Politics

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

Tuesday

James Heale James Heale

Could Boris make a comeback?

Events have a useful way of illustrating changing fortunes in political stock. Keir Starmer’s EU reset yesterday proved to be one such occasion. The fishing deal, mobility scheme and legal obligations prompted predictable fury from the Tory press. But one voice dominated in the chorus of criticism: Boris Johnson. It was the former prime minister’s arresting description of Starmer as ‘the orange ball-chewing gimp of Brussels’ which led both the Telegraph and Mail’s write-ups today. A minority in his party view Boris Johnson as the only character big enough to eclipse Nigel Farage and his Cheshire cat grin Such prominence is not unsurprising. Johnson’s role in the 2016 referendum and

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Miliband’s wind farms won’t ease Britain’s sky-high energy prices

Rachel Reeves is perhaps not a great fan of Donald Trump, but she should be grateful to him nonetheless, and Ed Miliband even more so. The trade war sparked by Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs is about to lower energy prices for UK consumers. According to a forecast by consultants Cornwall Insight, Ofgem’s price cap will fall in July by 7 per cent – to a level at which the average home with a dual gas and electricity bill will be paying £1,720 a year. It will reverse the uplift in the price cap in April and moderate the rise in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), giving Reeves a bit of

Steerpike Steerpike

Romanian man charged over Starmer fires

Last week, fires at two properties and a vehicle linked to Sir Keir Starmer were being probed by police – and now a second man has been charged in connection with the series of arson attacks on properties owned by the Prime Minister. It transpires that 26-year-old Stanislav Carpiuc, a Romanian national, has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The latest development comes after a 21-year-old man was charged with arson with intent to endanger life over attacks at properties linked to the Prime Minister. Roman Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national living in London, is accused of starting fires outside two properties and burning a

Steerpike Steerpike

Is Reform changing its tune on voting reform?

With more than 650 councillors and a new MP to boot, Nigel Farage’s teal army is clearly on the up. But while Reform UK is always happy to call out others’ volte faces – including Starmer’s Brexit ‘betrayal’ – Farage’s party now appears to be U-turning on one of its own manifesto promises: voting reform. Reform’s ‘Contract with You’, published last July, promised: Proportional Representation Voting for the House of Commons. Large numbers of voters have no representation in parliament and new parties are shut out of the political system. Voter turnout could be some 10 per cent higher with PR. A referendum is needed. But during the Spectator’s latest Coffee House Shots Live podcast event at the Emmanuel Centre in

Alexander Larman

Greggs’ security crackdown is a sign of broken Britain

Greggs is a great British success story. The ever-popular bakery chain provides good-quality (if, admittedly, rarely healthy) treats for millions of satisfied Britons. Yet some depressing news has taken the joy out of visiting Greggs for a steak bake and an iced doughnut. The chain has become a Mecca for shoplifters, who refuse to pay even its modest prices. To deter thieves, Greggs is resorting to desperate measures To deter thieves, Greggs is resorting to desperate measures: ditching its self-service fridges and keeping sandwiches and bottled drinks behind the counter. The crackdown will be trialled in five stores, the Sun reports. But shoplifting is now so rife it seems likely

François-Joseph Schichan

Can France’s centre-right be revived?

On Sunday, Bruno Retailleau was elected president of Les Republicains – France’s mainstream centre-right party. Just a few years ago, his election would have drawn significant attention across Europe, as the rise of a new leader within a major European political force. Today, however, Les Republicains are the shadow of their former selves: a diminished political party on the right fighting for survival. In the 2022 presidential election, the party suffered a catastrophic result, receiving just 4.78 per cent of the vote – an all-time low for the party of De Gaulle, Chirac and Sarkozy. Today, polls show the party barely averaging 10 per cent support ahead of the 2027 presidential election, regardless of the candidate. Squeezed between Marine Le Pen’s ascendant National Rally and the fading remnants of Macronism – and challenged on the right by the insurgent Éric Zemmour – Les Républicains struggle to find

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Britain is not in charge of its energy

As much of Westminster gets up in arms about fish, the major change in Starmer’s EU deal is going under the radar. The deal, announced yesterday, commits Britain and the EU to exploring Britain’s participation in Europe’s energy market. If we go forward with this, it effectively gives up our energy policy to Brussels. It’s a stark giveaway given that on the same morning the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published an analysis on ‘The impact of higher energy costs on UK businesses’. That impact is quite remarkable. Output from energy intensive industries has fallen rapidly since the beginning of 2021 when energy prices began to skyrocket. Paper manufacturing down

Monday

Euan McColm

The SNP attack on Starmer’s EU deal makes no sense

To mutilate the words of PG Wodehouse, it is never difficult to distinguish between a Scottish nationalist with a grievance and a ray of sunshine. Fury is the fuel that drives the SNP, which has been in power at the Scottish parliament for 18 years. So it is hardly a surprise that First Minister John Swinney has reacted angrily to the new deal struck between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The agreement reached between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will increase freedom of movement, create closer relationships between businesses, and increase cooperation on food standards. These are things that the

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Was Zbigniew Brzezinski a Cold War prophet?

30 min listen

Polish émigré Zbigniew Brzezinski – known as ‘Zbig’ – rose to prominence in America during the Cold War as a key intellectual architect of US foreign policy. He was National Security Advisor to President Carter and was a trusted advisor to many US presidents from John F Kennedy onwards. Yet, despite helping to shape American foreign policy during critical moments, he is not as well-known or celebrated as his lifelong rival Henry Kissinger.   The Financial Times’ chief US columnist Edward Luce joins Freddy Gray on this episode of Americano to talk about his new book Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Cold War Prophet. The book aims to bridge the

Steerpike Steerpike

How much has Liz Truss made since leaving No. 10?

Two and a half years have passed since Liz Truss entered – and swiftly exited – Downing Street. The former prime minister has not laid low since then, however, keeping busy by setting up the ‘PopCons’, releasing her memoir and appearing at CPAC alongside Steve Bannon. Yet while the ex-PM will be remembered by the history books for her short but eventful time in politics, her post-parliamentary career is not quite as lucrative as those of her predecessors.  The latest financial statement from her eponymous company reveals that in the year up until March 2025, the Disruptor-in-Chief had just £112,657 in net assets – some way off the sums made by the likes of Theresa May and others. The accounts show that Truss took only £8,000 more than the previous year – despite publishing her

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris: Keir is ‘manacled gimp of Brussels’

Ding ding ding! Sir Keir Starmer may have lauded it a ‘landmark’ deal but his agreement with the EU has gone done like a bucket of cold sick with the UK’s most senior Brexiteers. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is the latest to take to Twitter to lambast the move – and the gloves are well and truly off. In a fiery pitch, BoJo scorns the PM’s ‘appalling sell-out of a deal’, blasts Starmer for sacrificing Britain’s freedom to ‘do proper trade deals’ and concludes tersely: ‘Two-tier Keir is the orange ball-chewing manacled gimp of Brussels.’ Tell us what you really think! Unleashing a vitriolic tirade on Sir Keir, the

Zachary Marsh

What is really being taught to our children in history lessons?

History is an area of remarkable success in our schools thanks to recent education reforms. However, these impressive strides forward risk being undermined by a new wave of activism in classrooms. This process of ‘decolonisation’ in history is not necessary Following the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, 83 per cent of schools have made changes to ‘diversify’ or ‘decolonise’ their curriculums in recent years. In many cases, this shake-up has brought politicised and one-sided narratives into schools. Inaccurate and poor-quality teaching resources are being used to give students a mistaken impression of the past. During research for Policy Exchange’s report,  Lessons from the Past, we found children being taught the ahistorical claim that Stonehenge was built by black people. Elsewhere, pupils

Gus Carter Gus Carter

Why fishing matters

Not everything is about money. If it were, we’d be merrily sending our oldies off to assisted dying hubs to free up the social care budget. The fishing industry is one of those parts of public life that is about more than raw GDP. But Keir Starmer has handed over access to British waters for another full 12 years in return for what he deems more lucrative EU concessions. It’s a mistake, because fishing is about more than cash. It’s about what it means for us to be a free and confident country.  There is something more than a little irksome about letting foreign fishermen into our waters in return

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Gary Lineker and the truth about toxic centrism

What happened to Gary Lineker? For years he was football’s Mr Nice Guy. To some he was the Steve Davis of footie: a tad dull but a good egg. Now he’s been let go by the BBC after sharing an Instagram post that seemed to compare Jews to rats. That’s one hell of a tumble. I have seen many good men lost to the religion of centrism My view? He was radicalised online. We often hear about kids being led astray by digital fruitcakes like Andrew Tate. Now we need to talk about the full-grown adults whose minds are turned to mush by drivel on the internet. In Lineker’s case

Michael Murphy

Romania’s Europhiles have bludgeoned the populists

Bucharest, Romania Moments before Romania’s exit poll was announced, George Simion, the nationalist firebrand and presidential hopeful, was tapping his feet to YMCA on the steps of parliament. The campy American anthem bounced off the marble facade of Nicolae Ceausescu’s vast neoclassical palace, an incongruous soundtrack for the night’s unfolding drama. Behind him, a phalanx of aides, friendly broadcasters and visiting politicians, some in MAGA hats, swayed to the beat. Then came the news: Simion was on track to lose. He didn’t miss a step. Taking the lectern, he thundered that he had, in fact, won by 400,000 votes. His supporters cheered. Cameras snapped. It wasn’t entirely clear whether he

James Heale James Heale

Starmer’s EU ‘reset’ risks pleasing no one

Keir Starmer has just wrapped up his press conference with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The Prime Minister sought to bang the drum for his EU reset, citing his three ‘driving principles’: more jobs, lower costs and enhanced border control. Starmer boasted that his deal ensures ‘unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country outside of the EU or Efta’, while ensuring Britain remains outside the single market and customs union, with no return to freedom of movement. The text of today’s agreement is still being scrutinised – yet the risk is it ends up pleasing neither Remainers nor Brexiteers. Both the UK and EU

David Shipley

The legal aid hack is very worrying

If you are ever unfortunate enough to need legal advice after being charged with a crime, and you can’t afford to pay for a lawyer, you will probably end up turning to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). I’m familiar with the system. When I was charged with fraud in 2018 I applied for legal aid. When you apply, the LAA asks you for a great deal of information, including your national ID numbers, criminal record, employment status, financial information and even any debts you have and regular payments you make. In the wrong hands this data could be used for identity theft and potentially blackmail.  In the wrong hands this

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Why can’t Israel-haters accept that their Eurovision song was good?

Eurovision is an annual celebration of the gaudy and the garish – but I suppose someone should come to its defence amid the backlash. This year’s contest has provoked a fit of fury not about the naff music, simpering performers, or style choices that make Lady Gaga seem demure, but about the fact that Yuval Raphael came first in the popular vote. I probably don’t need to tell you which country she was representing. It was, inevitably, Israel, under whose flag she sang the pop number ‘New Day Will Rise’. Twenty-four-year-old Raphael is a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre on 7 October 2023. After Palestinian terrorists shot up the shelter

Steerpike Steerpike

One in two Labour voters back Supreme Court ruling

While members of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party have long struggled with the concept of biological sex, his voter base appears more confident on the subject. YouGov polling reveals that half of those who backed Starmer’s army in last year’s July election agree with the Supreme Court ruling that saw judges unanimously agree that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refers to biological sex. In fact, two-thirds of British voters are in favour of the judgment, according to data collected between 8-9 May, in a revelation that may compel the UK government to be a little more decisive on the issue. A survey of 2,106 British adults for Sex Matters found

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Gary Lineker is an excellent presenter

Gary Lineker is off then, much to the BBC’s relief. It is moot as to whether it was his resoundingly stupid views on Israel and Gaza that did the trick, or his criticism of the direction in which Match of the Day seems to be heading (and about which I think he is right). Lineker brings an easy lightness of touch to a sport which is full of pomposity Lineker may have the depth of geopolitical knowledge of a plastic tea tray, but he has been a superlative presenter, bringing an easy lightness of touch to a sport which is full of too much pomposity, hubris and faux expertise to