Politics Archives

Tuesday

12 Mar 2024

Steerpike

Will Lee Anderson be ousted from PopCon?

Liz Truss launched her Popular Conservatism movement — catchily dubbed PopCon — just over a month ago. Taking aim at ‘left wing extremists’, Truss hit out at colleagues more interested in pursuing policies popular at ‘London dinner parties’ and explained that her new group would champion true Tory values. But it wasn’t just lefties that didn’t fare well. Before PopCon had even launched, event organisers ousted Simon Clarke MP from the speaker line-up after he called for Rishi Sunak to go. Could Lee Anderson be next? The former deputy chairman of the Conservative party was one of PopCon’s star speakers. Cracking jokes about how he and his fellow speaker Jacob

Michael Simmons

Has the jobs market cooled enough to cut interest rates?

Is the Bank of England about to cut interest rates? Today’s labour market statistics might just give them the room to do so. The latest data, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning, shows that the number of payrolled employees is up, the unemployment rate is up, vacancies are down and pay growth is slowing. But is it enough? Job vacancies fell for the 20th consecutive time between December and February – and by twice as in last month’s release. Vacancies were down to 908,000 on the quarter, a decrease of 43,000 – though they remain far higher than pre-lockdown levels. More data released yesterday by the

Gavin Mortimer

Is Giorgia Meloni a secret centrist?

When it became clear in September 2022 that Giorgia’s Meloni right-wing coalition was on course to win Italy’s general election, Ursula von der Leyen issued a warning. ‘If things go in a difficult direction,’ declared the president of the European Commission, ‘…we have tools’. Matteo Salvini, whose Liga party was a member of the coalition, denounced von der Leyen’s threat as ‘shameful arrogance’. The marriage of convenience between von der Leyen and Meloni has benefited both in the last two years The German’s fears have proved unfounded. Meloni’s government hasn’t gone in a ‘difficult direction’. On the contrary, Meloni seems to have moved gently to the centre, where von der

Monday

11 Mar 2024

Steerpike

Tory donor under scrutiny for Diane Abbott remarks

Oh dear. The Tory party’s biggest donor Frank Hester is under fire for remarks he made about Diane Abbott in a 2019 meeting. The West Yorkshire businessman is facing intense criticism for unprofessionalism at work after it emerged he had told colleagues that looking at Abbott makes ‘you just want to hate all black women because she’s there’ and that ‘she should be shot’. Hester has since apologised for his ‘rude’ remarks and a statement from his business says that the donor has attempted to contact Abbott directly to say sorry. A number of Tory MPs backed Hester’s apology on Tuesday morning while admitting that his remarks were ‘wrong’. Lord

Douglas Carswell

Lee Anderson should call a by-election after defecting to Reform

Lee Anderson, who has defected from the Tories to Reform, is about to find out that switching parties is not an easy thing to do. Politics is so tribal that most politicians are inclined to stick with ‘their side’ no matter what. When they change sides, it’s worth asking why. Having once been a Conservative MP in a solid blue constituency, who made the decision to join Ukip – which at the time had never won a parliamentary seat – I know how difficult a decision it can be. Anderson is likely to have had a lot of sleepless nights. If you decide to change party, you owe it to your

Isabel Hardman

Can the Tories actually make their free extra childcare plan work?

Is the government’s expansion of free childcare actually going to work? The early years sector says not. They have warned that parents of two year olds won’t get the 15 funded hours they have been promised without eye-watering fee hikes overall – and that some nurseries may even be forced to close because they simply can’t balance the books. No wonder, then, that this policy was once again the focus of Labour’s attack at Education Questions in the Commons this afternoon. Ministers really do think the complaints about the scheme now simply amount to teething problems A number of opposition MPs, including Stella Creasy and shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson,

Steerpike

Lee Anderson’s by-election hypocrisy

Lee Anderson is back in the spotlight. The former Tory MP today jumped ship to Richard Tice’s Reform UK party, following weeks of speculation after he was suspended from the Conservatives. Telling reporters this morning that he had deliberately thrown them ‘off the scent’ when he formally denied he would defect to Reform, Anderson’s remarks suggested his mind had been made up for a while. But it appears this was not a decision the ex-Tory had ever thought he would make when he first became an MP. In fact, the Ashfield rep voted in favour of a bill that would have made defecting considerably trickier… In 2020, Anderson voted for

Jonathan Miller

Macron has spied an easy win with his assisted dying Bill

Emmanuel Macron was predictably theatrical when he introduced his Bill on the end of life yesterday. In the proposed legislation, medical staff would be authorised to help their patients to die – which Macron described as a law of ‘fraternity’. He pronounced: ‘With this text, we look death in the face.’ A guaranteed headline in the Catholic daily La Croix. The President has often favoured dark suits and I have previously described him as having a funereal mien. But he was positively bouncy extolling the Bill, which will be debated by the National Assembly this spring. Macron is swimming with the tide of popular opinion He chose to kick off the

Patrick O’Flynn

Why Starmer shouldn’t celebrate Lee Anderson’s Reform defection

Lee Anderson joining Reform UK is unquestionably a disaster for Rishi Sunak. It will guarantee the challenger party huge coverage and further orientate it towards the ‘Red Wall’ vote that powered the Tories to victory in 2019. Expect to see opinion polls showing a further decrease in the gap between Reform and Conservative vote shares in the coming weeks. The outspoken Anderson hitching his wagon to Reform will create a pull factor for working class culturally and socially conservative voters to match the push factor that Sunak himself set in train when he sacked Suella Braverman and brought David Cameron into his cabinet. Reform has added about five points to

Max Jeffery

Lee Anderson defects: what next?

13 min listen

Lee Anderson has defected from the Tory party to Reform. In a press conference this morning, Anderson said ‘I want my country back’ and said that his parents had urged him to change party allegiance. How much of a headache is Anderson’s defection for Rishi Sunak, and will more Tory MPs quit the party? Max Jeffery speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.

Steerpike

Lee Anderson’s top three spats with Reform

Well, well, well. The rumours turned out to be true. This morning the former deputy chairman of the Tory party — who lost the whip last month for refusing to apologise for ‘Islamophobic’ comments — defected to Reform UK. The red wall Rottweiler told reporters that ‘constituents like my mum and dad told me they could not vote for me’ unless he jumped ship, adding: ‘I want my country back.’ A magpie for news headlines, Anderson has generated some rather colourful examples in recent months. The MP has told asylum seekers to ‘f*** off back to France’, been dubbed ‘30p Lee’ after taking a controversial stance on food banks and

Katy Balls

Lee Anderson’s Reform defection spells trouble for Rishi Sunak

Tory MP Lee Anderson has defected to Reform UK. Speaking at an impromptu press conference this morning, the former deputy Tory party chairman – who lost the Conservative whip last month over his comments on Islamists controlling London – said that he was switching to Richard Tice’s party as the current ‘parliament doesn’t seem to understand’ what British people want. Anderson said he wants ‘his country back’ and believes Reform is the party best placed to do this. There are plenty of Tory MPs saying Anderson was never a true conservative anyway This is not a surprising defection. Anderson has long been on ‘Reform watch’ as a Tory MP –

Steerpike

Lee Anderson defects to Reform

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has this morning defected to Reform UK. Party leader Richard Tice made the announcement at a London press conference this morning, where he praised Anderson as a ‘champion of the red wall’ and told reporters: ‘We want to replace the Tories as the main alternative to Starmergeddon.’ GB News, which employs Anderson and hosts his show ‘Real World’, tipped him to defect to Reform earlier today. The move will give Tice’s party its first MP ahead of the upcoming election and may cause more Tory upset after polling on Friday put their vote share at 18 per cent — only 5 per cent ahead of

Julie Burchill

This tragic Oscars shows the Golden Age of Hollywood is over

‘The Incident’ which took place between Chris Rock and Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars was a double-edged sword. It brought a bored audience back; between 2014 and 2020, the televised Academy Awards lost almost half their viewers, while in 2023 they were up by 18 million as eager punters tuned in hoping to see a bitch-fight between Olivia Colman and Nicole Kidman. But a couple of years without a dust-up will no doubt make a re-bored audience turn its collective back once more – and judging from last night’s astonishingly enervated showing they’d be totally justified. The best bit is when the cameras pan in on the hopefuls and

Alexander Larman

The Princess of Wales’ ‘manipulated’ photo is a disastrous own goal

The photograph of Kate Middleton surrounded by her family was supposed to reassure the public. ‘Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day,’ the caption alongside the picture read. Seasoned royal watchers saw a code in the terse statement: you’ve had your fun speculating what’s going on when it comes to the Princess of Wales’s absence from public life on health grounds, but I’m here, I’m fine, and there’s nothing to worry about. This should, under normal circumstances, have put an end to the matter. But then the picture was withdrawn by four international photo agencies, including Getty

Limor Simhony Philpott

Why a Ramadan ceasefire in Gaza looks unlikely

Hopes for a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas during Ramadan were dashed over the weekend, when it became apparent that no such deal would be reached before the beginning of the holy month. Weeks of tough negotiations that raised optimistic speculations about a deal have so far produced no tangible results. Hamas has hardened its position on a temporary ceasefire that would include the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners. This came as no surprise to Israeli negotiators; Israel has been warning for weeks that Hamas is set to reject a deal while attempting to provoke violent clashes between Palestinians and Arab-Israelis, and Israeli security

Steerpike

Michael Gove’s ‘hate tsar’ quits before he’s even begun

Michael Gove’s mission to tackle extremism has got off to a shaky start. Fiyaz Mughal, the man who was reportedly lined up to officially begin as the government’s anti-Muslim hatred tsar today, has quit after being bombarded with hate mail. Mughal said he received a ‘torrent of abuse’ from both Islamists and far-right extremists just hours after his name was leaked on Friday. ‘Serious stuff was coming through my inbox,’ Mughal said, who hit out at ministers for failing to protect him from the backlash: I’m angry because the government has been saying for decades, ‘where are the British Muslims speaking out?’ When we speak out, we are left to

Robert Hardman

Can the King save the Commonwealth?

When the King makes his first public address since his cancer diagnosis today, the occasion could not be more fitting. The monarch will address, via video, a full house at Westminster Abbey’s multi-faith Commonwealth service. No one knows the Commonwealth as well as Charles III. He grew up around its founding fathers. As Prince of Wales, his credentials – not least as an environmentalist – were such that the Commonwealth summit unanimously endorsed him as future head in 2018. But 2024, which marks the 75th anniversary of the Commonwealth, will be a challenging year for the organisation – and the King’s diplomatic skills will be vital if it is to

Fraser Nelson

Labour comes out against Emirati bid for Telegraph

This is a big week for the future of the British press with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the House of Lords both due to take decisions on the RedBird bid for the Daily Telegraph and The Spectator. Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, will respond to reports she has been given looking at competitive issues. There are none. The real concern is about whether this deal is funded by the government of the United Arab Emirates. It is majority-financed by International Media Investments (IMI) which RedBird says is a private entity that happens to be run by Sheikh Mansour, an Emirati royal and its Deputy Prime Minister,

Sunday

10 Mar 2024

Steerpike

Picture agencies ‘kill’ royal photo over editing fears

Kensington Palace made headlines on Sunday night — but not in the way officials hoped. A photo that was meant to quell conspiracies about Kate Middleton’s absence from public life on health grounds has only spurred further speculation as to what is really going on with the Princess of Wales. The picture showing Kate surrounded by her three young children was released this morning, in a nod to the Cambridge’s annual Mother’s Day tradition. It appeared on William and Kate’s official Instagram page and was used by a number of outlets, including Sky News and the BBC, which excitedly published the ‘first official photo’ of the Princess of Wales since