Politics

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

Monday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: DeSantis grinds teeth during grilling

Poor Ron DeSantis. Once, he was the frontrunner to take over the Republican mantle from Trump. But now, following a staff exodus, tanking ratings and a barrage of insults from The Donald, the Florida Governor looks to be yesterday’s man. DeSantis is currently a whopping 45 points behind in the polls for the Republican nomination, with Trump refusing to attend Wednesday’s debate on the basis that he is ‘leading the field by “legendary” numbers.’ And the strain now appears to be getting to DeSantis, judging by his appearance in a clip he recorded yesterday. The Florida Governor was asked about a leaked memo from a friendly Super PAC detailing his

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Sanctions are failing to turn Putin’s oligarchs against him

When personal sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials were imposed by the UK, US and EU after Putin’s invasion, the rationale was that this would undermine the Kremlin. In the main, this has failed – and there is still no coherent strategy to encourage those Russians willing to turn against the regime. Wider economic sanctions are slowly grinding away at the economic base of Putin’s regime and its war machine. The case for personal sanctions is much less clear. It is absolutely right and proper that those directly involved in the war, conducting repressions or justifying aggression ought to be punished. However, in their enthusiasm to be seen as taking a determined stand (and, in part,

Sunday

Nick Turse

America has lost the war against Islamist terror in Africa

After 9/11, the US built a network of military outposts across the northern tier of Africa to fight a shadow war against Islamist groups, and Niger became central to the effort. From Base Airienne 201, known to locals as ‘Base Americaine’, US drones were sent across the region to track down Islamist terrorists. The coup against President Bazoum marks another disruption in this long-running, mostly secret, war on terror. American troops in Niger are currently confined to their bases. The future of America’s two-decade counterterrorism campaign there is in doubt. In 2008, about 2,600 US military personnel were deployed in Africa, but today, there are around 6,500 troops and civilian

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

After Sunak, who?

Nothing happens, and nothing happens, and then everything happens, the author Fay Weldon once declared.  This observation about life’s tendency to deliver sudden squalls between periods of apparent calm could certainly be applied to the leadership of the Conservative party.  It is only a year ago that Kemi Badenoch rather brilliantly used the leadership contest that followed the downfall of Boris Johnson to force her way into the top rank of Conservative politicians after having been overlooked during various Johnsonite Cabinet reshuffles. Now her merits are widely acknowledged and she is firm favourite at the bookies to become the next leader of the party. Of course, nothing is happening on

Ian O’Doherty

Ireland’s bonkers plan to kill cows to save the planet

You have to hand it to the green movement. When it comes to their increasingly farcical and delusional race towards the illusory target of net zero, they’re never short of ideas. Bad ideas, that is. E-bikes and E-scooters that have an unfortunate tendency to explode in the middle of the night. Electric cars which take days to charge – when you can find a charger. Motorists threatened with eye-watering fines if they dare to go faster than 20 miles an hour. Honestly, don’t be surprised if the next generation of cars come equipped with only two gears and a built in speed inhibitor. But here in Ireland, we have really taken the

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Christian churches are under attack in Pakistan

On Wednesday, 19 churches and more than 80 Christian homes in Pakistan were ransacked after the inhabitants of the city of Jaranwala were accused of blasphemy against Islam. Perhaps the most unacknowledged aspect of the violence was just how expected it was.  Nationwide, non-Muslim places of worship, especially churches, have been on high alert for the past month following burnings of the Quran carried out in Sweden by anti-Islam protesters. All the Islamic clergy and groups in Pakistan needed was an excuse to ignite the tinderbox. It’s unfortunate that Pakistan can’t seem to muster even residual security for some of its citizens The excuse was provided by a rumour that desecrated pages of the Quran were

Josh Barrie

Au revoir to Le Gavroche

You do not need to be a ‘food person’ to know the name Roux. Or to be familiar with Le Gavroche, the family’s cherished Mayfair restaurant, soon to close after 57 years. They are a name and a restaurant that transcend beyond the world of Michelin stars. And this despite the fact the restaurant requires a considerably plump paycheck or a lot of saving up to become familiar with its riches. Michel Roux – formerly Jr. – the son of the late Albert who founded Le Gavroche with his brother Michel Roux Sr. in 1967 – announced the restaurant’s closure late on Friday. The need for an improved ‘work-life balance’

Peter Hitchens

You should read Simon Raven

It is high summer but in the early mornings you can already sense the first thrilling signs of autumn, the perfect reading season. What a good moment to revisit the enjoyably cruel England of Simon Raven, as described in his matchless series of novels Alms for Oblivion. It is pagan, unjust, beautiful, funny and evocative. It encompasses the melancholy era of national decline, from the last trumpets of empire to the seedy, garish concrete and glass squalor of Ted Heath’s fevered age. It is funny, bitter and full of a surprisingly uninhibited love of this country. It is interested in history, patriotism, courage, money, food, drink and sex, not necessarily

Saturday

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The National: ‘Can an independent Afghanistan offer lessons for Scotland?’

It’s a tough time for Scottish nationalists these days. Polling for indyref2 remains static while the SNP’s own ratings have tanked. There are still no ferries or any sign of a workable bottle return scheme. And the Dear Leader has left the stage to be replaced by hapless Humza Yousaf: the biggest downgrade since Ian Blackford succeeded Charles Kennedy. So no wonder then that the National – a self-identifying newspaper in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act – is forced to look elsewhere to make its case for independence. In their zest to cast off the British yoke, the hard-of-thinking editorial team have stumbled on a brilliant idea: why not study

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Should Rishi host MBS?

22 min listen

Downing Street has extended an invite to Mohammed bin Salman to visit the UK in Autumn. Five years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, is it time to let Saudi Arabia in from the cold? Fraser Nelson speaks to Simon Mayall, a former Middle East adviser in the Ministry of Defence, and to Jawad Iqbal, a Spectator contributor.

James Heale James Heale

James Heale, Lisa Haseldine and Neil Clark

19 min listen

This week: James Heale reads his politics column on why the Tories should fear the Greens (00:56), Lisa Haseldine outlines some of the changes to Russia’s school curriculum (06:04) and Neil Clark extols the joys of non-league football (13:02).   Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson. 

Theodore Dalrymple

Are we prepared for the end of obesity?

Sixty years ago, my biology teacher told me (so it must have been true) that after the war, some Americans were so delighted that the restrictions on food had been lifted that they ate capsules containing a tape worm so that they could eat to their heart’s content without getting fat. This, of course, revolted me, as it was intended to. I never forgot what she said.  Twenty years later, I was to see the future of the world, at least as far as obesity and type-II diabetes were concerned, on the island of Nauru. There, the inhabitants had suddenly become very rich, thanks to the mining of phosphate rock,

George Magnus

China’s property sector is on the brink of disaster – again

Once, not that long ago, few people outside China had heard of the property developer Evergrande. Now it is synonymous with failure, debt and loss – and seen as the tipping point in China’s real estate market three years ago. Now meet Country Garden, another large property developer, hailed even a year ago as a model ‘corporate citizen’. As of this week, it is a penny stock facing a debt and liquidity crisis, cannot service its US dollar debt, and is on the brink of default. Its financial demise is not quite on the scale of Evergrande, but it comes at a worse moment, when China’s economy is in the

Friday

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Watch: hapless Humza refuses to back the Lionesses

Oh dear. Hapless Humza Yousaf has tripped up again. The flailing First Minister of Scotland was today asked by Radio Clyde News if he will be watching the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday between England and Spain. Yousaf initially enthusiastically declared that ‘I will be watching the game for sure’. Yet when the reporter asked: ‘But you’ll not necessarily be cheering them on?’ a clearly irritated Yousaf immediately changed his mind and began to backtrack: Cheering them on – if you wish. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with who I’ll be cheering on. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to watch the game or not

Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller

Nicolas Sarkozy’s Russia intervention is a disgrace

Team Putin has this week gained a new and vaguely prominent supporter: Nicolas Sarkozy, the disgraced former President of France.  French politicians do not have a reputation for ethical probity but Sarkozy takes the gateau Most sensible people here are on vacation and political news is thin so a pro-Moscow declaration of Sarko, in an interview with Le Figaro, has attracted more attention than it might otherwise have commanded.  In an interview published on Wednesday, Sarkozy argued that Europe needs to ‘clarify its strategy’ and seek a compromise with Russia rather than pursue its ‘strange idea’ of funding a war without waging it. He said there was no question of admitting

Steerpike Steerpike

Khan spends £220,000 on ‘Maaate’ campaign

Good old Sadiq Khan: the right-on left-winger who never met a camera he didn’t like. The Mayor of London hit the headlines again last month with his controversial new ‘Maaate’ campaign. It calls on men to say: ‘Maaate’ to their friend if they see anything untoward towards women, in a bid to stamp out harassment. The adverts divided opinion, with women’s rights campaigner Zan Moon, founder of the Instagram account Screengrab Them, declaring at the time that Khan’s campaign was myopic and ‘offensive in its naivety’. Now Mr S has done some digging and it turns out that the total cost of the ‘Maaate’ initiative is more than £219,000. According

Edward Howell

Why North Korea is accusing the US of racism

After nearly a month of silence, North Korea has finally spoken out about Travis King – the US soldier who dashed across the border while on a guided tour from South Korea.  To the dismay of observers, however, the press release by the state-controlled media outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, offered no details as to his current condition or whereabouts.  North Korea’s own narrative portrays its people as the purer of the two Koreas, forced to live in an evil world led by its ultimate adversary, the United States The North Korean announcement did, however, state that King entered the country hoping to seek political asylum, because he was seeking to flee

Steerpike Steerpike

Another day, another Labour U-turn

In these turbulent times, it’s good to know there’s one thing we can count on: Keir Starmer’s consistent inconsistency. The Labour leader is at it again, breaking yet another of his past pledges: this time on workers’ rights. In 2021 Sir Keir’s party pledged to create a single status of ‘worker’ in employment law to stop gig economy giants like Deliveroo using the category of bogus self-employment to undermine conditions. But the Financial Times reports that the party’s policy documents – agreed at last month’s National Policy Forum – now pledge only to consult on ‘a simpler framework’ for differentiating the self-employed from workers. This new policy would create a system that ‘could

Ross Clark Ross Clark

It’s no surprise that retail sales are down

Following last week’s news of unexpectedly strong economic growth in June of 0.5 per cent, today’s retail sales figures for July come as something of a shock. Across the month, the volume of sales fells by 1.2 per cent compared with June, and was 3.2 per cent lower than in July 2022. The fall occurred across the board, with food stores falling 2.6 per cent month on month, clothing stores 2.2 per cent and department stores – which had seemed to enjoy a revival in recent months – falling 2.9 per cent. The only positive news was on non-store retailing – i.e. the internet – sales were up 2.8 per

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Enforce the borders, stop the boats, save lives

Rishi Sunak has failed in his pledge to ‘Stop the Boats’, and the £480 million deal he signed with France in March is nothing more than a gargantuan waste of money. In fact, the French have intercepted fewer migrants in the Channel this year than they did in 2022. If the Prime Minister is truly committed to stopping the boats he must look to Australia and not France for inspiration. It is ten years this summer since Australia solved its own small boat problem. It did so with determination, courage and a refusal to be cowed by howls of outrage from those who champion a borderless world.  The people smugglers will be