Politics

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

Thursday

23 May 2024

Ireland is rewarding Hamas for 7 October

For once, the Irish government has actually done something it promised. The problem is that it’s precisely the wrong thing, at precisely the wrong time. On Wednesday, Ireland, along with Norway and Spain, committed to recognising a Palestinian state. Ireland will formally ratify this on 28 May. It’s a bizarre and utterly counterproductive move which has the very real potential to plunge the region into even more carnage, but one which many Irish politicians from all parties have been demanding for the last few months. This is a reward for committing the single greatest crime against Jews since the dark days of the Holocaust It’s easy to see why Taoiseach

Isabel Hardman

Sunak hints at why he opted for a snap summer election

There is no good answer to the question of why Rishi Sunak called the general election for 4 July, other than that it comes at a time when things are marginally better than they were and before things could get a lot worse. There is, by the way, no good answer to the question of when would be a good time for the Conservatives to hold the election because they are 21 points behind in the polls and largely hate one another and the responsibility of government. Sunak wants to make it about his record This morning, Sunak insisted on his broadcast rounds that the answer to ‘why now?’ was

Katy Balls

Has Sunak’s Farage gamble just paid off?

Rishi Sunak’s election gamble has hit a little turbulence less than 24 hours in. Several members of the cabinet voiced concern over the move to call a summer election, while many Tory MPs are seeing red. Then there was the rain that poured as Sunak tried to address the nation – with loud background music playing out from the street. But at least one rather significant part of the Tory strategy appears to be paying off: Reform. One of the arguments those close to Sunak made for opting for July rather than waiting for an autumn election was that it could stave off a Nigel Farage comeback. The idea being

James Johnson

Sunak’s snap election looks like a calamitous error

Until yesterday there was a fair amount of goodwill towards Rishi Sunak amongst his colleagues. Tory parliamentarians would not have been happy with a defeat in an election forced upon the Prime Minister at the end of the year, but they might have understood it. Most MPs felt the PM had been dealt a dire hand by his two predecessors, that he had scored a few good recent wins, and even that he might be able to negate some of the worst damage if his stewardship of the economy and implementation of the Rwanda plan paid off. Sunak’s rain-splattered announcement changed everything Sunak’s rain-splattered announcement changed everything. By bringing the

Steerpike

Watch: Sunak admits no Rwanda flights will go before election

As election campaigns officially kick off, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is back on the airwaves today just hours after he called a general election. On a wet Wednesday evening, a soaking Sunak called on the British people lend his party their support. The Tories would improve the economy, enhance national security and get tougher on migration, the Prime Minister pledged. And yet when quizzed on his immigration deterrent this morning, the PM’s response didn’t sound all that promising… On BBC Breakfast, the Prime Minister was pressed on stats that showed record levels of illegal crossings to the UK between January to March of this year in a ‘reality check’ that

Nick Tyrone

Sunak’s summer election gamble is bound to backfire

The general election we’ve all been waiting for has finally been called. The Prime Minister announced the election date – 4 July – in the pouring rain, his suit jacket becoming drenched as he spoke, all while someone blared ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ outside Downing Street. The whole scene was so on the nose, no satirist would have ever thought of staging it. It should be clear already that Rishi Sunak has made a terrible mistake. Barring a miracle, Sunak is about to lead his party to an historic defeat The PM has clearly been advised that going early with his election announcement is preferable to being seen to ‘do

Nigel Jones

It’s time for Nigel Farage to get off the fence

Rishi Sunak’s snap summer election means that Nigel Farage faces a decisive moment. For months if not years, Farage has held back from taking a role in the heat of the political fray. Instead, he has preferred to be a backseat driver to his ally Richard Tice as leader of the Reform UK party he created. Sunak is banking on Labour – and Reform – being unprepared for the coming fight Farage, as his fans claim, has ‘kept his powder dry’ as honorary president of the party, and restricted himself to commenting on politics as a presenter on GB News. He has, at times, seemingly put more effort into helping

Ellie Wilson

The UK’s archaic court system is not fit for use

When I walked into court on 1 July 2022 to see my rapist Daniel McFarlane receive a sentence for his crimes against me, I expected to feel triumphant. This was my chance for closure. He’d been found guilty and now he would face the consequences. What I hadn’t anticipated, however, was that his defence lawyer Lorenzo Alonzi would use the hearing to launch into a tirade of insults against me – while I had to sit and listen in silence. Alonzi spoke of how my first-class honours degree and masters with distinction were an ‘injustice’ compared to the fate of my abuser. How we were like ‘chalk and cheese’ in

Charles Moore

Cyclists are the Jeremy Corbyns of the road

Three years ago next month, the journalist Andy Webb put in a Freedom of Information request to the BBC. He asked for material which he believes would expose a new cover-up of the BBC’s behaviour over Martin Bashir’s notorious 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The cover-up in question (there was a much earlier one shortly after the interview first aired) took place, he believes, between September and November 2020, and involved the BBC’s decision to release certain documents, while concealing others. Lord Dyson’s investigation of the saga began shortly afterwards. Some documents which Lord Dyson did see, and published with his report, contain in them clues to

Katy Balls

Inside Labour’s fight with the unions

By the end of the year, Britain may be one of the few countries in the democratic world where the right is losing. In America, Donald Trump is the favourite to win. Ahead of next month’s European Parliament elections, momentum is with Germany’s AfD, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and Austria’s Freedom party. Migration is the most pertinent issue pushing Europe rightwards, but many voters are also turning to insurgent right-wing parties as a rebellion against the cost of net-zero policies. Labour sees an electoral benefit in sticking to its green energy plans to stop voters defecting to the Greens In the UK, the future of green scepticism looks somewhat

The Spectator

A summer election is suicide for the Tories

As soon as Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons that ‘there is going to be a general election in the second half of this year’, nervous Tory MPs spotted a problem: that could mean 4 July, which the Prime Minister has now announced will be the election date. Calling an early election is an admission of defeat – and that, on everything from public finances to public services, the worst is yet to come With every opinion poll pointing to a Labour landslide, it’s unclear what Sunak is trying to gain – unless he has given up hope of victory altogether. Calling an early election is an admission of

Katy Balls

The deluge: Rishi Sunak’s election gamble

‘Only a Conservative government, led by me, will not put our hard-earned economic stability at risk,’ said Rishi Sunak as he announced a general election on the steps of Downing Street in the pouring rain. Upon these words, the Labour anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ boomed out from the street. The din made the rest of his speech nearly inaudible. His suit jacket went from wet to soaking. ‘It’s bizarre,’ said one former minister. ‘How are we supposed to trust No. 10’s judgment when no one in the group even knows what an umbrella is?’ Sunak’s gamble is that while he can’t get a hearing in government, he might

Wednesday

22 May 2024

James Heale

Sunak makes security central to his stump speech

Rishi Sunak tonight made his first stump speech, kicking off the Tory election campaign with an appearance at the Excel Centre in the East End of London. The Prime Minister took to the stage after James Cleverly served as his warm-up act, reliving the role he played in the last election as party chairman and Tory cheerleader. The contrast between the two men emphasised the message which Sunak wanted to land. While Cleverly’s speech was relaxed and off the-cuff and relaxed, Sunak stuck to his autocue and talked up the importance of security in this election, using variations of the word eight times in his ten-minute speech to the 100-odd

Steerpike

Watch: Sky journalist thrown out of Tory launch

Oh dear. Not much time has passed since Rishi Sunak’s bombshell general election announcement this afternoon but already tensions are running high. After being kept waiting for the Prime Minister’s electoral update today, journalists are channelling their pent-up energy into providing rolling Rishi coverage — which includes trying to sneak into the Tory party’s official campaign launch event this evening. But one Sky journalist received a rather frosty reception when he attempted to cover tonight’s Conservative campaign event at the ExCeL centre in east London. Although selective media arrangements were in place, the broadcaster decided to try to pop in anyway — much to the irritation of several unimpressed security

Sam Leith

Sunak’s election speech was embarrassingly bad

Let’s be fair. It wasn’t Rishi Sunak’s fault it was raining. But it was, a bit, his fault that as someone who has ‘never been prouder to be British’, and so is presumably familiar with the way weather works in this country, he didn’t take one look at the lead-grey sky and make a contingency plan. That contingency plan could have been waiting 24 hours. It could have been delivering his speech indoors. It could have been – I don’t know – getting someone to stand a few feet away with a brolly, just in case. As an incumbent Prime Minister setting out your stall for re-election, you don’t

Katy Balls

Sunak’s biggest gamble yet: a July election

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak has called a general election on July 4. A new parliament will be summoned on 9 July and the state opening will be on 17 July. Is a summer election a wise decision? Katy Balls and James Heale discuss from parliament. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Patrick O’Flynn

Are Labour really nailed on to win?

What happens when a resistible force collides with a moveable object? Such is the nature of the imminent battle between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak for the keys to No. 10. Given the underwhelming appeal of both men and the extent of public disillusionment with politics in general, it is hardly likely to be a vintage clash. But with expectations for him and his party set so low, just by taking the initiative Sunak may cause some voters to reassess him. It now seems clear that a 4 July election has been the plan for quite some time and the PM’s repeated undertakings that polling day would come ‘in the

Kate Andrews

The general election has ruined prospects of an early rate cut

Would waiting another few months to call a general election have improved the Conservatives’ prospects? Rishi Sunak didn’t touch upon this in his speech today, announcing a general election for 4 July, but it seems likely that their broad assessment was no. One of the big reasons for waiting until the autumn was the possibility of another fiscal statement. Jeremy Hunt’s March Budget left plenty to be desired by many Tory MPs, who wanted income tax cuts and changes to inheritance tax. The hope was that the public finances would improve in the spring and summer, offering up another chance to craft a tax-cutting narrative – and to give more

James Heale

Starmer pitches stability

Within 20 minutes of Rishi Sunak announcing plans for a July election, Keir Starmer was up delivering his response. The Labour leader’s first pitch of the campaign could be summed up in six words: stop the chaos, vote for change. It is a neat encapsulation of Starmer’s four-year-mission as Leader of the Opposition – making his party electable again by fashioning it as the safe, reliable, respectable mainstream of British politics. Central to Labour’s election campaign will be contrasting Sir Keir’s leadership with the three Tory premiers he has faced across the despatch box. Over the next six weeks, he and his shadow cabinet will hammer home to voters the

Steerpike

Might Sunak actually win? A history of election miracles

Is it madness to call a general election when you’re 20 points behind in the polls? That depends on whether the pollsters and pundits are any more reliable now than when they promised us that Brexit would flop, that Hillary would win and that David Cameron had a 0.5 per cent chance of winning the general election. The last ten years have seen a stream of against-all-odds election victories — and Rishi Sunak’s only hope is that he can pull off one of these miracles. Here are four that he might have in mind… 1. David Cameron’s 2015 majority Such is the hubris of the pollsters that in 2015 they