Politics

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

Cindy Yu

Will coronavirus make politicians fix social care?

14 min listen

Social care has always been a difficult issue for incumbent governments in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic brings this to the fore. As ONS figures show that more than 5,000 deaths have happened in UK care homes in April, Cindy, James, and Katy discuss what this means for future social care policy on the podcast.

James Kirkup

In defence of political journalists

It is open season on the Lobby. Social media is full of condemnation for political correspondents over the questions they ask at the daily coronavirus briefing. Polling, private and public, shows that UK trust in media reporting has suffered badly in this crisis. Ministers and officials privately rage about the quality of reporting on much of the coronavirus story. Downing Street has decided to surf that wave of irritation by asking members of the public to submit questions too. That’s a smart move, but one that will come at further cost to the standing of the Lobby in particular. I held a Lobby pass between 2001 and 2017, though I

Is Britain’s coronavirus response bogged down in bureaucracy?

The NHS has rightly been praised for its response to coronavirus. But it still isn’t quite the model of efficiency it could be. And there remains a problem with how British medical bureaucracy is handling the treatment of hospitalised Covid patients.  Hard-pressed consultants are reportedly being forced to swap news in WhatsApp groups about possible cutting-edge treatments. These doctors are desperate for information which may help their Covid patients in hospital either stay out of intensive care or, if unlucky enough to be in ICU, improve the 50/50 odds of life or death once on ventilation. Why? It seems likely that doctors are forced to innovate off the record because of the bureaucracies we’re all too

Nick Tyrone

The Lib Dems’ Ramadan stunt is spectacularly bad politics

For those of you not following the minutiae of the Liberal Democrat party at the moment, which I imagine is almost all of you, Ed Davey is leading many members of his brigade, MPs and councillors, to fast for Ramadan. Your first question here should be: why exactly? Has Ed Davey and many other Lib Dems converted to Islam? Well, no. They appear to be doing it as some sort of solidarity gesture with British Muslims. In the tweets and videos on the subject, they keep referring to ‘showing Muslims they aren’t alone’ in what they are doing. This is a bad idea for a lot of reasons and instructive

James Kirkup

Boris is right to talk about the coronavirus as a mugger

Is the SARS-CoV-2 virus comparable to a man who accosts you in the street and tries to steal your phone and wallet? Boris Johnson used the image of virus-as-mugger in his Downing Street statement today: If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.And so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity. This is the moment when we can press home our advantage.It is also the moment of maximum risk because I know there will be many people looking

Robert Peston

Rishi Sunak to give 100 per cent guarantees on business loans

There’s a confident expectation among those in government and banks that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will offer 100 per cent guarantees on emergency loans to small businesses. But last week the chancellor stated categorically that the 80 per cent government guarantee for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) would not be changed (which the Prime Minister’s official spokesman also confirmed last week). The squaring of the circle, to be at least hinted at later today, is that the Treasury will launch a new loan scheme for smaller businesses, with 100 per cent government guarantees, rather than modifying the existing scheme. The economic impact of this new scheme would be the same as

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson’s new approach to lockdown easing

The Prime Minister is back at his desk in No. 10 today and kicked off his first full working day since his coronavirus hospitalisation with a statement to the nation. Addressing cameras outside 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister paid tribute to First Secretary of State Dominic Raab for leading the government in his absence and the general public for adhering to social distancing. He said here were clear signs to suggest the country is ‘passing through the peak’ and heralded the achievement of the NHS not becoming overwhelmed in this period. But going forward, Johnson urged caution. He confirmed reports over the weekend that the UK is nearing the end of the

Sunday shows round up: Raab foresees a ‘new normal’ after lockdown

Dominic Raab: Vaccine ‘not likely’ this year The Foreign Secretary was in charge of the government’s media round this morning. Yesterday, hospital figures showed the UK’s official death toll for those displaying symptoms of Covid-19 had now passed 20,000. Acknowledging this ‘grim milestone’, Dominic Raab told Sophy Ridge that the government was ‘driving forward’ in its efforts to combat the virus, but said that previous hopes for a vaccine being ready as early as the autumn were misplaced: DR: We’re looking at the possibility of a vaccine. That’s not likely to come to fruition this year, but it could be important if we get multiple waves of coronavirus globally down

Melanie McDonagh

Ten lessons we’ve learned from the lockdown so far

Yep, the end is in sight, courtesy of other countries organising the practicalities for the return to some sort of normal life – shopping and schooling, as in Germany. That means Britain will, like it or not, be playing catchup sooner rather than later. And when this oddly dreamlike existence is over, it’s going to feel like that bit of the Sleeping Beauty when the court wakes up after its hundred year sleep, yawning and blinking and eyeing each other rather shyly. It’s partly the warm weather; being obliged to stay away from work when it’s sunny, with quite a lot of your wages paid by the government (if like

Ross Clark

Britain can’t rely on a vaccine to ease lockdown restrictions

Six weeks ago Britain stood as a bit of an outlier among western countries in that our government seemed set to manage, rather than suppress, coronavirus. It rejected the idea that it was pursuing ‘herd immunity,’ but seemed to do just that. Now we stand out for a different reason: we are the only country which appears to be committing itself to remain in lockdown, or close approximation thereof, until a vaccine arrives. In much of Europe, lockdown restrictions are tentatively being relaxed as infection rates and death rates fall. Here, ministers tell us it is far too early for that sort of thing – we will need restrictions on

It’s time to televise corona cabinet discussions

Microphones were installed in the House of Commons chamber in 1950. A mere 38 years passed before a parliamentary debate was broadcast on the radio. We would probably blush now to hear the arguments against our being allowed to follow in real time the intricacies of parliamentary debate. But the institutional habit of treating voters like children dies hard. It spooked most of us to hear that the Prime Minister was suddenly in hospital, then in ICU with a serious condition, so No. 10 disclosed, of being ‘cheerful’. We knew very well that these days cheerfulness can be effectively cured at home. Dread of spreading ‘alarm and despondency’ is one

Katy Balls

Predictable politics returns as Brexit talks stall

Although the coronavirus pandemic means that we are living in uncertain times, some things remain predictable. As is the case with the current Brexit talks where Michel Barnier has bemoaned a lack of progress. As round two of the UK-EU negotiations comes to a close, the EU’s chief negotiator has voiced his disappointment – while a UK government spokesperson says ‘limited progress was made in bridging the gaps’ between the UK and the EU. While there are still two rounds of talks to go before the end of the transition period in December, at present the two sides remain far apart. The UK is pushing for a Canada-style free trade agreement and should that fail has said

Kate Andrews

If austerity is off the table, how do we pay for Covid-19 costs?

What is the true cost of Covid-19? No one knows – yet. But it’s not going to be cheap. The Treasury has revised its borrowing plans for May to July up to £180 billion, four times what it planned to raise and over £20 billion more than it planned to borrow all year. So how are we going to pay for all this spending? Policies at the heart of the government’s Covid-19 response, like the furlough scheme, are surpassing all estimations for uptake, and have been granted a limitless price tag by the Chancellor through to the end of June at least. As the economy contracts in a way that

Patrick O'Flynn

Boris won’t seek a Brexit extension in June, but he might in November

Is there going to be an extension to the Brexit transitional period during which the UK must obey EU rules and keep stumping up cash for Brussels? The answer may appear obvious: David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, has unequivocally and publicly ruled it out. As he tweeted on 16 April: ‘Transition ends on December 31 this year. We will not ask to extend it. If the EU asks we will say no.’ But, this being politics, Frost’s statement leaves a key question unanswered. Namely: Is there going to be an extension to the Brexit transitional period? I do not mean to cast aspersions on Frost’s integrity here, but I

Cindy Yu

Can Boris unite the Cabinet?

15 min listen

The Telegraph reports this morning that Boris Johnson is planning to be back at work by Monday next week. He couldn’t come back sooner – with the Prime Minister laid up, the Cabinet has split over the question of easing the lockdown (as James Forsyth writes this week). So can Boris unite his team behind one coronavirus strategy?