Politics

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

Monday

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Gary Lineker to return to Match of the Day

Well, it was nice while it lasted. Following the farce of last night’s 14-minute episode of Match of the Day, BBC management have come out this morning waving the white flag to sue for peace with Gary Lineker. The ex-football star is going to return to the Beeb after after the corporation announced a review of its guidance on social media. Quelle surprise. Lineker, who was suspended after his controversial tweets about the government’s asylum policy, said in a statement issued by the BBC: ‘I am glad that we have found a way forward. I support this review and look forward to getting back on air.’ Tim Davie, the Corporation’s director-general,

Dr Matt Morgan

How to stop the junior doctors’ strike

What if your boss asked you to work fewer hours, for 50 per cent more pay, surrounded by great coffee, great beaches and great weather? A third of UK junior doctors have answered ‘bonza!’ and are already planning their move to Australia. This comes as the NHS struggles along, with shortfalls of 12,000 hospital doctors and 50,000 nurses. NHS medics are, unsurprisingly, not happy: the first day of a 72-hour junior doctor strike has begun in England. While ‘wellbeing hubs’ open in crumbling NHS hospitals, with yoga balls gathering dust and free biscuits going soft, Australia has some solid, cost-effective measures that truly support staff Junior doctors voted last month

Terry Barnes

Is Australia up to the Aukus challenge?

One hundred miles or so south of Sydney, lies tranquil Jervis Bay. On its shores, largely reclaimed by the bush, are the abandoned foundations of a large nuclear power station. When it was built in the late 1960s, it was intended to be the first of a network supplying nuclear-generated electricity to the eastern Australian grid. More than fifty years on, this is all that remains of Australia’s only attempt to establish a civil nuclear industry, every attempt since then to revive the possibility stymied by anti-nuclear activists and politicians lacking the courage to challenge them. Those doomed foundations symbolise the challenge to Australia to fulfil its central part of

Sam Leith Sam Leith

Let’s talk about sex education

Ah, sex education. I remember it like it was yesterday. It would have been 1987. Our entire year assembled in the school theatre. A beige, moustachioed, Open-University-looking chap stood alone on the stage with a slide projector. We’d never seen him before and never saw him again. He had been hired in especially for the occasion, I fancy, in much the same way and for much the same reason Russia uses the Wagner group to supply combat troops.   On one of the early slides was a long list of synonyms for the male organ of generation. ‘Penis,’ he intoned solemnly, indicating the word with his pointer. ‘Willy,’ he said. ‘Dick,’ he said. ‘John

Sunday

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Will the BBC chairman go after Lineker row?

Day five and the Gary Lineker row shows no sign of abating any time soon. The BBC has gone into meltdown; the Prime Minister has been forced to distance himself. Lineker’s show Match of the Day was shortened to a mere 20 minutes without commentary, with his co-stars boycotting the programme in ‘solidarity.’ Faced with a staff mutiny and a 200,000-strong petition to reinstate Lineker, how on earth does the Beeb’s management sort this one out? One possible victim of the row is not Lineker but the BBC chairman Richard Sharp. There is an ongoing KC-led review into his appointment as BBC chairman and whether he failed to properly disclose

John Keiger John Keiger

Is Macron dreaming of Aukus becoming Fraukus?

When silhouetted against the symbolism – as French media proudly insist – of King Charles choosing France for his first state visit at month’s end, this weekend is very much an Anglo-French affair. On Friday, Rishi Sunak and seven ministers visited Paris – a first for five frosty years – for a Franco-British summit with president Macron and relevant ministers on everything from energy policy, immigration, defence and security to Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific. Saturday saw France slaughter England at rugby in the worst ever defeat at Twickenham. More awkwardly for France and Macron, this is also the weekend of further revelations about next stages in the Aukus deal.  The

Andy Coulson

The BBC should admit its mistake and get Lineker back

While sports fans this morning are discussing why the entire England rugby team backed Gary Lineker by choosing not to turn up at Twickenham, the drama rumbles on. At its heart, this is a communications crisis borne out of that all-too-often-seen disease of people with important jobs taking themselves far too seriously. First we have Gary Lineker: who, clearly unhappy with his lucrative lot in life, feels the need to get involved in politics. I’m interested in the views of all sorts of people outside of Westminster – including on the deeply complex issue of immigration. But Gary, whilst being one of my go-to thinkers on football, doesn’t make that

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse lead to a financial crash?

Tech start-ups tend to involve taking big risks on ideas which are untested both in terms of technology and the market place. Yet it isn’t blind faith in new ideas that is threatening to bring down scores of British tech start-ups over the next few days: it is boring old bonds. Many start-ups have relied for financing on Silicon Valley Bank UK, an offshoot of its larger US parent. Over the last few years, the institution has in turn relied on taking bets on government bonds whose value had been inflated by near-zero interest rates. As interest rates have risen, those bets have gone sour. On Friday, the Bank of

Lucy Dunn

Is the SNP establishment running scared of Kate Forbes?

With only a day to go until voting for the next SNP leader starts, candidates don’t have long left to convince members to back them. So perhaps it’s little wonder that tensions are running high. The favourite for the contest Humza Yousaf has secured the backing of John Swinney, with the Deputy First Minister publicly endorsing Yousaf this weekend as his preferred candidate for SNP leader.  Nicola Sturgeon has said she will not endorse a candidate but as Swinney is her close ally the move has raised eyebrows – particularly given the timing. While Humza Yousaf’s team describe the ‘unstoppable momentum’ building behind their candidate, with Yousaf telling the BBC’s

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Jeremy Hunt defends the Tories’ long-term economic record

A Chancellor’s Sunday media appearance before a Budget often serves as a ‘free pass’ – not because difficult questions aren’t asked, but because they can quite easily get out of answering by saying some polite version of: ‘you’ll have to wait and see.’ So instead of focusing on the upcoming Budget this Wednesday, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg decided to ask Jeremy Hunt this morning about his party’s long-term record. Those questions he had to answer. It wasn’t an easy task. Kuenssberg presented Hunt with two tricky metrics: housing prices and average wages. The former, Kuenssberg notes, has skyrocketed, while average wages are failing to keep up with inflation. Many people

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Match of the Day viewing figures rise without Gary Lineker

Oh dear. This wasn’t how it was meant to go. After Gary Lineker was forced to ‘step back’ from presenting BBC’s Match of the Day over a tweet comparing the language used by the government with regards to its new Illegal Migration Bill to that ‘used by Germany in the 30s’, other presenters – from Alan Shearer and Ian Wright to Alex Scott – joined in solidarity. Alastair Campbell – who presents the Rest Is Politics podcast produced by… you guessed it… Gary Lineker’s own company Goalhanger – has been out defending Lineker and recording ’emergency’ podcasts for the company Lineker owns. Only it seems not everyone has got the

Matthew Lynn

Jeremy Hunt will have to step in after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse

It will be yet another bailout for failed bankers. It will simply encourage yet more risk-taking in the City. It only impacts a tiny number of tech companies and venture capital funds, and anyway we can’t afford it. As the London arm of Silicon Valley Bank – which has gone spectacularly bust over the weekend – is closed down by the Bank of England, there will be plenty of pressure on the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt not to offer any extra money to its depositors beyond what they are entitled to under the existing compensation scheme. The trouble is, that would be a big mistake. If necessary it will have to

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Lineker’s solidarity strikers could speed up the end of the licence fee

I never expected staff at an entire department of the BBC to put their shoulders to the wheel of the campaign to bring about an early demise for the television licence fee. Yet that is what those working for BBC Sport have done with their rock-solid sympathy strike on behalf of Gary Lineker. Of course, most of them probably don’t realise what they are doing. With many of the big names of BBC Sport being former professional footballers themselves, one should not expect a particularly exalted level of intellectual reasoning. There is no way that a compulsory universal licence fee can support this level of factionalism among its prime beneficiaries

Figen Murray

How I forgave Salman Abedi, my son’s murderer

My son, Martyn Hett, was one of 22 people murdered in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack on 22 May 2017. That day, my whole world came crashing down. I knew instantly that life as it was before had changed completely and forever.  At the time, I was a busy psychotherapist with my own private practice. Family life was also quite hectic with five children, four grandchildren and a house to run. Life was frantic at times, but good – until the day of the attack, when numbness, shock and disbelief took over. Three days after the bombing, I saw the face of Martyn’s murderer for the first time. I was shocked at his young age. Salman Abedi was 22 years

Daniel Thorpe

Is this the man who could topple Turkey’s president Erdogan?

After months of negotiations and a week of drama, the Turkish opposition bloc has announced Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as their joint presidential candidate. The general election in May looks set to be the biggest challenge president Erdoğan has faced since coming to power in 2002. An unusual scene unfolded in Ankara on Monday night. A huge portrait of Atatürk, the radically secular founding father of modern Turkey, fluttered in the breeze over the headquarters of an Islamist party. Outside, thousands gathered, chanting the name Kılıçdaroğlu, a politician from a religious minority, the Alevis, who have faced persecution for most of the Turkish Republic’s

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

The Prince of Prussia’s legal fight brings painful memories back for Germany

Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia has two big problems: he is the great-great-grandson and heir of Wilhelm II, Germany’s last emperor who was forced to abdicate after his country’s disastrous defeat in the First World War. For another, he is Prince of a country that hasn’t existed since 1947, when the victorious Allies abolished Prussia. As if that wasn’t enough historical baggage, the head of the House of Hohenzollern has been embroiled in a long legal fight over his family’s role in Hitler’s rise. Now the Prince has announced a tactical withdrawal from this particular battle over his family’s legacy, one that he hopes will ‘clear the path for an

Saturday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Rishi Sunak tries to defuse the Gary Lineker row

Any hopes in No. 10 that Rishi Sunak’s French charm offensive with Emmanuel Macron would dominate the weekend papers were dashed when the BBC announced on Friday that Gary Lineker had been asked to ‘step back’ from presenting Match of the Day. This decision came after a tweet by Lineker where he compared the language used by the government with regards to its new Illegal Migration Bill – to stop those who arrive illegally claiming asylum – to the language ‘used by Germany in the 30s’. The BBC initially suggested there would be no disciplinary action but changed tack following further comments from the presenter on the issue.  Since that announcement,

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SNP leadership candidates quizzed on the Stone of Destiny

Today was the penultimate party hustings of the SNP leadership contest, this time with Glasgow party members quizzing the leadership contenders. Did they want to know about what the next leader of the SNP thinks about the constitution perhaps, or the race to save Scotland’s NHS? Not quite. Instead, it appears what really matters to the SNP membership is, erm, the Stone of Destiny, ITV Borders and, naturally, berating England. One member asked at the hustings: ‘We thought we were entitled to a referendum; Westminster said no. We passed the gender recognition [reform bill], ‘no’. Now coming up is a coronation. Do they want our stone? Oh yes. Will they

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Dorries goes studs up on Lineker

It’s not a proper Tory bunfight until Nadine Dorries weighs in. The former Culture Secretary has never been shy to share her opinions and she has now weighed into the ongoing row about Gary Lineker and Match of the Day. ‘Lineker off air amid Twitter row’ roared the strap-line on Dorries’ flagship Friday show as she asked her guests whether the former England star’s tweets ought to represent a ‘line in the sand’ moment for BBC. Dorries also took to Twitter to declare: @GaryLineker does need to decide though, is he a footie presenter or a candidate for the Labour Party? We discuss on my show tonight on @TalkTV 8pm