Politics

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

Wednesday

5 Oct 2022

Is Liz Truss a real grown-up?

Tough call today for Liz Truss. She had to relaunch her premiership at her very first conference as leader. She walked on stage to the sound of the disco hit Moving On Up and for a horrific moment it looked as if she might do the Maybot dance. Luckily she remained still. To greet the applauding Tories she wore a smirk that seemed curiously poised between self-doubt and self-love. ‘I quite can’t believe I’m here – but I’m fabulous anyway.’ She’d chosen a stylish frock of mud-brown and sported the notorious necklace – with a zero dangling from its gold rivets – which is said to reflect her chances of winning a

James Forsyth

Is Truss back on track?

13 min listen

Liz Truss has today delivered her speech to the Conservative Party Conference where she set out the vision for her government. It was arguably the best moment of a difficult week for the party. Has she succeeded in calming Tory nerves? Who are the ‘anti-growth coalition’ that she is taking on? Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Sam Leith

Liz Truss’s cliché-ridden speech was saved by Greenpeace

Liz Truss has, if nothing else, been working on her delivery. Her first speech to conference as Prime Minister was only about seventy per cent as stilted as usual. She occasionally, though just occasionally, sounded like she was speaking to the audience rather than reading something off an autocue. She remembered to smile. She even had a go at pointing matily into the crowd when she was saying nice things about her ‘dynamic new chancellor’ or her ‘fantastic deputy prime minister’. And – which was the most she could have hoped for – she got through it without dropping any sort of clanger. The speech itself, perhaps deliberately, was a

The Spectator

Give Liz Truss a chance

Conservative governments have a habit of self-destructing: they die not in battle with political enemies but as a result of vicious infighting. It’s been less than three years since Boris Johnson’s triumphant 80-seat election victory, which seemed at the time to come close to condemning Labour to oblivion. Yet this week in Birmingham it was the Conservatives who have looked doomed, posing a far greater threat to each other than to Keir Starmer. In her conference speech, Liz Truss laid out a confident and coherent agenda. She is correct about the need to harness the power of free enterprise to kickstart growth, but she failed to prepare the ground for

Isabel Hardman

Truss’s workmanlike conference speech

Liz Truss’s speech at Conservative party conference was workmanlike; she performed the task she’d set out to do. It was helped by a brief protest in the middle by Greenpeace, which allowed the Prime Minister to drive home her point about an ‘anti-growth coalition’ to a hall that was united in willing her on and booing the protestors. The Prime Minister is not the most rousing public speaker. Indeed, the standing ovation at the end of the address felt a little uncertain, almost as though the audience was wondering if this was the start of a more energising peroration, not the payoff. She looked awkwardly at the autocue throughout, almost

James Forsyth

Liz Truss’s speech was the highlight of a troubled Tory conference

Liz Truss’s speech was a reminder that she regards ‘freedom’ as the defining Tory value. Her emphasis throughout was on economic growth, and her belief that cutting taxes would help deliver it. The speech was a straightforward elucidation of what Truss believes: it had an argument. But the challenge for her now is twofold. First, obviously, it is to deliver the growth she talked about. Getting through the supply-side reforms that might really make a difference will not be easy – particularly with Tory MPs reluctant to vote for anything controversial given the state of the polls. The second is to explain to people how they will benefit from this

Steerpike

Watch: Liz Truss’s speech disrupted by climate activists

Liz Truss’s Conservative party conference speech has been disrupted by climate protesters. The demonstrators stood up during the Prime Minister’s address and unveiled a banner with the words: ‘Who voted for this?’ The pair were booed by Tory members in the conference hall before being ejected by security. ‘Later on in my speech I’m going to talk about the anti-growth coalition’, the PM said. ‘I think they arrived a bit too early.’

The Spectator

Full text: Liz Truss’s Tory conference speech

My friends, it’s great to be here with you in Birmingham. It’s fantastic to see the cranes across the skyline building new buildings, the busy trams coursing down the streets and the bull standing proudly at the heart of Birmingham. My friends, this is what a city with a Tory Mayor looks like – it’s positive, it’s enterprising, it’s successful. And Andy Street is a human dynamo, delivering for the people of Birmingham. And our Teesside Mayor Ben Houchen is also delivering new jobs and investment. This is what modern Conservatism looks like. Let’s get Tory mayors elected in London, in Manchester, in West Yorkshire and right across the country. We gather

Richard Ekins

What went wrong with policing at Tory conference?

Events in Birmingham this week reveal a crisis in the policing of public protest. It was no surprise that protestors would make their views loudly known outside the Conservative party conference. In exercising their rights to assemble and to speak, protestors play an important role in a democracy. But some of those attending the conference, exercising their rights to assemble and to speak, were, at times, subject to verbal and physical abuse and intimidation. They have also been exposed to levels of noise that, in certain parts of the conference centre, made it difficult for speakers to make themselves heard. The police have been curiously reluctant to act to protect

Tim Stanley

The Conservatives know they are beat

The mood at the Tory conference is grim to funereal, and for good reason. They know they’re beat. There’s a sense that something has changed in British politics and we ain’t going back. Labour is revived; the Tories are divided and unpopular. But it’s about more than just a 45p tax cut, which was a bad idea, or the U-turn, which was suicidal (if a centre-Right government can’t pass a tax cut with an 80-seat majority, it’s dead in the water). The reality is that Britain doesn’t want what the Conservative party is now selling. Their economic message is actually sound; it’s infuriating that they can’t seem to articulate it.

Steerpike

James Cleverly blames the media for 45p tax cut U-turn

Conservative party conference has turned out to be a great opportunity – for Tory MPs and ministers alike to point the finger that is. Since Monday morning, the biggest blame game doing the rounds in Birmingham has been over who is responsible for Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s embarrassing climb-down to reverse the cut to the 45p income tax rate. This morning Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has thrown another name into the mix: ’twas, in fact, the media what done it. Speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News, he said: ‘You guys were constantly talking about the 45p tax rate which is why we had to take it away.’ Clearly surprised Kay fired back:

Tuesday

4 Oct 2022

Kate Andrews

What did Kwarteng say to the free market think tanks?

When Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng entered Downing Street, laser focus was not only applied to them, but also to the free market think tanks they had worked with over the years. This evening, Kwarteng paid a visit to two of them, as the Institute of Economic Affairs and The Taxpayers’ Alliance hosted the Chancellor at Conservative party conference for one-on-one conversations. Similar to his speech yesterday, Kwarteng used the opportunity to try to take some heat out of his mini-Budget. When asked if market reaction was part of the Treasury orthodoxy he and Truss had been taking aim against for weeks, he shook his head and pointed to the

Katy Balls

The message behind Liz Truss’s conference speech

What does Liz Truss need to say in her first leader’s speech at Conservative party conference? Faced with a restive party, economic turmoil and a feuding cabinet, MPs are already asking questions about how long she will last as Prime Minister. Rather than prove a celebratory moment, Truss’s first party conference as leader has been dominated by her Budget U-turn on the 45p tax rate and the threat of more rebellions to come, including on benefits (see The Spectator‘s rolling list here). The hope among her team is that the leader’s speech will offer Truss a chance to reassure her supporters The hope among her team is that the leader’s

Ross Clark

Scrapping inheritance tax is a terrible idea

There is no hole deep enough that a Conservative minister cannot muster the spadework to excavate it to even greater depths. No sooner had Kwasi Kwarteng announced that he was dropping his proposed reduction in the upper rate of income tax, than Andrew Griffith, one of his ministers at the Treasury, declared that he would like to see inheritance tax abolished. ‘I have lots of my fantastic local association [members] with me here and they will know because they asked me at my selection meeting 27 months ago which tax, if I had the choice, I would most like to see eliminated. History will record it was inheritance tax, ’he

Edward Howell

Why did North Korea fire a missile over Japan?

It was a new dawn, a new day, and a new North Korean missile test. The land of the morning calm – as South Korea is affectionately-nicknamed – awoke to the launch of the fifth North Korean ballistic missile in ten days. Over the past ten months, the international community has become accustomed to a growing number of North Korean missile launches, of an increasingly diverse range of missiles. Kim Jong-un’s determination for North Korea to become a nuclear state, and be recognised as such is only heightening. Russia and China are now more reticent than ever to side with the West and support sanctions on North Korea Last night’s

Kate Andrews

Suella Braverman blasts Tory MPs over tax cut U-turn

Are we heading for a U-turn on the U-turn over the scrapping of the 45p tax rate? Liz Truss has said she would still like the top rate on high earners to come down, despite reversing on the policy just yesterday. Members of her cabinet agree she should bring it back: Suella Braverman has blasted Tory MPs for forcing the PM to ditch the tax cut. The Home Secretary said: ‘I’m very disappointed that members of our own parliamentary party staged a coup effectively and undermined the authority of the Prime Minister.’ Could the 45p tax cut really make a comeback? Levelling-up secretary Simon Clarke endorsed Braverman’s comments on Twitter, commenting that ‘Suella speaks a lot

Isabel Hardman

Iain Duncan Smith joins the benefits rebels

Iain Duncan Smith is the latest senior Tory to speak out against cutting benefits by not uprating them in line with inflation. The former work and pensions secretary and party leader told a ConservativeHome fringe on Universal Credit this morning that he thought it was a ‘peculiar debate’ to be having, adding: Almost certainly there would have to be a vote [on changing the benefits calculations] because it’s automatic. And therefore if you freeze it or change it, then that will be changing the system. My personal view is I don’t see what will be gained by it. But I do see what will be gained by making sure that they

James Forsyth

Is Truss facing another rebellion?

11 min listen

Liz Truss is coming under pressure over another of her policies. Should she increase benefits payments in line with inflation, or in line with earnings, as she would prefer? Will the PM change her mind again? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Fraser Nelson

Why Penny Mordaunt’s pre-rebellion matters

Another day, another Tory rebellion. Liz Truss needs to think of ways to constrain spending and tough decisions lie ahead. One option is to increase benefits in line with average salaries (6.2 per cent), rather than CPI inflation (9.9 per cent). Her aides are preparing the argument. Why should someone on welfare see their income rise faster than someone in work? And with public sector wages rising at just 2 per cent, can government really give a near-10 per cent rise to those on benefits – while saying that there’s not enough money to do the same for nurses, teachers etc? Those around the PM think that, unlike the 45p

Isabel Hardman

Liz Truss walks into another row

With a wearying inevitability, Liz Truss has gone from one row to another. One of her own cabinet ministers, Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, has warned her against cutting benefits. She told Times Radio: ‘I’ve always supported – whether it’s pensions, whether it’s our welfare system – keeping pace with inflation. It makes sense to do so. That’s what I voted for before.’ In the parties and bars in Birmingham last night, the 45p reversal hadn’t really calmed Tory nerves This is the kind of cabinet indiscipline that you’d expect in the weakest and latter days of a premiership, not the first few weeks. Mordaunt joins a growing list of

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