Politics Archives

Sunday

3 Mar 2024

The Iranian people have had enough

The record low turnout for parliamentary elections in Iran, which took place on Friday, is another blow to the regime’s attempts to pretend that all is well in the country. Early reports suggest a turnout of just under 41 per cent nationwide. Iranians in their millions have rejected the regime by choosing to stay at home rather than vote. The elections were never really about the final results (victory is pretty much guaranteed for the motley crew of religious hardliners and social conservatives endorsed by the ruling clerics), but about how many people would actually bother to vote. Turnout matters to the mullahs because the election process exists to give

Tatyana Kekic

Russian dissidents in Serbia are struggling

It must be strange to be Russian and living in Serbia these days. On the one hand, Serbs are very welcoming. The country’s historic ties with Russia and their shared Orthodox faith means that most Serbs have been happy to see tens of thousands of Russians settling in their country since the start of the Ukraine war. On the other hand, if you are Russian in Serbia, you might find you are only welcome for as long as you keep your mouth shut. Once seen as a safe-haven for Russians, Serbia is cracking down on those who dare to speak out against Russia’s war in Ukraine. Most recently, Elena Koposova, who

Freddy Gray

Will Tech decide the US election?

25 min listen

Freddy talks to political technologist Eric Wilson about the role technology and media will play in the 2024 US election. They cover the differences in strategy between the Democrats and the Republicans, why television is still the best medium for reaching voters, and the role of social media influencers. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Natasha Voase

Why an Indian Ocean island has become a battleground in French politics

A tiny island in the Indian Ocean is the latest battleground in France’s immigration debate. High immigration into Mayotte, a French territory where around 80 per cent of people live below the poverty line, is leading to a debate over what it means to be a French citizen. The row may cause France to upend its constitution. Mayotte, a tiny archipelago measuring 374 square kilometres, has seen its population almost quadruple to around 260,000 since 1991. Around half of the population now comes from the neighbouring Comoros, which voted for independence from France in 1975. Many are attracted by the prospect of their offspring becoming French citizens. But the numbers are now so high that France’s

Julie Burchill

Show-off vicars are ruining the Church of England

It’s generally my morning habit to leap out of bed at 5am singing the Queen song ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, but on those rare mornings when I sleep in, nothing can be guaranteed to finally get me moving at 5.43am as surely as Radio 4’s Prayer For The Day. One of two things will happen; usually, some wet-wipe in a dog-collar will come out with a mouthful of woke platitudes and I’ll be so cross that I can’t keep still a moment longer. On a few occasions, though, I find the person speaking so affecting that it seems wicked to lie in bed for a moment longer when the Lord’s

Saturday

2 Mar 2024

Steerpike

John Bercow banished from The Traitors

Poor John Bercow just can’t seem to catch a break. In his never-ending quest to find some relevance post-parliament, the former MP has been thwarted at every time. First, Covid put a stop to his burgeoning career on the speaking circuit. Then a report into his bullying behaviour led to a suspension of his Labour membership, thwarting any hopes of a comeback there. And now, inevitably, Bercow’s reality-TV career has ended abruptly after he was banished from the US version of the Traitors. The ex-Speaker today became the seventh ‘celebrity’ to be axed from the second series of the reality show, hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming. During the episode,

James Heale

Is the Home Office broken?

17 min listen

In this special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Cindy Yu is joined by The Spectator’s political correspondent, James Heale, and Director of Kraken Strategy Ltd, and former Special Adviser, Salma Shah, to discuss the state of the Home Office. At the end of a tricky week of headlines for the department we ask: is the Home Office broken? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Cindy Yu.

Lukas Degutis

Lukas Degutis, Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Richard Bratby and Toby Young

27 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Lukas Degutis reports from Riga, exploring Latvia’s policy of expelling Russian speakers (01:16); Ysenda Maxtone Graham explains why she believes applause has no place at a funeral (10:03); paying homage to Christopher Gunning, Richard Bratby argues that composers of ads, film soundtracks and TV theme tunes should be taken more seriously (14:46); and Toby Young questions the Bidens’ choice of dog (21:50). Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Lynne O’Donnell

Pakistan has jailed one of its last independent journalists

In a cosy Persian restaurant in an Islamabad strip mall, a young man approached Asad Ali Toor for a selfie. ‘I watch your show, I admire your work, thank you for what you do,’ he told the journalist. Toor’s real crime is speaking truth to power Days later, Toor was in jail, charged with ‘cyber crimes’ after being interrogated by Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). During two separate days of questioning, he was held incommunicado, after his lawyers were pushed away from the door as he was bustled, handcuffed, into the FIA’s building. After being kept overnight on Monday, he was arrested for using his vast social media presence to

Patrick O’Flynn

Can the Tories avoid oblivion?

Another day, another terrible poll for the Tories – the latest YouGov survey records support for the parties at Labour 46 per cent, Conservative 20 per cent, Reform 14 per cent, Lib Dem 7 per cent, Green 7 per cent. So far, so normal for our beleaguered governing party – even if Reform has nudged up another point to its record-ever showing. Six points between the Cons and Reform looks to me like the sort of margin that could be wiped out altogether were Nigel Farage to take the helm of the challenger party. The Labour lead and vote share is so commanding that the current response of many Tory

Friday

1 Mar 2024

Steerpike

Watch: Galloway versus Sky News

After Rishi Sunak’s speech criticising the Rochdale result, there was only one reaction worth getting. The duty of interviewing George Galloway was left to Sam Coates of Sky News, following Sunak’s claim that last night’s result was ‘beyond alarming.’ Galloway initially played ball, telling Coates that he wasn’t taking the matter too seriously: We’re talking about little Rishi Sunak in the fag end of his prime ministership. Don’t talk to me as if he has come down from the Mount with tablets of stone. As if the things he says are meant to awe me… I’ve got the democratic mandate here, not Rishi Sunak. He didn’t even come second! He’s

Katy Balls

Sunak pledges extremism crackdown

Rishi Sunak has just appeared on the steps of Downing Street to give a speech on the need to take action after ‘a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality’ in recent weeks. On the day former Labour MP George Galloway was announced as the new MP for Rochdale, the Prime Minister said ‘this situation has gone on long enough’, arguing that ‘Islamist extremists and far rights groups are spreading a poison, that poison is extremism’. Responding directly to Galloway’s victory in the by-election, Sunak said: It is beyond horrifying that last night the Rochdale by election returned a candidate who denies the horror of what happened on October 7th,

Rishi Sunak

We must face down the extremists

The Prime Minister has given the following speech tonight outside 10 Downing Street. In recent weeks and months, we have seen a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality. What started as protests on our streets, has descended into intimidation, threats, and planned acts of violence. Jewish children fearful to wear their school uniform lest it reveal their identity. Muslim women abused in the street for the actions of a terrorist group they have no connection with. Now our democracy itself is a target. Council meetings and local events have been stormed. MPs do not feel safe in their homes. Long standing Parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety

Steerpike

Hacked Off Hugh hosts fundraising bash

When Hacked Off first launched in 2011, Hugh Grant was its lead spokesman, regularly appearing on shows like Question Time to preach the importance of press regulation. And while others like the-then DPP Keir Starmer are now less keen to talk about their role in the subsequent phone-hacking scandal, Grant remains a vocal supporter of Hacked Off. Indeed, such is his enthusiasm that the Love Actually star is tonight expected to appear at a £175-a-head fundraiser in aid of the Press Justice Project, a newly-launched charity to ‘complement’ Hacked Off’s work, as well as Yellow Press Books. An advert for the event gushes that the night will consist of ‘drinks followed by an

Steerpike

Watch: Tory Alicia Kearns rebukes MP for removing ‘T’ in ‘LGBT’

In order to be inclusive of as many sexual orientations and gender identities as possible, Mr Steerpike uses the acronym LGBTQIA2S. Readers won’t need to be reminded that this stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and Two spirit. During a debate in the Commons this afternoon, Tory MP Alicia Kearns preferred the somewhat punchier four-letter ‘LGBT’. Her fellow MP, the Alba party’s Westminster leader, Neale Hanvey, then ditched the letter ‘T’. Kearns’ response was furious: ‘He is absolutely right but there was one digit missing from his LGBT. We do not divide the LGBT community in this place.’ Kearns then went on to accuse Hanvey of ‘suggesting

James Kirkup

Does Labour want an anti-CV revolution?

Alison McGovern, Labour’s shadow employment minister is one of those politicians who are always worth watching. She combines the ability to look and speak like a normal human being – a rare thing at Westminster – with a genuine policy wonk’s fascination for data and trends and ideas. She also has fans at the top of the Labour party. While other shadow ministers are rendered almost mute by the message discipline of Team Starmer, McGovern has the confidence and license to think out loud. This week she was at the Social Market Foundation to talk about social mobility, which covers a lot of ground. There were several significant takeaways from that

Rakib Ehsan

How Galloway won Rochdale

Labour’s defeat in Rochdale – following the party’s string of impressive by-election victories in places such as Wellingborough, in Brexit-voting middle England – will give leader Keir Starmer an almighty headache. Despite the party’s big poll lead, it shows that nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to looking ahead to the general election. The problems in Rochdale started when the Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, appeared to suggest that the Israeli government allowed the October 7 Hamas-led terror attacks to take place, in order to provide the pretext for a full-scale military invasion and bombardment of Gaza. Labour withdrew support for Ali but he remained on the ballot

Lisa Haseldine

‘We are not afraid’: Russians gather for Navalny’s funeral

Today is a sad day for Russia. Two weeks after his death in an Arctic penal colony, Alexei Navalny, Putin’s most vociferous opponent, has been buried in Moscow. Thousands of mourners lined the streets in southern Moscow to pay their respects, their sorrow compounded with a sense of anger and defiance that grew as the funeral wore on. Addressed quite clearly to Vladimir Putin, shouts of ‘We won’t forgive you’ intermingled with chants of Navalny’s name and ‘There are more of us’. The odd verse of harmonious Russian Orthodox sung funeral liturgy occasionally broke through the noise. The funeral took place at the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘Quench

Gavin Mortimer

Reform should ditch Richard Tice before it’s too late

The Reform Party has claimed that the Rochdale by-election was not ‘free and fair’. Their leader, Richard Tice, said that his party had suffered intimidation on the campaign trail including ‘vile racist abuse’. It was certainly an ugly election battle, one dominated by the conflict in Gaza – and, because of that focus, George Galloway of the Workers Party triumphed. But say what you like about ‘Gaza George’, but he has one crucial commodity for a politician that Tice lacks: charisma. As long as Tice remains leader, the Reform Party will remain also-rans Galloway, of course, one participated in the most ‘cringeworthy’ moment in the history of reality TV –

Debbie Hayton

Justin Webb has been wronged by the BBC

The BBC has upheld a ludicrous complaint against the Today programme’s Justin Webb. Back in August, Webb told listeners that trans women were ‘in other words, males’. This basic truth should not be controversial. We transwomen are male. It is a necessary criterion – women cannot be transwomen because women are female. The background, incidentally, was a decision last summer by the International Chess Federation to ban those transwomen from competitions reserved for females. Webb was on the radio discussing the news item with Dominic Lawson. Webb’s point was timely and appropriate. Not everyone is up to date with the transgender debate and there is confusion – understandably – over