Politics

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

Saturday

Marat Iliyasov

Why Ramzan Kadyrov doesn’t really want to resign

Once again, the ruler of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is making headlines. And once again, he has announced his intention to step down from his position. But is it for real this time? Kadyrov has hinted at resigning on at least five separate occasions. Each time, the official explanation as to why he hasn’t stepped down has been that President Vladimir Putin refused to accept his resignation. As Kadyrov, who likes to call himself Putin’s loyal infantryman, dutifully points out, he is always willing to serve his patron – and so he remains in power. These announcements are often accompanied by choreographed public outcries from Chechnya, where citizens, as reported by

Damian Reilly Damian Reilly

Why the Tories must bring back Boris

The British people adore Boris Johnson. That is unarguable. It’s why he doesn’t lose elections. It is therefore very funny – the way idiocy so often is – that the Conservative party even in this, its moment of greatest existential crisis, is not right now prostrating itself before the great man to beg for his return. Boris used his farewell speech in Downing Street to liken himself to the ancient Roman statesman Cincinnatus ‘We are profoundly sorry that we thought we knew better than you, and accept that all evidence since we deposed you has proved us entirely and unforgivably wrong,’ it should be snivelling. ‘Please come back and save us, like you did when, not six years ago against all odds, you delivered the biggest parliamentary majority we’ve had since

Michael Gove

Coffee House Shots Live with Zia Yusuf and Jacob Rees-Mogg

The post-mortem has begun on a historic set of local elections – but where does each party go from here? Is Reform unstoppable? Is Kemi the one to lead the Conservative rebuild? Do Labour really ‘get it’? Michael Gove, James Heale and Lucy Dunn are joined by special guests Zia Yusuf and Jacob Rees-Mogg to unpack these questions – as well as the broader ramifications of the local elections on British politics. Listen for: Zia’s understanding of why Reform did so well; Jacob’s concession that a Tory/Reform pact of some description could be the only way for the Conservatives to avoid extinction; and Michael’s assessment of whether Labour will force us

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

What happened to Canterbury?

War is raging over Canterbury’s future. Only two Labour councillors are left in the whole of Kent, in the north and south of the city, compared to the 57 Reform councillors who now control the county. Reform entirely replaced the Tories, who were left with just five councillors.  Canterbury’s tale is one of general decline. The lucrative parties of French schoolchildren and day-trippers have largely gone, partly because Ashford International, the Kent stop of the Eurostar, was shut and never reopened after Covid. The local economy has suffered as a result. The remaining businesses are coarsening the appearance of a city which is as important to the Anglican communion as Rome

Paul Mason, Marc De Vore and James Rogers

Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

About once a month, the Royal Air Force scrambles Typhoon fighters for something called a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typically, two Russian nuclear-capable bombers approach Scotland, the RAF aircraft shadow them closely and, at a suitably theatrical moment, the Russians turn away. The episode merits a tiny press release from the Ministry of Defence. Russia is continuously demonstrating its preparedness to cause mass death on the British mainland What most people don’t realise is that the Russian aircraft often open their bomb doors, revealing missiles which may, or may not, contain nuclear warheads; and that they line up on specific targets: city centres, nuclear power stations, airports, or other strategic

Jawad Iqbal

Football’s beer ban makes no sense

Should football fans be allowed to have a pint in the stands during a game? Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, certainly thinks so, and is calling for trials to see what impact lifting the ban on booze in the stands might have. ‘The days of hooliganism are gone’, he said. ‘Fans of other sports can drink in the stands but football fans cannot.’ The booze ban, in its present incarnation encourages fans to drink more ahead of the match The Labour backbencher raised the issue in the House of Commons during a debate on the Football Governance Bill, proposing designated drinking zones in view of the pitch

Friday

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Victory Day has been a triumph for Vladimir Putin

It was almost like old times, but also a sign of the new. Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade passed off without a hitch, rumbling and squeaking with armour, untroubled by Ukrainian drones, and watched over by foreign leaders there in a sign of support. Yet the efforts made to ensure the parade ran smoothly, the nature of the guest list, and Putin’s rhetoric all highlighted the new times. The most recent iterations of the parade had been distinctly reduced affairs, a single Second World War vintage T-34 tank substituting for the usual phalanx of tanks, and the guests largely confined to Putin’s clients. For the 80th anniversary of the end

Sam Dumitriu

What’s taking Britain so long to build new nuclear power plants?

When Putin attacked Ukraine and sent global gas prices soaring, Boris Johnson set out a plan to make Britain energy secure. It included a target to quadruple the amount of power Britain gets from nuclear. Instead of one plant every decade (if you’re lucky), Britain would start building a new plant every year just as we did in the 50s and 60s. This plan relied not only on building ‘giga-scale’ plants like Hinkley Point C (at £42 billion now the most expensive plant in the history of the world), but also new small modular reactors (SMRs) built off-site in factories and deployed in fleets. This should, at least in theory,

Lucy Dunn

Is support for Scotland’s euthanasia bill dying?

While Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill makes its way through the UK parliament, in Scotland a separate assisted dying bill will be voted on next week. Scottish Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur has put forward legislation that would allow those deemed terminally ill north of the border to take their own lives, with MSPs allowed a free vote on the issue on 13 May. The decision to back the bill is a matter of conscience for parliamentarians. But now, less than a week before decision day, both First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor Humza Yousaf have announced that they will vote against it. First Minister John Swinney and his predecessor

Patrick West

It shouldn’t be illegal to burn a Quran

We now live in a country where, once more, it appears to be a crime to commit blasphemy. This is the inevitable and justifiable conclusion many have made following the news yesterday that a man who burnt a copy of the Koran was charged with ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ against ‘the religious institution of Islam’. The National Secular Society has been volubly alarmed at the case The charge made against Hamit Coskun, who allegedly performed the act outside the Turkish Consulate in London in February, is thought to be the first time anybody has been prosecuted for harassing an ‘institution’, in the form of Islam, under the Public Order Act. Following a

Steerpike Steerpike

Starmer could face biggest rebellion yet over benefits cuts

Sir Keir Starmer’s jubilation over sealing the UK-US trade deal with President Donald Trump may be short-lived as problems loom closer to home. It now transpires that the Labour Prime Minister could be facing his biggest rebellion yet – as up to a quarter of the parliamentary Labour party flag their frustrations about proposed cuts to disability benefits. Dear oh dear… As reported by the Times, more than 80 Labour MPs have signed a letter – to be sent to the chief whip at the start of next week – setting out their concerns about welfare cuts, while many more have relayed their worries to government ministers. Next month, politicians

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

Why this centrist dad is (probably) voting Reform

I am a liberal, centrist dad Remainer. I desperately wish we could rejoin the European Union. I really don’t like Donald Trump. I could go on. But if a general election were held tomorrow, I would seriously consider voting Reform. In fact, Nigel Farage’s party is increasingly likely to get my support. Reform’s success in last week’s elections was no fluke: the latest YouGov survey puts the party on 29 per cent That I’m flirting with voting Reform might surprise you, but I’m not alone. Reform’s success in last week’s elections was no fluke: the latest YouGov survey puts the party on 29 per cent. The reason why is simple: the other parties are

Amy Tinley

Six things to watch out for in Starmer’s US deal

The world of trade is usually reserved for the wonkiest of policy wonks. But after Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ a month ago, this week the UK announced trade deals with India and the US. Against a woeful economic backdrop, this is a serious boon to the Prime Minister. Becoming the first country in the world to agree a deal with the US President is an achievement not to be shirked at. A UK-US deal could chart a path for other agreements with other countries. Starmer claimed this deal is the national interest. But is it really? But is this deal as good as Number 10 is claiming? As a former

Lucy Dunn

US trade deal: ‘a political win, not an economic win’

11 min listen

On Thursday afternoon Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech about closing the long-awaited UK-US trade deal. Not that his announcement went without a hitch however; after first directing lobby journalists to the wrong Jaguar Land Rover factory in Coventry, Starmer then had his limelight stolen by the election of a new Pope. Although, Labour’s ‘historic’ trade deal has pipped the Pope on most front pages. The reception has been positive across government too, with many heralding a political win for Labour – just when they really needed one after the local elections. But is this an economic win as well? Critics say the deal is shallow, clearly just a

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Putin’s ‘biggest ever’ Victory Day goes off without a hitch

Not to be outdone by the celebration of VE Day across Western Europe yesterday, Vladimir Putin this morning staged his own ‘biggest ever’ Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. Over the course of Putin’s rule, the annual celebration of 9 May has gradually morphed from a solemn commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany to being a key ideological cornerstone of his regime. Never one to miss a chance to send a message to Russia’s foreign adversaries, today’s 80th anniversary parade across Red Square – Putin’s 25th – was more a neat showcase of the President’s own militaristic and jingoistic ambitions than a tribute to the country’s past sacrifices. Everything associated

Yascha Mounk

The Resistance will be woke

After surviving an assassination attempt and winning reelection with a clear lead in the popular vote, Donald Trump was – briefly, and for the first time in his political career – seen by many pundits as incarnating the future rather than the past. In his first months back in the White House, the radicalism and vindictiveness of the administration have given jitters to a lot of independents who were key in helping him win and hardened opposition among his longtime critics. Any fleeting sense that the MAGA movement was culturally ascendent appears, at least for now, to be gone. And yet, the conventional wisdom holds that a broader ‘vibe shift’

William Atkinson

Tory MPs are forgetting Britain

After the next election, Bob Blackman’s role as chair of the 1922 Committee should be much easier. With the Conservative party set to be wiped out across the country, it’s not inconceivable that the Harrow East MP will be the last Tory left in the Commons. It is the only seat in the country where the Conservatives exceed 50 per cent of the vote last year. Alone on the green benches, Blackman will no longer need to worry about organising no confidence votes, massaging backbench egos, or finding exciting new ways to pledge loyalty to the latest failing leader. He will be the Parliamentary Conservative Party. In which case, one

Steerpike Steerpike

Greens to reject gender ruling in next leadership contest

To the Green party, whose membership will be called on to vote for their next leader this summer. Currently the party operates a curious policy whereby its next leaders or deputies, if job-sharing, must be of different genders – with Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer currently occupying the top job, having been elected in 2021. In the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling – which backed the biological definition of a woman – Mr S was rather curious about how exactly the judgment would impact the eco-activists. The short answer is, er, it won’t. The environmentalists are determined to ignore the judgment from the highest court in the land,

Ian Williams Ian Williams

Xi has no right to be ‘guest of honour’ at Putin’s Victory Day

The presence of Chinese president Xi Jinping as ‘guest of honour’ at Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day military parade in Moscow today, which will include soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is both chilling and fraudulent. Chilling, because it is the most explicit endorsement yet by Xi of Russia’s militarism and its poisonous narratives about the Ukraine war, and fraudulent because the Chinese Communist party played a marginal role at best in the Allied victory in the second world war. In the run-up to today’s parade, Putin has linked victory over Nazi Germany with his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which he has falsely claimed is to achieve ‘denazification’ of the

Rory Hanrahan

Why do some Irish people hate Israel so much?

It was a quiet lunch shift at the pub in Oxford where I work, the kind of day when the bar feels more like a confessional than a business. A lone customer, a woman with a light accent I took for Dutch, had just finished her meal and approached to pay. Playing the host, I made small talk. How bad have things become for Israelis here? “Where are you from?” I asked, expecting the usual tourist’s reply. Her face tightened, her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “Israel,” she said, bracing herself as if I might leap over the bar and chase her out into the street. I reassured her –