Politics

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

Sunday

Justin Bronk

The West shouldn’t underestimate Russia in Ukraine

Russia’s winter offensive appears to have begun with a decidedly underwhelming series of operations in the Donbas. So far results have ranged from grinding and very costly victories in the towns of Krasna Hora and Soledar, to an outright disaster at Vuhledar where most of Russia’s 155th Naval Infantry Brigade was destroyed, and its commanding officer killed, after becoming stuck and then fixed by artillery fire in the middle of recently re-laid Ukrainian minefields.   Meanwhile, a long-running operation by Wagner mercenary troops to take the partially encircled town of Bakhmut continues, and Russian forces are making probing attacks as far north as the Russian border near Kharkiv oblast and as far south

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris allies take aim at Rishi over Protocol

A spectre is haunting Downing Street – the spectre of Boris Johnson. The former Prime Minister has been largely content to keep his head down in recent months, quietly cashing millions on the speaking circuit and preparing his Partygate defence. But today the ex-Tory leader has chosen to send a barely-concealed warning to his successor Rishi Sunak about the Northern Irish Protocol, via the usual journalistic cover of briefings from friends and allies. The front page of the Sunday Telegraph roars about ‘Johnson’s warning to Sunak on NI deal’ and prominently quotes ‘a source close to Mr Johnson’ as saying that: ‘His general thinking is that it would be a

Saturday

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Kate Forbes takes the lead in SNP poll

Kate Forbes has taken an early lead in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon. The Finance Secretary, who’s currently on maternity leave, has emerged in first place in a poll of Scottish voters. The poll for the Scotsman asked 1,004 people who they’d like to see leading the SNP and settling into Bute House. Forbes leads among SNP voters with 18 per cent. Among all voters she’s also the most popular with 14 per cent of the vote. Angus Robertson – who remains the bookies' favourite – was second in the poll with 14 per cent of SNP voters and 9 per cent of the public backing him. John Swinney, the deputy first minister and

John Ferry John Ferry

Nicola Sturgeon’s disastrous economic legacy

When Nicola Sturgeon looks back on her economic legacy, what will she feel most proud of: the big industrial plants on Scotland’s coast churning out wind turbines for export, the near monthly launch of newly built ships on the Clyde, or the thriving green venture capital community sprouting up in Edinburgh? An inability to deal with economic reality is the final entry in the ledger of Sturgeon’s economic legacy That kind of fond reminiscing won’t happen of course because none of these things exist. The fiasco of the Sturgeon administration trying to organise the building of new ferries on the Clyde while supposedly saving Scottish commercial shipbuilding is well documented.

Debbie Hayton

JK Rowling is no transphobe – and I should know

Most authors would undoubtedly be satisfied with the legacy of Harry Potter: hundreds of millions of books sold, a film franchise, untold riches – and a place in the hearts and minds of children for generations to come. But after creating the fantasy of Hogwarts, J.K. Rowling did something even greater; she stood up for reality in a world where many do not seem to understand the difference between fact and fiction. Rowling’s views on gender have been divisive – but the author insists in a forthcoming podcast, The Witch Trials of JK Rowling, which starts next week, that she has been misunderstood by fans who ‘feel that she has let

James Heale James Heale

Is Scottish independence dead?

13 min listen

After the news this week that Nicola Sturgeon will step aside as leader of the Scottish National Party, can the cause of Scottish independence survive without her?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and James Johnson, former Downing Street pollster and co-founder of JL Partners. 

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill

Why I’m glad to see the back of Nicola Sturgeon

I see Scotland as the brain of the UK, with Wales as the soul and Northern Ireland as the heart. Though I like being English – our lovely language is second to none – we’re probably not the most sensible nation on earth, so I’d call us the sense of humour. Because of this, I’ve always thought that if I was a Scot, I’d probably be a separatist. It annoyed me intensely when during the referendum the likes of David Bowie (by then resident in the USA for many years) stuck his oar in, getting his mate Kate Moss to accept a Brit award for him and pass on the

Friday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Does the NHS need any diversity officers at all?

The HSJ, as the Health Service Journal likes to be known these days, has managed to produce one of the most intriguing headlines of the week: ‘NHS is “pandering to ministers” by cutting its equality, diversity and inclusion teams to 35 whole-time posts.’ A mere 35? That, by the way, is merely the central administration of the NHS in England. It doesn’t include NHS trusts. Overall, according to a set of Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Taxpayers’ Alliance last October, NHS England employs 800 diversity and inclusion officers, at a cost of £40 million a year. What do they all do? Accuse each other of discrimination, for one

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Macron is unwise to snub Meloni over Europe’s migrant crisis

Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni are no strangers to having a spat. The first was last autumn, about migrants; this time they have fallen out over Ukraine.  The Italian prime minister made no secret of her irritation with the French president last week on discovering he had invited Volodymyr Zelensky to Paris. It was, declared Meloni, ‘inappropriate’ for Macron to host the Ukraine president for dinner last Wednesday at the Elysee. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz received an invite too, which evidently antagonised Meloni even more.  ‘There were two European leaders, there were 25 missing,’ reflected the Italian PM. ‘When it comes to Ukraine, what interests us above everything else is

Steerpike Steerpike

Welsh government declares war on meal deals

It’s the issue vexing millions of voters. Forget war, pestilence, famine – it seems the real horror facing the good people of Wales is… meal deals. Yes, that’s right: those fiscally prudent prandial packages are the real scourge bedevilling the Land of My Fathers. For the Welsh government in its infinite wisdom is mulling a ban on multi-buy offers as part of its latest anti-obesity drive. Clearly the cost of living crisis that Labour keeps banging on about in England doesn’t apply across the border… The bans being considered by the satraps in the Senedd include temporary price reductions, multi-buy offers, and meal deals, according to a consultation document seen

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Would Liz Truss’s ‘economic Nato’ work against China?

It was only a few weeks ago that Liz Truss started commenting on domestic policy again, speaking to The Spectator not just about what happened during her time in No. 10, but about what she sees as prescriptions for Britain’s stagnant economy. Today she weighs back in on foreign policy. In Tokyo this morning, the former prime minister made her first international speech since leaving office and it combined her favourite topics: economic freedom and taking a tough stance on China. Truss is calling for world leaders to band together and create an ‘economic Nato’ – which would include agreeing to a tough package of economic sanctions on China, were

Tom Slater Tom Slater

Blasphemy has become a risky business at British universities

You might have thought that of all the things that could get you in trouble on a university campus today, blasphemy would not be one of them. That the days of unbelievers being banished and having their works burned by college dons were long behind us. That the old blasphemies had at least been replaced by new, secular blasphemies about race and gender. Not so, it seems. As one law academic has found out, criticising or even just discussing religious practice is still a risky business at British universities – only the God that campus authorities fear seems to have changed.  Universities should not be giving in to such intolerance Steven Greer

James Heale James Heale

Why China could be Truss’s best hope for rehabilitation

This week two former Foreign Secretaries offered competing visions for how Britain should engage with China. On Wednesday, Philip Hammond was quoted in China Daily as championing a ‘trade-first approach’, urging politicians to ‘return to business as usual’ and ignore ‘background noise.’ And last night, Liz Truss set out a much more hawkish alternative, using her first post-premiership speech in Japan to make the case for strengthening ties with Taiwan and countering ‘the rise of a totalitarian China.’ The fact that these two politicians served alongside each other in successive Cabinets for five years – with Truss working as Hammond’s deputy for two of them – is testament to the

Iain Macwhirter

Without Sturgeon, is the SNP still the party of independence?

Dazed and confused by their leader’s sudden departure, Scottish nationalists are now deeply worried that Nicola Sturgeon has taken the independence dream with her. She hasn’t of course. Independence is a long game and there remain many true believers. However the chances of transforming the Scottish National party’s immense electoral success into a referendum on independence in the near term seem remote.    Some in the movement are wondering if the referendum route is still viable since it has been driven into a legal cul de sac by Nicola Sturgeon’s discredited idea of turning the next general election into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. That ploy is now surely dead.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The Victoria Prentis and Vika Edition

26 min listen

For this special episode of Women With Balls, the government’s Attorney General, Victoria Prentis joins Katy along with Vika, a young Ukrainian woman who came over to the UK under the Homes For Ukraine scheme after the war began.  On the podcast, Victoria talks about how life has changed since Vika joined the family and as part of her role in government, working with the Ukrainian prosecutor general who will conduct war crimes tribunals. Vika tells Katy about the steps taken to escape Kyiv at the start of the war; her new life in Oxfordshire having been taken in by the community and what she misses about her home in

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Scotland will have a new leader on 27 March

So now we know: Scotland will get its new leader on 27 March. The rules that will determine how Sturgeon’s successor – and Scotland’s sixth First Minister – will be chosen, were thrashed out by the party’s National Executive Committee on Thursday night. Nominations are now open and will close a week today. The ballot will then open to members on 13 March followed by a fortnight of voting. The election will take just over five weeks – half the length of the SNP’s last contested election when Alex Salmond returned to power in 2004. Candidates will need to win the backing of 100 members from at least 20 branches

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Humza Yousaf would be Sturgeon’s continuity candidate

The Daily Record has reported that Humza Yousaf, currently the Scottish health secretary, will stand for election to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland. The 37-year-old Sturgeon ally is said to believe he can unite the party and a source tells the paper he has ‘a lot of support from MPs and MSPs’.  If Yousaf did replace Sturgeon, it would be a landmark moment for Scotland Yousaf’s views on the constitution and gender identity are indistinguishable from Sturgeon’s and he can expect to be considered a continuity candidate. He is also a seasoned media performer, though no stranger to the occasional on-camera mishap. The Record says

Brian Wilson

Sturgeon’s failure to create a better Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon always knew how to play the London media like a fiddle. Progressive views, plain speaking, ‘detesting’ the Tories – what was there not to like? Whenever she was in a tight corner at home, a friendly interviewer could be found in the otherwise hated imperial capital to offer an easy ride. Much of this has been in evidence since she announced her impending resignation. Robert Peston trilled on Twitter: ‘Whether or not you back her ideas and convictions, she has been one of the most important politicians of this generation. Her call for less irrationality and hysteria in politics should be heeded.’ Her failure lay in a distinctly

Thursday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can Sunak win over the DUP?

A deal on the Northern Ireland protocol could be imminent – if the various factions agree. Rishi Sunak is this evening flying to Northern Ireland in a bid to sell the new deal on the protocol to the Democratic Unionist party. The Prime Minister is expected to hold talks in Belfast before meeting with the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend. Already there are warning shots from the DUP. The party’s chief whip has said: ‘Anything which does not deal with the democractic deficit and the imposition of EU law on Northern Ireland will not get our support.’ The role of the European Court of Justice is the