Politics explained

Some 62 Conservative members of parliament in the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) have written to the prime minister demanding that Covid restrictions are lifted – for good – as soon as the over-50s have been vaccinated, which may be in a matter of weeks. They want all schools open on 8 March, and pubs and restaurants thriving again by Easter (a literally moveable feast this year, which starts on 1 April). As the daffodils come out, so will the British public, in this scenario. Boris Johnson is trying to deliver it, but he can’t give them a guarantee because the dates the CRG chose are obviously arbitrary, and we’ve been through too many abortive “freedoms days” before. If the CRG were put on God’s earth to make Mr Johnson look sensible, reasonable and driven by science, then the divine plan could not have been more immaculately conceived. The CRG is yet another Tory parliamentary faction, this one led by Mark Harper, a former Tory chief whip, and Steve Baker, self-styled veteran Spartan of the Brexit wars, and fuelled by the kind of unrelenting chipiness that has caused so much trouble in recent years. Given their numbers, they easily have the ability to overturn the government’s majority and reject any fresh or renewed restrictions on personal and economic liberties that might be put to the House of Commons. Its membership comprises adamantine serial rebels, some with scant respect for the prime minister. Yet the CRG is irrelevant so far as Covid is concerned, but perhaps not so much for the political career of Boris Johnson. More

The government promised in March 2020 that nobody would be made homeless because of losing their income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For months it appeared to keep that promise with a general ban on rental evictions.But it has since introduced new loopholes to the ban that appear to break the promise. More

“I don’t support protest…” Was it that a simple gaffe of the type we’ve grown to expect from Priti Patel, or more of a Freudian slip? In truth, it wasn’t all that revealing. Ms Patel may not personally have much in common with Donald Trump, but she does possess an almost Trumpian talent to spot incipient cultural conflict and ignite it for political gain. Or, in this case, reignite it, as she seized the opportunity presented by a radio interview to drip contempt on the Black Lives Matter movement and the custom of “taking a knee”. She may not be able to pronounce long numbers, but her populist instincts are preternaturally sharp. Both BLM and taking a knee have been twisted and redefined – you might say gaslit – to suit a particular agenda. BLM is supposedly now some kind of highly disciplined Bolshevik-style political cadre dedicated to the overthrow of “our history”, whatever that means, while taking a knee is presented as some sort of grotesque act of racial subjugation. It is quite the opposite, and the Black Lives Matter movement, which has spawned some organised groups, is an inchoate collection of honourable people making a simple but powerful gesture against racism. No conservative or patriot need fear or despise it, and there would be no objection to the likes of Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage joining in. More

What do we want politicians to look like? What do they think they should look like?The two are not always identical. Take Rawiri Waititi, member of the New Zealand parliament and who has received global attention for not wearing a tie in the chamber, and being kicked out as a result. Waititi was in fact wearing a different type of neckwear, a traditional Maori hei-tiki, a pendant, and he looked perfectly smart. The speaker in Wellington has now reversed the hasty judgement, but not before some outcry and Waititi describing the traditional western necktie as a “colonial noose”.Parliaments, like other workplaces around the world, have to move with the times, and politicians find it more difficult than most to get the balance between being elegant and “in touch” exactly right. The anachronistic example of Jacob Rees-Mogg makes the point perfectly. The combination of lanky build, old-fashioned manners (in all senses), and a taste for pinstriped double-breasted suits teamed with pebble spectacles make him look like a character from an Ealing comedy. Some might say that the overall effect is neither elegant nor in-touch, but it has served him well and has proved no impediment to getting elected in Somerset. More

Just because “a mountain to climb” is a terrible cliche doesn’t necessarily mean that Keir Starmer was wrong to use it. The question remains, though, as to whether Sherpa Starmer is the right man for the assault on political K2.Starmer is coming under some renewed attacks from the left. The socialist tendency believes he is squandering the gains made in the Corbyn years (yes, really). Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs, and a former marginal contender for the deputy leadership has issued this scarcely coded warning: “Many feel our leadership has taken the fight to its own members more than it has to a Tory government responsible for one of the worst coronavirus death rates in the world.” Of course, Starmer might well point out that he’s been on the Covid story for a year. And he might ask why Burgon and his allies are taking the fight to their leader rather than the wicked Tories. Starmer may also conclude that being attacked by Burgon suggests that the party is going in the right direction. More

In the words of a leaked Labour internal memo, “the use of the flag, veterans, dressing smartly at the war memorial etc gives voters a sense of authentic values alignment”. Aside from the market research jargon – the document having been derived from focus group research – you have to wonder about a party being “authentic” if it is being encouraged to do things that it is not doing already, that is to say naturally, voluntarily and, erm, authentically. Would not the voters be able to sniff out the subterfuge? Or is it more a case, as the late Bob Monkhouse once said, that the public love sincerity? “If you can fake that, you can fake anything,” he said. Which brings us rather neatly to Tony Blair and New Labour. While no doubt Keir Starmer is sincere (and authentic) in his professed desire not simply to be a reimagined Blair, there is no mistaking his quest to push Labour towards the centre ground of politics and to win back lost voters in what are now termed “foundation seats”, formerly “red wall” or, latterly, “blue wall”. Not only is this a matter of policy, but of image and appearance, adopting the demeanour of what prospective or defected Labour voters wish their leaders to sound and look like. After all, the electorate in places such as Sedgefield (once represented by Tony Blair) and Bolsover (ex Denis Skinner) were won over by the plummy Old Etonian Boris Johnson, a man who constantly drapes himself in the national flag, and may, for all we know, wear Union Jack undercrackers. Presumably under some edict, no government minister is permitted to be on television without at least one union flag behind them, a novel and vaguely fascistic fashion. More

Given that the SNP has been in power since 2007 and that Nicola Sturgeon has been first minister for the last six momentous years, it is surprising, if not miraculous, that the party is still riding high in the opinion polls. While a little off the highs of last autumn, the Scot Nats still register solidly above 50 per cent, and are well on course for a substantial victory at the elections for the Scottish parliament in May. With that will come a pledge, and arguably a mandate, for a fresh referendum on independence. On that issue, too, the party is currently on track to achieve its historic aim.  So, treble Scotches all round? Apparently not. So far from concentrating on delivering its precious cargo of Scottish nationhood safely into harbour, the SNP is squabbling and split. Fortunately the voters appear to have taken little even notice of the arguments for them to defect to any of the unionist alternatives, but that may change. What is going on?  It’s complicated, but the key seems to be that the wrangling seems mostly more personal and confined to subjects, rightly or wrongly, not at the top of voters’ minds just now.   More

While there may be no such thing as a miracle cure for political unpopularity, Boris Johnson may have discovered the nearest thing to it – the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. Like the Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax products also coming on stream, their arrival has boosted Johnson’s personal poll ratings and those of his party. For the first time in months, the prime minister and the Conservatives are starting to regain their poll leads, albeit by slim margins, over Sir Keir Starmer and Labour.  It certainly makes a change for the government, and the recent spat with the European Union over the supply of the proudly British Oxford-AstraZeneca jab added a patriotic, Brexit quality to the generally good news about the vaccine rollout. (Notwithstanding the fact that all vaccines have complex multinational supply chains and rely on global scientific collaboration). Even the most ardent Remainer has had to concede that the EU has recently misjudged things, and managed to make the British seem paragons of public health, even as Britain gained the unwelcome distinction of suffering the worst Covid death rate in Europe. If, as Tony Blair says, Labour “should” be 20 points ahead in the polls, the fact that it is roughly neck and neck, given the margin of error, at about 40 per cent, is cause for concern. It is possible that as the vaccine programme exceeds expectations and the memories of Dominic Cummings and the disastrous decisions of the last year fade, then the Conservatives lead could stretch further as the big round of elections across the UK arrive in May. The hard work and brilliance of the scientists and the NHS have rubbed off on the popularity of the government, galling as that may be to some. More