Politics

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

Saturday

28 Oct 2023

How Britain failed Israel

That the United Kingdom’s central institutions are rotten, crumbling, captured and perhaps beyond recovery is not news, but the Gaza intifada has crystallised the scale of institutional debasement. The brutalisation and murder of 1,400 Jews by Palestinian terrorists, and the open celebration of those actions by Jew-haters in this country, ought to have been met swiftly and resolutely. We do not do that sort of thing here. Instead, this demonic behaviour has granted us the most intimate and bracing glimpse at the decay inside the British state since the aftermath of 9/11. At a time when statesmanship is called for, we are forced to choose between Rishi Sunak, a waste

David Abulafia

Why are Cambridge University’s librarians judging ‘problematic’ books?

Librarians across Cambridge University are on the look out. Their target, among the ten million-odd volumes in the main library and in the independently-run libraries of the colleges, is ‘problematic’ books. ‘We would like to hear from colleagues across Cambridge about any books you have had flagged to you as problematic,’ a memo sent to colleges by the University Library read. But surely what is most damaging is to bandy around words such as ‘harmful’ and ‘problematic’ without even defining them. It goes without saying that a great library will contain books that some, occasionally nearly all, readers will find disturbing. It would be absurd to put together a library on modern

Friday

27 Oct 2023

Stephen Daisley

Why Israel is set to invade Gaza

If reports this evening are correct, Israel is stepping up its ground operations in Gaza. The Jerusalem Post quotes IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari saying: ‘In the last few hours, we have severely increased our attacks in Gaza.’ For two weeks, a threatened ground invasion has failed to materialise. The Israeli press attributes the delay to diplomatic efforts with Washington and the need to assess the IDF’s capability for fighting on two fronts should Hezbollah decide to invade or shell from the north. Israelis, particularly though not exclusively on the political right, have been urging Benjamin Netanyahu to get a move on. ‘Tnu tzahal lenatze’ach’ runs the old Second Intifada era

Iain Macwhirter

The mystery of the Covid Inquiry’s missing WhatsApps

It will no doubt be referred to in Whitehall circles in future as the ‘Jason Leitch protocol’. Scotland’s clinical director appears to have escaped scrutiny by the UK Covid Inquiry. It was revealed last night that his WhatsApp messages sent during the pandemic were deleted at the end of each day. The Scottish government have this afternoon denied this, saying that it was not correct to say that Professor Leitch deletes his Whatsapp messages and that guidance had been followed. But this does not change the fact that by the time the ‘do not destroy’ notice was issued by the Inquiry, Leitch’s messages were already gone. First Minister Humza Yousaf

Steerpike

Elon Musk and Humza Yousaf in war of words

It’s an unlikely face off: the First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf against Twitter/X chief Elon Musk. The pair are currently engaged in an online spat after Musk labelled Yousaf a ‘racist’. There’s never a dull moment with him at least… The row came about last night after Musk saw a clip of a parliamentary speech Yousaf made two years ago. Speaking just after the murder of George Floyd in the US, the then Justice Secretary remarked that the top jobs in Scotland were all occupied by (horror of horrors) white people. Since making those comments, critics have used the clip to label Yousaf as a bigot — while the

Patrick West

Is the business world sane again?

There are signs that woke capitalism is on the way out. Unilever, purveyor of the most right-on brand of the moment, Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, will no longer ‘force fit’ all of its brand with a social purpose, following a backlash over the company’s ‘virtue-signalling’. Hein Schumacher, who became Unilever’s chief executive in July, has said that for some brands, giving them a social or environmental purpose ‘simply won’t be relevant or it will be an unwelcome distraction.’ He added: ‘I believe that a social and environmental purpose is not something that we should force fit on every brand.’ This report, in today’s Daily Telegraph, marks a significant U-turn for the manufactures of

Katy Balls

Will Starmer cave in to calls for a Gaza ceasefire?

12 min listen

Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from his party to back a call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The week began with the Labour leader correcting comments he made on LBC that Israel had a right to defend itself. But now, politicians to the left of his party are campaigning for a ceasefire. Is this something Starmer can support? Also on the podcast, James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about more ‘pestminster’ scandals and Liz Truss on AI and China.

Steerpike

Boris Johnson joins GB News

He’s back! Since the Privileges Committee probe earlier this year, Boris Johnson has been unusually quiet by his colourful standards. But today the former Prime Minister has hit the headlines once more today with the announcement that he is going to be joining GB News as a ‘presenter, programme maker and commentator’. According to a gushing press release: Boris, who joins in the new year, will play a key role in the channel’s coverage of both the UK general election and the US elections next year. He will create and present a new series showcasing the power of Britain around the world, as well as hosting the occasional special in

Lloyd Evans

The shallow truth about Rachel Reeves

Sexism struck early in Rachel Reeves’s life. Last night the shadow chancellor gave a talk about her new book on female economists, and she recalled an early brush with toxic masculinity. Aged eight, competing in a public chess tournament, she faced a little boy who foresaw a swift and easy victory. ‘Lucky I’m playing a girl’, he said. Reeves duly thrashed him. ‘He didn’t say it again after that,’ she told the crowd. At Oxford and the LSE she was a keen sexism detective and she noted with dismay that there were no women teaching economics at either university. Things got worse at the male-dominated Treasury where her colleagues created

Cindy Yu

Can Xi successfully stage manage Li Keqiang’s legacy?

Political deaths in China always carry the risk of social unrest. It was premier Zhou Enlai’s death that triggered the ‘democracy wall’ movement of the late 1970s, a student protest that was the precursor for the Tiananmen Square protest ten years later. In turn, the latter protest was triggered by former Chinese Communist party (CCP) leader Hu Yaobang’s death. Last night, the former premier Li Keqiang passed away of a sudden heart attack at the age of 68, so reports Chinese state media Xinhua. A few things will happen now. It’s true that Li was not as well loved by the Chinese people as Zhou, nor was he explicitly associated

Lisa Haseldine

Why Putin hosted Hamas at the Kremlin

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel nearly three weeks ago, Vladimir Putin has been torn between who to back. It took the Russian president several days to address the conflict, and even longer to speak to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, it increasingly appears that he has made up his mind. Yesterday afternoon, at the invitation of the Kremlin, a Hamas delegation touched down for talks in Moscow. The visit was not briefed out in advance and was only confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry once news of the meeting began appearing in the Russian state media. The delegation was led by Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior member of the Palestinian group. If the

Ross Clark

Let’s do away with EPC ratings

The Autumn Statement could propose offering discounts in stamp duty for homebuyers who take improvement to raise the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of their home during their first two years of ownership. Could this be the beginning of a new divergence between the Conservatives and Labour, where the Tories provide incentives and Labour pursue punitive measures? More carrot and less stick over green policies seems a good thing Previous government policy was to threaten the owners of homes with low EPC ratings. Landlords were to be banned for letting properties with a rating lower than ‘C’, and in the longer term it would become impossible to buy, sell or take

Amber Athey

Who is the new House Speaker?

29 min listen

Amber Athey and Daniel McCarthy editor of Modern Age Journal and columnist at The Spectator join the Americano podcast to breakdown the long House speaker battle which has finally culminated in Trumpist Mike Johnson getting selected.

Katy Balls

Keir Starmer is losing grip on his Israel problem

Keir Starmer is losing grip on his party’s position on Israel. So far, over 25 Labour councillors have quit over Starmer’s comments on the conflict following the attack by Hamas on 7 October. The Labour leader angered his party when he suggested in an interview with LBC that Israel ‘has the right’ to withhold power and water from Gaza. Starmer has since tried to clarify his comments by meeting with Muslim Labour MPs and calling for a ‘humanitarian pause’ in Gaza to get aid in. However, many in his party want him to go further and call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Nearly a quarter of Labour MPs have publicly

Svitlana Morenets

Will the new US Speaker spell trouble for aid to Ukraine?

For the past few weeks, the US House Speaker’s chair has sat empty. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the position on 3 October amid accusations from some Republicans that he was colluding with Democrats in a ‘secret deal’ to assist Ukraine. While the position has been vacant, critical legislation, including aid for Ukraine, has not been able to pass. But with the election of Mike Johnson, an ally of Donald Trump who is known to be Ukraine-sceptic, US politicians may have chosen their stance on the conflict. This development follows a decline in support for aid to Ukraine among both Democratic and Republican voters. Republicans for Ukraine, an advocacy group seeking support

Steerpike

Patrick Harvie’s bizarre breakfast rant

Has Patrick Harvie woken up on the wrong side of the bed? On BBC Scotland this morning, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens appeared to take aim at just about anybody he could think of — including his own coalition government. Lashing out at the Scottish nationalists, Harvie slammed their council tax freeze. The Greens have ‘made clear we weren’t told in advance’ about the proposal, Harvie seethed, and ‘don’t think the process was well handled’. Ouch. That’s certainly something coming from a pro-environment party who couldn’t even enact their own recycling scheme… Next in the firing line was the Westminster government. Harvie harped on about Sunak’s decision to U-turn

James Kirkup

The truth about Rachel Reeves’ ‘plagiarism’

With all due respect to the diligent journalists who revealed it, I don’t think it’s a big deal that some bits of Rachel Reeves’ book about women in economics were copied from Wikipedia. The book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, was launched at an Institute for Government event in Westminster on Wednesday evening. An examination by the FT of the book found more than 20 examples of passages from other sources that appeared to be either lifted wholesale, or reworked with minor changes, without acknowledgment. Some biographical text about women economists spotlighted by Reeves, who hopes to become Britain’s first female chancellor if Labour wins the next election, was

Gavin Mortimer

Macron is wrong if he thinks Isis is finished

Emmanuel Macron has suggested the formation of an international coalition to combat Hamas similar to the one deployed against the Islamic State several years ago. The president of France floated the idea on Tuesday during his visit to Israel. An Elysee source later fleshed out the proposal in more detail. ‘We are available to build a coalition against Hamas or to include Hamas in what we are already doing in the coalition against Isis,’ said the source, adding that as well as operations on the ground, the coalition is ‘involved in the training of Iraqi forces, the sharing of information between partners, and the fight against terrorism funding.’ Isis is far

Katy Balls

Is Britain’s housing system broken?

30 min listen

The UK is facing a housing crisis hitting both buyers, renters and those who aren’t in a position to live in a stable home. Factors such as rising mortgage rates and inflation mean that people are increasingly struggling to meet their housing costs, especially those on low incomes – and women disproportionately fall into that bracket. There are a number of reasons for this: of all jobs that pay less than the living wage – 60 per cent are held by women. Over the course of a woman’s lifetime her income can be seriously affected by taking time out to care for children or elderly relatives. Even in higher paid

Michael Simmons

Dodgy data risks breaking Universal Credit

As many as one in 20 Universal Credit payments to working Brits are wrong. Claimants are at risk of destitution when they’re underpaid and accused of fraud when they’re overpaid, as the Department for Work and Pensions has been using a flawed data stream provided by HMRC to calculate Universal Credit payments. This week The Spectator revealed how HMRC’s PAYE earnings data is error strewn and fundamentally unreliable. Now it has emerged this system, used to calculate Universal Credit, risks criminalising benefit recipients and automated computer systems make it impossible for claimants to put the record straight. Insiders warn of a scandal waiting to happen – one that officials seem unaware of. The social