Politics

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

Thursday

15 Jun 2023

Three things we’ve learned from the Partygate report

The Privileges Committee has today published its findings on whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs over Partygate. The House of Commons voted for such an inquiry, fourteen months ago: its members now have a 100-page, 30,000 word report to trawl through. It makes for damning reading. It finds that Johnson committed multiple contempts of parliament, including deliberately misleading the House, breaching confidence and ‘being complicit in the attempted intimidation of the committee’. They conclude that ‘there is no precedent for a Prime Minister having been found to have deliberately misled the House’ and therefore recommend a 90-day suspension for him: one of the longest in parliamentary history. An attempt

Coffee House

Full text: Boris Johnson’s response to the Privileges Committee’s report

This morning the Privileges Committee published their findings of their investigation into Boris Johnson’s conduct in the wake of the partygate scandal. They found that Johnson had misled the House of Commons and said that, had he not resigned as an MP, they would have recommended a 90-day suspension for him. As part of their report, the Committee published Johnson’s response to their findings along with their own comments. Here is Johnson’s response in full: Purported response of Mr Johnson to the Committee’s warning letter, received by the Committee on 12 June 2023, with Committee comments. My assurances to the House on 8 December 2021 My personal knowledge that the

Isabel Hardman

The partygate report is damning for Boris Johnson

The Privileges Committee has published its report on whether Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over partygate. It is damning. The 30,000-word document finds that he committed multiple contempts of parliament, including deliberately misleading the house, deliberately misleading the committee, breaching confidence, impugning the committee and the democratic process of the house and ‘being complicit in the campaign of abuse and attempted intimidation of the committee’. The committee, consisting of seven MPs including four Tories, had to update its conclusions after Johnson resigned, saying that it would have recommended a 90-day suspension of the former prime minister. But it has now recommended that he should not be granted a former members’

Mark Galeotti

Putin is lining up a lengthy list of scapegoats for his war

Lately Vladimir Putin has been strikingly unwilling to subject himself to any serious debate about his war in Ukraine. On Tuesday, he came the closest yet, spending more than two hours talking to war correspondents working for either the state media or nationalist social media channels. It was hardly an inquisition, but there were some interesting insights into his thinking to be gleaned. Despite the clear evidence of a steady contraction in the Kremlin’s aspirations and expectations from the original intent to conquer the whole of Ukraine, he refused to accept that the goals of the ‘special military operation’ had changed in any way. Rather, he asserted, that although they

Wednesday

14 Jun 2023

Isabel Hardman

Why hasn’t Nadine Dorries resigned yet?

Nadine Dorries has this evening explained why she isn’t yet resigning as an MP, after she initially quit ‘with immediate effect’ last Friday. The Mid Bedfordshire MP had gone mysteriously quiet after her announcement, prompting Downing Street to suggest that she was letting her soon-to-be-former constituents down. She has now revealed that she is waiting for a subject access request to the House of Lords Appointment Committee, Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Office. I understand from friends of Dorries that she is ‘desperate to resign’ and is upset about having to remain in place while she waits for the subject access request to be returned, but that a lawyer in her

Steerpike

Did an MP on the Privileges Committee break lockdown rules?

The Privileges Committee are all set to deliver their report into whether Boris Johnson lied to parliament – but there’s a sudden, last-minute twist in the tale. Guido Fawkes – that enduring sore on the national body politic – has revealed tonight that Bernard Jenkin, a member of the panel, attended a lockdown-breaking bash for his wife during the pandemic. It’s prompted Johnson to demand his resignation from the committee, hours before it’s set to deliver a judgement on him. Sir Bernard has denied attending ‘any drinks parties during lockdown’ – including an event hosted by Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing in December 2020. Yet now Nadine Dorries (who else?) has

Steerpike

Support Sturgeon or quit, says Humza

Just when they thought they were out of the woods, the SNP have been pulled right back in. Following Nicola Sturgeon’s sensational arrest on Sunday, reports have emerged that First Minister Humza Yousaf is willing to exhaust all options in a bid to get his party under control — and has gone so far as to tell his MSPs to back Sturgeon or quit the party. No Privileges Committee investigation for her to worry about… There’s only so many times a First Minister can be called ‘weak’ before he snaps. Three separate sources have told the Times that, at a private meeting in Holyrood, Yousaf issued veiled threats to his politicians, primly

Winston Marshall

Tony Diver: Government’s secret censorship unit and the truth about the Lockdown Files

36 min listen

Tony Diver is part of the investigations team at the Telegraph who exposed the Government Counter-Disinformation Unit. The unit operated during the pandemic to suppress speech deemed dangerous. Tony explains how and why the government operated with social media companies to silence dissenters on lockdown, masks and more. They also discuss the Lockdown Files and the upcoming Covid inquiry.

Lloyd Evans

Rishi’s PMQs victory counts for nothing

Honours dominated the exchanges at PMQs. Sir Keir asked why the Tories have spent an entire week bickering about which Conservative deserves ennoblement. Rishi claimed that he followed ‘established convention’ in approving Boris’s lavender-list. A bit of a whopper. He clearly didn’t support the candidacy of Nadine Dorries who complained in frothing prose about the ‘sinister forces’ that denied her a peerage. Sir Keir failed to spot Rishi’s clumsy footwork and instead he pretended that the PM approved ‘Johnson’s list’ in full. ‘Too weak to block it,’ said Sir Keir. Rishi shifted tack and mentioned the peerage granted to Labour’s Tom Watson who, he said, ‘spread vicious conspiracy theories that were

Matthew Lynn

The Vodafone-Three merger could be a Brexit win

There are plenty of reasons for viewing today’s huge merger deal between the UK mobile networks of Vodafone and Three with suspicion. It could reduce choice for consumers. It may lead to job losses. And it is possible that they will downgrade their service even more than they already have, cut back on investment, and squeeze more money out of a captive market. Yet that is not quite the whole story. In fact, done right, the merger could even turn out to be a rare Brexit win. Today’s tie-up between Vodafone and Three was widely expected. The two companies will combine their British networks, and will have 27 million users

Isabel Hardman

Has Labour really U-turned on childcare?

Is Labour U-turning on another big spending pledge? Last week, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves scaled back the party’s £28 billion green energy spending plan to take account of a tougher economic picture. Today, reports suggest the party is planning a similar retreat on childcare, dropping plans for a universal system in favour of means testing. Reeves has been warning them that the Tories are upping their attacks on Labour’s spending plans The reality is a bit more complicated. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has made a big play about the party’s childcare offer to parents, to the extent that she told the Sunday Times that it would be ‘like the

Andrew O’Brien

Could cutting inheritance tax keep the Tories in power?

Is cutting, or abolishing, inheritance tax the key to keeping the Tories in power? Inheritance tax is certainly unpopular and is described by some voters as a ‘death tax’. Back in 2007, the Tories were in a similar predicament to the one they find themselves in now: they consistently trailed Labour in the polls. But that year, the party made a surprise announcement, pledging to raise the inheritance tax threshold. The Tories subsequently regained their lead and went on to win the next general election. As the next election looms, and Labour continues to lead in the polls, Conservative MPs are feeling nervous. Some think that a major announcement to

Katy Balls

The plot against the PM

After the implosion of Liz Truss’s premiership, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak met to discuss which of them should succeed her. Neither wanted to back down to make way for the other. Late one Saturday night, they discussed whether a way could be found that would suit them both. It could not. As they walked out of the room to meet their aides, Johnson joked that Sunak had agreed to be his chancellor (again). Sunak then patted his former boss on the back telling him: see you at the debates. ‘Sparking a needless by-election when we are 15 points behind is close to a defection’ But there were no debates.

The Spectator

Britain must not import America’s abortion culture war

British politicians tend to avoid the issue of abortion. The subject divides America bitterly, yet Britain has opted for consensus. Now and again, however, a debate about abortion flares up – as it did this week after a number of pressure groups reacted with anger to the jailing of a mother of three who induced an abortion when eight months pregnant, using pills posted to her by the NHS. She pleaded guilty under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 and will spend a year in jail. That, according to Clare Murphy, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, is an outrage. She described Britain’s abortion law as ‘archaic’ and

Isabel Hardman

Backbench Tories support Sunak at PMQs

Keir Starmer had a dilemma at Prime Minister’s Questions. Focus on the Boris Johnson psychodrama, or the more tangible story about mortgages and interests rates? He went for Tory infighting first. But then Sunak took the curious approach of deciding to use Starmer’s opener as an opportunity to address the Johnson question head on, rather than trying to argue that his sole focus was on the economy and the cost of living. He told the chamber that ‘I followed the process to the letter’ and that he had stuck by the convention of all prime ministers in sending Johnson’s peerages unamended, rather than blocking it as Starmer said he should

Iain Macwhirter

Why is the SNP refusing to give Sturgeon the boot?

Nicola Sturgeon – progressive icon, feminist champion, scourge of corrupt Tories – is, almost by definition, incapable of wrongdoing. As she insisted after her arrest on Sunday: ‘I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.’ It is her truth. Her MSPs agree and have, we’re told, sent her flowers to soothe her distress at this injustice. It was therefore something of an inconvenience that Police Scotland noted in their press statement on Sunday that the former FM had been ‘arrested as a suspect’ in their investigation into the funds and fundraising of the Scottish National Party. She was released seven hours later without charge and with the

James Heale

Will Ulez be the undoing of Sadiq Khan?

London faces its seventh mayoral election next year and, yet again, the Tories are having trouble finding a suitable candidate. The publication this week of the final shortlist – Susan Hall, Daniel Korski and Mozammel Hossain – was accompanied by accusations of stitch-ups, counter-claims and legal threats between two of the defeated candidates. Sadiq Khan’s aides have enjoyed watching it all play out; Labour leads in London by a whopping 40 points. So a Tory victory next May is unlikely – but still not impossible. Air quality in the once-smoggy capital is the cleanest it’s been for centuries, but Khan has declared a pollution ‘emergency’. He’s introduced new taxes on

Cindy Yu

Nadine’s revenge

13 min listen

Having said she’ll step down, Nadine Dorries has now said that she won’t formally resign as an MP until later this year… It’s hard to see this as anything other than revenge taken on Rishi Sunak, so as to prolong the by-election pain, Katy Balls says. Cindy Yu also talks to Kate Andrews about the economic pain in the country at the moment – from lacklustre GDP growth to rising mortgage rates. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Steerpike

Nadine Dorries causes Rishi Sunak even more misery

She’s done it again. Having re-ignited the Tory wars with her shock plans to quit parliament last Friday, now Nadine Dorries is delaying her resignation plans – prolonging the by-election misery for Rishi Sunak. The former Culture Secretary may not leave the Commons until the summer recess, pushing a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency into the run-up to the Tories’ annual conference in the autumn. Just when Rishi wants to sell himself to the nation… Friends of hers have told the Daily Mail – where Dorries writes a weekly column – that former Labour MP Rosie Cooper took two months to go after she formally resigned. ‘It’s her prerogative when

Douglas Murray

It’s been a bad week for former political leaders

The week of the three downfalls has been an interesting one. Boris Johnson resigning from parliament, Donald Trump going to court to face serious charges, Nicola Sturgeon arrested as part of a probe into SNP finances. I wouldn’t like to prejudge any of these cases, for I am – secretly – a fair-minded person. Of course, had Sturgeon not been involved, various leftist writers would now be penning articles claiming a great linkage between these events. Probably about the downfall of ‘populism’. But since Saint Nicola is involved this will not happen. Because as I have noted here before, our age sees all nationalism as poison, except for the Scottish