Politics

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

Saturday

4 Jan 2025

Why do Americans care about Tommy Robinson?

34 min listen

Douglas Murray, Spectator columnist, joins Americano host and Spectator deputy editor Freddy Gray. This week, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into the horrific scandal of grooming gangs in dozens of UK cities. Her decision has led to real backlash – with X owner Elon Musk calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed, and for the King to dissolve parliament. Have politicians underestimated the strength of public feeling in the UK and the US? They also discuss the Southport riots, and ask why some politicians are unwilling to confront societal problems in the name of political correctness.

James MacMillan

James MacMillan, Sebastian Morello, Amy Wilentz, Sam Leith and Lloyd Evans

32 min listen

This week: composer James MacMillan reads his diary on the beautiful music of football (01:11); Sebastian Morello tells us about the deep connection between hunting and Christianity (07:17); Amy Wilentz explains how Vodou fuels Haiti’s gang culture (16:14); The Spectator’s literary editor Sam Leith reviews The Virago Book of Friendship (22:38); and – from the arts pages – The Spectator’s theatre critic Lloyd Evans writes about a new play on the last days of Liz Truss and also about Bette and Joan, which includes ‘brutal’ and ‘brilliant’ portraits of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (26:37). Presented by Oscar Edmondson. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

Patrick O’Flynn

When will Keir Starmer realise how unpopular he is?

British politics can only be understood right now if one realises that Keir Starmer is presiding over a “landslide minority” government: two thirds of the seats on one third of the vote. On the parliamentary maths, things are about as rosy as can be for Labour. It has more than 400 MPs and the Tories just 121. The Lib Dems – in effect Labour’s reserve fuel tank – have a bumper crop of 72 MPs from last July. No other party grouping gets into double figures. None of the main planks of Labour’s programme enjoys much public support This is the sort of dominance which traditionally betokens an administration fully in

Stewart McDonald

Are things looking up for the SNP?

After the general election skelping my party got in the July election, I was asked by Alex Massie (formerly of this parish) if I thought the SNP was in line to get horsed in the 2026 Holyrood election. I answered in the affirmative. Unless the party changed direction, then of course we would lose. Well, things look rather different now. Since then, the mood within Scotland’s two dominant parties has changed dramatically. The SNP is the most upbeat it has been for a while while Labour’s sense of jubilant victory after its election landslide is tinged with vulnerability. The change in mood has been apparent in almost every conversation I’ve had

Theo Hobson

Jordan Peterson should make his mind up about Christianity

Jordan Peterson is a cross between a student who has lately discovered the meaning of life, and a professor who has known it all along. In an interview in this week’s Spectator, the former persona is sandwiched between two slices of the latter. First he holds forth about the Bible in a ponderous way, in order to give us a taste of his new book. His thesis is that the supreme story is one of unity and order, not the chaotic play of secular power, and also that sacrifice is of fundamental importance. These are substantial ideas, but they are presented with slow pomposity, as if only now are they

Ian O’Doherty

Ireland is not ready for Trump

It will be an uncertain year for Ireland. The Irish economy has for a long time been artificially propped up by the billons it accrues in tax revenues from American tech companies based in the country. Many dread Donald Trump’s return, fearing he will force these firms to move back to the US. Those fears have been compounded by the Irish government’s bizarre quest to stigmatise and sanction Israel – perhaps the only country in the world to be more popular in American minds than Ireland. In February, then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Spanish President Pedro Sanchez wrote to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and asked her to conduct

Steerpike

Farage rejects Musk’s calls to ‘free Tommy Robinson’

It’s been quite the 24 hours in British politics. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has spent much of it lambasting Labour on Twitter/X over its decision not to hold a government inquiry into child abuse in Oldham. But has he now gone too far? The Tesla founder has posted numerous claims calling for the release of far-right protester Tommy Robinson, jailed last year for contempt of court. It begged the obvious question: would Reform UK – Musk’s preferred party of choice in Britain – take up Robinson’s cause too? When Mr S put the question to Reform spinners, the answer that came back was unequivocal: no, given his onetime

Friday

3 Jan 2025

Steerpike

Ministers considering Islamophobia definition

There have been better weeks for community relations in Britain. So what better time for Mr S to report the news that ministers are still planning to press on with a definition of Islamophobia? Back in opposition, Labour supported the adoption of a definition of Islamophobia, drawn up by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, while Wes Streeting – now the Health Secretary – was its chairman. It states: ‘Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.’ The Telegraph noted back in August that such a term would not be legally binding but organisations would be urged to adopt in a

Nick Cohen

Elon Musk is not a friend worth having

The richest man in the world and, as of 20 January, the most powerful man in the world will be uniting to attack the UK. The outstanding question is: what will the British right do about it? I understand why some conservatives may be tempted to go along with their country’s enemies. I can see how the demands that we must pretend that men can be women and only whites can be racist so outrage them that any enemy of the woke becomes worth supporting. I get it. Really, I do. In my darker moments I feel that same contempt for the worst of the left myself. But conservatives claim

Steerpike

Ex-Tory MP defects to Reform

Another one bites the dust. Now it transpires that the former Conservative MP for Dudley North, Marco Longhi, has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party ahead of its regional conference in Leicester this evening. How very interesting. The ex-Tory announced his move this afternoon, lauding the Farage-founded group – which he dubbed ‘the People’s Army’ – and gushing that he is ‘now truly at home with Reform UK’. Reflecting on his time with the Tory lot, Longhi admitted: ‘My loyalty to party leaders started to overshadow my loyalty to you, the people.’ Going on to bash the Conservatives, Longhi fumed: The Conservative Party I once identified with—the party of

Zoe Strimpel

Spare us from ‘amber’ weather warnings

With quiet, sinister inevitability, the health and safety edifice has been marching through the festive season, capturing new terrain. Arguably the most powerful cultural force in Britain today, a new target has been seized: the weather. Suddenly, the warnings issued by the Met Office – whose weather forecasting service rarely seems reliable – are taken as gospel. Predictions of snow and ice during the cold snap of the next few days have been seized upon with a similar enthusiasm to the fears that arose during the pandemic: we’re being urged to stay in and stay put. Don’t go out because it’s cold in January? Apparently so Winter, even the soft British

Michael Evans

Isis will not die

The Isis caliphate in Syria and Iraq was defeated at a cost of billions of dollars and the loss of thousands of lives. And yet the ideology of violence and hatred espoused by the Islamic State lives on and has spread into cities in the West like a poison with no antidote. The black flag attached to the pick-up truck which ploughed through crowds of people in New Orleans celebrating the new year was both a symbol of the Islamic State and a message from the terrorist jihadists that they have ‘sleepers’ ready and willing to carry out atrocities. For western governments this poses a never-ending challenge. Judging by what

Ross Clark

The fatal flaw in Labour’s vote reform plans

Keir Starmer’s government won’t be the first to engage in gerrymandering when it seeks to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, inviting into the polling booths a group which most people suspect will be more inclined to vote Labour. But could Labour’s elections Bill end up being more radical than that? The Labour-linked think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has just published a report arguing for more extensive reforms, including removing the requirement for photo ID at polling booths, automatic voter registration and giving the vote to foreign nationals who are long-term residents of Britain. They also include holding elections at the weekend and introducing

Steerpike

Duffield: Anybody would be a better leader than Starmer

Another day, another Labour drama. Now it’s Independent MP Rosie Duffield making waves after giving a rather revealing interview to TalkTV. The animosity between the former Labour politician and the current party leader has spanned years, with public disagreements over women’s rights, policy decisions and sleaze scandals. Are there any circumstances in which the left-leaning politician would ever consider rejoining her old party? Well, maybe. Speaking on TalkTV today, Duffield was quizzed by Talk’s Russell Quirk on her relationship with Labour. RQ: What would you do, Rosie, though? Will you wait for Keir Starmer to be replaced, which I think is probably inevitable before the next general election and then

Eliot Wilson

Kemi Badenoch is right to bide her time

Kemi Badenoch has only been Conservative leader for two months. The next general election is likely to be held in 2028 or 2029. Yet there have been persistent rumblings that she must set out clear policies if she is to win back support from voters who left the Tory fold. In The Financial Times, Robert Shrimsley warned that Badenoch “does not have as much time as she thinks”, and that “she does not have the luxury of leisure to figure it out while a grateful nation waits and watches”. Announcing specific policies at this stage would force Badenoch to create an army of hostages to fortune Shrimsley has previously won

Steerpike

Farage to blast Badenoch’s ‘crazy conspiracy theories’ about Reform

You might have forgotten about Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch’s Twixmas Twitter spat, but the Reform UK leader certainly hasn’t. Mr S would remind readers that, during the Christmas period, a fight on the right broke out between the two party readers after Reform announced it had officially overtaken the Conservatives’ membership total – which led to a rather unedifying back and forth. Talk about a lack of festive spirit, eh? On Christmas, the Farage-led party projected a ‘countdown clock’ onto CCHQ to mark the moment when Reform got its 131,670th member – thus overtaking the Tories. While the up and coming party took to social media to celebrate the

Oscar Edmondson

Is Labour serious about social care reform?

14 min listen

Happy New Year and – of course – happy new long-term social care plan. Not only has Labour announced a ‘longer-term’ solution to a problem the party itself has acknowledged is urgent by setting up a commission that won’t report until 2028, but it has also taken steps to make that reform even harder to realise by saying it is looking for a ‘cross-party solution’. Should we interpret this as Labour kicking the can down the road? And is Labour developing a reputation for shirking its responsibility when it comes to the most vulnerable in society? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Steerpike

Meghan makes her Netflix return

To the Montecito monarchs who, no matter how much they protest about the press, just can’t seem to stay away from the spotlight. Not content with her failed podcast Archetypes – which one Spotify exec fumed should have been called ‘the f***ing grifters’ – or the couples’ documentary, rather creatively titled ‘Harry and Meghan’, the Duchess of Sussex has now released the trailer to her latest venture: ‘With Love, Meghan’. Brace yourselves… The Queen of Privacy’s teaser clip depicts Prince Harry’s controversy-prone wife cooking in California, picking produce from her garden and mingling with famous friends – all rounded off with the Sixties hit ‘Do You Believe in Magic’. How

Matthew Lynn

Mark Zuckerberg could regret Nick Clegg’s Meta departure

When Donald Trump won the US election, the writing was on the wall for Nick Clegg at Meta. Now, just a few weeks before Trump’s inauguration, Clegg has stepped down from his role as president of global affairs at the social media giant. He will be replaced by his deputy and Republican Joel Kaplan, as the firm shifts to the right to fit in with the new regime. No one ever had much idea what Clegg did all day Clegg has tried to put a positive spin on his departure, tweeting that: ‘As a new year begins, I have come to the view that this is the right time for

Isabel Hardman

What’s the point of a social care review?

Whack! That’s the sound of social care reform once again being hit into the long grass. Thud! Another hit sends it into a thicket of scrub. Not only has Labour announced a ‘longer-term’ solution to a problem the party itself has acknowledged is urgent by setting up a commission that won’t report until 2028, but it has also taken steps to make that reform even harder to realise by saying it is looking for a ‘cross-party solution’. Ministers have set up a taskforce led by crossbench peer Louise Casey to draw up plans for a national care service, which will produce an interim report in 2026, and a final set