Politics

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

Friday

Robert Peston Robert Peston

The viral transmission rate will be key to relaxing the lockdown

The next big event in the saga (I choose my words carefully) of our Covid-19 lockdown is the preliminary results in early May of the Office for National Statistics (ONS)/University of Oxford survey to find out who has had the virus. Officials and ministers hope this will help them to judge how far the current social-distancing rules have depressed the rate of viral transmission, or the notorious ‘R0’ – which is the estimated number of people infected by a person who is infected. The point is that ministers, advised by the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser, have decided they can modify – though not end – lockdown when

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could this antibody test offer a route out of lockdown?

Finally, the government is to start antibody tests to see how prevalent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – which causes Covid-19 – is among the general population. Over the next few days, testing kits are being sent to 20,000 randomly-selected households. The results will be crucial because it will inform us how effective lockdown has been – and whether there is any point in continuing with that policy. If, say, five per cent showed signs of having had the virus it would mean that the epidemic potentially had a long way yet to run. If 50 per cent have been infected with the virus it would mean that lockdown has

Thursday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

The 10,000th

40 min listen

This week, the Spectator commemorates its 10,000th edition. On the podcast, Cindy Yu speaks to David Butterfield and Fraser Nelson about the magazine’s two centuries of history, finding out about how the publication started, discussing whether it is still the same now as it was originally intended, and hearing about what David calls its ‘industrial drink culture’. Find out more about the history of the magazine with David’s new book, 10,000 Not Out. Also on the podcast, Cindy speaks to James Forsyth and former Director of Comms at No 10, Craig Oliver. As James writes in the issue this week, when Boris Johnson comes back to work, he returns to a split Cabinet

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

What’s Nicola Sturgeon’s exit strategy?

15 min listen

The Scottish government’s document ‘Looking Beyond Lockdown’ tries to do what it says on the tin. But it comes at an inconvenient time for the government in Downing Street, just as it is facing accusations that it hasn’t been clear enough with the public about what is needed to end the lockdown. On the podcast, James and Katy reveal the pressures that the devolved governments’ actions put on the national government, in general and in this crisis, and we also discuss the new test, track, and trace approach.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Nicola Sturgeon offers a glimpse of what lockdown easing will mean

One issue the government is reluctant to discuss publicly is an exit strategy out of the lockdown. Inside 10 Downing Street, there’s a sense that it’s become a media obsession when the day-to-day focus ought to be encouraging the public to practise social distancing. During Wednesday’s press conference, chief medical officer Chris Whitty did discuss how long social distancing could be in place for, suggesting it would likely be for the calendar year as it was ‘wholly unrealistic’ to expect lockdown restrictions to be lifted wholesale. Today Nicola Sturgeon has gone further than any Conservative minister is currently prepared to. The First Minister has started to set out what a gradual lifting of

Alex Massie Alex Massie

There is nothing to lose from a Brexit extension

You might think that the biggest public health and economic crisis since the second world war ought to be a moment at which government should concentrate on the here and now, forsaking grand projects the better to focus all its attention on dealing with both the coronavirus itself and its wider, monumental, impact on almost every aspect of British life. But, no. Other matters continue, even if preposterously so. According to the government, not even this calamity can be allowed to interrupt the hitherto smooth and straightforward passage of Brexit. The ongoing negotiations over the UK’s final withdrawal from the European Union cannot be delayed by anything so trivial as

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Squabbling scientists have shocked ministers

The government’s response to criticism of its approach to this pandemic is that it has been ‘guided by the science’ throughout. When Keir Starmer accused the government of being slow to introduce a lockdown at PMQs yesterday, Dominic Raab shot back to ask whether Starmer was really saying that he knew better than the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser. The government’s defence is a reasonable one: just imagine the row if it turned out that the Prime Minister had been overruling the advice of his top medical and scientific advisers. But, as I say in the magazine this week, in private, there is an admission that there was,

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

The difficult balance of public vs political agony

Fear is the politician’s friend. When terror grips the public, an opportunity arises for those in power to step forward as the people’s guide and protector in dangerous times. One sees this in wars. One sees it whenever the public suspects hostile conspiracies, networks of spies or mischief-makers. We likewise cleave to leaders who will confound predatory foreign powers, terrorist plots or the danger of being swamped by waves of immigrants. In fear or anxiety the people will hug their leaders closer, and their leaders know this as surely as every priest knows that despair and anxiety are his faith’s most reliable draw. Do not, therefore, overlook the power of

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

What is the real impact of lockdown on the NHS?

24 min listen

The NHS has been transformed to deal with the coronavirus threat, and it’s thus far holding up, despite fears over capacity. But what has been the effect on the rest of the health service, and its usual patients? Fraser Nelson speaks to Alastair McLellan, Editor of the Health Service Journal.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Welsh Minister caught swearing on Zoom call

So far things have gone rather well in Westminster as Parliament for the first time allows MPs to ask questions over the Zoom video conferencing software.  Over in Wales though, it appears Assembly members might be struggling a bit more with the technology. This afternoon, the Labour Health and Social Services Minister, Vaughan Gething, didn’t realise his mic was on and accidentally announced to the world his dissatisfaction with the proceedings. The Labour politician was caught on mic asking the crowded Zoom call: ‘what the fuck is the matter with’ one of his fellow Assembly members.  Whoever said that politics wasn’t civilised? Watch here:

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The disastrous Zoom backgrounds of MPs at PMQs

That wasn’t PMQs. That was World Of Interiors. With members scattered across the country, the session took place in a sparse, hushed Chamber. Dominic Raab stood in for the Prime Minister and Keir Starmer made his first appearance as opposition leader. But this historic debut was eclipsed by MPs at home asking questions online. This was an extraordinary day for the taxpayer who finally got to see the furnishings and ornaments selected by MPs. First, the worst. Ed Davey needs an eye test. He appeared at a desk flanked by two luridly pigmented abstract paintings. One resembled a chess board with the squares coloured in at random, perhaps by a

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Hancock struggles to answer questions on testing and quarantine

Matt Hancock has the air of a student who, having boasted about how great their final dissertation will be, has just realised that they have days to research and write the whole thing. When asked if he is going to meet his target of 100,000 daily tests for coronavirus by the end of the month, the Health Secretary continues to insist that he will, while struggling to explain how.  He gave a statement in the new hybrid Commons this afternoon in which he was repeatedly questioned both by MPs who were in the Chamber and those on video link about what was going wrong with the testing target. He struggled

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Most of the cabinet want a significant easing of the lockdown in May

Coronavirus has created two different cabinets: an inner cabinet involved in the key discussions about how to handle the pandemic and an outer cabinet. Last week’s meeting reinforced this point, when some in the outer cabinet were acutely aware that the real decision had been taken by the inner cabinet before the whole cabinet Zoomed in for their meeting. The outer cabinet tends to be very keen on a significant easing of the lockdown. One minister’s assessment is that two-thirds of the total cabinet favour a substantial reduction in restrictions at the next review in a few weeks’ time. As I say in the magazine, out tomorrow, Boris Johnson is

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: Starmer poses the question that ministers are asking in private

Today’s PMQs was more political than I had expected. But that is a good thing, challenge and accountability are the great strengths of the Westminster system and lead to better government. Keir Starmer is never going to be an exciting parliamentary performer, but his questions were detailed and he followed up on Dominic Raab’s answer. He will be far more effective at scrutinising the government than Jeremy Corbyn was. Keir Starmer will be far more effective at scrutinising the government than Jeremy Corbyn was Starmer went on testing and the question of why half of the current capacity isn’t being used, a question that lots of people in government are

Matthew Lynn

Is the furlough scheme too generous to be stopped?

You can get 80 per cent of your salary, and sometimes even 100 per cent, without actually working. Companies are getting virtually free loans, and can dump their often troublesome staff on the Treasury payroll, and entrepreneurs can get direct injections of cash from the state without actually having to launch any products. Sure we can understand why the Government has stepped in with so much cash. It needs to stop the economy collapsing, and a lot of businesses would have gone under already if that support was not available. But there’s a catch. We’ve just created the biggest free lunch in history, and we shouldn’t be surprised if some

Tuesday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Is Matt Hancock the government’s ‘fall guy’?

14 min listen

Is Matt Hancock the government’s ‘fall guy’? As Katy Balls details on Coffee House, the Health Secretary’s 100,000 target has rubbed up some in government in the wrong way, with the Daily Telegraph’s front page today reporting that an insider close to No 10 has dubbed it ‘irrational’ and ‘arbitrary’. So what’s going on behind the scenes?

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is Matt Hancock really being lined up as the government’s ‘fall guy’?

Is Matt Hancock being lined up as the ‘fall guy‘ over coronavirus? That’s the suggestion being made today following a number of stories questioning the Health Secretary’s performance. The most striking of which is the Telegraph splash on a Downing Street source describing Hancock’s 100,000 test target as ‘irrational’, ‘arbitrary’ and a mistaken response to media pressure. The paper also quotes a former cabinet minister questioning Hancock’s general approach: ‘There is a view growing in Cabinet that Matt has gone off on one – a sort of Messiah complex, as one described it to me’. Ministers are now suggesting Hancock could be moved from Health before any public inquiry begins. Hancock appears to

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Jacob Rees-Mogg moves on from the 14th century

Today, the House of Commons finally reopened for business, after it closed its doors early in March due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Those who tuned in to the first debate since the break found a rather unusual spectacle awaiting them. Only a handful of MPs and officials turned up to the sparsely filled Chamber, which was filled with tape markings and warnings to ensure that all members remained socially distanced. But arguably the stranger sight, was to see the Commons’ arch-traditionalist Jacob Rees-Mogg leading the debate on behalf of the government for future Commons proceedings to take place via video link. It would be easy to imagine

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Who is in charge of the government?

Boris Johnson is still officially recuperating from coronavirus at Chequers and is ‘not doing government work’, according to No. 10. But he is starting to do some activities that sound distinctly work-related.  He will be having an audience with the Queen over the phone this week, and will also be phoning President Trump on Tuesday to thank him for his wishes when he was in the hospital and to get an update on the G7 response to the crisis. But the Downing Street line remains that ‘he isn’t doing government work but he is getting updates on the situation’. In Westminster, it’s almost as easy to find someone else to