Cake 2
The Spectator
Thursday
Spectator letters: Ukip voters, royal tartans and a challenge for Dot Wordsworth
Don’t condescend to us Sir: How amazing that so many politicians are surprised by the message that there is dissatisfaction with the political status quo, and that this finds expression through rejection of the established political players (‘Ukip’s triumph’, 24 May). Fortunately for them there were few elections in the rural districts, or the message would have been even worse. Since the inception of the National Planning Policy Framework there has been a relentless attack upon the integrity of market towns and villages, on the greenbelt, and on the fabric of the English countryside. Democracy has been trampled on by an unholy alliance between the vested interests of some politicians and the mammoths of the construction industry.
If Alex Salmond is cutting bureaucracy, why does he have so many quangos?
Escape committees An LSE/Institute for Government report estimated the cost of Scottish independence at £2.7 billion, a sum arrived at by multiplying the 180 bodies which would need to be set up by £15 million. The SNP challenged the claim, saying it planned to set up a ‘slimmed-down’ administration.
Portrait of the week | 29 May 2014
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, responded to the triumph of the UK Independence Party in the European elections (which left the Conservatives in third place for the first time ever in a national poll) by having dinner with other European leaders in Brussels, which he said had ‘got too big, too bossy, too interfering’. Ukip secured 4,352,051 votes, increasing the number of its seats by 11 to 24; Labour took 20, an increase of seven; the Conservatives 19, a reduction of seven. The Liberal Democrats plummeted, narrowly capturing one seat (down from 11). Even the Greens did better, increasing their seats from two to three.
Europe’s extremists aren’t really on the right
This week, the European parliament took a strong lurch to the left. That is not quite the story that you may have read elsewhere — with most headlines stating that Europe has taken a lurch to the right — but it is the inevitable conclusion if you analyse the results from Sunday’s election from the perspective of what most people in Britain understand to be the left-right divide. Take any political issue in Britain, from schools to public spending, and the left-wing position is generally taken to mean one of greater state intervention, greater command of the economy by government. The right-wing position is taken to mean one of smaller government, freer markets, less regulation.
Sunday
As it happened: 2014 European election results
Welcome to the Spectator's liveblog of the European elections results. We'll bring you results, analysis and political reaction throughout the night. Britain: Ukip has come first with 27 per cent of vote (so far), the Tories did reasonably (on 24 per cent, a whisker from Labour's 25.4 per cent) and Lib Dems are in free fall, losing 9 of their 12 MEPs. Scotland: UKIP has won its first Scottish seat, with a 10 per cent vote share. This has infuriated Alex Salmond whose SNP has seen its share of the vote fall slightly. Europe's populists triumph : Marine le Pen's Front Nationale came top in France, with a predicted 25 per cent share. The populist Danish People's Party, led by a 33-year-old, has come first there.
Friday
The Ukip effect: live local election results
Ukip is celebrating after winning council seats from all three main parties across the country. Nigel Farage's party has already exceeded its target of 80 gains in the local elections. On a night of upsets, Labour took control of Tory flagship council Hammersmith and Fulham and the Conservatives took Kingston-upon-Thames. But Labour also failed to make gains in key target marginals such as Thurrock, Tamworth and Swindon, and the party's performance has been weaker than expected.
