Politics Archives

Monday

27 May 2024

There’s trouble ahead for Taiwan’s new president

Not many inaugural ceremonies bring together dragons, dancers, rappers, and a 10-metre-high blue horse breathing steam out of its nostrils. But last Monday morning, as thousands gathered to watch the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president William Lai, Taipei’s residents were treated to just that. And as Lai danced on the stage, he may well have been very happy. His inauguration ceremony, an eclectic display of Taiwanese culture, had gone off without a hitch. Moreover, his inaugural speech, designed to outline a pragmatic foreign policy while developing new ideas to stimulate Taiwan’s economy, had elicited what felt like a relatively muted reaction from Beijing. Like his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen, Lai committed

James Heale

Tories race to find 160 candidates

The decision to call a snap election last Wednesday caught many in Tory and Labour high command by surprise. Both parties are now racing to finalise candidate selections for all 630 seats in Britain by the deadline of Friday 7 June, with Labour much further advanced in this process than the Conservatives. Fewer than 35 constituencies currently lack a Labour candidate, and some in Keir Starmer’s team are keen to highlight the contrast in readiness between the two parties. The Tories now have 12 days to fill 160 vacancies – the equivalent of picking one candidate every 100 minutes. Within CCHQ, however, there is confidence that this target can be

Steerpike

Labour refuse to say if Bercow’s ban is lifted

It is now 812 days since John Bercow membership of the Labour party was suspended on an ‘administrative basis’ pending an investigation into his bullying. Back in March 2022, the former Speaker was banned from ever holding a parliamentary pass after an independent panel upheld the findings of Kathryn Stone, who found him guilty on 21 counts of 35 complaints over five years. The panel’s 89-page review of their probe revealed that Bercow threw phones at staff, displayed ‘undermining behaviour’, and ‘lied extensively to try and avoid the damning reality of the truth’. Since then, there have been various reports that Labour’s investigation remains ongoing, despite Stone’s comprehensive findings. So Mr S was

Edward Howell

Kim Jong Un’s catchy propaganda revamp

Think of North Korean propaganda and you might think of old-fashioned revolutionary marches praising the Supreme Leader, denouncing the United States, and intercontinental ballistic missiles ready to be launched. The sight of cheering military officials using computers, donning a pair of Sony headphones, may not immediately come to mind. Even more unimaginable, however, is the thought that a North Korean propaganda video would go viral, not least, ironically, on platforms that the North Korean population cannot even access. Yet, North Korea’s latest propagandistic video, entitled ‘Friendly Father’, has done just that. Lauding the ‘bright future’ for North Korea under its ‘trustworthy and loving leader’, Kim Jong Un, the song’s melody

Eliot Wilson

The logic of national service

It would be hard to argue that the Conservatives have had a flawless start to the 2024 general election campaign. Rishi Sunak’s rain-drenched Downing Street announcement, the removal of a Sky News journalist from a media event, the symbolism of an inexplicable prime ministerial visit to Belfast’s Titanic Quarter – almost every move so far has required immediate damage control. The unveiling of a plan to introduce some kind of compulsory national service seems at first glance like another hasty gambit which has created its own ecosystem of problems. The idea that it is an unacceptable curtailment of personal liberty is hard to sustain ‘Bring back national service!’ is a

Keiran Pedley

Could Scotland decide the election result?

The starting gun for the general election has been fired. This 2019 parliament is over and we will have a new government in Westminster in six weeks’ time. There have been many significant political inflection points this parliament. Partygate of course. The departure of Boris Johnson, Liz Truss’s brief period as Prime Minister. Arguably as important as any of this is the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023. Since her surprise departure from Scottish politics, it is worth dwelling on just how far the SNP have fallen. At the 2019 general election, they won 45 per cent of the vote and 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats. At the height

Sunday

26 May 2024

Katy Balls

Tories and Labour go to battle on TikTok

The digital election battle is heating up. Just a few days ago the Labour party joined TikTok, the social media app. Today the Conservatives have followed suit. The Tories have launched on the app this Sunday with a post from Rishi Sunak heralding his new election policy: mandatory national service. In the first video on the app, Sunak said: ‘Hi TikTok, sorry to be breaking into your politics-free feed – but I’m making a big announcement today and I’m told that a lot of you already have some views on it. So, first thing, no – I’m not sending everyone to go and join the army. What I am doing

Sam Bidwell

Young people are right to resent national service

Young Britons like me have already done our fair share of national service. For two gruelling years, we sacrificed the best years of our lives to protect the elderly from Covid, dutifully abiding by each arbitrary restriction on our freedoms. Parties were cancelled, concerts were postponed, and evenings were spent alone, all in the name of national solidarity. Like most of my peers, my memories of university life will forever be tarnished by lockdowns, social distancing, and Zoom lectures. Even now Covid is over we still face sky-high house prices, crippling student debt, and a historically high tax burden, which squeezes working-age people in order to fund the ever-increasing cost

Kate Andrews

Will Labour raise taxes?

What is Labour’s tax-and-spend agenda? This is an outstanding question the party needs to answer before polling day – and Labour seems to know it. That is presumably why shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves sat in the BBC One hot seat on the first Sunday of the election campaign. ‘I totally agree I have to show the sums add up’ Reeves told Laura Kuenssberg this morning. But what will be done to make that possible: higher taxes, more borrowing, or a reduction in spending? Unsurprisingly, Reeves did not want to make firm commitments in most of these areas. The shadow chancellor did commit though once again to not raising certain taxes.

James Heale

Sunday shows round-up: Farage brands national service plan ‘a joke’

Today saw the first set of Sunday shows since the election was called on Wednesday. Rachel Reeves was interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg about Labour’s fiscal plans if they win power on 4 July. The Shadow Chancellor said ‘We won’t increase income tax or National Insurance’ but refused to rule out some public spending cuts as she vowed that there ‘will not be a return to austerity’ under a Labour government. Reeves also refused to put a timetable on raising defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030, though she said the party supported getting there eventually. Cleverly rules out jail for national service refuseniks The big announcement of

Patrick O’Flynn

This national service plan is a patronising gimmick

The idea of bringing back national service to knock into shape teenage tearaways and long-haired layabouts was a staple of my youth. Peppery comment articles along those lines in the old, broadsheet Sunday Express or News of the World would crop up intermittently through the ill-disciplined 1970s. Typically they would then be countered by the response that ‘the army doesn’t want them’ and the idea would die down for a while. It is a gimmick from a posh liberal who thinks the plebs can be won over with eye-catching superficiality It should therefore come as no surprise that a prime minister desperate to reconnect with a long-lost tribe of social conservatives is now proposing

Steerpike

James Cleverly: no one will go to jail over national service

Well, Rishi Sunak’s new flagship policy of reintroducing national service has certainly gone off with a bang this morning. The policy, announced last night, would see 18-year-olds given the option of applying for a military post, or spending one weekend every month for a year working for the fire services, police, the NHS, or local charities. According to the Conservative party the scheme will be mandatory. What happens though if young people refuse to take part? It seemed initially at least the Tories were feeling bullish about cracking down on any absconding youths, with a leaked internal Q&A from the Conservatives suggesting that the party wasn’t ruling out arresting 18-year-olds

Oscar Edmondson

Sunak: let’s bring back national service

17 min listen

The first big new policy announcement of the election campaign is in from the Tories, and it’s likely to be a talker. Where Keir Starmer appears to be opting for a ‘ming vase’ strategy – trying not to rock the boat ahead of polling day – the Tories are leaning towards the opposite. At 20 points behind in the polls, aides believe they need headline-grabbing, bold policies in order to get the public’s attention. The first of which is the return of mandatory national service. What’s the thinking behind this one? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

John Oxley

Sunak’s national service may end up backfiring

The idea of bringing back national service has been kicking around British politics for about five times longer than the policy itself lasted. Mandatory conscription was introduced by the Attlee government and dismantled gradually from 1957 to 1963. Those old enough to have experienced it will now be in their mid-80s. Following Rishi Sunak’s announcement last night, the Tories might introduce it to a new generation. When voters see you as the political wing of the OAPs, this is how national service will be viewed Though the PM’s main attack line on Starmer is his lack of plan, the Conservative party’s national service suggestion is itself quite vague. Sunak is

Andrew McQuillan

Are Sinn Fein heading for an election triumph?

Bankrupt councils, the imminent collapse of Thames Water, prison overcrowding and a row with unions over public sector pay are some of the unwelcome prospects facing Keir Starmer if he wins the election. Sue Gray, the Labour leader’s chief of staff, has compiled a so-called ‘shit list’ of such things which could derail any potential Labour government in the early days of its tenure in Downing Street. There’s another problem to add to the list: the prospect of Sinn Fein triumphing in Northern Ireland and becoming the Province’s largest party at Westminster. Northern Ireland will be the main source of constitutional angst A shambolic DUP campaign could easily end up handing

Nick Cohen

Could Jeremy Corbyn become a left-wing Nigel Farage?

Why can’t Jeremy Corbyn be a left-wing Farage? Why can’t he threaten Labour as Ukip and its successor parties threatened and continue to threaten the Tories? There is a gap in the market for a party to the left of Labour, and Corbyn seems just the man to fill it. Those of us who intensely disliked his leadership of the Labour party disliked most of all the gormless personality cult which surrounded him and did so much to destroy the left’s claim to possess a sceptical intelligence. But there is no doubt that, if you want to build a new movement, having tens of thousands, and in all likelihood hundreds of

Sean Thomas

Sam Altman is not evil

It’s a classic trajectory. You start as a likeable and geeky tech tyro, you morph into a squillionaire with disagreeable habits, and somewhere on the way you become loathed by large sections of the population. It happened to Bill Gates – remember when he was an amiable nerd making glitchy but intriguing software? Now he is a mogul apparently injecting us with nanobots. Look at the career of Elon Musk, once a move-and-break-things hero sending amazing jets into the sky. Now he’s the brooding Trumpite Satan, who has supposedly turned Twitter into a fascist hellhole. Steve Jobs of Apple nearly went through the same process, but avoided it by the

Andy Maciver

Sunak won’t be much help to the Scottish Tories

The first few days of this general election campaign have been characterised by Rishi Sunak’s dismal campaign management. From wet suits and sinking ships, his whistlestop tour of the four nations seemed more like a box-ticking exercise than anything else. The key to any Tory success is to augment the notion that independence is still a threat A prime minister from the Conservative and Unionist party must find some way to appeal to Northern Ireland and Scotland, the two parts of that union which in the longer term still represent a realistic flight risk. It was, however, hard not to reflect on Sunak’s irrelevance in these parts of the UK. Irrelevant

Debbie Hayton

The crisis in the NHS’s adult gender clinics

Hilary Cass’s review of children’s gender services revealed how young people are being badly let down by the NHS. The picture for adults awaiting treatment in NHS gender clinics is similarly bleak: the current system is broken – and thousands of people are stuck in limbo. The NHS is struggling to cope with the demand on its gender services The waiting list at my old clinic – I am an alumnus of what used to be known as the ‘Charing Cross’ Gender Identity Clinic in London – has ballooned to 15,448 people. In March, just 35 first appointments were held at the Gender Identity Clinic. At that rate, it could

Saturday

25 May 2024

Elisabeth Braw

Sunak is right, Britain needs national service

The Tories have announced that, if re-elected, they will introduce national service. And it won’t be the miserable existence imposed on all young men in conscription years past. Instead, the Tories will invite 18-year-olds to compete for selective 12-month spots in areas including cyber security, logistics and civil response. That’s the model Norway has successfully been operating for over three decades. In addition, young people will be asked to volunteer on a monthly basis with the NHS, the fire service or charities looking after elderly and lonely people. Such service is a win-win: it’s beneficial for the young people involved in it, and even more importantly it helps make our