Politics

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

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris’s baby – Westminster’s worst kept secret

There’s much speculation (and conspiracy theory) about why Boris Johnson chose today to announce that he’s becoming a father for the sixth time. Was it to get the resignation of Sir Philip Rutnam off the front pages? But to many in Westminster, the real question is how they have kept it quiet for so long. Rumours have been circulating for some time fuelled by Carrie Symonds’s reduced profile and a series of clues for those who were looking. When the couple chose to take in the recess week from the more discreet Chevening rather than Chequers, it was read in some quarters as a pregnancy-related decision. Then when Symonds didn’t

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What Sir Philip Rutnam’s departure means for Priti Patel

The government’s battle with the civil service has escalated this morning with the departure of Sir Philip Rutnam as Home Office permanent secretary. Rutnam has quit the role following a fortnight of negative coverage and briefings over his strained working relationship with Priti Patel. Announcing his decision, Rutnam blamed a ‘vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign’ against him for forcing him into this decision. He says he believes the Home Secretary played a role in this: ‘I had been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. It has been alleged that I have briefed the media against the Home Secretary. This, along with many other claims, is completely false.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

His response to the coronavirus could come to define Boris Johnson’s first year in office

Premierships are often defined by unexpected events. When Tony Blair was re-elected in 2001, few thought that his time in office would be defined by terrorism and the Middle East. Boris Johnson’s first full year in Downing Street may well come to be defined by his handling of coronavirus, I say in The Sun this morning. Over the last week, concern in Whitehall over the disease has shot up. ‘The infection curve in Italy and Germany has changed things’, says one of those spearheading the government’s response. ‘We’re not far off it absorbing all of the government’s energies’, one Downing Street figure tells me. The intensity of the preparations for

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Labour’s dark secret is safe with Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer knows. He’s not saying anything, not letting one word of criticism of the Corbyn regime escape his lips, but he knows better than the journalists who cover politics, better than you, me or anyone who hasn’t lived in Labour for the past five years, the depth of the disgrace of the British left. Starmer knows because he was in the meetings that excused Putin and failed to tackle anti-Semitism. He knows because he saw Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Seumas Milne and Andrew Murray close up. And I for one would love to hear his insider account of life with the cranky tankies. More to the point, Starmer knows

Philip Rutnam

Philip Rutnam: why I am taking the government to court

I have this morning resigned as permanent secretary of the Home Office. I take this decision with great regret, after a career of 33 years. I’m making the statement now because I will be issuing a claim against the Home Office for constructive dismissal. In the last ten days, I had been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. It has been alleged that I have briefed the media against the Home Secretary. This, along with many other claims, is completely false. The Home Secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the Cabinet Office. I regret I do not believe her. She has not made the

James Delingpole James Delingpole

Hunters is 2020’s most ridiculous series

What a brilliant idea the concept of Hunters (Amazon Prime) must have sounded after the third or fourth Martini. “So, like, it’s set in the 1970s and America is swarming with Nazis. Actual Nazis. They’ve infiltrated every level of society and they’re totally evil and powerful, like vampires with swastikas. And all that stands in their way to create a Fourth Reich is a plucky band of diverse Nazi-hunters, led by a Bruce-Wayne-style concentration camp survivor and billionaire played by Al Pacino!” But then, after the hangovers kicked in, wiser counsels ought to have prevailed. Someone might have pointed out that, with the Holocaust still within living memory, maybe it’s

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

The best news for Bernie is that his rivals are so weak

‘Bernie beats Trump! Bernie beats Trump!’ That’s what Bernie Sanders’s fans keep chanting, and they have the polls to prove it. Survey after survey suggests that, of all the leading candidates for the Democratic party’s nomination, Sanders is most likely to defeat Donald Trump in the election in November. Voters like Bernie. Some 46 per cent of voters say they admire him. Only 26 per cent say the same of President Trump. Still, most political experts think Sanders will be a disaster for the Democratic party. He may be popular with the base, they say, but he is far too left-wing for the general electorate: 2020 would be a repeat

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What would a Keir Starmer Labour party look like?

There’s still a month of the Labour leadership contest to go but most MPs have already concluded that Keir Starmer will win. The shadow Brexit secretary has led in every category so far: MPs, unions and local parties. As the contest enters its final stage, polling suggests the membership agree and Sir Keir will sail through. His closest rival, Rebecca Long-Bailey, is now seen as a ten-to-one outsider. One bookmaker is already paying out on a Starmer victory. But if the race seems all but over, the conversation about what he’ll do as Labour leader is very much on-going. Is he the leader that the party’s moderates have craved to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Le crunch: are the Brexit talks doomed before they begin?

When Boris Johnson and the new European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met in Downing Street last month, they agreed on one thing immediately: that it was time to stop the sniping, animosity and backbiting that had characterised the first round of the Brexit talks. The Prime Minister emphasised that Britain wanted to be the EU’s close friend and ally. Only a few weeks later, and already the Brexit wars are back. The two sides are so far apart that many diplomats think there is a better-than-even chance that the talks will fail. One member state is already planning around the central assumption that there will be no deal

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Labour’s dark secret is safe with Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer knows. He’s not saying anything, not letting one word of criticism of the Corbyn regime escape his lips, but he knows better than the journalists who cover politics, better than you, me or anyone who hasn’t lived in Labour for the past five years, the depth of the disgrace of the British left. Starmer knows because he was in the meetings that excused Putin and failed to tackle anti-Semitism. He knows because he saw Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Seumas Milne and Andrew Murray close up. And I for one would love to hear his insider account of life with the cranky tankies. More to the point, Starmer knows

Friday

Julie Bindel

Meet the thug who was spared jail for being transgender

In today’s episode of ‘You Couldn’t Make It up’, I bring you Leila Le Fey, also known as Layla Le Fey, Adam Hodgson and Marcus Smith. Le Fey had pleaded guilty to common assault and possession of an offensive weapon after trying to steal wine from a Budgens in Brighton. When confronted by the shopkeeper, Le Fey threatened him with a claw hammer. Le Fey, who has previously been convicted of possessing a knife in public, was definitely looking at a spell in clink. Judge Stephen Mooney originally sentenced Le Fey to six months in prison, telling Le Fey at Lewes Crown Court that there was “no excuse” for such

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Boris Johnson’s submarine strategy is perfectly sensible

There is chatter in the Westminster village about Boris Johnson’s low-profile. Why isn’t he visiting flooded towns? Why isn’t he fronting efforts to reassure a country worried about pandemic coronavirus? Here, I think it is worth quoting at length a speech given before becoming prime minister: ‘If we win the election we will get our heads down and get on with implementing the big changes I’ve spoken about today. You will not see endless relaunches, initiatives, summits – politics and government as some demented branch of the entertainment industry. You will see a government that understands that there are times it needs to shut up, leave people alone and get

Matthew Lynn

Three ways to stop a coronavirus recession

Supply chains are shutting down. Factories and offices are closing. Flights are being cancelled, conferences postponed and football and rugby games rescheduled. It remains to be seen how much of a blow the spread of the coronavirus turns into for the global economy. But one thing is now certain: it is going to lead to a sharp slowdown. And the real question now is this: how should governments and central banks respond? The medical response is already clear. Communities are put into lockdown. The infected are quarantined. Borders are closed where necessary. And treatment centres are braced for a vast increase in the number of patients. How well it works,

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

How big business failed in its plot to stop Brexit

A little over a year ago, at the nadir of the May administration’s excruciating bungling of Brexit, the Daily Telegraph landed a dynamite exclusive. The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, and Business Secretary Greg Clark had hosted a confidential conference call for corporate bosses in which they said the threat of a no-deal Brexit was effectively off the table. And the Telegraph had obtained a tape recording of the whole thing. Behind the backs of the British people, the well-upholstered felines of big business were being told that a huge Commons defeat for May’s withdrawal agreement (it had just lost by 230 votes) did not mean that Brexit would go ahead on

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP on coronavirus: We have contingency plans for a Hyde Park morgue

In recent days, the UK government has been criticised for not doing enough to update the public on the potential for a coronavirus outbreak. No. 10’s boycott of the Today programme meant that it was former health secretary Jeremy Hunt who was left to take the slot on Friday rather than a minister. However, Mr S wonders if there is something to be said for the silent approach after all. Recently elected MP for Cities of London and Westminster Nickie Aiken has spoken to Bloomberg about the prospect of a coronavirus outbreak in the UK. She said that contingency plans were in place to open a morgue in Hyde Park: ‘We have contingency plans to open

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How Keir Starmer could capitalise on the No. 10 media boycott

This week Labour members received their ballots to vote in the leadership contest. They have until 2 April to cast their vote but all the polling suggests it’s a done deal. After a YouGov/Sky News LabourList poll this week predicted Sir Keir Starmer to win in the first round with more than 50 per cent of the vote, a Survation/LabourList survey puts Starmer on 45 per cent – his closest rival Rebecca Long Bailey is on 34 per cent. That survey also found that respondents believe Starmer as leader will position the party ‘further to the centre’. With all the signs so far pointing to a Starmer victory, conversation both

John Keiger John Keiger

Frost vs Barnier: who will triumph in the Brexit trade talks?

What would Disraeli make of Brexit? His advice to ‘read no history; nothing but biography, for that is life without theory’ is a useful starting point. Brexit has been – and continues to be – a hotch-potch of biographies where human weaknesses, strengths and foibles chafe and collide. The upcoming clash between the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart David Frost is no exception. On 2 March, Barnier, who is responsible for leading the ‘Task Force for relations with the United Kingdom’ will face Frost, the British head of ‘Taskforce Europe’, across the negotiating table for the first time. These two titles might sound mundane but they