Labour has won the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election with 50 per cent of the vote, which is a tremendous relief for the party given the circumstances in which this contest was held. It avoided the contest moving to second preferences by 0.02 per cent, but it has won in every local authority area, including Rotherham, where it beat Ukip by 800 votes. That the party whose PCC stood down over the Rotherham grooming scandal has managed to win a by-election to replace him now raises questions for Ukip. Neither side had called this election, but Ukip did have a very good chance indeed, given the circumstances. They do not have the consolation prize of winning in certain local authority areas such as Rotherham and Doncaster, which they had hoped for.

Isabel Hardman

Tories on away day put away hopes of winning Rochester

From our UK edition

Tory MPs are in Oxfordshire today for an 'away day'. It's supposed to focus on the autumn statement, but Tory MPs also want to make a few points about the Prime Minister's immigration policies (read Fraser's Telegraph column on the problems with aping Ukip) and others want to complain about the Coalition continuing when the Lib Dems have blocked the EU referendum bill and are complaining about the Tory stance on drugs (this will be in vain, but a good number of backbenchers have told me they want to bring it up anyway). But the funny thing about this away day is that many Tory backbenchers were rather surprised to find themselves travelling to Oxfordshire at all.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Good Samaritans or sinister surveillance? The app that tries to stop suicide

From our UK edition

According to an email I received earlier this afternoon, I should be worried about the mental state of someone I know. An alert popped up in my inbox from an app called 'Radar' which the Samaritans launched this week, telling me a tweet from someone I followed might suggest they were contemplating suicide. Here's the tweet: Clearly the Samaritans need to work on their formula, otherwise I'll be receiving daily alerts whenever Jim Murphy warns against Scottish Labour committing electoral self-harm or one Conservative faction warns another faction that it is being politically suicidal.

Isabel Hardman

Meltdown! Shock poll puts Scottish Labour on 4 MPs and the SNP on 54

From our UK edition

Just to make Scottish Labour's misery complete - and underline the case for a bold leader who likes winning things - STV have published a poll by Ipsos Mori putting Ed Miliband's party on just 23 per cent, which would see them losing all but four of their Scottish MPs, against 52 per cent support for the SNP, which would get 54 Westminster seats. The question was how would those surveyed vote if there were a general election tomorrow. The Scottish Conservatives would lose their one seat, with 10 per cent of the vote, the Lib Dems would retain one with 6 per cent, while the Greens polled 6 per cent, Ukip 2 per cent and others 1 per cent.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Jim Murphy to stand for Scottish Labour leader

From our UK edition

As expected, Jim Murphy has announced he's standing for Scottish Labour Leader. He's given an interview to the Daily Record in which he says he wants to stop 'the Scottish Labour Party from committing self harm': 'I think it is time for a fresh start for the Scottish Labour party,” he said. “I am proud of Labour Party and I am proud of Scotland - but I am not satisfied. 'I want to strike a tone that stops the Scottish Labour Party from committing self harm. I want to unite the Labour Party but more importantly I want to bring the country back together after the referendum. 'I am not going to shout at or about the SNP, I am going to talk to and listen to Scotland and I am very clear that the job I am applying for is to be the First Minister of Scotland.

Isabel Hardman

European Arrest Warrant rebellion shrinks after Cameron pledges pre-Rochester vote

From our UK edition

Why did David Cameron set the vote for the European Arrest Warrant for before the Rochester and Strood by-election? It seems to be a way of picking a right-wing sore just at the wrong time. Perhaps he felt bounced into doing it at Prime Minister's Questions. But those involved in the rebellion think it could also be an effective way to quell a sizeable revolt by reminding Tory MPs that being disloyal before the by-election would be a good way to help Mark Reckless win the seat. The rebellion seems, according to some insiders, be shrinking. Others think that given most Tory MPs seem resigned to losing Rochester anyway, it doesn't really matter when the vote is held. Holding it after a loss would mean MPs were angry and felt they had even less to lose.

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Immigration arguments mean Ukip won the session without asking a question

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband chose one of his medleys of things that have gone wrong for today's Prime Minister's Questions. There were plenty of those to choose from, and the Labour leader started with the almighty row in the Tory party over the European Arrest Warrant. He accused David Cameron of delaying the vote because of the Rochester and Strood by-election, and offered the Prime Minister next week's Opposition Day debate to hold it, where he said Labour would support him to get the measure through. Cameron was having none of that, though, and pledged that the vote would be held before Rochester. He claimed Miliband's questions had collapsed.

Isabel Hardman

Exclusive: Gove letter telling Tories how ‘Lib Dems have killed’ EU Referendum Bill

From our UK edition

Privately, the Conservatives are probably not particularly surprised about the demise of Bob Neill's EU referendum bill, this time at the hands of the Liberal Democrats. It was always a Downing Street ruse to help quell backbench rebellion and senior Tories have ever since viewed the progress both of this bill and its predecessor, led by James Wharton, as an opportunity to cheer up the backbenches with bacon butty breakfasts and so on. Of course, it had a political point, now well proven, which was that only the the Conservatives want to let Britain decide its continued membership of the EU. That both Labour and the Lib Dems have blocked the bills now helps the Conservatives make that point on the doorstep.

Isabel Hardman

What would a Ukip win in the South Yorkshire PCC by-election tell us?

From our UK edition

Before the by-election battle with Ukip in Rochester that Westminster is rather obsessed with, there's another chance for Nigel Farage's party to cause a political earthquake. Tomorrow, voters in South Yorkshire will go to the polls to elect a new police and crime commissioner to replace Shaun Wright, who eventually resigned after the Rotherham child abuse scandal. Ukip is fighting a vigorous campaign in this PCC election, launching posters at the weekend that read 'there are 1,400 reasons why you should not trust Labour again', with a picture of a teenage girl on them. The party's candidate Jack Clarkson does have a good chance of winning the seat from Labour, which will cause serious jitters.

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Nick Boles: We can’t control immigration as EU members

From our UK edition

Nick Boles has a habit of making explosive interventions and then disappearing from political debate for a little while after an almighty telling off from Number 10. Tonight he may be planning to lay low for a while, because he's probably wanted for causing another big row. The Skills Minister has told Total Politics magazine that the government may never be able to control immigration properly, suggesting that this will be the case as long as Britain remains in the EU.

Isabel Hardman

Liam Fox launches One Minute Fox campaign

From our UK edition

Liam Fox has launched a series of 'One Minute Fox' videos in which he sets out his position on various hot issues from the threat of fundamentalism to welfare reform. He unveiled the series - which he says will become more controversial as the election approaches - to a group of Conservative MPs this evening. Intriguingly, none of the videos mentions Conservatism or have any party branding, but they are branded in his own name, which may of course come in handy in the future. Cynics might say that the videos are about a future leadership campaign, but the explicit aim is to communicate Conservative ideas to undecided voters without putting them off right away- and to do so in a simple and quick format that they'll actually watch.

Isabel Hardman

Who’s playing dirty politics on Lord Freud and welfare? Everyone

From our UK edition

The main business of the day in the House of Commons is Labour's debate on Lord Freud, a row that blew up nearly a fortnight ago. The party's motion, entitled 'Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Welfare Reform and disabled people', finishes with '. . . this House has no confidence in the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Reform; and calls on the Prime Minister to dismiss him.' It's not a wise move to put any money on David Cameron meeting this demand, given that Freud apologised on the same day his comments about disabled people and the minimum wage were raised at Prime Minister's Questions. Unless you've got a lot of time on your hands, it might not be wise to sit through the entire debate, both sides of which can be summarised in these three points: 1.

Isabel Hardman

Can George Osborne quibble away shock EU bill?

From our UK edition

What's next for David Cameron's tussle with Brussels? The Prime Minister made clear yesterday that 'we are not paying a sum anything like' the £1.7 billion demanded by the European Commission last week, and now the focus is on how much he can get the bill reduced by. He will have to pay a bill, but to maintain credibility, the Prime Minister must end up paying something much smaller than the original demand. Next week George Osborne and other European finance ministers will hold emergency talks on the bill, and today Number 10 set out what the Chancellor plans to say at those talks.

Isabel Hardman

Tribal loyalty stops bad news becoming worse for party leaders

From our UK edition

Today's Independent explains why the Tory party is starting to get rather jitter again. Sure, Labour has fallen five points to level-peg with the party in a ComRes poll for the paper, with both on 30 per cent, but as Mike Smithson points out, the party could still be losing seats to the Opposition even if it secures a 6 per cent lead. But the poll also has Ukip on 19 per cent after the shock bill from Brussels. As I reported yesterday, MPs were already picking up on voter concern about this on the doorstep - and a poll for the Times found most voters through he would pay up in the end anyway. Labour won't be particularly buoyed by the poll either, though Douglas Alexander has warned his party that it will see these sorts of figures in an era of four-party politics.

Monday

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron and Michael Gove to abstain on key Recall Bill vote – to keep Lib Dems happy

From our UK edition

MPs have a free vote tonight on Zac Goldsmith's amendment to the Recall Bill. But I have learned that instead of voting with their Tory colleague, the Prime Minister and chief whip are to abstain in the vote. Michael Gove and David Cameron have agreed to do so, not because they oppose Goldsmith's proposals, which will, he claims, ensure a powerful form of recall rather than that endorsed by Nick Clegg. Instead, they will not walk through the lobbies because the Lib Dems have asked them not to. Clegg and co were apparently wary of an ambush by the Tories whereby the party would officially hold a free vote, but backbenchers would in practice follow their party leader and whip through the lobbies. And so to avoid this, they asked for the abstention.

Isabel Hardman

Tory MPs threaten trouble for PM over EU bill

From our UK edition

Tory MPs might have appeared keen to support the PM after his surprise EU bill when they spoke in the Commons this afternoon. But behind the scenes the party is in a pretty precarious situation. Open unrest is being held back by two things: a realisation among backbenchers that they do need to hunker down as a by-election approaches and the General Election draws nearer, and the Prime Minister's pledge that 'we are not paying a sum anything like that'. But neither is guaranteed to keep critics quiet forever. Backbenchers point out that the current party loyalty at the moment is motivated by a desire to beat Labour - and a belief that the Conservatives really can do that.

Isabel Hardman

Listen: David Cameron tells MPs why he won’t pay EU bill

From our UK edition

The House of Commons is in a febrile, nervy mood this afternoon. No-one is quite happy with anyone else. David Cameron raised a cheer when he told MPs that he will not pay the €2bn bill apparently sprung on him by the European Commission, but he had very little to say when pressed by Labour on how this surprise was quite so surprising given Treasury ministers were mentioning it in letters months ago. Ken Clarke made backbenchers glower and opposition MPs howl with glee when he told the Chamber he sympathised with the Prime Minister for being surprised by something everyone in the Foreign Office and Treasury had known about for months. Just to endear himself to the members around him, Clarke also defended the European Arrest Warrant.

Isabel Hardman

Justin Welby: I worry about damage caused by language on immigration

From our UK edition

When Justin Welby spoke to the Parliamentary press gallery today, he took great care to emphasise a number of points. One was about the influence the Church of England has in public debate, and the other was about the church's influence in local communities and the strength of its connections in those communities. He didn't give the impression initially that he didn't want to intervene in the public debate about immigration when asked about it, but then couldn't resist commenting anyway. He told journalists that he was worried about the language in the debate, and that local churches were seeing a rise in racism, which he seemed to think was linked: 'Yes I think with some people we have a duty of care.