Politics Archives

Monday

6 Oct 2025

Judges are finally rediscovering their common sense

Believe it or not, some judges in this country are starting to show signs of having a connection with reality and in possession of an outlook based on common sense. It’s hard to credit it, given the roll call this year of judges delivering over-lenient verdicts in regard to asylum seekers wanting to remain in Britain – often on highly dubious and sometimes ludicrous grounds. But it’s really happening. Change is afoot. Believe it or not, some judges in this country are starting to show signs of having a connection with reality This has become apparent not in the High Court or immigrant tribunals, the places where those notorious judgements

Sunday

5 Oct 2025

Steerpike

Jenrick: I’m the drug mule of the Tory party

The Tory conference parties are in full flow and the political speeches are underway. At the TaxPayers’ Alliance reception, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick was the speaker of choice – and he didn’t disappoint. Crowning himself the ‘drug mule’ of the party, Jenrick laughed about the Ozempic trend that has taken over London: I’ve managed to persuade quite a few people in this room to get slim. I’m like Pete Hegseth now. Fit, not fat. And the weight loss analogy didn’t stop there: On a serious note. The work that has been done to ensure, through the brilliant campaigns that you have been waging, that we actually begin to turn

Joe Bedell-Brill

Shabana Mahmood: Government must ‘stem the rising tide of anti-Semitism’

Shabana Mahmood: Government must ‘stem the rising tide of anti-Semitism’ This week, two Jewish people were killed in a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester. On Sky News, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it was ‘devastating’ that some British Jews don’t feel safe in their country. She said the government had to ‘stem the rising tide of anti-Semitism’ and ensure that Jewish life can ‘continue to flourish’ in the UK. Trevor Phillips played Mahmood a clip showing Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy being jeered by the crowd at a vigil held for the victims of the attack, and asked whether that reaction was caused by the government recognising the

Madeline Grant

Kemi’s conference welcome speech was strange and funereal

The voice of Keir Starmer echoed round the Conservative party’s conference hall. ‘Free of charge digital ID’ chanted the disembodied Dalek. If people had come hoping to escape the Grand Adenoid then hard luck. Kemi Badenoch’s welcome address to the Tory faithful began with a dystopian video compilation of some of the Labour government’s ‘greatest hits’ since entering office; channel crossings up, gangs distinctly un-smashed. A useful reminder that, whatever D:Ream might have promised us, things can always get worse. The feeling at this conference is like a family gathered round a bedside awaiting an imminent demise. Even the tat in the conference overspill is macabre: a stall offers paintings

Steerpike

Philp: we’ll deport migrants guilty of antisemitism

To Manchester, where politicians, members and delegates are gathering for the Conservative’s annual party conference. A number of speeches have taken place on the main stage today, including that of shadow home secretary Chris Philp. The Tory MP focused on his party’s migration policy this afternoon – and surprised delegates with his announcement that, if Kemi Badenoch sails to victory in the next general election, the Conservatives will deport migrants found guilty of antisemitism. Strong stuff! Speaking to his audience, Philp insisted: If a foreign citizen expresses racial hatred, including antisemitism or supports extremism or terrorism, I’ll tell you this as shadow home secretary, I’ll deport them. Speaking about migrants

Philip Patrick

Why Japan doesn’t care about having its first female leader

Japan is to have a female prime minister. Well, probably. Sanae Takaichi, the 64-year-old conservative veteran, has at the third attempt won the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – which brings with it the bonus of being prime minister. Or at least it usually does. The LDP are currently in a coalition government, so Takaichi’s appointment will need to wait a couple of weeks to be confirmed at an extraordinary session in the diet (the national legislature). You might think the Japanese, feminists especially, would make something of having their first female prime minister, but the news has elicited not much more than a shrug here. There has

James Heale

Will this be Kemi’s last conference?

The Conservative party conference kicks off today in Manchester. Dominating the headlines is the long-awaited announcement that the next Tory government would pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a break with recent conferences, leader Kemi Badenoch will be making two speeches. The first this afternoon will set out what ECHR-exit would look like. The second on Wednesday will deal with more of what George Bush Sr. called ‘the vision thing’: Badenoch’s big picture for Britain. ‘Stronger economy, stronger borders’ is the party’s slogan for the four-day jamboree. That reflects the two-pronged approach that senior Tory strategists believe is the only way back to power.

Renie Anjeh

The conservative case for Malcolm X

Five years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, a ‘racial reckoning’ shook the West. For some it was a time for our part of the world to come to terms with the reality of racism and to address the legacy of white supremacy. For others the protests following Floyd’s death poured petrol on the fire of the culture wars; racial divisions became reified and Britain was intellectually colonised by our American overlords in a spectacle of futile kneeling, black squares, virtue signalling and gesture politics. What I saw during that period, however, was the ghost of Malcolm X, haunting our times like Banquo at the feast. He was born

Lois McLatchie Miller

Across the world, Christians are being silenced

Last week, a 75-year-old Christian grandmother was bundled into the back of a police van outside a Glasgow hospital. Her alleged crime? Conversation. Rose Docherty wasn’t spray-painting walls or blocking doorways. She wasn’t shouting or shoving leaflets into anyone’s hands. She simply held a sign offering a listening ear: ‘Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, only if you want.’ In the eyes of the state, this made her a criminal. Under Scotland’s new ‘buffer zone’ laws, even the possibility of ‘influencing’ a passerby outside an abortion facility is treated as criminal behaviour. Rose wasn’t standing with an influential message. She was giving people the choice: walk on or stop and chat. But choice, it seems, now belongs only to the abortion lobby. Rose, with two hip replacements, was

Michael Gove

Speaker series: Jeffrey Archer – End Game

51 min listen

Michael Gove speaks to Jeffrey Archer about his life, career and his new novel End Game, which marks the gripping finale of the William Warwick series. This discussion was part of the Spectator’s speaker series. To see more on our upcoming events – including with Charles Moore and with Bernard Cornwell – go to events.spectator.co.uk

Saturday

4 Oct 2025

Nicholas Farrell

My Italian family believe Meloni is complicit in genocide

I would like to ask readers for help. My Italian wife and our six children, aged 10 to 22, believe that Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza and that Italy’s right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is complicit in this genocide. I do not. What should I tell them? Once again, I am forced to remember how precious truth is – yet how difficult it is to demonstrate. Also, how easy it is to convince people that an untruth is the truth. And yet, at the same time, how easy it is to doubt the truth when all around you are telling you it is an untruth – especially if

Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes

German reunification never really happened

It’s not easy for Germany to celebrate itself. But on Friday, the country tried. At the official celebration festivities for the Day of German Unity, the city of Saarbrucken near the French border hosted musicians, breakdancers, acrobats, magicians, and oddly, two actors dressed as a ‘talking sofa’ to entertain visitors. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the official head of state of the Federal Republic, spoke, alongside Chancellor Friedrich Merz. French President Emmanuel Macron also took part, to underscore the European dimension of Germany’s reunification. Notably, Angela Merkel, the only chancellor born in East Germany, and Joachim Gauck, the only federal president from the former communist ‘new states’, were not present – absences that highlight how Germany is

Lloyd Evans

Obsolete message: Led By Donkeys in conversation, reviewed

The founding members of Led By Donkeys granted a public interview last Thursday at a theatre in Walthamstow. They were questioned by Guardian columnist Zoe Williams. Seated on squashy sofas, the four men looked like an ageing boyband who met at public school. James Sadri, suave and handsome, seems to be the boss. Ollie Knowles is the ebullient charmer. Ben Stewart, who scowls as he talks, is the grumpy technical wizard. And Will Rose, who says very little, seems to be the token northerner. The Donkeys specialise in harmless political pranks. Their approach is new but their content is stale. In their latest stunt, they projected a short film about Donald Trump and Jeffrey

Ghaffar Hussain

How we can prevent further anti-semitic atrocities

The atrocious attack on a community of peaceful Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester yesterday shocked us all. But it was also the predictable outcome of converging trends that British society has either ignored or failed to stop. Since 7 October 2023, extremist organisations such as Isis and al Qaeda have repeatedly called for violence against Jewish communities in Europe. Isis even published an article called ‘Practical steps to fight the Jews’ in its al-Naba outlet that encouraged attacks on synagogues in Europe. This is not passive propaganda but a deliberate framing of Jewish people as complicit in foreign conflicts, followed by explicit calls for violence – often by lone actors

Lucy Dunn

Why is Scottish Labour so upbeat?

Scottish Labour may be down but they’re not out. The polls have not been moving in their favour over the last few months and on the eve of Labour’s conference in Liverpool a Norstat survey for the Sunday Times brought more bad news: never mind losing out on first place at the 2026 Holyrood election, Scottish Labour could crash into third next year thanks to a surge in support for Nigel Farage’s leaderless tartan outfit. It would be a pretty humiliating state of affairs. Yet despite all this, the mood in Scottish Labour is oddly buoyant, even upbeat. At the conference’s Scots Night, the Prime Minister made a quick cameo

Gareth Roberts

So long, G-A-Y

The G-A-Y Bar in Soho’s Old Compton Street is to close for good this weekend. It opened in the mid-1990s, spinning off from the Saturday club night of the same name at the nearby Astoria (itself long gone, thanks to Crossrail). Entrepreneur Jeremy Joseph, who has run the ‘brand’ since its inception, posted the news on Instagram: ‘Old Compton Street has been my home and my work. When I opened G-A-Y Bar, it was to be one of the safest and most proudly LGBT streets – a place where you could be who you are and feel safe. For me, Old Compton Street has lost that LGBT identity. Old Compton

James Heale

Inside London’s embassy parties

Like the new school year, ambassadors to Britain usually change each September. Among those leaving this summer are the German, Swiss and Canadian representatives; their successors will shortly begin limbering up on the cocktail circuit, eager to make their social mark. The man they will have to beat is the US ambassador, Warren Stephens. His great advantage is Winfield House, his palatial private residence, which boasts the second-largest garden in the capital after Buckingham Palace. Every year, the London elite pile in here to toast the Fourth of July. At this year’s Independence bash, Stephens made his mark with spectacular fireworks and a star-spangled smorgasbord of food from across the

Sue Mitchell

The truth about life in migrant hotels

A string of fairy-lights is the only item dividing the hotel room Shayan, 12, shares with her 14-year-old brother, Roman. In her ‘half’ of the room – slightly larger than the single bed she sleeps in – is a neat stack of shoe boxes she uses for her notebooks, make-up and jewellery. When I visit, the room is airless: the blinds are drawn all day to stop outsiders from seeing in, and the windows are sealed shut for safety. The air conditioning doesn’t always work and, although the coast is only a few miles away, Shayan’s family rarely leave the hotel. ‘We’ve spent thousands of pounds just to get into

Andrew Fox

How Britain should help Europe build its ‘drone wall’

When Defence Secretary John Healey announced that Britain would help build a European ‘drone wall’, he was right to push the idea of a curtain of British-made interceptor drones to guard Nato’s eastern flank. Recent Russian incursions have shown that business as usual is no longer enough. Now, the challenging part begins: turning those buzzwords into a functioning defence system before the next crisis tests the alliance. The impetus is obvious. In recent weeks, Europe has been prodded by a rash of incursions and ‘mystery drones’ over airports and military sites across the continent. Denmark and Sweden have both, in the past week, closed airspace in Copenhagen and Oslo, with the former

Robert Jenrick

Debate: what next for the British right?

30 min listen

The general election result of 2024 reflected – among other things – a collapse of trust among British voters in the Conservatives. How can the British right evolve so it learns lessons from the past and from across the pond, in order to win back its base? This is an excerpt from an event hosted by The Spectator and American Compass; a leading US think tank. The panel includes: Robert Jenrick MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and MP for Newark Miriam Cates, former MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge and GB News Presenter Gavin Rice, head of political economy at Onward Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk Henry Olsen, Senior