Politics

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

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Poll: children’s exposure to porn higher after Online Safety Act

Well, well, well. According to research by the children’s commissioner for England, children’s exposure to pornography has increased since the Online Safety Act came into effect. Dame Rachel de Souza noted that a survey had found that more young people said they’d been exposed to porn before the age of 18 after the new rules were introduced compared to the results of a similar survey in 2023. How very interesting. Over a quarter of people said they had seen online porn by the age of 11 – with some rather disturbingly noting they were ‘aged six or younger’ when asked about their first exposure. Seven out of ten young people

Madeline Grant

The joy of Giorgia Meloni

There are not, as far as I know, any Italian top-flight poker players. Italians are hardly renowned for their ability to suppress their facial expressions or conceal what they’re really thinking. In this regard they are unusually well-represented by their Premier, Giorgia Meloni. Her visible hatred of Emmanuel Macron is often conveyed through withering stares Upon becoming Italy’s prime minister in 2022, Ms Meloni was written off by the bien-pensant Anglophone press as a far-right extremist, destined for her rag tag coalition to crash like so many Italian governments before. Contra this narrative, she took her seat beside president Trump at the leaders’ round table in Washington DC yesterday. He even

James Kirkup James Kirkup

Kill the single state pension age

When William Beveridge designed the welfare state in the 1940s, the state pension age was 65 for men and 60 for women. Life expectancy for a man was around 66, and around 71 for a woman. The pension was not designed to fund decades of leisure: it was a modest provision for the last couple of years of life, one that not everyone would receive. Today, life expectancy for a man aged 66 (the current state pension age) is around 85, and a woman aged 66 can expect to live until she is 88. The average person now spends close to a fifth of their life in retirement. What was

Matthew Lynn

Trump may regret investing in Intel microchips

When President Trump unveils a massive investment in the microchip manufacturer Intel on behalf of the American people it will no doubt be accompanied by all the usual hyperbole. No doubt we will hear all about how it will be the ‘deal of the century’, delivered personally by the ‘investor in chief’. But hold on. Sure, we can understand why the President wants to help one of the US’s most strategic companies. But the blunt truth is that Intel is well past its peak – and it will prove to be a terrible deal.  It will be one of the largest industrial investments the White House has ever made. According

Steerpike Steerpike

Scottish Labour faces councillor crisis as Reform eyes up seats

It’s not a good time to be in Scottish Labour. With nine months to go until the 2026 Holyrood election, the party is still trailing behind the SNP and, at times, Reform UK. And things aren’t going well at a local level either: in recent months the party has suspended five councillors over inappropriate conduct and today one of these, Fife council’s David Graham, has been jailed for 27 months after the 43-year-old was found guilty for sexually abusing a vulnerable teenager. Good heavens… A by-election will be held in Fife’s Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages ward in due course – with opposition parties keeping tabs on a number of

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

It feels good to see the return of the St George’s Cross

There you have it: in certain parts of England it’s easier to fly the Palestine flag than the English flag. Take Tower Hamlets in London. The Palestine colours fluttered from lampposts there for months in the aftermath of Hamas’s 7 October pogrom. Yet when patriots tried to hoist up the St George’s flag this week, they found themselves surrounded by officious council workers. Their flags were unceremoniously yanked down. Seems English pride is haram in modern London. The flag wars in Tower Hamlets are so telling. There was a period when the Palestine flag was omnipresent there. It was untouchable. That perhaps wasn’t surprising: the council is led by Lutfur

Svitlana Morenets Svitlana Morenets

Zelensky’s diplomatic masterclass

13 min listen

What a difference six months makes. The last time Zelensky and Trump met in Washington we were mourning the end of America’s commitment to security in Europe and a new era of isolationism. But yesterday was a totally different story – and Zelensky deserves much of the credit for his change in tactics. Trump complimented Zelensky’s suit as he arrived at the White House, the two exchanged warm words of thanks, and while they didn’t manage to settle on anything substantial when it comes to a peace deal, there was some vague consensus on security guarantees. The stage seems set for a Trump/Putin/Zelensky trilateral. The mood seems positive but is

Alexander Larman

John Boyne and the bitter truth about the Polari Prize

The news that the Polari Prize for LGBTQ+ writing is not to be awarded this year after outrage that the novelist John Boyne was included on the longlist represents one of the more head-scratching reversals that the world of books has seen in a considerable time. Boyne’s novel Earth was selected on merit, but the Irish author, who proudly describes himself as a ‘Terf’ and has dared to be photographed with JK Rowling, the nemesis of the trans movement, was swiftly pilloried as soon as the longlist was announced on 1 August. Judges resigned in disgust and other longlisted writers called Boyne’s views ‘disgusting’ Judges resigned in disgust, other longlisted

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Labour’s grants won’t save the electric car market

Keir Starmer’s government continues to show off its remarkable ability to please absolutely no one. Reintroducing grants for electric cars (EVs) always was an outrage. Why is a government which rails against privilege when it comes to public schools, second homes, etc., splashing out taxpayers’ money to subsidise the second cars of relatively well-off motorists? Most people I know with electric cars also have a petrol or diesel car for longer journeys. Moreover, if you are going to chuck a bung worth thousands of pounds at people who buy a car a little less polluting than a petrol or diesel car, what about people who don’t buy a car at

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

Lisa Nandy, Nigel Farage and a tale of two silly political shirts

Two shirts were in the news at the weekend, both worn by politicians. In the light blue corner, we had Nigel Farage launching his personally branded football strip top – in Reform colours, with the name Farage and the number 10, a bargain at £39.99 (£99.99 if you want it signed by the man himself). In the red corner, meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy attended Wigan Pride – one of the never-ending LGBTQ+ moveable feast days that populate the calendar on either side of the holy Pride month itself – wearing the official t-shirt of the event, emblazoned with a ‘trans rights’ slogan. Farage’s football top has gone down very

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Hamas’s hostage deal is a catch-22 for Netanyahu

The fragile negotiations between Israel and Hamas have once again entered a decisive phase, marked by the unveiling of a new ceasefire-hostage release proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. This proposal, which Hamas has reportedly accepted, includes notable shifts in its previous demands. Yet the core dilemma confronting the Israeli leadership remains unchanged: whether to accept a partial agreement that could save lives in the short term but risks undermining its broader strategic aims. According to multiple sources, Hamas has moderated two of its key positions that previously stalled talks. It is now seeking the release of 140 prisoners serving life sentences instead of 200, and has agreed to a

Maxwell Marlow

The abolition of stamp duty can’t come soon enough

A rare kernel of hopefully good news has been circulating the Treasury. No, we haven’t yet paid off the £2.7 trillion debt, and the state pension is still on path to imploding in a decade’s time. Instead, Britain’s most destructive and ambition-killing tax is for the chop and is to be replaced with a much more sensible system. Property prices have risen by 259 per cent since 1997, with wages only rising by a lowly 68 per cent Stamp Duty Land Tax has its origins in Regency England, and as the name suggests, it originally was levied on stamped documents in order to fund Britain’s war against Napoleon. In 1815, the stamp duty

Nigel Jones

The remarkable life of Peter Kemp, warrior and Spectator writer

Today is the 110th anniversary of the birth of a former Spectator correspondent who took part in and survived more wars than any other English writer in modern history. Yet he is practically forgotten today because he fought all his life for unfashionable conservative causes. Peter Kemp, the son of a judge in the Indian Raj, was born in Bombay on 19 August 1915. Educated at Wellington, and destined for the law like his father, he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, the alma mater of the notorious Communist sympathising Soviet spies Kim Philby, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt. He remained utterly unashamed of having chosen the ‘wrong’ side in Spain

Owen Matthews

The Ukraine summit ignored the difficult questions

What a lovely meeting Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies had with Donald Trump. The US President complimented Zelensky on his outfit, German Chancellor Merz on his ‘great tan’, and said that Finnish President Alexander Stubb was ‘looking better than I’ve ever seen you look!’ Everyone – especially Zelensky – laughed uproariously at all Trump’s jokes. And all eight leaders present were at great pains to pretend that they were on the same page when it came to achieving peace in Ukraine.  But there was one small thing missing from this White House festival of bonhomie and mutual flattery, and that was a substantive discussion of the actual nuts and

Monday

Jacob Heilbrunn

Donald Trump was on his best behaviour in his meeting with Zelensky

It was back to black for Volodymyr Zelensky. After the Trump White House asked whether he was going to wear a suit for his Oval Office meeting, the Ukrainian president showed up in a dark military-style jacket, pleasing his hosts to no end. Even Brian Glenn, boyfriend of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and reporter for Real America’s Voice, who had dissed Zelensky in February, commended him on his habiliments, declaring ‘you look fabulous in that suit.’ Zelensky was pleased. So was Trump. The biggest obstacle to a peace deal, of course, is whether Putin even wants one In fact, Trump was on his best behaviour. After ranting earlier in the morning that

Madeline Grant

Trump-Zelensky II went off without a hitch

Not since Barack Obama held a press conference dressed as the Man from Del Monte has a suit played such a critical role in US politics. But there it was, after the spring press conference incident, President Zelensky arrived in Washington DC wearing a suit. The YMCA-loving Trump administration is hardly batting off the accusations of campery given its fixation with menswear. Still, Zelensky came, as did all of Europe.  All the handshakes went off without a hitch, although the size difference meant that the visuals were slightly more redolent of panto than high diplomatic drama. Zelensky handed a letter from his wife to the First Lady, thanking her for

Phoebe Arslanagic-Little

Why killer drivers escape lifetime bans

Tracy Bibby had already been banned from driving in 2006 and 2016. In 2019, while her second driving ban was still in effect, she got behind the wheel of a van and began driving dangerously. While, according to the judge, ‘behaving like a Formula 1 driver’ in order to ‘show off’, Bibby crashed the van into a house, killing its occupant, a 90-year-old woman. Bibby consistently lied to the police after the crash, telling them she had not been the driver. But CCTV evidence showed that she had in fact entered the van on the driver’s side. Found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, Bibby was jailed for four

Stephen Pollard

Reform has to distance itself from extremists

According to the National – a worrying phrase, I admit, given the Scottish newspaper’s obsessive adulation of anyone pro-Scottish independence and its obsessive hostility to anyone who opposes it – this weekend saw a Scottish Reform councillor share a platform with a member of a far-right group at a protest outside a Falkirk hotel housing asylum seekers. While Cllr Mackie-Brown may have been out of her depth and blindsided by what she heard, one might expect that Reform itself would have a ready-made response to such issues What is most interesting about this story is not the protest itself, or even the Reform councillor’s presence. It is the response of Reform

Matthew Gould

Why Nigel Farage should go big on nature

Dear Nigel Farage, We haven’t met, but I have a great idea for you. I head the Zoological Society of London. We’re a conservation charity, not party political but dedicated to protecting wildlife. You might approve – we’re a venerable national institution, 200 years old next year and still proud of our royal connections (though so is the RNLI, and you’ve gone off them).   Anyway, here’s the idea: go big on nature. Make protecting Britain’s natural heritage one of your things. Outflank the government on bats and badgers. Become Swampy in red trousers. It makes sense in all sorts of ways.   What could be more conservative than protecting the landscapes and wildlife that

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: Mental health claims see Foreign Office absences soar

Back to the UK’s bloated civil service. As if the government didn’t have enough on its plate trying to slash Whitehall red tape, the number of sick days taken by civil servants won’t help Sir Keir Starmer’s army pick up the pace on progress. Civil servant absences are on track to reach a record high – and the Foreign Office is no exception to the trend. Mr S can reveal the number of sick days taken by FCDO mandarins shot up by more than 50 per cent in the financial year ending March 2024 compared to the previous year – while the number of days lost to mental health issues