Politics

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

Thursday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Rebecca Long-Bailey’s sacking risks reopening Labour’s civil war

Keir Starmer has today sacked his former leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey from the shadow cabinet. The Labour leader asked Long-Bailey to step down as shadow education secretary after she shared an interview which contained an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. In the article in question, long-time Jeremy Corbyn supporter Maxine Peake – an actress – suggested the tactics used by police in America on George Floyd were ‘learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services’. Announcing the decision, a spokesperson for Starmer said: ‘This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the Shadow Cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory. As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Biden might be a better ally for Brexit Britain than Trump

Who should Brexit Britain want to win the US presidential election? Donald Trump has been rhetorically pro-Brexit. He has broken decisively with US foreign policy orthodoxy, which has long assumed that more European integration is inherently a good thing. But his words of support have delivered little in terms of practical assistance for Brexit Britain, I say in the magazine this week, Trump might have decried Barack Obama’s ‘back of the queue’ comment but his own trade representative admitted recently that no US-UK trade deal will be ready before the presidential election in November. Trump has been a difficult ally, alienating other democracies, undercutting America’s moral leadership in the world and

Steerpike Steerpike

Maxine Peake’s bizarre George Floyd claim

Is Israel to blame for the tragic killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota this year? It’s not a question that has crossed many people’s minds as protests have swept across America in reaction to the unarmed man’s death. For certain sections of the left though, a connection with Israel can always be found. It certainly seems that way for the actress and full-on Corbynista Maxine Peake. Peake gave an interview with the Independent today, in which she claimed that: Systemic racism is a global issue… The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services. The

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

Labour’s phony lockdown war

Keir Starmer has welcomed the easing of the lockdown, saying he thinks ‘the government is trying to do the right thing and in that we will support them’. The Labour leader wants to scrutinise the details of the policy but recognises that keeping the economy in stasis for much longer will have serious consequences. Meanwhile, in another part of Labour land, Richard Burgon put forward his total opposition to easing. In the Commons, Corbyn’s former shadow justice secretary said the easing of lockdown restrictions was simply a way of ‘appeasing right-wingers on the Tory backbenches’ and that the prime minister was ‘gambling with people’s lives’. Many on the left-wing of

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Keir Starmer is stuffed

The British political and media establishment had Remain winning the Brexit referendum at a canter, Hillary Clinton as US president by a landslide, Change UK actually changing the UK and a ‘Government of National Unity’ emerging in the Commons after Boris Johnson removed the whip from dozens of Tory grandees. All completely wrong. What does conventional wisdom tell us about British politics over the past three months? That Boris Johnson and the Conservatives are in huge trouble, of course. Boris has been seen to bungle the coronavirus pandemic, and so will be blamed for the looming economic meltdown. The Prime Minister’s personal ratings have slumped. Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer has

Charles Moore Charles Moore

Michelangelo’s David must fall

‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ said the plane’s banner as it circled the club’s stadium just after the teams had ‘taken the knee’ in support of Black Lives Matter. I must admit that my very first reaction on hearing the news was pleasure at the idea that the self-righteousness of Black Lives Matter was being guyed. My second, more considered response is that the banner was bad — and for precisely the same reason that BLM is bad. It takes a statement which any decent person would consider true and turns it into a weapon of race war. Of course black lives matter. Of course white lives matter. The question is:

Kevin Hurley

To save black lives, police top brass must face reality

I was a borough commander in west London and come from a long line of officers — and I can tell you that it’s fast becoming impossible to police the streets. The police are attacked on all sides. They’re told both that they’re too aggressive and too politically correct; too understanding and too intolerant. They’re required to reduce the level of violent crime on the street and yet told they’re racist if they stop and search young black men and ‘put hands in pockets’ to check for knives. As a society we can shout and scream at the police, regulate them, scrutinise them, sack a few, bring in external bosses

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

The police have become too politicised to function

Of the many admirable demands made by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, such as dismantling capitalism and making white people pay for centuries of vile oppression, none commended themselves to me more than the demand that we should defund the police. This is a hugely attractive proposition, I thought, as I watched the chief constable of Kent, Alan Pughsley, ‘take the knee’ in solidarity with people who want him abolished. I felt much the same upon hearing the words of Superintendent Andrew ‘Andy’ Bennett of Avon and Somerset Police, who watched as BLM protestors threw a statue of Edward Colston into the river. ‘Andy’ instructed his men to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Biden might be better for Brexit Britain

At the best of times, US presidential elections require the British government to walk a tightrope. In 1992, a Tory prime minister got this very wrong. John Major’s excessive support for George Bush Sr’s unsuccessful re-election effort alienated Bill Clinton. The damage to the UK’s relationship with the country’s most important security partner was only fully repaired when Tony Blair became prime minister in 1997. This time around, things are particularly tricky for the UK, since Donald Trump doesn’t feel bound by normal diplomatic protocols — just look at his interventions in UK politics since taking office — and isn’t shy about asking for favours from foreign leaders (see the

Steerpike Steerpike

Want to talk to your MP? Go to a fundraiser, says minister

Business minister Nadhim Zahawi was sent out to bat for his colleague Robert Jenrick on the Today programme this morning and let’s just say it didn’t quite go to plan. The housing secretary faces a cash-for-favours row over allegations he gave preferential treatment to a Tory donor and his multi-million pound planning bid after the pair chatted at a Conservative fundraiser, an allegation Jenrick strongly denies. Zahawi, however, didn’t help the matter. When asked why normal voters ‘don’t have this kind of access’, the minister told listeners: If people go to a fundraiser in their local area, [for example] in Doncaster, for the Conservative party, they’d be sitting next to MPs and other people in their local

Wednesday

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

Revealed: What ‘Black Lives Matter’ really stands for

Anyone worth listening to agrees that black lives matter. But what does the organisation ‘Black Lives Matter’ stand for? Worryingly, for the 34,000 Brits who have topped up BLM UK’s coffers with over £1million in recent weeks, finding out is no easy task. Despite being inundated with donations, BLM UK does not appear to have its own website and is not a registered charity. What’s more, the group is resisting calls for it to become one. So why won’t it? ‘A charity structure would not allow us the freedom and flexibility to do our political work in the ways we wish to do them,’ according to BLM UK. What then is

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs: Blustering Boris stymies Starmer

Barristers say there are two types of performers in court. The rhinos use brash, crude, overpowering blows. The snakes are subtle, unpredictable and deadly. Today at PMQs, the two beasts met. Boris came out of the jungle at full charge. ‘I think the honourable gentleman has been stunned by the success of the test and trace operation,’ he bellowed. He was responding to Sir Keir Starmer’s criticism of the government’s testing regime. ‘Contrary to his prognostications of gloom,’ Boris went on, ‘it has got up and running much faster than expected.’ Sir Keir, all serpentine cunning, asked him about the failure of the app to trace every relevant contact. Boris

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs: Starmer’s caution is getting the better of him

The clash of styles continued at PMQs today. Keir Starmer came with a set of detailed questions and Boris Johnson attempted to push him back with a sheer weight of rhetoric. Johnson’s approach isn’t particularly edifying but it does deny Starmer the opportunity to land many blows in these sessions. The Labour leader hasn’t quite worked out how to adapt to Johnson’s tactics. He finds himself vulnerable as the Tory leader changes the subject, as he did today effectively to ding Starmer on schools. Starmer used his last question to come back on an answer the Prime Minister gave last week on child poverty. Starmer accused Johnson of giving ‘dodgy

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How Boris Johnson plans to reset his premiership

The decision to significantly ease lockdown from early July marks a new chapter when it comes to the government’s approach to coronavirus. After a miserable few months, the hope in Downing Street is that with the number of confirmed new cases down to pre-lockdown levels, the government can return some form of normality – and get back to delivering its election manifesto promises. It was this message that Dominic Cummings was keen to get across in his meeting with special advisers on Monday night. Boris Johnson’s senior aide acknowledged that recent events had made this difficult. First, Brexit, which dominated Boris Johnson’s first few months in office. Second, a global pandemic

Joe Ryle

Why Conservatives should support a four-day week

It’s an inconvenient truth for campaigners trying to persuade Boris Johnson’s government to explore a four-day working week that the idea was first proposed by Jeremy Corbyn. During the 2019 General Election, Conservative MPs lined up to attack what became one of Labour’s flagship policies. With the election in full swing, one Tory MP went as far as saying it would ‘wreck the economy’. But with the general election and Jeremy Corbyn now a distant memory, the Conservative Party should look at the idea in a different light and seriously examine its merits as a way to build up the economy post Covid-19. With an unemployment crisis on the horizon,

Paul Bickley

Will there ever be another Conservative mayor of London?

Even in these strange political times, it looks very difficult for a Conservative politician to become Mayor of London. In the 20 years since the advent of the mayoralty and the introduction of the London Assembly, only Boris – as we all know, an unusual politician – has managed to beat Labour, with successive terms in 2008 and 2012. He succeeded in this by being more popular than the Conservative party in London; a politician, even then, with an independent brand. In contrast, Ken Livingstone was less popular than the Labour party at the time. These favourable winds are unlikely to blow again. On the contrary, the political ructions of

Tuesday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The new common sense phase of lockdown

13 min listen

Boris Johnson has announced further measures to ease the lockdown, and from the 4th July, more venues will be open than not, including restaurants, pubs, and galleries. It also marks a new phase in the lockdown, when social distancing will be guidelines, not law. But does the public actually want the lockdown to be eased? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Boris announces major lockdown easing

Speaking in the Chamber this lunchtime, the Prime Minister declared that ‘our long national hibernation is coming to an end’ as he unveiled the most drastic easing of lockdown yet. Phase three of the road map will see parts of the hospitality industry reopen from 4 July while individuals will be able to socialise with greater freedom. Announcing the changes, Boris Johnson emphasised that his government was only able to make these changes due to the progress made as a result of people abiding by the rules. Should this fail to be the case in the future or the number of cases rise, Johnson warned he would not hesitate to put the

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Helen Whately is right about student nurses

Helen Whately, the care minister, is being tarred and feathered. She wrote a letter to an MP about student nurses, saying they are ‘supernumerary and not deemed to be providing a service’. The outpouring of fury online and, sadly, from some traditional media outlets provides an object lesson in all that’s wrong with the way Britain debates politics and government in the era of Twitter. Whately’s comments should not be ‘controversial’ or even newsworthy, because she said nothing wrong. Student nurses are indeed ‘supernumerary’, which means that they are not counted towards the total of nursing staff in the NHS. This is not just sensible, it’s something recognised and demanded