Politics

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

Thursday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Israel’s revenge, farewell Fraser & the demise of invitations

37 min listen

This week: Israel’s revenge and Iran’s humiliation. As the anniversary of the October 7th attacks by Hamas approaches, the crisis in the Middle East has only widened. Israel has sent troops into southern Lebanon and there have been attempted missile strikes from the Houthi rebels in Yemen and from Iran. Is there any way the situation can de-escalate? And how could Israel respond to Iran? Former BBC foreign correspondent Paul Wood and defence and security research Dr Limor Simhony join the podcast (1:03). Next: it’s the end of an era for The Spectator. This issue is Fraser Nelson’s last as he hands over the reins to Michael Gove. Having spent 15

Steerpike Steerpike

Police Scotland slammed over leaked Isla Bryson memo

The end of Nicola Sturgeon’s premiership was mired in controversy over her plans for trans rights, her botched gender reform bill and the rather disturbing revelation that trans rapist Isla Bryson had been housed in a women’s prison. And now it has emerged that Police Scotland even considered logging Bryson as female on the sex offenders’ register. Good heavens… Bryson, who was jailed for raping two women while known as a man, changed gender while waiting to stand trial. In a rather shocking move, the rapist was subsequently sent to Scotland’s female-only Cornton Vale prison by the Scottish Prison Service while awaiting sentencing. The blunder came to light at the

James Heale James Heale

Tugendhat clashes with Cleverly over Chagos Islands

With less than a week to go until MPs vote in the Tory leadership race, a row has blown up over an unlikely cause. A quarrel in a far away country is causing a rupture between the two men whom most colleagues think could be next to go out: Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly. Both are fishing in the same waters for votes on the centre and left of the party. Of the two, Cleverly was perceived as having given the better speech yesterday at Tory conference. But the government’s decision to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius could revive old fears about Cleverly’s judgement. Following the announcement this

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Should we be optimistic about the next ten years?

30 min listen

Loyal listeners will know that as well as our concise daily political analysis, Coffee House Shots often delves deeper into the issues of the day. We don’t shy away from fierce debates on controversial issues. The most legendary of these debates have been between our former editor Fraser Nelson and economics editor Kate Andrews. As a parting gift to listeners before Fraser passes on the editor’s pen, Cindy Yu hosts a final contest between these two worthy debaters on whether we should be optimistic about the next ten years. Has there ever been a better time to be alive, as Fraser argues? Or should we be concerned about the growing

Steerpike Steerpike

Why is the police probe into Nicola Sturgeon taking so long?

As Scots look ahead to the 2026 Holyrood election, support for the Scottish National Party continues to plummet. One scandal that the Nats won’t want looming over them when Scotland heads to the polls is Operation Branchform: the long-running police probe into the SNP’s funds and finances. Mr S can confirm that the investigation into the party – and its former first minister Nicola Sturgeon – is still ongoing, despite Scotland’s Crown Office receiving the latest Police Scotland report a two months ago. Talk about dragging it out. Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, was charged with embezzlement of party funds this year, after an investigation was launched in 2021 into a

Ross Clark Ross Clark

You can’t deal rationally with the rail unions

The idea that the government had somehow managed to draw a line under the rail strikes by offering drivers and other staff a fat pay rise with no conditions attached even managed to fool the former Tory rail minister Huw Merriman, who declared in August: ‘I can understand why the new government have decided to cut a deal to end the uncertainty and move on with goodwill.’ There are more than 60 metro systems around the world that run without drivers Goodwill? That didn’t even last a day as Aslef celebrated the award of a pay rise for drivers by announcing a further round of strikes on LNER, this time

Eliot Wilson

Britain’s half-hearted support for Israel helps no one

When Iran launched almost 200 ballistic missiles at targets across Israel on Tuesday, there were fears that it would ignite a wider regional conflict. That a wider war has not (yet) erupted is partly due to the fact that most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel and what the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) spokesman called ‘a defensive coalition led by the United States’. The United Kingdom was part of that coalition. But what role did the UK really play on Tuesday night? And how does that support square with the Labour government’s hostility towards Israel? Defence Secretary, John Healey, reiterated that ‘the UK stands fully behind Israel’s right to

James Heale James Heale

Britain could regret handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius

The United Kingdom will shortly be ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of a new treaty, there will be a 99-year-lease for Diego Garcia, the tropical atoll used by the US government as a military base. It follows two years of negotiation over the strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean. Both sides have vowed to finalise the treaty as quickly as possible. Given the Chagos Islands’ strategic access to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, a backlash is inevitable The announcement today follows Keir Starmer’s call with his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth. A Downing Street spokesman said that: ‘The Prime Minister reiterated the

John Armstrong

The baffling decision to defund a national academy for mathematics

The government has shocked the mathematics community by announcing that it is withdrawing £6 million in grant funding from a new Academy for Mathematical Sciences.  The impetus for creating this Academy came from a 2018 review chaired by professor Philip Bond. His review recommended how to maximize the benefits of mathematical sciences to the UK economy and to wider society. It drew on responses from a host of universities and all the learned societies in mathematics and was advised by a board of mathematical luminaries. Its number one recommendation was the creation of this new academy – which would improve links between academia, government and industry.  Investing in mathematics is one of the

Matthew Lynn

Andrew Bailey should be wary of helping Labour

Business confidence has plummeted back to the levels last seen in the wake of Liz Truss’s unfortunate mini-budget. Hiring has slowed down as employers worry about all the new rights Labour is about to award their staff. Consumer confidence has fallen, as people worry about the tax rises that will be imposed in the ‘Horror Budget’ set for the end of the month. And the economy, which was growing at a decent clip when the Conservatives left office, has now stalled, with zero growth in the latest quarter. The new Chancellor Rachel Reeves was facing a spluttering economy. But, hey, never mind. It turns out that the Bank of England

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Sir Keir pays back £6,000 worth of gifts

To the latest development in Labour’s freebie fiasco, as it transpires that Sir Keir Starmer has paid back over £6,000 of gifts he received from wealthy donors. No. 10 revealed the Prime Minister chose to cough up the funds for six Taylor Swift tickets, four Doncaster racing tickets and the clothing gifted to his wife. The news that Sir Keir would be paying back the cost of the freebies himself came last night as the donations were about to be uncovered in the latest list of MPs’ financial declarations. Starmer’s about turn poses some rather awkward questions for the rest of Starmer’s cabinet however – who haven’t quite found it

Steerpike Steerpike

BBC cancels Boris interview after Kuenssberg gaffe

Well that’s awkward. Former prime minister Boris Johnson was due to be interviewed by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg today, ahead of the release next week of his memoir, titled Unleashed, which is currently being serialised by the Mail. Licence-fee payers would no doubt have been treated to Boris’s expositions on why he considered invading Holland to seize the country’s Covid jabs, and given the inside details of his ‘manly’ chat with Prince Harry to prevent the calamity that was Megxit.  Unfortunately though such delights will be denied to the nation, after an embarrassing BBC gaffe. Kuenssberg wrote on Twitter late last night that she had accidentally sent her briefing notes to Boris

Sean Rayment

These won’t be the last casualties Israel sustains in Lebanon

Israel has sustained its first casualties since the launch of its cross-border incursion into southern Lebanon. Eight soldiers have been killed in battles with Hezbollah and, tragically, they are unlikely to be the last casualties of this conflict.  Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a squad commander in the ‘Egoz’, an elite commando unit specialising in guerrilla warfare, was killed in what was reported to be an ambush by Hezbollah fighters in a village in southern Lebanon. Other Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) personnel killed in clashes with Hezbollah on Wednesday include four members of a commando unit, two soldiers serving with a reconnaissance squad, and another who was part of the

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Could Iran target Jews outside Israel?

After the massive direct Iranian attack on Israel, many breathed a sigh of relief that Israel’s defences were mostly well prepared and highly effective. The one death reported was that of a Gazan Palestinian man killed by shrapnel near Jericho. So much for Iranian solidarity with the Palestinians. Yet tensions remain high as further Iranian aggression may follow. This time, it could the Jews of Europe, the UK or America who are the targets.  Iran has a history of responding to setbacks with global terrorism Israel’s impressive strategic operational activities in Lebanon and Syria have not only severely limited Hezbollah’s abilities, but also restored Israel’s intelligence and military deterrence in

Svitlana Morenets Svitlana Morenets

Don’t blame Ukraine for not giving up

Two years ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was hailed as a hero in America. He was the man who stood up to Putin, who saw off the pillar of Russian tanks advancing on Kyiv – the man who’d fight the revanchist autocracy so the West didn’t have to. How times have changed. To a great many in Washington he is now a liability, a hustler, someone trying to pour American money and his countrymen’s lives into an unwinnable war. An increasing number of Republicans are making him the scapegoat for a war that only the Kremlin can end. The outcome of next month’s US presidential election will be watched more closely in

David Shipley

What our prisons get wrong

‘Purposeful activity’ is a phrase often heard in discussions about our prisons. It describes work, training, therapeutic courses and other meaningful activities which improve prisoners’ mental health and make them less likely to behave antisocially in prison or offend after release. In theory our prisons should make sure that most prisoners are spending a significant amount of time out of their cells participating in this purposeful activity. Unfortunately, a report published last Friday by His Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons reveals that the reality falls far short of that. Of 32 closed prisons inspected in 2023-24, 30 of them were rated ‘poor or not sufficiently good’. In practice this means that

Matt Ridley

How Ed Miliband plans to conjure electricity out of nothing

Electricity is magical stuff. From a couple of tiny holes in a wall comes an apparently endless supply of invisible, weightless, silent ether that turns instantly into light, heat, motion or information at your command. It is a metaphor for the modern economy: we use pure energy to create useful outcomes in the real world. We found out last week that Britain has now for the first time achieved top spot, among 25 nations, in terms of the price we pay for this supernatural ichor, for both domestic and industrial use. This is a disaster. Electricity prices have doubled in Britain since 2019. They are 46 per cent above the

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Tories’ Greek tragedy has reached its catharsis

I write this as I leave the Tory conference in Birmingham. I have covered most of these events (and many Labour ones too) since the beginning of the 1980s. They do not lift the heart, but it is always interesting to watch the activity of the tribe. I attended the 1997 conference at Blackpool after the Tories had been broken by Tony Blair. William Hague had just become leader. The tribe was in a state of tongue-tied mourning. The party faithful were perplexed that the Conservatives had bequeathed extremely favourable economic conditions and public finances and yet had been utterly rejected. The trappings of power still hung about the agenda

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Keir Starmer’s dysfunctional Downing Street 

By rights, the Conservative party conference in Birmingham ought to have been a funereal affair. It was the first time the party had gathered after its worst-ever election defeat and the number of former MPs rivalled the number of current ones. And yet the mood was surprisingly upbeat. ‘Opposition is so freeing,’ said one MP at the bar in the early hours. ‘It’s like being drunk at the wake after the funeral,’ remarked one Tory strategist. It’s not that the party conference revealed a breakout star in the leadership contest (‘We’ll be doing this again in two years,’ predicts one unimpressed MP). Instead, Tories are looking at Labour’s misfortunes. Three

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Lord Alli under investigation for donations

Dear oh dear. It now transpires that Lord Alli is under investigation by the Lords Commissioner – with the millionaire businessman being looked into over ‘alleged non-registration of interests’ with concerns the Labour donor may have breached the Lords code of conduct. How curious… The donor – who funded workwear for the Prime Minister and his wife, paid for expensive glasses for Sir Keir Starmer and even provided luxury accommodation worth over £20,000 to the Labour leader – is being investigated over ‘alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of