Politics

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

Saturday

Andrew McQuillan

Is Sinn Fein really on the march?

In the visceral two horse race which is Northern Irish politics, it is the green horse which is out in front after last Thursday’s local council elections.  Sinn Fein, as at Stormont, is now the largest party across Northern Ireland’s local authorities. A lot has changed since the 1980s, when, during the IRA’s campaign of murder and mutilation across the Province, unionists would walk out of council meetings rather than sit with Sinn Fein councillors.  The stain of terrorism which will forever be part of Sinn Fein does not seem to be a deterrent to the nationalist electorate in Northern Ireland. Many will say that Sinn Fein is a political

Steerpike Steerpike

Did Suella Braverman break the ministerial code?

Fresh from claiming the scalp of Dominic Raab, is the civil service now after Suella Braverman? The Sunday Times reports this weekend that the Home Secretary wanted civil servants to help her ‘dodge’ a speeding fine, amid much grumbling about the government’s migration policies. Plus ça change… Mr S read the latest reports with intrigue. The Home Secretary was caught speeding last summer, and, as is standard, was offered to either attend a speed awareness course or have three points on her licence. Braverman apparently asked civil servants to arrange ‘a private one-to-one driving awareness course’, but the civil servants responded that this was not within their remit. The Home

Steerpike Steerpike

SNP politician accused of breaking ministerial code

Another day, another report about the SNP’s behaviour in office. Now, the accused is Education Secretary and former transport minister Jenny Gilruth, who faces claims that she breached the ministerial code. Gilruth is alleged to have deliberately chosen to delay vital rail works – which will cost the taxpayer around £1 million– to allow her own constituents to travel over the Christmas period. Rules for thee but not for me… The ministerial code states that frontbenchers must not use their position to influence constituency matters, meaning that if an investigation finds Gilruth guilty then she could lose her cabinet post. And opposition leader Douglas Ross was keen to make capital

James Kirkup James Kirkup

The Tories would be lost in opposition

It is widely observed that many Conservatives are preparing to lose power at the next general election.  The Conservative Democratic Organisation and National Conservatism meetings last week are generally regarded as preparation for the leadership battle that would likely follow Rishi Sunak’s departure from No. 10. Most (though not all) Tories appear to assume that Sunak could not remain leader after that exit, nor want to. Privately too, even the most optimistic Tories will concede that leaving government after 14 years – they’ve just beaten the New Labour tenure – has to be considered a real possibility. What would the Conservatives do in opposition? This is not a trivial question.

Serhii Plokhy

There’s one way to avoid repeating the horrors of Hiroshima

This weekend the leaders of the G7 countries meet in Hiroshima to discuss the most urgent issues facing the world today. The Russian aggression against Ukraine and the ban on the use of the nuclear weapons are among the key items on the summit’s agenda. When I visited Hiroshima last month the war in Ukraine and the nuclear issues were also at the top of my personal list of concerns. At the site of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Atomic Dome, a visitor can hardly avoid being taken aback or evenshocked by the contrast between the stark skeleton of a magnificent building destroyed by the nuclear explosion

Steerpike Steerpike

Is Jill Biden calling the Nato leadership shots? 

Ben Wallace has confirmed the worst-kept secret in Westminster: he’s the likely UK candidate for the Secretary General of Nato. Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday he told reporters: ‘I’ve always said it would be a good job. That’s a job I’d like.’ It’s a position that falls vacant in October and Wallace has a good claim, having been defence secretary for nearly four years, one of the few to emerge with credit from the Kabul evacuation, and has won plaudits for fighting the Whitehall machine to equip Ukraine before Putin’s invasion last year.   Mr S learns however that a surprising obstacle is standing in his way: the First Lady of

James Heale James Heale

Is Rishi retreating from net zero?

11 min listen

Immigration and the economy are priorities for Rishi Sunak’s government. But under Boris Johnson and Theresa May, net zero was also a major policy focus for Conservative governments. Is Sunak as keen on it as his predecessors were?  James Heale speaks to Fraser and Isabel Hardman.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Britain’s rivers are filthy

The name Chris Whitty will forever be associated in people’s minds with Covid-19. But in a recent cri de coeur he reminded us not only that he continues to exist following the end of his daily appearances on our TV screens, but that there are many other ways in which pathogens are out to get us. In a newspaper piece written with the chairs of Ofwat and the Environment Agency, the Chief Medical Officer raised the subject of Britain’s filthy rivers. While Britain’s environment has improved in many ways, with cleaner air, more trees and some species returning after centuries’ absence, our rivers have defied the trend, being more afflicted with sewage

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

The shameful decline of BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 is in trouble. Listening figures for the station have dipped to their lowest level since 2007. The Today programme, Radio 4’s flagship morning show, is doing particularly badly: its audience fell 12 per cent year on year, from 6.5 million to 5.7 million, according to Rajar. For anyone who has tuned in to Radio 4 recently, this decline won’t come as a surprise. ‘I’ll just stick Radio 4 on’ was the default habit of my life when bored, from about the age of ten in 1978 to fifty in 2018. It felt like the still, reliable centre of the nation. It was also handy as a blood pressure reducing

J. Meirion Thomas

J. Meirion Thomas, Tom Goodenough and Adam Sweeting

23 min listen

This week: J. Meirion Thomas tells us about the story of the politician, the street trader and the foiled kidney transplant plot (00:57), Tom Goodenough discusses the blurred lines between sport and entertainment (08:30) and Adam Sweeting reads his interview with documentary-maker Nick Broomfield about the forgotten Rolling Stone (13:42). 

Friday

Max Jeffery Max Jeffery

What does Rishi want from the G7 in Hiroshima?

10 min listen

Rishi Sunak is in Hiroshima for the G7 summit. President Zelensky has said he’ll be making a surprise appearance, and Sunak will be meeting with President Modi on the sidelines. What does Sunak want from the trip?  Max Jeffery speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman.

Steerpike Steerpike

New European’s Will Self destructs in Guardian feud

‘Think without borders,’ declares the masthead of the New European. But while the pro-EU paper claims to be an advocate for unity and tolerance, it seems they hold no qualms about stirring up division on Fleet Street. Its star columnist, Will Self, has filed a bizarre 2,300-word rant this week about the Guardian’s editorial choices, titled ‘My obsession with Adrian Chiles’ column.’ The basis for this punny headline is the relationship between Graun columnist Adrian Chiles and editor Katharine Viner. Chiles has written weekly articles for the paper – usually peppered with inoffensive observations, whimsical witterings and banal anecdotes – since February 2019. In April 2020, he began dating Viner,

Kara Kennedy

What’s the truth about Harry and Meghan’s car chase story?

Recollections may vary when it comes to Meghan and Harry’s car chase. The Sussexes’ statement this week supplied fodder for the front pages, and, more importantly, my group chats. ‘Near fatal is such a great phrase,’ one friend said, ‘anything can be near fatal if you squint hard enough.’ She’s referring to the press release put out by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Wednesday, which claimed that they were ‘involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.’ ‘This relentless pursuit,’ they said, ‘lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Why has Ukraine admitted that it assassinates people in Russia?

After months of flat denials, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence has admitted that Kyiv is carrying out a campaign of sabotage and assassination inside Russia. But why change the official line now? Even if this is a good cop/bad cop routine, it still risks embarrassing the president, raising questions as to how far he is fully in control of HUR Major General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), has become one of the media stars of this war, not least thanks to an artfully curated public persona that a senior US intelligence official characterised as ‘George Smiley meets Jason Bourne.’ This week he took

Steerpike Steerpike

Is Lorna Slater the worst minister in Scotland?

Humza Yousaf’s regime is not exactly a government of all the talents. There’s Patrick Harvie, the Zero Carbons minister, whose list of achievements is shorter than his fuse. There’s Shona Robison, resurrected five years after taking Scotland to the top of the European health league for, er, drug deaths. And then there’s the First Minister himself, the reverse Macavity who finds himself at the centre of every scandal. But amid this galaxy of mediocrity, one star shines brighter than the rest: Lorna Slater, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. Slater has managed to distinguish herself in her 21 months in office through her special blend of personal

Andrew Tettenborn

Rishi Sunak’s Confucius Institute muddle

Rishi Sunak’s promise to close down the Confucius Institutes in UK universities when he pitched for the Tory leadership sounded like a good idea. Sadly it was also ill thought out. In a liberal democracy it’s difficult just to close down organisations you don’t like by governmental order. His backtracking on that promise this week was therefore both predictable and understandable. Unfortunately the way he has chosen to do this has been a terrible exercise in bad judgment. To this extent the right of the Tory party are absolutely right to call him out. In Europe and Nato, the last thing Sunak needs now is a reputation for being soft on illiberal

Iain Macwhirter

The trans butcher and the disaster of the SNP’s self-ID

It looks like a textbook case of what Nicola Sturgeon insisted never happens. A transgender butcher in the Scottish borders picks up a primary school girl, takes her to ‘her’ home to ‘look after her’ and then sexually assaults her for 27 hours. Fortunately, the girl escapes. ‘Man abducted and sexually assaulted schoolgirl while dressed as a woman’, said the headline on the BBC News website, for once not worrying about misgendering Amy George, whose dead name is Andrew Miller. The High Court in Edinburgh was told that Miller, who pleaded guilty to abduction and sexual assault, ‘identifies as transgender’ and is in the process of transitioning to female. Cases

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The Dambisa Moyo Edition

26 min listen

Dambisa Moyo is an economist, life peer and author of five books: from Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa to her most recent, How Boards Work: And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World. Born in Zambia, Dambisa grew up in a house where discussing politics was a regular occurrence at the family table. Dambisa has a large portfolio of academic qualifications from all over the world and has consulted both public and private sector banks. Having sat on numerous boards, Dambisa received a life peerage this year. On the podcast, Dambisa talks about growing up in Zambia, six years after

Thursday

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

Migration nation: Brexit has meant more immigration than ever

45 min listen

This week: Spectator editor Fraser Nelson writes in this week’s cover story about how Brexit has led to Britain having more, not less, immigration – Rishi Sunak’s government is masking dysfunction in the welfare system by bringing in people to fill vacant jobs. To make his case, Fraser joins us alongside our economics editor Kate Andrews. (01:04) Also this week: Novelist Elif Shafak writes about the Turkish elections in the diary for this week’s magazine. Ultranationalism and religious fundamentalism were the real winners in last Sunday’s poll. To tell us all about it. Elif joins us alongside Spectator contributor Owen Matthews. (23:18) And finally: Is reality television ruining sport? The Spectator’s online editor Tom