Politics

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

Tuesday

16 Jan 2024

Tory rebels defy No. 10 over the Rwanda Bill

It’s always a mistake for Downing Street to pretend it knows backbenchers’ minds better than they do It turns out that Tory backbenchers aren’t all mouth and no trousers, as Downing Street thought. After briefing that the right of the party was all talk, Rishi Sunak’s team watched this evening as around 60 rebels repeatedly trooped through the opposite lobbies to vote to toughen up the Rwanda Bill. The breakdown of those rebellions is as follows: 68 MPs, including 60 Tories (two of which were tellers), voted in favour of Bill Cash’s amendment, which would allow the government to deport people to Rwanda even if it went against the European

Katy Balls

Lee Anderson’s resignation spells trouble for Rishi Sunak

The fallout from the return of the Safety of Rwanda Bill has begun – before a single vote has been cast. Lee Anderson has handed in his resignation as deputy chairman of the Conservative party, alongside his fellow deputy Brendan Clarke-Smith. The two red wall MPs, who won their seats in the 2019 election, had signalled their intention last night to back amendments by Robert Jenrick and Bill Cash to toughen up the Bill. However, up until half an hour before the vote, the government had not made clear whether such an act would make their position untenable. Eventually this was confirmed and both decided to walk rather than be

Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith

Why we’re quitting over the Rwanda Bill

Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have just resigned as deputy party chairmen over the government’s Rwanda Bill. Below is their joint resignation letter, in full: Dear Prime Minister, We have already had two pieces of legislation thwarted by a system that does not work in favour of the British people When we were elected in 2019 we promised the public that we would Get Brexit Done and Take Back Control. One of the key issues for the public was our sovereignty and making sure our Parliament and our courts would have supremacy over distant and unaccountable ones abroad. This Conservative Government has taken unprecedented steps to make sure that this

Steerpike

Judicial Office slaps down Sunak over Rwanda

No. 10’s latest effort to convince Tory rebels to vote for its Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill has collided with that regular ministerial inconvenience, the independence of the judiciary. According to a report in Tuesday’s Times, ministers plan ‘to move 150 judges from the first-tier tribunal to the upper tribunal, the body that will hear appeals under the new legislation’. The newspaper said there would be additional training and extra pay for judges sitting on evenings and weekends. ‘This is designed to fast-track the process of considering individual legal appeals lodged by migrants,’ the paper explained. But there are judges in London and the Judicial Office speaks for

Freddy Gray

Is the Republican race over?

32 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Republican strategist Luke Thompson about Trump’s landslide Iowa win; how much Trump’s legal proceedings will interfere with his campaign and who could be his deputy. The Spectator is hiring! We are looking for a new producer to join our broadcast team working across our suite of podcasts – including this one – as well as our YouTube channel Spectator TV. Follow the link to read the full job listing: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/wanted-a-broadcast-producer-for-the-spectator-2/

James Heale

Isaac Levido’s warning to the Tory party

11 min listen

With the Tories reeling from yesterday’s poll in the Telegraph, it is interesting that the party’s official election strategist Isaac Levido was already scheduled to address Tory MPs last night. Levido ran the 2019 election campaign and holds clout with Conservative MPs. What did he have to say? Is the Tory strategy evolving? Also on the podcast, Rallings & Thrasher have put out polling today which demonstrates how difficult it will be for Labour to achieve a majority considering the new boundaries. They will need a national swing of 12.7 per cent – higher than in 1997 and 1945. Are voters enthusiastic enough about Labour to provide such a huge swing?

Steerpike

Do Scotland’s politicians deserve their bumper pay rise?

Bumping up politicians’ pay seldom goes down well, especially in times of economic hardship. But the news that members of the Scottish parliament are to receive a 6.7 per cent salary hike will not be greeted with much enthusiasm among taxpayers north of the border. The rise takes the annual pay of all 129 MSPs to £72,195 and comes after the method for calculating Holyrood salary increases was switched from the ONS annual survey of hours and earnings (ASHE) to the more generous average weekly earnings (AWE). A spokesperson for the Scottish parliament said the previous method ‘has been increasingly out of sync with other wage inflation indices to the

Sam Goodman

What would Trump’s return mean for relations with China?

Over the past few days it has become clear that Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency has gone from being an outlier to an increasing likelihood. His landslide in the Iowa caucus yesterday only confirms this further. As the first term of Joe Biden’s presidency comes to a close, one of his achievements is no doubt the increased coordination amongst leading democracies when it comes to dealing with the challenge that China presents. Under Biden’s tenure the G7 has agreed to collectively fund an alternative to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and work on de-risking their supply chains away from the country. Meanwhile, in the past year, the US and

Melanie McDonagh

Why the Children’s Word of the Year makes me feel sad

Along with the Oxford University Press Word of the Year – usually something you’d never say yourself – and the Pantone Colour of the Year (seriously, has anyone ever asked for a revolting shade called Peach Fuzz?) there is rather an interesting index of our annual concerns: the Children’s Word of the Year. The exercise has been going on since 2014: the Oxford English Dictionary people ask children for a word to sum up the year. This year, it’s ‘climate change’ followed by ‘war’. Yep, adult concerns being foisted on our unfortunate young folk. And I can hear you now: blame Greta Thunberg. Actually, it turns out that children’s words

David Cohen

The shoplifting scandal engulfing New Zealand’s Green MP

New Zealand has just lost one of its most stylish politicians after shoplifting allegations were made against her by two of the country’s high-end fashion stores. The Iranian-born Golriz Ghahraman, who had just begun her third term as a high-profile Green party MP, today announced she will be standing down from parliament with immediate effect. In her resignation statement, Ghahraman said her mental health has been ‘badly affected by the stresses relating to my work’, leading her to ‘act in ways that are completely out of character’. Although she did not address the allegations in any detail, she said she took ‘full responsibility for my actions which I deeply regret’.

Kate Andrews

Trump’s hold on Republican voters is as strong as ever

The Iowa contest tends not to select the Republican nominee. In 2016 Texas Senator Ted Cruz denied Donald Trump his first win by taking home the caucus prize with 28 per cent of the vote. In 2012, Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum just edged out eventual nominee Mitt Romney. In 2008, presidential nominee John McCain didn’t even place in the top three, only securing 13 per cent of the vote compared to Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee’s 34 per cent. Iowans have just delivered Trump the biggest caucus win in history In recent years, the caucus has been a better gauge for what the grassroots of the party want to see in

Sam Olsen

The devastating cost of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan

The next twelve months will be dominated by elections, with polls expected in at least 64 countries. Of these, there are only a few that really matter in geopolitical terms. The US elections of course, especially if won by an isolationist Donald Trump (assuming he is allowed to run). India’s parliamentary elections in April will help steer the course of a superpower for the future. And in Europe, the rise of populist parties may well change the direction of the EU in the years to come. But perhaps the most consequential one has just happened this weekend, in Taiwan, where William Lai has just been elected president. There is significant

James Heale

The four sets of amendments in the Rwanda Bill

The Rwanda Bill today returns to the House of Commons for two days of debate prior to Third Reading tomorrow night. Rishi Sunak’s flagship legislation is now at committee stage – which means that any MP can lay down amendments. Those from Labour and the SNP are unlikely to trouble the government much, given it still has a working majority of 54. Instead, the main focus is on the right of the Conservative party. More than 60 Tory MPs have now signed a series of amendments to try to strengthen the bill, which they predict will be thwarted in the courts. Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash and former Immigration Minister

Freddy Gray

Everything is falling into place for Donald Trump

Vivek Ramaswamy, the impressive podcast guest who has spent the last few months pretending to be a serious Republican presidential candidate, has just suspended his campaign after winning eight per cent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses. ‘This entire campaign is about speaking the TRUTH,’ he said. ‘We did not achieve our goal tonight.’ He endorsed Donald Trump even though on Saturday Trump called him ‘sly’ and ‘deceitful’. No matter: it’s not as if any Ramaswamy supporters will be queuing up to vote for Nikki Haley any time soon. DeSantis and Haley have proved that you can spend an awful lot of money failing to beat Donald Trump The

Michael Simmons

Has Britain’s jobs market bounced back?

The jobs market has turned a corner. Vacancies have fallen again to 934,000, down 49,000 in the last three months of the year, the longest continuous fall on record. Wage growth slowed to 6.5 per cent in cash terms – which will please the Bank of England – but luckily for workers inflation is falling faster, meaning those rises translate into real terms pay bumps (of about 1.3 per cent). Employment climbed slightly while unemployment remained flat. The next inflation figures are out tomorrow but the wage data are a sure sign of the direction of travel. Take out bonuses and average pay rose 6.6 per cent (1.4 in real

Coffee House

Which Tory seats would survive a Labour landslide?

According to the polls, the Conservative party are heading for a landslide defeat at the next election. The Daily Telegraph this week published a mammoth YouGov survey of 14,000 people which forecasts that the Tories will retain just 169 seats, while Labour will sweep to power with 385 – giving Sir Keir Starmer a 120-seat majority. This would mean that more than half the Conservative parliamentary party would be wiped out: a bigger loss in seats than the 1997 disaster. Below is a list of the 169 seats forecast to stay blue in the Telegraph/MRP poll under the revised boundary changes. According to YouGov, ‘notional results calculations allow us to see what

Roger Kimball

Trump’s big Iowa win spells the end for Ron DeSantis

Until now, the person who won the Iowa caucus by the largest margin was Bob Dole back in 1988 – by 12 points. A ray of hope that the Nikki Haley contingent and the Ron DeSantis faction harboured was that even though Trump was likely to win, perhaps he wouldn’t win convincingly. An achievement they understood — history and Bob Dole be damned — to be 50 per cent of the vote. If he won less than that — by 40 per cent, say — they could claim that he won by a ‘disappointing’ result. A writer for Vox, for example, wrote this: ‘If Trump underperforms polls — getting around 40 percent or lower, or having

Gareth Roberts

Nadia Whittome is deluded about drill music

Nadia Whittome, no longer Britain’s youngest MP but still quite possibly its daftest, has a new bee in her bonnet. Writing on Nottingham’s funkiest website LeftLion, she reveals that she has teamed up with campaign group Art Not Evidence and plans to bring a bill before parliament about rap lyrics (particularly the bleak subgenres of trap and drill) being used as evidence in court. Her bill will aim to raise ‘the threshold of admissibility to ensure that it’s only considered when it’s relevant and justified, and not indiscriminately.’ Nadia is upset about ‘negative stereotypes’. ‘[Rap] can still be viewed with suspicion, and associated with gangs, drugs and violence,’ she tells

Cristina Odone

Labour’s toothbrush classes for school kids? No thanks

Labour’s latest proposal for teachers to supervise pupils’ toothbrushing reveals a worrying view of parenting as playing a light-touch, rather than hands-on, role in a child’s upbringing. Only a week ago, the thoroughly sensible and appealing shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson MP delivered a speech that emphasised the need ‘for a two-way street’ in education: teachers and parents should collaborate to improve children’s outcomes and school attendance, which has reached crisis point. Yet within a day Sir Keir Starmer had come up with a proposal for teachers to oversee three to five year olds as they brush their teeth. Sir Keir as the tooth fairy is a comical image but one

Monday

15 Jan 2024

Katy Balls

Isaac Levido’s warning to the Tory party

Tory MPs start the week fretting about their seats after the Telegraph published an MRP poll suggesting Keir Starmer would win a majority of 120 if an election were held tomorrow. So, it was a case of interesting timing that the party’s official election strategist Isaac Levido was already scheduled to address Tory MPs on Monday night. Levido ran the 2019 election campaign and holds clout with Conservative MPs (when Liz Truss cut ties with the strategist during her premiership, it led to panic in parts of the party). Levido used the address to discuss that poll – playing down its significance as ‘just another poll, another MRP model, with

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