Politics

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

Could the death penalty return?

The attack on a prison officer by Axel Rudakubana, the killer of the three girls at a dance class in Southport in 2024, has revived calls for a restoration of capital punishment, as many ask why he is serving a 52-year jail term at huge public expense, rather than have been put to death at the time for his heinous crime. Rudakubana is reported to have thrown boiling water from a kettle over an officer from his cell at Belmarsh high security prison in south-east London. Although at the time he made his murderous attacks on the children, he was 17 and was therefore just under the age when killers

Has war healed Ukraine’s great divide?

The phrase divide et impera has echoed through history, its power as relevant today as it was in ancient Rome. Divide and conquer; rule through division. Rulers, then and now, have wielded this principle like a double-edged sword – deepening rifts to maintain control, ensuring that wounds never fully heal. At best, they turn into scars, waiting to be torn open again at the slightest provocation. War is a terrible thing. And yet, even a tragedy of this scale has taught us something In my own country, Ukraine, I’ve witnessed the devastating impact of this strategy for many years. While Western Ukrainians once called for the Donbas to be fenced

The North Korean saboteurs funding Pyongyang’s nuclear programme

If you think that it is only Chinese infiltrators roaming across the West, including on our very shores, then think again. For all the ever-expanding scope of ballistic missiles, frigates, and drones in North Korea’s arsenal, the hermit kingdom has been adding another body of weaponry to its toolkit: cyberwarfare capabilities. It is yet another example of the North Korean regime denying its people one thing but providing its confidantes with another. Whilst the North Korean people are forbidden from accessing the worldwide web, the Kim regime has long been cultivating a network of state-sponsored computer scientists and hackers to fulfil one of the country’s core goals, namely, making money

The assisted suicide bill has shown parliament at its worst

Kim Leadbeater has earned plenty of praise for her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life), or assisted suicide, Bill. The Labour MP even won a gong for Political Speech of the Year award for her opening contribution to the parliamentary debate. If we cannot trust Parliament to debate life-and-death decisions responsibly, how can we trust it to implement them? “We saw Parliament at its best because the tone, the compassion, and the understanding that was shown was something we can all be proud of,” says Leadbeater, who has also described the bill as “Parliament at its best”. If only this were true. The reality is that the bill – which enters

The India-Pakistan ceasefire is a triumph for Trump

After more than four days of clashes since the early hours of Wednesday morning, India and Pakistan have agreed to a full ceasefire. President Donald Trump announced it on his Truth Social Platform, confirming that the ceasefire had come ‘after a long night of talks mediated by the United States’. The announcement was made hours after Pakistan launched Operation Banyan al-Marsous with both Islamabad and New Delhi claiming to have struck each other’s military bases with heavy missiles. Pakistan’s strikes were a response to India’s Operation Sindoor that had been aimed at jihadist sites in Pakistan, following the April 22 militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. While claims of both sides

Steerpike

Reform take over its first Conservative club

It seems that Reform are not content to just take the Tories’ seats. After coming for their MPs, councillors and members, now Nigel Farage’s party is turning its guns on one of the most visible remaining bastions of conservatism in the north of England: working men’s Conservative clubs. This morning, a new sign appeared above the Talbot pub in Blackpool, a onetime Tory club. It now reads thus: ‘The Talbot: Reform UK Club.’ Members and supporters will mix with locals there, as Reform aims to go after the Blackpool South constituency where they finished second last July. A senior party source confirmed to Mr S that the new Reform UK

Why the First Sea Lord stepping down is so shocking

The news that First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key, the head of the Royal Navy, has stepped down from his job while claims of an alleged affair with a junior female officer are investigated, have come as a shock. The armed forces have been relatively free of the sex scandals that have become so common in politics since the Second World War. Sir Ben, a 59-year -old married father of three, has made no comment on the subject , and his duties have been taken over by Vice Admiral Sir Martin Connell, his deputy. Nonetheless, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that he has stood aside for ‘private reasons’. It is

Why was Axel Rudakubana given a kettle?

Late last night, news broke of another attack by a high-profile prisoner at what should be one of our most secure jails. This time it seems that Axel Rudakubana, the Southport killer, has thrown boiling water in the face of an officer at HMP Belmarsh, the London jail which Hashem Abedi was moved to after his brutal attack on staff at HMP Frankland last month. Rudakubana is reported to have committed this attack on Thursday afternoon. Thankfully the member of staff has already been released from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. The Ministry of Justice have insisted that ‘violence in prison will not be tolerated and

Is there an off-ramp for India and Pakistan?

‘What happens next?’ is the worried question I keep getting from Indian and Pakistani friends as military exchanges between the two countries continue. The current crisis was eminently predictable – in nature, if not in timing – as terrorist incidents persisted, albeit at lower levels, in Kashmir and given relations between India and Pakistan were so poor.  Both countries had long signalled their approach and rehearsed it during crises in 2016 and 2019.  India had made clear that it would respond to significant terrorist incidents with kinetic actions at a time and in a manner of their choosing. Pakistan’s military and political leadership were equally forthright: if India did so,

Why Ramzan Kadyrov doesn’t really want to resign

Once again, the ruler of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is making headlines. And once again, he has announced his intention to step down from his position. But is it for real this time? Kadyrov has hinted at resigning on at least five separate occasions. Each time, the official explanation as to why he hasn’t stepped down has been that President Vladimir Putin refused to accept his resignation. As Kadyrov, who likes to call himself Putin’s loyal infantryman, dutifully points out, he is always willing to serve his patron – and so he remains in power. These announcements are often accompanied by choreographed public outcries from Chechnya, where citizens, as reported by

Damian Reilly

Why the Tories must bring back Boris

The British people adore Boris Johnson. That is unarguable. It’s why he doesn’t lose elections. It is therefore very funny – the way idiocy so often is – that the Conservative party even in this, its moment of greatest existential crisis, is not right now prostrating itself before the great man to beg for his return. Boris used his farewell speech in Downing Street to liken himself to the ancient Roman statesman Cincinnatus ‘We are profoundly sorry that we thought we knew better than you, and accept that all evidence since we deposed you has proved us entirely and unforgivably wrong,’ it should be snivelling. ‘Please come back and save us, like you did when, not six years ago against all odds, you delivered the biggest parliamentary majority we’ve had since

Coffee House Shots Live with Zia Yusuf and Jacob Rees-Mogg

The post-mortem has begun on a historic set of local elections – but where does each party go from here? Is Reform unstoppable? Is Kemi the one to lead the Conservative rebuild? Do Labour really ‘get it’? Michael Gove, James Heale and Lucy Dunn are joined by special guests Zia Yusuf and Jacob Rees-Mogg to unpack these questions – as well as the broader ramifications of the local elections on British politics. Listen for: Zia’s understanding of why Reform did so well; Jacob’s concession that a Tory/Reform pact of some description could be the only way for the Conservatives to avoid extinction; and Michael’s assessment of whether Labour will force us

Lloyd Evans

What happened to Canterbury?

War is raging over Canterbury’s future. Only two Labour councillors are left in the whole of Kent, in the north and south of the city, compared to the 57 Reform councillors who now control the county. Reform entirely replaced the Tories, who were left with just five councillors.  Canterbury’s tale is one of general decline. The lucrative parties of French schoolchildren and day-trippers have largely gone, partly because Ashford International, the Kent stop of the Eurostar, was shut and never reopened after Covid. The local economy has suffered as a result. The remaining businesses are coarsening the appearance of a city which is as important to the Anglican communion as Rome

Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

About once a month, the Royal Air Force scrambles Typhoon fighters for something called a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typically, two Russian nuclear-capable bombers approach Scotland, the RAF aircraft shadow them closely and, at a suitably theatrical moment, the Russians turn away. The episode merits a tiny press release from the Ministry of Defence. Russia is continuously demonstrating its preparedness to cause mass death on the British mainland What most people don’t realise is that the Russian aircraft often open their bomb doors, revealing missiles which may, or may not, contain nuclear warheads; and that they line up on specific targets: city centres, nuclear power stations, airports, or other strategic

Football’s beer ban makes no sense

Should football fans be allowed to have a pint in the stands during a game? Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, certainly thinks so, and is calling for trials to see what impact lifting the ban on booze in the stands might have. ‘The days of hooliganism are gone’, he said. ‘Fans of other sports can drink in the stands but football fans cannot.’ The booze ban, in its present incarnation encourages fans to drink more ahead of the match The Labour backbencher raised the issue in the House of Commons during a debate on the Football Governance Bill, proposing designated drinking zones in view of the pitch

Mark Galeotti

Victory Day has been a triumph for Vladimir Putin

It was almost like old times, but also a sign of the new. Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade passed off without a hitch, rumbling and squeaking with armour, untroubled by Ukrainian drones, and watched over by foreign leaders there in a sign of support. Yet the efforts made to ensure the parade ran smoothly, the nature of the guest list, and Putin’s rhetoric all highlighted the new times. The most recent iterations of the parade had been distinctly reduced affairs, a single Second World War vintage T-34 tank substituting for the usual phalanx of tanks, and the guests largely confined to Putin’s clients. For the 80th anniversary of the end

What’s taking Britain so long to build new nuclear power plants?

When Putin attacked Ukraine and sent global gas prices soaring, Boris Johnson set out a plan to make Britain energy secure. It included a target to quadruple the amount of power Britain gets from nuclear. Instead of one plant every decade (if you’re lucky), Britain would start building a new plant every year just as we did in the 50s and 60s. This plan relied not only on building ‘giga-scale’ plants like Hinkley Point C (at £42 billion now the most expensive plant in the history of the world), but also new small modular reactors (SMRs) built off-site in factories and deployed in fleets. This should, at least in theory,

Is support for Scotland’s euthanasia bill dying?

While Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill makes its way through the UK parliament, in Scotland a separate assisted dying bill will be voted on next week. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives, with MSPs allowed a free vote on the issue on 13 May. The decision to back the bill is a matter of conscience for parliamentarians. But now, less than a week before decision day, both First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf have announced that they will vote against it. First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor

It shouldn’t be illegal to burn a Quran

We now live in a country where, once more, it appears to be a crime to commit blasphemy. This is the inevitable and justifiable conclusion many have made following the news yesterday that a man who burnt a copy of the Koran was charged with ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ against ‘the religious institution of Islam’. The National Secular Society has been volubly alarmed at the case The charge made against Hamit Coskun, who allegedly performed the act outside the Turkish Consulate in London in February, is thought to be the first time anybody has been prosecuted for harassing an ‘institution’, in the form of Islam, under the Public Order Act. Following a