Politics

Every year, Vladimir Putin gives a marathon town hall event that lasts for hours. Every year, I feel compelled to watch. Every year, I wonder if it will be the last time I do, as these have become increasingly formulaic, but there is always something in them that rewards watching. (Or so I tell myself.) It was briefly tempting to write this ahead of time, because by now the format and content has become thoroughly predictable Originally, there were two such events a year: a mammoth end-of-year press conference and then ‘Direct Line,’ a kind of online town hall at which Putin addresses a selection of questions (more than two

Close your eyes in today’s Liaison Committee hearing and you might have thought Rishi Sunak was still prime minister. Keir Starmer clearly shares his predecessor’s enthusiasm for this end-of-term parliamentary ritual. His smile was broad and his hands flurried as he relished the chance to show off his knowledge in front of two dozen select committee chairs. Gone are the days of the Boris Johnson era when such exchanges were characterised by mutual loathing. Such was Labour’s performance in July’s general election that the party now boasts two thirds of the select committee chairs. The likes of Meg Hillier and Liam Byrne were robust, but hardly intimidating, as Starmer handled

We should be wary about the danger of hyper-rich donors obtaining undue influence over political parties. There is none more hyper-rich than Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man by a country mile with a net worth of around $500 billion (£400 billion). There are persistent rumours that he could donate as much as $100 million to Reform, to the extent that the Tories are trying to muscle their way in and get some of the money themselves.  Deep pockets would improve Nigel Farage’s electoral prospects. But the claims that Musk could dramatically change Reform’s fortunes aren’t realistic. Musk’s donations – believed to be $227 million (£180 million) – certainly helped Donald Trump win