Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Friday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Is lockdown II working?

How much has this week’s ructions in Downing Street been influenced by the Prime Minister’s decision, two weeks ago, to call for a new 28 day lockdown – and the subsequent questions asked of the data to justify it? On the one side are the 50 or so Conservative MPs who have joined the Covid Recovery Group calling for an end to lockdowns, and the many others who sympathise with them. On the other was Dominic Cummings, believed to be a keen proponent of lockdown. Last week’s infection survey – the weekly Office of National Statistics study showing the prevalence of Covid-19 in the general population – suggested that the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The strategic consequences of a no-deal Brexit

If it was not for the drama in Downing Street, Brexit would be dominating the news right now. Next week is regarded as a crucial week for the negotiations. If they don’t make progress, then the UK leaving without a trade deal will become the most likely outcome. The geopolitical consequences of this failure would dwarf the economic ones, I say in the Times today. No deal would be acrimonious. The EU would probably take a hard-line approach to border checks to try to force Britain back to the table. Boris Johnson would, as the Internal Market Bill proposes, override parts of the withdrawal agreement that he himself signed. The

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Dominic Cummings doesn’t matter. Boris Johnson does

Yesterday I wrote here that the shenanigans of special advisers weren’t very important and shouldn’t get so much attention. And then Dominic Cummings resigned, and the world shifted on its axis, so what sort of idiot am I, eh? It’s important that when journalists get things wrong, they say so. But this isn’t a mea culpa. I stand by my point about the importance of political advisers being overstated and over-reported. Dominic Cummings doesn’t really matter. Boris Johnson does. There is talk in many papers and places this morning about the impact of Cummings’s departure from No. 10. Will it lead to a change in approach, a shift in policy

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Why Dominic Cummings had to go

On 24 July last year, I wrote that the government of Boris Johnson was being taken over by Dominic Cummings and his Vote Leave team. That was not hyperbole. Since then, both the reality of Cummings and the myths about him, have defined Johnson’s first 16 months as Prime Minister. Which is why, as one Downing Street insider put it to me, Cummings’ departure ‘feels like a fire has raged through the building.’ For all the controversy stirred up by Cummings – or perhaps because of it, to an extent – Johnson owes a substantial debt to the eccentric special adviser who organised the referendum campaign for leaving the EU. In

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

With Dominic Cummings gone, Boris can reinvent himself

Dominic Cummings’s departure has been described as a big loss to Boris Johnson. There is no doubt that his top advisor played a significant role in the Tories’ thumping election win a year ago. But his time in Downing Street has been less successful. So could Cummings’ departure actually help Boris? His Christmas resignation – which Cummings insists is in keeping with the pledge made at the start of this year – is a chance for Boris Johnson to reinvent himself. It could also ultimately help save his flagging premiership, one dragged down by the Covid crisis and the continuing impossibility of ending Brexit in a satisfactory manner. What’s more his parliamentary party’s unhappiness

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Dominic Cummings’s departure is dangerous timing for Boris

Dominic Cummings didn’t angle for this job: Boris Johnson begged him to take it. The Tories faced extinction after the Theresa May debacle. Boris needed purpose, direction and miracles – which Cummings had a track record in supplying. He brought with him into No. 10 both Vote Leave staff and its modus operandi: a fixed focus on purpose, dedication to delivering and not caring too much about what commentators (like me) say. The result: an unexpected Brexit deal followed by an 80-strong Tory majority. The team stayed in place to work on what Johnson thought would be the defining issue of 2020: a Brexit deal. In my Daily Telegraph column

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cummings set to leave No. 10 by Christmas

Dominic Cummings will leave Downing Street at the end of this year, the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg is reporting. Cummings is one of those rare individuals who has bent the arc of history. He has been crucial, if not indispensable, to several key moments in this country’s recent past. His work at Business for Sterling is one of the things that put Tony Blair off attempting to take the UK into the Euro. Even more importantly, it is hard to believe that Leave would have won the 2016 referendum without the brilliant, heterodox campaign that Cummings devised. Cummings has long been more interested in how government works The victory

Douglas Murray

Macron alone: where are France’s allies in the fight against Islamism?

36 min listen

First, France has been shaken by a series of gruesome terror attack – yet western leaders seem remarkably reluctant to support President Emannuel Macron. (01:04) Lara speaks to The Spectator’s associate editor Douglas Murray and writer Ed Husain. Next, this year’s US election was truly remarkable – but what was it like to report on it? Lara is joined by the editor of The Spectator’s US edition Freddy Gray and Washington editor Amber Athey. (17:31) And finally, the British pub has historically been remarkably adept at circumventing restrictions on drinking – but how has it dealt with lockdown? Lara talks to journalist John Sturgis and Spectator writer Mark Mason. (27:21)

Steerpike Steerpike

A guide to the warring factions of No. 10

There may be a pandemic on but that’s not going to stop Downing Street staff briefing against one another. Tensions came to a head this week after Boris Johnson’s director of communications, Lee Cain, announced his resignation. The row began after it was reported in the Times and Daily Mail that Cain – a former Vote Leave staffer and Daily Mirror chicken – had been offered the new Chief of Staff position in Downing Street. Opposition was raised – through the media – and he quit.  That move has sparked a wider discussion about the power struggle in 10 Downing Street. While Cain may be on the way out, the battle

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Clinically vulnerable MPs are still being excluded from parliament

Why is the government refusing to allow clinically vulnerable MPs to take part in debates on legislation? This row has been rumbling on for months, with no apparent enthusiasm from ministers to change the current situation. Today, senior MPs have told Coffee House they believe the government’s actions would be in breach of the Equality Act were this taking place outside parliament. Currently MPs who are shielding at home can ask questions and vote remotely, but they cannot give speeches or intervene in debates on legislation, as well as backbench business and Westminster Hall debates. This morning Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, asked

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Has Vote Leave lost control?

14 min listen

Downing Street has seen a day of backstabbing and counter-briefings after Dominic Cummings ally Lee Cain resigned as Boris Johnson’s director of communications. John Connolly talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why No. 10 is cautious about the Covid vaccine

The news about the Pfizer vaccine has persuaded Tory MPs that there is now a route out of this crisis, and that this country can avoid being dragged into a cycle of lockdowns, I say in the magazine this week. No. 10 is being deliberately cautious about the vaccine. There are huge logistical obstacles to overcome before the vaccine can be rolled out. It needs to win approval from the regulators (although if it passes the safety test, that should happen quickly). It must also be kept colder than the North Pole until it is sent out to be delivered to patients.  But in Whitehall the view is that Pfizer’s

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Why this Downing Street debacle doesn’t matter

Do you know who Lee Cain is? If your answer is yes, you are unusual, an aberrant departure from the norm. If you know who he is and care a jot about him and his career, you’re a freak. Wall-to-wall coverage of Cain’s departure from Downing Street reminds me why I’m so glad I stopped being a Lobby reporter, and demonstrates everything that’s wrong with our political-media culture. It’s part of the national sickness that means so many people ignore or disdain politics as something distant and irrelevant to their lives. And actually, as far as this story is concerned, they’re right, because goings-on in No. 10 really are irrelevant.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Britain’s economy has been bouncing back – but there’s a major caveat

Britain’s economy rebounded by a record 15.5 per cent between July and September, reflecting the relaxation of lockdown measures and increased consumer activity over the summer. This is the largest quarterly growth in the UK economy the Office for National Statistics has reported since records began in 1955. Services, manufacturing, production and construction saw big uplifts across the board in Q3, but all remain below their Q4 levels in 2019, reflecting that the economy as a whole has not recovered to its pre-Covid levels: it is still 8.2 per cent smaller than it was at the start of the year. But with this good news comes a major caveat: while the economic bounce

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Carrie Symonds and the rise of petticoat government

The phrase ‘petticoat government’ has, for reasons that escape me, gone out of currency lately. But it came to mind this morning when the BBC reported that the Prime Minister’s communications chief, Lee Cain, had resigned, even though he’d only just reportedly been appointed as Downing Street Chief of Staff. One reason, the BBC explained matter-of-factly, was that the PM’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds, was opposed to his appointment. I can’t have been alone in thinking: what? Come again? Carrie Symonds running the show in Downing Street? I thought we’d moved on a bit since the days when you had the king’s ear because you were close to him; back then

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

The Lee Cain debacle is a key moment in Boris’s leadership

Lee Cain’s departure raises an important question: what is the point of Boris Johnson’s legion of Spads? The government has never been so stuffed with advisors, and yet it has also rarely been so chaotic.  We live in an era in which the special advisor has more control over events than ever before; no Spad in Downing Street has ever had the power of Dominic Cummings. The Barnard Castle debacle – which surely would have resulted in the dismissal of anyone else – showed this all too clearly. But this rival power base has hindered, rather than helped, Boris Johnson. There is, of course, nothing new about the Downing Street advisor. Thatcher

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Dominic Cummings should follow Lee Cain out the door of No. 10

What we are seeing with the imminent departure of Lee Cain from Downing Street surely signals the beginning of the end for the notion that the creative vision of a single person can utterly dominate the output of a government. That single person, by the way, is not Communications Director Cain, nor even Boris Johnson, but Dominic Cummings. For this is largely a proxy war. The proposed elevation of Cain to the post of the PM’s Chief of Staff was only partly opposed because he was widely seen as lacking the authority and weight required for that position. The main reason for the clamour against him among senior Tories is that

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Inside the Downing Street power struggle

Downing Street is a divided place this morning after the resignation of Lee Cain. No. 10’s Director of Communications handed in his resignation last night after a day of briefings and counter briefings between the various factions in Downing Street. The drama began after the Times ran a story on Tuesday evening suggesting the Vote Leave alumnus was in line for a promotion to Chief of Staff. That kicked off a furious briefing war with the Prime Minister’s fiancee Carrie Symonds among those to voice concerns over the move. ‘It’s like a Mexican firing squad in there,’ says a government aide.  After a day of internal feuds spilling out into the media, Cain

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Will Lee Cain’s departure spark a Downing Street exodus?

A day of explosive disclosures from No. 10 has ended in the resignation of Lee Cain as Boris Johnson’s communications chief. Only 24 hours ago, it was reported he’d be promoted to Chief of Staff, after having threatened to quit last week. Now, he’s gone. Depending on which rumours you believe, Cain had fallen out with Carrie Symonds, the Prime Minister’s fiancee and a former Tory party spin chief with her own views on how the job should be done. Cain, it’s said, felt undermined to the extent of being unable to fulfil his role – all the more so when Allegra Stratton was appointed the PM’s on-screen spokesman. So he offered to quit on