Politics

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

Tuesday

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

What did we really learn from Dominic Cummings’s leaked WhatsApps?

It’ll be years before the Covid Inquiry reports back on what we can learn from the pandemic, but already there is one key lesson for us all: don’t write anything on WhatsApp that you wouldn’t want read out in court. The vividly-phrased WhatsApp messages published, and very memorably read aloud, as part of the inquiry have brought some much-needed mirth to our troubled times. There is something inherently very funny about posh people in court quoting bad language and repeating insults like ‘useless f*** pigs’. Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, is one of those who carries the air of the headmaster’s study around with him. He has

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Rishi Sunak’s Oliver Dowden problem

Margaret Thatcher was said to have once remarked that every prime minister needed a Willie. Given that humour was not her natural domain, perhaps she didn’t even intend it as a pun. The Willie she was referring to was, of course, the vastly experienced William Whitelaw who served as her effective deputy – and most famously as ‘minister for banana skins’ – for almost a decade despite being from the patrician and ‘wet’ side of the Tory party. Since Thatcher’s day, it has become fashionable for prime ministers to appoint an official deputy and that position is currently held by Oliver Dowden. But there’s a snag: Dowden is the wrong kind

Annabel Denham

Snooping on benefit claimants’ bank accounts won’t cut fraud

Another day, another wheeze from a desperate government as it tries to move the polls. Benefit claimants could soon have their bank accounts checked each month to ensure they are not lying about their savings. The law change, designed to crack down on benefits fraud, appears to be the government’s answer to the fact that welfare payments have exploded in recent years. It will reportedly be unveiled in the Autumn Statement, with estimates suggesting it could save the taxpayer £100 million a year. But will it make a difference? The Department for Work and Pensions’ total proposed expenditure for 2023/24 is set to reach £279 billion (almost half of which is pensioner benefits).

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Braverman has offered nothing to stop homelessness

Landscape architects use the term ‘hostile design’ to describe elements that stop anti-social behaviour. They could be armrests along a lengthy bench aren’t for the comfort of the people who choose to sit there, but to break up the space and make it impossible for someone to lie down and sleep rough. Little studs running along the edge of the bench stop skateboards. Cruder examples include spikes around air vents: not only do these stop rough sleepers from lying down in the warmer space, they also send a very loud message about who is welcome and who isn’t. Subtle or not, armrests and spikes don’t stop rough sleeping. They just

Joanna Williams

The Met’s strange approach to protest

Demonstrations against Israel, some attracting many thousands of people, have become a regular occurrence. We have grown used to the sight of masked protesters draped in Palestinian flags marching in our cities, blocking train stations, and even calling for jihad. The police, meanwhile, seem to be keeping a low profile. Such light-touch policing is not normal. Think back to the 1980s and scenes of officers on horseback charging into striking coal miners. Or, more recently, the way women were dealt with at the vigil for murdered Sarah Everard. Why are pro-Palestine demonstrations being handled so differently? One answer might lie with the police, and their approach to protest. Until yesterday,

Steven Barrett

Is the Met doing all it can to control the Palestine protests?

The Metropolitan police force is falling apart before our eyes. With it is going our sense of safety and security in our capital city, as we watch hate filled marches and what would be, in any other circumstances, criminal activity on London’s streets. The Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, recently went on national television and said that the Met was doing all it could to enforce up to the legal line, but it was up to politicians to draw those lines. Is Rowley right to suggest though the Met is doing all it can when it comes to the protests? No. And here’s why.  Since the Thatcher era, successive governments

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory grassroots oppose Sunak’s smoking ban

It’s the King’s Speech tomorrow and all of Westminster can barely contain itself. A new monarch might be on the throne, but the usual pre-briefing game hasn’t changed, with press stories aplenty as to the draft laws that are likely to be included. One bill that is set to be announced tomorrow is legislation to implement the gradual smoking ban announced by Rishi Sunak at this year’s Conservative Party conference.  Much has been made of the public’s support for such a move, but if Sunak hopes it will energise his base, he ought to think again. For polling of 696 members by the Tory news site ConservativeHome suggests that the

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Why won’t Gary Lineker call out the fascism of Hamas? 

One of the most curious things following Hamas’s massacre of the Jews on 7 October was the silence of Britain’s fascism-spotters. You know these people. They see fascism everywhere. Everything from a fiery speech by a Tory politician to millions of ‘gammon’ going out to vote for Brexit reminds them of the 1930s. The minute someone says something they don’t like or votes for a thing they disapprove of, they’re logging onto Twitter to wail: ‘Is this Nazism?!’  It’s striking that someone so interested in contemporary events that echo the evils of the 30s has had so little to say about the worst anti-Jewish pogrom in 75 years?  And yet

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is Suella Braverman in trouble over rough sleepers?

14 min listen

The Home Secretary sparked fury over the weekend for her comments on homelessness, suggesting that rough sleepers using tents is a ‘lifestyle choice’. Senior cabinet members including the Rishi Sunak didn’t jump to her defence from the comments. What was behind her decision to take such a firm line? Also on the podcast, Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman about the serial rapist cover-up allegations levelled at the Tory party. 

Matthew Lynn

In defence of ‘rip-off’ airline charges

The Conservative party is 25 points behind in the polls. Its backbenchers are scrambling around to find new jobs, and the opposition is already making its plans for government. Rishi Sunak’s grip on the premiership is growing more tenuous with every passing day. But, heck, never mind. It turns out the PM has a cunning plan to restore his electoral fortunes. In the King’s speech tomorrow the government is expected to unveil plans to ban ‘hidden’ charges on air travel. Any of us who have plowed miserably through the expensive minefield of a Ryanair booking will finally have a reason to vote Conservative. It’s hard to believe that anyone booking

Leon Mangasarian

The trouble with Olaf Scholz

German chancellor Olaf Scholz still doesn’t get it. ‘Der Fisch stinkt vom Kopf’ (the fish stinks from its head) is a popular German saying. It’s proven right by Scholz’s abysmal failure to lead since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He’s failing again with Israel, declaring the Jewish state is Germany’s ‘Staatsräson’, or raison d-etat, but never spelling out what this means. Scholz has flopped with his tepid attempts to explain what’s at stake for Germany and Europe in Ukraine and Israel and why Berlin should be the leadership power of the EU. This problem is partly due to Scholz’s nature. If you think you’re the smartest guy in the room

Daniel Rey

Next year’s US election promises a crisis

There’s only a year to go until the most complex and consequential US presidential election ever. Ukraine, the Middle East, geriatric candidates, big-name independents, the criminal charges against Trump, a new House speaker (who must ratify the outcome) who didn’t recognise Biden’s victory in 2020 – the complexity is staggering.  The two main candidates, Biden and Trump, are both unpopular. Biden’s approval rating stands (or rather, squats) at around 37 per cent. Polls indicate he is losing support among two traditional bastions of the Democratic party: African-Americans and young voters. Meanwhile Trump, who has still to secure the Republican nomination, lost the popular vote in his two presidential campaigns. In

Limor Simhony Philpott

Israel is in a race against time to defeat Hamas

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) declared last night that Gaza has been encircled and divided into two separate parts: north and south. The majority of the fighting is in northern Gaza, where Hamas has concentrated its bases and arms. This is a significant new stage in the war, which has so far escalated gradually. The gradual advance of the IDF ground troops had several aims. It allowed Palestinian civilians to move from northern Gaza to the safer south, close to the border with Egypt where limited humanitarian aid has been entering the strip. The majority of civilians have now moved to southern Gaza, but several hundred thousands have remain in

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Is the West losing interest in Ukraine?

There’s a very different tone coming from Kyiv these days. Speaking to Time magazine, Volodymyr Zelensky had just returned from Washington after failing to make another impassioned public address on Capitol Hill, and not even managing to get on Oprah. The Ukrainian president sounded angry. The constant struggle to maintain international support seems to be taking its toll. ‘Nobody believes in our victory like I do. Nobody,’ he insisted, but added that dragging Ukraine’s allies along with him ‘takes all your power, your energy… It takes so much of everything.’ Meanwhile, in the Economist, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, commander in chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, and another icon of national resilience,

Sunday

Steerpike Steerpike

Dowden grilled over CCHQ cover-up claims

Nadine Dorries continues to make waves in Westminster. One episode she references in her book concerns shocking claims that the Tory party ‘covered up’ incidents of sexual misconduct by one of its own MPs. Today’s Mail on Sunday reports that Sir Jake Berry, who served as chairman between September and October 2022, wrote to the police shortly after taking office. His letter revealed that a number of allegations about the MP had been made to the party, but that only limited action had been taken. Berry reportedly uncovered the scandal when he discovered that the party had paid for one of the alleged victims to receive treatment at a private

Joe Bedell-Brill

Oliver Dowden: I have ‘grave concerns’ about Armistice day marches

As the conflict in Gaza continues, there is increasing division over the crisis here in the UK. Keir Starmer continues to resist those in his party calling a ceasefire; Home Secretary Suella Braverman has labelled pro-Palestine rallies as ‘hate marches’; and Jewish columnist Lord Finkelstein told Trevor Phillips that he wonders whether it is safe for him or his children in central London. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden partially agreed with Braverman, telling Laura Kuenssberg there was hateful conduct occurring on the marches. He said he had ‘grave concerns’ about the pro-Palestine rally planned for Armistice day. Labour’s John Healey – a ceasefire leaves Hamas in place Speaking to Trevor

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Michael Crick versus GB News

Some compulsory weekend viewing from GB News. The channel invited veteran broadcaster Michael Crick onto Neil Oliver’s show yesterday to discuss media censorship. So it was to some embarrassment then that as Crick began listing the various right-wing politicians employed there that Oliver was, er, forced to go to a break and cut the discussion off mid-flow. The full exchange unfolded as follows: Neil Oliver: “Now you talk about being broadly wary of censorship. Ok, now on this channel, on GB News, in the company of Michelle Dewberry, you said that you thought GB News ought to be shut down…” Michael Crick: “Because you’re biased, you’re right wing. I mean

Seth J. Frantzman

To win, Israel must destroy the labyrinth of Hamas tunnels

As Israeli forces continue to push into Gaza they face threats from Hamas terrorists who use a network of tunnels under the strip. This is referred to by Israel as a ‘metro’. The tunnel network is extensive and exists under civilian homes and streets. In the brief ten-day war between Israel and Hamas in May 2021, Israel said it had struck 62 miles of these tunnels under Gaza. Today Hamas continues to use them. Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke to IDF combat engineers this week and vowed that Israel has ‘unique solutions’ for destroying the tunnels and that Hamas members who remained in them would be eliminated.  Avoiding detection by going

Jake Wallis Simons Jake Wallis Simons

Hamas and the narcissism of the progressive left

A prominent member of Hamas’s political bureau has been causing something of a stir on the internet in recent days. In an interview with the Lebanese television channel LBC, Ghazi Hamad vowed that given the chance, his group would repeat the October 7 massacre until Israel ceased to exist. It went viral. To many people, the habits of bears in woods might spring to mind. But the context made the clip fly. In recent weeks, the public debate in the West has descended into an appalling maelstrom in which gullible westerners insist on projecting their own values onto Hamas, while increasingly small ranks of the sane try to snap them out of it. It

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Benjamin Netanyahu is a dangerous ally for the left

There is no better example of modern pseudo-sophistication than the dismissal of the argument in the Labour party about a ceasefire in Gaza as self-indulgence. No debate in the UK will influence the Israeli government or Hamas, commentators say, and then sit back as if expecting to hear applause.   Of course, it won’t. But the professionally bored forget that global arguments are fought in local contexts. If you want global pressure to build on Israel, or wish to defend Israel, you fight your fights where you are and where you can. A more revealing question than why left-wingers bother to argue about Gaza, is why has the western left’s campaign