Politics

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

Monday

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Boris is right to talk about the coronavirus as a mugger

Is the SARS-CoV-2 virus comparable to a man who accosts you in the street and tries to steal your phone and wallet? Boris Johnson used the image of virus-as-mugger in his Downing Street statement today: If this virus were a physical assailant, an unexpected and invisible mugger, which I can tell you from personal experience it is, then this is the moment when we have begun together to wrestle it to the floor.And so it follows that this is the moment of opportunity. This is the moment when we can press home our advantage.It is also the moment of maximum risk because I know there will be many people looking

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Rishi Sunak to give 100 per cent guarantees on business loans

There’s a confident expectation among those in government and banks that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will offer 100 per cent guarantees on emergency loans to small businesses. But last week the chancellor stated categorically that the 80 per cent government guarantee for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) would not be changed (which the Prime Minister’s official spokesman also confirmed last week). The squaring of the circle, to be at least hinted at later today, is that the Treasury will launch a new loan scheme for smaller businesses, with 100 per cent government guarantees, rather than modifying the existing scheme. The economic impact of this new scheme would be the same as

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Boris Johnson’s new approach to lockdown easing

The Prime Minister is back at his desk in No. 10 today and kicked off his first full working day since his coronavirus hospitalisation with a statement to the nation. Addressing cameras outside 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister paid tribute to First Secretary of State Dominic Raab for leading the government in his absence and the general public for adhering to social distancing. He said here were clear signs to suggest the country is ‘passing through the peak’ and heralded the achievement of the NHS not becoming overwhelmed in this period. But going forward, Johnson urged caution. He confirmed reports over the weekend that the UK is nearing the end of the

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round up: Raab foresees a ‘new normal’ after lockdown

Dominic Raab: Vaccine ‘not likely’ this year The Foreign Secretary was in charge of the government’s media round this morning. Yesterday, hospital figures showed the UK’s official death toll for those displaying symptoms of Covid-19 had now passed 20,000. Acknowledging this ‘grim milestone’, Dominic Raab told Sophy Ridge that the government was ‘driving forward’ in its efforts to combat the virus, but said that previous hopes for a vaccine being ready as early as the autumn were misplaced: DR: We’re looking at the possibility of a vaccine. That’s not likely to come to fruition this year, but it could be important if we get multiple waves of coronavirus globally down

Saturday

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Ten lessons we’ve learned from the lockdown so far

Yep, the end is in sight, courtesy of other countries organising the practicalities for the return to some sort of normal life – shopping and schooling, as in Germany. That means Britain will, like it or not, be playing catchup sooner rather than later. And when this oddly dreamlike existence is over, it’s going to feel like that bit of the Sleeping Beauty when the court wakes up after its hundred year sleep, yawning and blinking and eyeing each other rather shyly. It’s partly the warm weather; being obliged to stay away from work when it’s sunny, with quite a lot of your wages paid by the government (if like

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Our impatience will end the lockdown

At the farm shop this morning there was a chap panic-buying a large metal and plaster flamingo. It was the last one in stock and he looked very pleased with himself. I wondered if he had a few score more at home, hoarded in the attic. And then his long-suffering wife saying, when he arrived home: “Did you get the milk and chopped tomatoes?” And him replying with excitement: “No, but I managed to get another one of THESE, love…” As I mentioned in my column this week, the government will be a fait accompli to the ending of lockdown. The glorious silence of two weeks ago is already a

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Britain can’t rely on a vaccine to ease lockdown restrictions

Six weeks ago Britain stood as a bit of an outlier among western countries in that our government seemed set to manage, rather than suppress, coronavirus. It rejected the idea that it was pursuing ‘herd immunity,’ but seemed to do just that. Now we stand out for a different reason: we are the only country which appears to be committing itself to remain in lockdown, or close approximation thereof, until a vaccine arrives. In much of Europe, lockdown restrictions are tentatively being relaxed as infection rates and death rates fall. Here, ministers tell us it is far too early for that sort of thing – we will need restrictions on

Ian McEwan

It’s time to televise corona cabinet discussions

Microphones were installed in the House of Commons chamber in 1950. A mere 38 years passed before a parliamentary debate was broadcast on the radio. We would probably blush now to hear the arguments against our being allowed to follow in real time the intricacies of parliamentary debate. But the institutional habit of treating voters like children dies hard. It spooked most of us to hear that the Prime Minister was suddenly in hospital, then in ICU with a serious condition, so No. 10 disclosed, of being ‘cheerful’. We knew very well that these days cheerfulness can be effectively cured at home. Dread of spreading ‘alarm and despondency’ is one

Friday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Predictable politics returns as Brexit talks stall

Although the coronavirus pandemic means that we are living in uncertain times, some things remain predictable. As is the case with the current Brexit talks where Michel Barnier has bemoaned a lack of progress. As round two of the UK-EU negotiations comes to a close, the EU’s chief negotiator has voiced his disappointment – while a UK government spokesperson says ‘limited progress was made in bridging the gaps’ between the UK and the EU. While there are still two rounds of talks to go before the end of the transition period in December, at present the two sides remain far apart. The UK is pushing for a Canada-style free trade agreement and should that fail has said

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Britain’s bid to become China’s best friend in the West is over

One consequence of this crisis is that nearly everyone in the Tory party has become a China hawk. Tomorrow sees the launch of a new China Research Group of Tory MPs. The CRG will examine Beijing’s industrial policy, its approach to technology and its foreign policy. But perhaps the most striking thing about the group is its membership. Its chair is Tom Tugendhat, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, its Secretary is Neil O’Brien, a former adviser to George Osborne. Other members include former Cameron SPAD Laura Trott and Boris Johnson’s old economic adviser Anthony Browne. The fact that these former Cameron and Osborne aides are in this group

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

If austerity is off the table, how do we pay for Covid-19 costs?

What is the true cost of Covid-19? No one knows – yet. But it’s not going to be cheap. The Treasury has revised its borrowing plans for May to July up to £180 billion, four times what it planned to raise and over £20 billion more than it planned to borrow all year. So how are we going to pay for all this spending? Policies at the heart of the government’s Covid-19 response, like the furlough scheme, are surpassing all estimations for uptake, and have been granted a limitless price tag by the Chancellor through to the end of June at least. As the economy contracts in a way that

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Boris won’t seek a Brexit extension in June, but he might in November

Is there going to be an extension to the Brexit transitional period during which the UK must obey EU rules and keep stumping up cash for Brussels? The answer may appear obvious: David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, has unequivocally and publicly ruled it out. As he tweeted on 16 April: ‘Transition ends on December 31 this year. We will not ask to extend it. If the EU asks we will say no.’ But, this being politics, Frost’s statement leaves a key question unanswered. Namely: Is there going to be an extension to the Brexit transitional period? I do not mean to cast aspersions on Frost’s integrity here, but I

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Can Boris unite the Cabinet?

15 min listen

The Telegraph reports this morning that Boris Johnson is planning to be back at work by Monday next week. He couldn’t come back sooner – with the Prime Minister laid up, the Cabinet has split over the question of easing the lockdown (as James Forsyth writes this week). So can Boris unite his team behind one coronavirus strategy?

Robert Peston Robert Peston

The viral transmission rate will be key to relaxing the lockdown

The next big event in the saga (I choose my words carefully) of our Covid-19 lockdown is the preliminary results in early May of the Office for National Statistics (ONS)/University of Oxford survey to find out who has had the virus. Officials and ministers hope this will help them to judge how far the current social-distancing rules have depressed the rate of viral transmission, or the notorious ‘R0’ – which is the estimated number of people infected by a person who is infected. The point is that ministers, advised by the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser, have decided they can modify – though not end – lockdown when

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could this antibody test offer a route out of lockdown?

Finally, the government is to start antibody tests to see how prevalent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus – which causes Covid-19 – is among the general population. Over the next few days, testing kits are being sent to 20,000 randomly-selected households. The results will be crucial because it will inform us how effective lockdown has been – and whether there is any point in continuing with that policy. If, say, five per cent showed signs of having had the virus it would mean that the epidemic potentially had a long way yet to run. If 50 per cent have been infected with the virus it would mean that lockdown has

Thursday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

The 10,000th

40 min listen

This week, the Spectator commemorates its 10,000th edition. On the podcast, Cindy Yu speaks to David Butterfield and Fraser Nelson about the magazine’s two centuries of history, finding out about how the publication started, discussing whether it is still the same now as it was originally intended, and hearing about what David calls its ‘industrial drink culture’. Find out more about the history of the magazine with David’s new book, 10,000 Not Out. Also on the podcast, Cindy speaks to James Forsyth and former Director of Comms at No 10, Craig Oliver. As James writes in the issue this week, when Boris Johnson comes back to work, he returns to a split Cabinet

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

What’s Nicola Sturgeon’s exit strategy?

15 min listen

The Scottish government’s document ‘Looking Beyond Lockdown’ tries to do what it says on the tin. But it comes at an inconvenient time for the government in Downing Street, just as it is facing accusations that it hasn’t been clear enough with the public about what is needed to end the lockdown. On the podcast, James and Katy reveal the pressures that the devolved governments’ actions put on the national government, in general and in this crisis, and we also discuss the new test, track, and trace approach.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Nicola Sturgeon offers a glimpse of what lockdown easing will mean

One issue the government is reluctant to discuss publicly is an exit strategy out of the lockdown. Inside 10 Downing Street, there’s a sense that it’s become a media obsession when the day-to-day focus ought to be encouraging the public to practise social distancing. During Wednesday’s press conference, chief medical officer Chris Whitty did discuss how long social distancing could be in place for, suggesting it would likely be for the calendar year as it was ‘wholly unrealistic’ to expect lockdown restrictions to be lifted wholesale. Today Nicola Sturgeon has gone further than any Conservative minister is currently prepared to. The First Minister has started to set out what a gradual lifting of