Politics

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

Thursday

8 Feb 2024

Michael Matheson’s iPad scandal has tarnished the SNP

When the Scottish health secretary’s inevitable resignation came, there was no apology, no recognition that he had done anything wrong. Michael Matheson quit with all the arrogance we’ve come to expect from SNP politicians, jumping ship on Thursday morning before the findings of an investigation into his expenses claims were published. After it emerged last November that Matheson had claimed around £11,000 for roaming data charges run up during a family holiday in Morocco, the MSP insisted his expenses were entirely legitimate and had come about while he carried out essential constituency work. When that line refused to shut down questions about how he could have incurred such massive costs,

Steerpike

Michael Matheson quits as Scottish health minister

So. Farewell then Michael Matheson. The embattled SNP MSP threw in the towel today after three months battling in vain to save his job as health minister following the row over his £11,000 data bill. The announcement came just hours before he was set to give a major announcement to the Scottish Parliament on minimum unit pricing. Sub-optimal to say the least… The minister has been awaiting a report on the huge iPad roaming bill he ran up during a family holiday. Labour and the Scottish Tories have accused Matheson of lying over whether he knew how the large data usage had occurred, with the Glaswegian eventually admitting to MSPs

Mark Galeotti

How long will Nadezhdin dare to defy Putin?

Despite a little eleventh-hour drama, Boris Nadezhdin’s bid to become the only genuine opposition candidate in March’s Russian elections has been blocked. What’s interesting is not that he was barred, but what this whole process says about the evolution of ‘late Putinism.’ Once, after all, it was marked both by a – limited but real – degree of genuine pluralism, especially at a local level, and also dramaturgiya, a theatrical facsimile of genuine democratic politics. The elections were stage-managed, of course, and the so-called ‘systemic opposition’ knew that their job was to put on a show rather than actually challenge the regime. Nonetheless, the showrunners appreciated the importance of spectacle, both

Andrew Tettenborn

Why the EU detests Hungary

To misquote von Clausewitz, the European Union sees lawfare as the continuation of politics by other means. Brussels’s latest sally against the government of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, which it viscerally detests (and which seriously rattled Eurocrats last week with its calculated brinkmanship over the Ukrainian aid programme) is a nice example. The new casus belli is a piece of domestic Hungarian legislation from last year, the Act on the Defence of National Sovereignty. (For a fairly rough English translation of the law, see here.) The measure is essentially aimed at making it harder for transnational NGOs and foreign-funded organisations like the Soros Foundation (called the ‘dollar left’ and the ‘Soros Empire’ in Hungary) to

Kate Andrews

Why Starmer had to ditch his £28 billion green pledge

What will Labour’s flagship promise be going into the next election? There’s a policy vacancy, now that the party plans to ditch its pledge to spend £28 billion a year on green investment. This is not your average U-turn. This has been Labour’s big offering for more than two years. Yet today, Keir Starmer will ditch the headline figure for good – though his party still plans to usher in other parts of their proposed ‘Green Prosperity Plan’. By abandoning the £28 billion promise, Stamer is putting to rest what had become a contentious topic within his own party. The spending promise – which shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves first committed to

Debbie Hayton

Starmer should listen to Sunak on gender

The transgender row isn’t going away. Prime Minister’s Questions this week was dominated by a jibe Rishi Sunak made about Keir Starmer’s stance on gender. The Labour leader then lashed out at Sunak for criticising him on the topic while the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey was in the Commons. It’s clear that both sides in this debate are doubling down: Sir Keir has previously said ‘99.9 per cent of women haven’t got a penis’; while Sunak has said that ‘a man is a man and a woman is a woman’ – that’s just common sense’. As well as a Spectator writer, I am a science teacher. The

Freddy Gray

Éric Zemmour: ‘I am not intending to conquer Europe’

Two years ago, Éric Zemmour was the most talked-about man in France and a serious contender to be the ninth president of the Fifth Republic. A controversial journalist turned incendiary politician, he vied with Marine Le Pen for second place behind Emmanuel Macron in the polls. Crucially, he seemed to have something she lacked – an ability still to appeal to the Catholic bourgeoisie while tapping into widespread anger at mass immigration. But then Russia attacked Ukraine, the mood of Europe changed, and Zemmour’s political fortunes sank as quickly as they had risen. He finished a distant fourth in the first round of the presidential election, with 7 per cent

James Heale

Keir Starmer’s Gaza gamble could cost him votes

Just before the last general election, the Muslim Council of Britain released research which calculated how many seats could be decided by Muslim votes. The answer was 31, enough to swing a tight election. It’s debatable how many of these voters would realistically switch party: traditionally, Muslims have been more likely to back Labour than almost any other electoral group. But it’s the kind of statistic that could make Keir Starmer nervous. In his quest to demonstrate that he has vanquished Corbynism, the Labour leader has been steadfast in his support for Israel, to the dismay of many within his own party. In November, he lost ten frontbenchers who protested

Katy Balls

Inside the plot to take down Rishi Sunak

Westminster and its drinking holes have always been a fertile ground for conspirators. There was the dead sheep coup against Margaret Thatcher, the curry house conspiracy against Tony Blair, the great goose plot against Gordon Brown and the pork pie putsch to oust Boris Johnson. Now that Rishi Sunak has the worst approval ratings of any prime minister in an election year, it’s inevitable he should be the target of a new plot. The Tories have become the party of regicide. The dispatching of Liz Truss was carried out with record-breaking speed. When things get bad, the Tories change leader. It’s the party’s natural reflex. ‘If you are working on

Wednesday

7 Feb 2024

Isabel Hardman

Sunak should apologise, says Brianna Ghey’s father

Brianna Ghey’s father has called on Rishi Sunak to apologise for his ‘degrading’ comments at Prime Minister’s Questions. Peter Spooner told Sky News: For the Prime Minister of our country to come out with degrading comments like he did, regardless of them being in relation to discussions in parliament, they are absolutely dehumanising. Identities of people should not be used in that manner, and I personally feel shocked by his comments and feel he should apologise for his remarks. As reported earlier, Sunak didn’t edit his oft-used script about the number of things Keir Starmer has flip-flopped on at PMQs today, despite having just heard that Brianna Ghey’s mother Esther

James Heale

Is the prime minister gaffe-prone?

14 min listen

It has been a gaffe-filled week for Rishi Sunak. At PMQs today the prime minister was chastised by his opposite number for an ill-judged comment about transgender people with the mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey in parliament. This comes after being pictured embracing Sinn Fein leader Michelle O’Neill and then making a wager with Piers Morgan over his pledge to stop the boats. Is this a prime minister ready to fight a general election? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Stephen Bush, associate editor of the Financial Times. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Lloyd Evans

Keir Starmer’s shameful behaviour at PMQs

‘Apologise!’ This was the bogus battle-cry that rang out repeatedly at today’s PMQs. Rishi Sunak was asked to genuflect to his enemies and show contrition for fictional sins. The trouble began when Sir Keir Starmer told us that the mother of Brianna Ghey, a transgender girl killed in February, was present in the public gallery. ‘As a father, I can’t even imagine the pain she’s going through,’ he said, strangely placing himself at the centre of somebody else’s nightmare. Sir Keir, unaware of what was about to transpire, then mounted a routine attack on Rishi’s unfulfilled pledges. The PM called this ‘a bit rich’ coming from a Labour leader who

Jonny Uttley

Why are schools ‘off-rolling’ pupils?

Schools dramatically change a child’s life chances, as I’ve seen in my 24 years of teaching. How we measure their performance couldn’t be more important, but in recent years it’s gone wrong. The key metric that secondary schools in England are judged on is called ‘Progress 8’. It looks at the progress that students make across eight subjects from the end of primary school to GCSE, and then ranks schools against each other. It’s zero-sum: for every winner, there is a loser. Some school leaders treat ‘good’ scores with humility and caution. Others plaster their badge everywhere. However, it’s too easy to game the system and too many schools are

Steerpike

Watch: Rishi goes off script

Back in the far-flung days of 2019, the Tories won plaudits for their unconventional use of social media in their landslide electoral triumph. Five years and two leaders on, it’s looking like a tough ask to turn it around this time. But in Rishi Sunak, the party at least has a leader who has never been afraid of embracing novel forms of social media, from hand-signed graphics to Home Alone spoofs. And tonight Mr S hears that an innovative tactic is being trialled by the bright young things of CCHQ. Sunak is releasing a new party political broadcast in which he stands before a whiteboard and improvises his set speech.

Stephen Daisley

Javier Milei is no populist

When Javier Milei visited Israel and announced that he would be moving Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem, I suppose that was terribly ‘populist’ of him. Try as I might, I can’t find it in me to be appalled by Milei’s pronouncement, and not because he already floated it during his election campaign. For one thing, it must be nice to have a government that decides its own foreign policy rather than contracting out such matters to the European Commission, the US State Department and the NGO sector. For another, Argentina’s president is taking a stand that Britain ought to have taken long ago. As The Spectator’s move-the-embassy-to-Jerusalem correspondent, I am by now a veteran of

Steerpike

Badenoch backs Sunak in PMQs trans row

Rishi Sunak’s transgender jibe at Prime Minister’s Questions has riled Labour and Lib Dems MPs. The PM mocked Keir Starmer for not knowing what a woman is, just moments before Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered trans teen Brianna, came into the Commons. ‘Of all the weeks to say that when Brianna’s mother is in this chamber,’ said Starmer. Labour MP Liz Twist urged Sunak to ‘apologise to Brianna Ghey’s mother’. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP said the prime minister was ‘sinking lower and lower’. Yet one MP leapt to Sunak’s defence: step forward Kemi Badenoch. The minister for women and equalities said it was in fact Keir Starmer who

Ross Clark

Fact check: Tim Spector’s frightening climate claims

The BBC just can’t seem to stop itself trying to frighten people over climate change. On Tuesday morning it was the turn of Radio 4’s Food for Life by King’s College London professor Tim Spector. The show began with an extraordinary claim: ‘Most predictions concur that if we don’t change our habits fast, by 2050 the Earth will have lost most of its trees and habitable areas.’ Really? I contacted Spector over where he sourced this claim and was told that the claims were ‘in the IPCC reports’. But are we really on course to lose most of our trees in just 26 years’ time? The IPCC’s latest Special Report on Climate Change

Limor Simhony Philpott

Israel cannot accept Hamas’s hostage deal

Following weeks of stagnation in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a deal for the release of Israeli hostages, Hamas has finally responded. Perhaps unsurprisingly though, the terms they have proposed are unacceptable to Israel. Hamas is demanding a long ceasefire, lasting four-and-a-half months, that would lead to a permanent truce. Their terms include the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from Gaza and an end to the war, rehabilitating Gaza under Hamas’s continued governance, and the release of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails with the guarantee that they will not be rearrested for the same offences. This would include 500 prisoners of Hamas’s choosing, whose offences are

Isabel Hardman

In praise of Elliot Colburn

All power to Elliot Colburn, who used today’s Prime Minister’s Questions to talk about surviving a suicide attempt in 2021. The Carshalton and Wallington MP told the chamber: In recent years, something like 6,500 people in the UK die due to suicide. And in 2021, I was nearly one of them. Luckily, my attempt failed, I was found by family members quickly, I received amazing care at St Helier and Springfield Hospitals, it didn’t do any permanent damage, and I was well looked after by the NHS in the months that followed. And I wanted to take this chance to say thank you to everyone who saved me, and sorry

Steerpike

‘Shame’: Starmer fury over PMQs gender dig

Today’s lethargic PMQs session was brought to life by a furious row over comments made by Rishi Sunak about transgender people. Labour leader Keir Starmer began the exchange by paying tribute to Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna. He then moved on to NHS waiting lists which Sunak had previously promised would come down on his watch. ‘Isn’t he glad he didn’t place a bet on it?’ he joked – a reference to the PM’s ill advised handshake with Piers Morgan. Sunak shot back by suggesting that Sir Keir would only place a bet if it was an ‘each way’ one. He remarked it was ‘a bit rich’