Politics

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

Monday

3 Feb 2025

Reforming Ofsted won’t fix Britain’s problem schools

The proportion of children staying away from school may be alarming – one in five – but the proportion of parents – almost one in three – who do not see school as a necessary part of their child’s daily schedule is even more so. Keir Starmer’s government understood that the connection between parents and schools needed fixing – and settled on Ofsted as part of the solution. For many, however, Ofsted was part of the problem. The suicide of Ruth Perry, a much-loved headteacher, had highlighted the pressure that school inspections placed on the teaching profession. The majority of teachers viewed the regulator negatively. Meanwhile, fewer than 4 in

Brendan O’Neill

Burning a Quran shouldn’t be a crime

England ditched its blasphemy laws back in 2008. No longer would it be an offence to engage in ‘contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous’ speech concerning God. No longer would any poor soul be hauled off to jail, far less to the stocks, for the crime of profanity. So you can imagine my surprise when a man was arrested in Manchester on Saturday after desecrating a copy of the Quran. Was blasphemy snuck back on to the statute books without anyone noticing? Sadly, Manchester’s cops appear to take a different view Reading about Saturday’s arrest, I found myself wondering what century this is. The man allegedly live-streamed himself burning a Quran

Freddy Gray

Are Trump’s tariffs really that bad?

34 min listen

The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews and Social Democratic Party leader William Clouston join Freddy Gray to try and make sense of Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. He has since threatened the European Union, and has warned the UK. Is this a negotiation tactic or something more? What political philosophy underpins the decision? And what will the impact be? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

Mark Galeotti

Has Ukraine just carried out another assassination in Moscow?

The Alye Parusa (Scarlet Sails) apartment complex in Moscow’s north-western Shchukino suburb bills itself as an exclusive place to live, and a safe one, too, with cameras, gates and 24-hour security. Neither this, nor his detail of bodyguards, saved Armen Sargsyan when, on Monday morning, a bomb with more than a kilo of explosive detonated as he was walking out the lobby. His leg was blown off, and although he was airlifted to hospital, he died shortly after. So far, this appears to be the latest in a campaign of assassinations carried out by Ukrainian intelligence. Sargsyan was a rather different figure to the last target in Moscow, Lt. Gen.

Steerpike

Foreign Office struggles to mind its Mandarin

The Foreign Office was once described as a ‘palace of dreams’, yet these days it seems increasingly like a graveyard full of nightmares. Just weeks after the Gaza ceasefire, the outbreak of a tariff war in America is just another fresh headache for the Sir Humphreys of Whitehall. Yet with Trump returning to the White House, our elected Labour overlords have decided that now is the perfect time to reset Britain’s relations with both Europe and China. Talk about having your work cut out… The Foreign Office’s work has been made harder by the declining number of foreign language speakers in its department. Mr S has done some digging to

Steerpike

Did Starmer breach Covid rules?

Oh dear. It seems No. 10 aren’t keen to go anywhere near suggestions that Sir Keir Starmer might have broken lockdown rules. Back in December 2020, the Labour leader was receiving voice training lessons from actress Leonie Mellinger, who claimed status as a ‘key worker.’ This included a visit to Labour HQ on Christmas Eve, while London was under tier four restrictions, according to a new book being serialised in the Times by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund. The Tories are demanding answers – but Downing Street aren’t willing to give them. At today’s lobby briefing for Westminster journalists, Starmer’s spokesman refused to comment when pressed as to whether

Katy Balls

Trump vs Europe

15 min listen

Trump’s tariff spree continues… After making good on his election promise to opt for another round of tariffs – a 25 per cent tax on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods – Trump has now turned his attention to Europe. In an interview with the BBC, the president said that while the UK would likely avoid tariffs, the EU might not be so lucky and described the trade relationship with Europe as an ‘atrocity’. This comes on the day that Keir Starmer is in Brussels and will likely be trying to smooth the road ahead of a post-Brexit ‘reset’. Can Labour continue to

James Heale

Bridget Phillipson tries to rebrand her education reforms

Education has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, as the government’s Schools Bill makes it way through parliament. So far, the legislation has grabbed headlines precisely for all the wrong sorts of reasons. Critics claim it will water down standards and that Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, is effectively doing the teaching union’s bidding. Particular attention has been paid to the thorny issue of Ofsted school inspections, following the suicide of headteacher Ruth Perry. Today was Phillipson’s chance to respond. In her first major speech since taking up the role, the Education Secretary sought to shift her rhetoric – while ardently standing by the changes she proposed. She insisted

Kate Andrews

Will Britain get dragged into Trump’s trade war?

North America is now engaged in a full-blown trade war. Markets are reacting. Japan’s Nikkei was the first to indicate the downturn, falling 2.9 per cent this morning, while early trading on the FTSE is down 1.1 per cent. It’s not the cataclysmic shock some were expecting, though also not the ‘FANTASTIC’ response the President insists has occurred since his announcements over the weekend, which include hitting Canada and Mexico with a 25 per cent import tariff, and China with an additional 10 per cent. It is also just the start of market reaction, as forecasters pile in with predictions about what these tariffs mean for inflation, business confidence and

Steerpike

SNP mull ban on household cats

Here’s one to make you paws for thought: SNP ministers are considering a ban on pet cats, in a bid to protect birds and other wildlife. Yes, that’s right, an official report for the Scottish Government suggests establishing containment zones where residents can be forced to keep their pets indoors, or stopped from owning them altogether. Talk about putting a cat among the pigeons… The report by the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) claims that domestic cats have a ‘significant impact on wildlife populations’ as they hunt for fun, torture prey through play, and bring maimed animals home to their owners. According to the Daily Telegraph, SNP ministers said they

Julie Bindel

Will the Greens turn their back on Stonewall?

An earlier version of this article suggested that the Green party has left the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme. We are happy to make clear that this is not the case. Not one major UK government department is still signed up to Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Programme. At long last, Stonewall’s toxic influence on free speech, equality law and government policy is coming to an end. But the final nail in the coffin will be the exit of the Green party – which several senior members have been pushing for some time. Party insiders were recently given hope that the Greens had left the Diversity Champions scheme after the party’s membership appeared to

Matthew Lynn

Europe can’t win a trade war against the US

It will hit back immediately. It will target the industries that will hurt the most. And it won’t be bullied or pushed around. We can expect to hear lots of tough rhetoric from European leaders today as the bloc prepares to retaliate against Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs of 10 per cent or more on European exports to the United States. There is just one problem, however. It can talk as tough as it wants to – but it is still going to lose. With 25 per cent levies already in place on Canada and Mexico, and 10 per cent on China, steep tariffs on Europe now look inevitable. The EU

Ross Clark

Starmer is falling into the EU’s trap

No doubt Keir Starmer wants us to think he is being ‘grown up’ in accepting an invitation to dinner at an EU summit. But it is actually the reverse: he is behaving like a toddler in danger of being enticed into a stranger’s car by a bag of sweets dangled out of the window. As the Times reports this morning, Emmanuel Macron views him as a supplicant who is desperate to beg to be allowed partly to re-join the EU because Brexit has failed and immiserated the UK economy. The French president intends to take every advantage and to finish the job that wasn’t quite finished during the Brexit negotiations: to try

Katy Balls

Starmer’s Brussels charm offensive is a risky business

How far will the Labour government’s European reset go? This is the question being asked in Westminster as Keir Starmer embarks on a Brussels charm offensive. On Sunday, the Prime Minister met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with the pair citing Donald Trump’s tariff war (launched over the weekend) as a reason why it’s a ‘good moment’ for the UK and the EU to improve relations. Next, Starmer travels to Brussels today where he will become the first UK prime minister since Brexit to attend an EU summit. Starmer will join for the evening dinner along with 27 leaders. Technically, the meal is being billed as a discussion on defence and

Gavin Mortimer

Europe is feeling the strain of mass immigration

Britain can’t cope, that was the response of Nigel Farage to last week’s disclosure by the Office for National Statistics that the population will hit 72.5 million in 2032. The leader of Reform said that Britain has already reached saturation point at 67.6 million, adding: ‘Our quality of life for all of us is diminishing directly as a result of the population explosion.’ The French feel the same, and examples abound of the strain being placed on the country as a result of mass immigration. The Friday before last a class of schoolchildren in Paris were having a PE lesson when it came to an abrupt halt. City Council officials arrived

Jawad Iqbal

Did Keir Starmer’s voice coach really count as a Covid ‘key worker’?

Who knew that being a voice coach qualified for ‘key worker’ status during the pandemic lockdowns? It has been revealed that the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer employed a personal voice coach as a ‘key worker’ during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite strict government guidelines at the time. The rules defined critical workers as those essential to public services – including those on the frontline of health, social care and transport. Nowhere does the official guidance mention the life-saving qualities of voice coaches as worthy exemptions to the lockdown rules. Yet, according to a report in the Times, Starmer appointed Leonie Mellinger, an actress and communications skills specialist, in such a role. Did

Robin Forestier-Walker

Why Donald Trump should care about Georgia

President Trump hasn’t just inherited the problem of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Somewhere in the handover is a memo on Georgia, another troubled country on Russia’s border. Georgians who cherish their freedom have for over two months been protesting on the streets, infuriated by their government’s decision to suspend accession talks with the EU. And they’ve paid a price. Hundreds have been detained, many of them suffering injuries in custody. Others have been beaten by government-affiliated thugs on their own doorsteps. But they continue to chant ‘Russian slaves’, for they are under no doubt whose interests the Georgian authorities now serve. Georgia became a victim of Russian aggression before Russia’s

Sunday

2 Feb 2025

Clemmie Read

Why are we obsessed with Japanese fiction?

Imagine you come across a small café in a back alley of Tokyo where you can travel back in time to talk things over with your ex-boyfriend, as long as you come back before your coffee gets cold. Or you stumble into an enchanted library, where the librarian gives you a book to cure your frustration with your sales job. Or, to ramp it up a bit, you serially murder misogynistic businessmen, tempting them to their deaths with your acclaimed beef stew. Or – and this is a common one – your worries about financial security are calmed by the appearance of a particularly comforting cat. For younger generations who

Joe Bedell-Brill

Yvette Cooper: ‘We’re not returning to the EU. We need to move on’

Ahead of Keir Starmer’s meeting with European leaders tomorrow, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper joined Sky News and reiterated Labour’s ‘red lines’: no return to the customs union, the single market or to free movement. Cooper told Trevor Phillips that Labour wanted to get rid of some of the bureaucracy around customs arrangements, and said that the deal the Conservatives had with the EU ‘was not a good one’. Phillips asked if the government was still negotiating a youth mobility scheme. Cooper said net migration had to come down, and that a youth mobility scheme was ‘not the right starting point… at all’. Phillips also suggested that the government might consider

Nigel Jones

Should the West be worried about DeepSeek’s ‘Sputnik moment’?

My late mother proudly possessed a curious object: a tea cosy decorated with the image of a Sputnik. In 1957, when Russia launched the world’s first satellite, this item would have been a charmingly incongruous mix of old and new technology. But today, younger readers might struggle to identify the functions of both a tea cosy and the shiny, spiked silver ball that was Sputnik 1. Back in the day, the world was shocked by the news that the Soviets had beat the West in the race to space. The New York Times mentioned the satellite in 279 articles in October 1957, the month of its launch. So profound was