Politics

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

Tuesday

12 Sep 2023

Steerpike

Nadine Dorries takes aim at her Tory foes (again)

It’s just a few weeks left until Nadine Dorries’ successor is chosen by the good people of Mid-Bedfordshire. But the MP-turned-columnist shows no sign of going quietly, using her perch in the Mail to direct her ire at her onetime Tory colleagues. Today’s offering was another classic example. Headlined ‘I’ve seen how easy it is for hostile states to create spies in our midst’, it ended with a swipe at Alicia Kearns, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee – one of those linked to the alleged Chinese spy. According to Dories, Kearns is ‘better-known as the ring leader of the so-called “Pork Pie Plotters” – named after her Melton

Katy Balls

Will Rishi axe the pensions triple lock?

Will the pensions triple lock survive the election? That’s the question being asked in Westminster after Rishi Sunak refused to commit to keeping it in the next Conservative manifesto. In a press huddle with hacks on his trip back from India, the Prime Minister said: ‘I’m not going to get into our manifesto now but the triple lock has been a long-standing policy for us.’ Sunak will argue that voters ought not to listen to politicians offering easy solutions This could be read two ways. The first is that the PM simply doesn’t want to get into the game of confirming manifesto commitments as doing so will invite further questions

Euan McColm

The SNP can’t blame Westminster for Scotland’s horrific drug deaths

There is no problem in Scottish society for which the SNP will not try to apportion at least some of the blame to ‘Westminster’. The brave Scottish nationalist does his best in the face of endless obstacles placed in his way by malign unionist forces. But only independence will allow him the freedom to address the vast array of pressing issues, both social and economic, facing the oppressed people of North Britain. Reality has just called the nationalists’ bluff Of course, the SNP’s determination to hold the UK government to account for things over which it has no control is utterly cynical. But that’s nationalism, for you. Over recent years,

Matthew Lynn

Why is the EU forcing Apple to change its charger?

When the iPhone 15 is unveiled later today it will no doubt come with an array of flashy tweaks and upgrades. It may be slightly lighter, the camera might be better, and it could even have a slightly better battery life. But the really big change will be something mundane: its charging port. The European Union has forced Apple to adopt the same USB-C charger that is standard on Android and many other devices. New EU rules require all phones sold after autumn 2024 to use this connector for their charging ports. As a result, Apple has reluctantly decided to bin its lightning charger after 11 years and make the

David Shipley

Don’t condemn McDonald’s for giving prisoners a day job

In the aftermath of Daniel Khalife’s escape and recapture, prisons are in the headlines. Even the most commonplace events, like a prison stabbing, are being widely reported. So, too, is the revelation that ‘prisoners are working in McDonald’s’: that was the gist of an article in the Daily Mail which revealed that a female prisoner was flipping burger and serving customers. But rather than condemn this initiative, we should praise McDonald’s for taking on inmates and giving them another chance. The female McDonald’s worker, who returned to Askham Grange in Yorkshire after her shift, is far from alone in being let out for the day: approximately 100,000 Releases on Temporary

Kate Andrews

Is Britain getting a pay rise?

Whisper it, but British workers seem to be getting a pay rise. This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics reveals that average regular pay (which excludes bonuses) was up by 7.8 per cent between May and July this year, unchanged from the last three-month period. Wage growth has stayed a percentage point above headline inflation – at 6.8 per cent on the year in July – which suggests a relatively small, but meaningful real-terms pay raise. So after more than a year of real-terms pay cuts – as average wage hikes kept falling behind inflation – some workers may finally be feeling the slightest bit of relief as their purchasing

Stephen Daisley

Scotland is right to try drug consumption rooms

Scotland is the drug deaths capital of Europe. Last year saw 1,051 drug misuse fatalities, a rate 2.7 times higher than that for the UK as a whole. The Lord Advocate, Scotland’s most senior law officer, has already issued guidance allowing police to handle possession of Class A and lower narcotics: with a recorded warning rather than arrest and prosecution. The Scottish government has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs and supports a shift to a health-based approach, a move it has already begun to make within its devolved competencies. The problem has always been the Misuse of Drugs Act, the 1971 legislation which governs the policing and prosecution

Benedict Rogers

Parliament needs protecting from foreign infiltration

The suggestion this weekend that an alleged Chinese spy is a British-born parliamentary researcher – leading a policy group aimed at countering the growing threat from Beijing – has sent shockwaves through Westminster and beyond. The individual denies the accusations and says he is ‘completely innocent’ but MPs who know him and many of us who interacted with him are obviously concerned. The investigation into the alleged spy is still ongoing, but regardless of the police’s findings Xi Jinping’s regime has long been running a campaign to influence, infiltrate and intimidate people abroad, with the aim of silencing critics and subverting democracy. These concerns have gained particular prominence in the UK. Last year, MI5 sounded the alarm about the apparent threat from

Roger Kimball

Joe Biden has become a global embarrassment

What time is it? A bit like the emperor Domitian, Joe Biden seems confused about the time. Warned by an omen that his death would come at midday, Domitian daily pestered people around him with that question, relaxing only after the dreaded hour had passed. Alas, his caution availed him not. One day in September 96 AD, a treacherous servant lied to Domitian about the time, inducing him to let down his guard. A knife-wielding steward did the rest. I am not sure that President Biden is still possessed of a guard he can drop. But if his recent performance in Hanoi is any indication, he does seem to be confused

Gareth Roberts

Liz Truss is wrong – the ‘global left’ isn’t to blame for her downfall

Liz Truss is back and she’s got a book to plug. ‘It will set out what we must do to counter the disastrous ideas of the global left,’ she told X at the weekend. Now, I think she’s right that there is a smorgasbord of disastrous ideas about in the modern West – net zero, increasing state power and general economic nuttery, and a whole host of barking cultural ideas about biological sex and race. But can these really be laid at the door of the left, and at a hypothetical global left? I think these foggy notions come from a different place, and they’ve seeped in to all sides of politics. Yes, some

Monday

11 Sep 2023

Jawad Iqbal

Why were Foreign Office staff ‘in tears’ over Brexit?

Simon McDonald, the former Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office, really needs to engage his brain before opening his mouth — especially when the television cameras are rolling. Lord McDonald of Salford has admitted revealing to his staff as well as ministers that he voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum. His jaw-dropping confession — effectively a public admission from a former senior mandarin that he breached sacrosanct civil service impartiality rules — comes in a BBC documentary series on Brexit, Laura Kuenssberg: State of Chaos. Why on earth did he do it? His attempts at an explanation justifying this dereliction of duty reveal much about the sorry state of

Kate Andrews

Can Liz Truss rewrite history?

Last week’s anniversary of Liz Truss entering Downing Street could have passed by quietly. But the Trussites had other ideas. Her supporters used the moment to make the case for Trussonomics once again: to say that Truss diagnosed the country’s problems correctly and that she was on track to find solutions – until her many conspirators took her down. As it turned out, the cheerleading was a warm-up to the big event: yesterday Truss announced the details of her upcoming book – Ten Years to Save the West – which will be published next spring. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the former prime minister promised a detailed account of her time in Downing Street,

Steerpike

Watch: Speaker’s statement on alleged spy

All eyes in Westminster are on the chamber today, amid talk of MPs potentially using parliamentary procedure to name the alleged Chinese spy. First up after prayers at 2:30 p.m was the Speaker, who had tantalisingly teased the media with talk of ‘a brief statement’ in ‘relation to weekend media reports relating to allegations of spying.’ Was Lindsay about to name names? Sadly, not. Like a schoolmaster chastising unruly children, the Speaker sternly told MPs that ‘this is an ongoing, sensitive investigation. Members of course understand that public discussion will be wholly inappropriate.’ Boo! Hoyle did though seek to assure MPs that the Commons follows the same vetting arrangements as

Julia Lewis

The Birmingham attack shows why Bully XLs must be banned

Three people including an 11-year-old girl have been mauled by an American Bully XL dog in Birmingham. The video showing the attack, which took place on Saturday is horrific: the child is bitten as she lays helplessly on the ground. The dog then turns on two men who intervene, dragging one to the ground before going for his head and neck. It was a miracle no one was killed. For too long, the government – which has the power to ban these violent and horrible dogs – has sat on its hands. Now, though, it might finally be waking up to the threat. Suella Braverman is seeking ‘urgent advice’ on

Steerpike

Boris’s Brexit blunder on customs unions revealed

Oh dear. When it came to getting Brexit done, Boris Johnson was, it seems, winging it more than he might have wanted to let on. Speaking on the BBC’s Politics Live show today, Labour MP Barry Gardiner has revealed that when the former prime minister was still foreign secretary he didn’t know what a customs union was – pretty vital knowledge for, er, negotiating Britain’s departure from the EU. Saying he could disclose the conversation now Boris was no longer an MP, Gardiner said that sometime between 2016 and 2018, Johnson stopped him in a corridor in parliament. Doing a decent imitation of Boris’s bumbling way of speaking – if Mr Steerpike

James Heale

Accused parliamentary researcher denies spying for China

A former House of Commons researcher has this morning denied claims that he ever spied for China. The man in question said that he is ‘completely innocent’ and a victim of ‘misreporting’, saying in a statement released by his lawyers that ‘to do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be against everything I stand for.’ The British national, who boasted links to top Tories including Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, added that ‘I have spent my career to date trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist party’. Today’s Times is the only newspaper to name the man in question, with

Katy Balls

‘Chinese spy’ arrest – what we know so far

Over the weekend, it was reported that a parliamentary researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The accused has released a statement this morning claiming he is ‘completely innocent’. Katy Balls speaks to Cindy Yu and James Heale about the arrest and what this could mean for Britain’s relationship with China

Patrick O’Flynn

Could a return to its ‘nasty party’ roots save the Tories?

Next year’s general election could either be a 1992 or a 1997, commentators have speculated: a slender Tory win or a Labour landslide. Last weekend David Blunkett suggested it is more likely to be a 1964 – the narrowest of Labour wins leading to a much bigger majority in another election called a couple of years later. I’m afraid things are shaping up more grimly than that. The most likely outcome may be a 1974, a year which saw the replacement of a failed regime that had lost its nerve with another that proved to have no answers to a profound national malaise. Few would dispute that Britain is in

Andrew Tettenborn

Don’t fine drivers for doing 31mph in a 30mph zone

Drivers could soon be prosecuted for travelling 1 mph over the speed limit, at least if some MPs get their way. The all-party parliamentary group on walking and cycling (APPGWC) also proposes stiffer penalties for drivers of heavy cars like SUVs involved in accidents, and an invariable requirement for a fresh driving test for anyone disqualified. However well they may go down among a certain class of activist, it’s not difficult to see that these are all fairly terrible ideas. First, speed limits. Current informal guidance from police chiefs, pretty widely observed in England (though not in Scotland) is ’10 per cent plus 2′: in other words, ignore speeds up

Sam Leith

There’s not much we can do about China spying

A parliamentary researcher has just been arrested on suspicion of espionage. A man in his late twenties, with reported links to the security minister and the chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is accused of spying for China and may have had access to sensitive secret documents. A second suspect has been collared in Oxfordshire. It’s said to be the worst Westminster security breach in years: ‘We haven’t seen anything like this before.’ I’m sure you were as surprised as I was to find out that the Chinese are spying on us. Gobsmacked. Flabbergasted. Probably nearly as surprised as the Prime Minister. And to hear his spokesman tell it,