Politics

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

Friday

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Pro-indy paper clashes with BBC over ‘propaganda’ claims 

The Beeb is no stranger to controversy, and now pro-independence Scottish newspaper the National is on the warpath. The editor of the secessionist journal has taken to Twitter to fume after the BBC’s business editor described her august paper as ‘propaganda’ multiple times on one of the broadcaster’s own podcasts. Talk about saying the quiet part aloud, eh? The podcast in question is the BBC’s Media Show, featuring an interview with BBC Scotland business editor Douglas Fraser. The offending clip first features discussions of the 2014 indyref’s tenth anniversary before considering the impact of the independence debate on newspaper subscriptions. ‘One title,’ Fraser began, ‘with a strong propaganda approach to

James Heale James Heale

Is the energy price cap hike bad news for Labour?

17 min listen

Ofgem, the energy regulator, has announced that the price cap will rise by 10% in October. Is this bad news for Labour, or will they be successful in framing it as part of their economic inheritance from the Conservatives? And could this strengthen opposition to the proposed change to winter fuel allowance? Patrick Gibbons speaks to James Heale and John McTernan, former political secretary to Tony Blair.  Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Cindy Yu.

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Greens face yet more climate hypocrisy charges

The eco-zealots never do manage to stay quiet for long. After Levelling-Up Secretary Angela Rayner approved the expansion of operations at London City Airport earlier this week – in a rebuke to the Labour-run Newham Council attempting to block it – the Green party has launched its latest protest. But the eco-activists would do better to think before they speak, as once again they’re facing a rather uncomfortable charge of climate hypocrisy themselves… Labour’s move means that passenger capacity at London City Airport will rise by a whopping 40 per cent – from 6.5 million annual flyers to around 9 million. LCY has also been given permission to offer three

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

When will Rachel Reeves take responsibility for the economy?

Is Britain finally heading for growth? This week, the Treasury released its collection of short-term forecasts for the economy. The average growth prediction for this year has reached a new high of 1.1 per cent – still unimpressive, but a significant improvement from the 0.4 per cent expected at the beginning of the year. It’s welcome news for the Chancellor. JP Morgan bumped up its forecasts this week as well, predicting 0.4 per cent growth between July and September, which equates to an annual growth rate of 1.5 per cent. Even more good news came from the GfK Consumer Confidence Index, Britain’s longest-running measure of economic sentiment, which held at

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Now animal activists call for ‘vegan friendly’ paint names

If it’s not Just Stop Oil eco-zealots causing havoc, it’s the animal rights activists creating a fuss. Now it transpires that Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is on the warpath – about, er, paint names. Just when you think things can’t get much weirder… Peta – which ‘opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview’ – has hit out at the prestigious decorating firm of Farrow & Ball over the names of some of its high-end colourants. Criticising the company for the names given to certain shades – Dead Salmon and Smoked Trout being some of the most contentious pigments – Peta has demanded that the firm consider ‘updating’ the

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

What do the Democrats believe in?

29 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Aidan McLaughlin, the editor in chief of Mediaite, and Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine, as the Democratic National Convention draws to a close. Kamala Harris has had a dramatic rise to the top of the democratic ticket, but what does she really believe in? And is opposition to Donald Trump the only thing that unites the party?  Produced by Natasha Feroze and Patrick Gibbons.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The energy price cap hike is just the start of Labour’s problems

As far as the economy goes, Sir Keir Starmer has enjoyed something of a golden honeymoon. True, he has had riots to deal with, but economic growth has been stronger than many anticipated, while a small uptick in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) allowed the Bank of England to reduce interest rates earlier this month. Everything appeared to be going in the right direction – until this morning, that is. Ofgem have announced that the energy price cap will rise in October by 9 per cent, adding an average of £149 to annual bills. While a rise was expected, this is a substantial rise at a time when inflation seemed

Andrew Tettenborn

Louise Haigh’s LTN policy is doomed to fail

The Labour party is in a bind over cars. Its instincts – collectivist, green, managerialist – strongly favour anti-car measures like low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) with roads strategically blocked off, and 20 mph speed limits. Unfortunately motorists overwhelmingly disagree. In Wales, the new government under Eluned Morgan has learnt this to its cost. Faced with something like a 70 per cent disapproval rate of the national default 20 mph limit in urban areas, it has now been humiliatingly forced to roll it back. It’s working people who will bear the brunt of these anti-car measures In England, Transport Minister Louise Haigh has sought to play a more subtle game. She has, it

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Kamala Harris’s DNC speech was surprisingly good

Chicago The Democratic National Convention this week has been all razzle, dazzle and repetition. Endless platitudes about freedom, values, love, America, patriotism, hope, unity – ‘turning the page on Trump’ and ‘turning hate into hope’. The implicit message: don’t go thinking too hard about whether Kamala Harris could be a good president. Away from the hype, though, people are wondering: what might America’s first woman commander-in-chief do in office? Some dared to believe Harris might tell us in her acceptance speech – the most significant moment of her political career. It was, appropriately enough, the most substantial speech of the whole convention And, to a small extent, she did. Harris may be

Thursday

Michael Evans

Will Israel and Hamas sign a peace deal?

The omens for a ceasefire deal in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are looking alarmingly bleak following the latest shuttle diplomacy by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state. The US ‘bridging proposal’ aimed at resolving contested issues raised after the three-stage peace formula offered by President Biden on 31 May appears to be dead in the water. Central to the impasse is the insistence by Benjamin Netanyahu that Israeli troops must be allowed to remain in two security corridors in Gaza to ensure that even if the fighting has stopped Israel will retain the ability to watch for and deter any future attempts by Hamas to rearm or launch attacks

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

All hail Harris! Can Kamala bluff her way to the top?

36 min listen

This week: All hail Harris! As the Democratic National Convention approaches its climax, The Spectator’s deputy editor Freddy Gray explores vice president Kamala Harris’s remarkable rise to the top of the democratic ticket in his cover article this week. Freddy joins the podcast from Chicago (1:30). Next: live from the DNC. Freddy and Natasha Feroze, The Spectator’s deputy broadcast editor, have been out and about at the convention talking to delegates – and detractors – of the Democratic Party. What do these Americans think? And does Kamala Harris have ‘good vibes’? (7:56). Then: should misogyny really be classified under anti-terrorism laws? In the magazine this week The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews argues that the

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Andrea Jenkyns hits out at ‘classless’ Labour successor

Oh dear. It seems that all is not well in Leeds. Former Tory MP for Leeds South West and Morley, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, has taken to Facebook today to slam the ‘insensitivity’ of the constituency’s new MP, Labour’s Mark Sewards. It seems that cross-party relations are only, er, souring… Jenkyns slammed her ‘classless’ successor for ‘gloating’ about his success, claiming he not only messaged her days after she lost her seat about office space, but actually turned up at her office and ‘upset’ her staff. Taking to social media to vent, Jenkyns fumed: Today, my office manager has just rang me, Sewards has visited my office, my team are still

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Can Labour crack apprenticeships?

11 min listen

Today’s GCSE results show an exams system that has largely returned to pre-Covid norms. It has also given the government a chance to talk about skills and apprenticeships – something that Bridget Phillipson’s predecessor as education secretary was also keen on. Cindy Yu talks to James Heale and Amanda Spielman, former chair of Ofqual and Ofsted, about the state of the British education system. Produced by Cindy Yu.

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Award Taylor Swift for boosting London economy, insist Lib Dems

Just when you think the stunts pulled by Sir Ed Davey’s liberal lot can’t get any stranger, they do. Now the Liberal Democrats are calling for Taylor Swift to receive the ‘Freedom of the City of London’ after her shows filled a ‘blank space’ in the British economy – and the party has even tabled a motion to ‘recognise the cultural and economic impact’ of Swift’s latest Eras tour. Quiet recess, eh? Swift wrapped up the UK leg of her Eras tour this week with an eighth show at Wembley Stadium – breaking a record held by none other than Michael Jackson. Playing to over 1 million fans, the US

Ian Williams Ian Williams

The cracks are appearing in Putin’s relationship with China

Relations between China and Russia are going from strength to strength – or so they say. In reality, the strain is beginning to show. ‘Against the backdrop of accelerating changes unseen in a century, China is willing to further strengthen multilateral coordination with Russia,’ said Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency after a meeting on Wednesday in Moscow between premier Li Qiang and Vladimir Putin. Far more intriguing, though, was what wasn’t said, and which suggests a growing tensions in their ‘no limits’ partnership. First there were the cyber spies. A few days before Li arrived in Russia, Kaspersky, a Moscow-based cyber security company, suggested that Chinese state-linked hackers had

Ross Clark Ross Clark

GCSE grade inflation is finally over

Today’s GSCE results show essentially unchanged performance compared with last year, with 21.7 per cent of pupils achieving grade 7 or above (compared with 21.6 per cent in 2023) and 67.4 per cent achieving grade 4 or above (compared with 67.8 per cent last year). This is still slightly up on 2019, but the Covid bounce in grades which occurred in 2020 and 2021, when exams were not actually sat and pupils were awarded grades based on teachers’ predictions instead, seems to be over. In 2020, 75.9 per cent of candidates achieved grade 4 and above, rising even further to 76.9 per cent in 2021. The pandemic effect lasted into

Matthew Lynn

If Ford can’t crack electric cars, no one can

It had the history, the manufacturing muscle, the capital, and the brand to make it work. When Ford announced plans to create an all-electric SUV, it looked like the moment the major auto manufacturers could finally bring battery-powered cars into the mass market. Until today. The American company has abandoned its plans to build the new electric car, and announced a $1.9 billion write-off on the project citing cost pressures. The trouble is, if the company that more or less invented the mass production of cars a century ago can’t make electric vehicles (EV) work, then it is very hard to believe that any of the Western manufacturers can. If

James Heale James Heale

Yvette Cooper has her work cut out on illegal migration

Happy immigration stats day, one and all. The Home Office has this morning released a raft of data on visa numbers and asylum claims up until June. While Yvette Cooper might prefer to talk about the policing aspect of her brief, the numbers today show the challenges of migration. The figures released today covers three main aspects: legal arrivals (visas granted), illegal migration (primarily small boats) and asylum applications being granted for those who do arrive here illegally. The most common nationality on these not-so-small boats is now Vietnamese Take the number of visas being handed out in the first six months of this year. A mixed pattern emerges here,

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Now more Scottish Tory leadership candidates drop out

Back to Scotland, where the ongoing leadership contest for the next leader is heating up. Nominations for candidates close today, and any potential contender who hasn’t received the backing of 100 members won’t be able to progress to the next round. Frontrunner Russell Findlay hosted his official launch on Monday, and this morning his main rival Murdo Fraser is making his formal bid for the leadership. But in a rather interesting development, a number of MSPs who had initially thrown their hat into the ring have this week dropped out – and jumped ship to Fraser. And then there were three… On Tuesday, ex-Olympian athlete Brian Whittle announced he had

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

What’s happened to RFK Jr?

Third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr is widely expected to drop out of the US presidential race soon, and possibly endorse Donald Trump. Live from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Freddy Gray speaks to Ben Domenech, the Editor at Large of The Spectator World, about how this could affect the election.  As the DNC approaches its climax, following speeches by the Obamas and vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz, Freddy and Ben also talk internal Democratic politics: who stands to benefit if Kamala wins – or loses – in November? Produced by Natasha Feroze and Patrick Gibbons.