Politics Archives

Monday

6 Jan 2025

Why is Gisèle Pelicot a hero but not the girls of Rochdale?

A poll in France has named Gisèle Pelicot as the country’s person of the year for the courage and dignity she displayed during the rape trial that transfixed the West in the autumn. The Independent newspaper argued last week that the Frenchwoman deserves to be named the world’s Person of 2024 – not Donald Trump – and Prospect magazine agreed, saying Pelicot has ‘gifted others with hope for change’. Gisèle Pelicot is certainly an inspirational woman, the word used by President Emmanuel Macron to describe her bravery in court as she sat through the three month trial that resulted in the imprisonment of her former husband and 51 men for rape and assault. Over the course of ten years

Sunday

5 Jan 2025

Tom Slater

Elon Musk is wrong to slam Nigel Farage

Elon Musk is a man of tremendous gifts, to put it mildly. He recently caught a rocket between some chopsticks, for crying out loud. But insight into the mood of British politics is clearly not one of those gifts. Having only just learned about Britain’s shameful, grotesque, never-ending grooming-gangs scandal, declaring that Jess Phillips should be in prison for failing to back a full national inquiry into it, Musk has now turned his ire on his erstwhile ally, Reform leader Nigel Farage. This new disagreement seems to have escalated rather quickly. Musk has recently become a vocal supporter of hard-right grifter Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), who is currently

James Snell

Don’t judge Syria’s new rulers yet

Some people went mad when Ahmed al-Sharaa (you might know him as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the now de facto leader of Syria) refrained from shaking the hand of Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, when she visited Damascus this week. Not shaking hands with a woman! Al-Sharaa is the same jihadist he always was! Another story which fixates westerners: the bars in Damascus – the centrepieces of the Assad regime’s propaganda tours, where journalists and vloggers were made pleasantly drunk within earshot of concentration camps – do they still serve their favourite poison? If they don’t, my oh my, it’s a terrible

Steerpike

Runners and riders: next Reform leader

Well, that didn’t last long. Just 19 days after Nigel Farage and Elon Musk were snapped beaming together at Mar-a-Lago, the bromance is already over. Sad! It seems that the Tesla billionaire didn’t take too kindly to Farage’s (mild) rebuke of his call to release Tommy Robinson from prison. Just hours after Farage praised Musk on the BBC, the latter took to – where else? – X to declare the end of their short-lived friendship. ‘The Reform Party needs a new leader’, Musk declared. ‘Farage doesn’t have what it takes’. So much for loyalty eh? At present, it looks like Musk is out on his own on this one. None

Ross Clark

Tommy Robinson isn’t the story here

Elon Musk’s Twitter attack on Jess Phillips is certainly offensive. It may even deserve to be called a ‘disgraceful smear’, as Wes Streeting put it on the Laura Kuenssberg Show this morning. But the trouble is that every time government ministers bring up Musk’s spat with Phillips, the more they remind people of just how close Labour was to the scandal of rape gangs in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Telford and other places. Much as Streeting and others might like to bat it away and plead that Phillips, Keir Starmer and everyone else in his government are ‘good people’, who have done masses during their careers to help put child abusers

Steerpike

Elon Musk turns on Farage

Oh dear. Is there trouble in paradise? For a few weeks now, Nigel Farage has been basking in a transatlantic glow thanks to the support of his buddies Stateside. The Reform party leader’s meeting with Elon Musk last month led to concern in both Labour and the Conservative party that the world’s richest man will soon give a sizeable donation to his party. This combined with the president-elect’s longstanding friendship with Farage has led to concern amongst Conservatives that 2025 could be Farage’s year. However, in a sign that things may not be quite so simple for the Reform party leader, Musk appears to have gone cold on his new

Philip Patrick

Are Premier League fans right to protest ticket hikes?

It takes quite a lot to unite the fans of Manchester United and Liverpool, but it will happen today at Anfield. Some of the most committed supporters will make a joint protest along with the Football Supporters’ Association at what they see as the exploitative ticket price policies of their respective clubs. There will be demonstrations outside the stadium and a banners bearing the message ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’ will be unfurled inside the ground. The specific target is the trend in rising prices and the gradual disappearance of concessions, which is making regular attendance for generational fans increasingly unaffordable. Manchester United announced a £66 flat rate tariff for members this

Steerpike

Starmer’s corruption minister in spotlight over freebie property

Parliament returns on Monday – and not a moment too soon. For one of the barmy Starmer army has found themselves splashed all over the newspapers this weekend, with the Tories now scenting blood. The Financial Times reports that City Minister Tulip Siddiq was given a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross, free of charge in 2004. It was donated by developer Abdul Motalif who is connected to Bangladesh’s Awami League party, led by Siddiq’s aunt Sheikh Hasina. Who she you ask? Why, none other than the authoritarian premier of Bangladesh who was forced to flee from power last year, having ruled since 2009. Among Siddiq’s responsibilities is – get this

Joe Bedell-Brill

Streeting defends Jess Phillips from Elon Musk

Wes Streeting: Elon Musk’s attacks are a ‘disgraceful smear’ Elon Musk has spent this week calling for the release of the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, and launching attacks at British politicians over a failure to prosecute gangs who groomed and raped young girls over a number of years in the north of England. Musk said Keir Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions when the scandal first came to light, was ‘complicit in the rape of Britain’, and also said safeguarding minister Jess Phillips should be in jail. On the BBC this morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Laura Kuenssberg that Elon Musk and other social media bosses could do

Steerpike

Five times Labour said VAT raid would help state school kids

The advent of the new year brings with it a fresh sting: the introduction of 20 per cent VAT on private school fees. Labour repeatedly argued that the move is necessary to improve standards in the state sector. But this week the Telegraph revealed that the Treasury has made no plans to ringfence the funds – meaning they can theoretically be spent on any number of government initiatives. The paper quoted a Treasury source who said: The money is not directly hypothecated in the same way other taxes are. The physical pounds and pence are not directly ringfenced [for state schools]… It’s not physically funnelled from ‘A’ to ‘B’ but

Zoe Strimpel

The tragedy of Jocelyn Wildenstein

When I saw that Jocelyn Wildenstein, aka the Bride of (art dealer Alec) Wildenstein, had died at the age of 84, I began compulsively flicking through the widely-shared galleries of horror photos depicting the three-decade plastic surgery odyssey for which she was known. But the picture that struck me most – more, even, than the hideously gnarled, ferocious face with its pinched eyes looking out at the courtroom at her divorce trial – was the one of her when she was young. Namely, in her 30s, with Hollywood golden-age good looks; wonderful bone structure, bright eyes. And one more: as a gamine 15-year-old who looks like a supermodel in waiting.

Monica Porter

Why Hungary owes a special debt to Jimmy Carter

President Jimmy Carter, who died earlier this week, has been praised for his humanitarian instincts. Not for nothing did he receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, long after his presidency, for his continuing work in promoting human rights around the world. But as a Hungarian-born writer, my warm feelings towards him will always be associated with one of his lesser-known acts of international diplomacy: the return to Hungary of its most valued symbol of Hungarian nationhood, the Crown of St Stephen. The golden jewel and enamel-encrusted crown, topped with its distinctive tilted cross, was crafted in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople. According to legend, Pope Sylvester II gifted it

Constantin Eckner

Germany’s year is off to a bleak start

Germany’s politicians have a short list of New Year’s resolutions: to make considerable improvement across the board. As the new year gets underway, the country is staring down the barrel of a federal election next month. Whoever comes to power must combat economic stagnation, get immigration under control, find a way to effectively collaborate with Donald Trump’s administration on trade and the war in Ukraine, and win back the reins of power within the European Union. Last year was a turgid year for Germany. Not only did Germany’s federal government collapse in the wake of ongoing internal disputes between the three ruling parties, but the economy continued to stagnate with

Ross Clark

The banking system’s net zero reckoning

It all seemed so unstoppable in April 2021 when a group of the world’s banks, under the guidance of former Bank of England governor turned UN envoy for climate action and finance Mark Carney, announced the creation of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. Founding members, which included Citibank and Bank of America, agreed to reconfigure their lending and investment portfolios ‘to align with pathways to net zero by 2050 or sooner’. In other words they would draw up a plan to stop future lending for nasty stuff like pumping fossil fuels out of the ground. ‘The largest financial players in the world recognise energy transition represents a vast commercial opportunity

Aleks Szczerbiak

Poles are tiring of Donald Tusk

In December 2023, a new coalition government led by Donald Tusk – former Polish prime minister, former European Council president – was sworn in, ending the eight-year rule of the right-wing Law and Justice party. Tusk leads the liberal Civic Platform, and his new coalition includes the eclectic Third Way alliance made up of the Polish Peasant party and Poland 2050, along with the smaller New Left party. Last month marked the first anniversary of the Tusk government taking office, and opinion surveys say that most Poles are disappointed with its performance. A United Surveys poll found that 51 per cent of respondents see the Tusk government negatively (21 per

Saturday

4 Jan 2025

Cindy Yu

Elon Musk and the outrage about Britain’s grooming gangs

19 min listen

The grooming gangs scandal is back in the news this week after Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected calls for a government inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham, prompting a conservative backlash. Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, called it ‘shameful’; Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister, labelled Phillips’s title ‘a perversion of the English language.’ Even Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter/X, has piled in, arguing that the Home Office minister ‘deserves to be in prison.’ As the grooming gangs story continues to gather traction, will we see an inquiry? And how should we assess the Home Secretary’s success six months into the job? Cindy Yu speaks to James

Freddy Gray

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