Politics Archives

Saturday

9 Sep 2023

Steerpike

Tory Treasury minister takes the fight to Labour

To Shoreditch, unlikely terrain for this year’s Tory Reform Group conference. The last such shindig happened in pre-Covid times, with the One Nation Conservatives keen to make up for lost time. Damian Green, Maria Miller and Tom Tugendhat were among a succession of MPs who appeared before the activists, proudly extolling the virtues of the centre ground and common sense conservatism. Mr S was in attendance and particularly enjoyed the reaction of the MP who, upon finding out the result of the Met manhunt, delightedly exclaimed ‘We’ve found Khalife? Thank fuck for that!’ Other highlights included Bim Afolami’s remarkably understated observation on the need for party discipline to ensure fiscal

David Shipley

HMP Wandsworth isn’t the only prison in crisis

Daniel Khalife has been on the run for three days. There’s a £20,000 reward for information leading to his capture and police have spent a night disturbing Richmond Park’s deer. As of Saturday morning reported sightings suggest he fled the lorry and has made his way to the Chiswick area. Rightly, many questions have been asked about HMP Wandsworth’s failures. Why was Khalife allowed to work in a high security risk role in the prison’s kitchens, providing him with easy access to an escape route? Why didn’t Wandsworth’s gate staff check the underside of the delivery lorry with mirrors, as is policy? No doubt the independent inquiry announced by Alex

Steerpike

Braverman backs Douglas Murray

Stop the presses: common sense has broken out in parliament. On Thursday, Suella Braverman delivered an update on the anti-terror programme Prevent, following a review into its effectiveness by Sir William Shawcross in February. Among Shawcross’s findings was his criticism about Prevent’s work on supposed ‘right-wing extremism’. An analysis done by Prevent’s ‘Research Information and Communications Unit’ (RICU) in 2019 investigated social media users described as ‘actively patriotic and proud’ – gasp! – with warning signs including those who absorbed information or opinions from ‘pro-Brexit and centre-right commentators’. These included Jacob Rees-Mogg, Melanie Phillips and The Spectator’s own Rod Liddle and Douglas Murray, who wrote about the surreal experience here.

Katy Balls

Is Humza Yousaf a people-pleaser?

8 min listen

James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Lucy Dunn for the latest update on Scottish politics. Humza Yousaf has been on a ‘reset’. But critics claim the Scottish First Minister is simply rehashing Nicola Stugeon’s policies. Also on the podcast, will Labour take the Scotland by-election from the SNP? And what happened at the Holyrood Magazine awards?

Steerpike

Watch: Macron booed at World Cup opening ceremony

You know it’s bad when the rugby fans are booing you. Poor Emmanuel Macron had his big moment upstaged last night as the World Cup kicked off in Paris. Ahead of the first game between the hosts and New Zealand, the embattled President had to delay his welcome speech from a lectern on the pitch, such was the booing, whistling and jeering from around the stadium. Macron – a self-made man who worships his creator – has suffered a dramatic fall in popularity since his unpopular pension reforms, with a current approval rating of 31 per cent. It wasn’t just in the Stade de France that he was booed: the

Jawad Iqbal

Rishi Sunak will have a tougher time than he thinks in India

Rishi Sunak, the first British leader of Indian descent, has to walk an unenviable political tightrope at this weekend’s G20 Summit in India. It is Sunak’s first visit to the country as prime minister, and Indians have given him the kind of welcome usually reserved for an all-conquering hero returning home. Sunak himself acknowledged that the trip was ‘special’. This mutual fawning aside, Sunak’s Indian roots actually make his task of securing the best trade deal for Britain in talks with India that little bit harder. Indians clearly love the idea that Sunak has risen to the top in Britain, treating him as one of their own, even though he

Kate Andrews

Kate Andrews, Katy Balls and Max Pemberton

24 min listen

Kate Andrews talks crumbly concrete, overcrowded trains, NHS waiting lists, and describes the general air of despair and asks – who broke Britain? (01.15). Katy Balls analyses Keir Starmer’s reshuffle and describes the appearance of a New Labour restoration as the party prepares for power (11.20), and Max Pemberton outlines the worrying increase of Tourettes and tics in children, neglected during lockdowns and possibly damaged for life (17.25). Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran.

Jonathan Miller

French healthcare makes the NHS look like Bedlam

French healthcare has its problems but it makes the NHS look like Bedlam. Recently my GP here thought it would be a good idea for me to visit the radiologist to take a look at my non-performing thyroid gland. I made the booking online using an app called Doctolib. An appointment was available in a couple of weeks. In the UK you’d be lucky to get one in six weeks. There are no diversity, equity and inclusion officers. There are no trans flags painted on the sides of hospitals The privately owned radiography clinic in Clermont Herault is immaculate and spotless. I had a choice of clinics using Doctolib, but

Eliot Wilson

Britain’s shrinking army faces an uncertain future

Old soldiers never die, the song goes, they just fade away. Next year, General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff and the professional head of the British Army, will step down after less than two years in post. He is 57, and will have served for 40 years. But he is not fading away; rather he leaves under a muted storm, having clashed with the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, and after vainly resisting cuts to the size of the Army. Under current plans, our land forces will shrink to 73,500 by 2025. We have not fielded so few soldiers since 1799. It is

Friday

8 Sep 2023

Steerpike

SNP to purge rebel backbencher

Dear oh dear. It appears Fergus Ewing has exposed one painful truth too many. The nationalist veteran is expected to have the whip removed within days after the party’s leadership decided that his backbench criticisms have gone unpunished too long. Ewing — who is rumoured to be the only Spectator subscriber on the SNP benches — will face severe disciplinary action after a series of rebellions, senior party sources revealed to the Times. From voting in favour of a no confidence motion against Green co-leader Lorna Slater to opposing the gender bill to physically tearing up government legislation on Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), Ewing doesn’t exactly, er, toe the party line. It

Katy Balls

India trade deal: is this what Brexit was for?

11 min listen

Rishi Sunak has landed in Delhi ahead of the G20 summit this weekend. He will be hoping to smooth the way for a new free trade deal with India. What does a good result look like for the prime minister? Will the new deal result in increased immigration? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Heale. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Steerpike

Martin Selmayr in trouble over ‘blood money’ jibe at Austria

Martin Selmayr, the so-called Beast of the Berlaymont, is no stranger to controversy. During his time as head of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s cabinet and as secretary-general of the Commission, Selmayr became something of a bete noire of Brexiteers, having been accused of wanting to ‘punish’ the UK for leaving the EU. Despite, or perhaps because, of this reputation, Selmayr had a habit of floating to the top of EU politics. But now, it seems, Selmayr may have pushed things too far. Selmayr, who is now head of the European Commission’s office in Vienna, has been rebuked by Brussels for accusing Austria of paying ‘blood money’ to Russia for gas supplies. At

Katy Balls

Could Corbyn thwart Sadiq’s mayoral bid?

Is next year’s London mayoral contest a done deal? When the Tories first started the process of candidate selection, the general sense was that they had little chance of taking the mayoralty from Sadiq Khan. However, as the Labour mayor has faced a voter backlash over his support for Ulez (the ultra low emission zone), the race looks closer than previously thought. What’s more, there is one man who could decide it. Step forward Jeremy Corbyn. The former Labour leader – who is currently banned from standing as a candidate for the party – could deny Khan a third term as London mayor if he decides to run as an

Ian Acheson

Who’s really to blame for the Wandsworth jailbreak?

There’s fevered speculation about inside jobs or state actors involved in the HMP Wandsworth prison break by terror suspect Daniel Khalife. But as police close in on Richmond park, whether he’s found cowering in a ditch or at a press conference in Tehran, this dramatic escape reveals just how close we are to a full blown crisis across our prison system. Wandsworth has been failing in plain sight in front of helpless officials at the Ministry of Justice for years. Repeated inspections have revealed squalor, overcrowding and chronic staff retention problems with young, inexperienced officers out of their depth. Writing about another filthy jail recently, Chief Inspector Charlie Taylor, rapidly

Steerpike

BBC disinformation correspondent accused of embellishing her CV

Oh dear. Could things get any worse for the fledgling BBC Verify, launched to combat the scourge of fake news? The fact-checking service has already faced criticism for failing to spot the BBC’s own blunders – such as the Corporation’s misfired reporting on Nigel Farage and Coutts. Now though it looks like the service’s star reporter could be in a bit of hot water. According to the New European, the BBC’s disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring was allegedly caught embellishing her CV when applying for a job in 2018. The paper alleges that five years ago Spring wanted to work as a Moscow stringer for the US-based outlet Coda Story and wrote on her CV: ‘June

Gavin Mortimer

Why Macron wants to put French schoolkids back in uniform

The details of King Charles’ state visit to France later this month were announced on Wednesday. His Majesty’s deputy private secretary, Chris Fitzgerald said that the occasion state will celebrate the countries’ ‘shared histories, culture and values’. One thing France and Britain haven’t shared for many years is the same view on school uniform. We wear it, they don’t, although they might be about to change. In an interview on Monday, Emmanuel Macron agreed that school uniform may be the best way to avoid any future controversies about what children wear to schools in France. He was referring to the furore that erupted last week when his new Minister of

Alexander Larman

When will Elizabeth II get the memorial she deserves?

After the public grief that greeted the death of our longest-serving monarch Elizabeth II a year ago today, it might be expected that there would be a similar display of commemoration to mark the first anniversary of her passing. Instead, the Royal Family have let it be known that there will be no public event to remember her. The King and Queen will hold a private family ceremony at Balmoral Castle, to which all the senior members of ‘the Firm’ will be invited – save, perhaps inevitably, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The Prince and Princess of Wales will make an appearance in public, but are not expected to issue

Thursday

7 Sep 2023

William Moore

Broken Britain: what went wrong?

34 min listen

On the podcast: In her cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews writes that political short termism has broken Britain. She joins the podcast alongside Giles Wilkes, former number 10 advisor and senior fellow at the Institute for Government, to ask what went wrong? (01:12) Also this week: In his column Douglas Murray writes about Burning Man, the festival which has left Silicon Valley’s finest stuck in the mud. He is joined by David Willis, who has been covering the festival this year for the BBC, to discuss the schadenfreude of Burning Man. (14:41) And finally: Travel writer Sean Thomas argues in The Spectator that having a pet is far

Oscar Edmondson

Tories face ninth by-election – are they ruined?

13 min listen

The Conservative MP Chris Pincher has resigned following the Commons decision to refuse his suspension appeal. Follow Nadine Dorries’s most recent resignation, this means the government faces their 9th by-election since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister – can they come back from this? Also on the podcast, Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman about Rishi Sunak’s move to rejoin the EU Horizon Project and the latest on the UK-India trade deal.

Tom Slater

Why eco zealots love to hate Ryanair

There are many reasons why someone might want to throw a cream pie at Michael O’Leary, the motormouth boss of budget airline Ryanair. Usually, the only satisfying thing about a Ryanair flight is the price. (And even then prices have been going up.) Then there’s his one-note Remoanerism, his contemptuous comments over the years about Brexit-voting Brits. And his contempt for some of his own workers. But that’s not why O’Leary was pied by some activists in Brussels today, as he handed in a petition to the European Commission, calling for flights over Europe to be better protected from air-traffic-control strikes. No, they’re angry – apparently – that his firm exists at all. ‘Stop the