Politics

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

Sunday

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Peerless: what it’s like to become a Lord

As from this Thursday, I am a peer, although I must wait until next month before I can take my seat in the House of Lords. My letters patent confirm that I am Lord Moore of Etchingham. As do all new boys and girls, I went to see the Garter King of Arms, and he gave helpful advice. Very occasionally, new life peers jettison their surname when taking a title, thus assuming a new identity. The former John Selwyn Gummer, for instance, took the name of his local river and became Lord Deben. This is understandable in his case, because the Green Gummer is almost single-handedly saving the planet. It

Saturday

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

What does Europe teach the UK about a Covid second wave?

21 min listen

As the UK seems to enter a second wave of coronavirus infections, Europe is again the guide on the trajectory of the virus and the best strategy to tackle it. But from Sweden to Belgium, which European country should we follow, and is anyone in government listening? Kate Andrews talks to Fraser Nelson and Swedish economist Fredrik Erixon.

Friday

John Connolly John Connolly

Boris Johnson: the second wave is coming in

There has been growing speculation this week that Britain is heading back towards a second lockdown. Today, it was reported the government is considering closing hospitality venues as part of a ‘circuit break’ to reduce the spread of the virus; local lockdowns now cover more than 10 million people nationwide; and ministers such as Matt Hancock have refused to rule out tightening restrictions as the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise. This afternoon, Boris Johnson himself weighed in to suggest that the second coronavirus wave had begun in the UK and more restrictions may now follow. Speaking to broadcasters at a construction site of a vaccine manufacturing centre in

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why Boris Johnson needs to speak to Anders Tegnell

It’s not hard to understand Boris Johnson’s dilemma. He will hate the idea of a second lockdown, but his scientific advisers tell him it’s the best way to fight a second wave. He’s not sure if their fears are exaggerated, but how is he to know? There are not very many expert voices around No10 to challenge the SAGE committee’s assumptions. One idea could be reaching out to Anders Tegnell, Sweden’s chief epidemiologist, who has just been interviewed by Andrew Neil for our new Spectator TV. The Swedes were able to identify the exaggerations in the Imperial College London assumptions first time around – and might be able to check the assumptions No10

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

‘Principled realism’: the ideology behind Pompeo’s policy

24 min listen

Mike Pompeo has guided Donald Trump’s foreign policy, and has been hailed with bringing the president’s ideology to life. In the latest US edition of the Spectator, Dominic Green interviews the secretary of state. Freddy Gray speaks to Dominic about Pompeo’s Middle East strategy, and the philosophy that guides his decisions.

Steerpike Steerpike

Amal Clooney’s curious resignation

This afternoon, leading human-rights lawyer Amal Clooney (and wife of George) handed in her resignation to the government. Clooney has been a UK special envoy for media freedom since July last year, when she promised to use her position to stick up for embattled and persecuted journalists around the world. Her relationship with the UK government turned sour this month though, after minister Brandon Lewis stood at the Despatch box and said the government’s Internal Market Bill would break ‘international law’, once passed. This disregard for an international treaty clearly offended the sensibilities of Clooney, and after meeting with the Foreign Secretary, she decided she could no longer countenance working

Catherine Coggan

A guide to Westminster pubs in the age of coronavirus

Life is slowly returning to Westminster. While the Commons chamber is only partially filled, most MPs are back – even if tourists remain in short supply. With a number of difficult issues coming up the track from avoiding a second wave to strained Brexit talks, the demand for a good pub crawl is the same as ever. So in the absence of any ‘circuit break’ shut down, Coffee House has assembled a list of the best taverns to hit before none of us are allowed to go out after 10pm. With all the bars in parliament closed, a handful of the surrounding establishments have reopened for business:  Open for business: The Red Lion

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris Johnson’s eco ambitions

Covid and Brexit dominate Boris Johnson’s premiership, and will for at least the rest of this year. But, as I say in the Times today, the speech that Johnson is most excited about giving is not on either of these subjects. Rather, it is on his green agenda. ‘The big narrative we’re not getting right is that this has to be a green recovery,’ says one of those who has discussed the speech with the Prime Minister. One of the reasons Johnson is so keen on this speech is his enthusiasm for hydrogen. He and others at the top level of government see it as the answer to many problems. They

Steerpike Steerpike

Knives out for Kit Malthouse

Shots fired. The ‘rule of six’ has divided opinion in Westminster and beyond. While Health Secretary Matt Hancock championed the limit on group gatherings as the safest option – several of his Cabinet colleagues took the view that it was a step too far.  Not that this has stopped ministers since taking to the airwaves to wax lyrical over the measures. Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would call the police on her neighbours while her minister Kit Malthouse said home-owners should snitch on neighbours. Malthouse’s intervention has proved particularly rattling. Writing in Friday’s Evening Standard, the journalist Petronella Wyatt takes aim at her old acquaintance: ‘Kit “Fatty” Malthouse exhorts us to inform on neighbours if they

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A Covid ‘circuit break’ will infuriate Tory MPs

Parliamentary allies of Boris Johnson are deeply concerned about how Tory MPs will react to any kind of ‘circuit break’ set of restrictions designed to slow the spread of coronavirus. The public are in favour of tighter restrictions. Even before the latest infection numbers came out, more than 60 per cent of voters backed a 10pm curfew, according to YouGov. But Tory MPs are in a very different place. As one weary secretary of state put it to me earlier in the week, one of the government’s problems is that ‘the libertarian chunk of the population is disproportionately represented in the Tory party and the press’. Compounding this issue, as

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What’s the point of a two-week lockdown?

13 min listen

The government is reportedly considering the short-term reintroduction of nationwide social restrictions to halt the spread of coronavirus. Will a two-week ‘circuit break’ make a difference, or simply delay the inevitable? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.

Robert Peston Robert Peston

With scientists divided, it’s time for politicians to decide

Later today, the ONS coronavirus survey will confirm that Covid-19 is on the march again everywhere, not just in regional pockets — though there are regional variations. And it will also show that infection is rising in all age groups, though the incidence of the illness is highest by a margin among those aged 17 to 29.  Which is why, as I reported earlier in the week, the government is looking at introducing additional social-distancing measures on a national basis — such as forcing pubs, clubs and restaurants to turf out customers at 10 p.m., or reverting to closing them altogether, for a couple of weeks or so. It’s rum

Tom Lees

Why isn’t Matt Hancock taking Covid false positives seriously?

As Matt Hancock was doing his media round this morning, it was refreshing to hear him finally being questioned about the challenge of false positives. But his response made me worry whether the Health Secretary really knows what a false positive is – or the potential extent of the problem when it comes to detecting coronavirus and the impact of that on decision making. False positives happen when someone is incorrectly given a positive result for something which in fact they do not have. As I wrote in May, no matter how carefully designed, created or performed, no test is perfect. Each test is given a sensitivity rating (the ability

Thursday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

The impossibility of Moonshot without fixing test and trace

16 min listen

The government has promised to deliver a nationwide mass testing programme by the beginning of next year, claiming it could offer a route out of continued restrictions. But with mounting reports about the failing test and trace system, is Operation Moonshot impossible? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Where’s Boris? A government at sea

37 min listen

From Covid to Brexit to even the culture wars, Boris’s performance seems to have been lacklustre. Where is the effervescent leader he was promised to be? (00:45) Sweden’s violent crime is spiking – and are politicians afraid to say why? (16:45) And on the other side of the world, why are the Japanese so much happier to wear masks? (27:55) With Spectator Editor Fraser Nelson; Director of Political Insight Stewart Jackson; journalist Paulina Neuding; the FT’s Nordic Bureau Chief Richard Milne; Professor Jordan Sand; and Spectator Assistant Editor Lara Prendergast. Presented by Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Faith in the government is wearing thin

As the government tightens coronavirus restrictions across swathes of the north east, Boris Johnson is facing his worst polling on the issue since the crisis began. According to a YouGov poll, approval of government handling of coronavirus is at its lowest: -33, compared to -18 last week. Coffee House understands this broadly tallies with internal government polling. Those privy to the findings of recent focus group polling say that a common complaint is the lack of a long-term plan for Covid.  Ministers expect the polling to get worse before it gets better. The fact the government’s coronavirus testing system is already buckling is a sign of trouble ahead. Speaking to MPs today, head of test and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why didn’t the government learn from Scotland’s test shortage?

This country is better prepared for any ‘second wave’ of Covid than it was for the first. But as I say in the magazine this week, a second wave will be far more difficult for the government politically than the first one was. There’ll be no rally round the flag effect this time. The public expect the government to be prepared. The growing anger over testing is an example of this change. This country has the ability to test far more people than it did back in March. But there is mounting irritation about how many people in coronavirus hotspots are being told either that there are no tests available

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

What’s the logic behind local lockdowns?

One in seven Britons is now under increased lockdown restrictions, after a return of measures in the north-east added an additional two million people to the list. Those in Northumberland, Newcastle, Sunderland, North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and County Durham will not be able to mix with other households (outside of support bubbles) from midnight, while restaurants, bars and pubs will be subject to a 10 p.m. curfew. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the latest lockdown measures in the House of Commons this morning, citing a rise of Covid-19 cases in the area. Despite more than ten million people in the UK now being subject to some level of increased

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Why is my Northumberland being locked down?

I am from Northumberland. You might have heard of the place, or even been there: the glorious coastline is increasingly popular for holidays, though the Cheviot Hills (even more deserving of attention) are less well-known. Often, the county is lumped into a bigger mass known as ‘the north-east’. Which I suppose makes a certain sense, given the basic geography and accents that – at least to outsiders – sound broadly similar. (I might return to this another day, but the idea that the accent of the Upper Coquet Valley sounds anything like, say, that of Sunderland is actually comical.) Northumberland is a curious construction as a local authority area. It’s