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3 weeks ago | 
mondaq.com | David Gauke |Clare Wilson |Rhiannon Kinghall Were
M Macfarlanes LLP More We are a distinctive law firm, combining expertise, agility, and a client-centric culture to address the most challenging legal demands and foster innovation. Our firm is structured around the needs of our clients, with whom we build long-lasting relationships, tackling complex issues in key practice areas. Our approach is focused and deliberate.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
It is now looking increasingly plausible that at some point this year, Rachel Reeves will be required to deliver a combination of tax rises and spending cuts to comply with her fiscal rules. It may even happen in March, when the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) delivers its next economic forecast. If it happens, whenever that might be, it will be a deeply damaging moment for the government and the Chancellor.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
conservativehome.com | David Gauke
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. Attending a Reform UK event last week, Nigel Farage was asked if he had succeeded in winning the support of someone who had previously backed Jeremy Corbyn.
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Jan 7, 2025 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
One must have a heart of stone not to laugh at Elon Musk’s declaration that Nigel Farage “does not have what it takes” to lead Reform UK. For months, Farage had been preening himself on his closeness to Donald Trump and those around the president-elect. There was much speculation about a huge financial donation being made to Reform by Musk. In the hours before his pronouncement, Farage had described the owner of X as a “hero” and a “friend” who made Reform look “cool”.
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Dec 16, 2024 | 
conservativehome.com | David Gauke
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. For too long, the UK was viewed with pity by many Europeans. The Leave vote; the Brexit impasse; the premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Whether with sympathy or otherwise, European observers asked what had gone wrong in Britain. At one level, it is something of a relief that these questions are asked less often today.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
Uncomfortable though it is to acknowledge, now is a very good time for Reform UK. One recent poll put the party ahead of Labour and it is only marginally behind the Conservatives. There have been a few notable Tory defections in former MP Andrea Jenkyns and ConservativeHome founder Tim Montgomerie and, inevitably, talk of more to come. And immigration is in the news following the announcement that net migration for the previous two years reached 1.6 million people.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
There was a time not that long ago when it was commonly argued that the vote to leave the European Union meant that immigration was no longer an important electoral issue. In 2016, it was argued, the public cared greatly about immigration but what worried them was not so much the numbers coming in but the lack of control. Once we had left the EU, it was said, we could decide who came here and the country would be reconciled to high levels of immigration.
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Dec 2, 2024 | 
conservativehome.com | David Gauke
David Gauke is a former Justice Secretary and was an independent candidate in South-West Hertfordshire at the 2019 general election. Does the Government have an adequate growth strategy? It is a question that is increasingly being asked. Recent official statistics on GDP growth and the public finances have disappointed. The OBR’s growth forecasts, published at the time of the Budget, are underwhelming.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
Not every MP will have a strong view on social issues. Matters relating to the economy, public services and the country’s place in the world are more likely to motivate an aspiring politician. They will then join a party, made up of others who are broadly (sometimes very broadly) of the same mind set and values. That party then obtains most of its votes from those who are sympathetic to its values.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
newstatesman.com | David Gauke
There is a hypothesis that I have set out before in these columns and now might be a good time to revisit it. The hypothesis is a simple one. Labour would fight the 2024 general election saying as little as possible about Brexit and its consequences but, having secured victory, the pressure would build for a more ambitious policy of moving closer to Europe. By the time we got to the next election in 2028 or 2029, I argued, Brexit would once again be a major issue.
