Politics Archives

Friday

11 Dec 2020

The damning verdict on NHS Test and Trace

SAGE has already poured cold water on the NHS Test and Trace system in England, suggesting in September that it was making only a ‘marginal’ difference to Covid infection rates. Now the National Audit Office (NAO) has had its say, publishing its interim report into whether it has been value-for-money. It is not much more flattering. It depicts a hugely-expensive system which leaves many of its staff sitting around with little to do and which is failing to make contact with nearly as many people as it needs to in order to work as SAGE says it needs to. The budget for Test and Trace over the whole of 2020/21,

James Forsyth

How to solve Brexit’s ratchet clause problem

At the moment, the biggest single obstacle in the Brexit talks is the so-called ‘ratchet clause’. This is what Boris Johnson is complaining about with his slightly torturous analogy that the EU wants to treat Britain like a twin with the right to punish the UK if it doesn’t get the same haircut or buy the same handbag. As I say in the Times this morning, the problem with this proposed ratchet clause is that the EU wants the right to unilaterally impose tariffs in the circumstances where it has tightened its regulations and the UK has not followed suit. There would be no obligation to show that the UK’s

Patrick O’Flynn

If Boris doesn’t blink over Brexit, Starmer becomes unelectable

If it’s No Deal, then it will usher in a crisis that will highlight the leader’s negative baggage and remind everyone why he should never be trusted, probably dooming him to ignominious defeat at the next election. If that is your view of the post-transition political landscape then I heartily agree. But, like most of the punditry, I bet you’ve got the wrong leader in mind. Because the man who will actually be holed below the waterline is Keir Starmer, not Boris Johnson. Let me explain by going through what No Deal will mean for each leader. Certainly a No Deal end to the Brexit transition is likely to be

Thursday

10 Dec 2020

James Forsyth

Is no-deal now the default?

13 min listen

A Brexit breakthrough seemed possible when Boris Johnson met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for dinner last night. This evening, however, the PM has warned that there was a ‘strong possibility’ of no-deal. What’s changed, and is no-deal now the most likely outcome? James Forsyth speaks to Katy Balls.

James Forsyth

Why Boris Johnson can’t sign the current Brexit deal

The negotiations are still underway in Brussels. But both the UK and the EU are now talking far more openly about no deal. The EU published its contingencies plans earlier and Boris Johnson has just met with the Cabinet and released a clip saying he has told them to ‘get on and make those preparations’ for leaving without a trade deal. Johnson’s argument is that he can’t sign the deal that is currently on the table because of the EU’s demands on the level playing field and fish. He complained that ‘whatever new laws they brought in we would have to follow or else face punishment, sanctions, tariffs or whatever.’

Lara Prendergast

Biden’s Burden: can he save the free world?

42 min listen

Joe Biden wants his administration to be a departure from the days of Donald Trump, but will a change in foreign policy harm American interests? (01:00) Why is it taking so long to reach a Brexit deal? (17:10) And finally, should cyclists be given priority on London’s roads? (29:35) With The Spectator’s deputy US editor Dominic Green, Chatham House’s Leslie Vinjamuri, The Spectator‘s political editor James Forsyth, EurasiaGroup’s managing director Mujtaba Rahman, journalist Christian Wolmar and writer, actor, and comedian Griff Rhys Jones. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Max Jeffery, Matt Taylor and Alexa Rendell.

Stephen Daisley

Seven questions raised by Peter Murrell’s Salmond inquiry evidence

Peter Murrell, the most powerful man in Scotland, gave evidence under oath to the Alex Salmond inquiry on Tuesday. The SNP chief executive (and husband to Nicola Sturgeon) made a number of statements that already are under scrutiny, and others that soon may be. 1) Why doesn’t Sturgeon and Murrell’s evidence match up? Central to the committee’s attempts to shed light on Nicola Sturgeon’s actions has been trying to establish where she considers her role as SNP leader to end and her role as Scottish First Minister to begin. In her written submission to the inquiry, Sturgeon said she agreed to meet Salmond at her home on April 2, 2018

Isabel Hardman

New year, new Keir: how the Labour leader will change tack in 2021

Sir Keir Starmer will start setting out his vision for the Labour party in the new year, Coffee House understands. The Labour leader will ‘move onto another level’, according to party sources, talking about what life under a Starmer government might look like, and encouraging his frontbenchers to make policy announcements. Up to this point, Starmer has had a strangely slow start as leader because he has been largely in reactive mode, responding to the government’s own response to the pandemic. This has made it easier for him to avoid awkward confrontations in his party over policy, with the stand-off over anti-Semitism being the only real ruction. He has focused largely

James Forsyth

Two reasons why a Brexit breakthrough might be difficult

The failure to achieve a breakthrough at the Boris Johnson/ Ursula von der Leyen dinner last night has left no deal looking more likely. But those who think there’ll be a deal in the end often point to the fact that things looked even bleaker last autumn, yet a deal was done in the end. There are, though (as I say in the magazine this week) two reasons why now is not like last October. The first is that back then only Ireland was directly affected by the issues under discussion. This meant that if the Irish were happy, the rest of the EU would be too. Now, most of the EU’s

Steerpike

Sky News: Kay Burley and Beth Rigby suspended for months

After Kay Burley was caught breaching social distancing rules at her 60th birthday party, she and her colleagues in attendance – political editor Beth Rigby, correspondent Inzamam Rashid and presenter Sam Washington – have been the subject of a disciplinary inquiry. The results of which are now in. Burley has been suspended and is off air for six months while Rigby and Rashid are suspended and off air for three months each. Burley has taken to social media to confirm the news – saying she has agreed to a ‘period of reflection’. Meanwhile, Mr S has been passed a copy of Rigby’s message to all Sky staff in which she says ‘how sorry’

Jake Wallis Simons

Britain is right to pursue closer military ties to Israel

There’s a group called Palestine Action whose raison d’être is to throw red paint over the British offices of Elbit, an Israeli high-tech arms company, in an orchestrated attempt to hound it out of the country. Five members of the ‘direct-action network’, which has links to Extinction Rebellion, armed themselves with paint pots and climbed onto the roof of the Elbit offices in Staffordshire in September. Activists also targeted sites in London, where they not only hurled paint over buildings, but also over several Jewish people, who had gathered to stage a peaceful counter-demonstration. Quite why the protesters choose to target an Israeli arms manufacturer rather than, say, a British

Kate Andrews

How long will it take Britain’s economy to bounce back from Covid?

Britain’s economy experienced a record rebound between July and September, growing 15.5 per cent. But the vast majority of this recovery took place early on – and there are worrying signs that this slowdown has continued in the months since. Towards the end of the summer, monthly growth figures were already starting to disappoint. Despite August being the most open month this year since the pandemic struck, with restrictions on businesses and social gatherings the most liberal they had been since mid-March, growth was only 2.2 per cent, followed by 1.1 per cent in September. This major slowdown shows that the economy can only recover so much while major Covid-19

Jonathan Saxty

Germany holds the key to a Brexit deal

Boris Johnson failed to break the Brexit negotiations deadlock over dinner with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last night. But while the continuation of talks suggest that neither side favours no deal, something needs to give if a deal is to be reached. It’s here that Germany holds the key. France appears to be the major obstacle to a deal, particularly over fisheries, but also over the level-playing field. France and the UK have similar-sized and structured economies; both are major military powers and maritime nations. Paris is more likely than Frankfurt to threaten London’s crown. But Germany – the ever-pragmatic manufacturing titan of the EU – will be

Steven Barrett

Does the EU understand what sovereignty really means?

The UK never tried to have our constitution written in one big session. We made it up by responding to each crisis when it happened. Brexit is just the latest. The remaining sticking points on a deal are fish and something called the level playing field. Fish is very interesting, I assume, but it is politics, not law. So, as a lawyer who chooses not to speak on politics (some do), fish is none of my business. But the Level Playing Field (LPF) – which is a legal problem – is. It is the elephant in the room. And yet the EU’s response to this issue is deeply unhelpful. Rightly

James Forsyth

The deal-or-no-deal debate is different this time

When a deadline is missed for Brexit negotiations, it is tempting to think there will be another chance to keep talks going. Last week, the UK and the EU agreed that things needed to be wrapped up by Sunday night or Monday afternoon at the latest. The thinking was that if a deal was not done by then, the return of the Internal Market Bill to the Commons would scupper negotiations. But Monday afternoon passed with no agreement. The two sides now admit that the only real deadline is the end of the transition period on 31 December. The talks are currently in a state of suspended animation. After nine

Steerpike

Adam Boulton: Burley bash could undermine Sky’s ‘credibility’

Oh dear. It looks like things are not exactly going well for the Sky News presenters who attended Kay Burley’s sixtieth birthday bash and were caught breaking the coronavirus restrictions. As Mr Steerpike reported yesterday, in total four Sky employees have been taken off air after attending the do, and Burley is not expected to be on screen until the new year at the earliest. To make things worse for the Sky News team, this morning several papers have pictures of both Kay Burley and Beth Rigby at the party, which appear to show the pair hugging outside the restaurant. Mr Steerpike can hardly begrudge someone giving their friend a

Wednesday

9 Dec 2020

Katy Balls

Johnson and von der Leyen agree a new Brexit deadline

Ahead of Boris Johnson’s dinner with Ursula von der Leyen, the hope in government had been that the discussion would provide the political intervention required to continue talks and provide momentum. Following a three-hour dinner of steamed turbot and scallops, UK officials have got at least part of their wish. While the mood music remains rather gloomy, the pair have agreed that their negotiating teams will have further discussions in the coming days — before making a call on the state of play on Sunday. However, significant differences remain — a senior No. 10 source used a statement following the meeting to emphasise the obstacles facing the two sides: The PM and

Nick Cohen

Cambridge academics have just won an important battle for free speech

Academics at Cambridge won a cheering victory for free speech today when they voted by an overwhelming majority to reject plans from the vice-chancellor to change the rules governing debate at the university. They rejected the university’s proposals to insist that students and staff be ‘respectful’ of opposing views. They decided, instead, that the rules should say students and staff must ‘tolerate’ opposition. The result was as close to conclusive as you can get. Only 162 academics voted in favour of the university’s plan, while 1316 voted in favour of the change. (A further 208 academics wanted neither.) As I explained in The Spectator last week, the distinction between respect and tolerance

Katy Balls

Will the von der Leyen dinner see a Brexit breakthrough?

11 min listen

Boris Johnson is today visiting Brussels to meet EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for dinner, in the hope that the two can agree a path through the stalling Brexit talks. Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Denis Staunton, London editor of the Irish Times, about whether it could give negotiations the lift they desperately need.

Lloyd Evans

PMQs: Starmer lacked a forensic touch

It really is crunch time. The international game of Texas Hold’em is reaching its climax. The lesser players have folded. Only two high-rollers remain at the table. Beads of sweat are appearing on their brows. Each is feeling for a lucky charm discreetly held in a side-pocket, and each is scouring the other’s eyes for signs of fear or uncertainty. The turn of a card will determine the outcome. This is the position as Boris prepares for tonight’s summit feast with Ursula von der Leyen. At PMQs, he was confronted by Sir Keir Starmer who appeared via video-link from his Camden home. Labour’s spin-team missed a golden opportunity here. They