Politics

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

Tuesday

1 Feb 2022

Boris must go!

Conservative sympathisers, Conservative voters and Conservative parliamentarians have a simple choice to make this week. Do they stand by a Prime Minister who besmirches his office and whose moral credibility diminishes a little more each day he remains, squatting, in Downing Street? Or do they, instead, accept the obvious reality that Johnson is not fit for the office he holds, draw the obvious conclusions from that recognition, and do the decent thing? For every Tory MP and cabinet minister who fails to act this week deserves to be judged themselves. These MPs might be weak or venal or cowardly or blind or simply stupid but they cannot claim to be

Jake Wallis Simons

Whoopi Goldberg and the problem with progressive America

The Holocaust wasn’t about race because Jews are white. This is the through-the-looking-glass position in which progressive America now finds itself, via Whoopi Goldberg. This week, the Sister Act star used her weekly programme The View – which is watched by millions of Americans – to educate the public about the Nazi extermination of Jews. ‘Let’s be truthful about it,’ she said. ‘The Holocaust isn’t about race… It’s about man’s inhumanity to man, that’s what it’s about.’ When another panellist suggested that it was ‘about white supremacy’, Ms Goldberg – who is not Jewish, and whose birthname is Johnson – forcefully responded: The Holocaust was about race. This is such

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Pakistan’s Christians are living in terror

A Christian priest was shot dead by gunmen in Pakistan’s Peshawar town on Sunday. Pastor William Siraj was gunned down as he headed home from mass with two fellow priests, one of whom, Naeem Patrick, was also wounded. While no one has officially claimed responsibility for the attack, the killing – carried out by two men on motorbikes – comes amidst a rise in jihadist attacks in Pakistan. Most of the recent spate in jihadist violence is claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which last month orchestrated a gun raid at a check-post in Islamabad, the country’s capital. The Pakistani Taliban, and their affiliates, have been encouraged by the triumph of their

Steerpike

Did Keir Starmer fail to prosecute Jimmy Savile?

One of the stranger moments of yesterday’s drama in the House of Commons, following the release of the Sue Gray ‘update’, was Boris Johnson’s decision to summon the ghost of Jimmy Savile to defend himself against the partygate allegations. After being lectured by the Labour leader about his alleged lockdown dos, the PM hit back by suggesting that Keir Starmer as a former director of public prosecutions (DPP) had spent the majority of his time ‘prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile, as far as I can make out.’ Boris may have had a point about Keir Starmer locking up journalists (he was DPP when dozens were first arrested as

Annabel Denham

Is Boris really serious about Brexit?

As the partygate furore rages on, Boris Johnson is retreating towards familiar territory: Brexit. A policy blitz is underway this week and the issue that guided him to power in 2019 has come first, with the announcement of a new Brexit Freedoms Bill. It will be brought forward to mark the two-year anniversary since we parted ways with the European Union. There are two flaws with Boris’s plan, however. First, recent polling found 46 per cent of Leave voters who backed the Tories in 2019 say he should resign, suggesting that Brexit doesn’t resonate in quite the same way as it did before the pandemic. Post-Brexit regulations are not inherently

James Forsyth

Tory rebels are split over Boris

Those Tory MPs who want to oust Boris Johnson are not a single group. They come from all wings of the party and all intakes and would not agree on who should succeed him. This means there is no single view among them about the best way to proceed. But one of the most influential of their number tells me they have now come to the view it would be best to act after either the police investigation has concluded or the May elections, whichever comes first. Their argument is that, at this point, there would be the greatest consensus in both the party (and among Tory MPs) about the

Steerpike

Rosie Duffield’s Labour woes

Monday nights are rarely the booziest in Parliament but yesterday proved to be an exception. For Boris Johnson was up before the 1922 committee in the Attlee Suite — an ‘oddly appropriate setting,’ as one right-winger muttered to Mr S darkly. Highlights included veteran Telegraph columnist Chris Hope nearly being diverted into the room last night after security thought he was a Conservative backbencher, while actual MP and alleged ‘pork pie plotter’ Chris Loder was initially blocked. Despite looking ashen-faced with fear, and protesting that ‘they won’t let me in,’ he was eventually escorted through. Inside the room itself, there was much excited chatter about the return of the Antipodean election extraordinaire Lynton Crosby.

Steerpike

Has Westminster cleaned up its act since the Owen Paterson scandal?

The enforced resignation of Owen Paterson in November certainly had its consequences. Boris Johnson’s efforts to help the North Shropshire MP triggered a sleaze scandal, a Labour lead that the party is still yet to relinquish and the loss of a constituency which had been Tory for more than a century. But, two months on, how hard are the winds of change blowing through the corridors of Whitehall? Paterson’s departure was triggered by declarations surrounding paid work consulting for Randox Chemicals. In the aftermath, a number of Tory backbenchers quit their second jobs, but not all those in this world appear to be following suit. For the release last week of updated transparency

Monday

31 Jan 2022

Katy Balls

Inside Boris Johnson’s showdown with Tory MPs

After Tory MPs spent the afternoon laying into Boris Johnson over Sue Gray’s summary of her report, the Prime Minister finds himself in a much more fragile position than when he started the day. Tonight he addressed Tory MPs at a meeting of the 1922 committee. Given Johnson’s Commons appearance rattled MPs rather than improving relations, Johnson went into the meeting on the backfoot. The demand to hear the PM speak was so great that MPs arriving late were turned away. The demand to hear the PM speak was so great that MPs arriving late were turned away Johnson began the meeting by telling MPs he had a really torrid

Katy Balls

What does the Gray report mean for Boris?

14 min listen

The long anticipated Sue Gray report was finally published today albeit lacking significant chucks of detail. Following the report, Boris Johnson made a statement in the Commons. Though he apologised at the beginning, his tone did not seem particularly apologetic, which clearly riled a number of MPs across party lines. ‘The discomfort among the Tory benches today was striking’– James Forsyth. But what will be the aftermath of the debate? And can Boris Johnson still come back from this? Listen to the full discussion on Sue Gray’s report as Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Katy Balls

Johnson faces a mauling from his own MPs

Ahead of the publication of Sue Gray’s report into partygate, there had been talk that the police investigation — which meant the most tricky parts of Gray’s investigation were left out — would help Boris Johnson by ensuring he got off lightly. However, anyone watching the reaction from MPs to the Prime Minister’s statement in the chamber will have been left wondering what the full report would have triggered. While the shortened report meant the Prime Minister was spared embarrassing details coming to light, it did not stop Johnson from facing a mauling from his own side. While a number of supportive MPs asked the Prime Minister to focus on channel crossings and

Isabel Hardman

Johnson’s defence deteriorates

That Boris Johnson regards the Gray update as an opportunity to come up for air was very clear from his statement on the report in the Commons. The Prime Minister’s opening remarks struck what seemed to be a reasonable balance between apologising, offering some operational changes to No. 10 (to show he was taking the report’s recommendations for ‘learning’ seriously) and trying to buoy up Tory MPs with a reminder of what his government was achieving. Brexit, freeports and the comparatively early end to Covid restrictions all came up. He might have been pleased with himself as he commended his statement to the House, but things went downhill after that. The

Robert Peston

Boris Johnson’s future is now in the hands of the police

The power of Sue Gray’s ‘update’ of her investigation into parties at 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office is as much in what it doesn’t say, as what it does. She identifies a staggering 12 gatherings – alleged rule-breaking parties – that took place over 11 months between May 2020 and April 2021 that may have breached the criminal law, the Covid regulations in force at the time. The resonant point about these gatherings is Sue Gray feels she cannot tell us anything about them, because they are being investigated by the Met police. She does not want to prejudice their inquiries. But the sheer number of potential criminal events

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May’s pop at Boris

The release of Sue Gray’s summary into the No. 10 parties has meant Boris Johnson is up before the Commons this afternoon, to give his reply. In classic Johnson style, he blustered his way through it, claiming it qas an opportunity to rewire the wiring of Whitehall and create a new ‘Office of the Prime Minister.’ But while Johnson suffered from Sir Keir Starmer’s attacks on his integrity, it was Theresa May’s intervention which proved to be one of the most wounding. The former Prime Minister was clearly itching in the House to intervene, removing her mask as soon as she got the nod from Lindsay Hoyle. And the May of

Steerpike

Five unanswered questions from Sue Gray’s report

At long last, it’s finally here. This afternoon’s release of Sue Gray’s report into the Downing Street parties marks the end of weeks of speculation as to the contents of the senior civil servant’s findings. Gray’s investigation was a mere eight pages, much of which focused on the Covid timeline and her report’s terms of reference. Initial reaction is still coming in but it seems that her summary is set to please no one: the belated decision by the Met to open their own investigation prevented Gray from commenting on the most serious potential breaches. This means that Boris-backers are denied the chance to brush off the saga and move on, while

James Forsyth

The Sue Gray report: what happens next?

It is Tory MPs who hold Boris Johnson’s fate in their hands. The key question now is how do those Tories who said that they were waiting for the Sue Gray report react to this update. On the one hand, it is clearly not her report. She writes that the police investigation means that ‘it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather.’ On the other, this update is highly critical saying that: At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of

Isabel Hardman

A Graywash? Downing Street party report is merely an ‘update’

Sue Gray’s report on the lockdown partying in Downing Street is short. Just 11 pages. Early on, it makes clear that the police are investigating all but four of them, which makes this an ‘update’. Gray avoids making a judgement on whether the gatherings were a breach of the regulations and guidance in place at the time because of the police inquiry. Instead, her conclusion is that ‘a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place’ and that the ‘significant learning’ that needs to take place across Government ‘does not need to wait for the police investigation to be concluded’. The ‘learning’ is set out in

The Spectator

Read in full: Sue Gray’s partygate report

Sue Gray’s long-awaited investigation into Downing Street parties during lockdown has just been released. Here is the full text: On 8 December 2021 the Prime Minister asked the Cabinet Secretary to carry out an investigation into allegations reported in the media relating to gatherings in No10 Downing Street and the Department for Education during November and December 2020. On 17 December 2021 the Cabinet Secretary recused himself from the investigation as a result of allegations concerning an online quiz held by his private office in the Cabinet Office on 17 December 2020 in 70 Whitehall. It was at this point that I was asked to lead this work. The terms

Ross Clark

The NHS vaccine mandate was bound to fail

Health Secretary Sajid Javid now looks set to drop his plans to sack unvaccinated NHS staff. It was almost inevitable given the practical difficulties that come with sacking more than 70,000 workers who showed little sign of changing their minds — all while the NHS is desperately trying to catch up with missed treatments following the pandemic. Javid is expected to say that the far milder Omicron variant has changed his calculation: Covid is no longer a threat that would necessitate compulsory vaccination. In reality, his bluff was about to be called. NHS staff would have to be vaccinated by Thursday to be double-jabbed in time for the 1 April

Steerpike

China’s ‘useful idiots’ keep their honours

Ministers like to talk a good game on China. But, as the Commons witnessed just two weeks ago, all too often there’s a very different reality when it comes to calling out Beijing’s abuses. After the Foreign Office declined to describe China’s atrocities in Xinjiang as ‘genocide,’ now it’s time for the Department for Education to turn the other cheek. For universities minister Michelle Donelan has ducked the chance to call on Britain’s seats of learning to cut their ties with apparatchiks of the communist regime. Steerpike spotted last week that Tory grandee Sir Iain Duncan Smith had tabled a question, inviting universities minister Michelle Donelan to tell the House what representations to UK universities have been made