Politics

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

Thursday

22 Feb 2024

Why Britain stopped working

50 min listen

Welcome to a slightly new format for the Edition podcast! Each week we will be talking about the magazine – as per usual – but trying to give a little more insight into the process behind putting The Spectator bed each week. On the podcast this week: the cost of Britain’s mass worklessness. According to The Spectator’s calculations, had workforce participation stayed at the same rate as in 2019, the economy would be 1.7 per cent larger now and an end-of-year recession could have been avoided. As things stand, joblessness is coexisting with job vacancies in a way that should be economically impossible, writes Kate Andrews in the cover story. She joins the

Lisa Haseldine

Germany’s new anti-Ukraine party is unnerving the establishment

Her party may be less than two months old, but already Sahra Wagenknecht has put a cat amongst the pigeons in Germany. She launched her eponymous party, the Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) on 8 January this year, a few months after sensationally quitting the left-wing Die Linke party in October over disagreements on the party’s Ukraine and refugee policies, among others. Now, nearly a quarter of Germans now say they could imagine voting for her party at the next general election. According to a survey conducted by the pollsters Allensbach, 24 per cent of Germans say they could vote for the BSW next year. In the former east Germany, Wagenknecht’s popularity is

Matthew Lesh

Did red tape worsen Britain’s inflation problem?

It has been a miserable few years for our quality of life. People have gotten used to that sinking feeling every time you read a price tag at the supermarket, receive an electricity bill or – particularly for younger generations – think about someday buying a house.This squeeze comes from prices rising faster than wages, and has resulted in the biggest slump in living standards since records began. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecasts, household incomes will still be 3.5 per cent below pre-pandemic levels over the coming year. The immediate causes of this crisis are well-known. The Bank of England printed too much money during Covid,

Eliot Wilson

Chaos in the Commons benefits the SNP

Wednesday’s chaotic procedures in the House of Commons have handed an enormous soapbox to the SNP’s Stephen Flynn. The MP for Aberdeen South, who has led the Scottish National Party’s Westminster group since December 2022, has been intoning gravely that the debate ‘descended into farce’ and, with suppressed fury, told the speaker that he no longer trusted him to preside impartially over the House. Flynn has tabled an early-day motion which, at time of writing, had 66 signatories, and expresses ‘no confidence in Mr Speaker’. Flynn has cause to be upset. His is the third-largest party in the House, with 43 MPs. Moreover, the debate on Gaza was a day on

Nick Cohen

Violence is corrupting our democracy

Fascism begins with political violence on the streets. In 1922, Benito Mussolini ordered his supporters to march on Rome and threaten to overthrow the democratic government. In the early 1930s gangs of Nazis and communists fought for control of Berlin’s streets. In 1999, a mysterious bombing campaign, that killed dozens of people and destroyed apartment blocks in Moscow and Volgodonsk, allowed Vladimir Putin to take power by posing as a strongman who could keep Russians safe. The UK is experiencing its own version of fascistic violence. As befits the modesty of this country we have a quintessentially British version of it. Nothing too grand or showy is on display. Nevertheless,

David Loyn

The SAS fought a dirty war in Afghanistan

The SAS blocked UK visas for Afghan special forces soldiers, perhaps fearing that they would be able to produce evidence incriminating the SAS in the shooting of unarmed civilians. That was the striking implication of a BBC Panorama investigation this week – with the Ministry of Defence confirming that it is undertaking a review of 2,000 cases where Afghan applications were blocked by the SAS. Under the ‘ARAP’ scheme, introduced after the fall of Afghanistan in August 2021, Afghans employed by the British government had a near-automatic right to resettle in the UK. This was because they were among the people most likely to face retribution from the Taliban after the fall of Kabul.

Ian Williams

Hungary has become China’s useful idiot

This week a security deal was announced that could see Chinese police on the streets of Hungary. Despite this, there was remarkably little fanfare about the agreement – just a few vague details in public statements made days after the deal was signed between the interior ministers of the two countries. Yet is represents another troubling challenge by Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orban to both Nato and the EU, of which he remains an increasingly troublesome member. The security pact will involve ‘enhancing cooperation in law enforcement and joint patrols,’ according to the Hungarian statement, while the Chinese version said the two countries would, ‘deepen cooperation in areas including counter-terrorism,

Katy Balls

Lindsay Hoyle looks safe – for now

The dust is settling in the House of Commons after an explosive evening in the Chamber on Wednesday night. Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to upend tradition and allow a Labour amendment to an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza saw both Conservative and Scottish National party MPs turn on Hoyle. The Speaker has since been accused of playing favourites by helping his old party out of a jam; had the Labour amendment not been permitted, Keir Starmer would have likely faced a large rebellion and even some front bench resignations. Over 50 MPs have signed a motion of no confidence in the Speaker Hoyle is now facing

Steerpike

Watch: Penny Mordaunt blasts Labour for picking on Speaker

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt has backed Lindsay Hoyle in the row over the Gaza ceasefire vote – and accused Labour of picking on the Speaker. Mordaunt said Hoyle was a ‘decent man’ and blamed Keir Starmer’s party for last night’s debacle in the Commons. The Tory MP hit out at her opposite number, shadow leader of the house, Lucy Powell, saying: ‘I would never have done to him (Hoyle) what the Labour party have done to him’. She added: ‘If she cannot rise above narrow and immediate needs of her weak and fickle leader…perhaps she might like to reflect on the damage her party has done

Ross Clark

There are not enough houses to cope with high migration

Why is housing still so expensive in Britain? Conservative MP and former levelling-up minister Neil O’Brien has produced a set of statistics which draws attention to the role of migration in the high cost of housing. Across England as a whole he says, 7.4 per cent of the population is made up of people who have arrived in the country since 2011. Over the same period, the housing stock has risen by 8.5 per cent. In London, 16.6 per cent of people have arrived since 2011, yet the housing stock has increased by only 10.7 per cent. No wonder, he points out, that 38 per cent of households in Britain are having to shell out

Matthew Lynn

The valuable lesson learnt from Japan’s stock market recovery

A lot has happened over the past 34 years: the Cold War ended, several wars have taken place in the Middle East, a banking collapse occurred, and a global pandemic left millions stuck inside their homes. But one thing remained constant throughout: the bear market – a price drop of 20 per cent or more from the most recent high – in Japanese equities ground on and on relentlessly. After hitting an all time high of 39,915 points on 29 December 1989, the Nikkei 225 which covers the country’s major companies slumped and slumped again. Today, it finally recovered all those losses, setting a fresh all time high. There is

Melanie McDonagh

Menopausal women shouldn’t be treated differently

Granted, I could be a beneficiary of the latest guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about women going through the menopause. It advises employers to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for women who experience symptoms such as broken sleep, brain fog and hot flushes (viz, most of us). This includes possibly relaxing uniform requirements, lowering the temperature in the office, providing quiet areas and protecting the menopausal from humorous observations about any of the above from their colleagues. It’s preposterous guidance from a body which has little notion of the realities of a workplace that isn’t publicly funded. These suggestions will end up pathologising the human condition – at

Stephen Daisley

Britain’s politicians should never bow to a mob

The government and the SNP are furious at the Speaker over his parliamentary jiggery-pokery on the Gaza vote. In calling Labour’s amendment to an SNP ceasefire motion alongside the government’s amendment, it meant there was no vote on the Nationalists’ original resolution. It was an SNP opposition day in parliament, but the Speaker handed it to Labour instead. Lindsay Hoyle’s actions prompted SNP and Conservative MPs to walk out in protest. So far 51 members have signed an early day motion expressing no confidence in the Speaker. Absent a dramatic turnaround in Conservative and SNP feelings about his actions, it is difficult to see how he can remain in office.

Cindy Yu

What happened in the Commons chaos last night?

16 min listen

The Commons descended into farce and chaos last night. The SNP were not able to vote on their own motion on their own Opposition Day debate; the Conservatives walked out of the chamber in protest; and Lindsay Hoyle seemed tearful as he seemed to apologise for how the Gaza debate went down. On the episode, Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Chris Ward, director at Hanbury Strategy and former deputy chief of staff to Keir Starmer. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Isabel Hardman

Can Lindsay Hoyle survive as Speaker?

Lindsay Hoyle’s justification for tearing up convention on the Gaza vote was that he had become worried for MPs’ safety and was trying to give members the widest range of options to express their view. It didn’t work out that way, as he acknowledged last night, and the Speaker will spend today in private meetings with the individuals concerned. Some of them showed signs of wanting to dampen the row down: Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, for instance, said she was grateful that he was reflecting on what had happened, adding: ‘You are our Speaker and we wish you to defend the rights of all Members of this House.’ Others were

Sasha Lensky

Russians feel bleaker than ever after Alexei Navalny’s death

The news about Alexei Navalny’s death came as a shock to anti-Putin Russians like myself – he’d been a central figure of opposition in Russia for more than 15 years. Yet in other ways, not a surprise at all – for three years he’d been in the claws of a regime with a long-established history of getting rid of its better-known opponents. Navalny himself was realistic about his chances, saying in court he was ‘under the total control of men who adore applying chemical weapons to everything, and no one would bet three kopecks on my life now.’ But still, with Navalny you held onto the irrational hope it might

Jawad Iqbal

Why do football managers like Thomas Tuchel always get the blame?

Bayern Munich’s decision to part ways with their coach Thomas Tuchel is a rather bizarre form of managerial sacking. Tuchel is leaving the job but will be allowed to stay in charge until the end of the season. This can only make a team that is in free fall more unstable. In a statement on the club’s website, Jan-Christian Dreesen, the Bayern chief executive, said: ‘In an open, good conversation we came to the decision to mutually end our collaboration in the summer.’ This is the same Dreesen who told reporters hours earlier that Tuchel would not be dismissed anytime soon. Tuchel was singing the same tune about an end

Katy Balls

Could Britain have a farmers’ revolt?

Nine years ago, when Rishi Sunak was campaigning to be the Conservative candidate for Richmond in Yorkshire, he knew his background wouldn’t work in his favour. Here was a millionaire City slicker – fresh from a spell in Silicon Valley – standing in a rural safe seat against local rivals. William Hague, who was retiring from the seat, told him he’d need to do a crash course in country living. Sunak replied that he’d milk some cows right away. Now, the Prime Minister takes great pride in his familiarity with rural issues. He cites hill farming as a passion and boasts to friends of his ‘deep knowledge of sheep’. The

The Spectator

Citizens’ assemblies are a dreadful idea

Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party is a government-in-waiting desperately searching for ideas. It says much about the leader of the opposition that arguably the biggest proposal he’s put forward comes not from him but from his chief of staff, Sue Gray. She, it seems, is enthused about the idea of citizens’ assemblies, and wants more of them to look into issues such as constitutional reform, devolution and housing. That is one step on from Tony Blair’s focus groups, with randomly selected members of the public placed one step closer to power and adopting the role of government advisers. So-called citizens’ assemblies are not an extension of democracy but an attempt

Wednesday

21 Feb 2024

Katy Balls

Lindsay Hoyle has lost control of the Commons

Ahead of the SNP’s opposition day debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the expectation was that it could herald Keir Starmer’s biggest rebellion to date. Labour MPs – including some frontbenchers – warned that they would back the SNP motion unless Labour moved its position. Instead, the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s decision to defy convention and allow a vote on a Labour amendment to the motion (on top of a government amendment) has led to chaotic scenes in the chamber that have been more dramatic than those during the Brexit wars. Starmer had tried to quell the likely Labour rebellion by putting forward an amendment to