Politics Archives

Tuesday

1 Jun 2021

Has Covid accelerated the cashless society?

Time is, I fear, running out. Running out, that is, to avoid handing to a small number of multinational corporations our right to buy and sell things. Running out to prevent governments and central banks helping themselves to our savings, by means of negative interest rates. The payments industry is closing in on its target of driving cash out of circulation and instigating cashless payments as the only way of doing business. That, at least, is the conclusion one might reach from reading a report by Worldpay: the Global Payments Report 2021. It claims that cash payments in UK shops in 2020 made up 13.4 per cent of total payments,

Henry Dodds

Is Britain prepared for a different corona disaster?

Amidst the drama of Dominic Cummings’s appearance in front of MPs last week, perhaps the most important thing the PM’s former adviser said was almost entirely ignored. As well as slating his former boss, Cummings criticised the UK’s disaster planning. The pandemic has shifted attention to how Britain would deal in the future with another respiratory virus, but arguably a bigger threat to this country – and, indeed, the world – has been forgotten. When it comes to dealing with solar flares, Cummings’s said, ‘the current Government plan is completely hopeless. If that happens then we’re all going to be in a worse situation than Covid’. Cummings is right to be worried: the worst effects of a

Cindy Yu

What difference does a wedding make?

12 min listen

Now officially in June, the significance of the 21st seems even greater for the country, but with the Indian variant still on the rise how safe is the date? Katy Balls says that for the government: ‘The plan is to offer all over fifties two doses before June 21st.’ And a glorious weekend of weather for the Prime Minister’s secret nuptials, but what does this wedding mean for the warring factions that circle No. 10? Some questions were raised about the ceremony; just how Boris Johnson gets a Catholic service raised a few eyebrows and Katy has also heard: ‘There were reports of dancing at the wedding, in the garden… you’re

Katy Balls

Will lockdown still be eased on 21 June?

While Boris Johnson used the bank holiday weekend to get married, scientists have been busy filling the airwaves with various warnings about proceeding with the final lockdown easing on 21 June. There have been a series of statements from both government advisers and other scientists arguing that in the face of rising cases of the Indian variant – which the World Health Organisation now calls ‘Delta’ – it would be unwise to press ahead with the next stage of the roadmap this month. Nervtag member Prof Ravi Gupta has said the UK appears to be in what could be described as the early stages of a third wave – with an

James Forsyth

The cold reality facing Sajid Javid

The most difficult time for a new secretary of state is normally the first three months in the job. An early mistake can sink confidence among both the public and Whitehall officials. But for Sajid Javid, his first three months as health secretary will be his easiest. The real challenge will come later. The easing of restrictions on 19 July will almost certainly go ahead, which means Javid will be able to point to an early success. I understand that the current plan, which the government will set out next week (though the formal decision on whether to proceed will only be taken a week beforehand), is for a comprehensive

Monday

31 May 2021

Lisa Bjurwald

How Denmark helped America spy on Sweden

A large, investigative collaboration between Scandinavian public service outlets and European newspapers such as Le Monde and Süddeutsche Zeitung has revealed a rather sensational espionage story. US intelligence agency NSA has reportedly been snooping on American allies, including Swedish politicians, with the help of…Sweden’s neighbour, Denmark. To make matters worse, the Danish defense minister has apparently been sitting on the information for a whole year, without telling her Swedish counterpart. Ouch. Things will be chillier than usual at this June’s Nato-led maritime exercise (‘Baltops 50’) in the Baltic Sea. Germany has been kept in the dark by the Danes, too The closing of the bridge between Denmark and Sweden to

Tom Slater

Why can’t King’s College academics cope with a photo of Prince Philip?

Librarians aren’t known for causing trouble. But at our elite universities, in the grip of an increasingly unhinged culture of offence-taking, it doesn’t take much to cause trouble nowadays. This is the news that a library director at King’s College London has been forced to make a grovelling apology for emailing around a photo of Prince Philip. Hot on the heels of that student at Abertay being investigated for saying women have vaginas, this one is right up there with the most absurd campus stories to date. In a bulletin marking the Duke of Edinburgh’s death, Joleen Clarke, associate director of the university’s libraries, sent a photo of Philip and

Stephen Daisley

Boris’s media critics are missing the real story

The five most frustrating words a journalist can hear are: ‘This is not a story’. Over the years, I have heard that warding charm invoked by press officers governmental and party, private sector and charitable. Every time, it guaranteed I would work doubly hard to ensure the story in question made it into print. Political journalists, in particular, are thrawn by nature and cynical through experience. They begin from the assumption that you did it, everyone around you knows you did it, half of them are doing it too, and if they keep at you long enough you’ll eventually end up reading a prepared statement outside your front door one

Matthew Lynn

Brexit Britain can capitalise on the breakdown in EU-Swiss talks

It is a leading player in finance, and it’s companies are giants in life sciences and consumer goods. There were already lots of similarities between the Swiss and British economies, except that they are quite a bit richer and more successful than we are. Now we have something else in common: we have both been frozen out of the European Union’s Single Market. But hold on. Isn’t there an opportunity there as well? In truth, this would be the perfect moment to offer the Swiss a deal that would work for both sides – a common market. The Swiss have always had a fractious relationship with the EU. It has

Ross Clark

Why should Dr Christian Jessen’s fans pay his legal bill?

Wasn’t the whole point of crowdfunding supposed to be about enabling community and artistic projects to take place? That was how I remember it being sold to us, at any rate. But no, I got it wrong. It turns out that the real point of it is to help celebrities pay their legal bills. Dr Christian Jessen, who appears on a Channel 4 show called Embarrassing Bodies, has been ordered by a Belfast court to pay £125,000 in libel damages to former Northern Irish first minister Arlene Foster for tweeting the false allegation that she was having an extra-marital affair. It is believed that legal costs could add a further

Andrew McQuillan

The DUP has been broken by Brexit

Are we witnessing the end of the DUP as the dominant unionist party in Northern Ireland? Tumultuous events in Belfast in recent days suggest as much. The DUP gathered on Thursday night to ratify the appointment of Edwin Poots and Paula Bradley as the party’s new leader and deputy leader. A dull rubber-stamping it was not; the meeting turned into the most public display of discord and factionalism in the party’s 50-year history. Rather than listen to Poots make his acceptance speech, Jeffrey Donaldson, the MP Gavin Robinson and both Nigel and Diane Dodds stood up and left. Dissatisfaction with how Arlene Foster was treated was given as the reason for

Sunday

30 May 2021

Melanie McDonagh

Boris, Carrie and the politics of weddings

Well! The PM’s nuptials have taken everyone unawares. And it’s hard not to feel that a small and informal wedding is better right now than something big and flashy next year, as per the excited coverage of the implications of his ‘save the date’ message to friends, faithfully passed onto the papers last week. Instead: a quiet ceremony in Westminster Cathedral, the mother church of Catholics in England and Wales. There is some fuss about the Catholic Church solemnising the nuptials of a twice married PM and his girlfriend. But from a strictly churchy point of view there’s nothing to stop him. He was baptised in a Catholic church in

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Government ‘absolutely’ protected care homes

Nadhim Zahawi – Government ‘absolutely’ threw protective ring around care homes Dominic Cummings’ much anticipated testimony before the lessons learnt joint inquiry on Wednesday has proved as volcanic. Earning his particular ire was the health secretary Matt Hancock. Cummings claimed that Hancock should have been fired for ’15 to 20’ different reasons, and alleged that Hancock had lied about supplying tests for Covid patients before they were discharged to care homes during a cabinet meeting in March 2020. Matt Hancock stated two months later that the government had thrown a ‘protective ring’ around the care home sector. Andrew Marr challenged the Vaccines Deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi to provide evidence for this

Steerpike

Boris and Carrie mystery guest revealed as top Remainer

The wedding of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds was a highly secretive affair. The couple tied the knot yesterday at Westminster cathedral, with key aides being kept out of the loop for fear of leaks. So Mr S was surprised to spot one high-profile Remainer pictured emerging from Downing Street in wedding attire last night, having been apparently sworn to secrecy. The ‘mystery man’ in a gold waistcoat who the Mail captured here with the label ‘it is not clear what their relation to the newlyweds is’ is none other than one Hugo Dixon. The ardent Remainer and Old Etonian ran the pro-Brussels gospel ‘InFacts’ and was a key ally of Roland Rudd

Patrick O’Flynn

‘There is no alternative’: Why Boris will keep winning

Those of us who generally wish this Government well and consider Boris Johnson a preferable holder of the office of prime minister to any likely alternative are facing a new accusation this weekend. The vast brigade of pinko pundits who have predicted Johnson’s downfall on numerous occasions only to be proved wrong each time, have changed tack. They now mostly acknowledge that rows over prorogations or pelmets – or even this week’s Dominic Cummings spectacular – are likely to have only a very limited impact upon public opinion. But they shake their heads sadly at us and tell us this is not the point. Rather, what actually matters is that

John Ferry

The SNP’s latest separation blueprint is pure project fantasy

‘A SNP MSP has claimed an independent Scotland could guarantee a couple with children a minimum income of more than £37,000 a year,’ the Daily Record reported breathlessly this week, as it covered the SNP’s latest plans for an independent Scotland. Then came the clincher: ‘Neil Gray admits the plans have not been costed.’ Neil Gray is an SNP MSP and deputy convenor of the party’s Social Justice and Fairness Commission, which has published its final report: A Route Map to a Fair Independent Scotland. One of the report’s key recommendations is for a pilot of a minimum income guarantee. Gray, referencing work done by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, suggests

Saturday

29 May 2021

Steerpike

Boris marries Carrie

After Dominic Cummings’s seven-hour evidence session slating Boris Johnson and his ministers, it’s been a difficult few days of press coverage for 10 Downing Street. There were even rumours last week that the Prime Minister could embark on a Cabinet reshuffle to change the news agenda. However, it seems that may not be necessary. Today Boris Johnson married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a secret ceremony at Westminster cathedral. After sending out invites this week to friends for a big celebration of their marriage next summer, the couple tied the knot in a Catholic ceremony with 30 of their closest friends and families. The plans are reported to have been

Joanna Williams

The problem with Prince Harry’s mental health drive

Has Prince Harry ever had a thought and not made it public? Are there feelings or emotions he has experienced but kept to himself? The latest episode of The Me You Can’t See, the Duke’s documentary series exploring mental health and emotional well-being, aired this week. Loyal viewers were rewarded with a bonus ‘town hall conversation’ show in which Harry and his co-host and producer, Oprah Winfrey, were reunited with advisors and participants from the series. The premise of the programmes, drummed home once again in the town hall special, is that having ‘a me we can’t see’ is bad for our mental health. Full emotional disclosure is open, honest,

Steerpike

All is rosy in the Downing Street garden

After Dominic Cummings’s explosive testimony on Wednesday, you might have thought special advisers in Downing Street would be spending the evening busily preparing their lines of rebuttal. Far from it. Mandarins, spads and operatives piled into the Downing Street garden for a belated farewell drinks for James Slack, the longtime No. 10 director of communications, whose departure Steerpike first revealed in March. The booze up came exactly a year and a day after Cummings appeared in the same rose garden to explain his Barnard Castle debacle – an irony that was not lost on some of those in attendance. Mr S understands the occasion was an amicable one, with the

Katy Balls

Will the DUP lose ground under Edwin Poots?

11 min listen

This week Edwin Poots was formally endorsed as the DUP’s new leader, in a meeting which Arlene Foster, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (Poots’s rival in the leadership campaign) and other senior DUP politicians walked out of before Poots gave a speech. What does the future hold for the divided political party that held so much sway in Westminster during the Brexit process? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and the Irish Times’s Denis Staunton. On the podcast, Denis suggests three ways forward for disgruntled DUP politicians like Foster and Donaldson. One, they could try to topple Poots. Two, they could go back to the Ulster Unionist Party (from which they defected