Politics

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

Sunday

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Can cinemas survive a year of Covid restrictions?

Cineworld is to close its 128 cinemas – saying that the Covid restrictions have made its business “unviable”. It’s terrible to see that word applied to the cinema industry – and even worse to think of the 5,500 jobs this will impact. But the truth is that many businesses can’t survive what will be a year’s worth of restrictions – based on PM’s timeline where he’s talking about some kind of scientific breakthrough by Easter. The final straw for Cineworld was the delay of the new 007 film No Time to Die, now due out next April on the logic that this would maximise takings.  But how many cinemas will still be around then to show this

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Boris Johnson warns of turbulence ahead

As Conservative party conference gets underway online, Boris Johnson used an appearance on the Andrew Marr show to warn of the difficult months ahead. With over ten million people currently under local lockdown restrictions, the Prime Minister said that while he is aware people are ‘furious’ with his government, things are not about to get better. Johnson said it was going to be a bumpy few months – which could extend well beyond Christmas:  ‘It’s possible that we will make significant progress on the vaccine this year. I went to see the scientists at AstraZeneca in Oxford and those teams and they seem to be doing fantastically well. But I don’t want to get

Carl Heneghan

Following the evidence for hospital admissions

The recent warnings of exponential growth of Covid-19 cases, inevitably followed by a rise in hospital admissions, is one focus of the Government’s Covid messaging. Jeremy Hunt described this spike in admissions as a ‘wake-up call’ for the Government. But while this year the disease is newly identified, warnings of a winter crisis in the NHS occur annually. So should we be worried? For 20 years, ‘influenza’ has been blamed for putting hospitals under pressure in winter. Now, this fear has been substituted by ‘Covid’. Yet both are one-track, one-pathogen scenarios, which ignores the reality that there are scores of different pathogens that cause respiratory infections across a community at

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Nigel Farage is watching and waiting for the next Tory slip-up

A few weeks ago, Nigel Farage enjoyed a get together with a very senior Conservative party figure. Brexit was, naturally, at the heart of the conversation. As he departed from the convivial rendezvous he delivered a line that lowered the temperature in the room and is likely to concentrate Tory minds: ‘If you screw it up again I will come back and kill you.’ So far there is little sign of Boris Johnson’s administration going soft on post-Brexit negotiations. While any final future relationship deal is bound to contain compromises that could be presented as a betrayal to an ultimate Brexit purist, it will only blow up in the Government’s

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: Sunday

Nothing irks Tory party members like a big new development on their patch, so the interview with Robert Jenrick should be an interesting watch. Let’s hope someone asks him about the growing cladding scandal, covered by The Spectator here. Other sessions to look out for include Priti Patel’s keynote speech — expect more hardline rhetoric on law and order and immigration. Here are today’s highlights:  Main Auditorium highlights: 10.30 A Meeting of the National Conservative ConventionThe Conservative Party (Members only) Interview with the PM, Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Chairman of the National Conservative Convention) 13.30 An interview with Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MPRobert Jenrick MP (Secretary of State for Housing, Communities

Saturday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Douglas Ross: ‘The Union should not be an afterthought’

Douglas Ross’s speech to the Conservative and Unionist Party conference was uncanny for being both conservative and unionist. The Scottish Tory leader pitched up to his podium and launched into an awkward conversation with colleagues south of the border. His theme was ‘putting an end to defeatism and disinterest’ and both he blamed on the English Tories and their turn away from Unionism. Unionism, in his rendering, was a categorical imperative of British conservatism. ‘You cannot be a conservative and not be a unionist, the two values are inseparable in our politics,’ he pronounced. However, he protested, this was not the case for ‘far too many members of our party

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Spectator Out Loud: Douglas Murray, Sam Leith, Melissa Kite and Toby Young

25 min listen

On this week’s episode, Douglas Murray argues that Boris’s new picks to take charge of the BBC and Ofcom will give the institutions a much-needed shake-up; Sam Leith defends ‘wokeness’; Melissa Kite argues that fly-tipping is a good thing; and Toby Young explains why Laurence Fox’s new political party should frighten the Conservatives.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is there still hope for Unionism?

21 min listen

The SNP has had a torrid week as the inquiry into Alex Salmond’s trial came to a head, topped off with MP Margaret Ferrier’s Covid breach. But Nicola Sturgeon has not sustained damage – so is there still any hope for Unionism? Katy Balls talks to Fraser Nelson and Stephen Daisley, with a cameo appearance from James Forsyth.

Steven Barrett

Why the EU can’t sue the UK

Michel Barnier has very politely confirmed that the EU will be suing the UK in a respectful manner. That has all the validity of a child using his younger brother’s arm to hit his own face while stating, ‘why are you hitting yourself?’. Passive aggression is still aggression. Suing someone is an aggressive act. Now, as I sue people for a living, it would ill behove me to argue that the EU must not ever sue the UK. It is a political question on which people will naturally disagree. There is however an important legal question — whether or not the EU can sue the UK in law. It is

Daniel DePetris

Covid-19 is Trump’s hardest fight yet

Donald Trump has confronted a long list of adversaries and weathered an even longer list of scandals in his nearly four years as President of the United States.  In 2017, there was FBI director James Comey, special counsel Robert Mueller, and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. In 2018, there was the felony convictions of Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, and his long-time fixer Michael Cohen — the latter for arranging hush money payments to a porn star on behalf of Trump. In 2019 and the beginning of 2020, impeachment dominated Trump’s state of mind. He would go on to survive all of them. This year’s Covid-19 crisis, however, has proven to

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Covid is turning the Tories into the Grey Party

This week in the Commons, the Government introduced the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill. It’s a technical bit of legislation that will allow ministers to increase the state pension next year, keeping the ‘Triple Lock’ promise that pensions will rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5 per cent, depending on which is highest. It also confirms that the Conservative party is continuing its journey towards becoming the Grey party, unravelling Britain’s social contract and generally forgetting what it means to be conservative. Even before the coronavirus, the Tories were becoming the party of the old. Responses to the Covid pandemic could accelerate that movement. In the 2010 general

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: Saturday

This year’s party conference won’t be quite the same. Gone is the warm white wine at ugly hotel bars, instead replaced by ministers desperately trying to unmute themselves on Zoom. That being said, Michael Gove’s ‘fireside chat’ will certainly be one to watch, as will Matt Hancock’s talk on the future of the NHS. Here are the main highlights:  Main Auditorium highlights 11:30 Welcome from Andrew Colborne-Baber and the Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP Opening of Conservative Party Conference Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP, Co-Chairman of The Conservative Party and Minister Without Portfolio; Andrew Colborne-Baber, President, National Conservative Convention. 11:45 Fireside chat with Michael Gove MPThe Rt Hon Michael Gove MP (Chancellor

Friday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Johnson turns up pressure on EU for a deal

Hopes of agreeing a Brexit deal have increased among ministers in recent weeks, but today the UK’s chief negotiator Sir David Frost offered a reality check. In a statement following the latest round of talks, Frost said that while ‘progress has been possible’ there remained ‘familiar differences’ on level playing field clauses, state aid and – notably – fishing. On the EU side, Michel Barnier said that to reach an agreement ‘these divergences must necessarily be overcome over the next weeks’. The comments come as Boris Johnson attempted to dial up the pressure on the EU in a regional media round. He said it’s ‘up to our friends and partners’ in the EU to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris can’t cancel Christmas

An event where multiple generations gather indoors, exchange gifts and drink alcohol having travelled from far and wide sounds like a nightmare in coronavirus terms. On this basis, Christmas is one event that should definitely be cancelled. But, as I say in the Times today, regardless of whether they are hawks or doves when it comes to the virus, leading figures in government think that it needs to be saved. ‘If otherwise law-abiding people decide the rules are unworkable, then the whole system falls into total disrepute’ One key Johnson ally says, bluntly, ‘Christmas is not cancellable’. This could change, of course, if intensive care units are full in December. But

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Sturgeon’s ruthless dumping of Margaret Ferrier is no surprise

The first rule of Scottish politics is: the SNP always wins, even when it loses. If you’re wondering why the Nationalists were so swift to remove the whip from Margaret Ferrier — once the story that she had travelled on a train after testing positive for Covid became public, that is — be under no illusion that ethical consideration had much to do with it. Nicola Sturgeon’s party are keen on a by-election in Ferrier’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency because they think they can win and put this matter behind them. Doing so is of the utmost strategic importance to the separatists because Scotland is seven months out from Holyrood elections

Steerpike Steerpike

Sturgeon tells Covid MP to resign

Things have gone from bad to pretty much as grim as things can get for an MP — isolating back in Scotland, Margaret Ferrier has been told to resign from parliament by her (now former) party leader Nicola Sturgeon.  The interjection comes following a torrid night for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP. Yesterday evening she released a statement in which she admitted travelling down to London by train while suffering from Covid symptoms — where she then spoke in the Commons — before receiving a positive result for a test she took before she went to London. It goes without saying that that decision is already in breach of Covid laws.

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The Louise Haigh Edition

32 min listen

Louise Haigh is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland. On the podcast, she talks to Katy Balls about her family’s political roots; quitting university after not fitting in; her reflections on nominating Jeremy Corbyn for Labour Party leader; and being offered a job with a spider on her shoulder.

Thursday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Are local authorities fighting back against Covid restrictions?

13 min listen

Middlesborough’s mayor, Andy Preston, today refused to accept the government’s decision to place households in the town under a local lockdown. Accusing Westminster decision-makers of ‘ignorance’, the mayor said the new measures would ‘kill viable jobs’ and ‘damage mental health’. Is this the start of regional authorities fighting back? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.

Steerpike Steerpike

SNP MP admits bringing Covid to parliament

The SNP’s Margaret Ferrier has released a statement admitted that she travelled down to London after suffering from Covid symptoms. She then returned to Scotland by train after receiving a positive test result… The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West apologised for failing to follow the guidance, set down by her own party leader in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. She also said she has referred herself to the police.  In the statement, Ferrier said: I apologise unreservedly for breaching Covid-19 restrictions by travelling this week when I shouldn’t have. There is no excuse for my actions. On Saturday afternoon, after experiencing mild symptoms, I requested a Covid-19 test which I took that day.