Politics

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

Monday

27 Mar 2023

James Snell

Netanyahu’s war on lawyers has thrown Israel into turmoil

Chaos reigns in Israel, a country in the throes of an ad hoc general strike called by trade unions, university students, numerous industries across the country, and many military and civil defence reservists. Demonstrators are storming buildings and fighting the police. Some council leaders say they are beginning a hunger strike. If you wanted to fly into Ben Gurion airport today, as tens of thousands of people usually do of a weekday, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. It’s closed. Why is all of this happening? In the immediate term, because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked his defence minister, Yoav Gallant. Gallant is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and is a loyalist. He said that Netanyahu should

Katy Balls

How are Tories split on small boats?

9 min listen

Tory party divisions over the small boats policy are starting to appear. Although the bill sailed through its second reading in parliament, now Rishi Sunak is facing amendments to the legislation. Where are the dividing lines? Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Heale.

Steerpike

Corbynistas lash out at Starmer over deselection move

Sir Keir Starmer was determined to upset Rishi Sunak’s big speech this morning, exhibiting the cynicism which secured him the Labour leadership. Starmer announced midway through Sunak’s speech that he was submitting a motion to the party’s ruling body to confirm that Corbyn will not be the official Labour candidate in Islington North at the general election next year. Such a move has been long anticipated. But what was striking is that this motion to bar Corbyn cited the 2019 election result and that his future candidacy would reduce Labour’s chances of victory, rather than mentioning the EHRC’s investigation for antisemitism – the main reason for Starmer’s announcement last month

Samuel Rubinstein

Dan Snow is the ultimate midwit historian

Dan Snow, the TV historian, is anxious about his ‘privilege’. One of many ‘nepo babies’ in the British media, Snow’s debut came when he was 23 years old, fresh out of Oxford, co-presenting with his father Peter. Having benefited from his well-heeled upbringing, Snow now excitedly foresees the end of ‘inherited monarchy’ and ‘organised religion’. In an interview with the Times, Snow makes a confession: ‘Yes, I myself am a privileged white guy who went to Oxford and read history. Once upon a time the world was made for English-speaking white guys like me — the challenge is how I act now.’ Snow appears to express disappointment that Prince Harry,

James Heale

What’s behind Sunak’s latest crime crackdown?

The Prime Minister was in Essex this morning, unveiling his much-briefed antisocial behaviour plan. In recent weeks he and Keir Starmer have been giving a foretaste of what is to come in next year’s general election by trading blows on a range of policy areas. Last week Starmer gave a big speech on law and order; today it was Sunak’s turn to respond. The Tory leader said his plan – with its headline-grabbing plan to ban nitrous oxide – can be summed up in three ‘buckets’: more policing powers, a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and a focus on urgency that will require offenders to repair the damage they have done

Nicholas Sheppard

The Posie Parker mob has embarassed New Zealand

New Zealand has, until recently, dwelt in splendid isolation during the culture wars. Kiwis have typically been reluctant to discuss social issues, the raising of which usually causes a kind of social static and brings down the mood. The antipathy, tribalism and performative outrage of identity politics hasn’t been much of a problem Down Under. But, in the last few years, things have changed. During the first Covid lockdown, when the country’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern was, in the eyes of the global media, an almost ethereal entity visited benevolently upon these shores, the country was united and sincerely committed to leading the way in the response. By the second

Katy Balls

The Tory rebellions brewing on small boats

When No. 10 first devised the Illegal Migration Bill, the hope was that Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on asylum claims would have a unifying effect on the Tory party. The Bill – which aims to make it so those who arrive in the UK illegally cannot claim asylum – sailed through its second reading. But as it returns to the Commons this week, Sunak is facing demands from both sides of his party to amend the legislation. The most immediate problem numbers wise comes from the moderate wing of the party. Tim Loughton is leading a group of would-be Tory rebels calling for a new safe and legal route to be

Steerpike

Prince Harry relaunches his anti-press crusade

The renegade royal is back. Having spent the past few years endlessly invading the privacy of others for financial gain, Prince Harry has turned up in London to complain about newspapers, er, doing just that. The dilettante Duke of Sussex arrived at the High Court this morning as legal proceedings begin in the phone-tapping and privacy case in which he is involved. Harry is merely the most blue-blooded of a gaggle of ‘slebs who are currently suing Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday alongside the likes of Sir Elton John, Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley who allege unlawful information gathering. Harry’s legal firm Hamlins alleges

Lucy Dunn

What happens after the SNP leadership results are announced?

Shortly after 2 p.m., the results of the SNP leadership election will be announced at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium. Three candidates are vying to succeed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, though it is widely accepted that the race is really only between the two frontrunners; the winner is expected to be Humza Yousaf or Kate Forbes. While it’s still uncertain which candidate will win, today’s announcement will come as a relief to many politicians and party members who have followed a contest that has, at many points, proved damaging to the SNP’s reputation. Last week saw a heated exchange between the leaders of the opposition parties and the current First Minister during

Sam Leith

Is it time to ban second jobs for MPs?

There are some genres of newspaper story that never die. Among them are sightings of Lord Lucan, public moralists discovered in adultery – and foolish MPs being caught out offering themselves for hire to undercover hacks. A fine example of the third of these broke yesterday thanks to the situationist campaigning group Led By Donkeys, who started out as Brexit-bashers but have expanded their remit to the broad-brush embarrassment of MPs. You’d think, by now, that senior MPs would be a bit more on the qui vive for this sort of thing. But no: they never learn. This sort of sting is now as much of a British tradition as ambushing cabinet ministers on live TV by asking them

Isabel Hardman

What does today’s SNP leadership election mean for Scottish Labour?

Unionist politicians are warming up for what they hope will be one of the biggest opportunities of the past two decades to undermine the independence cause. Whoever wins the SNP leadership contest today is taking over a party that doesn’t know its own kind any more – and a government that’s struggling to blame its record entirely on Westminster. That’s one of the reasons Anas Sarwar has called for a snap Holyrood election. The Scottish Labour leader today argued that the new First Minister would have to seek their own mandate, saying: This is an SNP that screams about mandates: let’s be honest, the next SNP First Minister will not

Sunday

26 Mar 2023

Steerpike

Steve Baker makes the case for compromise

To Buckingham, where a tribe of true believers met on Saturday to attend the Margaret Thatcher Freedom Festival. Suella Braverman was the star turn in the evening, with Sir Iain Duncan Smith amusing attendees with his tales of Eurocrat meetings. But it was Steve Baker – the onetime arch-rebel turned Northern Ireland minister – who most intrigued Mr S with his pitch to activists on the need for compromise. Speaking three days after the vote in the House of Commons on Rishi Sunak’s Windsor Framework, Baker said that his decision to back the deal was based on his concerns about the government’s fate if he did not support it: It

Ross Clark

Scotland is better off without the Greens in government

Just who do the Scottish Greens think they are? They provide a mere seven seats to the SNP’s 64 and they won 1.3 per cent of the vote in the constituency section of the Holyrood elections in 2021 (they had 8.1 per cent in the regional section). In return for that meagre offering they think they have the right to end economic growth in Scotland. No wonder at all then that Kate Forbes and Ash Regan are unbothered by the prospect of the Greens leaving government – maybe even pushing them out should they win the SNP leadership – and only Humza Yousaf has signed up to their ‘non-negotiable’ demands

Stephen Daisley

Why Kate Forbes is still the SNP’s best hope

They have thrown everything at Kate Forbes. She has been subjected to a secular inquisition marked by triviality and partiality. Journalism is a trade neither teeming with religious believers nor one well-equipped for Biblical exegesis, and it shows. ‘Gotcha’ interrogation has focused on scriptural provisions offensive to progressive attitudes pervasive among journalists (e.g. on homosexuality and fornication) and not other teachings with as much potential bearing on policymaking, such as the iniquities of the rich and powerful or the superior virtue of the poor and meek. Contemporary norms against judging a professional woman by her husband’s views or actions have been suspended to weaponise the attendance of Alasdair MacLennan, Forbes’s spouse, at

Sajid Javid

Facts, not fear, should shape our view of Europe’s banks

After the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse drama, some investors are understandably asking if we’re on the brink of another 2008-style banking crisis. I’ve had an entire career in politics and government since that crash. Hard lessons have been learned and there can be no complacency – so often, trouble comes from areas we don’t expect. But we should also be careful not to ignore some of the key differences and underlying strengths in the current situation. Unfounded panics can become self-fulfilling. If we allow that, everyone other than a few lucky speculators will stand to lose out. Credit Suisse was not typical: it had been an

Katy Balls

The SNP candidate that could be Sunak’s secret weapon

In less than 24 hours the winner of the SNP leadership contest will be announced. Yet it’s safe to say that whoever triumphs, the growing consensus is that the result will be a net plus for the SNP’s political opponents. Over the course of the short contest – sparked by Nicola Sturgeon’s surprise resignation – the party has given way to in-fighting as Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan have torn chunks out of one another. There has been collateral – with Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband, resigning as SNP chief executive along with communications director Murray Foote over an alleged cover up over a fall in the party’s membership

Joe Bedell-Brill

Sunday shows round-up: MPs caught in sting operation

MPs caught in sting operation were acting ‘within the rules’ It was Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove doing the rounds this morning. He was asked first to comment on the recent sting by the group Led By Donkeys, in which multiple members of parliament were seen to be asking for up to £10,000 a day to consult for a company which did not exist. A majority of the public believe MPs should not have second jobs, but Gove stressed that although there is a need for transparency regarding MPs and any external work, it was clear that the job being considered in the sting was not technically against the rules:

Annabel Denham

Sadiq Khan’s green vision risks impoverishing Britain

Earlier this week, Chris Skidmore and Sadiq Khan announced they were ‘teaming up’ to defeat the politicians they believe are attempting to thwart climate action. In an article for the Guardian, the duo has put aside political differences to ‘set an example’ of what is possible. Those differences could be disputed: the Conservative member for Kingswood is further to the left than many MPs on the Opposition benches. But it was by no means the most dubious claim in their piece. Consider, for instance, Khan’s assertions over Ulez, London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone. He repeats that it was brought in to prevent premature deaths and illness, though it seems more likely that it was designed

Zareer Masani

What the conviction of Rahul Gandhi means for India

The conviction of Rahul Gandhi – an opposition politician and dynastic heir to three of India’s past prime ministers – has raised questions in India about both a colonial-era defamation law and Gandhi’s own political judgement. Rahul is currently an MP in the Indian parliament, but has taken on the role of crown-prince-in-waiting for the Congress party as a potential rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His conviction, by a court in Modi’s BJP-ruled Gujarat state, is for a public comment Rahul made some years ago, asking rhetorically why so many thieves had Modi as their surname. This was a jibe at the PM, Rahul’s bête noire. What might have

Jack Watling

Sending uranium ammo to Ukraine isn’t an escalation

It didn’t take long for the Kremlin to exploit the news that Britain will be supplying depleted uranium armour-piercing anti-tank ammo to Ukraine. On Tuesday, Putin said that ‘Russia will have to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component.’ While on Wednesday, Russia’s Ambassador to the US said that the West had ‘irrevocably decided to bring humanity to a dangerous line, beyond which a nuclear Armageddon is looming ever more distinctly.’ Both remarks are part of a long-standing Russian attempt to suggest that the Ukraine conflict might lead to nuclear escalation. The aim is to disrupt international support for Ukraine.