For some it’s the silly season, but things are getting serious in Westminster, as political lobbyist Gareth Morgan explainsJULY AND AUGUST are supposed to be the quiet periods, when politics winds down, but we at Cavendish are not sure this summer will quite map out like that.
Predictably, the tale of this coalition government has been the struggle to hold it together – but not necessarily with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats doing the fighting. Rather, time and again, we have seen the division lines emerge among the Tories. If gay marriage has been the headline-grabbing fault line, then coming-up a close second has been High-Speed 2 (HS2).
The project is loathed by large swathes of Conservative MPs who have been engaging in sustained lobbying to get the project cancelled. Chief among these trouble-makers has been Cheryl Gillan MP, the former Secretary of State for Wales who, once released of her cabinet duties, let rip on former ministerial colleagues.
The latest stage in the progress of the project is the HS2 “paving bill”, which allocates the funds required to undertake preparatory work, such as surveys and compensation to property owners, and was passed last week despite a small rebellion by some members. This is the forerunner to the “hybrid bill”, which authorises the building of the first phase of the line. We should expect the fireworks to continue in the run-up to the summer break which starts on July 18.
The summer calm will also be broken by the Fair Tax on Flying campaign that kicked-off in June 2012. This movement, previously focused on leisure travellers, has opened up a new front around the attitude of British business to air passenger duty with organisations such as the British Chambers of Commerce and the Guild of Travel Management Companies to the fore. This isn’t going to go away and the business angle will give it new energy through the summer months.
It’s worth noting also that the Labour Party is getting louder on its radical renationalisation plans for rail. Previous columns have indicated that rail is really the only transport area that Labour can put clear red water between themselves and the government. The decision by the coalition to make the state-run East Coast Mainline franchise first up for re-tendering before the problematic West Coast Mainline has dragged this debate into the open and triggered Labour MPs to openly call not only for it to remain in public hands but also be a model for how other franchises should be run.
Finally, we see rumours of impending reshuffles also keeping some of our politicians on edge when they should be looking forward to relaxing by the pool. Cameron is aware that he needs to reach out to the right wing of the Party to try and head off further revolts, and that means he needs to give some of their ring-leaders jobs – he just needs to decide when he does this. On the Labour side another large-scale reshuffle is due after the summer. Frustration with the polls and the slow pace of progress around the policy review has meant that a likely reshuffle has been mooted for some time. A few significant positions have been highlighted as ready for change – with the common theme being that they have cut across Ed Balls’ positioning in the past 12 months and their comeuppance is due.
Gareth Morgan is a political lobbyist and director with Cavendish Communications (www.cavendishpc.co.uk). He is an advisor to the GTMC.