World Politics
The unionists have been too afraid to make a proper case
This is really happening. The Scots could vote to end the greatest, most successful union in human history next week.…
Lost in Brussels
David Cameron loathes European Union summits, and with reason: they seldom go well for him. He has been ambushed by…
David Cameron’s fog of war
It was clear that things were going wrong for David Cameron when he had to say that his position on…
Could you afford to become an MP?
Mark Simmonds has been in politics long enough to know not to expect much sympathy from his constituents. He resigned…
One last sleepy summer, then the fighting starts
At this time of year, whenever you see a British politician looking particularly busy, you can take it as a…
We need better MPs, not younger ones
The House of Commons is off for the summer. But few MPs and ministers expect to make it through to…
If the Tories win the election, the Gove gamble will have paid off
‘There’s no shame in a cabinet to win the next election,’ declared an exasperated senior No. 10 figure on Tuesday…
In search of the Eurosceptic Nick Clegg
In recent weeks British government visitors to Berlin have been confronted with a persistent question: when will David Cameron make…
Osborne is finally spreading his wings
George Osborne’s first taste of political leadership came aged 12. At his prep school, Colet Court, he took charge of…
How the Westminster hawk became an endangered species
There is a slight whiff of the summer of 1914 to Westminster at the moment. The garden party season is…
It’s time to address the English question
Before David Cameron heads off for his summer holiday, he’ll be presented with a first draft of the Tory manifesto…
Farage the moderniser
There are many words that you might associate with Nigel Farage, but moderniser probably isn’t one. Yet the Ukip leader…
Nick Clegg’s war
We’ve come to expect strange things from coalition government, but the events of the last few days have been particularly…
Osborne’s Waterloo
The defence of Hougoumont is one of the great British feats of arms. If the farmhouse had fallen to Bonaparte’s…
Cameron does God his own way
If Ed Miliband wins the next election, he’ll be Britain’s first atheist Prime Minister. It is a sign of how…
Could Jeremy Browne be the anti-Nigel Farage?
Conviction politics is back. The two men making the political weather at the moment, Alex Salmond and Nigel Farage, both…
The game is changing. Whitehall must change too
This is a unique moment in British politics. All three major parties have a realistic prospect of being in power…
Has Ed Miliband’s luck finally run out?
Ask anyone in Westminster about the obstacles to a Tory victory in next year’s election and you’ll hear a well-rehearsed…
Osborne sticks to his guns
The old Budget traditions are dying off. No Chancellor has observed Budget purdah, the tradition of not speaking about the…
Gove’s friends are out to get him
From the moment he took his job, Michael Gove knew that he would make energetic and determined enemies. The teachers’…
The dawn of four-party politics
Two things will make the next general election campaign quite unlike any previous election in this country. The first is…
Only Angela Merkel can save Cameron now
British politicians still prize a visit from the President of the United States above all others. Yet no American President…
Cameron’s watershed moment
It is all hands to the pump in Downing Street. The entire No. 10 operation from the Prime Minister down…
He’s reforming Labour. But can Ed change the country too?
Ed Miliband has his legacy. Or, at least, what he hopes will be the first part of it. He has…
