Politics Archives

Monday

21 Dec 2020

Steerpike

Neil Ferguson’s mysterious membership of Nervtag

It seems like a lifetime ago when the Imperial College academic Neil Ferguson was caught breaking lockdown rules to meet his married lover. Since then, a whole series of mad, bad and downright nonsense regulations have come and gone. At the time though, the breach was taken very seriously by both the government and Ferguson himself, who had been the main champion of strict lockdown rules being instated in Britain. On 5 May, Ferguson promised to stand down as a government advisor, saying he regretted ‘undermining’ the government’s harsh measures on social distancing. His decision was backed by the government. Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said Ferguson had made ‘the

Patrick O’Flynn

Smarmy Starmer is not making himself popular with anyone

The verdict of the Twitter jury is in, articulated in a single, now viral tweet by broadcaster Matthew Stadlen: ‘Keir Starmer would have been – and would be – a far better Prime Minister than Boris Johnson during this pandemic.’ It is a theme that Starmer has naturally been keen to develop, leading him to make excoriating criticisms of Boris Johnson in a press conference at the weekend. The Starmer thesis is that Johnson is so anxious to be liked that he ducks out of taking tough decisions until it is too late. The Labour leader cites examples that include the lateness of the original lockdown, an allegedly late-in-the-day decision

Robert Peston

Covid and Brexit are about to collide

We are back in a full-scale economic crisis. In London and the south east, the richest part of the UK and engine of the economy, normal commerce has been suspended by the imposition of Tier 4. And the decision of much of the EU and a growing number of rich countries to put the whole UK into quarantine is devastating for trade. What are the immediate priorities? Probably the most important one is basic: the creation of a facility to give rapid Covid-19 tests to all lorry drivers leaving the UK so that the transport of freight can be restarted as quickly as possible. Second, to end the cancerous uncertainty for

James Forsyth

Britain faces a crisis over the coming weeks

This country faces a crisis over the next few weeks. Covid cases are rising rapidly in the UK — there were more than 35,000 new cases yesterday, the largest number recorded during the pandemic and almost double the number a week ago. It seems likely that this rapid rise is, in part, a result of the new variation of the virus which does seem to be more transmissible. It is hard not to think that more of the country will be put into Tier 4 restrictions at the next review. It’ll be surprising if England gets through January without another lockdown. Concern over this new variant of the virus has

Hardeep Singh

Victims of grooming gangs have been failed again

The Home Office’s report into the characteristics of group-based child sexual exploitation was keenly awaited by victims of grooming gangs. Sadly, for many of these people, it has left them disappointed. When Sajid Javid commissioned the review he promised there would be ‘no no-go areas of inquiry’. His successor as Home Secretary, Priti Patel, says in the report itself that ‘victims and survivors of these abhorrent crimes have told me how they were let down by the state in the name of political correctness. What happened to these children remains one of the biggest stains on our country’s conscience.’ But victims I’ve spoken to suggest political correctness remains an issue. The report, they say, obfuscates

Sunday

20 Dec 2020

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: New Covid strain ‘out of control’, says Hancock

The Health Secretary joined Andrew Marr the day after Boris Johnson outlined a new fourth tier of restrictions. Tier 4 is designed to clamp down on a new mutation of the coronavirus that has been surging across the south east of England, and the news has wrought havoc on many families’ Christmas plans. Hancock told Marr that people should assume they were carrying the virus as a default: MH: The new variant is out of control… and this news about the new variant has been an incredibly difficult end to frankly, an awful year. It’s important for everybody to essentially act like they might have the virus. That’s the way

Katy Balls

Matt Hancock suggests Tier 4 could stay until vaccine ‘rolled out’

As 16.4 million people wake up to the first day of Tier 4 restrictions, many are asking for how long the draconian measures will be in place. While the restrictions will be reviewed at the end of the month, the Health Secretary said they could be in place for much longer than a few weeks. Speaking on Sky News, Hancock suggested areas could have to remain under Tier 4 until the vaccine has been rolled out. Asked whether people in Tier 4 should expect to remain in Tier 4 until a vaccine is rolled out, he told Sophy Ridge: ‘Well we’ve really got to get this under control. And the cases in the Tier

Ross Clark

How sure can we be that the Tier 4 lockdown will work?

How certain should we be of the government’s claim that the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 is 70 per cent more transmissible than the previous common strain falls apart? I ask not because I have any information that would contradict the Prime Minister, but because it has become a repetitive feature of this crisis: that the piece of science which leads the government into a sudden change in policy ends up looking a little flaky. It happened with Professor Ferguson’s famous prediction of 240,000 deaths unless the government introduced the first lockdown – Imperial published similar figures for Sweden which were later shown to vastly overstate deaths, throwing serious doubt upon its model. It happened, too,

Saturday

19 Dec 2020

Katy Balls

Was the change in Christmas rules inevitable?

12 min listen

Christmas has been cancelled, after all. In London and parts of the South East, new Tier 4 restrictions mean that households will not be able to mix indoors; whereas in the rest of the country families can only get together on Christmas day. Does this government suffer from consistently over-promising? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Katy Balls

Boris announces new Covid Christmas restrictions

It was only a few days ago that Boris Johnson stood in the Commons chamber and accused Sir Keir Starmer of wanting to ‘cancel Christmas’ as he defended the government’s plan to relax restrictions over the festive period. However, that plan has now changed. Following rumours in the press that London could be placed under Tier 4 and the Christmas guidance changed, Boris Johnson used an impromptu press conference to confirm a significant change to the rules. A new tier – Tier 4 – has been added to the system. London and the South East are to be placed in it as of midnight this evening. Under Tier 4, there will be

Isabel Hardman

Boris to hold press conference today amid surging Covid cases

Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference a 4 p.m. today with the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser where it is expected he will announce further restrictions to try to deal with the spiralling infection rate in London and the South East of England. The Prime Minister is chairing a cabinet call now to discuss the measures. There were also talks late last night after warnings that the new strain of the virus can spread more rapidly. Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has just issued a statement saying the government has alerted the World Health Organisation about this, explaining: ‘As a result of the rapid spread

Cindy Yu

What does Truss’s speech say about the future of conservatism?

13 min listen

This week Liz Truss promised to shake up the equalities brief, opting for ‘facts not fashion’ in the fight against inequality that looks at regions and class, not just gender and race. What can we learn about the government’s future direction from this speech? Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.

Andrew Garfield

The case Brexiteers should make for Brexit

Why are Brexiteers rubbish at making the economic case for Brexit? On a whole range of things from three pin plugs to driving on the left, the UK is so often the odd man out in Europe. So why shouldn’t Britain be better off making its own laws and regulations, instead of making do, as we have done for the last 50 years, with trying to fit our sprawling messy economic life into a one-size-fits-all framework cooked up in Brussels kitchens over too much midnight oil? We have heard a lot of talk recently about the Single Market being a British invention, a way of exporting the Thatcher revolution to

Friday

18 Dec 2020

Douglas Murray

Liz Truss is right to take on the ‘equalities’ cartel

Yesterday the equalities minister, Liz Truss, gave a speech in which she attempted to lay-out a new direction for the British government. The speech (which can be read here) rejected the identity-group politicking of the radical left which has dominated ‘equalities’ discussions in recent years. It tried to describe not just how wrong this has been, but how inadequate it is. One way in which Truss did this was by describing how this government aims to focus on geographic and socio-economic inequality. She is completely right on this, and the whole racket of groups in the UK which focus on alleged racial or sexual inequality have little to say about

Stephen Daisley

Andy Wightman and the limits of trans tolerance

Andy Wightman is — or, as of this afternoon, was — the most independent-minded Green member of the Scottish parliament. A staunch man of the left and pursuer of land reform and tenants’ rights, he nonetheless practises an increasingly old-fashioned respect for opposing views and those who hold them. One of the subjects on which he has sought to keep an open mind is that of trans rights. Under the leadership of Patrick Harvie, a sacristan in the church of identity politics, the Scottish Greens have taken a gender-fundamentalist line with scant tolerance for heretical thinking. Earlier today, Wightman resigned from his party, explaining: ‘I have been saddened by the

Brendan O’Neill

In Liz Truss we trust

Finally, someone has said it. Someone has said that identity politics distracts our attention from the far larger issue of socioeconomic inequality. Someone has said that the fashionable and myopic focus on issues of race, sex and genderfluidity is diverting our gaze from the far more important issue of class. That someone is Liz Truss, the equalities minister, and she deserves our praise. Criticising identity politics is a risky business. Just ask JK Rowling, who is regularly threatened with rape and death for daring to make a very measured critique of transgenderism. Or ask any black commentator who bristles at the idea of critical race theory — he’ll be branded

Gwythian Prins

Britain is wise to prepare for a new Cod war

Is it ‘irresponsible’ for the Royal Navy to plan to protect the fisheries of the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) when the Brexit transition period ends? The chairman of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee thinks so. The BBC made much of it. But Tobias Ellwood is wrong: it would be irresponsible not to talk now of a deterrent credible in the eyes of prospective trespassers. And who might they be? Given the importance which France attaches to our punishment on leaving the EU for reasons which have nothing to do with fish, but with much bigger psycho-dramatic issues that Robert Tombs and ‘Caroline Bell’ have recently explained, French

James Forsyth

Fishing could sink the Brexit negotiations

Throughout the Brexit talks it has been declared that the deal wouldn’t fall over fish. But that is now looking increasingly likely. The two sides remain far apart on the subject and time is running short. Fishing is not the only issue, there are still some disagreements over the Commission’s desire to exempt itself and the European Investment Bank from the subsidy control provisions of the agreement when the UK would have no such carve out. But fish is the most problematic area. Johnson is prepared to leave without a deal over the fishing issue The EU, as Michel Barnier made clear this morning, are insisting on an fisheries transition

James Forsyth

Will fish sink a Brexit deal?

14 min listen

Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen spoke last night in another attempt to push the Brexit discussions forward. Statements released after call made clear that fishing rights remain the last serious hurdle – but will negotiators let it sink a deal? James Forsyth discusses with Katy Balls.

Nick Tyrone

No deal might be the best outcome for remainers

Plenty of Labour figures who voted Remain are now urging the government to complete a trade agreement with the European Union before the end of the transition period. ‘There isn’t a choice between a fantasy deal and no deal,’ says Liam Byrne. ‘It’s this deal versus no deal, and we will not have a manufacturing industry left unless there is a deal.’ Although there is still a battle within the shadow cabinet on what to do should a UK-EU trade agreement come to parliament, the consensus seems to be that Keir Starmer would whip the party to vote for Johnson’s deal. This marks a big shift in Labour’s Brexit strategy