The Week in Review - Politics.co.uk

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By Adam Bienkov It was but a small step, an almost imperceptible shuffle of the boots, but as Chris Bryant stood up to deliver his immigration speech on Monday, British politics moved yet another inch to the right. We've been heading this way for some time. Ever since the Conservatives hired Lynton Crosby, the party has gradually shifted the terms of debate back to the right. Whether it's immigration, welfare or public sector cuts, the Tories are increasingly setting the agenda, while Labour increasingly look like they have little to say, and little idea how to say it. Chris Bryant's speech on Monday was a perfect case in point. Over recent months, the Conservatives and their supporters in the press have relentlessly put the case that we are being beset by a zombie army of benefit-scrounging, job-stealing aliens. The question of whether these aliens are too hard working, or not hard working enough, is never really resolved. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that the Conservative party is against them (the job-stealing/workshy aliens) and for us (the hard-working, benefit-repelling Britons). Labour's response, if we can call it that, is to remain in almost total monastic silence. They are struck dumb by a desire to paint the Tories as lurching to the right, and a conflicting desire to assuage the fears of their own supporters. Caught in this trap, Labour have instead said as little as humanly possible. In those terms Chris Bryant's speech was a total success. Rarely has one man said so little, over so many words and to such little effect. Dressed in what looked like a rugby club tie and sporting a mildly terrified look, Bryant set about the business of pleasing precisely nobody. Labour are in favour of immigrants, he assured us (as long as they're famous ones from history) but against immigration itself, which might be too high, but then again might not be. Yet amid it all there was originally one interesting part to his speech. While the Tories and the Home Office have concentrated on targeting immigrants themselves, Bryant instead planned to launch an attack on the big businesses that use them to undercut the wages of British workers. This was potentially an interesting line of attack. An opportunity for Labour to try and shift the terms of debate away from the bottom rungs of society, back up to the top. Yet at the slightest whiff of resistance from the press and the companies themselves, this section was dropped. In one poorly written, clumsily briefed speech, Bryant had managed to alienate many of his own supporters, botched an attack on his opponents, and won not a single vote in the process. If Ed Miliband had needed another excuse to remain silent, then Bryant had certainly given him one. When the Labour leader finally did emerge from his holiday on Tuesday he did little better. He wanted to say something about rising living costs and to do it while touring a working class market in south London. But with no actual policy or even a ghost of a policy to announce, coverage of the visit was instead dominated by a former homeless cycle courier and his ability to throw an egg. It's a sad indictment of Labour's recent performance, that Miliband's attempts to make light of the incident were probably the highlight of his week, if not his summer. And yet it didn't have to be like this. Behind the headlines, Labour's hopes of winning the next election are basically unchanged. Despite countless polls pointing to a narrowing of Labour's lead, Labour's actual share of the vote has hardly moved in the past year. That the Tories' vote share has recovered somewhat in recent months has little to do with Ed Miliband's performance, and much more to do with a steady return of Ukip supporters to the Tory fold. The simple fact is that Crosby's attempts to paint Nigel Farage's party as a bunch of "closet racists and loons" are working. And they're working because they're basically true. Godfrey Bloom's "bongo-bongo land" comments and Stuart Wheeler's claim that women don't deserve to be on company boards because they're not very good at chess and bridge, will deter many of the protest votes that might otherwise have gone their way. But none of this is enough to win the Conservative party the next election. To win, they need to hold on to their core vote and also win over the kinds of voters they failed to win last time. These are the very people who will be turned off by the kinds of attacks on immigrants and 'benefit scroungers' launched in recent months. And yet taken together these attacks create a particular climate. A climate in which the terms of debate blow inch by inch to the right. The Home Office's "go home" vans may have been retired, but the truth is that they were never really intended to be rolled out across the country in the first place. The real point of the vans, like everything else the Conservative party have done in recent months, was to shift British politics just a little bit more to the right. Week by week, inch by inch, the Conservative party hopes to shift the political battleground to a point where they can more easily win. It may not work. It may even backfire. But unless Miliband can find a way to reverse that shift, then British politics will continue to head inexorably away from where Labour wants it to be. Miliband's supporters hope that he has some clear ideas on how to change this. The evidence from this week suggests that if he does, then he's keeping very quiet about it. Best of News Protesters score first blood in fracking battle as site closes down Energy firm Cuadrilla has temporarily closed an exploration site in West Sussex, after police warned that anti-fracking protests could pose a danger to its staff. Cameron's black adviser admits Tories have a problem with race The Conservatives struggle to attract ethnic minorities supporters because they have "questions to answer" on race, one of David Cameron's advisers has admitted. Labour: US must end military aid to Egypt America must suspend the $1.3 billion (£830 million) it gives Egypt in military aid in the wake of yesterday's violence, Labour has demanded. Sectioned: How the NHS' beds shortage is twisting decisions on mental health wards Patients are being unnecessarily sectioned under the Mental Health Act because of a beds shortage, it has emerged. Children could be charged for being taken into care Children over the age of 16 could be charged for being taken into care, according to plans being proposed by Worcestershire Council. Charles faces scrutiny: Commons starts inquiry into royal meddling Prince Charles was in the uncomfortable position of facing a Commons inquiry into his political influence today, after a committee of MPs decided to investigate his meetings with ministers. Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, study finds Religious people are less intelligent than non-believers, according to a scientific review of a decades-long study. Best of Comment and Analysis The Political Week Online: Bad eggs Politician gets egged, isn't the most original story in politics. Can the Tories really win the next general election? The Tories are cock-a-hoop at the moment as the green shoots continue to sprout. But does that mean they're going to win in 2015? Is the shine coming off Nigel Farage? Half of voters say they dislike Nigel Farage and just 27% say they like him, according to new polling out today. Everything you need to know about Gibraltar in five minutes What's all this I hear about Gibraltar? Comment: The EU may bore Britain, but it saves eastern Europe from tyranny Britain may be sceptical about remaining in the EU, but for former Eastern bloc countries, it offers a vital lifeline to democracy.	NASUWT on A-levels: Coalition must end its betrayal of young people Commenting ahead of the publication of tomorrow’s A-level results, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said: “Tomorrow’s results are the culmination of an immense amount of hard work by young people and their teachers. It would be a real boost for them if just for once success and achievement could be the focus of any comment made by Government and its supporters." BHA welcomes ICO ruling that the DfE "was wrong" to withold list of proposed Free Schools The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled that the Department for Education (DfE) was wrong to withhold from the British Humanist Association (BHA) a list of all proposals to establish Free Schools as part of the fourth wave (i.e. opening from September 2014). The BHA has welcomed the ruling. Blue Badger: Stars sign up to save England’s badgers 007, M, an Avenger, Prince Vultan, Judge John Deed, a Prime Minister and a lion-hearted lady unite to Battle for Badgers. Sir Roger Moore, Dame Judi Dench, Joanna Lumley, Brian Blessed, Martin Shaw, Anthony Head and Virginia McKenna OBE are among over one hundred celebrities, scientists, naturalists, veterinarians and leading animal welfare and conservation groups to have signed a statement calling on the Government to stop the badger cull. Rethink Mental Illness: “It’s absolutely shocking that people are being sectioned unnecessarily" A health committee report published today, says mental health patients are being sectioned unnecessarily, just so they can get access to a hospital bed. CIOT: Call to DfE for tax education to be included in the national curriculum The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is calling for the inclusion of tax education in a revised national curriculum in their response to a consultation from the Department for Education. Blue Badger: Conservative Animal Welfare Co Chair/ Blue Badger Founder Statement on the badger cull The case for culling badgers is weak. Scientific evidence shows that a cull will only reduce TB in cattle by 16% at best and may actually spread the disease further. It may be counterproductive and does not provide a credible long term solution to the problem of bovine tuberculosis. Read more. BSIA members defend the use of ‘zero hours’ contracts in security Security industry professionals have spoken out in defence of ‘zero-hours’ contracts, with almost 80% of British Security Industry Association (BSIA) members agreeing with the concept, despite the Government’s recent pledge to review such arrangements following pressure from unions. Rio Tinto announces first half underlying earnings of $4.2 billion 2013 underlying earnings of $4.2 billion down 18 per cent reflect lower average market prices and a higher effective tax rate, partly offset by record iron ore shipments and cost savings momentum. Read more. Breast Cancer Care’s statement on the NICE draft guidance on Perjeta (pertuzumab) for this week is below. Breast Cancer Care’s statement on the NICE draft guidance on Perjeta (pertuzumab) for this week is below. Please get in touch for any further information. IET: Local energy much more than ‘supplying electricity to the Grid’ The report by the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published today draws attention to the very wide range of benefits that would flow from the UK producing and consuming more of its energy locally. CIOB: Inquiry by Parliamentarians into construction and youth employment A group of Parliamentarians from both Houses is launching an Inquiry into boosting youth employment and training on the back of construction and housing investment.

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