Politics

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

Monday

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

A greener future for the north

64 min listen

Will the government’s plans for revitalising the north be hampered by its plans for decarbonisation? There’s increasing concern in Whitehall that these agendas contradict each other, but there’s no reason that green jobs and projects can’t benefit Britain’s ‘forgotten communities’ too. How do we ensure the north benefits from a greener, more prosperous future? How can industry best play a role? Join The Spectator‘s Kate Andrews as she hostsClare Harbord, Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Drax. Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, Chairman, NRG. Tom Pope, Deputy Chief Economist, Institute for Government and Valentine Quinio, Analyst, Centre for Cities. The event was kindly sponsored by Drax.

Steerpike Steerpike

Diane Abbott’s baseless Boris blunder

Boris Johnson seems to be in enough bother without his opponents making unsubstantiated claims against him. But that’s exactly what Diane Abbott, the sexagenarian Stoke Newington MP, did yesterday when she appeared on yesterday’s episode of Broadcasting House, the BBC news review show. Abbott – who was ostensibly there to discuss allegations surrounding Chris Pincher – decided, er, to spout some of her own. The former shadow home secretary made claims instead about Boris Johnson when she was asked if a man sexually assaulting a woman would have been treated differently from Pincher allegedly groping two men. She replied that: ‘It might be treated differently. But that’s because Boris Johnson

Susanne Mundschenk Susanne Mundschenk

Turkey’s grain diplomacy

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is once again using Turkey’s geopolitical position for his own ends, this time dictating grain shipments from Ukraine through the Black Sea. Turkish customs authorities detained a Russian cargo ship carrying Ukrainian wheat on Sunday, following a request of Kyiv. The Russian cargo ship Zhibek Zholy left the south-eastern port of Berdyansk over the weekend carrying 7,000 tons of grain, worth about £1.75 million. The Russian-appointed head of the occupied region had hailed it as the first commercial ship to leave a Ukrainian port after months of war. He said this would take desperately-needed supplies to friendly countries, according to Politico. The reality is, of course, that

Matthew Lynn

German industry is grinding to a halt

The Soviet Union had only just collapsed. John Major was still a relatively fresh-faced Prime Minister. And the internet consisted of a few desktop computers linking together a handful of laboratories. The world was a very different place when Germany last posted a trade deficit way back in 1991. But on Monday, the country recorded that imports outstripped exports for more than 30 years. True, other countries are recording huge deficits, not least the UK. For Germany, though, it matters more. Its entire economy has been built around creating an industrial machine that dominates global markets. That machine is now grinding to a halt. By the standards of Britain, the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ministers are getting more reluctant to defend Boris

It’s long been the case that No. 10 has struggled to find ministers willing to go on the morning broadcast rounds to defend the latest government meltdown. Most of them leave their phones on ‘do not disturb’ or outright refuse to go out and defend the indefensible. That there are so many indefensible incidents that a minister might be asked about makes every interview feel like an obstacle course.  But now the ministers who do end up on the airwaves are making clear that they aren’t even going to do much defending. The new formulation that figures like Therese Coffey and Will Quince (who was on the round this morning)

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Starmer should never be allowed to forget his Brexit betrayal

Keir Starmer has set down Labour’s Brexit red lines: if his party wins power, he will not take the UK back into the EU’s single market or customs union, nor will he restore freedom of movement with the bloc. Instead, in a speech today, he will pledge to ‘break down’ the ‘fatberg of red tape’ that Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has created for British businesses and he will get the Northern Ireland Protocol working too. As the bulk of the UK’s political media credulously reports this preposterous posturing, interpreting it as a setback for pro-Europeans in Labour, presumably the expectation is that pro-Leave voters in marginal Red Wall seats will make their peace

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tory MPs are in despair over the Chris Pincher scandal

Tory MPs are exhausted. Speak to them and they just want all these scandals to go away. One normally cheerful backbencher told me they ‘have never been so depressed about politics’ and that most of their colleagues feel the same way. The Chris Pincher scandal is particularly grim. Regardless of whether No. 10 knew about any specific allegation or not, you can’t get round the fact that Pincher resigned in 2017 over unwanted advances and was then reappointed. (Interestingly, it was Theresa May who first brought him back. It is another demonstration that in Westminster when someone is very good at a job that is vital for the leader there

Steerpike Steerpike

Pronoun badges backfire for embarrassed banks

Pride month means only one thing: the chance for corporations to embarrass themselves with the latest right-on social media stunt. This year it was the turn of Halifax, which took to Twitter last week to declare that ‘Pronouns matter’ alongside an image of its new-style staff name badge, featuring the words ‘she/her/hers’ underneath. Other banks quickly piled in, with HSBC heralding this ‘positive step forward for equality and inclusion’ as ‘it’s vital that everyone can be themselves in the workplace.’ HSBC not only publicly backed the draconian National Security Law but also froze the bank accounts of prominent pro-democracy activists in exile at the behest of Beijing Unfortunately though, it

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: PM did not know of ‘specific allegations’ about Pincher, says Coffey

Thérèse Coffey – PM did not know of ‘specific allegations’ about Pincher There was only one question for the government to answer while in the hotseat this morning, and that related to the conduct of the deputy chief whip Christopher Pincher. Pincher resigned following a complaint which alleged that he had groped two men while drunk at the Carlton Club on Thursday. Sophie Raworth asked the Work & Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey if the Prime Minister had been aware of any untoward behaviour before appointing Pincher to his role: ‘I’m not part of the Westminster rumour mill’ Coffey’s answer to Raworth followed a difficult interview with Sophy Ridge on Sky

Nicholas Sheppard

Jacinda Ardern’s tricky China policy

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has had a busy week on the international circuit. On Friday she appeared in front of a packed audience at London’s Chatham House to discuss New Zealand’s international outlook and to laud what she described as a ‘gold standard free trade agreement’ signed with the UK. And though New Zealand is not a member of Nato, Ardern was also invited to attend its leaders’ summit in Madrid on Wednesday, along with other leaders of the Asia Pacific. Arguably it was Ardern’s tempered warnings about China that stood out. In a speech to the summit, Ardern said: ‘China has in recent times… become more assertive

Steerpike Steerpike

Guto puts his foot in it (again)

Oh dear. It seems that gabby Guto Harri has done it again. The revelations about Chris Pincher have put the No. 10 comms chief and his colleagues in No. 10 on the back foot –  not least because the Tamworth MP’s promotion to deputy chief whip in February came just days after Harri’s own appointment. Still, the Welsh wizard hasn’t exactly responded well to reports about’s Pincher’s alleged drunken behaviour. First, Harri told a meeting on Friday morning that colleagues should support Pincher because he had lost his career: remarks which quickly leaked and triggered an avalanche of fury on Twitter. Later, in a wider meeting of ministerial aides –

Norman Davies

The forgotten history of Poland and Ukraine

Since the outbreak of war in February there has been an overwhelming focus on the historical links between Russia and Ukraine, partly to counter Putin’s grand assertions that Kyiv belongs to Moscow. But this spotlight on Russia has meant the important history of Poland and Ukraine has been fatally overlooked. Ukraine was part of the Polish state for longer than it was inside Russia – and this is key to understanding why Ukrainians are different from Russians. In other words, it is impossible to comprehend Ukraine’s history without examining the impact of both Poland and Russia. A thousand years ago the people who now call themselves ‘Ukrainian’ had not yet

Saturday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Will Nicola Sturgeon get her way?

11 min listen

Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson about Nicola Sturgeon’s latest plans to hold a referendum on Scottish independence on 19th October 2023, and whether they will even get off the ground.

Mark Hollingsworth

How Prince Charles’s €1m bagman infiltrated the British establishment

The Queen rarely – if ever – accepts invitations to dinner at private houses, no matter how grand. But in the summer of 2014 the oil and gas rich Gulf state of Qatar became the first ‘official partner’ of Royal Ascot and secured branding rights for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II stakes. The Qataris also agreed to pay for the upkeep of the Castle of Mey which is owned by the royal family. And so breaking with tradition the Queen accepted a dinner invitation and joined the ruling family of Qatar and assorted guests. The Qataris had just spent an estimated £75 million on their London mansion at Dudley

Sam Ashworth-Hayes Sam Ashworth-Hayes

50-year mortgages won’t fix Britain’s broken housing market

Downing Street has come up with another cunning plan to fix the housing crisis: 50-year mortgages, passed from parent to child. No longer will your ability to afford a home be dependent on your earnings. Once the scheme is in place, you will be able to borrow against the incomes of your future children, in a heart-warming recreation of the age-old tradition of indentured labour. The reasoning goes something like this: young people can’t afford to buy homes. Not only can they not afford to buy homes, they can’t afford to save for deposits. While accommodation has grown ever more cramped – with space per person dropping a quarter between

Hannah Tomes Hannah Tomes

Why do we only care about American abortion rights?

In the week since Roe vs Wade was overturned, you’ve hardly been able to switch on the news or open a paper without hearing British politicians and commentators decrying the decision. Almost every woman I know was furious after hearing the news; I’m sure I wasn’t alone in failing to hold back a few tears of frustration at this eroding of established rights. But while we might feel – deeply, viscerally – for our cousins across the pond, we often forget about the difficulties women in our own country still face. Until October 2019, women in Northern Ireland who needed abortions were either forced to travel outside the province or

Mary Dejevsky

Why the Met Police keeps failing

Much has been made of the decision to place the Metropolitan Police in what is often referred to as special measures, where it joins five other forces from England and Wales. The many ways in which the Met has fallen short have also been amply aired, from the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer to the botched investigation of serial killer Stephen Port, to the racist and sexist mindset laid bare at some London police stations. Many crime rates in the capital have been rising sharply, as – naturally – has public dissatisfaction. Nor should the blame game that has broken out between the Home Office and the

Friday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Chris Pincher loses the whip

In the last few minutes, Chris Pincher has had the Conservative whip suspended after he resigned this morning over allegations he groped two men earlier this week. The Tory chief whip has announced that the former deputy chief whip will now lose the whip while an investigation into his behaviour takes place. A spokesman said:  Having heard that a formal complaint has been made to the ICGS [the Independent Complaints and Grievence Scheme], the Prime Minister has agreed with the Chief Whip that the whip should be suspended from Chris Pincher while the investigation is ongoing. We will not prejudge that investigation. There had been noticeable disquiet in the cabinet at Pincher’s

Douglas Murray

Douglas Murray, Katja Hoyer and Lara Prendergast

20 min listen

On this week’s episode: Douglas Murray on Hispanic Conservatives in US politics (0:26). Katja Hoyer on East German sentiment towards Russia (08:32) and Lara Predergast on the rise of the sex bore (13.13). Presented by Natasha Feroze.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.