Politics

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

Thursday

Lara Brown

Have we reached peak EDI?

As the old saying goes, ‘when American sneezes, England catches a cold’. This week, the two major city watchdogs announced they will be ditching planned ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ regulation.  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator for Britain’s financial services sector, first announced their plans to impose extensive new Diversity and Inclusion rules in 2023. After significant pushback at the time, they have finally declared it has ‘no plans to take the work further’. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England’s regulatory arm, has also issued a statement saying that they are not proceeding with similar proposals. Is this the first sign of a turning point in the

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Reynolds grovels over solicitor claim

Well, well, well. After Guido Fawkes revealed that Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds had previously – and inaccurately – referred to himself as a solicitor, the Labour man has now been forced to rather publicly correct the record. While the Stalybridge and Hyde MP did receive solicitor training at Addleshaw Goddard for ten months, he left without qualifying to pursue a political career. Yet, similar to another of his colleagues, Reynolds was later found to have embellished his CV – even referring to himself as a ‘solicitor’ in a spoken contribution in the Commons. Not only has Reynolds never been registered on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s register, the job title is

Ian O’Doherty

Ireland isn’t out of Trump’s firing line just yet

The Taoiseach Micheal Martin’s White House encounter with Donald Trump was controversial even before it was announced. Before any invitation had been extended, Sinn Fein said they were going to boycott the event in a show of solidarity with the people of Ukraine and Gaza and as a sign of their commitment ‘to humanity’. The People Before Profit party said Martin was endorsing America’s role in a genocide and Labour leader Ivana Bacik insisted the Taoiseach take the opportunity to publicly scold Trump on Ukraine, Gaza and his perceived failures to take action on climate change. But Martin is a more experienced politician than that and knew there was only

Steerpike Steerpike

Seven in ten Reform voters don’t recognise Rupert Lowe

It was only a few weeks ago that Reform UK was flying high in the polls. Now a fallout between the party leadership and MP Rupert Lowe has left their voters shaken – with Lowe currently suspended from the group over allegations of bullying made against his office and under investigation by the Metropolitan Police. But while Lowe’s social media supporters are outraged by his treatment, it doesn’t appear like much of the rest of the public know quite who he is… According to polling by JL Partners for GB News carried out between 10-11 March, when a ‘nationally representative’ sample of 2,065 Brits were shown a picture of Lowe

Peter Lilley

Debunking the myths about the ECHR

This year the European Convention on Human Rights and its Strasbourg court are 75 years old – the age at which British judges are obliged to retire. Is it time for Britain to retire from this ageing institution? Not according to the Attorney-General, Lord Hermer, a former human rights lawyer, who recently pledged that under Labour Britain would never leave. Apologists for the ECHR invariably turn to myths to make their case, foremost of which is the creation myth. The ECHR, they say, was a British invention. It was inspired by Winston Churchill and drafted by David Maxwell Fyfe. It codified historic British rights and the UK was the first

Douglas Murray

Why Nigel should listen to Rupert

I was thinking lately of Robert Kilroy-Silk. For younger readers, and people who were never students or unemployed, a quick refresher course may be needed. From 1986 to 2004 Kilroy-Silk was the presenter of a BBC daytime television programme called Kilroy. It had something of a cult following because of its unintentional hilarity. The live audience was carefully ring-mastered by Kilroy-Silk, who wandered around the studio with a microphone asking people what they thought about various ‘ishoos’ of the day. For some of us the main entertainment came from the fact that there was never quite enough room on the audience banquettes and so we watched for those moments when

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

How to reform Reform

In early June last year I had a reasonably agreeable meal with a bunch of Reform UK activists at a restaurant in Guisborough – the main town in the seat which I would be contesting for the Social Democratic party, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland. There were four of them, united primarily by one thing – a visceral loathing of the Conservative party. Beyond that they were basically anti-woke and economically dry, as we used to call it. But all that took second place to the animus against the Tories. I have met pink-haired, nose-ringed, utterly vacuous LGBTQI sociology students who were more kindly disposed to the Conservatives than this

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Starmer’s next target: his MPs

Labour MPs these days are experiencing whiplash. When in opposition, the party attacked the Tories’ proposed benefits cuts for ‘effectively turning on the poorest in our society’. Now, Keir Starmer plans to drive through £6 billion in welfare cuts of his own. Labour ministers previously spent much of their time scolding the government for showing insufficient respect towards civil servants. Now, Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has launched a crackdown on poor performers. Since the start of Starmer’s premiership, ministers have announced 27 new quangos – yet this week the Prime Minister scrapped one in a signal of intent, telling his cabinet they cannot do what the

Wednesday

Svitlana Morenets Svitlana Morenets

Losing Kursk is a big blow to Zelensky

After eight months of fighting on Russian soil, Ukrainian troops are pulling back from the Kursk region. This morning, Russian forces raised their flag over Sudzha and are now closing in on the last 50 square miles of Ukrainian holdouts. The retreat couldn’t come at a worse time for Kyiv – just as a ceasefire and potential peace deal are on the table. Zelensky had hoped to trade the Kursk salient for Ukrainian land in negotiations. Now, that leverage is almost gone. Russian troops, reinforced by North Koreans, have been steadily clawing back the 500 square miles of Russian territory seized by Ukraine last August. But the real breakthrough came

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Can Trump survive a recession?

27 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by Fox News broadcaster Deroy Murdock to discuss Trump’s America. They cover what could be the real reason behind Trump’s tariffs, how concerned Americans should be about a recession, the Ukraine-Russia peace plan and what the Democrats can do to recover from the election defeat. 

James Heale James Heale

What will Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy be?

12 min listen

Nicola Sturgeon has announced her intention to step down at the next Scottish Parliament election in May 2026. One of the original MSPs elected to Holyrood in 1999, Sturgeon has dominated Scottish and UK politics over the past two decades. The Salmond-Sturgeon era began in 2004 and she went on to serve as First Minister for the best part of a decade. Stewart McDonald, former SNP MP for Glasgow South 2015-24, and Lucy Dunn join James Heale on this special Coffee House Scots to discuss Sturgeon’s legacy. She brought Scotland the closest to independence for 300 years, yet resigned in 2023 under a cloud over party management. Attention turns to next year’s

Damian Reilly Damian Reilly

Man Utd fans – and Gary Neville – should stop moaning

What exactly is it that the Glazer family has done that makes Manchester United fans whine so endlessly? I ask only because I’ve just finished watching Gary Neville’s frequently ludicrous interview with British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – who since purchasing a 27.7 per cent stake in the club in 2023 has overseen its football operations – and am none the wiser.  After hearing Ratcliffe, very patiently, it must be said, appraise Neville of the truly parlous state of the club’s finances – it seems obvious if the Glazers are guilty of anything, it is of being too trusting. For the last 12 years, the family on the other side of the Atlantic

Mary Dejevsky

Is £250 a year enough for you to have a pylon ruining your view?

As part of its plans to streamline the planning process for much-needed infrastructure, the government has confirmed that it intends to give people a discount on their energy costs if they have new power pylons or other energy infrastructure built near their property. Outlining the plan, the housing and planning minister, Alex Norris, said that the discount could amount to £250 a year – around 12 per cent of the average household’s energy bill – for those living within 500 metres of new or upgraded structures. ‘If you’re making that sacrifice of having some of the infrastructure in your community, you should get some of the money back,’ he said.

Owen Matthews

Why Russia should agree to a ceasefire – and five reasons Putin might not

The main achievement of the US-Ukrainian talks in Jeddah was to produce a ceasefire document that Russia might actually want to sign. A long list of Ukrainian red lines – such as a partial ceasefire in the air and sea only, and security guarantees before any ceasefire was implemented – were swept aside. What’s on the table is essentially an unconditional ceasefire on all fronts, initially limited to thirty days. Putin now needs to decide whether it’s in Russia’s interests to accept. There are six reasons why he should sign the Jeddah deal – and five reasons he may not: Why Putin should agree to the deal:  Relations with Washington

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Is Kemi Badenoch getting better at PMQs?

If Kemi Badenoch has a plan, she’s keeping it hidden. At PMQs she used her scattergun approach to complain about unemployment, farming, winter fuel payments, council tax, increases in NI, business closures, food-aid for underfed kids and the murder of David Amess. Eventually, she reached the chancellor’s awkward ‘spring statement’ which would have made a much better starting point. There was no shape to her performance, no dramatic climax, no electrifying revelation to dominate the afternoon news. And she’s low on energy. Does she even need six questions? She should sell half of them to the SNP who are adept at concealing illicit financial deals from the auditors.  Her best

Sergey Radchenko

Putin can still defeat Ukraine

After Ukraine accepted America’s 30-day ceasefire proposal, all eyes are on Russia’s reaction. Will Vladimir Putin – who, as President Trump has incredulously claimed, has all the cards, and at the same time no cards at all – go along with the US proposal, or choose to snub it? To answer this question, it is important to understand what Putin is trying to do. On the one hand, he did not spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this war, sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives, and put Russia’s entire economy on a war footing in order to claim a devastated strip of territory in eastern Donbas. Putin wants to reassert effective

Niko Vorobyov

Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs is catching up with him

I saw my first murder scene in Manila. On the evening of the 22 January 2018, a pair of assassins on motorbikes rode up to the scrap metal dealer Manny ‘Buddy’ Wagan and blasted him twice in the head. I didn’t witness the killing itself but arrived with my fixer just in time to see a passerby lighting a candle in honour of the deceased, the flickering flame reflected in the pool of blood, brain and skull spread across the pavement.  Manny’s death was one of up to 30,000 such slayings over the course of President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year rule of the Philippines between 2016 and 2022. Duterte had declared a war against drugs

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Nicola Sturgeon wasted eight years in power

As Nicola Sturgeon announces that she is standing down from the Scottish parliament, it is worth reflecting on what a gilded political life she led – and how she managed to fritter it all away and leave frontline politics with no legacy, or at least none she’d care to be remembered by. The former Glasgow solicitor became Scotland’s deputy first minister at 36 after Alex Salmond invited her to stand as his deputy in the 2004 SNP leadership election. From there, she was handed the health portfolio, then put in charge of infrastructure, and became a household name during the independence referendum. When Salmond quit in the wake of that

Dr Sean Phillips

Will Streeting’s shake-up save the NHS?

Not for the first time, the NHS is facing a major overhaul under a Labour government. A series of announcements in recent weeks – relating to job cuts and changes at the top of the health service – constitute a complete resetting of healthcare governance in England. But will it work? And can this shake-up fix our broken healthcare system? One of the biggest reforms relates to NHS England (NHSE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), where a cut of around 50 per cent in central staffing (currently numbering 19,000 workers) is planned. This would represent a headcount reduction far greater in percentage terms than that proposed (and delivered) by

Steerpike Steerpike

Labour MP U-turns on benefit cuts letter

There’s drama in Labourland today as one backbencher appears to have had second thoughts about her stance on benefits payments – after the Get Britain Working group’s open letter went out with her name on it. The letter, which has called upon Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to introduce a ‘new social contract’ to get disability benefit claimants back to work, has ruffled feathers both with left-wing MPs and, er, one of its own signatories. Allison Gardner has taken to social media today to fume that her name ‘shouldn’t have been added’ to the petition and assure her constituents she has requested its removal. Talk about a reverse ferret,