Humpty Dumpty and novichok

• Bruce Anderson
• 18 Mar 2018

When I was a Leftie, at Cambridge, my abler Tory contemporaries often argued that their Party ought to embrace liberalism. This had nothing to do with the Liberal Party. They were referring to economic and social liberalism: free market economics plus personal freedom. They were drawing on the Bow Group, as it had been when Geoffrey Howe and others founded it. He and other impatient youngsters - this was more than sixty years ago - were fed up with the economic sterility to which the post-War UK seemed condemned. They also believed in the social reforms which came to be associated with Roy Jenkins: legalising homosexuality, abolishing the death penalty, making divorce easier. They were all in favour of entry into Europe, as a means of promoting economic and social progress. They did not realise just what a divisive issue Europe would become.

Fear, Incompetence and Calamity

• Bruce Anderson
• 27 Feb 2018

You think that it cannot get worse. There must come a moment when the government will reclaim some self-respect while the Prime Minister recovers some power of leadership. After all, she is the PM. But you are wrong. There seems to be no limit to drift and indecisiveness. No-one understands what is happening; no-one knows how to put it right. Mrs May has forfeited all authority and any claim to loyalty, or even affection. She is now derided, despised and disregarded.

Grief, Guns and Hard Thinking

• Bruce Anderson
• 21 Feb 2018

Seventeen murders, which means that around twice that number of people are facing a life sentence. There is no remission for grief and loss. Everyone is trying to work out why, and what can be done. In all that fog of confusion, there is only one certainty. This will not end with Florida. There will be more casual slaughters, more parents hoping against hope that their child has not fallen victim, only for that hope to end in heart-rending news and a life hurled into misery.

An Irishism and a Terrible Sonnet

• Bruce Anderson
• 12 Feb 2018

'May comes good at last' the newspapers proclaimed. This led to a rush to the life-support machine. Were the instruments suggesting that the brain was still alive? 'No' came the swift answer: 'wrong May'. Jonny May, the rugger player, had scored a brace of tries and helped England to victory. Theresa May, the politics player, still showed no signs of trying. The idea that she could help anyone to victory at anything is risible.

The Ninny, the Clown and the Bennite

• Bruce Anderson
• 25 Jan 2018

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent events. No government which includes Boris Johnson is worthy of the name. It would be tempting to conclude that the Foreign Secretary is just a spoiled, attention-seeking child. But that would be a serious underestimation. Boris knows that Mrs May thinks nothing of him and would dismiss him if she felt it safe to do so. So he is determined to remind her of the consequences of parting company.

The Luck of the French

• Bruce Anderson
• 21 Jan 2018

In politics, luck is crucial. In 1794 at the end of the Terror, when fear and paranioa were rampant, Napoleon was fortunate not to be guillotined. After the failure of the Egyptian expedition, he set off back to France in a single warship. Nelson was patrolling Mediterranean waters with a superior force. If Napoleon had run into him, history would have been very different. But the future Emperor's luck did not fail him, until he invaded Russia.

Of Mice and Leadership

• Bruce Anderson
• 11 Jan 2018

Something must be done. A reshuffle had been expected for weeks, if not months. The Prime Minister had endless time to prepare, Yet she could not get it right. Wrong names announced, Ministers defying the PM: what a mess. Admittedly, the Cabinet has been improved, but largely by accident. Poor James Brokenshire - all best wishes to him - had to retire on health grounds. This created a vacancy for the excellent Matt Hancock. Justine Greening had been hopeless at education, and deserved the sack. But she was offered another job, at Work and Pensions, which would merely have given her another chance to display incompetence and mediocrity. She turned it down. As she had to be replaced by a woman, on quota grounds, Esther McVey was brought back from the Whips' Office.

Slavery in Libya

• Bruce Anderson
• 21 Dec 2017

Within the next few days, various television companies will be broadcasting some horrifying footage. It appears that in Libya, within a few miles of the capital, Tripoli, some unusual Christmas presents are on offer.

Slaves.

Defeats and defects

• Bruce Anderson
• 15 Dec 2017

A week ago, for about seventy-two hours, Theresa May seemed to be in charge. At last, she had produced  a route march, which appeared to be acceptable to the Europeans and to her own Party. At a purely tactical level, there had been progress, But that was last week, for three days.

When it came to Wednesday evening's vote, no-one was in charge. The Government was faced by a number of related difficulties. First, there are the MPs who hate Theresa May, mainly because she sacked them from the Government. Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan are the obvious examples, especially Mrs Morgan. In his desire to promote more women to the Cabinet, David Cameron made her Secretary of State for Education. Parliamentary Secretary would have been quite high enough. The over-promotion went to her head. Her self-knowledge has never recovered.

A Prime Minister, a Pantomime Horse and a Piss-up in a Brewery

• Bruce Anderson
• 6 Dec 2017

Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make silly. In normal times, the spat over Philip Hammond's transport arrangements would just have been an amusing embarrassment: a chance for the Opposition to enjoy five minutes of gentle teasing. These are not normal times. The disagreement over the unpaid plane bill will confirm an increasingly deep-rooted impression of a government mired in chronic incompetence: of as much coherence as the two halves of a pantomime horse, when both actors were drunk.

Beauty, Faith and Unbelief

• Bruce Anderson
• 27 Nov 2017

'Advent' is a borrowing from Latin, and a superbly felicitous one. It has become one of the most beautiful words in the English language and has survived all attempts to debase it into adv-ertise-ment: a month of hyper-consumerism. As part of the constant drive to increase sales, there is now a Black Friday in the secular calendar. 'In spite of that, we call this Friday Good:' most of those who celebrate the black version would have no idea what Eliot was saying. But ghastliness can be held at bay, without the need for crucifixes and cloves of garlic. Carols will do. Though not unique to England, they are a deeply English form of worship, and seem to express a harmonious faith. That is where my problems start. Although enchanted by the music and its tribute to goodness, I cannot share the faith.

A macro-political budget

• Bruce Anderson
• 22 Nov 2017

It is a fascinating Budget, because it combines small print and big themes. In political terms, it is vital: possibly the most important budget  of the new Century. Philip Hammond knows that that his principal economic objective is self-evident: growth. There is a Micawberite margin, of around one percent. If the economy were to grow at two and a half percent a year, that might not sound like a large sum, but it would amount to almost £50 billion. This would allow for tax cuts, strides towards the goal of a balanced budget, spending increases, pay rises and feel-good all round. At one and a half percent, everything would be much tighter, with antagonism between those clamouring for scarce resources - and forget about balancing the budget. The Office of Budget Responsibilty (OBR) now estimates that growth will stutter along at around one point three percent. As a result, the balanced Budget has receded into the mists of the later 2020s.

A Budget for Spread-sheets and Aspiration

• Bruce Anderson
• 20 Nov 2017

A wholly unexpected development is about to astonish the world. This government is going to get something right.

Over the past few months, Philip Hammond has come under pressure, for three reasons. First - the least - important - it is known that he does not enjoy the Prime Minister's confidence. There is an easy retort to that: so what? Mrs May's confidence is a heavily devalued currency. It is of course true that public conflict between PM and Chancellor is no way to run a government. But little about this government is any way to run a government. The second follows on from all that. The Brexiters do not trust Mr Hammond. They accuse him of failing to make plans and provisions for Brexit - because he still hopes that it will not happen.

A Philippic. Time to Save the Future

• Bruce Anderson
• 12 Nov 2017

So what is actually happening? At a superficial level, British politics seems to becoming steadily more febrile. Sexual tittle-tattle, challenges to the PM, hard Brexit/soft brexit/no-one appears to know what the devil is going on Brexit: everything is confusion and farce. We have to remind ourselves that this is a formidable country, and take comfort from Adam Smith's dictum: that there is a deal of ruin in a nation. But let us attempt to look below the surface and try to interpret deeper realities.

Time for May to Go

• Bruce Anderson
• 9 Nov 2017

Theresa May is to be congratulated. She has performed a feat which most political observers would have regarded as impossible. After Priti Patel's departure, she has ended up with a weaker Cabinet. Miss Patel has no political judgment and a mediocre intelligence. She could not run a department of state. All in all, she reminds one of the old adage: 'empty vessels make the most noise.' Noisiness is linked to ambition. She actually believes that she could become the Leader of her party.

This is not the time to be silly

• Bruce Anderson
• 6 Nov 2017

Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they first make silly. There are moments when one wonders, or even despairs. Is Britain still a serious country? Consider: Brexit is in a state of confusion. So is the British economy. The figures for growth and employment allow intelligent men to draw diametrically opposed conclusions. In Northern Ireland, some reliably level-headed characters are growing anxious. They are hearing the menace of distant thunder: of ancestral voices prophesying war. Inter-communal tensions may be sleeping. They are not dead, and it could be an increasingly uneasy sleep.

No Space in Downing Street

• Bruce Anderson
• 2 Nov 2017

What a mess, and the timing made it worse. The House of Commons can be a febrile, volatile place. In moments of tension, rumours spread and tempers fray - even before lunch. Later, the mood can turn really ugly. It would have been better if the Fallon-inspired reshuffle had been delayed until nearer the weekend, when MPs were about to depart for the calming influence of their constituencies, and their families - not that all Tory wives will be feeling calm at the moment.

Britain and Europe: Confusion worse Confounded

• Bruce Anderson
• 25 Oct 2017

According to your tastes, the embarrassments over Mrs May's table-talk may arouse amusement, or despair. But this should not distract us from more important matters. We Brits ought to apologise to the EU, for our relations with Europe do not redound to our credit. Any foreigner who wished to defend the proposition that the British are not an intellectual race could easily do so by reference to the evasions and muddle which we have brought to bear on European questions.

She's Got To Go

• Bruce Anderson
• 24 Oct 2017

Today, commentators on Tory politics face a dilemma. The chronicling of chronic incompetence is a necessary duty. But how can one prevent this from declining into repetitious tedium? Thinking about that took me back to the Sixties and Seventies: the era of vinyl records. Those of us who were underwhelmed by Bruckner's symphonies had a recurrent problem. 'Bababa, bababa, bababa:' was the record stuck, or was it merely the composer?

An Honourable Johnson

• Bruce Anderson
• 20 Oct 2017

When it comes to a contrast between two brothers in public life, the nearest parallel is in Hamlet: Old Hamlet, the murder victim, and Claudius, his assassin - Hyperion to a satyr. Yet that does not entirely work. Satyr is perfect for Boris Johnson; Hyperion may be overstating his brother Jo's graces. Equally, Old Hamlet may not have deserved all his son's hero-worship, while Claudius might be worthy of tragic status. To win a throne and a Queen, he committed a dreadful and treacherous crime. Yet there was a certain heroic grandeur, albeit evil, to his objectives and his offences. In Boris's case, there is mere squalid littleness.

The Playwright, The Lawyer and The Poet.

• Bruce Anderson
• 16 Oct 2017

First, the playwright, Sean O'Casey, whose 'Juno and the Paycock' ends with: 'The whole world's in a terrible state of chassis.' So it remains.

In Washington, thanks to Donald Trump, the wheels are coming off the chassis. Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, has described his boss as a fucking moron. With respect to Mr Tillerson, a lawyer once came up with something even more appropriate. This was F Lee Bailey, a notorious American trial advocate. While defending the Boston Strangler, a serial killer of yesteryear, he described his client as an uncontrollable vegetable. We now have a second such vegetable, as President of the United States.

Get a Grip or Go

• Bruce Anderson
• 8 Oct 2017

It would be wrong to describe the Government and the Prime Minister as pathetic. Pathetic comes from pathos, something inviting sympathy. But this is not a case deserving of sympathy. The appropriate word is not pathetic. It is bathetic. This Government is wallowing in bathos.

Let us start with the most important issue of all: Brexit. Clearly, the UK faces a choice between maximising sovereignty or maximising access. The Chancellor seems to have become the leader of the access camp. The harder Brexiteers accuse him of wanting to shadow EU regulations in the way that Nigel Lawson shadowed the Deutschmark in the late Eighties. That is an interesting comparison, because back then, the growing division between Chancellor Lawson and Premier Thatcher brought about his resignation and gravely weakened her. There was an obvious conclusion. Unless the PM and the Chancellor are of one mind on all the most important questions - at least in public - the Government will be in big trouble. 

Provocateur

• Bruce Anderson
• 4 Oct 2017

Conservatism is in crisis, on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet it has never been more needed. We need to argue the case for a thoughtful and realistic Conservatism as a means of delivering a strong economy, assisting the struggle for global stability - and adding to the sum of human happiness. That is why we are launching Provocateur.

Everything was supposed to be very different. By the early Nineties, It almost seemed as if Conservatives were entitled to relax into complacency. The Soviet Empire was collapsing. The ideological triumph of Reagan and Thatcher meant that the socialists' 'isms' had turned into wasms. Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history.

Chivalry, Croaking and Change

• Bruce Anderson
• 3 Oct 2017

Suddenly, chivalry took over. On the podium, Theresa May looked like a wounded bird. At the sight of a stricken female struggling to continue her speech, judgment gave way to sympathy, at least for a few hours. The audience were loyal, but only one senior Tory will have enjoyed the Leader's speech: Boris Johnson. He is on manoeuvres.

Tory Leadership Challenge

• Bruce Anderson
• 3 Oct 2017

Almost all sensible Tories agree that this not the time for a leadership challenge. Theresa May must remain in post. Yet of itself, that is not enough. As Leader, she must lead. Although Matthew Parris of the Times is a devout remainer, it would be wrong to describe him as a remoaner; re-gloater would be more accurate. In his latest column, he wrote: 'We are looking not at a government here, but at a hostage crisis.' In the same issue, the glorious Ruth Davidson, the girl who puts the feist into feisty, referred to the 'internal Tory psychodrama.'