Politics

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

Thursday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Why I will wear a face mask

We are enjoined by certain experts to wear face masks while having sexual intercourse. No change there, then, for me. It’s the only way I’m allowed it. I don’t even get to choose my own mask. My wife keeps several in a cupboard under the stairs. If, when I retire to bed, I see the face of Benito Mussolini or Douglas Murray neatly laid out on my pillow — or, for more exotic excursions, the late President Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon — I know that fun times are ahead. This usually happens twice a year — on my birthday and on Walpurgisnacht. I don’t know if these largely latex creations

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Stripping Julian Lewis of the Tory whip could backfire on Boris

Boris Johnson hasn’t had as much authority over his MPs as he might have expected over the past few months. Tonight, after Number 10 failed to install Chris Grayling as its preferred, loyal, candidate as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it has tried to offer a show of strength by removing the Tory whip from Julian Lewis, who led a successful coup with the help of Labour MPs. This is a high stakes move. Firstly, Lewis is one of the most instinctively Tory members of the parliamentary party and has dedicated his career to a series of very Conservative causes, particularly defence, the nuclear deterrent, and Brexit. He

Steerpike Steerpike

‘Failing Grayling’ thwarted by his own party

Oh dear. When Chris Grayling was axed from Cabinet, he appeared to secure a consolation prize from No. 10: a role as chair of the intelligence and security committee. Downing Street backed Grayling as its candidate and with a Tory-weighted committee to pick their chair, he appeared to be a shoo-in. Alas it wasn’t to be. This evening Graying has been thwarted in his efforts after Julian Lewis decided to go for the plum role and won 5/4. He and Labour members voted for him to become chair of the body. It seems the force of No. 10 was not enough to convince Lewis to play ball. ‘Only Grayling could lose a rigged election,’

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What Chris Grayling rejection as intelligence and committee chair reveals

Chris Grayling has this evening been thwarted in his attempt to become chair of parliament’s Intelligence and Security committee. Instead, the committee voted for Julian Lewis, a former chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, to take on the coveted role – with the Tory backbencher joining forces with Labour. The former transport secretary was the favourite for the role, and up until recently was viewed as the only likely candidate. Downing Street had given Grayling its backing – with his promotion for the role read in some quarters as a consolation prize for him supporting Boris Johnson in the leadership but being axed from the cabinet. That Lewis decided not to go

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Starmer’s weaknesses are on show at PMQs

Keir-mania. Is it possible? Can we imagine it? Stadiums full of besotted voters chanting his name in frenzies of adoration. ‘Star-Muh! Star-Muh!’ No. Never going to happen. Sir Keir tinkled his way through his six questions at PMQs hoping to trip up the PM. Instead he put his own weaknesses in the spotlight. Far from being the ice-cool super-inquisitor, Sir Keir turns out to be thin-skinned and tantrum-prone. Boris enjoys tormenting him. When challenged, Boris likes to accuse the Labour leader of unpatriotic hypocrisy. Today, Sir Keir took the bait. When he criticised the government’s job retention scheme, Boris described his approach as disingenuous. ‘He has to work out whether

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why a Covid inquiry could help Boris Johnson

Each week it seems as though a new public figure enters the foray to offer their verdict on who is to blame for mistakes made in the UK response to coronavirus. Today Boris Johnson committed to holding an official inquiry to find out just this. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Johnson said – in response to a question from Lib Dem leadership hopeful Ed Davey – that although he does not think now is the time for it, there would have to be an independent inquiry in the future: ‘Of course Mr Speaker we will seek to learn the lessons of this pandemic in the future and certainly we will

Steerpike Steerpike

Matt Hancock’s Huawei howler

Matt Hancock appeared to have no time for Donald Trump’s boasts this morning when asked about the US President taking credit for the U-turn on the use of Huawei technology in our 5G network. Asked on Sky News whether he believed that the decision to scrap Huawei’s involvement was down to Trump, the Health minister replied that: ‘we all know Donald Trump don’t we… people can claim credit’. Hancock instead insisted that it was a ‘technical decision’ based on NCSC advice ‘to make sure that we have the highest quality 5G systems over the coming years’. He then referred viewers to the statement made by culture minister Oliver Dowden announcing the

Tuesday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Why Boris u-turned on Huawei

21 min listen

Much as expected, the government has u-turned on Huawei, though the new government policy doesn’t go as far as some of the most hardline Tory MPs would wish. On the podcast, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson about the UK’s China policy in the years to come. Also on the episode: masks and the Union.

Steerpike Steerpike

Tory MP: masks are a ‘monstrous’ imposition

The government has announced that wearing face masks while shopping will become mandatory from 27 July. It’s fair to say though that some Conservative backbenchers aren’t best pleased about the decision. ‘Nothing would make me less likely to go shopping than the thought of having to mask up’, Tory MP Desmond Swayne rallied in the House of Commons today. The MP for New Forest West argued that this is a ‘monstrous imposition against myself and a number of outraged and reluctant constituents’. (It’s not clear whether Swayne’s outrage applies to all face coverings: the MP has happily admitted to wearing blackface at a fancy-dress party in the past.) The Health Secretary Matt Hancock

Steerpike Steerpike

Layla Moran’s muddled radicalism

Layla Moran’s Lib Dem leadership bid has taken something of a hit in recent weeks. The Oxfordshire MP has been the subject of a slew of coded criticisms after she said that under her leadership the Lib Dems would be ‘even more radical than Labour’. Both Tim Farron and Vince Cable came out against her pronouncement, with Farron writing in the New Statesman that ‘a battle to be “leftier than thou” would be a self-indulgent path to oblivion’. Moran has since rowed back on the comments, telling the New European she instead meant ‘radical liberal’ rather than radical socialist. That clears that one up then… But Lib Dem voters looking

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Has Boris lost the plot?

When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do sir? That defence of the political u-turn was purportedly uttered by the great economist John Maynard Keynes and is recognised as the classic intellectually respectable case for abandoning a stance in favour of an opposite one. It is certainly the best defence available to Boris Johnson over his apparent volte face on mask-wearing with the new announcement that masks will be compulsory in shops from next week. World Health Organisation advice has warmed up on the protective value of masks over recent weeks and the experience of several other countries appears to bear out their usefulness. On the

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Is Boris’s Huawei ban quick enough for Tory MPs?

It is a big deal that the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is being totally excluded from the UK’s new fast 5G mobile network, and is redolent of a de facto cold war between the West and China. But Johnson has taken a more gradualist approach to the exclusion of Huawei than his Tory critics wanted and UK telecoms companies feared. BT and Vodafone got more time than they expected to move away from Huawei as a 5G and broadband supplier. The Tory MPs who want no involvement of the Chinese company in important communications infrastructure will feel only partially vindicated; many of them will be disappointed and angry. The UK

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why Boris u-turned on Huawei

The government has today u-turned on allowing Huawei a role in the building of the UK’s 5G network. From the end of this year, mobile providers will be banned from buying Huawei kit and it’ll have to be removed altogether from their 5G networks by 2027. The UK government’s line is that this change in position is a result of the new US sanctions on the company. But it is also part of the government’s broader strategy of trying to get the UK off the trajectory of ever-increasing dependence on China. Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong have illustrated the true nature of the regime while its attempts to bully Australia have

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Should we abandon hopes of a V-shaped recovery?

It is an uptick so small that it could almost be comic, but the UK economy started to grow in May: by 1.8 per cent following a 20 per cent slump in April. Office for National Statistics figures out today show that, even in lockdown, surging online retail sales – coupled with signs of a recovery in construction – show a small increase in GDP. The big question is what shape we can now see: a L, a Nike swoosh or a sharp V? Reopening the economy can only go so far: tackling people’s fear of Covid-19 is key for a V-shaped recovery Today’s increase suggests growth is  – every so

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Minister’s mixed messages on remote working

The government’s messaging on the coronavirus has left a lot to be desired in recent days – with confused statements on the easing of lockdown and the efficacy of face masks becoming the norm. Now it appears that even the government’s own ministers are struggling to keep up. On Monday, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland was interviewed by ITV, and was specifically asked about the guidance on working from home. Last week, Boris Johnson appeared to change the government’s position when he told members of the public that they should ‘go back to work if you can’. Despite this, the official guidance still states that the public should work from home

How the UK can avoid a command economy

Is the Chancellor’s latest round of economic measures just another instalment of Keynesian emergency funding, necessary only until the crisis has passed? Or is the Government on the road to a command economy? Policy-makers are currently being pulled in two contradictory directions by these questions, as the Government’s response to the crisis is impaired by a war of ideas over the future of our economy. Diehard globalists want to move towards a smaller state and prefer no limits on international trade. Their view is challenged by economic patriots who question the assumption made by free-trade fundamentalists that we should always accept the consequences of buying and selling at world prices.

Ben Sixsmith

The two faces of Polish rebellion

The narrowness of President Andrzej Duda’s victory in this weekend’s Polish presidential elections, where he defeated Rafał Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Warsaw, by less than 2 per cent, was God’s gift to opinion commentators. What with Brexit, Trump et cetera we can write 800-1200 words about a nation being ‘divided’ and ‘polarised’ in our sleep. Why even write different pieces? Just shift the names around and you are golden. The problem with that kind of article is it often obscures national distinctions. In Poland, for example, President Duda’s Law and Justice Party – unlike the Conservatives and the Republicans – is the more redistributionist of the two leading parties. Their

Matthew Lynn

Britain’s GDP figures are dreadful but Sunak must still hold his nerve

A five hundred quid shopping voucher for everyone. Five per cent off VAT across the board. Maybe suspending income tax for a couple of months, or getting rid of corporation tax until the end of the year. As today’s disappointing GDP numbers landed on his desk, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak must have been tempted to reach for the Treasury folder marked ‘extreme emergency measures’. The V-shaped recovery he was no doubt hoping to engineer is increasingly looking more like an L – a big drop followed by a flat line. Another round of government stimulus right now would be tempting. But it would also be a mistake: the Treasury has

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will making face masks compulsory help us get back to normal?

The government will announce today that from 24 July face coverings will be mandatory in shops and supermarkets. Those who don’t wear one risk a hundred pound fine. This decision is partly about reducing the spread of the virus – in a shift from the beginning of the crisis the government now thinks masks are effective in this regard, but also about giving people the confidence to go out. The argument goes that if we know everyone will be wearing a mask, so are less likely to spread the virus, when we go to the shops, we’ll be more inclined to head to the high street and spend money. I