Politics

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

Sunday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Trump 2.0 is more than a ‘vibe shift’

People don’t like to use the term ‘vibe shift’, but I suspect it will turn out to be rather more than that. Certainly, I have never known opinion to change so rapidly – almost overnight. I’m talking about Donald Trump, or, more properly, how he is regarded. On Saturday morning, I was presenting my new Times Radio show (10 a.m. to 1 p.m., tune in, tune in, please!) and struggled to find any interviewees who might criticise Donald Trump. In a lengthy debate on World War Three, the wonderful Lord Owen (Labour, then SDP) was optimistic we would avoid conflict largely because of Trump’s presidency, and he praised Trump’s determination

Joe Bedell-Brill

Sunday shows: calls grow for Tulip Siddiq to resign

Peter Kyle: Tulip Siddiq will lose job if inquiry finds her guilty of breaking ministerial code The Conservatives have called for the prime minister to sack anti-corruption Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq after she herself became part of a corruption investigation. Reports have emerged that Siddiq may have been living in properties linked to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, who is being investigated for allegedly embezzling up to £3.9bn whilst serving as prime minister of Bangladesh. Siddiq has referred herself to the ethics advisor, but on Sky News, Trevor Phillips asked Science Secretary Peter Kyle whether Siddiq should stand down while the investigation takes place. Kyle said that Siddiq had ‘done exactly

Nigel Jones

Could Farage’s autocratic streak wreck Reform?

Ten Reform party councillors in Derbyshire have resigned in protest at Nigel Farage’s ‘autocratic’ control of the rising party and its direction of travel. Farage has dismissed the revolt as the action of what he calls a ‘rogue branch’ of Reform, but there are stirrings of discontent in the grassroots of the fast-growing party that may signal more than minor teething troubles. There are legitimate questions to be asked both about Reform’s structure and the way that Farage’s robust personality impacts upon it During the Reform UK East Midlands conference, a former Tory MP for the Dudley seat – Mario Longhi – defected to Reform and was introduced by Nigel

Steerpike Steerpike

When will Tulip Siddiq be sacked?

It’s rare that a world leader knows the name of a junior minister in the British government – let alone is calling for them to be sacked. Yet that is the feat achieved by Tulip Siddiq, No. 4 in Rachel Reeves’ Treasury team. The anti-corruption minister is now facing calls to resign from an unlikely source after the leader of Bangladesh condemned the use of properties gifted to her and her family by its former regime. Muhammad Yunus told the Sunday Times today that the London properties used by Siddiq should be investigated and returned if she is found to have benefited from ‘plain robbery’. Yunus has some authority here: he, after

Steerpike Steerpike

Press barred from grilling Starmer’s Chagos chum

There are just eight days to go until Donald Trump takes office. So the question much of Whitehall is asking is: will David Lammy’s Chagos deal get over the line in time? The agreement to hand the valuable cluster of islands to Mauritius has been attacked by China hawks in the U.S – including Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State. He has decried the deal as ‘a serious threat to our national security interests in the Indian Ocean.’ Given those risks, why is the Labour government so intent on pressing ahead? After all, handing over British territory isn’t cheap: the current bill stands at £9 billion for UK

Freddie Attenborough

‘Islamophobia’ and the grooming gangs scandal

At PMQs this week, Kemi Badenoch told MPs that Labour’s adoption of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslim’s definition of ‘Islamophobia’ has inhibited public discussion of rape gangs. She pointed out that, according to this definition, anyone who draws attention to the over-representation of Muslims in the grooming gangs is guilty of Islamophobia. This, she argued, is why some members of the Parliamentary Labour Party have been ‘scared to tell the truth’. She’s right, but the problem runs deeper than that. The definition Mrs Badenoch referred to was drawn up by the APPG in 2018, when the co-chairs were Wes Streeting and Anna Soubry. It issued a report that defined

Jonathan Porter

I’m worried about what Labour might do to our schools

In my first lesson teaching Year 8 in inner-city Birmingham, one boy, seeing the opening slide of my ‘Introduction to Judaism’ PowerPoint, rocked back on his chair, and, with a level of focus that he never matched again, simply said, ‘I f***ing hate the Jews.’ The Teach First training programme had promised us ‘challenging’ schools. And that was exactly what we got. Behaviour was bad, but so was the curriculum. There was little or no teaching resources, which meant that each night we had to hurriedly reinvent the wheel. Surely, I thought, someone must have created a worksheet on Genesis 1 before? The other oddity was how we were encouraged

Steerpike Steerpike

How green is the government’s car service?

The government’s green credentials are in the firing line – and not for the first time. In office, Keir Starmer has sparked headlines with seemingly endless plane trips abroad. And now Mr S has done some digging to find out what ministerial cars are being used to ferry our leaders around. A Freedom of Information request on the Government Car Service reveals that the Department for Transport invoiced more than £1.3 million to government departments making use of ministerial motors over Labour’s first three months in power. But Mr S is a little sceptical about Whitehall’s commitment to its electric vehicle ‘revolution’ – not least because the bulk of its

Sam Matthews Boehmer

The unstoppable rise of Christianity in football

Christianity is thriving on the football pitch. Despite the declining number of Christians in the UK, Instagram, X, and other social media sites are awash with biblical quotes. And those responsible? Professional footballers. Over recent years, something of a movement appears to have developed in English football. Players, previously so determinedly secular, have become not only practising Christians, but also individuals who are happy to broadcast their faith to a wide audience. Palace captain Marc Guehi wrote ‘I love Jesus’ and ‘Jesus loves you’ over a rainbow armband Every weekend, top flight footballers either use quotes as motivation for their approaching match, or thank God if the contest reached a

Michael Nazir-Ali

Syria’s Christians face an uncertain future

When I visited Maaloula in southwest Syria in 2016, the Jabhat Al-Nusra (the predecessor of the Hayat Tahrir Ash Sham jihadis, who have toppled Bashar al-Assad) had systematically destroyed and desecrated the town’s churches and monasteries. Orthodox nuns were kidnapped and held to ransom, only freed after the Syrian government agreed to release extremist prisoners. During my visit, I was told again and again that young men had been singled out and executed when they refused to convert to the extremists’ version of Islam. Some of the most moving moments in my life have been to pray with the townsfolk and help to rededicate an ancient altar that had been

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Keir Starmer wants to redefine crime and punishment

How far should a government go to stamp out people smuggling? This month, the Home Office is set to introduce powers that will allow courts to place expansive restrictions on those suspected of people smuggling and other serious crimes. Penalties are set to include social media bans, restrictions on banking and even curfews, imposed pre-arrest. Infringement of these court orders would be a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in jail. Some have welcomed this as tough action from the Labour government; finally, you may think, they’re doing something about illegal immigration. But tough policies aren’t always good policies. The mooted powers would allow the police to shut down a

Anatol Lieven

Give Trump’s realism a chance

In one place at least, the reaction to Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal has been one of unequivocal joy. That is Russia – and for obvious reasons. Most Russians have long seen US language about the ‘rules-based order’ as a mere mask for US empire and US national interests. In their view, Trump has now removed the mask. Even more importantly, for the Russian establishment Trump’s words are a confirmation that he and Vladimir Putin see international affairs in very much the same way: as a matter of spheres of influence, transactionalism, and the ruthless defence of national interests. During the Ukrainian revolution and

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Ex-Labour MP arrested – days after attacking ‘unacceptable’ Elon

It was just six days ago that the Ivor Caplin, the former Labour MP for Hove, emerged from obscurity to offer his thoughts on Elon Musk. Tony Blair’s former defence minister went on GB News last Sunday to offer his thoughts on the Tesla billionaire’s tweets about Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips. Such posts, Caplin declared, were ‘not acceptable’ and ‘it would be even more unacceptable if he was to become a serious and senior member’ of the Trump administration. Fast forward less than a week and what has old Ivor been up to? It transpires that he was arrested today on suspicion of child sex offences after a sting

Steerpike Steerpike

Morrisons turns on Rachel Reeves

Poor old Rachel Reeves. Whether it’s being besieged by the bond markets or savaged by the Sinosceptics, it has not been the best of weeks for our under-fire Chancellor. So what better way to cap it all off then a full-barrelled broadside by one of the UK’s most beloved supermarkets? For food giant Morrisons tonight joined the chorus of criticism over Reeves’ planned Budget changes to agricultural property relief, amid dire predictions that it will ‘kill’ Britian’s family farms. The supermarket giant has tonight released a pithy 47-second video on Twitter/X, featuring Sophie Throup, the head of agriculture at Morrisons. She declared: We want to send a message of support

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

It’s unlikely Rachel Reeves is going anywhere

Rachel Reeves, who is now fighting for her political life, was instrumental in helping Labour secure a landslide majority at the general election. If you don’t believe that then you have probably forgotten that her predecessor as shadow chancellor was Anneliese Dodds. All the while that the wild-haired former university lecturer Dodds was in charge of Labour’s economic policy the party lagged well behind on perceived competence on this vital issue. But when the sleek, suited and booted Reeves took over that all changed. City and business sentiment gravitated towards Starmer’s party and the Tories were unable to terrify the electorate any longer about the prospect of Labour being in

Stewart McDonald

Trump has a point about Greenland

As the second Trump term looms in the near distance, it’s become a bit of a cliché to say that ‘a stopped clock is right twice a day’. Pinko liberal Nats like myself have had to get used to the fact that for all our disagreements with the man on policy and style, there are certain areas where we fundamentally agree.   Most prominently, it was after all Dòmhnall Iain (as his first cousins on Lewis would call him) who first really grasped the systemic challenge posed by China to Western states in his first term. As a member of the Inter Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), it was with a wry

Natasha Feroze

What’s the point of public inquiries?

21 min listen

This week, MPs voted against a new national inquiry into grooming gangs. The vote followed weeks of pressure on Labour after Elon Musk brought grooming gangs back into the spotlight, after safeguarding minister Jess Phillips rejected a new national inquiry. If we did have a national inquiry, what would it achieve? We’ve had many in recent years; Iraq, Grenfell Covid, the Post Office. Do they achieve meaningful justice for victims, or are they a drawn-out way to avoid knotty legislative change? Does parliament have the mechanisms to enact the recommendations – have politicians ever done this in the past, and is there an appetite to do so in the future?

Patrick West

What Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg owe to the mainstream media

Censorship and the silencing of dissenting voices has been a defining feature of the 21st century. It’s curious, because it wasn’t meant to be like this. This epoch, as the tech libertarian utopians of the 1990s so eagerly pronounced, was going to be one of unprecedented and untrammelled freedom. The internet, which burst into public consciousness back then, promised as much. Social media, which erupted a decade later, promised even more. And then it all went wrong. I was cancelled by Facebook for writing about why men are funnier than women We shouldn’t have been surprised. Ideologies based on utopian fantasies, underpinned by the illusion that mankind can be perfected, inevitably

Casey Babb

Will Palestinians give peace a chance?

Time and time again, people look to those outside of the Middle East to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After decades of an occupation and unrelenting hostilities between Jews and Arabs in the region, it makes sense why the burden of peace is so often placed on leaders abroad. Unfortunately, this approach has repeatedly failed, in large part because convoluted peace plans tend to focus on land over ideology, dreams over reality, and an outright denial of existing beliefs which for many, seem insurmountable. On the Palestinian side, things are perhaps even more bleak That said, if there’s ever going to be lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, change needs to come

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

France’s problem is Algeria – not Elon Musk

Emmanuel Macron has a problem and its name is not Elon Musk. It is interference of an altogether more dangerous nature, a brazen attempt to destabilise France. On Thursday, while Thierry Breton – until recently France’s commissioner in Brussels – called on the EU ‘to investigate Musk’s practices’, a reference to the American’s regular commentary on European politics, the French government expelled an Algerian ‘influencer’ known as Doualemn. He had his residence permit cancelled and was deported after posting messages to his 138,000 followers on social media that were anti-Semitic and an incitement to violence. By Thursday evening, Doualemn was back in France after the Algerians put him on the first flight to