Politics

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

Wednesday

14 Feb 2024

Britain’s unemployment figures can’t be trusted

Britain’s unemployment statistics are unreliable, and the Office of National Statistics is experimenting with a new method of counting the number of people out of work. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, said as much this afternoon while giving evidence to the House of Lords Committee on Economic Affairs. Until the 1990s the unemployment figure was a simple count of the number of people who were claiming unemployment benefit. Since then, however, the figures have been collected via the Labour Force Survey, which is a questionnaire put to a sample of households. As Bailey says, the size of this sample was already shrinking before the pandemic, making the

Melanie McDonagh

How to get through Lent

Well, it’s a pig of a coincidence to have Ash Wednesday coinciding with Valentine’s Day. So, at the start of Lent, on the very day that traditionalists are allowed one light meal and two collations – basically less of everything and no meat – you’re meant to be celebrating the love stuff, always supposing you’re of an age. There are ways round this. First, remember that fish is fine. Oysters, that well known aphrodisiac, are absolutely legitimate; ditto lobster. You can’t really feel that hard done by if you’re putting away Coquilles St Jacques for two. Or else you could always go vegan. It’s not often you want to embrace

James Heale

Have the Tories given up on Wellingborough & Kingswood?

10 min listen

Inflation figures released this morning have remained at 4 per cent – a worry for Rishi Sunak’s five pledges. There are several hurdles are still to come for the Prime Minister this week, including growth figures tomorrow and two by-elections on Friday. Why are the Tories keeping things low-key on the campaign trail? James Heale is joined by Kate Andrews and Lucy Fisher Whitehall editor of the Financial Times.

Damien Phillips

The Body Shop won’t be the last high street chain to collapse

The collapse of the retail chain The Body Shop marks a new low in the sorry tale of Britain’s shops and their struggle for survival. The brand was put into administration by private equity firm Aurelius only a few weeks after it had been acquired from its former owners Natura & Co for £207 million. The demise of The Body Shop could see the loss of its 199 shops across the UK and an uncertain future for nearly 2,000 employees – but sadly it is only the latest in a long line of big retail closures. Only last month, Lloyds Pharmacy entered liquidation owing nearly £300 million to its creditors.

Kate Andrews

Inflation stays at 4 per cent – despite Red Sea disruption

The government had been facing two economic challenges this week, ahead of the by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough: the publication of the latest inflation figures and the economic growth figures for the last quarter of 2023. It has just about survived the first challenge. This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics shows the inflation rate sticking at 4 per cent on the year in January, unchanged from December. This is still double the Bank of England’s inflation target, but it is better than expected news, as economists were predicting an uptick to 4.2 per cent. A combination of factors – including the January sales for home goods and furniture and

Gavin Mortimer

Will the Tories be wiped out like the French Republicans?

Vote for me or you’ll end up with Keir Starmer. That was the threat from Rishi Sunak on Monday evening when in front of the GB News cameras he addressed voters in Country Durham. The Prime Minister warned that the general election will be a straightforward choice between the Conservatives and Labour. He then listed what was at stake: controlling spending, cutting taxes, boosting the economy, protecting borders and policing the streets. ‘All of those things that you care about, who is more likely to deliver them?’ Not the Tories, if the polls are to be believed. One poll last month predicted the party will be ‘wiped out’ in the

Benedict Rogers

Lionel Messi shouldn’t have been in Hong Kong in the first place

Football has turned messy in Hong Kong. Last Sunday, the beleaguered Hong Kong Chinese Communist party was hoping for a public relations boost after Inter Miami agreed to play a friendly in the city against the Hong Kong Team. Instead, the game was overshadowed by a furious row after Miami footballer Lionel Messi failed to come out on the pitch because of a groin injury. The Hong Kong government reacted with outrage, and fans booed the players and demanded refunds. Three days later Messi was well enough to play in Japan, adding insult to injury in the eyes of the CCP. The outcry has now spread to mainland China, with state

Limor Simhony Philpott

Israel has to invade Rafah if it wants to destroy Hamas

When news broke that Israel planned to start an offensive in the city of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, it was faced with a barrage of warnings and condemnations, including from its allies. Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Israel to ‘think seriously’ before it launched a large-scale operation in the city. US President Biden called on Israel to halt the offensive. The EU representative for foreign affairs and security, Joseph Borrell, urged Israel’s allies to stop arming it, and Egypt threatened to suspend the peace deal over the planned offensive. Rafah sits close to the border with Egypt. Originally home to about 250,000 people, it’s where

Tuesday

13 Feb 2024

Natasha Feroze

Can Labour learn from its mistakes?

15 min listen

Keir Starmer has rolled back on his support for the Rochdale by-election candidate, Azhar Ali over further comments made about on Israel-Palestine. John McTernan and James Heale speak to Natasha Feroze about the lessons Labour can learn, and whether antisemitism could topple Starmer. Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak has been taking advantage of Labour’s U-turns, and Michael Gove has laid out his new house building plan.

Isabel Hardman

Starmer suspends second Labour candidate

Labour has now suspended Graham Jones as a parliamentary candidate after a recording emerged of him allegedly saying that Britons who travel to Israel to fight for the IDF should be ‘locked up’. The former MP, who is standing again in Hyndburn, was taped appearing to refer to ‘f***ing Israel’, and saying it was ‘illegal’ for Britons to fight for Israel. It isn’t – the UK recognises the right of dual nationals to join ‘legitimately recognised armed forces’, but it is a point that has been debated within politics, and suggests that Keir Starmer is lowering the bar following the fallout from his Rochdale decision. Starmer has made a real

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron is taking a harsher line on Israel

Lord Cameron has shown again this afternoon how much the government’s tone on the conflict in Gaza has changed recently. The Foreign Secretary was taking questions in the Lords and heavily laboured the point that Israel should think twice before going into Rafah. He repeated his regular argument that there had been too many Palestinian deaths. Cameron also said he had personally challenged the Israeli government over certain incidents, and urged it once again to abide by humanitarian law. This is a shift from the previous line where ministers said Israel must follow the law, but refused to offer any criticism or indication that they thought the IDF might be

Fraser Nelson

Could the Lords stop the Emirati bid for the Telegraph and The Spectator?

I’ve just given evidence to a House of Lords Select Committee which is considering the future of news and media more broadly. The best thing that politicians can do for the press is leave us alone: protect our independence (from politicians and government) but also protect the press from politicians and governments of other countries. This is now in doubt, with the Emirati bid for the Daily Telegraph and The Spectator through one of their investment vehicles, RedBird IMI. The Media Bill is currently going through the Lords. Their lordships could amend it to state that foreign governments and their proxies cannot own television stations or newspapers in the UK. Such a stipulation should

Lara Prendergast

With Professor Charles Spence

34 min listen

Professor Charles Spence is an experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on how an in-depth understanding of the human mind will lead to the better design of multi-sensory foods and products. He is the author of several books including his most recent, Sensehacking: How to Use the Power of Your Senses for Happier, Healthier Living. On this episode he talks about how he started experimenting with food and the human senses, working with Heston Blumenthal, and how he doesn’t understand ice-cream.

John Oxley

Sunak is playing it safe with new housing plans

Rishi Sunak seems to have realised a trick for pushing more building without confronting Tory Nimbyism. Under plans unveiled today, he’s going to ease restrictions on building in urban areas, where prices are most pressured and where Tory votes are rarely found. Councils missing their housing targets will be restricted in when they can refuse permission, and it will become easier to convert existing buildings into housing. It’s a canny dodge. The Conservatives understand that rising house prices are threatening their future, with fewer younger people getting on the housing ladder. At the same time, however, big steps to resolve the crisis would mean a fight with ageing homeowners who

Andrew Tettenborn

Rishi Sunak should ignore this biased Rwanda Bill report

‘UK’s Rwanda Bill incompatible with human rights obligations… damning report by MPs warns.’ So ran the headline yesterday morning, referring to the report released by the joint human rights select committee on the Safety of Rwanda Bill. As often happens, however, immediate appearances can deceive. Constitutionally, the UK is administered by a ministry with the confidence of the House of Commons, not by committees captured by the progressive establishment The striking feature of this report is that, even though it came from a select committee, it could have been penned by Amnesty International or another similar radical human rights pressure group. The ECHR and other human rights treaties, it insists, must be followed at

Lloyd Evans

Does Rishi Sunak think Labour is already running the country?

He strutted into the middle of the studio in dark slacks and a creaseless white shirt. Nippy, zestful, ready for anything. Rishi Sunak submitted to a public inquisition on GB News last night and he looked like the guy who warms up the crowd for a motivational speech by Tom Cruise. But Rishi was the headline act. And he was desperate to prepare us for another administration run by Rishi. His opening remarks covered his ‘five priorities – your priorities’ and gave him a chance to quack out his current favourite soundbite, ‘stick with this plan or go back to Square One with Keir Starmer.’ He sounded hesitant and unsure

Patrick O’Flynn

What the Rochdale disaster says about Keir Starmer

Sometimes a single act changes the entire course of events for years to come. For instance, many Manchester United football fans fondly recall the moment in 1990 that a young striker called Mark Robins scored a crucial goal in an FA Cup tie that saved the job of Alex Ferguson, who had at that stage not won a trophy three seasons into his tenure. So might Tory supporters point in future years to Keir Starmer’s disastrous mishandling of the anti-Semitic comments of his Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali as the moment that changed the game for them? In short, no. Starmer’s flip-flopping and lack of principle is already, as financial market

Kate Andrews

Job vacancies fall – but not by enough to lower interest rates

Has the Labour market cooled down enough for the Bank of England to change its mind on interest rates? Almost certainly not, based on the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, out this morning. The reintroduction of the Labour Force Survey data, which had to be suspended temporarily due to poor and limited feedback, has now been reinstated, showing fewer changes in the labour market than experts were hoping to see. Job vacancies fell for the nineteenth consecutive time – but not by much. Vacancies were down to 932,000 on the quarter – a fall of 26,000, still well above pre-pandemic levels. Despite expectations that the unemployment rate would rise

Michael Taube

Canada’s ridiculous housing ban for foreigners

Canada, like many countries, has certain limitations in place related to foreign investment and ownership – in everything from large-scale businesses to sports teams. These anti-free market, anti-capitalist measures are bad enough on their own, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have found a way to make these restrictions even worse. The Canadian government announced last week that the existing ban on foreign nationals from purchasing residential property has been extended until 2027. The only exceptions to the rule will be asylum seekers, some international students and temporary workers. For potential foreigner home buyers, including thousands of British expats, this is terrible news. Which isn’t to say they didn’t expect it.

Gareth Roberts

Why progressives don’t face real consequences

One of the most tedious and repetitive observations made in the often tedious and repetitive discourse around cancel culture is the notion that ‘freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences’. This slightly sinister cliché is the progressive version of ‘well, think on, you wouldn’t have been shot if you hadn’t been trying to escape’. It is usually offered forth as if it is somehow a seismic statement. Some clumsy clots – the hapless Graham Norton last year, for example, when discussing JK Rowling – have even tried to frame cancel culture as ‘accountability culture’ or ‘consequences culture’. But it strikes me that there is a shadow image of cancel culture