David cameron

In praise of free schools

Congratulations to all those free schools who got their GCSE results this morning. We don’t yet have the full picture, but early reports are good. Top marks to Tauheedul Islam Boys’ High School in Blackburn, a free school that opened in 2012. Ninety-five per cent of its pupils achieved five A* to C grades in their GCSEs, including English and maths, a metric known as ‘5A*–CEM’. To put this in context, last year’s 5A*–CEM national average was 56.1 per cent. Another school that has done well is Dixons Kings Academy in Bradford. It was one of the first 24 free schools to open in 2011 – it was originally called

James Delingpole

Osborne’s gone. So why’s Carney still around?

Did you see that odd photo of George Osborne looking shifty, queuing up in the Vietnamese jungle for the chance to fire an M60 machine gun? I found it interesting for a number of reasons. One, obviously, is that it’s probably the first time in five years Osborne hasn’t been pictured wearing a hard hat and goggles. Another is what it tells us about his earnings prospects on the US speaker tour circuit: those guns can fire up to 650 rounds a minute — so at the local tourist rate of £1 a bullet that’s quite an expensive cheap thrill. Mainly, though, what struck me about that snap was just

David Cameron’s larynx comes to his defence on childhood obesity

Theresa May was once seen as the continuity candidate to succeed David Cameron. However, since becoming Prime Minister she has gone on to sideline or backtrack many of Cameron and George Osborne’s pet projects. As well as delaying Hinkley Point and leaving the Northern Powerhouse’s future up in the air, she has provoked anger this week over the Government’s childhood obesity strategy. While Cameron made clear that childhood obesity would be a flagship issue for his government — with Jeremy Hunt even promising to take draconian measures — May appears to take a different approach. In the report — pushed out in recess — May has scrapped plans to curb junk food

Ed Vaizey is left out in the cold

As Theresa May’s recently re-shuffled Cabinet get underway with the big task at hand, spare a thought for those who are having to get used to being on the sidelines. There was a cross-party outcry when Ed Vaizey was axed as culture minister with MPs from both Labour and the SNP praising his work in the role. Alas it seems that Vaizey is finding it difficult to adjust to a return to the backbench. The MP for Wantage — who is a close friend of David Cameron dating back to their Oxford university days — has been lamenting how lucky he was to once have a direct line to the PM: ‘You don’t

Steerpike

Happy news at last in the Remain camp

This autumn, Sir Craig Oliver will publish his book Unleashing Demons: The Inside Story of the EU Referendum. The tome promises to lift the lid on No.10’s failed efforts to keep the United Kingdom in the EU, with details of private conversations with everyone from Jeremy Corbyn to Barack Obama. However while the book is unlikely to make for an uplifting read — given Oliver described the end result as ‘walking across a path that appeared to be safety and then walking into quicksand’ — Mr S has reason to believe that the campaign wasn’t all pain and suffering for Cameron’s former director of communications. As well as being awarded a knighthood

New grammars won’t do more for social mobility than comprehensives. But there is a third way

One of David Cameron’s last acts as Prime Minister was to approve an application by Ashlawn School in Rugby to set up a new free school in the city. It’s not surprising that Ashlawn’s application was approved. Not only has it been ranked ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, but last year 74 per cent of its pupils got five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and maths (a metric known as ‘5A*–CEM’). Even more impressive, 65 per cent of its pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds met that same target. However, before Ashlawn can open its new school in 2017 it has to overcome an obstacle. Ashlawn is one of England’s three

David Cameron finds himself out of the club

As David Cameron gets use to life on the backbenches, he is making the most of his reduced workload by enjoying a lavish break with his wife Samantha to Corsica. However, when he returns to the bubble he will need to get used to a life without some of the luxuries previously awarded to him as Prime Minister. As well as having to now sort his own transport, Cameron had best not plan to hit the golf course anytime soon. The latest register of interests shows that Cameron has had his membership to the Ellesborough Golf Club — which began in 2011 — revoked. The golf club — which lies near Chequers — traditionally

Steerpike

Philip Hammond will not be a hard-hat chancellor

Since Theresa May succeeded David Cameron as Prime Minister, she has wasted no time in putting distance between herself and many of Cameron’s flagship policies. As well as putting the brakes on Hinkley Point, May has hinted that she will take a fresh approach to the Northern Powerhouse and grammar schools. Now Mr S understands that another aspect of the Cameron and Osborne premiership is facing the axe. During Cameron’s time in government, both he and Osborne became known for their penchant for hard-hats and high-vis jackets. In fact, Osborne wore the items for so many industrial visits that he even became known as the ‘hard-hat chancellor’. However, while the duo no doubt thought that the kit gave

Corbyn’s gong for Chakrabarti is his biggest own goal yet

It is beginning to look like a bit of a trend this year: the Conservatives get themselves into a tight spot, only for Labour to trump them quickly. Just as the Tories seemed to be descending into a bitter leadership crisis on the weekend after the referendum, half the shadow cabinet resigned. Now, just as David Cameron was being mauled from all quarters over the cronies in his resignation honours list (including from the presumably not soon-to-be Lord Hilton), Jeremy Corbyn has directed attention to himself by ennobling Shami Chakrabarti, formerly of human rights group Liberty. The appointment is embarrassing three times over. Firstly, because he said last year: ‘Labour

Letters | 4 August 2016

Remain calm Sir: I am sorry that the redoubtable Martha Lane Fox is still angry at the exaggerations made by the Leave campaign (Letters, 30 July). I expect that the 17 million people who voted to leave are also still pretty angry at the exaggerated claims of Remainers. House price crashes, everyone £4,500 a year worse off, a revenge budget and even a third world war. And of course, the threats from elite corporatists. Vested interests, perhaps? It’s interesting to see how many of the big corporations that  threatened Armageddon prior to the vote are now voting with their money to stay. The investment adviser Tim Price says he has

Dear Mary | 4 August 2016

Q. David and Samantha Cameron, their family and two armed policemen have moved to the house opposite us. Do you think we should organise a small drinks party to introduce them to the neighbours — or just pretend that we haven’t noticed their arrival? My son has promised to remove his ‘Leave’ poster before we send out invitations. — Name & address withheld A. While your gesture may be well-intentioned, the reality is that the Camerons, like many successful couples in their late forties, are probably suffering from ‘new friends fatigue’. Do they really want to be introduced to another tranche based on their doorstep whose invitations will be more

James Forsyth

Corbyn joins Cameron in giving peerages to pals

David Cameron’s resignation honours have now been published—and it is an extensive list. Cameron has nominated 13 people for peerages including his former chief of staff Ed Llewellyn, the former head of his policy unit Camilla Cavendish and his former head of operations Liz Sugg. The current treasurer of the Tory party Andrew Farmer is another heading to the red benches. But Michael Spencer, the former Tory treasurer and head of ICAP, is not on the list. As the Sunday Times revealed last week, there will be honours for many of Cameron’s closest allies and those who worked with him at Number 10. George Osborne becomes a Companion of Honour.

Theresa May’s Labour land grab starts today

Whilst Labour tangle themselves up in civil war, the Prime Minister is making a move for the party’s economic territory. On her first day in Downing Street, Theresa May said her Government would stick up for everyone, not only the ‘privileged few’. Today, she’ll start work making good on that promise when she chairs the first meeting of her Cabinet committee on the economy and industrial strategy. So what does that all mean? It’s obvious the sentiment suggests an attempt to beat Labour at its own game. From the politician who coined the description of the Tories as the ‘nasty party’, May is doing her best to show the Conservatives

Theresa May is right not to mess with David Cameron’s resignation honours

Downing Street has made clear today that Theresa May will not move to prune down or veto David Cameron’s resignation honours list. This is the right decision. Whatever you think of the list, it wouldn’t be right for a new Prime Minister to seek to amend the resignation honours list of their predecessor. If this started to happen, it would make politics even more bitter and factional than it is today. Imagine if this Downing Street transition was not from one Tory to another but a Labour PM being replaced by a Tory who immediately vetoed all the honours proposed by the outgoing Labour Prime Minister. Now, this doesn’t mean

Ross Clark

Cronyism isn’t great, but it’s better than corruption

If there was any remaining doubt that David Cameron’s resignation honours list was drawn up shamelessly to reward political flunkies it was removed this morning by Desmond Swayne, or Sir Desmond Swayne as we are now supposed to call him following the knighthood bestowed on him in the New Year’s honours. Sir Desmond said: ‘The reason we have a resignation honours list is because over a period of government, particularly difficult government in a coalition, a prime minister has to cajole and get the support of a number people and he builds up a debt of honour. ‘I think that frankly an honours list is a relatively light way of

Tom Goodenough

Cameron’s ‘gongs for chums’ list sparks fury. But don’t expect Theresa May to block it

His time in No.10 might have come to an end last month but it’s David Cameron who is on the front pages of several newspapers this morning. The former PM’s resignation list of honours has sparked outrage since it was published by the Sunday Times yesterday. And today the fallout shows no sign of dampening down. Many of the usual suspects have attacked Cameron but what’s interesting about the criticism is its unanimity. Labour MP Tom Watson said it was ‘cronyism, pure and simple’; and many Tory MPs seem to agree. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said those who were going to be rewarded were the ‘people who brought politics into disrepute’.

Cameron is making sure his premiership is remembered for cronyism

For the past few weeks there have been reports circulating that David Cameron’s resignation honours list has been held up over ‘ethical concerns’ regarding his nominees. Today the Sunday Times offer a glimpse as to why this may be by publishing the ‘leaked list‘ on its front page. It does not make for an inspiring read. Although David Cameron was criticised for awarding Sir Lynton Crosby a knighthood for ‘services to politics’ in the new year honours, at least Crosby actually won an election. The same cannot be said for the majority of the Remain campaigners, donors and aides who allegedly make up the bulk of the roll call. Among the Remain foot soldiers who

Steve Hilton ruffles feathers with Republicans

During Steve Hilton’s time in 10 Downing Street, David Cameron’s former director of strategy’s reputation for ‘modernising’ the Conservative party inspired the creation of PR guru Stewart Pearson in The Thick of It. However, while Brits may now be used to Hilton’s penchant for casual-wear and ‘blue sky thinking’, across the pond it’s a different story. Word reaches Steerpike that Americans at last week’s Republican Convention were left puzzled over a bedraggled attendee who strolled the vicinity shoeless. Republicans at the Cleveland meet were overheard asking: ‘who is that dude?’. Happily Mr S’s Brit-in-the-know was on hand to assist. On turning round to see what all the fuss was about, they saw Cameron’s old pal walking

Ross Clark

Osborne’s Hinkley vanity project deserves to be buried alongside his political career

Yesterday was supposed to be the day the nuclear button was finally pressed – a vote by the board of French energy company EDF to go ahead with Hinkley C power station was assumed to be the moment at which the project would finally spring off the drawing board. Instead, business secretary Greg Clark announced that he needed until September to make a final decision on the government’s behalf. He is to be commended for not being pushed into the go-ahead. Hinkley – along with Heathrow and HS2 – is one of three ‘Hs’ bequeathed by the Cameron-Osborne years: hugely expensive infrastructure projects seemingly frustrated by chronic indecision. How tempting

Hope vs gloom

For all Gordon Brown’s economic mistakes, he at least tried to build confidence in the British economy. In the build-up to the European Union referendum, David Cameron and George Osborne did the opposite. Osborne, as Chancellor, ignored the good news, accentuated the bad and tried to portray Britain as an economic weakling propped up by EU membership. He was joined by a great many investment banks who produced analyses saying that Britain’s life outside the EU would be catastrophic. Since the referendum, these anticipations of doom have continued. It is rather strange to watch. Encouraging economic news — the increase in high-street spending, the buoyant demand for jobs through recruitment