Politics

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

Thursday

11 Apr 2024

Watch: Tetchy Starmer wriggles over Rayner’s tax affairs

Angela Rayner appears unable to shake off questions about her tax affairs — literally. And now in an interview with ITV Granada, even Sir Keir Starmer’s confidence in his deputy doesn’t seem to be watertight. The media attention on his second-in-command continues after weeks of speculation about whether Rayner avoided capital gains tax on her council house and broke electoral law. The deputy Labour leader has refused to make her tax details public and Starmer hasn’t even seen the legal advice she received on the matter himself. So much for due diligence… When asked by interviewer Andrew Misra if he was ‘100 per cent confident Angela Rayner’s done nothing wrong’,

Jay Mens

Don’t be scared of Iran

Why are people so scared of ‘escalation’? The escalation paradigm is the outstanding relic of the Cold War. There is no situation where it cannot be applied. No foreign policy cause – from arming Ukraine, to antagonising Iran, to engaging diplomatically with Taiwan – can be discussed without fearing ‘escalation’. It sits among the other dud words beloved by foreign policy wonks: deterrence, compellence, persuasion, dissuasion. It is lazy, and leads to unthinking punditry. Worse still, our enemies use the escalation word-trap against us. On 1 April, an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed seven Iranian officers. Everyone is on the edge of their seats. Will Iran escalate?

Eliot Wilson

Has Iran saved Israel’s relationship with the US?

Only a few days ago, President Biden was framing remarks about Israel in tones which were astoundingly critical for an American leader. For decades it has been axiomatic that there is barely a cigarette paper between Washington and Jerusalem, but Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza has threatened to push them apart. Biden condemned the ‘indiscriminate’ bombing, and last week made his views unmistakable clear: ‘Israel has not done enough to protect civilians.’ Suddenly, though, without meaning to, it looks like the Islamic Republic of Iran may have saved Israel’s most important bilateral relationship. Last week, an Israeli air strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus killed 16 people, including

Steerpike

Reform apologises for not realising candidate had died

Uh oh. Reform UK has not had an easy ride with its general election candidates, to put it mildly. Richard Tice’s party has already had to drop ten prospective candidates for posting inappropriate comments on social media, including one who identified as a ‘pastafarian’ while another called for documentary maker David Attenborough to be ‘killed off’. It has now come to light that over 50 others were ditched for ‘complete inactivity’ — including York Central’s Tommy Cawkwell, whose lack of campaigning was down to the fact that he was, um, deceased. A party spokesperson said today that Reform was ‘mortified’ for not knowing the RNLI volunteer had died, adding: ‘I

Kate Andrews

Why no one is celebrating a small fall in NHS waiting lists

The NHS England waiting list has fallen for a fifth month in a row: to 7.54 million in February, down from 7.58 million in January. Since September last year, the overall waiting list has fallen by nearly 200,000 treatments, the ‘biggest five-month fall…in over ten years outside of the pandemic’ according to the Department of Health. So why is no one celebrating? The problem for the government is not the trajectory of the waitlist, but the total number of appointments on it. While the NHS waitlist appears to have peaked last autumn, there are still hundreds of thousands more appointments on the list compared to when Rishi Sunak promised, at

Steerpike

JK Rowling won’t forgive Harry Potter actors for trans stance

All is not well in the Harry Potter universe. Author of the hit wizarding novels and prominent women’s rights campaigner JK Rowling has revealed that, even if they apologise, she will not go easy on the lead actors of the Potter films for their stance on the trans debate. Less, er, expecto forgiveness and more expelliarmus… Rowling’s comments come in the wake of the published report by top paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, which found that ‘remarkably weak evidence’ and a ‘lack of high-quality research’ had allowed young people in the UK to change their gender. In a series of tweets, the acclaimed writer blasted supporters of gender-altering treatment in children

Gavin Mortimer

The EU’s migrant pact is worthless

It has been a bloody April in France. Last week a 13-year-old girl of Algerian origin was beaten unconscious, allegedly by her classmates, for dressing ‘like a European’. Two days later a 15-year-old boy, Shamseddine, was beaten to death by a group of youths in what the police believe was an ‘honour killing’. The victim and a girl in his class had reportedly exchanged text messages; these messages came to the attention of the girl’s elder brothers, who allegedly attacked Shamseddine to salvage the family’s ‘reputation’. The objective of the Pact is to better manage migrants once they have reached Europe On Wednesday evening a man was stabbed to death and another seriously wounded in

Steerpike

Boris lashes out at Rishi’s ‘mad’ smoking ban

Oh dear. Having his leadership questioned is becoming an almost-daily occurrence for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. When he announced he was going to introduce a smoking ban at the Conservative party conference in October, there were people in his own party rather aghast at the proposal, with more recent talk of a rebellion on the issue. And now Sunak’s predecessor Boris Johnson has sided with the PM’s rivals… Sunak wants to phase out smoking by raising the legal age for the purchase of tobacco by one year, every year, from 2027 onwards. But the health-focused PM is facing a backlash from his own politicians. One group of parliamentarians is urging

Steerpike

Watch: Canadian MPs sing God Save the King after constitutional motion defeat

Well, well, well. In a turn of events that is good news for Canada’s monarchists, a motion that would have amended the country’s Constitution Act — and made the oath to Canada’s monarch optional for MPs — was, on Wednesday, defeated. 113 voted for the motion while 197 voted against it. A cross-party group of parliamentarians, including those from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, killed the bill. This means that the Canadian Constitution will remain as is, with every new MP required to swear they will be ‘faithful and bear true allegiance’ to the current monarch before they can legally assume their seat. Meanwhile, Quebec-based parties were keen to see

Lionel Shriver

Is Trump or Biden a bigger threat to democracy?

When more than two-thirds of the American electorate doesn’t want to vote for either major party’s nominee, a third party should have a chance. Polls have demonstrated that whichever party chucked its front-runner would win –even if it nominated a cloned sheep. Yet last week, having failed to convince a prominent politician to sign up, No Labels closed shop. Whichever wretched candidate wins, we’ll just have slightly different problems The centrist project was doomed from the start. The formation of a successful ‘unity party’ is inherently unlikely in an era of rabid polarisation. Republicans and Democrats differ substantially on policy issues, and compromise positions on tax, Israel, Ukraine, immigration, and

Matthew Parris

What is there left to say about the Tories?

Spare a thought for us political commentators. We stare into the void between now and a (presumed) decisive Labour victory in a (presumed) autumn general election, haunted by the need to say something significant on a weekly basis at least. Yet there seems so little left to say. Readers don’t need to be told that the Tories are in an unholy mess, or that nobody likes them Until recently we could perhaps speculate that the election might be next month but it’s surely too late now even for that surprise. So ‘autumn’, we say: no surprise there. We think we know the winner too: Labour, easily. I struggle with betting

Rod Liddle

A new survey that may be of interest

My favourite opinion polls are those which elicit enormous shock in the population for stating something everybody knew for ages, or could have guessed. Such as those headlined ‘People in Torquay are happier than people in Rotherham’ – goodness me, etc. Surely we are reaching the time when bland, deceitful shibboleths should be replaced by reality The polls that always occasion the gravest shock, however – despite the fact they come out every year or so – are those dealing with the views of the British Muslim community. In the lacunae between these reports their findings are completely ignored in favour of the approved set of lies with which the

Owen Matthews

Will Biden support Ukraine’s attacks on Russia?

This time last year, Volodymyr Zelensky was touring western capitals, calling for weapons and money to launch a decisive summer offensive. Nato eventually provided Leopard and Challenger tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M777 howitzers, Himars rocket artillery and Patriot air defences – but too little, too late. The much-vaunted offensive went nowhere, despite a mutiny by the Wagner Group and widespread disarray in the Russian army. Instead, Soledar, Bakhmut and Avdiivka were seized. Today, Russian missile assaults are intensifying, not receding. In March, Russia hit Ukraine with 264 missiles and 515 drones. A relentless bombardment of Kharkiv is making Ukraine’s second city uninhabitable. In response, Kyiv’s most successful strategy to

Katy Balls

Is Cameron upstaging Sunak?

The logic behind Rishi Sunak’s decision to make David Cameron foreign secretary was that he would be a ‘big beast’ on the world stage and wouldn’t need much instruction. Six months on, that plan is going reasonably well, insofar as Cameron appears to be setting his own agenda. It also means he’s making his own mistakes. In February, his foray into US politics misfired when, in an article for the website the Hill, he appeared to lecture Americans about support for Ukraine, telling them not to show the ‘weakness displayed against Hitler’. A key Donald Trump ally, Marjorie Taylor Greene, responded that ‘David Cameron can kiss my ass’. This week,

Wednesday

10 Apr 2024

Fred De Fossard

Climate change is not a matter for human rights law

We have debated for years whether Britain’s continued membership of the European Court of Human Rights threatens our national security. This ruling means that it will threaten our prosperity and democracy as well. The ECHR has said that climate change policy is a human rights matter. The Court ruled that Switzerland – a signatory, like the United Kingdom – had ‘failed to comply with its duties under the Convention concerning climate change’ and that it had violated the right to respect for private and family life. This ruling followed a case brought by a group of elderly Swiss women, who claimed that the Swiss government’s supposed failure to tackle climate

David Swift

The schism that could tear Israel apart

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is looking increasing precarious as international opposition grows. When I went to Friday night dinner at my in-law’s last week, everyone was gripped by the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to remove state funding from Orthodox Yeshivas, unless they break their 76-year practice of refusing to enlist in the military. The court ruled that as of 1 April, ultra-Orthodox schools will no longer receive any state funds unless they allow their students to serve in the IDF, as all other Jewish Israelis must do. This marks the end of the uneasy status quo that’s existed since the formation of Israel. Back in 1947, the then chairman of the

Mark Nayler

What’s going on with Spain’s Golden Visas?

Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s Socialist prime minister, wants to abolish the country’s ‘Golden Visa’ scheme, according to which non-EU citizens automatically receive residency for three years if they purchase property worth at least €500,000 (£429,000). Sanchez hopes that doing so will help tackle the cost-of-living crisis and soaring rental prices in the country’s biggest cities. It’s unlikely to do either. It might, however, have unintended positive effects in other areas. Golden Visas were introduced by Spain’s then-Conservative government in 2013, as a way of stimulating foreign investment after the economic crisis. They can also be acquired by non-EU citizens who invest at least a million euros (£855,000) in Spanish shares or two

Freddy Gray

Why did Mike Johnson snub David Cameron?

24 min listen

Today Freddy is joined by Sarah Elliott, senior advisor for the US-UK special relationship unit at the Legatum Institute. They discuss Lord Cameron’s visit to America this week and the news that speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson snubbed a meeting with the foreign secretary. Is the special relationship still special?

Steerpike

Watch: Tory tax protestors target Rayner in Teesside

Try as she might to duck questions on her tax affairs, the issue just keeps following Angela Rayner around — literally. On a campaign event today in Teesside, the deputy Labour leader was met by three men in high-vis jackets, one of whom was later identified as local Tory councillor John Coulson who took part in the protest alongside other Conservative councillors. The men were carrying an ominous black banner that read: ‘Angela Rayner Tax Dodger?’ Where Rayner walked around Yarm, her unexpected guests went too. In fact, so hot on Rayner’s tail were the protestors that the shadow levelling up secretary eventually had to leg it out the back

Oscar Edmondson

What are the conclusions of the Cass Review?

12 min listen

Today we have had the Cass Review, a landmark report into gender services for children in England, authored by paediatrician Hilary Cass. She concludes that medical interventions were being made on the basis of ‘remarkably weak’ evidence and that there is a lack of a holistic approach to those questioning their gender. How big of an issue will gender politics be at the next election? Also on the podcast, after William Wragg gave up the whip last night will his decision to voluntarily resign call into question Rishi Sunak’s authority? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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