Politics

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

Wednesday

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Nandy changes her tune on the culture wars

Labour won the election on a campaign of change and its politicians certainly have a knack for, um, changing their minds. Sir Keir has made some fascinating U-turns over the years, and it now appears that Lisa Nandy has a taken a leaf out of his book – rather publicly changing her tune on the culture wars. ‘The era of culture wars is over,’ Nandy proclaimed in her first speech as Culture Secretary earlier this month. ‘For too long, for too many people, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation has not reflected them, their communities or their lives. This is how polarisation, division and isolation thrives.’

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Starmer’s plan to deal with Labour’s hard left

There was a ripple of shock across the House of Commons on Tuesday night after Keir Starmer withdrew the whip from seven Labour MPs for backing an amendment on lifting the two-child benefit cap. Parliament’s new awkward squad includes some familiar faces of the Labour left, such as John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana. The cast list is such that it’s unlikely Keir Starmer’s inner circle will lose much sleep about these MPs being without the whip for six months. The bigger question is whether they will actually get it back. The first rebellion of the Labour government was always seen as a key test But while it’s the hard left

Sam Meadows

A football chant is causing problems for Javier Milei

When the final whistle blew and Argentina’s players celebrated another Copa America triumph – the icing on the cake of a three-year spell of dominance in international football – few would have predicted that it would cause a rift to appear in government. But, just days and a racism scandal later, that is what appears to have happened.  Javier Milei is no stranger to diplomatic incidents. The libertarian ‘anarcho-capitalist’ has called Pope Francis an imbecile and Brazil’s president Lula a communist – but his vice president’s defence of (some) of the Argentina’s players’ use of a racist and homophobic football chant has proven to be beyond the pale. Villarruel was also

Jonathan Spyer

Here’s how Israel can win

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was photographed on his flight to the US earlier this week next to a hat bearing the slogan ‘total victory.’ Those two words somewhat obscure reality: Israel is yet to fully outline what would constitute victory in the currently three-front war (against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Ansar Allah (Houthis) in Yemen).  Netanyahu is hardly alone among politicians and statesmen in his preferring vagueness over specificity. Vagueness provides flexibility, and enables a variety of possible end states to be presented as an achievement. You do not have to subscribe to the view held by Netanyahu’s opponents, that the Prime Minister cares only

Debbie Hayton

What Elon Musk gets right about the plight of trans kids

Elon Musk is the richest person in the world but it’s clear that money can’t always buy happiness. The X/ Twitter owner spoke movingly of his family, in particular his eldest surviving child, during an emotional interview with Jordan Peterson. ‘My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus’, the father-of-12 lamented. ‘The people who have been promoting this should go to prison,’ said Musk  Musk claimed that he had been ‘tricked’ into allowing one of his children who transitioned from male to female to take puberty blockers after hearing that the child might otherwise be at risk from suicide. The billionaire now appears to regret that decision

Andrew Tettenborn

Letting the worst universities collapse would be an act of kindness

Nobody said much about it before the election, but the new government inherits a ghastly financial problem with the higher education system. Rising costs, stagnant tuition fees, and a big drop in foreign student enrolments have left several universities tottering like ivory Jenga towers. We probably have too many universities This week we got an inkling of what education secretary Bridget Phillipson and higher education minister Jacqui Smith are thinking of doing about this mess. Not surprisingly, big money bail-outs are out (chancellor Rachel Reeves won’t allow them), as are increases in student fees (which backbenchers wouldn’t stand for). Instead, apart from telling the institutions in trouble to tighten their belts, the

Tuesday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

James Cleverly becomes the first Tory candidate to declare 

James Cleverly has become the first candidate to declare in the Conservative leadership contest. Announcing the news tonight in an op-ed for the Telegraph, the shadow home secretary made the pitch that he ‘can unite the Conservatives and overturn Starmer’s loveless landslide’.  He says: We need to rediscover confidence that our core values are shared by the British public and present an offer of unity, security, and prosperity. We must ditch the self indulgent infighting and be ready to deliver when the next chance comes. This will take dedication, discipline and focus. More announcements are expected in the coming days after the 1922 committee agreed the rules and timetable for

James Heale James Heale

Seven Labour MPs lose the whip

In the end, the great two-child benefit cap revolt proved to be somewhat underwhelming. The measure was always likely to fail given Labour’s mammoth majority of 172, with the government winning the vote by 363 votes to 103. Only seven of Keir Starmer’s MPs defied the entreaties of the Labour whips to vote in favour of the SNP’s amendment to the King’s Speech to scrap the policy. Their names are a handy ‘who’s who’ guide to the Labour left awkward squad: Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long Bailey, Zarah Sultana and ring-leader John McDonnell. All seven have tonight had the whip suspended for six months, before

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Farage in diversity stand-off with Commons bosses

It’s a red letter day for Nigel Farage. The former Ukip leader entered parliament this month at the eighth attempt of trying and today delivered his maiden speech to fellow MPs. In an address that mixed wit and wisdom, Farage observed the custom of paying tribute to a member’s predecessor by saying of Giles Watling that he was a ‘jolly nice chap’ despite ‘having nothing even vaguely conservative about him.’ But there is one Commons convention that Mr S understands he will not be observing. All MPs are invited attend inclusion and diversity training by the House of Commons, with newly elected members offered a place on seminars titled ‘Behaviour

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Watch: Farage makes maiden speech in Commons

To the House of Commons, where today Reform’s Nigel Farage made his maiden speech after returning from Milwaukee’s RNC. Attempting a number of times to gain access to the Commons, Farage was successful on his eighth shot this election – and this afternoon’s speech shows he’s wasting no time getting down to business. In his characteristically caustic fashion, Farage was quick to hit out at his parliamentary colleagues – taking special care to focus on Labour’s lefty lot. ‘This is very much a Remainers parliament,’ Farage proclaimed, before adding cynically: ‘I suspect in many cases it’s really a rejoiners parliament.’ Oo er. With prominent leavers from Jacob Rees-Mogg to Penny

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Streeting hammers Tories on NHS

We know that the NHS is broken: Wes Streeting announced that it was now the official policy of this government when he entered the Department of Health and Social Care. Today he had a chance to elaborate on just what exactly he thought was broken – and of course to point the finger at who was responsible. It was his first departmental questions in the House of Commons, and like every other incoming Secretary of State, Streeting made sure he laid on the ‘Tories broke this’ line as thickly as cream on a scone. Pointing to shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins, he described the hospital building programme: I once again

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Huw Edwards got £40,000 pay rise despite suspension

Back to the BBC, which these days is better at being in the news than making it. The six-figure salary list for 2023-24 has been published and with it come some quite interesting revelations. Top earner Gary Lineker received £1.35 million, while Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball isn’t too far behind on £950,000. Big names including Greg James, Stephen Nolan and Fiona Bruce saw their salaries increase while politicos Laura Kuenssberg and Nick Robinson also made the list. But, most interestingly, Mr S notices that Huw Edwards saw his salary rise by a colossal £40,000 last year – despite not having worked for most of the last 12 months. Edwards

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Will president Biden pardon Hunter?

After President Biden announced he would be standing down on Sunday evening, it’s been all go in the White House. But while speculation about the next Democrat nominee continues, there is a separate side plot that Mr S is rather interested in – involving Biden’s son. Robert Hunter Biden has spent a fair amount of time in the limelight over the years, for scandals both personal – crack cocaine use, infidelity and a two-year relationship with his late brother’s wife – and professional, with his dealings in China and Ukraine. Last month, the eldest son of the US president was found guilty of lying about his drug use when purchasing a handgun

Daniel Rey

Biden’s legacy is in Harris’s hands

Joe Biden did the honourable thing. It took dire polls and home truths from donors and allies, but the President finally admitted that his political race is over.  Biden was trailing Donald Trump in the swing states – in some cases with a wide margin – and was showing little sign of being able to close the gap. On course for defeat, Biden made his decision in the interests of his party and country, but also his legacy.  Biden’s legacy could go one of two ways. Like almost every US president, his tenure has included both major successes and significant failures. While some of his major achievements, such as record

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Liz Kendall promises a game-changer on welfare

Seven Labour MPs had the whip suspended after voting against the two-child benefit cap, but this is a small taste of what awaits Labour. In her first major, Liz Kendall has set herself a target of hitting an 80 per cent employment rate – bolder than anything the Tories ever shot for. It is higher not only than today’s 72 per cent but (far) higher than the all-time, pre-lockdown record of 74 per cent. It is precisely the right target, for economic and social reasons. But it is one that can only be achieved via serious, game-changing welfare reform. The new Work and Pensions Secretary has inherited a full-blown welfare

Matthew Lynn

Labour will struggle with its plan to get Britain back to work

Liz Kendall wants Britain to get back to work. The Work and Pensions Secretary has unveiled a target for the country to reach an 80 per cent employment rate. But hold on: that ‘ambition’, as the government is calling it, is completely unrealistic. Labour’s plan to reverse the dire labour market and drive up Britain’s employment rate seems certain to fall short of its ambitious target. Spending on sickness and disability benefits is set to increase by £30 billion over the next five years Britain is the only country in the G7 whose employment rate has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels: 2.8 million people are out of work because of

Jake Wallis Simons Jake Wallis Simons

After Biden, the deluge

Remember that $230 million ‘humanitarian pier’ that the Americans moored off the coast of Gaza? It was announced with great fanfare in Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in March. But earlier this month, the White House quietly mothballed the project. It had not been built to withstand inclement weather, you see, so sections of the causeway broke off and washed up among the sunbathers on Tel Aviv’s Frishman Beach. During the first week in which the pier had been operational, three-quarters of the aid it delivered had been stolen by unspecified Palestinians on the way to a UN warehouse. Who would have thought that the administration responsible for

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Miliband will need natural gas to hit net zero

Three weeks into the new Labour government and it is already becoming clear where some of its weaknesses lie – none more so than Ed Miliband’s promise to decarbonise the electricity grid, save consumers money and boost the economy with many thousands of ‘well-paid green jobs’. Today the Royal Academy of Engineering weighs in with its own assessment of Miliband’s chances. Its verdict? That even if the government wants to decarbonise the grid, Britain is going to have to invest in new gas plants – and ‘unabated’ ones (i.e. not fitted with carbon capture and storage CCS technology) at that. Even in an optimistic scenario, the Academy thinks that in

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Nadine Dorries takes aim at Emily Maitlis’s ‘cosy “centrist” podcast’

Another day, another drama – only this time it’s not MPs in the spotlight. Now politician-turned-pundit Nadine Dorries has taken aim at journalist Emily Maitlis and her ‘cosy “centrist” podcast’ The News Agents. In a scathing attack laid out in the fine pages of the Daily Mail, Dorries slams Maitlis’s ‘neurotic’ perspective of politics, her obsession with ‘remaining “relevant”‘ and her, um, ‘orange permatan’. Ouch. The former cabinet minister described how she had been invited on Maitlis’ podcast only to be asked, charmingly, whether she was ‘unhinged’. ‘I had no particular desire to be on The News Agents,’ Dorries fumed, continuing: ‘I won’t tolerate being spoken to like that by a

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SNP leader convinced party in ‘strong position’ for 2026

To Scotland, where First Minister John Swinney appears to be trying to make a career for himself as a spin doctor. The leader of the Nats has a new tactic to win back support for his beleaguered party – convince voters that, contrary to their daily experiences, his party has actually been, er, ‘formidable’ over the 17 years it has clung onto power in Holyrood. During a trip to Aberdeenshire, the FM also suggested that the SNP’s bad press is down to a lack of ‘appreciation’ of all it has achieved. Pull the other one… The Nats saw dozens of Westminster MPs ousted at the election – and lost their