Politics

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

Wednesday

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Why is Keir Starmer so bad at PMQs?

Sir Keir is having a wobble. That’s obvious. The Labour leader holds an equestrian title, so he naturally feels at home on his high horse. Today at PMQs he loftily commanded Boris not to raise taxes in the budget. That was hilarious. A Labour leader begging a Tory Prime Minister not to implement Labour policy. If Sir Keir had produced a viola from his trousers and played ‘Waltzing Matilda’ he couldn’t have looked more ridiculous. Boris was so stunned that he could barely speak. ‘Well, I don’t know about you Mr Speaker,’ he bumbled. Then he pointed out that in 2019 Sir Keir had ‘stood on a manifesto to put

Kyriakos N. Kotsoglou and Marion Oswald

Are lie detector tests for terrorists really a good idea?

You might have assumed that the polygraph (or ‘lie detector’ as it is commonly known) was something used only for entertainment on the Jeremy Kyle Show. It is, after all, little more than a relic from the 1920s when people turned to psychic mediums and truth-telling machines in the misguided search for certainty after the horrors of the Great War. So it might come as a surprise that the polygraph has been used by the penal system in England and Wales for more than a decade. The Probation Service, in fact, uses them to monitor sex offenders released on licence. In the past five years alone, 5,228 mandatory polygraph examinations have

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: Boris sidesteps Starmer’s bait

Keir Starmer tried to use today’s PMQs to set up some future attack lines. First, he again tried to drive a wedge between Boris Johnson and the Covid Recovery Group, asking him to criticise the statements that members of it have made denouncing the lockdown easing plan.  Unsurprisingly, Johnson didn’t take the bait. But if the data continues to surprise for the better, these MPs will become more vocal in calling for a faster end to restrictions. Second, Starmer pressed Johnson to rule out tax rises for families or businesses — an attempt to lay down a marker before next week’s Budget where Rishi Sunak is predicted to announce an

Brian Wilson

Ian Blackford and the hounding of Charles Kennedy

BBC Alba, Scotland’s Gaelic language channel, is not normally required viewing for the political classes. This week, however, Lib Dems across the country were seeking it out on Freeview. The channel last night aired a documentary on Charles Kennedy, the former Lib Dem leader who stood down in 2006 after acknowledging his struggle with alcoholism, which persisted until he died in 2015 at the age of 55. Three weeks before his death and after 32 years as MP for a Highland constituency – latterly called Ross, Cromarty and Skye – he was defeated in the 2015 General Election by Ian Blackford, now Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party and

Henry Hill

Unionists are preparing for the wrong fight

It makes bleak sense, when you think about it. The history of Unionism is littered with self-inflicted wounds and missed opportunities. So of course the Prime Minister would lose his grip on the Union Unit just as the Scottish government seems to be facing an acute crisis. Alex Salmond has once again withdrawn from giving evidence to MSPs after the Crown Office stepped in and got the Scottish parliament to redact his evidence (again). As it was already in the public domain, we can all see that the censored portions relate not to the naming of vulnerable women, but to criticism of Nicola Sturgeon. Yet it still feels hard to

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Face masks in schools: a note on the evidence

Secondary-school children returning to school from 8 March will be required to wear masks in classrooms, at least for several weeks. That is in contrast to the initial return of children to school last summer. It wasn’t until November that they were required to wear masks at school, and then only in corridors and other communal areas. But should we be forcing children to wear masks? A German study – in a preprint which has yet to be peer-reviewed – has reported negative symptoms of children who wear masks in that country.  As the researchers point out, there is a lack of evidence on the use of masks in school

Gray Sergeant

In defence of Keir Starmer

Now that we’ve finally heard Boris Johnson’s ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown, a key question remains: when will we see a return to politics as normal? It might not be the most pressing concern for most people, but for Keir Starmer and his supporters, it matters. Only when this happens can Labour start making some serious assaults on the Tories stubborn poll-lead. As a Labour member of ten or so years I want Starmer to have a chance to shine. After all, it is not like my party has been blessed with great leaders in recent years. Much of my time on the doorstep during the 2010 and 2015 general elections involved shying away

George Pieri

The problem with renaming London’s streets

In Taksim Square, the busy central hub of Istanbul, a large, viril monument stands. In the centre is Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, the father of modern Turkey (although, perhaps not the contemporary one). When Attaturk came into power, he immediately set about changing the country from Empire to Nation. This meant progressive Western values, the alphabet; a dismissal, in some cases, a blanketing of the culture and customs before it. Almost by accident, this sparked a nostalgia for the Empire that is potent in today’s Turkey. In the hotel nearby, the Kurdish receptionist gets to work. ‘Did you see the monument?’ he says to me bleakly. I ask what he thinks

Tuesday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

The Scottish establishment is playing into Salmond’s hands

The most remarkable — and chilling — day in the history of Scottish devolution ends the only way it could: Alex Salmond has pulled out of an appearance before the Holyrood inquiry. The road to his withdrawal began on Monday evening with the publication of a key document in the long-running inquiry. The submission, in which Salmond alleges that Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code, was uploaded to the Scottish parliament website ahead of an evidence session by Salmond on Wednesday. However, the Crown Office contacted Holyrood authorities and demanded they remove or redact the submissions. The parliament complied, replacing it with a further-redacted version. When The Spectator published this very document

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Boris on the problem with journalists

What’s the phrase? Poacher turned gamekeeper? Boris Johnson was once the arch poacher — a journalist at the Telegraph before taking on the editorship of Mr S’s own illustrious publication. Now it seems Mr Johnson has discovered what it feels like to be at the other end of public scrutiny.  On a press trip to a south London school, the PM mourned the fact journalists are ‘always abusing or attacking people’. Instead, he explained to a slightly bemused school child, that ‘a lightbulb went off in [his] mind’ and that instead, he decided to give politics a go. Nothing to do with childhood dreams of being ‘world king’ eh?  Still, Mr S picked up

Dr Mark Toshner

We could all pay the price for the EU’s foolish vaccine nationalism

I’m a card carrying, Europe-loving, wishy-washy centre-left liberal. It therefore pains me to point this out: the EU in general, Ursula von der Leyen specifically, and some of the prominent European leaders such as Emmanuel Macron are getting policy and messaging on vaccines badly wrong. They need to urgently ditch the peacock displays of tribal politics. The French president, in particular, who leads one of the most vaccine sceptical western nations, should not have so publicly questioned the efficacy of what has clearly turned out to be a vaccine that is working in the fight against Covid-19. The consequences of their words could well be long-lasting. ‘The early results we

Debbie Hayton

The SNP’s transphobia muddle

For a party so devoted to trans rights, it seems strange that the SNP is less than forthcoming over its new definition of transphobia that their National Executive Committee adopted in recent days. The mind boggles over what they may be hiding. Despite the twin pressures of Brexit and Covid-19, not to mention a key Scottish election three months away and the ongoing Alex Salmond affair, it seems that the party is prioritising the gender debate. As a trans person, even I am getting exasperated by this relentless focus.  Let’s be clear: transphobic hate crime exists but it is nowhere near as commonplace as the transgender lobby would like us to

Monday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tory MPs react to Boris Johnson’s roadmap

Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown moves at a much slower pace than many of his backbenchers would like. Despite, this, the Prime Minister has so far managed to avoid a large backlash from Tory MPs with his blueprint for ending lockdown. While leading figures of the Covid Recovery Group were quick to voice their objections in the Commons chamber over the fact restrictions will be in place until late June, the Prime Minister received a relatively warm reception when he addressed his party via Zoom on Monday evening. The Prime Minister was 20 minutes late for the call meaning questions were relatively limited. He began by assuring MPs that the government would

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris hints at a ‘no jab, no job’ policy

The most striking moment of Monday night’s press conference was Chris Whitty’s declaration that it was the ‘professional responsibility’ on health and social care staff to get the vaccine. Whitty stressed that the question of contracts — whether there should be a contractual obligation to take the jab — was a political decision and so not one for him. Boris Johnson then followed up by talking about ‘very high quality care home groups’ that were looking at making vaccination a condition of employment. The significance of these exchanges is that they suggest the government is moving towards the idea of allowing hospitals and care homes to insist employees are vaccinated. If

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The lockdown roadmap explained

12 min listen

Boris Johnson has finally set out his roadmap for easing lockdown. On the episode, Katy Balls talks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about what to expect over the next few months.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

The roadmap paints a grim picture for business

As the Prime Minister announced the details of his government’s ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown in the Commons on Monday, no doubt some will have been cheering on the announcements, which will allow them to keep their pre-planned parties or holidays scheduled in their diaries. But the timeline has painted a grim picture for business in the months to come. According to the timetable, we are nearly two months away from outdoor dining being made legal again, and three months away from a return to indoor dining. While non-essential retail and personal care premises (including hair and nail salons) are billed to open on 12 April, social distancing measures look set to

Steerpike Steerpike

Theresa May’s curious defence of air-travel

After Boris Johnson’s Commons speech today outlining the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, he was met with a fiery response from his predecessor as Prime Minister, Theresa May. On behalf of her constituents in Maidenhead, the former PM laid into the government’s plans for the aviation sector, pointing out that simply publishing a review of international travel in April would not give passengers and the sector enough time to plan for the summer. A fair question, of course. But why did the former PM decide to focus on aviation in particular? One reason, May explained in the Commons, is that she was concerned about the economic hit to her constituency, which is close

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris’s lockdown speech was classic Blairite triangulation

Several of Tony Blair’s ideas have found their way into the government’s Covid policy, most notably the policy of prioritising first doses. The end of Boris Johnson’s statement today owed a lot to Blair. Johnson cast himself as charting a middle course between those who think the government’s plan is too ambitious and those who want restrictions eased faster. It was classic Blairite triangulation. The road map is an interesting document. It is initially cautious and the decision to put five weeks between easing measures means that we won’t be able to sit inside a pub until 17 May, a long way from the idea that things would be heading

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The lockdown roadmap explained

Boris Johnson’s roadmap for emerging from the pandemic shows us quite how bad his sense of direction has been at times over the past few months. The Prime Minister and his colleagues in government have repeatedly insisted that they won’t be introducing vaccine passports — but today’s document confirms that ministers are in fact establishing a programme of work on ‘Covid status certification’, which is a rose by another name. Johnson has also had to deal with a conflict between his advisers (and within his own mind) over whether or not it is — as he has repeatedly suggested — possible to vaccinate one’s way out of this lockdown. Either