Politics

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

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

What’s this? A good joke from Sir Keir?

Strange tactics by Sir Keir at PMQs. He raised the issue of broken promises on immigration, which gave Rishi Sunak a chance to sound tougher than Labour. ‘How many work visas were issued to foreign nationals last year?’ asked Sir Keir. Rishi dodged the question and blamed the unexpectedly large influx on the Ukraine war. And he mentioned his personal and very generous decision to welcome refugees into other people’s houses. Sir Keir supplied the figure Rishi had just ducked: ‘It’s 250,000. He knows the answer. He just doesn’t want to give it.’ Rishi seized his chance to accuse Labour of plotting to scrap our borders altogether. ‘He believes in

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Boris vs Rishi, round VII

The decision by the Cabinet Office to refer Boris Johnson to the police after his ministerial diary revealed visits by friends to Chequers in Buckinghamshire during the pandemic is being felt in Westminster today. Allies of the former prime minister say Johnson is considering taking legal action against the government (taxpayer-funded lawyers for Johnson – hired by the Cabinet Office – flagged the material to officials). Some of Johnson’s more vocal supporters have pointed the finger of blame at Rishi Sunak, accusing the Prime Minister of allowing a ‘witch-hunt’ against Johnson. It’s all becoming rather messy both for Johnson and the coming Covid inquiry In a bid to quell such

Iain Macwhirter

The SNP is facing a disastrous general election result

Any uncertainty about the extent of the damage inflicted on the SNP by the criminal investigation into party finances can be safely disregarded. An extensive poll by YouGov suggests that those scenes of a police forensics tent outside Nicola  Sturgeon’s Glasgow home, and the arrest of her husband, the SNP chief executive, Peter Murrell, have done lasting damage in the SNP heartland.  According to this survey of 3,500 Scots, conducted in April and May, the Nationalists stand to lose 21 of their 48 MPs in the next general election – including nearly all their Glasgow seats. Labour would return 24 seats across Scotland, up from only one. This could be enough to

Ross Clark Ross Clark

What will it take to crash the housing market?

Is there anything that might cause the much-predicted crash in UK house prices? Not – evidently – a pandemic (which perversely caused prices to surge). A sharp, upwards jerk in the Bank of England’s base rate to 4.5 per cent didn’t do it either.    The latest edition of the Office for National Statistics’s UK House Price Index – the most comprehensive of house prices indices, but which tends to trail Halifax and Nationwide – shows that prices rose by an average of 4.1 per cent in the 12 months to March. That is down from 5.8 per cent in February and is lower than inflation, indicating a real-terms fall in house

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Ukraine’s next move: can Putin be outsmarted?

Has Ukraine’s much-heralded counter-offensive already begun? At the end of last month, defence minister Oleksy Reznikov promised that ‘as soon as there is God’s will, the weather and a decision by the commanders, we will do it’. The past few weeks have seen an upsurge in what the military describe as shaping operations, preparing the ground for battle, with attacks on Russian fuel and weapons depots and command centres. This week’s incursion by Ukraine’s anti-Kremlin Russian units over the border into the Belgorod region could also be an attempt to distract Moscow and make it disperse its forces away from likely lines of attack. Kyiv is at once fighting a

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is Sunak heading for a showdown over Rwanda?

When the Prime Minister first assembled his cabinet, the most controversial appointment was Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. She had only just left the role under Liz Truss after she admitted sending an official document from a personal email account. But when Truss fell, Braverman called for Rishi Sunak rather than a Boris Johnson restoration. She was back in the Home Office after less than a week. ‘It’s either stop the boats or leave the ECHR,’ says one senior Tory Some suspected a grubby deal between the two, but Sunak had plenty of reasons to want Braverman back. While critics accuse her of harbouring unsubtle leadership ambitions, her place in

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Can Trump’s opponents prove him wrong on Ukraine?

Boris Johnson, Britain’s most sought-after Churchill impersonator, visited Texas on Monday to urge a group of rich right-wing Americans to never, never, never give in to Vladimir Putin. ‘I just urge you all to stick with it,’ Agent Bojo told a private lunch of conservative politicians and donors in Dallas. ‘You are backing the right horse. Ukraine is going to win.’ Johnson wasn’t paid to speak at the lunch, though it’s worth noting that he only stopped over in Texas on the way to the SCALE Fintech conference in Las Vegas, where he is expected to receive a six-figure sum for talking about the future of innovation alongside Saudi Arabia’s

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Lindsay Hoyle boots Tory MP out the Commons

Another week, another angry ticking off in the House of Commons by speaker Lindsay Hoyle. Today it was Conservative MP Paul Bristow who felt the full might of Hoyle’s wrath after being singled out for heckling Labour leader Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions. Standing at the despatch box, Starmer had challenged Rishi Sunak’s grip on illegal immigration. To the sound of taunting from the government benches, he said: ‘Mr Speaker, if anyone wants to see what uncontrolled immigration looks like, all they’ve got to do is wake up tomorrow morning and see what this government…’ It appears that Hoyle managed to make out Bristow’s voice amongst the hecklers, because

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Sunak and Starmer fail to convince on immigration at PMQs

What is the real difference between the two main parties on immigration? Not much, if today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was anything to go by. Both parties say they want to drive net migration down, both accuse the other of not really wanting to do this and of letting things get out of control, and both find the subject compelling and uncomfortable all at once. Keir Starmer chose to lead on the highly anticipated net migration figures due out tomorrow. They are expected to show a record high in the number of people coming to this country. Ministers have been getting their excuses and defences in early, including with the announcement

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

It’s a long way to the presidency for Ron DeSantis

Joe Biden became America’s president in 2021 because the alternative was four more years of Donald Trump. If Ronald Dion DeSantis, who has announced his candidacy on Twitter today, wins the Republican party nomination next year, it will also be because the alternative is you-know-who. Trump fatigue is a real phenomenon: even many Trump supporters think it’s time to move on, which is the key to the 44-year-old DeSantis’s appeal. He is Trump but he gets stuff done. He is Trump but you get two terms.   At the same time, DeSantis’s biggest problem is that he’s up against Donald Trump, one of the most effective political campaigners of the

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Are the Tories addicted to psychodrama?

12 min listen

Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about the ongoing case of Suella Braverman’s speeding saga.  And now Boris Johnson has returned to the spotlight over reports he broke more lockdown rules. Does the energy around these stories say something about the culture of Westminster? Also on the podcast, Kate Andrews takes a look at  today’s inflation figures. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

John Sturgis

Can you tell if he’s dead yet? The secret life and death of Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, the disgraced entertainer and sex offender, is dead. Harris’s death was confirmed yesterday – but his death certificate showed that he passed away at his home in Bray, Berkshire, on 10 May. This confirmed what many journalists already knew: a fortnight ago, a private ambulance was photographed backing into the doorway of his riverside home. News organisations were ramped up to full alert. Old obituaries were dusted down, pages drawn up, commentators considered for comment. And then…nothing. Two weeks elapsed, almost to the minute, from the moment the rumours began to swirl to the official confirmation yesterday of his death at the age of 93. The tipping point came

Douglas Murray

There is such thing as a stupid question

Some people seem to make a career of being ashamed (or at least claiming to be ashamed) of their country. Personally I don’t feel it – apart from when I see journalists from the BBC, ITV or Sky questioning our political leaders while they are abroad. Then a great wave of revulsion and national shame surges within me. It happened last weekend when Rishi Sunak was at the G7 summit in Japan. These meetings of the world’s leading economies are pretty important affairs, so much so that major media organisations fly journalists out to cover them. But as Sunak and his hosts stood to answer questions about the summit, what

Chris Mullin

British politics has become a nasty game of Gotcha

As Tony Blair once remarked, British politics has become a game of Gotcha. I am, to put it mildly, no fan of Suella Braverman, but for the life of me I cannot get excited about this latest piece of nonsense to do with her speeding ticket. It is certainly no resigning matter. When I have made this point, I have generally received a favourable response. But there are some dissenters. One response was that, ‘We’re talking about Braverman, Chris. How do we get rid of her?’ To which there is an obvious riposte: ‘At a general election, perhaps?’ We live in the age of the feeding frenzy. Originally a tabloid

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Suella Braverman avoids speeding fine probe

Suella Braverman will not face an investigation into whether she broke the ministerial code over her handling of a speeding offence. Following claims that the Home Secretary asked civil servants to arrange a one-to-one speed awareness course for her, after being caught speeding in 2022, Sunak consulted with both Braverman and his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus. In a letter to Braverman, Sunak says Magnus advised that ‘further investigation is not necessary’: ‘On the basis of your letter and our discussion, my decision is that these matters do not amount to a breach of the Ministerial Code. As you have recognised, a better course of action could have been

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Inflation falls to 8.7% – but pressures remain

Since the start of the year, politicians and central bankers have been promising a collapse in the inflation rate. But monthly data kept rolling in, and the rate remained in double digits. This put even more pressure on the data this morning, published by the Office for National Statistics, with the Bank of England (BoE) making clear in its last report that April’s figures would turn the corner on price hikes. Unlike its previous predictions in this inflation saga, it seems the BoE has managed to get this one right. Prices rose 8.7 per cent on the year to April – still a staggeringly high figure, but down from 10.1

Euan McColm

Alex Salmond’s firebrand reinvention is hard to take

In power, Alex Salmond was, according to the senior lawyer who successfully defended him against a series of sex charges, ‘an objectionable bully’. Out of power, he breezed into a new career as a presenter on the Kremlin-funded propaganda channel, RT. He maintained his relationship with the broadcaster until the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Salmond deserves to be yesterday’s man. He’s utterly discredited, both morally and politically – and yet, he’s back. The current crisis in the SNP, still under investigation by Police Scotland as a result of fraud allegations, has given Salmond an in. Suddenly, every TV channel and radio station in the country wants to hear

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Ron DeSantis set to announce presidential bid on Twitter

Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his 2024 presidential bid during a Twitter Space with the app’s ‘chief Twit’ Elon Musk in the next few hours, according to NBC News. At 11 p.m. UK time Wednesday, DeSantis will appear in a discussion with Musk – perhaps part of a bid to make the governor seem less awkward? – moderated by David Sacks, ‘a Musk confidant and DeSantis supporter’. The Florida governor’s entry into the race is long awaited – and the unique decision to make his announcement on Twitter is earning plaudits from his supporters. ‘@RonDeSantis announcing his campaign with @elonmusk is a big deal – and not only because it’s

Steerpike Steerpike

SNP councillors form breakaway party

These days, it would be news if the Scottish nationalists were actually getting along. The latest row today is part of an unfolding scandal about former SNP North Lanarkshire Council leader, alleged ‘sex pest’ Jordan Linden, who quit his position in July after accusations emerged that he had groped and assaulted a teenager at a Dundee Pride afterparty. Eight former SNP councillors were disciplined by the SNP earlier this month for highlighting their concerns that accusations of Linden’s behaviour hadn’t been investigated properly. Two were expelled from the party, four were suspended, one received a written warning and another is still yet to receive a punishment after leaving the meeting

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris referred to the police over lockdown breaches (again)

Just when Boris thought the worst was over with Partygate. The former Prime Minister has today been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over fresh claims that he broke Covid lockdown rules. According to the Times, Johnson’s ministerial diary from 2020 and 2021 has revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic. The trips to the grace and favour residence were highlighted during preparations for the Covid public inquiry. In an incredible twist of fate, this story appears to have come about because the government is currently paying Johnson’s legal fees for the duration of the inquiry. He handed over the aforementioned diaries to the lawyers but