Politics

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

Tuesday

11 Jun 2024

The EU election spells trouble for Ukraine

If one story dominates the cacophony of results of the European election from across the 27 countries of the Union, it is the defeat of incumbents in the EU’s largest member states: France and Germany. While their underperformance was expected, its aftershocks risk leaving Europe weak and ineffectual in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine. It is hard to see how Macron or Scholz will become bolder in their Ukrainian positions in the coming months In France, president Emmanuel Macron responded to the poor performance of his party, Renaissance, by calling a snap election for 30 June – less than two weeks before Nato’s summit in Washington. The logic

Gareth Roberts

The trouble with ‘centrist’ Tories

‘Elections are won from the centre ground,’ the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said. Perhaps he should have a word with his own party. The Conservatives have been in power for 14 years and, while they are nominally centre-right, many of the party’s policies and positions will hardly strike the average voter as sensible and centrist. Maybe if the Tories really had stuck to the centre ground they wouldn’t be 21 points behind in the polls and heading for electoral wipeout on 4 July. Nowhere is the Tories’ refusal to adopt a sensible centrist position clearer than in the gender debate. The middle ground on this issue is surely that the

Lloyd Evans

Sorry Sunak can’t muster much of a fight in BBC interview

A clash of the razor-blades. That’s how it started. Nick Robinson’s grey jowls were dotted with stubble as he sat down to quiz the PM on BBC One. Rishi Sunak had shaved. Robinson hadn’t bothered. And that mismatch set the tone for their bad-tempered interview. Robinson played the irritable major-general going over the blunders of an incompetent subaltern. The worst error Rishi had committed, said Robinson, was ‘bunking off D-Day.’ Rishi grovelled abjectly, yet again. His upper lip quivered nervously. ‘I hope that people can find it in their hearts to forgive me,’ he said. Crikey. Anyone would think that he’d crashed a chopper into a column of veterans on

Monday

10 Jun 2024

Isabel Hardman

Sunak splutters in BBC interview, but Starmer won’t do much better

Rishi Sunak has started to move on from his D-Day blunder. He probably won’t recover from the electoral damage he caused himself, but he is now able to talk about other things. The question is what is it that he can talk about that will actually get the voters listening? This evening he gave an interview to the BBC’s Nick Robinson where – after making his apology for the way he ‘bunked off’, as Robinson put it – he had to answer questions on why people should believe the promises the Conservatives are making on tax, immigration, the NHS, and so on, when none of the things they’d promised so

Ross Clark

Lib Dem policies are as barmy as their campaign

Ed Davey has finally taken a break from fooling around to launch some policies. But one of them, in particular, is not going to please a great number of Lib Dem voters. The Lib Dem manifesto is to propose giving local councils the power to put a 500 per cent council tax surcharge on second homes. Obviously, there is minimal danger of the Lib Dems actually getting into power to impose such a policy, so those nice Lib Dem voters in Richmond and Kingston who have boltholes in Salcombe, Southwold, and so on can still afford the luxury of voting for the party without actually having to face the cost

Katy Balls

Fighting over the Tory manifesto begins a day early

On Tuesday morning, Rishi Sunak will unveil the Conservative party’s 2024 manifesto. So far, there is talk of tax cuts, welfare reform and the need to reform the ECHR. But some on the conservative side are already voicing alarm that the 76-page draft document is playing it too safe on tax and borders – and lacks big ideas. As one figure privy to the document puts it: ‘It could flop’. While Tory candidates pray there is a rabbit in the hat to be unveiled tomorrow, Labour are busy getting their own attack lines in. This afternoon Jonathan Ashworth – the shadow cabinet office minister with the unofficial title of ‘minister

Steerpike

Reform candidate apologises for his Hitler neutrality comments

Oh dear, it seems like the election scandals are coming thick and fast at the moment. Today, it was the turn of Reform UK, after it was revealed that one of the party’s candidates claimed Britain would be ‘far better’ if we had ‘taken Hitler up on his offer of neutrality’ instead of fighting the Nazis during the second world war. Talk about a vote winner… Ian Gribbin, Reform’s candidate for the Bexhill and Battle constituency, has caused a spot of bother for Nigel Farage’s party after a selection of his online posts came to light today. Commenting on the UnHerd website in July 2022, the Bexhill candidate wrote: ‘Britain would

Cindy Yu

How would Britain’s Labour party change UK-China relations?

34 min listen

In less than a month’s time, Britain may well have a new prime minister – and a different ruling party. Under 14 years of the Conservative party, the UK’s approach to China has swung from the sycophancy of the golden era to fear and loathing under Liz Truss, stabilising in the last couple of years to a compete but engage approach, all while public opinion on China has hardened following the Hong Kong protests and the pandemic. What will a new government bring? Will the managerialism of Keir Starmer change UK-China relations much from the managerialism of Rishi Sunak? This is not a hypothetical question as Labour looks set to

James Heale

Will the Lib Dem manifesto win over the ‘Blue Wall’?

Sir Ed Davey kicked off manifesto week by launching his party’s document this afternoon in East London. In true Lib Dem style, it is a weighty tome of 114 pages – the product of months of painstaking care by party strategists. Their task was to reconcile the desires of the activist base with the demands of Tory voters that the leadership is trying to woo across the South of England. ‘We are a genuine party democracy – sadly’, joked one of Davey’s aides to me at last year’s conference. That tradition means that, unlike the Conservatives, the Lib Dem document cannot be cooked up in a matter of weeks and

Mark Nayler

The establishment triumphed in Spain’s elections

Spain’s Conservative Popular party (PP) came first in Sunday’s EU elections, upping its share of seats in the European parliament from 13 to 22 – with 34 per cent of the vote. The Socialists (PSOE), represented by energy minister Teresa Ribera, avoided the drubbing many had predicted, coming second with 20 seats. Between them, the PP and PSOE have won enough seats to dominate smaller parties for the duration of this EU parliament A large gap separates these two frontrunners from smaller left- and right-wing groups, Catalan separatists and a curious new addition to Spain’s political scene. These parties secured between two and six seats in the new EU legislature. The

Stephen Daisley

The Scottish Tories won’t accept Faragism

Douglas Ross was not a game-changing leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the way Ruth Davidson was but he announces his resignation as the game is being turned on its head. North of the border the Tories are seeing their vote hold up even as the electoral fortunes of their Sassenach brethren implode. They could come out of this election with more seats than the six they went into it with. But they are not captains of their own fate and Ross’s departure will only call attention to that. Ross has had a tenure that at times seemed cursed and at others lucky. He had to handle the Scottish blowback

John Keiger

The EU may struggle to find its way out of this election crisis

It is said that the EU thrives on crises. These are what spurs it on to the ultimate goal of wider and deeper integration. But yesterday’s European election results may be a crisis too far. Unlike its predecessors, this election has returned nine or so large Eurosceptic national parties intent on arresting the march towards ever-closer union. The nationalist and identitarian right, while by no means a majority in the new European parliament, is in a commanding position to seriously influence the EU’s future direction. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s European expert, quoted in Le Monde, the EU is entering ‘its most decisive phase in its 70 year history’. In the

Iain Macwhirter

Douglas Ross has made things even worse for the Tories

You thought things couldn’t get worse for the Conservative party in this election? They just did. The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, has announced that he is to resign his leadership following yet another alleged scandal concerning a Tory politician. Few in Ross’s own party can keep up with the twists and turns of his political ambitions Allegations were reported over the weekend that Mr Ross had used his Westminster expenses to travel around the country performing his side hustle as an assistant referee for the Scottish Football Association. Mr Ross denies acting improperly and insists that he has only ever claimed expenses related to his role as MP. Needless to say,

Michael Simmons

Why has Douglas Ross resigned as Scottish Tory leader?

11 min listen

Just when you thought this election campaign couldn’t get any more tumultuous, Douglas Ross has announced he will resign as Scottish Conservative leader. He had lost the support of his colleagues – particularly those in Holyrood – following his decision to effectively take over a Westminster colleague’s constituency when that MP was seriously ill in hospital. Why now? Michael Simmons speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls. The Spectator will be hosting a special Live edition of Coffee House Shots in the aftermath of the election. Taking place on Thursday the 11th July – a week after the election – at 7pm here in Westminster, you can join Fraser Nelson,

Charlotte Henry

Is the Lib Dems’ election campaign silly or savvy?

General elections are strange things, particularly for the Lib Dems. For a few weeks, broadcasters are compelled to actually give them attention. This time around, the party has decided not just to wait for outlets to fulfil their legal obligations. Instead, they are making a splash, literally, with leader Sir Ed Davey taking part in a host of high-profile stunts. We’ve seen the former environment secretary on, and then off, a paddle board, hurtling down a slip ‘n’ slide and banging an exercise ball with pensioners to ‘We Will Rock You’. There’s also been a giant Jenga set. All-in-all, it seems like Sir Ed is having much more fun than

Ian O’Doherty

Sinn Fein’s immigration stance has blown up in its face

It’s been three days since Ireland went to the ballot box to decide the local and European elections and, much to consternation of pretty much everyone, we’re still waiting for the final results. The exit polls though show a remarkable collapse in support for Sinn Fein. Mary Lou McDonald’s attempts to become respectable with the overwhelmingly liberal and middle-class Dublin mediocracy quite simply blew up in her face This has been a rancorous and remarkably bad-tempered campaign. The rise in popularity in the polls of supposedly anti-immigrant parties such as Irish Freedom and Ireland First (neither of which even existed when we had the last local, European and general elections)

Fraser Nelson

The truth about the rise of the ‘far right’ in Europe

‘The rise of nationalists and demagogues is a danger for our nation but also for Europe,’ said Emmanuel Macron as he announced his general election. Strong talk, as befits his newly-called general election campaign but is that really what has just happened? Look closely and the results are more nuanced – and more interesting. If anything, we can see the taming of some populist shrews. In France, Le Pen’s National Rally hit 30 per cent only after her long attempt to detoxify, mellowing her agenda and, recently, kicking the AfD out of her European Parliament grouping. The fresh-faced Jordan Bardella, 28, was the face of Le Pen’s Euro campaign. Macron’s snap election is perhaps intended

David Shipley

Labour could make Britain’s prison crisis worse

On Saturday night, Labour announced its plans to ‘fix the prison crisis and keep criminals behind bars’. If this announcement is the full extent of Labour’s prison policy, then disaster awaits them in government. At least Labour seems to recognise some of the problems. They point out that as a result of overcrowding our prisons are a ‘powder keg waiting to explode’, and that the early release scheme, under which prisoners are being released up to 70 days early, is ‘creating a potential risk to the public’. They point out that one inmate was freed early despite being ‘a risk to children’. Labour is also right that the Tories’ mismanagement

Steerpike

Starmer’s shadow cabinet split on private schools

Labour have made much of their VAT raid on private school fees, proudly trumpeting the policy as one of the few instances of a ‘popular’ tax. So it must have been to the chagrin of Starmer’s spinners then to see two of their leading frontbenchers contradicting each other about the costs of the policy. Appearing on GB News on Sunday morning, Emily Thornberry appeared to let the cat out of the bag when she discussed the consequences of pricing middle-class parents out of independent schools. ‘If we have to have larger classes, we have larger classes’ she admitted breezily when she was asked about the prospect of an exodus from

Matthew Lynn

France can’t afford a Le Pen government

It is possible that President Macon had some clever plan when he called a general election in the wake of catastrophic European election results last night. After all, he has a reputation for always being several moves ahead on the political chessboard. And yet one point is surely clear. France can’t afford a Le Pen government – and its election may well trigger a crisis in the French debt markets. Le Pen, after all, is a high welfare, big state, economic nationalist It is, perhaps, not quite such a foregone result as Britain’s election a few days earlier. And yet after the second round of voting on 7 July, it looks