Politics

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

Thursday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The real scandal is how much stamp duty Angela Rayner had to pay

Angela Rayner must resign as Housing Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, obviously. How could she sit on the front bench through a tax-raising budget without everyone’s eyes gravitating towards her, as the minister who thinks tax rises are for everyone else, not her? But the fate of Rayner obscures the bigger scandal here, which is stamp duty itself. No one should be facing a £70,000 bill for buying a two-bedroom flat – nor, for that matter, a £30,000 one, which is the what the bill would be for someone who is genuinely buying a main home for £800,000. The latter sum is not far short of the annual average salary.

Steerpike Steerpike

TaxPayers’ Alliance invite Rayner to join anti-stamp duty campaign

It would be putting it mildly to say that Angela Rayner has had better weeks in politics. The Deputy Prime Minister has been in the spotlight over the last few days after admitting on Wednesday that she had underpaid stamp duty on her third property. While Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a spirited defence of his second-in-command in PMQs, a number of her lefty colleagues are turning against her over the tax affair mess. One Labour MP remarked to the Telegraph: ‘She said she had thought about resigning, and she should give that some more thought now.’ Ouch. But it’s not all bad. The palaver could lead to an unlikely

Laurie Wastell

Labour can’t be trusted to protect free speech

The outrageous arrest of Graham Linehan this week seems almost designed to cause maximum embarrassment to the British government. Just a day after the news broke, Nigel Farage was already raising the case at a free-speech Congressional committee in Washington, DC, where the Reform leader happily played prime-minister-in-waiting as he opined gravely about our values having gone astray. The row comes as US trade talks loom, where free speech will be high on the agenda. The cause célèbre of Lucy Connolly, arrests for prayer in abortion buffer zones, and the effects of the Online Safety Act on US companies will all be discussed. Now, a beloved comedy writer – already forced

John Foreman

The Chief of the Defence Staff who faced Russia head on

On Tuesday, Admiral Tony Radakin finished his term as Chief of the Defence Staff much as he started it – dealing with the immediate and long-term consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There is an irony that Radakin, appointed by Boris Johnson to ‘restore Britain’s position as the foremost naval power in Europe’ as part of a global, maritime strategy, has been defined by his response to a major land war in Europe. During a flying visit to Kyiv, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief praised Radakin for his ‘personal contribution’ to stiffening Ukraine’s defences, and for being the ‘leading advocate’ for providing it with lethal weapons when others wobbled. Radakin was leading

James Heale James Heale

The Tories have played Raynergate well

Angela Rayner is now in a bind. Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser, will report shortly on whether the Deputy Prime Minister’s purchase of a Hove flat broke the ministerial code. If Magnus finds that she did, then Rayner, who in opposition demanded that the code be strengthened, will have to resign. Even if Magnus clears Rayner, questions will remain about the answers that her spokesman has given to the press. Last week, it was claimed that Rayner had ‘paid the correct duty owed on the purchase, entire properly’ and that ‘any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.’ Now, Rayner has admitted that she failed to pay a

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Britain needs a First Amendment

Well, if they’re arresting comedians, at least Nish Kumar is safe. Graham Linehan, not so much. The British like to sniff that Americans don’t get irony. Arresting a comedian fresh off the plane from the US after months of dismissing US concerns about freedom of speech is one way to teach them. Not only was Linehan detained by the police for tweets attacking an establishment-approved ideology, he was subsequently bailed on the condition that he not post any further tweets. Britain is never beating the allegations.  I’m a Glinner (his X handle) sceptic. I began writing in opposition to gender identity ideology in 2019, and have the scars to show for it,

Theo Hobson Theo Hobson

The vampiric desires of Putin and Xi

‘They’re vampires’ was my first thought. I had just heard the news that Putin and Xi were discussing how to prolong their lives, as they walked toward their places at the Tiananmen Square military parade. On the official news footage, Putin’s translator could be heard saying in Chinese: ‘Biotechnology is continuously developing.’ And then: ‘Human organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and [you can] even achieve immortality.’ Xi responded: ‘Some predict that in this century humans may live to 150 years old.’ Kim Jong-un was there too, but is not known to have contributed to the conversation. Maybe the blood-sucking image came to

Dalibor Rohac

Poland’s divisions are bad news for Europe

Against the background of turbulent transatlantic relations, the visit this week of Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, to Washington was deemed a success. US president Donald Trump affirmed continuation of US commitment to Poland’s security and invited Poland to join G20, in a testament to the country’s impressive economic record. Yet the trip also leaves a bitter aftertaste by exposing the depth of Poland’s political divisions. These splits are starting to affect Poland’s ability to throw around its weight on the global stage – precisely at a moment when Poland’s voice is more needed than ever. The world is not standing still, waiting for Poland to sort out its affairs Poland

Kristina Murkett

Free childcare shouldn’t just be for working mothers

This week, we had a rare example of a family-friendly policy coming into effect: working parents of children aged 9 months or over will now have access to 30 hours of free childcare a week during term time. I should be elated by this news: I went back to work part-time after 11 months of maternity leave on Monday. My son is now at a childminder 3 days a week, and so this policy is saving me roughly £360 a week (a full-time nursery place in Oxford, where I live, will easily set you back £2,000 a month without any funding).  Yet my feelings are mixed at best. Partly this

Rod Dreher

Graham Linehan’s arrest exposes Britain’s soft totalitarianism

A softer version of totalitarianism has been gnawing its way through the British body politic like a cancer for many years now. With the Graham Linehan arrest at Heathrow this week, it seems to have metastasized into something entirely malignant. If Linehan’s arrest isn’t a bright red line for Britain, what on earth would be? If Linehan’s arrest isn’t a bright red line for Britain, what on earth would be? A decade ago, living in the United States at the dawn of the Great Awokening, I began hearing from older people who had fled to America from the Soviet bloc, seeking freedom. They were telling me that the things they

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Why do western activists keep quiet about Africa’s LGBT crackdown?

Burkina Faso’s transitional legislative assembly passed a bill this week to outlaw homosexuality – making it the 32nd out of 54 African countries to criminalise homosexuality. The legislation, enacted under the military junta-run country’s new Persons and Family Code, penalises ‘behaviour likely to promote homosexual practices’ with prison sentences up to five years. The move is part of Burkina Faso’s military leader Ibrahim Traoré’s vocal crackdown on ‘western values’. Burkina Faso has now become the 32nd out of 54 African countries to criminalise homosexuality. Neighbouring Mali, also run by a military junta spearheaded by Assimi Goïta, passed a similar ban in November. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Abdourahamane Tchiani’s Niger, which

The Spectator

The high price of Britain’s misguided energy policy

Britain’s energy policy is a mess. We have the highest energy prices in the developed world, which is damaging competitiveness, crippling our economy and accelerating the decline of our industries. This is not just economically illiterate, but also environmentally counterproductive and socially regressive. The drive to reduce carbon emissions produced by the UK may seem noble but it is an organised hypocrisy. We import goods produced elsewhere by nations far less scrupulous about their energy sources and end up off-shoring our emissions, and indeed jobs. Our domestic production of carbon looks lower on paper but our overall consumption remains the same – and the impact on global climate is nugatory

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Keir Starmer’s reshuffle, Graham Linehan’s arrest and get ready for Storm Wubbo

Home Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, told the Commons that new applications for refugee family reunion visas would be suspended. She later said in a radio interview: ‘I have St George’s bunting. I also have Union Jack bunting.’ An injunction stopping the Bell Hotel, Epping, from housing asylum seekers was overturned by the Court of Appeal. Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, and Mohammad Kabir, 23, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton on 22 July. Only 56 migrants arrived in England in small boats in the seven days to 1 September. Tommy Robinson, the right-wing agitator, faced

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

The glorious campness of Reform

It’s a very serious and rancorous time in Britain. Social strife is simmering. The asylum system is at breaking point. The lines on the economics graphs are all going in unsettling directions – the ones you’d prefer to see going down are going up, and vice versa. And inevitably the Overton window is shifting. Though perhaps not in the way any of us expected. Reform is currently odds-on to form the next government. Nigel Farage’s party meets for its conference in Birmingham this week at 35 per cent in the polls. But that’s not because it’s bracingly right-wing. Or not just. It’s because Reform is camp. At a time when

Tim Shipman

‘He’s like a passive-aggressive Gordon Brown’: inside Keir Starmer’s No.10 reshuffle

Isaac Levido, the Tory election strategist who helped secure Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019 and saved the Tories from oblivion in 2024, says (with the wisdom of grim experience) that ‘politicians are confidence players’. They perform best when their tails are up. In 2019 he had a candidate with his tail up who took the public with him. In 2024, in Rishi Sunak, he had a leader who had suffered a major crisis of confidence and projected a self-fulfilling air of doom. This eternal truth is likely to be reinforced on Saturday when Nigel Farage takes to the stage in Birmingham for the first party conference speech he has

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Tories seek ‘digital army’ to take on Farage

It is a tough time for the Tories right now. Nigel Farage’s grinning face appears to be everywhere, as the Conservatives desperately try to find fresh relevance in opposition. One idea that some senior figures within Conservative Campaign Headquarters have alighted upon in recent months is creating a new ‘digital army’. The hope is that ever-online true-blue types will function in the same way that Reform’s internet supporters do for Farage: amplifying the party’s message and posting support for leader Kemi Badenoch. This evening saw the last salvo in this e-initiative. An email went out to the Tories’ young guns, urging them to volunteer for instruction in the nation’s capital.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Of course tax rises won’t help economic growth

What’s the most idiotic question ever posed by an interviewer? There was the real-life Sally Jockstrap who asked David Gower whether he considered himself a batsman or a bowler. Or the Radio 1 DJ who asked Marc Almond – at the height of his fame with Soft Cell – whether he was going steady with a girl. But my nomination goes to Anna Foster on the Today programme this morning. In the midst of an interview with economist Mohamed El-Erian about Britain’s dire fiscal state, she suddenly posed: ‘Would raising taxes at this stage, would that help growth?’ I had to listen back on the catch-up facility to check that

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

How authoritarian is Trump 2.0?

33 min listen

On this episode, Nick Gillespie, Reason’s editor at large, joins Freddy to discuss whether Trump 2.0 is really as authoritarian as people say. Is he closer to a gangster than a dictator? They also discuss tariffs, the weaponisation of the Justice Department, and the state of free speech in the UK.

Danny Shaw

The Met can’t blame politicians for the Linehan arrest

If it had been a sketch in one of his many comedy shows, it would surely have been rejected as too absurd.  After landing at Heathrow on a flight from Arizona, Graham Linehan, the Irish comic who created Father Ted, was arrested by five armed police officers for tweets that he had posted five months ago. The 57-year-old was told he was being held on suspicion of a public order offence. He was taken to a police station and questioned for several hours, before being released on police bail.  The Commissioner is correct to say that police should not be ‘policing toxic culture wars’. We need them to focus on real crimes such

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Farage warns Congress about UK speech laws

Prime Minister Keir Starmer took aim at Nigel Farage in PMQs today for not being in the Chamber. In fact, the Reform leader is on the other side of the Atlantic, testifying to the House Judiciary Committee on the state of free speech in the UK. The timing couldn’t have been better for Farage, what with the release of Lucy Connolly from prison (after she was incarcerated over a social media post) and the arrest of comedian Graham Linehan providing extraordinary case studies for the Clacton MP. And the Reform politician was not holding back. First saying that he would have brought Connolly with him, had she not been restricted