Politics

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

Tuesday

30 Apr 2024

The NHS has finally seen sense on biological sex

Sex is a biological fact, the NHS declared this morning. Seriously, if the health service was ever in any doubt about that then no wonder that we have ended up in such a mess over sex and gender. Personally, I would ban the word ‘gender’ from law and policy, and return it to what it did best – classifying foreign nouns. The headlines, on the other hand, have pointed the finger at transsexuals. Trans women will be banned from women-only wards, according to the Telegraph. At this stage I need to declare an interest – I have a wife and daughter and I would not be happy about either of

Gavin Mortimer

Why Britain’s Rwanda Bill has rattled Emmanuel Macron

Britain’s Rwanda Bill has exposed the deep divisions in France between how the people and the political elite regard mass immigration. Asked if they would like France to adopt a Rwanda-style bill, 67 per cent of the French canvassed replied favourably to the idea. This figure is no surprise: for years, polls on the subject of border control have returned results that show two thirds to three-quarters of the French are worried by mass immigration and its consequences. Emmanuel Macron had a different take on the Rwanda Bill. In a speech at the Sorbonne on Thursday, the president declared that he was opposed to ‘this model that some people want

Steerpike

Watch: Deputy FM accidentally announces leadership bid

It’s a gaffe a day with the SNP. Even with hapless Humza stepping down, the Nats are still slipping up. This time the deputy first minister Shona Robison is in the limelight, after Yousaf’s second-in-command made an on-air blunder just hours after the First Minister announced he would be quitting his job. In the world’s shortest-lived leadership bid, Robison confidently told Sky News on Monday night that ‘yes’, she would be in the running for the top job. ‘You are in the running?’ presenter Mark Austin replied incredulously. ‘No — sorry,’ Robison corrected herself after a rather awkward pause. ‘No I am definitely not in the running.’ Mr S can

Matthew Lynn

The truth about Ireland’s £600 million Brexit ‘bonanza’

Ireland is reaping the benefits of a Brexit bonus to the tune of €700 million (£600 million). It is not hard to understand why hardcore Remainers are gleefully reporting the news that the government in Dublin is collecting huge extra revenues, much of which comes from imposing tariffs on British goods. What is being reported as a ‘Brexit bonanza’ for the Irish isn’t quite what it seems ‘The level of customs duties has effectively doubled in recent years compared to the previous decade, reflecting the transformation of Great Britain into a third country in 2021,’ says the Irish Revenue Commissioners. British companies suffer, and a foreign government makes lots of

Lucy Dunn

Fergus Ewing: How Kate Forbes can save the SNP

Following Humza Yousaf’s resignation as First Minister, a fresh leadership contest could soon be on the cards. His would-be successors face an uphill task: after 17 years in government, the SNP looks discredited and divided in the face of a resurgent Labour party. In a dizzyingly short space of time, Yousaf’s party has been reduced from being the hegemonic force at Holyrood to a shadow of its former self. Can the slide be reversed? Veteran nationalist Fergus Ewing is one of those who thinks it can. The outspoken Highlander, and one of Holyrood’s very first MSPs, backed Yousaf’s fateful decision to end co-operation with the Greens but disagrees with how

Monday

29 Apr 2024

Isabel Hardman

The benefits bill won’t improve without an NHS turnaround

How much can Mel Stride really do to cut the benefits bill? In the Commons today, the Work and Pensions Secretary argued that the ‘disability benefit system for adults of working age is not consistently providing support in the way that was intended’, and that it was now time for a ‘new conversation’ about how the system should work. He spoke in much more compassionate terms than on some of the media rounds that he and Rishi Sunak have done. But repeated questions from across the House, including from one of his Conservative predecessors in the Work and Pensions department underlined that one of the most-trailed aims of this green

Iain Macwhirter

Did Nicola Sturgeon kill Humza Yousaf’s Alba deal?

After the tears, the recriminations. Just who scuppered the putative deal between Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan MSP that could have saved Yousaf’s bacon? The Alba leader, Alex Salmond, told the BBC’s World at One that Humza Yousaf had been on the phone to Regan at 7.30 a.m. today to say that her terms were ‘very reasonable’. It was, Salmond implied, a done deal. Sturgeon was not going to be content with any kind of deal that gave Salmond indirect influence over the fate of the Scottish National party Clearly, others in the SNP thought differently, and five hours later, Humza Yousaf was making a tearful farewell to Bute House. In his

Limor Simhony Philpott

Netanyahu is in a bind over invading Rafah

When Israel responded to Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack in a measured military fashion on 19 April, some believed that Israeli prime minister BenjaminNetanyahu had agreed to show restraint in return for Joe Biden’s support for a military operation in Rafah. These rumours were dispelled this weekend when the US president reiterated his objection to a major military operation in the city during a call with Netanyahu. This leaves Netanyahu between a rock and the hard place. Rafah, located in the southern end of the Gaza strip, is near the border with Egypt and close to Israel itself. It is the last and most significant of Hamas’s strongholds and

Steerpike

Will Vaughan Gething be the next First Minister to go?

A First Minister on the ropes, facing questions about his judgement? No, it’s not hapless Hamza Yousaf this time. Instead, the latest legislator in the firing line is none other than Vaughan Gething, the recently-selected head of the Welsh government at Cardiff Bay. Gething has been in the job for less than six weeks but is already facing a storm of criticism about the way in which he got it. The former economy minister narrowly triumphed in last month’s Labour leadership contest by 51.7 per cent of the vote to Jeremy Miles’ 48.3 per cent. But Gething’s subsequent tenure has been dominated by questions about the £200,000 his campaign accepted

Lucy Dunn

Humza Yousaf quits – what next?

14 min listen

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has just announced his intention to resign. Lucy Dunn speaks to Katy Balls and Spectator contributor Iain Macwhirter about how the past few weeks have led to this point and what to expect from an SNP leadership contest.

Mark Nayler

Why hasn’t Pedro Sanchez resigned as Spain’s prime minister?

Pedro Sanchez has decided to stay on as Spain’s Socialist prime minister, despite announcing last week that he was considering resigning. Sanchez suspended his official duties for a few days to make the decision, following the launch of a judicial investigation into his wife, Begoña Gomez, for corruption and influence-peddling. (Sanchez has said the allegations are ‘as scandalous in appearance as they are non-existent.’) Accusations of corruption against political opponents and their relatives (the more, the better) has become a standard method of warfare in the Spanish political arena The case against Gomez was brought to a judge by an anti-corruption organisation called Manos Limpias (‘Clean Hands’), which Sanchez has accused of leading

Michael Simmons

Humza Yousaf’s legacy in eight graphs

Humza Yousaf has announced his resignation as First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party. His time was short, but he’s overseen a dramatic change in the party he’ll now cease to lead: a discipline once revered by opponents has given way to a party in open dissent. As he prepares to leave the political stage what can Scotland remember him for? As Scotland approaches a quarter of a century of devolution it’s striking how hard it has been to hold its to account. The Scottish government famously has more press officers than the BBC has reporters, the country is near devoid of think tanks and the third sector

Coffee House

Read: Humza Yousaf’s resignation speech in full

Last week I stood here to announce the ending of the cooperation agreement between the SNP and the Greens: the Bute House Agreement, and that the SNP would seek to govern as a minority government. I made that decision as leader of the SNP because I believed the Bute House Agreement was the right one for the party I lead, and I still do believe that to be the case. But most importantly, I believe it was the right decision for the country. My hope was to continue working with the Greens, in a less formal arrangement as the SNP moved into a new phase of minority government. Unfortunately, in

Katy Balls

Humza Yousaf quits – sparking SNP leadership contest

Humza Yousaf is stepping down as first minister of Scotland. After feverish speculation over the weekend, Yousaf has announced this lunchtime in a press conference at Bute House that he intends to stand down from the role once an SNP leadership contest has taken place to find his successor. Acknowledging the events that had led up to this moment, Yousaf said he had ‘clearly underestimated the level of hurt’ that ending his party’s power-sharing agreement with the Greens caused the SNP’s minority partner. He said trust was ‘fundamental’. Yousaf went on to say that from his discussions over the weekend with figures in the Scottish Greens and Alba, he had

Euan McColm

Humza Yousaf’s biggest mistake

A word of advice for anyone with ambitions to hold high political office: if you think you might ever need the assistance of your opponents, don’t allow your party to repeatedly abuse them. This wisdom comes too late for it to be of use to Scotland’s First Minister, Humza Yousaf, who has accepted the inevitable and announced his resignation this afternoon. Yousaf’s attempts to build bridges failed Fighting for his career after his decision to tear up the Holyrood power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Scottish Greens blew up in his face, the First Minister spent the weekend reaching out across party lines. His aim was to see off

Steerpike

Runners and riders for next SNP leader

It’s a day that ends in ‘y’ which means hapless Humza Yousaf is once again having a tough time of it. After ditching the Green coalition and therefore his pro-independence majority in Holyrood, Yousaf left himself vulnerable to no confidence motions – and opposition parties haven’t let the opportunity pass them by. As Yousaf faces one vote in his leadership and another in his government, conversations about the tenability of his position have picked up pace. The SNP has now confirmed he will make a statement at midday today on his future. If hapless Humza decides his time is up, who’s next in line to replace him? Kate Forbes What

Katy Balls

Plotters set out ‘100 days’ policy plan to rival Sunak

It’s the week of the local elections and the most pivotal of Rishi Sunak’s premiership to date. It’s been clear for some time now that the Prime Minister’s critics will attempt to rally MPs to turn on Sunak if the party faces a drubbing in Thursday’s vote. This is more than the odd unhappy MP: a group of ragtag plotters – including one-time donors and former government advisers – is agitating from outside parliament to destabilise Sunak. Most MPs believe that Sunak ought to be able to hold on Downing Street has used the past few days to try to shore up Sunak with a series of party-friendly announcements, including

James Heale

Is the Rwanda plan already working?

It is fashionable within Westminster to criticise the Rwanda plan. The likes of Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Reform on the right can often be found echoing Labour’s criticisms on the left that the current scheme is both flawed and unworkable. Yet one place where Rwanda is credited with having a deterrent effect is across the Irish Sea. Micheál Martin, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, is now explicitly blaming the scheme for an increase in asylum seekers entering his country from Northern Ireland. ‘I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland’, he said on Wednesday night. ‘It is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in

Sam Leith

The parable of Blackpool’s potholes

I read the news today, oh boy. Four thousand holes in Blackpool, Lancashire. Well, in fact, not quite as many as 4,000. The number of holes in the Lancashire town that the Beatles didn’t sing about was a very precise 2,628 – or, translated into another scale, just over half an Albert Hall’s worth. That’s how many potholes Blackpool Council has filled in over the last year alone. In a world where every other bulletin is of swirling climate catastrophe, economic precarity, hot wars, riots, migrant drownings, gusts of online hate and all the jollity of the day-to-day news cycle, this local council has been getting on, patiently and

Iain Macwhirter

The final tragedy of ‘Humza the Brief’

The resignation of Humza Yousaf as First Minister of Scotland marks not just the beginning of the end for him, nor simply for the 17-year long SNP government, but for any hopes of Scottish independence happening in the lifetime of most SNP members. Yousaf might even take devolution with him since the Scottish public are at their wits’ end with the behaviour of the politicians – all of them – who have occupied the Scottish parliament like student activists taking over the university court. The SNP has gone from landslide victory to pariah status in less than a decade Yousaf was always a hopeless case politically. Nice guy – shame about the