Politics

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

Saturday

David Davis

Does Nadine Dorries understand her Online Safety Bill?

‘Read the Bill’. That was the response I got from Nadine Dorries, the Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when I warned of the danger her beloved Online Safety Bill poses to free speech.  Dorries, a firm supporter of Liz Truss’s bid for the Tory leadership, indicated on Thursday that Truss backs the Bill in its unamended state. Numerous civil liberties organisations have campaigned against elements of the Bill from day one. And yet Dorries argues that the Bill will make free speech more secure, because somehow, she sees something they do not. Granted, the Bill does not impose outright, sweeping bans on speech. But what the department and, evidently,

Sam Leith Sam Leith

Sam Leith, Kate Andrews & Toby Young

17 min listen

On this week’s episode: Sam Leith looks at what TikTok and tech have done to our memories (0:34). Kate Andrews is in two minds about Trussonomics (06:50) and Toby Young tells us about a holiday to Iceland with teenage sons (12.34). Presented and produced by Natasha Feroze.

Steerpike Steerpike

Poll: Tory voters prefer Truss over Sunak

The Tory leadership races is a tale of two approaches: Liz Truss appears to be campaigning to win the party membership, but Rishi Sunak is is campaigning to win a general election. And its’ Truss’s approach that appears to be working, given YouGov’s survey of the Tory grassroots which shows her leading by 20 points. And now Mr S has more bad news for team Sunak: it’s not just the Tory membership turning against him but 2019 Tory voters too. For, according to a poll done by The Spectator by Redfield and Wilton, those who backed Boris Johnson at the last election now think Liz Truss is more likely to

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

The triumph of Truss

This week has seen a dramatic development that has taken the Westminster Village by surprise: Britain suddenly has an identifiable successor to Boris Johnson. Liz Truss is going to become our third female prime minister at the start of September. What was expected by many to be a tight race between her and Rishi Sunak, which could sway one way and then the other before being settled by a knife-edge vote among grassroots Tories, has turned into a one-sided competition. On every conceivable metric, Truss has steamrollered Sunak since they were confirmed as the final two in the race just ten days or so ago – polling of the membership,

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Sunak and Truss have no answer to the big problem facing the West

You will never measure the depth of our troubles if you listen to the contenders for the Tory leadership. Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss talk as if the 21st century never happened. They cannot see how the world has changed. Like the devotees of an ancient cult, they imagine that it is possible for a prime minister in the 2020s to follow the programme of Margaret Thatcher from 40-years ago. Their lines sound so antiquated because they have no plausible vision for creating a modern, united country. Then, who does? Rather than watch the contest, I have been reading the best modern historians as they struggle to find order amid

Lucy Dunn

The grim reality facing junior doctors

The NHS is facing the biggest crisis in its history. GP surgeries are breaking under pressure, waiting lists could top nine million by March 2024, and there’s a huge shortfall of staff. Many medics are opting to simply throw in the towel. Having recently qualified as a doctor, I can’t say I’m surprised. For junior doctors, stress, burnout and bullying are quick to take a toll: seven per cent of medics leave within the first three years. This bucks the expected trend: that people are at their most vitalised nearer the start of their careers. For medicine, the evidence suggests otherwise. Clinical placements reveal harsh realities early on, acclimatising trainees to

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Is France capable of hosting the 2024 Olympics?

Five years ago, Paris was named the host city for the 2024 Olympics. How the country celebrated. No one more than its fresh-faced president Emmanuel Macron. ‘I salute this success and the tremendous opportunity that the Games represent to assist in the transformation of our country,’ he declared. Macron was speaking in a wider context, too. The Olympics was one strand of what he envisioned as a whole-scale transformation of the republic into a start-up nation, a modern, harmonious and prosperous country. How has that worked out, Monsieur Le President? France has never been so divided. The raucous National Assembly – where the left and the right holler and jeer at

Bryan Appleyard

A tribute to my friend James Lovelock

The scientist James Lovelock died this week at the age of 103. He was best known for his Gaia theory, which found that Earth is a self-regulating system formed by the interaction between living organisms and their surroundings. Here, Bryan Appleyard, who co-wrote ‘Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence’ with Lovelock, pays tribute to his friend: James Lovelock died this Tuesday on his 103rd birthday. I had known him since 1988 when I met him at his then home in Devon. He later moved to Dorset where he lived with his wife, Sandy, in a coastguard’s cottage overlooking Chesil Beach. He loved the landscapes of the west of England. In

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Tom Tugendhat endorses Liz Truss

Yesterday it was Ben Wallace who backed Liz Truss: tonight it’s Tom Tugendhat. All the big-name endorsements are coming out and at the moment there’s only one candidate they’re supporting. In a piece for the Times, Tugendhat praised Truss’s economic policies, writing that her plans to cut taxes were ‘founded on true Conservative principles.’ The endorsement is notable for two reasons. First, Tugendhat was himself a candidate and has a good standing among the ‘One Nation’ caucus of moderate Tory MPs and supporters. And secondly, Tugendhat and Truss have history together so it’s a sign of just how much momentum is behind the Foreign Secretary that he has (belatedly) chosen

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Did Rishi Sunak’s interview gamble pay off?

Rishi Sunak took a major risk tonight, agreeing to a one-on-one interview with Andrew Neil on Channel 4 News. As Katy Balls says on our reaction podcast, more often than not politicians come crawling out of Neil’s interviews. At best, they hope to survive them. Tonight Sunak faced the most detailed grilling on his economy agenda since the leadership contest began. There was very limited time for Sunak’s personal stories or the rehearsed slogans that both candidates have taken to repeating on the campaign trail. It was instead a serious scrutiny of Sunak’s plan to stick with tax hikes and fiscal restraint. Neil’s main questions were about timing and priorities:

Max Jeffery Max Jeffery

Andrew Neil vs Rishi Sunak. What happened?

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak sat down this evening for a 30-minute interview with Andrew Neil. They covered the economy, the NHS, immigration and the former chancellor’s personal finances. Sunak knew he was taking a risk in sitting down with Neil. Was it worth it?  Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.  Produced by Max Jeffery.

Coffee House

Andrew Neil’s interview with Rishi Sunak – as it happened

Rishi Sunak was interviewed by Andrew Neil on Channel 4 tonight. He was quizzed on inflation, the NHS backlog and more. Liz Truss, the bookies’ favourite, declined to take part in an interview with Neil. 8.50 p.m. – Did Sunak’s gamble pay off? Kate Andrews writes… Rishi Sunak took a major risk tonight, agreeing to a one-on-one interview with Andrew Neil on Channel 4 news. As Katy Balls says on our reaction podcast, more often than not politicians come crawling out of Neil’s interviews. At best, they hope to survive them. All things considered Sunak did indeed survive tonight’s interview. But is survival enough? He agreed to the grilling in an effort to kickstart his

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Is inflation over?

21 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economics editor; and Mark Asquith, a fund manager, to discuss if the worst of America’s inflationary pressures will soon be a thing of the past.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Truss and Sunak are arguing about the wrong things

The Tory party needs to distinguish between the different types of blue-on-blue arguments. There is the peripheral stuff about shoes and earrings which would be no great loss to the debate if it was to end; then there are the substantive issues on which the party does need to thrash out what it thinks.  The biggest divide in this contest is over the economy In the Times today, I suggest five arguments that the Tories need to have in this contest. Having been friends with Rishi Sunak for decades, and having known Liz Truss since she became an MP in 2010, I think they are capable of having a constructive argument. The

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Is Truss unstoppable?

12 min listen

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were in Leeds yesterday for the first of the leadership hustings in front of Tory members. Truss put in an assured performance, while Sunak had to defend his announcement that he would cut VAT on energy bills, after saying that tax cuts would be ‘immoral’. With little time left for the former chancellor to turn things around, is Truss unstoppable? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: Liz Truss’s youthful escapades

One of the more amusing aspects of the Tory leadership race has been various reminders of Liz Truss’s misspent youth. Whether it was leafleting for the Liberal Democrats, running for the party’s student executive or causing trouble at the university, Truss certainly had something of a political journey before opting for a conventional route into Conservative politics. And, still, the greatest hits keep on coming. For tucked away in the LSE archives are copies of the Free Radical – the former newspaper of the Lib Dem youth wing. And who should author an article in the summer 1994 edition making an impassioned case for the lowering of the voting age?

Jack Smith

Giorgia Meloni has beaten Silvio Berlusconi at his own game

Now it’s official: if the right-wing coalition wins Italy’s election, Giorgia Meloni will almost definitely be prime minister. Earlier this week, the three leaders of the coalition, herself, Matteo Salvini, and Silvio Berlusconi, agreed to formalise the principle that whoever’s party won the most votes would get to choose who ascends to the premiership. Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (Fdl) has a significant lead over any other right-wing party in the polls, and has done so for the entirety of this year. This kind of commitment will be very difficult for Salvini and Berlusconi to back out of, even if they wanted to. The only alternative they have at their disposal

Steerpike Steerpike

Prince Harry mocked by Supreme Court judge

‘Privacy’ was the reason given for Harry and Meghan upping sticks and leaving Britain in early 2020. The dilettante duke and his Hollywood beau were supposedly fleeing this sceptred isle to find sanctuary in Canada, away from the beastly British press. So it’s such an awful shame that the right-on royals keep finding themselves embroiled in endless public spats of their own making in their new-found home in America. A persistent theme in these spats appears to be Prince Harry’s barely-concealed contempt for the American system of government, which makes it all the more baffling as to why he chose to live there. Seemingly unaware of the monarchy’s role in

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Struggling Brits need help, not free theatre tickets

Lurking in the background of the Tory leadership contest, the cost of living crisis rumbles on. With Autumn round the corner, fears over the sharp rise in the energy price cap have once again hit the headlines, inflation continues to soar and ever more people are wondering how they’re going to pay their bills. In recent days, to the sound of muted trumpets, the government launched its latest initiative to tackle the crisis: Help for Households. Billed as a partnership scheme with businesses such as supermarkets and entertainment venues, the scheme boasts a variety of deals over the summer period designed to help out struggling households. Announcing the scheme, outgoing

Tony Blair

Christopher Meyer, a tribute

Sir Christopher Meyer, the former UK ambassador to Washington, has died at the age of 78. Here Tony Blair pays tribute to him: Sir Christopher Meyer was a distinguished diplomat who played an essential role building relationships for the new Labour government, first in Germany and then later with the USA. This became particularly important following the attacks on America on 9/11 when thousands of Americans lost their lives to terrorism. He was crucial during this time in keeping strong bonds between the UK and the USA. My deep condolences and sympathy to Catherine and his family.