Politics

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

Wednesday

Steven Fielding

Blair failed to save Labour from itself, so how can anyone else?

Tony Blair is at it again. With Labour members currently pondering who should replace Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s most electorally successful living leader once more decided to give them the benefit of his experience, whether they wanted it or not. This time it took the form of a history lesson: to mark the party’s 120th anniversary he gave a lecture on what it takes for the party to regain power. But should we listen to what Blair has to say? For keen Blair-watchers this address contained no surprises: he has been saying much the same things since becoming Labour leader in 1994. As ever, Blair’s starting point was the pathetically

Joanna Williams

Mhairi Black’s drag queen stunt has backfired spectacularly

Sometimes a politician displays such spectacularly bad judgement their only option is to lash out at their critics. This appears to explain how the SNP’s Mhairi Black has spent much of the past 24 hours. Black has never knowingly shied away from publicity. Perhaps then we shouldn’t be too surprised at her decision to pop along to a primary school for a reading session with a drag queen in tow. And not just any old drag queen but one with a penchant for sharing sexually explicit posts on social media. Children have always loved story time. Throwing drag queens into the mix is a far more recent development. Drag queen

Hardeep Singh

Can Twitter be saved from the mob? Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire Tea row makes me sceptical

Rishi Sunak is not the first politician to share a staged picture of himself. But the response his tweeted image received has surely been the most furious so far. Standing in front of a giant bag of Yorkshire Tea, the Chancellor wrote: ‘Quick Budget prep break making tea for the team. Nothing like a good Yorkshire brew.’ Innocuous stuff, you might think. But not for the Twitter mob. Quick Budget prep break making tea for the team. Nothing like a good Yorkshire brew. pic.twitter.com/zhoQM9Ksho— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 21, 2020 Incensed left-leaning keyboard warriors have vented their fury at the poor person running the Yorkshire Tea Twitter account for several

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP says sorry after exposing himself in a pub

James Grundy became the Conservative MP for Leigh last December after managing to overturn a 10,000 vote majority and 97 years of Labour dominance. Less impressive, however, is a recording of Grundy obtained by LBC which appears to show the MP flashing in a pub back in 2007. Grundy, who went on to become a Tory councillor in Wigan shortly after the video was filmed, has responded to the clip saying ‘I apologise for my actions and for any offence caused’. You can view the clip here:

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Internships at The Spectator for 2020: no CVs (or names!) please

The Spectator is now the fastest-growing current affairs magazine not just in Britain but Europe. In April, we’ll become the first magazine in the world to publish a 10,000th issue. Our success is driven by our writers and those who make sparks fly here in 22 Old Queen St. When we hire, we do so by asking back former interns. Applications for our 2020 scheme are open now.  We don’t ask for CVs: we don’t care where (or whether) you went to university. When we judge applications we don’t even look at names: our HR department takes them out. I write this in an office with four of our former

Steven Fielding

Richard Burgon, political genius?

Richard Burgon is not going to be Labour’s next deputy leader. Burgon trails the favourite Angela Rayner by some 42 points, according to the latest YouGov poll. While Rayner has been nominated by 363 constituency parties, Burgon is backed by just 75. This places him third, behind Dawn Butler, in the race to become number two in the Labour party, with little prospect of making up the numbers he needs to win. But just because Burgon won’t win, it doesn’t mean his campaign hasn’t been successful. Burgon’s supporters certainly aren’t fazed. Take the hundred or so who gathered together last week at a meeting to support Burgon’s campaign. The meet-up

Monday

Andrew Montford

It’s time for an honest debate about the true cost of going net zero

When the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) launched its report on the feasibility of entirely decarbonising the UK economy, we were told the expense involved was manageable. The CCC’s chief executive Chris Stark explained that the project ‘carried a cost – of one to two per cent of GDP – which was affordable’. His claims were noted approvingly by MPs during debates in Parliament on whether to enshrine a ‘net zero’ emissions target in law. While others complained about the lack of a clear cost-benefit case, CCC chairman Lord Deben put aside these concerns. He told the Lords: ‘the report has been recognised universally as the most seriously presented, costed

Steerpike Steerpike

Corbynite academic: I’ll leave the UK if Starmer wins

Spare a thought for the Corbynites. Not only have they spectacularly crashed the only viable parliamentary vehicle for the left, they’ve also managed to screw up what was meant to be a socialist coronation. So it must be particularly difficult for David Graeber, an anthropology professor at the LSE and avid Corbyn supporter. He tweeted earlier today that he would consider emigrating if the soft left former director of public prosecutions won the leadership race: Given the odds of a Starmer win, Professor Graeber should probably start packing for his new life now. Could Mr S suggest Venezuela or Cuba as possible destinations for the fleeing academic?

Steerpike Steerpike

Starmer: the most exciting thing I’ve done is go to a football match

Keir Starmer is the favourite to take over from Jeremy Corbyn, but is he too boring for the top job in the Labour party? Starmer’s critics insist he is and that he lacks the personality to take on Boris Johnson. Unfortunately his attempt to counter that argument rather backfired this morning. Asked by Nick Ferrari on LBC what was the most exciting thing he has ever done, Starmer responded by saying: Starmer: ‘I’ve done lots of exciting things, you know?’ Ferrari: ‘No, tell me’ Starmer: ‘Well, you know, with playing football with…going to football with my kids’ Ferrari: ‘Going to football with your children is the most exciting thing Sir

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Can Macron halt the rise of Islamic extremism?

Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his plan to combat the rise of Islamic extremism in France. Stressing that his fight was not against the religion but political Islam, ‘which has no place’ in the Republic, the president outlined a series of measures in a speech last week. Notably, his plans involve an end to the hosting of imams from countries such as Turkey and Algeria, and more rigorous control on foreign financing of mosques from the likes of Qatar. Macron stopped short of introducing an ‘Islam of France’, which had been mooted two years ago, but his intention is to eliminate the malevolent influence of outsiders. But is it too late

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Priti Patel and the ugly prejudice of her critics

Isn’t it amazing how all the woke rules for how to talk about women and people of colour go flying out the window when it comes to Priti Patel? You can say anything you like about Patel and the PC set won’t bat an eyelid. In fact they will cheer you on. Patel is possibly the only female, Asian-heritage public figure in the UK who enjoys absolutely none of the protections of political correctness. It’s always open season on Priti. So for years we have been told that we shouldn’t call successful women ‘bossy’ or ‘bitchy’. Those are sexist insults against women who have simply shown the kind of resolve

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Left-wing feminism is no ally of women

It’s increasingly popular to say feminism can never be capitalist; no exceptions. Capitalism, by its nature, supposedly exploits women. But if feminism cannot be capitalist, how does one explain Katharine McCormick, the woman who single-handedly financed the development of the pill? McCormick was a committed feminist, a campaigner for women’s voting rights, and a signed-up member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In the 1950s, when the U.S. government would not invest in contraception research, McCormick used her own capital to advance the studies eventually leading to the pill. Is this the kind of story that today’s feminists would sweep under the rug, in order to advocate for socialism

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Labour’s trans rights problem

How do you save a party that doesn’t want to be saved? Tony Blair doesn’t know but it hasn’t stop him trying. He is now warning Labour against retreating into a safe space of identity politics and angry, hectoring progressivism. Specifically, he has in mind the transgender movement and its astonishingly swift march through the institutions, including the Labour party. Blair cautioned: ‘You have got to distinguish between the advocacy of things that are right — gay rights, transgender rights, whatever it is — and launching yourself politically into a culture war with the right. If you go, “Transgender rights is our big thing,” and the right goes, “Immigration controls

Sunday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Auditions for Sturgeon’s replacement are already taking place

Nicola Sturgeon has told Andrew Marr: ‘I do intend to lead my party into the next Scottish Parliament election and hopefully win that and stay as First Minister.’ What’s this all about, then? Didn’t she just record a stonking General Election victory north of the border? Yes, she did. Isn’t polling support for the SNP at levels that would impress even Kim Jong-un? Not quite, but not far off. The SNP leader finds herself in an unusual position. Electorally, she is her party’s most successful leader – winning three Westminster elections in a row and a third term in office at Holyrood. But Scottish Nationalists didn’t become Scottish Nationalists to

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Former Brexit Secretary’s jibe at special adviser Dominic Cummings

David Davis – Huawei decision could be among worst ever made The former Brexit Secretary David Davis joined Andrew Marr this morning to argue the case against involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei in the UK’s rollout of 5G infrastructure. Davis said that because this arrangement had the power to compromise the ‘Five Eyes’ agreement on intelligence sharing between the UK and its Anglophone partners, it could pose a serious risk to national security: DD: China will score a success with this if what they do is fracture the ‘Five Eyes’… [Johnson] will not want… historians to look back and say that was the worst decision a British Prime Minister

Daniel DePetris

When will Joe Biden accept it’s all over?

In Iowa, Americans had to wait the entire night before a caucus winner was declared. Today in Nevada, the wait was much, much shorter – with barely four per cent of the state’s precincts reporting, Bernie Sanders was announced as the victor. That the result was declared so decisively and so early on, was a fitting illustration of how superior the senator’s get-out-the-vote organisation was on the ground. Democratic voters in Nevada know Bernie, and they like what they see. While MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was comparing a Bernie Sanders victory in the Democratic primaries to the fall of France in 1940, Bernie’s supporters were jubilantly celebrating a big win in

The Spectator

The UK is booming – despite Brexit

After the vote for Brexit, it was often said that our departure from the EU was most likely to harm the very people who voted for it: the industrial workers of the Midlands and North. Didn’t they know that a vote for Brexit would, in itself, lead to 500,000 more job losses? Couldn’t they see that Nissan was bound to wind down its operations in Sunderland and move business to mainland Europe? Almost four years on, it’s safe to say that most of the economic doom-mongering was nonsense. This week’s figures on jobs and earnings show that, since the referendum, employment is up by one million — and it is

Saturday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Trust issues mean Heathrow’s third runway is unlikely to ever take off

Downing Street is acutely aware that one of the biggest dangers to this government is losing voters’ trust. As I say in the Sun today, if people come to see this administration as just another bunch of politicians who don’t do what they said they would, then it is doomed. Number 10 also knows that Boris Johnson’s opponents love to attack him as ‘untrustworthy’. This didn’t hurt him too much at the election because voters regard most politicians as untrustworthy. But if there was a clear and compelling example of him breaking his word to voters then that could change, and very quickly. The whole emphasis on promise-keeping is bad