Politics

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

Wednesday

23 Jul 2025

The US trade deal may come too late for Japan’s prime minister

Relief. That was the overriding emotion in the Japanese financial markets and society at large today when, after months of speculation and discord, a trade deal was finally struck between President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s trade representative Ryosei Akazawa. The Japanese envoy, who has made eight trips to Washington in pursuit of an agreement, finally pulled it off just a week before the 1 August deadline (after which a hefty 25 per cent levy would have been imposed on all Japanese goods to the US). With the deal, that will be reduced to a probably manageable and reciprocal 15 per cent. Included in the package was an

Steerpike

Cleverly refuses to back Badenoch on ECHR

Kemi Badenoch might have reached an agreement with James Cleverly about his new role in the shadow cabinet, but it appears the pair remain at odds over the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). On Tuesday afternoon, the Westminster rumour mill ramped up as speculation that Cleverly – a onetime Tory leadership contender – was to make a return to Badenoch’s frontbench abounded. In due he course, the announcement came that Cleverly had become the new Conservative housing secretary and, as such, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s opposite number. During last year’s Tory leadership race, both Badenoch and Cleverly had opposed leaving the ECHR. However in recent weeks Badenoch’s stance

Steerpike

Cabinet ministers urge Starmer to recognise Palestine

Parliament may have risen for recess but that doesn’t mean that Sir Keir Starmer is getting much of a break. It transpires that the Prime Minister is facing growing calls to immediately recognise Palestine as a state with a number of Cabinet minister understood to be piling pressure on the PM alongside dozens of his backbenchers. On Tuesday, just before MPs left Westminster for summer recess, Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Sir Keir to recognise Palestine ‘while there’s still a state of Palestine left to recognise’. He went on: I deplore Israel’s attacks on healthcare workers as well as other innocent civilians trying to access healthcare or vital aid. These

Druin Burch

I work in the NHS: the government cannot accept doctors’ pay demands

Junior doctors are set to strike this week, despite winning little public sympathy with their demand for a 29 per cent pay rise. Doctors in their self-righteous mode – as many recently have been over this row – are insufferable. I sympathise with their situation, but they should do themselves a favour – and get back to work. I will be one of the consultants covering shifts for the juniors on Friday, and I am looking forward to doing so. Never having worked in an elective speciality, weekends and public holidays, like evenings and nights, have always been part of my working life. My speciality never closes its doors or

Hugh Thomson

Tim Davie isn’t fit to lead the BBC

Those within the BBC might be afraid to say so, but an ex-producer like me has no such qualms: Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director-General, isn’t cut out for the job. For the good of the BBC, Davie must go. The last few weeks have been painfully bad for Davie. The Masterchef saga, which led to the departure of not one, but both main presenters, is the final nail in the coffin, after blunders over Glastonbury and Gaza. Never has the BBC needed to have a visionary in post more to survive. Never has it had someone so clearly inadequate for the job A review of the BBC’s February documentary Gaza:

Tuesday

22 Jul 2025

James Heale

The real shock of the Tory reshuffle

Kemi Badenoch has saved the biggest news of the Tory reshuffle for last. This morning, the headlines were dominated by news of James Cleverly’s return. But this evening, the only story causing shockwaves is Lee Rowley’s departure as Badenoch’s chief of staff. His importance to the Kemi project cannot be overstated. The pair entered parliament together in 2017 and spent countless hours debating the future of the Tory party. After Rowley lost his seat in July 2024, Badenoch appointed him as her most senior adviser. ‘It’s like having another me out there’, she said of Rowley in an interview with this publication in December. ‘He is pretty much my closest

Owen Matthews

Zelensky’s war on Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies is a disaster

Cries of ‘Shame!’ rang out in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, today as lawmakers from Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, backed by most opposition parties, voted to bring key independent anti-corruption agencies under government control. The new law, which was backed by 263 lawmakers with just 26 opposing or abstaining, has sparked widespread condemnation from many politicians and civil society activists who had previously been loyal champions of Zelensky’s. The dismemberment of the National Anti-corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) has also caused deep disquiet among Ukraine’s leading international backers. Zelensky’s government seems to have seriously miscalculated the mood of ordinary Ukrainian people. ‘Seriously concerned

Madeline Grant

Boredom is Rachel Reeves’s secret weapon

When French General Bosquet watched the 600 men of the Light Brigade charge helplessly into the Russian heavy artillery at Balaclava he muttered ‘c’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre’. Well, history repeats first as tragedy then as farce. And so today, those words came to mind as I watched Rachel Reeves prepare to charge into the grapeshot offered by the House of Lord’s economic affairs committee. Only without the ‘c’est magnifique’ bit. Perhaps Reeves’ plan is to bore the markets into submission: after all, the stock exchange can’t crash if everyone’s asleep Behind the Chancellor sat a boy in a lanyard bearing the legend ‘work experience’. One got

Michael Gove

What’s left of the Tories?

The Commons is closing down for the summer, but Kemi Badenoch has treated us to a shadow cabinet reshuffle. At the beginning of the year, Badenoch’s team were keen to stress stability, dismissing talk of an early reshuffle. But, as so often in politics, events have forced her hand. Ed Argar, the shadow health secretary, had a health scare earlier this summer. He has today stepped back from the frontbench to focus on his recovery. Badenoch is therefore using his departure as the chance to make what she calls ‘a few changes to my frontbench.’ The headline is that Sir James Cleverly, former foreign and home secretary, is returning to

Lucy Dunn

Doctors’ strike on as Streeting fails to win over the BMA

Despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s efforts, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced this afternoon that the doctors’ strikes are on. From 7 a.m. this Friday until 7 a.m. next Wednesday, medics across England will stage a walkout – the first of Keir Starmer’s premiership – over pay disputes. The announcement by the doctors’ union comes after Streeting wrote to members today in an 11th-hour attempt to halt the strikes and conduct more talks about improving working conditions. It was to no avail, however, with resident doctors deciding today that Streeting’s offers simply ‘did not go far enough’. Resident doctors decided that Streeting’s offers simply ‘did not go far enough’

Svitlana Morenets

Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions are under attack

The war for Ukraine’s future is being fought not just on the battlefield, but also within its democratic institutions. Today, one of those battles was lost. The parliament passed a bill that destroys the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies. If signed into law, it would effectively dismantle their ability to investigate all senior officials in the country without interference. The new legislation will allow Ukraine’s prosecutor general to take control over National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sapo). Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Ruslan Kravchenko to this post just a month ago, and now he will be able to access case files of any criminal proceedings on high-level

Steerpike

Ex-Unite boss under fire over private jets and million-pound hotel project

Well, well, well. It would appear the former Unite the Union boss Len McCluskey is not immune to the temptation of free gifts. An internal report has revealed that the trade unionist enjoyed private jets and freebie football tickets arranged by a company in charge of building a multi-million pound hotel for the organisation. Alright for some! The Unite report notes that the Corbynite ‘overruled’ advice from staff and union lawyers when he signed the contract with the Flanagan Group firm – which is run by the former union boss’s ‘good friends’ – with the company going on to overcharge Unite at least £30 million for the Birmingham hotel and

James Heale

Farage unveils first defection in Wales

This afternoon, Nigel Farage unveiled his party’s first defector in the Welsh parliament. Laura Anne Jones was first elected to the Senedd in 2003 and has been a card-carrying Conservative for more than 30 years. But today she has crossed the floor, citing the dire state of the country and the urgent need for change. This has been a defection long in the making. A number of senior former Welsh Tories now work for Farage’s party; conversations have been going on for months about potential defectors. Polls suggest that Reform is on course to win around 30 of the 96 seats in next year’s elections for Cardiff Bay. After a

Ian Acheson

Farage is right: our police must be tougher

A few years ago, I was encouraged to apply for a role within the College of Policing for an advisory body on a revamped code of ethics for police officers. When asked what sort of qualities the code should embody, my answer was succinct: ‘moral and physical courage.’ I didn’t make the cut, of course, and was sent a rejection letter that said the days of insolent corner boys like me were over, thanks very much. I was put in mind of this yesterday when Reform announced its new agenda on crime and policing. The party’s leader Nigel Farage said that thousands of new police officers will fill the streets,

Steerpike

DVSA bosses celebrate ‘progress’ as car test waits worsen

The ability of Britain’s quangos to sugarcoat their rather unflattering performance figures will never fail to amaze Mr S. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Authority (DVSA) is just the latest example. The organisation’s chair and chief executive have both issued glowing reports of the company’s ‘progress’ thus far, using an exciting range of buzzwords to distract from the fact that wait times for driving tests have risen to, er, a staggering 22 weeks. Talk about a car crash, eh? The average waiting time for a practical car driving test is 22 weeks across the UK, as of the end of May this year. The figures vary across the country –

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Will one final push by Israel destroy Hamas?

For more than 650 days of war in Gaza, one swathe of territory remained mostly untouched by Israeli ground manoeuvres: the dense, urban core of the central camps – Nuseirat, Deir al-Balah, Maghazi, and Bureij. That pattern has now decisively changed. On Sunday morning, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders for southern Deir al-Balah. Within 24 hours, the area was under sustained air and artillery assault, with Gazan sources reporting the advance of Israeli tanks near the Abu Holi junction, adjacent to Salah al-Din Road. Though precise details of the strikes remain unclear, what is beyond doubt is that Israel is now expanding its war effort into one

James Heale

James Cleverly returns to Tory frontbench in shadow cabinet reshuffle

Former home secretary James Cleverly is expected to make a return to the Tory frontbench as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles her shadow cabinet. Cleverly has been content sitting on the backbenches since losing the leadership race in November, but with the Tories’ poll rating dropping to 17 per cent, the Braintree MP is returning to the fray. Badenoch is using Argar’s departure as the chance to make what she calls ‘a few changes to my frontbench’ The full list of changes will be announced this afternoon, with Kevin Hollinrake likely to move from shadow levelling up secretary to party chairman. The 61-year-old Yorkshireman has proven his worth in recent months on

Ross Clark

Why don’t we let Thames Water go bust?

Hurrah! We are going to get a new water regulator. Sir John Cunliffe’s independent water commission has recommended that Ofwat be abolished and replaced with a new body which also incorporates the drinking water inspectorate. It will be yet one more opportunity for a quangocrat to take a plumb job, while Ofwat’s bosses are pensioned off generously, no doubt. But what are the chances of getting rid of Thames Water, Southern Water or any other failing water company? Water companies which get into financial trouble should be allowed to go bust That doesn’t seem so likely. Rather, Cunliffe has pitched his report as an attempt to rebuild confidence in the

Euan McColm

Why won’t Anas Sarwar champion Sandie Peggie?

When nurse Sandie Peggie complained about the presence of a trans-identifying man in the women’s changing room at Falkirk’s Victoria Hospital, she was treated as a dangerous bigot. A witch-hunt saw her suspended from the job to which she had devoted thirty years of her life and she faced horrifying allegations of placing patients in danger. Today, Peggie is not only a household name in Scotland, she’s fast becoming a national hero. An industrial tribunal called by the nurse – started in February, paused, then resumed last week – has heard how doctors and management turned on her while rallying round Dr Beth Upton, a man who claims to be

Michael Simmons

Britain is broke

Britain is continuing to chuck billions onto our mounting pile of debt. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that last month the state had to borrow just under £21 billion. That was £6.6 billion more than in June last year and the second-highest June borrowing total since records began 32 years ago. The ONS confirmed the surge in borrowing was a continuation of the fiscal doom loop this country now finds itself in. ‘The rising costs of providing public services and a jump in the debt interest we have to pay on inflation-linked gilts outweighed increased revenue brought in from tax hikes. Interest due on our debt