Politics

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

Wednesday

8 Oct 2025

Scotland doesn’t need independence. It needs rid of the SNP

The SNP government in Edinburgh has published another white paper on the constitution, ‘A Fresh Start with Independence’. It’s a bold title when your last white paper on this issue was published a whole 34 days ago. Indeed, between June 2022 and April 2024, the Scottish Government produced 13 white papers on independence. Putting out yet another and branding it ‘a fresh start’ is a bit like Taylor Swift releasing an album of diss tracks about her exes and calling it A New Direction. (Not that I’m comparing John Swinney to Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift has actually contributed to the Scottish economy.) ‘A Fresh Start’ is decidedly stale in substance,

Laurie Penny

The haunting of Tory conference

Spooky season came early to Manchester this year. Outside the convention centre, a baffled, shattered city reels from the latest round of political violence, but inside, eyeless mannequins of Margaret Thatcher stare out over an empty exhibition hall where what remains of the Conservative party tries to understand what went wrong. There’s something macabre about this Tory conference. It could be one of those pre-crash horror films where the protagonist doesn’t realise they’ve been dead all along. I’m reminded of Nicole Kidman, rattling mad-eyed around that dark mansion in The Others, fretting through her old routines, refusing to accept the reality of her self-made hell where she slaughtered her children,

Madeline Grant

Kemi’s speech was good. But is anyone listening?

Prior to Kemi Badenoch’s arrival the Conservative party played us recordings of her voice piped over dramatic lift muzak. Conference seasons are always bizarre – gatherings as they are of remarkable sub-species of people who look at British politics and think ‘wow, that’s exciting’ rather than ‘oh God, what now’ (and I include myself in this category). It isn’t showbusiness for ugly people, it’s trainspotting for maniacs. Yet by the standards of conference weirdness, the soundtrack aside, Mrs Badenoch was, well, quite normal. As she arrived on stage in person she seemed genuinely surprised by the warmth of the welcome. Her ‘thank you conference’ was uttered in the tone of someone

Lucy Dunn

Finally we know what Badenoch stands for

10 min listen

This morning Kemi Badenoch wrapped up Tory conference with a speech that will – for now at least – calm Conservative jitters. The Tory leader’s hour-long address in Manchester was intended as a rejoinder to critics of her leadership and she certainly achieved that aim. Having been accused of lacking spirit, imagination and vigour, Badenoch today demonstrated all three and gave an idea of what the direction of the party looks like under her. The main headline grabbing announcement was her plan to abolish stamp duty – a surprise ‘rabbit’ that sparked a standing ovation. Is she safe, for now? Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and William Atkinson.

James Heale

Badenoch's conference speech will calm Tory jitters

Kemi Badenoch wrapped up Conservative conference with a well-received speech that was bursting with policy ideas. The Tory leader’s hour-long address in Manchester was intended as a rejoinder to critics of her leadership. Having been accused of lacking spirit, imagination and vigour, Badenoch today demonstrated all three. The main headline grabbing announcement was her plan to abolish stamp duty – a surprise ‘rabbit’ that sparked a standing ovation. Had her speech been a disaster, one can imagine a flurry of letters being triggered by nervy Tory MPs The £9 billion commitment would be funded from the £47 billion savings shadow chancellor Mel Stride unveiled earlier this week. It is intended

Patrick West

The problem with Lenny Henry’s demand for reparations

The desire to seek restitution from those who have harmed or wronged us is normal. Our instinct for justice is inbuilt. Yet, in recent decades, there has emerged in the West a perverse distortion of this impulse: the demand for financial compensation from people who have done no wrong, made by people who have not been wronged. Long-established campaigns calling on Britain to pay reparations for slavery are founded on this strange premise, and the latest figure to join their ranks is Sir Lenny Henry. The comedian and actor makes his case in a new book, The Big Payback, co-authored with Marcus Ryder, a television executive and charity boss. He argues

Ian Acheson

Should Stephen Lawrence's killer be freed?

David Norris was convicted of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in April 1993 and now wants to be released from prison. Should he be? That is a question the Parole Board will consider as Norris has now served the minimum custodial term of a life sentence imposed in 2011. This body has the power to direct his release or refuse it on the grounds of risk to the public. While it is independent of politics, the profile of the perpetrator and the seriousness of the case means the new Justice Secretary, David Lammy – who has described the murder of Lawrence as a ‘seminal moment’ in shaping his understanding

Matthew Lynn

Britain's steel industry must die

It already faced tariffs in the United States, and it has been struggling to cope with some of the highest industrial energy prices in the world. Now what remains of the British steel industry faces what could well be a terminal blow. The European Union is about to impose tariffs of 50 per cent on steel imported from the UK. Labour ministers will no doubt start cobbling together rescue packages, and trying to devise a new strategy to rescue the industry. But perhaps it would be best just to be honest – and let the industry die. The EU has set out plans to cut the amount of steel imported

Ross Clark

Kemi is right to preach fiscal responsibility

At the mausoleum that is this week’s Conservative party conference one of the bodies has just shown a slight muscular twitch. Kemi Badenoch will this morning try to reclaim the one subject on which the Tories can reasonably hope to base a revival: fiscal responsibility. Mel Stride has already proposed £47 billion worth of spending cuts. His boss will now announce a ‘golden rule’ whereby half the proceeds of those cuts will go to reducing the deficit rather than on tax cuts. I know that for the Tories to try to make a thing of fiscal responsibility is a bit rich given that public spending was allowed to balloon out

Luke Coppen

Islam and the Bible are fuelling France’s ‘baptism boom’

You have probably heard that something extraordinary is happening in the Catholic Church in France. The French bishops’ conference announced in April that more than 10,000 adults were due to be baptised in 2025 – a 45 per cent increase on the year before. France is seeing what the media call a ‘boom biblique’: a rapid rise in sales of the Bible It’s not just adult baptisms that are booming. A record 19,000 people, many young, attended this year’s Paris to Chartres pilgrimage. An unprecedented 13,500 high school students took part in the 2025 Lourdes FRAT pilgrimage, a major annual youth event. The country is also seeing what French media call a ‘boom biblique’: a rapid rise in

Michael Gove

Was that Kemi Badenoch's last conference? Quite right! live from Manchester

42 min listen

This week, Michael and Maddie record Quite right! in front of a live audience at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester – with attendance down, the big question is whether Kemi Badenoch can survive as leader of the opposition. There is the unmistakable air of fatalism among MPs staring down electoral annihilation – but would another change in leadership cement the Tories as pathologically regicidal? They also debate Badenoch’s bold pledge to bar candidates who won’t back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights – a ‘calculated risk’ that could redefine the party’s identity or too little too late? Then, in the wake of the horrific Manchester synagogue attack, they

Tuesday

7 Oct 2025

Steerpike

Tice: Boris's brand is toxic

The Conservative party conference may be in full swing in Manchester but Reform UK’s politicians are still creating headlines. Deputy leader Richard Tice has given a rather punchy interview to Arabian Business during a trip to Dubai – in which he slated Britain’s immigration ‘disaster’, insisted a decline in the British work ethic was because the ‘UK became complacent [and] decadent’ and even claimed that Britain is ‘going bust’. Then the Reform man turned his attention to some big British names. First he took a swipe at a rather, er, controversial British broadcaster: former England footballer Gary Neville. Taking a pop at the left-wing right back over his patriotism, Tice

Steerpike

Bowie warns Tories: stop 'mouthing off' about Badenoch

The Conservative party conference may be drawing to a close, but the fighting spirit of the Tories isn’t going anywhere. At the Spectator’s well-attended Scotland event this afternoon – ‘Can the Tories turn back the teal tide?’ – MPs Andrew Bowie and Harriet Cross were packing the punches. The story of the Scottish Tories isn’t a negative one, they insisted, despite polling suggesting the next Scottish Parliament election could see them become the fourth party in Holyrood. Oh dear… But it wasn’t just Reform that was under attack from this punchy panel: shadow Scotland secretary Bowie had some stern words for the Kemi Badenoch detractors in his party. ‘Can I

Madeline Grant

Poor Lammy and Hermer got pulped by Robert Jenrick

Robert Jenrick has been walking a tightrope. Over the course of the Conservative party conference he has been having to navigate the tricky situation of playing both the prince over the water and the loyal lieutenant to Kemi Badenoch. Mr Jenrick so far has played his cards very well. He is successfully channelling both Bonnie Prince Charlie and Blondin, the man who pushed a wheelbarrow over Niagara Falls. Or even David Miliband meets Stan Laurel. Today was his most difficult performance yet. Be too bland and he’d join the legions of Tories who might have been king – destined to join the Rab Butler-Jeremy Hunt memorial club. Be too good

James Heale

Robert Jenrick steals the limelight at Tory conference

It is day three of Conservative Party conference and the punchiest speech of the event has just been made. Robert Jenrick, the heat-seeking missile of the Tory front bench, has just delivered another howitzer aimed squarely at Britain’s judiciary. Brandishing a judge’s wig, he addressed the conference faithful with the vim and vigour that have seen him soar to the top of the ConservativeHome shadow cabinet league table. Jenrick’s twenty-minute address – the last before Kemi Badenoch’s big speech tomorrow – was a full throttle, studs-up attack on what he calls ‘activist’ judges. He took aim at the ‘dozens of judges’ he claims to have uncovered with ‘ties to open

Tim Shipman

Who's listening to the Tories? Live from conference

39 min listen

Tim Shipman, James Heale and Lucy Dunn record live at Conservative party conference in Manchester. What’s the mood at conference – and has Kemi done enough to neutralise her detractors? Tim says he expects there to be no immediate leadership challenge but the Conservatives need to get real about the ‘attention economy’ they’re faced with. What inspiration can they take from Tory grandee Michael Heseltine? And can they ‘make conservative sexy again’? Plus, audience questions on the upcoming budget and the challenges for the Conservatives in both Wales and Scotland. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Michael Simmons

What happened to Reform’s Doge?

When Linden Kemkaran (formerly of The Spectator) was elected leader of Kent County Council, she presented herself as the poster-child for Reform in power. ‘The electorate,’ she said in June, ‘are looking to judge whether they can put their trust in a Reform government at the next election.’ Her administration set up ‘Dolge’, a ‘department of local government efficiency’, modelled on Elon Musk’s original, and instructed it to cut wasteful spending and find cash-saving efficiencies. After just five months, however, its efforts appear to have faltered. The council is already ‘down to the bare bones’, Diane Morton, Reform’s cabinet member for adult social care in Kent, told the Financial Times yesterday. Reform has

Brendan O’Neill

Greta and the flotilla fools have no self-awareness

I knew the modern left had its fair share of narcissists who can rarely see beyond their own navels. But even I never imagined they would spend the second anniversary of 7 October, the worst atrocity the Jews have suffered since the Holocaust, moaning about their ‘mistreatment’ by the Jewish state. Even I never imagined they would hijack the commemoration of the rape, abduction and slaughter of Israelis to moan about the hard beds and cold food Evil Israel allegedly foisted on them. You want us to weep over Greta’s rash when there are half-starved Jews in Hamas’s tunnels being forced to ‘dig their own graves’? The lack of self-awareness

Matthew Lynn

Britain can’t afford to lose AstraZeneca

It has already cancelled investments in Liverpool and Cambridge, while muttering darkly about moving its listing to New York and its headquarters to the United States. Now AstraZeneca, the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company, is threatening to stop investing in Britain completely if the country does not spend more on medicine. There may be an element of arm-twisting in that, and the NHS is so stretched for cash it can’t easily spend much more on drugs. And yet, the UK also can’t afford to lose a company as significant as AZ. And if that means the NHS spending more on pills, and less on salaries, that is a choice worth making.

Steerpike

Badenoch: I'm being 'written off' like Thatcher

The Conservative party conference is in full swing in Manchester with plenty more speeches and fringe events to go. Despite being rather poorly attended this year, the atmosphere among members is not downbeat – although already Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has had to defend herself again some rather unfortunate poll results. A YouGov poll has revealed that half of all Tory members don’t think Badenoch should lead the party into the next election, which is hardly the best of news for the party leader to receive in the middle of her group’s big annual meet… But Badenoch has hit back, complaining to Times Radio today that she is being ‘written