Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
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Theresa May has just issued her much-anticipated telling off to Cabinet for the recent string of damaging leaks. Happily, the Prime Minister’s spokesman was on hand to (officially) leak details of the discussion on leaks to the press afterwards. May told her ministers that the leaks showed that some were not ‘taking their responsibilities seriously’. Urging them
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Justine Greening has found the cash to soften her department’s new funding formula. After much to-ing and fro-ing between the Department of Education and the Treasury in recent weeks, Greening has announced a £1.3bn increase to school funding. Speaking in the Chamber, the Education Secretary said she had recognised public concern over levels of school funding
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As Isabel reports, after a week of briefing and backstabbing among the Cabinet, there is a growing feeling from Conservatives that Theresa May needs to stamp what little authority she has left on her party. In this vein, May is expected to tell ministers to keep a lid on it at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. But
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Last month, David Davis warned that a Tory leadership contest would be ‘catastrophic’ for the Brexit negotiations. But as the Brexit secretary heads to Brussels for the second instalment of talks, the jostling among MPs to be the next party leader is well underway. The weekend papers have been filled with Cabinet members briefing against one
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It’s exactly one year to the day since Theresa May became Prime Minister. To mark the occasion, she has given a lengthy interview to Radio 5Live’s Emma Barnett. Unfortunately for May, it wasn’t the interview she would have envisaged giving a year ago when she entered No 10. Rather than talk of the achievements so
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If an MP has been overlooked for a government role, a coveted select committee chairmanship can provide an important platform in Parliament. As a result, lots of Tories have been jostling and manoeuvring in the past week to be in a with a short of just this. Now, the results are in: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Labour)
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Despite Theresa May’s plea to opposition parties to contribute to policy, there is little sign of co-operation so far. Following the launch of the Taylor Report on employment practices, the SNP have said the findings ‘fall shamefully short’, while Jeremy Corbyn has called it a ‘huge missed opportunity’ to tackle insecure employment. As Isabel notes, Taylor could be
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What a difference three months can make. In April, Theresa May stood on the steps of Downing Street and announced that she was calling a snap election to increase her majority and stop opposition parties from ‘political game-playing’ during the Brexit process. Having lost that majority in the subsequent election, the Prime Minister will this week mark
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It’s two weeks until the summer recess and judging by today’s papers, that’s two weeks too late. Despite Theresa May’s positive trip to the G20 summit, the Sundays are filled with tales of leadership plotting and planned Conservative rebellions. Although Philip Hammond was heralded as a caretaker PM a few weeks ago, it’s now David Davis
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After days spent fighting over the public sector pay cap, today marked a return to politics as usual. The Labour party bickered about the threat of mandatory re-selection and the Conservatives tried to hide their differences on Brexit. Michel Barnier – the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator – used his first major speech since talks began
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After days of ministers calling on Theresa May to scrap the public sector pay cap, the fightback has begun. But it’s not coming from the Prime Minister. Instead, it’s been left to May’s predecessor to make the case for fiscal discipline. After the Chancellor put his foot down in a speech to the CBI last
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While the Cabinet bicker among themselves – in meetings, media briefings and the FT letters’ page – about policy, behind the scenes chatter remains over who will be the next Tory leader. Handily, Conservative Home has today released its Cabinet League Table which shows where the various ministers lie when it comes to the party membership.
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Oh to be a fly-on-the-wall at today’s Cabinet meeting. After growing calls from ministers for Theresa May to ditch the public sector pay cap, last night the Chancellor put his foot down. In a speech to the CBI, Philip Hammond said that while the public are naturally ‘weary’ after seven years of austerity, now is not
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Over the weekend, the Conservatives appeared to suffer a crisis of confidence. As calls for Theresa May to scrap the public sector pay cap grew, many Tories appeared to give up on the long term economic plan altogether. Damian Green called for a ‘public debate’ on tuition fees and Justine Greening ‘demanded’ £1bn to protect school
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How do you solve a problem like the dwindling Conservative youth vote? That’s the question Tories have been grappling with today at the Bright Blue conference. As party members gathered at the liberal Conservative think tank event, one remarked that what the party needed was a Tory version of Momentum – ‘we’ll only be fine
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Yesterday, the Queen’s Speech cleared Parliament with every amendment defeated. This shows that Theresa May’s £1bn deal with the DUP is working when it comes to votes on key legislation. However, as Isabel notes, while it can govern in a technical sense, it cannot guarantee that it will get what it wants in the Commons. In
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After a difficult few weeks, Theresa May can today breath a sigh of relief – the Queen’s Speech has passed. MPs voted for the government’s legislative programme by 323 votes to 309 – a majority of 14. The government successfully defeated each amendment put to the House. Labour’s official Brexit amendment was defeated by a majority of 26. Meanwhile Chuka
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The first proper government ambush of this Parliament is upon us. The Speaker has announced which amendments to the Queen’s Speech will be put to a vote this evening. Along with the official Labour Brexit amendment calling on the government to negotiate an outcome that prioritises jobs and the economy, there are two amendments from Labour MPs
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After much confusion today over the Conservative position on whether the party ought to lift the cap on public sector pay, tonight MPs voted to reject Labour’s proposal to the Queen’s Speech to end the pay cap. The government won by 323 votes to 309. While Jeremy Corbyn has since complained that ministers missed an
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The government is considering lifting the 1pc public sector pay cap in the autumn Budget. In the post PMQs briefing, a No 10 spokesman said they had ‘heard the message’ from the ‘weary’ electorate and would look at recommendations from review bodies on the issue. However, just hours later at the afternoon lobby briefing, hacks were given