Politics

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

Thursday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Why is Sajid Javid picking a fight with the doctors?

11 min listen

GPs have been promised £250 million to improve their services, but only if they increase face-to-face appointments. The Health Secretary must meet the demands of patients that want more face-to-face meetings. But he got a hostile reaction from doctors after a difficult two years for the healthcare service. Meanwhile, the Brexit row is still bubbling away. Lord Frost received an olive branch from the EU towards a ‘new’ Northern Ireland Protocol. But will the British government even entertain these proposals?

Steerpike Steerpike

Brighton gets a rubbish council (again)

It’s not just Glasgow currently overrun with rubbish. Down in Brighton, the right-on Green brigade there have found themselves in something of a bin-related disaster following industrial action by local refuse collectors. Streets are now overflowing with dozens of black sacks, with rats being spotted and horrendous smells reported as garbage piles up by the kerb. The city’s local newspaper even ran a picture of an abandoned sex doll on its front page story, urging those involved to ‘stop the bin strike for her.’ Talk about an issue blowing up… Brighton and Hove council is in a dispute with the GMB union which has led to 10 days of industrial action and could

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tory MP David Amess dies after constituency attack

Sir David Amess, the MP for Southend West, has been stabbed to death while holding a surgery in his constituency. Essex Police say that a 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The news will shock parliament and the country: it is a reminder of the risks that MPs run every time they hold a constituency surgery. In 2010, Stephen Timms was attacked with a kitchen knife at one; and five years ago, Jo Cox was murdered on her way to a constituency surgery in her seat of Batley and Spen. In a statement, Essex Police said:  ‘A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was

Harry Mount

Why is the National Trust waging war against its members?

The National Trust culture war has just stepped up a gear. Ahead of the Trust’s AGM on 30 October, the Trust has launched an extraordinary attack. Its target appears to be Restore Trust, a new body trying to rein in the National Trust’s political obsessions. ‘Our founders set out to protect and promote places of historic interest and natural beauty for the benefit of the nation. That means we are for everyone. Whether you’re black or white, straight or gay, right- or left-wing,’ the National Trust has said. This implies that Restore Trust (of which I am a member) is against individuals from different backgrounds. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Javid’s war with GPs is going to get nastier

Why is Sajid Javid picking a fight with GPs? The Health Secretary has announced a £250 million ‘winter access fund’ for practices to hire more staff – but only if they increase the number of face-to-face consultations. Practices that don’t increase access will be listed in a league table. It’s something many MPs say they get complaints about from constituents. But GPs are furious, saying they are seeing more patients while also trying to keep everyone safe. They’ve reported rising incidences of abuse against them from patients. Doctors were grimly amused this morning when Javid decided he couldn’t see them face-to-face, either, pulling out of a planned appearance at the

Debbie Hayton

Cambridge’s transgender Terf wars have gone too far

What is a witch? How do we spot witches? And how might we drum up the courage to talk to a witch? Cambridge Students’ Union Women’s Campaign has the answers. Their new pamphlet, How to Spot TERF Ideology, doesn’t call these people witches, of course. It calls them TERFs – but the sentiment is much the same. Women with minds of their own, experience of life, and the audacity to speak up for their rights are being subjected to appalling campaigns of intimidation and abuse. The TERF (which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist) hunts are real and they are happening now. The baying mobs might not be demanding heads, but

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The legacy of Covid: a much bigger state

Covid transformed the role of the state. During the pandemic, the government did things it would never normally even contemplate. At the same time as it restricted civil liberties, it intervened in the economy to an extent never before seen in peacetime. Through the furlough scheme, close to £70 billion was spent on paying people’s wages. Other government economic interventions seem minor in comparison. What is a few hundred million here and there when the state has been spending billions so regularly? History suggests that when the state expands in a crisis, it doesn’t revert to its pre-crisis level once the emergency is over. The second world war led to

Steerpike Steerpike

Why is YouTube censoring David Davis?

Oh dear. Today sees the resumption of hearings by a joint committee of MPs and peers into the Online Safety Bill to update regulate of social media companies. And, with exquisite timing, one of those Silicon Valley giants has created something of an online storm by censoring one of the most respected backbenchers in the House of Commons. The MP in question is David Davis – widely regarded across the House for his staunch support of civil liberties. Davis has been one of the most ardent critics of ‘vaccine passports,’ warning that they are unwarranted and unnecessary in the battle against Covid. Now a speech he made to the pressure group

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

The mendacity of Priti Patel’s immigration Bill

You are a journalist, a satirist, a campaigner, an opposition politician. For years you work to create the flash of light, the moment of revelation, when the veil falls and the world can see the wickedness you have fought in all its ugliness. And then… Nothing. You think you have exposed lies and corruption. You expect society will turn on the powerful now it knows the truth. But the only truth you have revealed is that the public doesn’t care and their leaders know it. ‘J’accuse!’ you cry. ‘So what?’ comes the reply. The mask is off. The state will treat genuine refugees as criminals. Next week ought to reveal

Wednesday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Ripping up the Northern Ireland protocol is diplomacy in action

Lord Frost’s Lisbon speech represents the most cogent argument yet for replacing the Northern Ireland protocol. So naturally it has been buried under a slurry of snark, solemn head-shaking and breathless indignation. It is worth stepping back from the noise. Switch off the shouty man on LBC, mute the ‘this is not normal’ people on Twitter, and avoid at all costs the catastrophist-analysis of the academic-activists. You will miss nothing. In fact, read Frost’s speech for yourself. It was meant to send a message about the protocol and it does so directly. The Irish are our neighbours. It is in both our countries’ interests that we maintain and enhance the ties

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Is the economic recovery still on track?

Compared with July, August’s GDP boost looks much healthier — but that’s not saying much. Originally thought to have stagnated at 0.1 per cent, the economy in July actually shrank by 0.1 per cent, according to the latest update from the Office for National Statistics. If inflationary pressures continue to surge, the Bank may have no choice but to act Still, August’s GDP increase of 0.4 per cent puts the economy back on the upwards trajectory, now estimated to sit 0.8 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. Despite so-called ‘freedom day’ arriving halfway through July, people continued to socially distance in order to avoid being mandated back into their homes. A

Steerpike Steerpike

Lib Dems give youth a chance

William Hague was only 16 when he burst onto the political scene with his famous conference speech. But even the future Tory party leader would seem like a veritable grandfather compared to those in youth politics these days. For now the Liberal Democrats have given the green light to a 12-year-old to run in their party’s annual youth wing elections currently being held this month.  The political neophyte in question is Aneirin Keysell, a schoolboy from Richmond-upon-Thames running to fill the post of non-portfolio officer. His self-effacing manifesto notes that:  I don’t have any real qualifications but I am very well versed into the world of current affairs and I am aware of

Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller

Macronism is dead

President Emmanuel Macron was in an expansive mood this week as he presented his vision for France 2030 from the Elysée palace before an audience of business leaders and students. Macron is incapable of brevity. In a slick production that must have cost a fortune, presented to a fawning hand-picked audience, he spoke for two hours. His elocution was framed by a slick, Tik-Tokish video recalling the 30 glorious years of French economic growth and grand projects after the war. Macron is nothing if not busy. He’s just been on a series of pre-election grand tours, dispensing billions of euros in promises like confetti. That includes a proposed repair of

Nick Rosen

Living off grid is the best way of weathering the EFFing crisis

The EFFing crisis continues to bite. We hear dire warnings that the average household is set to pay hundreds of pounds more this winter for their energy use. Yet thousands of Brits remain blissfully unaffected. I know because I am one of them: among the 150,000 UK residents who live off-grid – that is, without any mains utilities. This means I manage my own water supply, provide all my own power and deal with my own waste. Most people consider us at best eccentric and at worst crazy. But in a time of increasingly unaffordable energy, living off grid is a wise decision. You’ll find us living behind hedgerows, at the

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can Frost renegotiate the protocol?

12 min listen

In an attempt to save the Northern Ireland Protocol, the EU has promised ‘very far reaching’ changes which are due to be revealed tomorrow. Dominic Cummings has also piled into the debate, suggesting that Boris ‘never had a scoobydoo what the deal he signed meant’. He also claimed that it was ‘always the plan’ to tear up the Brexit deal, which has grown tensions with Ireland. Meanwhile, Matt Hancock has a new job. But will he be invited back into the cabinet soon? To discuss this, Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Cummings throws a spanner in the Brexit works

Is Dominic Cummings about to derail the government’s plans for a new Northern Ireland protocol? That’s the concern inside government as Boris Johnson’s former adviser shows that he still has the ability to change the political weather from afar. On Tuesday night, there was renewed hope that a solution could be found between the UK and EU on the Northern Ireland protocol. David Frost’s speech in Lisbon was less confrontational than expected and had received cautious praise from diplomats for its more constructive passages. However, as the European Commission prepares to present its proposals for easing the current checks on businesses trading across the Irish Sea, a spanner has been thrown in the works in the

Steerpike Steerpike

Raab’s £367-a-day race to save his seat

Poor Dom Raab. First he lost the Foreign Office and now he has to share his house with Liz Truss – the woman who replaced him in last month’s reshuffle. The demoted minister has had a torrid few months, with the fall of Kabul, his Whitehall office briefing against him and then an enforced move to the Ministry of Justice with the consolation prize of ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ – a title which now irritates him so much that he snaps at anyone who uses it to address him.  Still, a loss of office isn’t the only thing on Raab’s mind in recent months. Ever since the shock Chesham and Amersham by-election result

Steerpike Steerpike

Remainers throw tantrum over lawsuit credit

Jolyon Maugham is a man of many talents. He’s a talented tax barrister, who helped enrich various millionaires via celebrity tax dodge film schemes. He’s a serial joiner of political causes, boasting more parties than Hugh Hefner though, sadly, with far less joy. And, of course, he is the remain-supporting QC who ended up on the front page of the Financial Times for bragging about battering a fox to death on Boxing Day with a baseball bat while wearing his wife’s satin green kimono. Sadly though, for all his many, many qualities, FBPE’s answer to Babe Ruth does not appear to count humility among them. The millionaire windmill enthusiast is never knowingly undersold online, regularly

Steven Barrett

The ECJ’s credibility is in tatters

Is the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a properly independent court? The damning verdict of two respected EU law academics on an episode involving the ECJ suggests it is not. This debacle also undermines the EU’s legal criticisms of Hungary and Poland – and raises worrying questions about how the Northern Ireland Protocol will be enforced. The sorry saga dates back to the aftermath of the Brexit vote, when one of the ECJ’s 11 advocates general, Eleanor Sharpston, was sacked. Sharpston had every legal right to carry on. After all, ‘she’ didn’t Brexit, the UK did; she also has EU citizenship and is an outstanding EU lawyer. Unsurprisingly she took legal action

Tuesday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

David Frost’s protocol diplomacy

As a general rule in post-Brexit politics, when David Frost makes a public intervention on the Northern Ireland protocol, it tends to dampen rather than soothe UK-EU relations. Frost, charged with improving the protocol, is a divisive figure in Brussels who is seen to catch flies with vinegar rather than honey. His speech was expected to be an escalation in the current war of words between the two sides. In the end, the talk itself was slightly less confrontational than expected. Frost effectively declared the Northern Ireland protocol dead and called on the EU to work with the UK Frost effectively declared the Northern Ireland protocol dead and called on the EU to