Politics

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

Tuesday

Dean Godson

Why David Trimble mattered

David Trimble, who died yesterday afternoon at the age of 77, played a seminal role in forging the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 – becoming the first leader of Northern Ireland’s unionists to share power with Irish republicans. Trimble and John Hume of the SDLP, the then leader of northern constitutional nationalism, duly received the Nobel Peace Prize; Trimble thus became the last British politician to win that accolade. With his demise (and the deaths of Ian Paisley of the DUP in 2014 and John Hume in 2020), Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein/ IRA now becomes the last surviving leader of the Province’s major political parties from that period – not

Jack Smith

Germany’s gas crisis goes from bad to worse

Europe’s gas situation has now gone from bad to worse. Gazprom will cut volumes through Nord Stream 1 in half, from 40 per cent of capacity to about 20 per cent from tomorrow onwards, pushing Germany into further danger ahead of winter. The German government will probably have to move into the highest level of its security of supply protocol. This is a state of emergency, and means rationing could be on the horizon. The EU will also need to work out how it will respond, as member states push back against the European Commission’s previous measures. It adds up to an extremely difficult picture economically, socially, and politically for

Steerpike Steerpike

Why should anyone trust Keir Starmer?

The last few months have been a godsend for the Labour party. Ten points ahead in the polls, with the Tories mired in the sleaze, its members now get to watch Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss slug it out all summer. Not for nothing then has Sir Keir Starmer sought to grasp the mantle of change and portray his party as the sensible, sober party of government, which will restore integrity to British politics. But is that really fair? Just this morning on Radio 4’s Today programme, Starmer was asked by Nick Robinson about the ‘ten pledges’ on which he ran to be Labour leader in April 2020. Robinson accused

Steerpike Steerpike

Did Meghan Markle terrorise a three-year-old?

When it comes to bullying allegations, Meghan Markle is well versed. But in Tom Bower’s latest book, Revenge, the claims are so damning that even Steerpike was gobsmacked. Reducing a royal aide to tears is one thing, but investigative journalist Bower now claims that Markle’s wrath knows no limits. Meghan reportedly picked on Princess Charlotte, who was then aged three, causing her mother Kate Middleton to burst into tears at Meghan’s bridesmaid fitting. It’s long been rumored that Meghan made Kate cry over the unacceptable length of the bridesmaid dress that Princess Charlotte was told to wear during Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry, which was not in line with royal protocol.

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

Liz Truss is wooden. And it works

Barring a disaster — given her record, that’s not impossible — Liz Truss will soon be the prime minister. She didn’t slip up in last night’s debate. She even surprised observers by showing mental dexterity when being needled by Rishi Sunak. Nevertheless, the adjective most often used to describe her – I’ve seen it in nearly everything I’ve read about her in the last few weeks – is wooden. But is Liz making woodenness her selling point? The loud clap last night after she admitted she lacked presentation skills suggests that she is. We’re all given a demeanour, and for all the spin doctors and image makers we might employ

Francis Buckley

January 6 has turned Trump fans into NeverTrumpers

The 6 January hearings are a bit of a kangaroo court, since no one is trying to poke holes in the witnesses, as a barrister would do. Still, the picture that has emerged of a rage-filled narcissist in the White House is so devastating that it’s made Never Trumpers out of former Trump supporters. That might seem to hurt the Republicans, but it would be to the party’s advantage if it keeps Trump out of a 2024 race that he would probably lose. The hearings might thus end up biting the Democrats. The hearings have also had the unintended effect of making heroes out of the Republicans who’ve stood up

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

David Trimble was a true friend to Israel

Reflections on the life and legacy of David Trimble will naturally focus on his role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, a feat for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize, but never the same esteem from the political and intellectual classes as went to the more romantic figure of Martin McGuinness. However, in his passing another worthwhile contribution he made to the world should also be remembered. Trimble was a steadfast friend of Israel, one whose friendship went far beyond mere statements of support. An officer of Conservative Friends of Israel, Trimble was frequently to be found accompanying new Tory MPs on their first visits to the Jewish state.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Why is Liz Truss’s campaign painting her as a victim?

I suspect Rishi Sunak will watch back last night’s BBC Tory leadership debate with some regret. His frequent interruptions of Liz Truss did him no favours — not simply because it came across at points as impolite, but because on plenty of occasions he would have been better off letting her answer his questions (or not answer his questions, as it was apparent on things like interest rates that she had not come equipped with answers). But Truss is at risk of making Sunak’s mistakes her mistakes. In response to Sunak’s debating tactics, Team Truss is going hard on the misogyny angle. Sunak’s performance is being explained in heavily gendered terms by

Monday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Truss vs Sunak: verdict on their first head to head

18 min listen

Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls give their analysis and snap reaction to Monday evening’s first head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Was Rishi Sunak too aggressive? Or did Liz Truss’s economic pledges get skewered? And ultimately, will this have changed any Conservative party member’s mind? Produced by Cindy Yu.

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Nadine now delete her TikTok account?

Well, that was fun. For an hour tonight Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss danced across a smorgasbord of political issues while the BBC’s Chris Mason and Sophie Raworth demanded to know about a Boris Johnson comeback and, er, Claire’s Accessories. There was, as usual, more heat than light but Truss’s praise for Sunak’s alma mater Winchester College as a ‘very, very good school’ probably cost her Jacob Rees-Mogg’s vote. One key exchange came on China, when the Foreign Secretary was asked if she would support a crackdown on popular viral video app TikTok. The ties between its parent company ByteDance and Beijing have been much criticised in recent years. Truss

Coffee House

Truss and Sunak’s first head-to-head – as it happened

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss took part in their first head-to-head since they were confirmed as the final two candidates in the Tory leadership race, clashing on economic policy, China, clothes and their backgrounds. Refresh this page for further developments after the BBC live debate: 10.20 p.m. – Sunak narrowly beats Truss in post-debate poll, but Tories still prefer Truss Katy Balls writes… Who won? Team Truss are clearly unhappy with how many times Sunak interrupted the foreign secretary. The former chancellor’s tactics have met a mixed reception: some on the BBC focus group suggested they went too far and Truss supporter Therese Coffey implied it amounted to mansplaining. Yet the

Ruth Dudley Edwards

The David Trimble I know (1998)

David Trimble, Northern Ireland’s first minister from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the Ulster Unionist party from 1995 to 2005, has died aged 77. In 1998, Ruth Dudley Edwards wrote about the Unionist leader from a Catholic’s perspective. On a wall in David Trimble’s Westminster office is a cartoon of a bunker, complete with tin-hatted soldiers poking their rifles over the sandbags. I was dealing with someone with an intellectual life outside academia and politics ‘Ulster,’ says the caption. ‘Probably the best lager in the world.’ I laughed when I saw it, and Mr Trimble grinned and gestured to a 1929 election poster behind his desk, featuring Lord Craigavon glowering

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris ‘wants to carry on’ as PM

Faced with the choice of Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss, some Tories are experiencing something close to sellers’ remorse. Was Boris so bad, they wonder, as they compare the blonde bombshell’s proven qualities to his untested would-be replacements? Now some have taken that a step further and demanded that a secondary question be added to membership ballots in next month’s vote. Under this initiative, the Tory grassroots would vote on whether to confirm the decison of MPs to force Johnson’s resignation. It’s being spearheaded by Lord Cruddas, former MEP Campbell-Bannerman and, er, no one else in Westminster it seems, other than the Telegraph’s politics team. For tonight the paper reports

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Putin has Europe where he wants it

Have we reached the endgame of Vladimir Putin’s energy war against the West, the point at which he turns off the gas for good? This afternoon, Gazprom announced that from Wednesday morning it will cut the quantity of gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 33 cubic metres per day. This will halve the current flow of 67 million cubic metres and is just 20 per cent of the 167 million cubic metres which flowed through the pipeline before the Ukraine invasion. Ostensibly, the cut is for reasons of ‘maintenance’. That is unlikely to wash. Nord Stream 1 relies on a compressor station powered by six

Steerpike Steerpike

Home Office splash out on migrant measures

Migration was the dominant theme of the weekend as the two Tory leadership contenders set out how they will resolve the small boats crisis. Both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have pledged to retain Boris Johnson’s Rwanda scheme, even though Kigali claims to, er, only have a capacity for a maximum of 200 migrants from the UK. There’s no doubt the issue is of concern to Tory MPs and activists and it’s not hard to see why: perusing newly published accounts by the Home Office, Mr S found that in May of this year some £5.6 million was spent on contracting out services to charity Migrant Help. It was part

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Viktor Orbán won’t save conservatism

It’s always the ones you most expect. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, nationalist strongman and post-liberal poster-boy gave a speech over the weekend on the evils of race-mixing. He was speaking on Saturday to attendees at Tusványos summer university in Băile Tușnad, Transylvania, previously an annual forum for Hungarian-Romanian dialogue but now an intellectual pep rally for the ultranationalist Fidesz party. According to the Budapest Times, he told his co-ideologues the West was ‘split in two’ between European nations and those in which Europeans and non-Europeans lived together. He declared: ‘Those countries are no longer nations.’ This is also how the Daily News Hungary and Hungary Today characterised Orbán’s remarks.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

All the Keir and no idea: what’s Starmer up to now?

Keir Starmer has given another one of his speeches that seems aimed at his own party rather than the general electorate. This one is about what Labour would do to encourage economic growth (or in his words, ‘growth, growth, and growth’). But it has garnered the most attention for a row about what the party wouldn’t do: nationalise things – a preoccupation of the left of the party, who argue that nationalising industries such as rail and water are popular policies with the electorate and sent voters Labour’s way in 2017.  At present, the Tory wars make the shadow cabinet’s grumpy tweets look like a civilised and enjoyable way of conducting

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Is the US thinking straight about Taiwan?

As the Tory leadership candidates tussle over China, it is well worth reading this essay by the US strategist Hal Brands, who says that contrary to the common perception, the first world war did not happen by accident. Rather it was a product of ‘a determined but anxious Germany… willing to take risks to achieve goals it could not attain through peaceful means.’ The obvious parallel today is with China. It is a peaking power and it may well choose to take risks sooner rather than later. The US, at the moment, is in danger of sending the wrong signals. Last week’s suggestion that Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House,

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Liz Truss dare to face Andrew Neil?

It’s six weeks to go until voting closes for the Tory leadership and polls suggest that Liz Truss is the firm favourite of the party grassroots – on a two-to-one ratio. Rishi Sunak has to do all he can to make up lost ground, something that has likely motivated the former Chancellor to accept a challenge from one of Britain’s most formidable interviewers. For it has today been announced that Andrew Neil, the longtime bête noire of politicians across the land, will grill Sunak this Friday night on prime-time Channel 4. The move is of course a gamble by Sunak: Neil gave him one of his tougher interviews last year

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can the Tories come back together?

11 min listen

The Tory leadership contest is entering its third week, and becoming more bitter. Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, today mocked Rishi Sunak for wearing a bespoke suit and Prada shoes while his rival Liz Truss would be travelling to the north of England wearing £4.50 earrings from Claire’s Accessories. ‘FFS Nadine! Muted.’ replied Tory MP Angela Richardson. Will whoever wins the contest be able to fix the party afterwards? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Max Jeffery.