Tom Harris

Tom Harris is a former Labour MP and sometime spinner who survived the heights and depths of the Blair-Brown era. After serving as a minister in the Department for Transport he led the Scottish Brexit campaign and founded his own lobbying company, Third Avenue Public Affairs. He now delivers his independent, no-nonsense insight every weekday in the Telegraph. His latest book, 'Ten Years in the Death of the Labour Party', is available from Biteback.

Starmer may be the final nail in the SNP coffin
Spurned from a coalition, Sturgeon’s party would sink into irrelevancy
Tom Harris1 Oct 2022, 7:00pm

Labour should not learn the wrong lessons from its poll lead. Hiking taxes remains unpopular
Scrapping the 45 per cent tax rate is proving deeply unpopular. That does not mean introducing new wealth taxes would be popular
Tom Harris29 Sep 2022, 7:40pm
Blair won a landslide because he offered an alternative and engaging vision. Keir Starmer does not
Just not being the other lot may be enough to win an election after fourteen years, but it is not enough to shift the political weather
Tom Harris26 Sep 2022, 2:06pm
Labour’s class war over Kwasi Kwarteng’s Budget is nowhere to be seen
The Chancellor’s economic plan full of tax cuts should be the perfect opportunity for Sir Keir Starmer to reinvent the party in opposition
Tom Harris23 Sep 2022, 6:38pm

Is Tony Blair now a born again Brexiteer?
The former prime minister has been using his behind the scenes influence to help the Government renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol
Tom Harris22 Sep 2022, 5:43pm
Trickle-down and neoliberal are merely Islington dinner party tropes without meaning
Political debate is now sadly based on invented words to describe the non-existent policies of political leaders who disown the very terms
Tom Harris21 Sep 2022, 5:23pm
Starmer is beginning to look like a figure from a bygone age
Voters’ attentions spans are short and to many the Labour leader may be regarded as something of an anachronism
Tom Harris20 Sep 2022, 5:30pm
Liz Truss is something not seen for 30 years: a Conservative Prime Minister who is a conservative
Keir Starmer now needs to start sketching out a Labour platform of government that is more than just saying, we are not the Tories
Tom Harris16 Sep 2022, 6:52pm
Of course MPs should jump the queue to see the late Queen
Parliament might not be sitting at the moment, but there is a long tradition of allowing MPs into its environs at any time of the day
Tom Harris15 Sep 2022, 12:18pm
Why did Keir Starmer bother to intervene on the republican protests?
Perhaps the Labour leader wanted an opportunity to ingratiate himself further with the sensible, centrist majority of the public
Tom Harris14 Sep 2022, 3:43pm

During national mourning, we realise that rival politicians were friends all along
MPs don’t alter their feelings towards their opponents, they simply don’t make the effort to hide their genuine friendships any more
Tom Harris13 Sep 2022, 2:54pm
The Queen was a hero to the working class on Left and Right
It is a testament to her service and duty that the traditional Labour movement is as devoted to the monarchy as anyone else
Tom Harris10 Sep 2022, 9:00pm
The Union was Queen Elizabeth's proudest legacy and it will not end with her
There can be no doubt that King Charles is as committed to his subjects and to the nation as his mother ever was
Tom Harris9 Sep 2022, 5:00pm
Labour and the SNP will struggle to brand Truss as ‘continuity Boris’
In his first PMQs against Liz Truss, Keir Starmer all but conceded that he has yet to work out a strategy to deal with her
Tom Harris7 Sep 2022, 1:15pm
Keir Starmer doesn’t know how to handle Liz Truss, and is running out of time to figure it out
Now relieved of their Boris Derangement Syndrome, many in Labour will be wondering what they actually dislike about the new Prime Minister
Tom Harris6 Sep 2022, 12:46pm
This is an opportunity to put the Union on a more stable footing
The right legislative changes might actually remove the prospect of an immediate referendum
Tom Harris5 Sep 2022, 1:29pm
Liz Truss is right to change her mind on Europe. Political consistency is an overrated virtue
Jeremy Corbyn has never changed his mind on anything. That is why he is such a terrible politician
Tom Harris2 Sep 2022, 4:10pm
The next election is Keir Starmer's to lose. But he may well do just that
Starmer must convince voters he is offering something different enough to tempt them over to his side. Being a fresh face won't cut it
Tom Harris1 Sep 2022, 2:27pm
The unions have declared war on Keir Starmer
The Labour leader is in a no-win situation he personally and needlessly constructed. The consequences could be fatal
Tom Harris31 Aug 2022, 2:22pm
It’s time the Conservative Party stuck with its leader
The framers of its constitution would have been aghast at the extent to which their efforts have since been exploited
Tom Harris30 Aug 2022, 3:38pm
Boris Johnson's departure will end Remainers' phoney war
Europhiles’ constant obsession with the 2016 referendum is destined to become even more irrelevant than it already is
Tom Harris29 Aug 2022, 12:44pm
Heckling politicians might be fun, but it is a God-awful way to get your point across
Welcome to the new Question Time: only rhetorical questions allowed, the louder – and the more aggressive – the better
Tom Harris26 Aug 2022, 12:35pm