Ukip

Watch: Michael Crick chases down Lord Feldman

Michael Crick’s Channel 4 report into Tory election spending has led to an investigation by the Electoral Commission into the hotel bills and advertising bills the Conservatives failed to declare as election expenditure. So it’s safe to say that Crick is unlikely to be the flavour of the month over at CCHQ. In fact Lord Feldman has so far ignored interview requests from Channel 4 when it comes to explaining his party’s spending. So with Feldman not returning his calls, Crick saw his opportunity after he spied the Conservative Party chairman walking in the Westminster area. The story hungry hack sprinted after him, eventually catching Feldman for an awkward exchange. MC: Why don’t

The Spectator’s notes | 3 March 2016

The government, or at least David Cameron’s bit of it, seems to think that trade is something that takes place because of a trade agreement. The order is the other way round. People trade, and have done for several thousand years, because it is to their mutual advantage. After a bit, governments come along and try to direct and often impede it, but in the modern world of instant communications, ready transfers of money and container shipping, this has become blessedly difficult. A friend, Edward Atkin, who has made a large fortune out of Avent baby bottles and like products, tells me: ‘I have never known or asked whether any

Rod Liddle

What do all these evil maniacs have in common?

More bad publicity for the Islamic State’s ‘Kafir Tiny Tots and Babycare Service’. A burka-clad madwoman wandering through the streets of Moscow swinging a decapitated toddler’s head while shouting ‘Allahu akbar’ is just the kind of image the company wished to dispel. You begin to doubt its vetting procedures for potential nannies, and also whether or not it has a valid Investors In People certificate. The less than conscientious nanny was from Samarkand in Uzbekistan (which last had a half-decent government in about 1990). ‘I want your death,’ she screamed at the Muscovites, waving the poor child’s head about. The madwoman is now in prison and already, I daresay, the

The ‘in’ and ‘out’ campaigns? Claptrap on both sides!

Is there a genuinely independent go-to guide for anyone who cares about the future of the UK economy but isn’t sure how to cast their vote in the Brexit referendum? Two-thirds of voters are said by unreliable pollsters to have made up their minds already, which leaves at least a third undecided. As the strident rhetoric and tendentious factoids of the two campaigns intensify, the need for dispassionate analysis could not be greater. So it seems a good time to take counsel from one of the City’s wisest greybeards. Rodney Leach — Lord Leach of Fairford — did as much as anyone, as a leader of Business for Sterling, to

Driven to extremes

Imagine if Nigel Farage declared that police should be ready to shoot migrants trying to make it from Calais to Britain; saying: ‘I don’t want to do this, but the use of armed force is there as a last resort.’ And imagine that in spite of this — or perhaps because of it — Ukip were to overtake the Labour party in a national poll to become the most popular opposition party. This, in effect, is what is happening in Germany. The words above were spoken by Frauke Petry, leader of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the insurgent party which is threatening to make large gains in state elections in three

Blow to Cameron as Boris backs Brexit

David Cameron used to always remind people who asked him about what Boris would do in the referendum that the London Mayor had never advocated Britain leaving the European Union. But tonight, Boris will do exactly that. He will become the highest profile politician to back Brexit. Boris’s decision shakes up this referendum campaign. The IN campaign have long seen a swing to IN among Tory voters as the key to them securing a decisive victory. They believed that Cameron and pretty much all the Tory party endorsing the deal would provide that. But they cautioned that if Boris went the other way, the Cameron effect would be pretty much

Will more than half a dozen Cabinet Ministers back Brexit?

The Cabinet convenes this morning at 10am with, at least, six of those present set to back Out. The most intriguing of these Outers is Michael Gove. Gove is exceptionally close to Cameron and Osborne both politically and personally. He is one of the intellectual driving forces behind the Tory modernising project. But he is unable to back staying in the EU on these terms. Cameron claimed in his press conference last night that Gove had been an Outer for 30 years. I’m not sure that’s right. Friends say it was the experience of being a minister and finding out how much of government was just following what Brussels wanted

What kind of Out campaign will David Cameron be faced with?

If all goes according to David Cameron’s plan, then the EU referendum campaign will be under way very shortly. Cameron himself will be the main figure on the In side of the argument. The Home Secretary Theresa May will also throw herself into the campaign, as Rachel Sylvester wrote this week. Another face of the effort to keep Britain in the EU will be Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary, who is running the Labour IN campaign. The Remain side of the argument will, as the above list shows, be able to call upon a formidable amount of political firepower. But what is not yet clear is what kind of

Steerpike

Godfrey Bloom puts his foot in it over Emma Thompson row

Yesterday saw a turn in fortune for the Out campaign after Emma Thompson declared her intention to vote to remain in the EU. The Nanny McPhee actress managed to upset those on both sides of the debate when she explained that without Europe, Britain is simply ‘a cake-filled misery-laden grey old island‘. Quite rightly a number of Brexit activists called her out on her negative comments, while even supporters of the In campaign seemed less than thrilled by the declaration. Alas, one Eurosceptic appears to have gone a step too far. Godfrey Bloom — the former Ukip MEP who had to resign from the party after he called female Ukip activists

The Spectator’s notes | 11 February 2016

Here is a thought for all those Tory MPs calculating their personal advantage in the forthcoming EU referendum: unless the vote is an absolutely overwhelming Remain, the next leader of the Conservative party — whose day is no longer so far off — will come from the Leave camp. This will happen, obviously, if Leave wins, but also if Leave loses but does well, because most party supporters will only back someone who feels their pain and can reconcile them afterwards. Another thought: why would Nigel Farage want Britain to vote Leave? Then he would be redundant. Study him in the light of this thought and you will see that it explains

Row in Ukip over EU referendum campaign ‘stitch up’

Ukip’s announcement this afternoon that it will be backing Grassroots Out in its bid for designation as the official ‘Leave’ campaign in the EU referendum has caused consternation in its ranks. The party put out a press release saying that the National Executive Committee, MEPs and its Local Councillors Association are backing GO, which was set up by Peter Bone and is supported by Leave.EU. But I understand that there was no formal NEC meeting about this, and that the last meeting that discussed the designation was a few months ago. When I asked the party how the NEC was consulted, I was told that there was a telephone discussion

Fighting over the crumbs

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/fightingovercrumbs-euroscepticsandtheeudeal/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Vote Leave’s Stephen Parkinson discuss Euroscepticsm”] Listen [/audioplayer]Eurosceptics could hardly have asked for more favourable conditions for a referendum. After barely surviving a financial crisis, the European Union has been overwhelmed by an immigration crisis — one made much worse by its failure to control its own borders. The European Commission seems determined to make itself even more unpopular in Britain, and is considering whether VAT should be levied on food and children’s clothes. At a time of righteous anger at sweetheart tax deals for multinational corporations, the man who bears more responsibility for these than anyone else in Europe is its president, the former

Merging the various Out campaigns is not the biggest challenge, winning is

What could be worse, from a Eurosceptic perspective, than multiple Out campaigns? One Out campaign that can’t win. Those Eurosceptics who believe that merging the various Out campaigns is the biggest challenge right now are missing the point. There are currently various serious government ministers and business people who are ready to back Vote Leave once the renegotiation is done. But they won’t sign up to an Out campaign that, they believe, is Ukip dominated. It will be an uphill struggle for Out to triumph in this referendum. Normally, the change proposition—Out in this case—needs to be ahead by a double digit margin before the campaign starts if it is to

Could ethnic minority voters swing it for the out campaign in the EU referendum?

Could ethnic minority voters swing it for the out campaign in the EU referendum? That’s the hope of UKIP’s Steven Woolfe at least, who in a speech this morning at British Future will be urging ‘Leave’ to reach out to black and minority communities. Speaking on the Today programme this morning, he said such groups would be crucial to the campaign’s success. He said: ‘There has always been this kind of assumption that, for example, minorities are more likely to vote for the Labour party rather than the Conservative party and we now know that’s not the case. What the research is saying is that the community don’t see the

Trying to analyse the election spending data? Follow Deep Throat’s advice…

The publication of expenses for last year’s election is a useful reminder of the reality of much of politics. It turns out it’s not all barnstorming speeches and televised debates. There are an awful lot of invoices involved too. The claim everyone is obsessing about is that Labour spent just £16,000 on Facebook adverts, compared to more than a million spent by the Conservatives. Indeed, Labour seems to have spent less on Facebook adverts than each of the Liberal Democrats, Ukip, and Greens. No one disputes the fact that the Conservatives outspent Labour on digital campaigning. For public consumption, Labour used to pretend that this didn’t matter – and that their grassroots

Leave.EU camp stir tensions with Douglas Carswell assassination jibe

Although the first rule of spin doctoring is to never become the story, Leave.EU’s Andy Wigmore appears to be taking the Alastair Campbell approach when it comes to managing the campaign’s comms. After the Mail on Sunday revealed that Nigel Farage may have been the victim of an assassination attempt — after a wheel on his Volvo fell off his car in suspicious circumstances while he was driving on a motorway — Wigmore took to Twitter to mischievously suggest the culprit could be Douglas Carswell given his strained relationship with the Ukip leader: Douglas Carswell???? He's pretty cross at the moment #justsaying https://t.co/icykZ0Vvh0 — Andy Wigmore (@andywigmore) January 3, 2016 Alas

Nigel Farage warns Douglas Carswell: ‘it’s going to have to end’

Nigel Farage popped up on the Daily Politics today to warn Douglas Carswell that critical comments about his leadership cannot continue. The Ukip leader said the Clacton MP’s views don’t have any particular significance, despite the fact he is the only Kipper who was elected in May’s general election: ‘Well he did but so what? He’s one person. So what? We cannot have one individual every single time there’s a Ukip conference and it finishes with a story of disunity and it’s all being caused by one person. And frankly, I think it’s going to have to end.’ Farage was quite shifty on what the ‘end’ might be, although he did point out ‘it will not

Steerpike

Christmas cheer in short supply at Ukip HQ

As MPs and staff depart Westminster to begin their Christmas break, spare a thought for those at Ukip HQ who have found their party on the brink of civil war today after Douglas Carswell called for Nigel Farage to be replaced with a new leader. What’s more, if that wasn’t enough to dampen the festive spirit for Kippers, Steerpike understands that they have further reason for woe. After a testing year for the party which saw disappointing election results and financial difficulties, they have been dealt the ultimate blow: no Christmas staff party. While over at Labour HQ in Brewers Green, Corbynistas and Blairites alike have been partying most nights this week at a range of festive events, the party

Is Douglas Carswell trying to oust Nigel Farage?

Douglas Carswell set off a bomb in Ukip this morning, declaring that the party needs a ‘fresh face’ and it should become an ‘optimistic, sunshine, smiley, socially liberal, unapologetically free market party’. These comments have been interpreted as a leadership challenge to Nigel Farage, who has in turn told Carswell to ‘put up or shut up’ — i.e. challenge him for the leadership or be quiet. Relations between Farage and Carswell have never been particularly healthy but this marks a new low in their relationship. What prompted Carswell to make these remarks now — is this the beginnings of an effort to remove Farage or an airing of grievances? The timing is certainly suspicious,

State of the Union

Last year, the United Kingdom came within 384,000 votes of destruction. A referendum designed to crush the Scottish nationalists instead saw them win 45 per cent of the vote — and become stronger than ever. Since then, the SNP has taken almost every Scottish seat in the Commons and is preparing for another landslide in the Holyrood election next year — giving Nicola Sturgeon the power to threaten a second referendum. We may be just a few years away from a second battle for Britain. In her short time as First Minister, Sturgeon has established herself as one of the most formidable politicians in Europe. She has raised a rebel army that