Politics

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

Thursday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

It’s no surprise that nurses want to strike

Wes Streeting was recently revealed to have said in private that junior doctors (or resident doctors, as they now like to be called) must be made to ‘feel pain’ for going on strike – for fear of encouraging other public sector workers to copy their example. Today comes a reminder of why he said it: the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has just voted to reject the 3.6 per cent pay deal offered by the government, with 91 per cent voting to dismiss it – although the turnout was only 56 per cent. Is it any surprise that nurses are not content with the offer? Two years ago, after a

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

How progressivism killed American Protestantism

Freddy Gray speaks to Christopher Mondics who is a legal affairs writer about how the left-wing orthodoxy has destroyed Protestantism in America. They discuss the mainline denominations in America, how ‘wokeness’ infiltrated the churches and why, despite some drop off, religion is still so present in America.

Natasha Feroze

Will the junior doctors regret picking a fight with Wes?

13 min listen

The dispute between the British Medical Association (BMA) – a trade union for doctors – and the government continues, following the five-day strike by junior doctors. Doctors argue that pay is still far below relative levels from almost two decades ago, combined with the cost of study, the cost of living and housing crises, as well as challenging conditions within the NHS. Nevertheless, with an average pay rise of 5.4% for resident doctors this year, support for the strikes appears to be falling – both with the public at large, and within the BMA. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hit back at the BMA and said they ‘will not win

Steerpike Steerpike

No babies called ‘Keir’ after Starmer took office

There are a number of ways to measure the public’s dissatisfaction with their politicians: party polling figures, favourability ratings and, of course, the result at the ballot box. But a less obvious indicator is baby’s names – and 2024’s most popular list is a damning indictment of Britain’s Prime Minister. It transpires that a grand total of, er, zero children were called ‘Keir’ last year. According to data released today by the Office for National Statistics, the PM’s first name was nowhere to be found on the list of most popular names for boys and girls in England and Wales. While the name had fast been losing favour for a

Steerpike Steerpike

Should the Prime Minister take a summer holiday?

Silly season is upon us, as MPs jet off on holiday (or back to their constituencies) to get a well-needed break from Westminster. Sir Keir Starmer had to cancel his summer holiday last year after riots broke out across the country – but hopefully this year the Prime Minister will manage to enjoy some time to recharge before party conference season hits. But on whether the PM should be taking any downtime at all is a contentious subject among the public. Mr S has got hold of some new polling that shows just how much time off – and where – Brits believe Starmer should be allowed… According to Ipsos

Matthew Lynn

Starmer’s late payment crackdown is pointless

They face higher National Insurance charges, increased business rates, crippling energy costs, and if they hire anyone: crushing employment rights. Still, never mind about any of that. The Prime Minister has today come up with a plan to finally show that he is on the side of small businesses and entrepreneurs. He will crack down on late payments. There is just one catch. This policy is completely pointless – and won’t do anything to undo all the damage his government has already done. It is hard to believe that anyone could look at the state of the British economy right now and decide what it really needs is another group

Laurie Wastell

Labour’s shameful response to the Manchester Airport attack

On Wednesday at Liverpool Crown Court, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, one of the two brothers accused of the Manchester Airport attack last July, was found guilty of assaulting two female police officers, as well as a member of the public. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge that Amaaz and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, assaulted armed police officer PC Zachary Marsden. Both defendants will now be retried on that charge. It has been a year since the viral incident at Manchester Airport. The question for many still is why Labour figures responded in the way they did – initially seeming to sympathise with the brothers rather than

Alexander Horne

Palestine Action shouldn’t be unbanned

Yesterday, the High Court allowed Palestine Action to challenge the Home Secretary’s decision to ban it. Since its proscription, under terrorism legislation, it has been an offence to be a member of the group, or to invite support for it. There is absolutely no need for peaceful protestors to associate themselves with a group concerned in unlawful acts While it was not a final determination, the High Court hearing was revealing. Mr Justice Chamberlain’s decision followed judicial consideration of a file of ‘closed material’ – evidence not disclosed to the claimant – and an open hearing which was reported in the press The judge ruled that Palestine Action could proceed to bring

William Moore William Moore

Under ctrl, the Epping migrant protests & why is ‘romantasy’ so popular?

39 min listen

First: the new era of censorship A year ago, John Power notes, the UK was consumed by race riots precipitated by online rumours about the perpetrator of the Southport atrocity. This summer, there have been protests, but ‘something is different’. With the introduction of the Online Safety Act, ‘the government is exerting far greater control over what can and can’t be viewed online’. While the act ‘promises to protect minors from harmful material’, he argues that it is ‘the most sweeping attempt by any liberal democracy to bring the online world under the control of the state’. Implemented and defended by the current Labour government, it is actually the result

Charles Moore Charles Moore

What the media doesn’t tell us about Gaza

Sir Keir Starmer’s apparent justification for threatening to recognise a Palestinian state by September is pictures. ‘I think people are revolted at what they are seeing on their screen,’ he said on Monday. On Tuesday, he spoke of ‘starving babies, children too weak to stand, images that will stay with us for a lifetime’. Pictures, however grim, seem a weak basis for a massive constitutional change. Sir Keir is also assuming that the pictures in question are ‘true’. Yet pictures, precisely because of their emotional impact, often undergo less editorial scrutiny than words and are frequently reproduced by other media unchecked. At the weekend, the New York Times put an

Max Hastings

Britain shouldn’t put up with Donald Trump

History is the march of folly and far too many of my countrymen are hearkening to a drumbeat which would lead us to disaster. On Tuesday several of our newspapers led with variations of the same headline: ‘Trump: cut tax to beat Farage.’ This is idiotic counsel, given the state of Britain’s public finances. I would have thought the way to beat populism was not by emulating its idiocies but by prudent, cautious, sensible management of a nation tired of liars. If Donald Trump teaches us anything, it is how to ruin a great nation. Far more useful than parroting the US President’s delusions would be telling the British people

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Israel has gone too far

If any other country in the Middle East had behaved as monstrously as Israel has in recent weeks, the jets would be lined up on our runways ready to do a bit of performative bombing. Never mind BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) and diplomatic pressure. I mention this because those of us who support Israel, and have done so largely uncritically since 7 October 2023, need the scales to fall from our eyes a little – for the good of Israel, as well as the good of those starving Palestinians. I have been to Israel many times, as a journalist, as a holidaymaker, as a friend. I accept without demurral

John Power

Ctrl U: the Online Safety Act is shutting down the internet

This time last year, the UK was consumed by the worst race riots since 2001. It was precipitated by the spread of online rumours that the perpetrator of the Southport atrocity was a Muslim refugee. This summer, there have been smaller protests following reports of sexually motivated attacks allegedly perpetrated by migrants. But something is different. Legislation which was originally passed in 2023 came into force last Friday and the effects can already be felt. Social media posts showing rioters fighting with police have been suppressed; those referring to sexual attacks have been automatically flagged as pornographic. Footage from a protest outside the Britannia Hotel in Leeds, which showed police

Tim Shipman

The asylum hotel crisis will cost Labour

Yvette Cooper doesn’t do holidays, which is probably just as well since she is the minister who, this summer, holds Labour’s fate in her hands. During the Easter break, the Home Secretary, her husband Ed Balls and their adult children holidayed in Madrid. Cooper went every day to the British embassy to check emails and make secure phone calls to London. Balls tells a story about a camper van trip to New England in 2015, when Cooper was running for the Labour leadership. ‘After a few early mornings spent sailing her into the middle of the lake near their campsite so she had enough signal to call her campaign team

Wednesday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The air traffic control failure looks like cock-up rather than conspiracy

The most remarkable thing about today’s air traffic control failure, which has led to at least 45 flights being cancelled and many more disrupted, is how few people are bothering even to question whether this could be the work of hackers employed by a foreign power. In recent years almost every systems failure that afflicts UK infrastructure has caused speculation that the Russians or Chinese are to blame – followed by the gradual realisation that, no, we did this to ourselves through our own incompetence. What does it say about the priorities of the industry when perfume shops at Heathrow seem to be more adequately staffed than air traffic control?

Lucy Dunn

Could Reform’s Scottish surge provoke indyref2?

20 min listen

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney unveiled his strategy for pursuing a second independence referendum this week, arguing that an SNP majority at next year’s Holyrood elections is the only way to guarantee it. This is seen as an attempt to put Scottish independence back on the table as well as combat the rising popularity of Reform. Pollster Mark Diffley of Diffley Partnership joins Lucy Dunn to unpack the SNP’s independence strategy. Mark points out that while Reform are consistently outperforming expectations, their support still primarily comes from ex-Conservatives. This, plus the unpopularity of the current UK Labour government, could provide the SNP with an opening to exploit and shore up

Adam Holloway

Why I left the Conservatives – and joined Reform

There comes a moment for many soldiers – and most politicians – when you realise the battle you think you’re fighting isn’t the one your leaders are waging. That moment came for me watching Kemi Badenoch tell Sky News’s Trevor Phillips there are real differences between Reform UK and the Conservatives. She was right. The difference is the Reform leadership – voters grasp the scale of our national peril and back a party serious about addressing it. I didn’t leave the Conservative party, it left me Many in Britain feel we may already have passed the point of no return. Our cities grow less cohesive, the country effectively bankrupt. For

James Heale James Heale

Exclusive: Ex-Tory MP defects to Reform

Reform UK has today unveiled its latest defector. Adam Holloway served as the Conservative MP for Gravesham in Kent from 2005 until 2024. A former soldier, he focused heavily on military matters in the Commons and served in the Whips’ Office in the governments of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. His decision to switch parties follows a number of other ex-Tory MPs defecting including Jake Berry, Anne Marie Morris and Ross Thomson. More defections are expected in the coming weeks. In a statement, Nigel Farage told The Spectator that ‘Adam’s parliamentary and military experience will be vital as we look forward to the next general election.’ He added that Holloway’s

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Trump’s tariffs are taming China

Stockholm This week, the fate of the global economy could have been decided over a Mongolian barbecue in a Stockholm tourist trap. On Tuesday, just 50 yards from Sweden’s seat of government, Rosenbad – where the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had been wrangling over trade negotiations – the Chinese delegation suddenly exited the talks and headed for lunch near the Mongolian buffet place, where they had eaten the day before. Its windows were covered up and a sign announced it would be closed for three days for a ‘private event’. The Americans stayed behind, making do with salad. China, still the factory

Sean Thomas

The Online Safety Act is plumbing new depths of stupidity

As anyone who has endured a pointless argument on the internet probably knows, there’s a decidedly useful rule for such situations. It’s called Godwin’s Law. Coined in 1990 by American lawyer Mike Godwin, in its most well-known version it states that in any sufficiently lengthy online row, the first person to invoke the Nazis – whether as comparison, example, or evidence – instantly loses by virtue of their luridly stupid exaggeration. Anyone who drags infamous paedophile Jimmy Savile into a political argument has already lost. Why? Because they’ve reached up for the most grotesque, emotive analogy in the rhetorical pantry Now it seems we have a shiny new British equivalent.