Politics

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

Tuesday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Does Biden actually care about gay rights?

Joseph Robinette Biden, a practising Catholic, has travelled a long way when it comes to gay rights. In 1996, as Senator for Delaware, he voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which blocked the federal recognition of same-sex unions. Two years earlier he voted to cut funding to schools that taught the acceptance of homosexuality. In the 1970s, when asked about homosexuals in the US military, he replied: ‘My gut reaction is that they are a security risk but I must admit I have not given this much thought… I’ll be darned!’   Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-biggest oil producer and so it gets a pass. Uganda has little to

Natasha Feroze

Should Rishi Sunak ban vapes?

Natasha Feroze is joined by James Heale and Fraser Nelson to discuss the Covid inquiry’s requested release of Boris Johnson’s unredacted Whatsapp messages and diary entries. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has spent the day in Kent looking at ways to clamp down unsafe vaping. But he won’t go as far as other countries who intend to ban them. 

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Wanted: freelance data analyst for The Spectator

Every successful digital publication has one thing in common: brilliant analytical people working hand-in-glove with editors. We’re looking to hire such a person. We have a strong data team at The Spectator which allowed us to scrutinise Sage in lockdown and allows us, now, to look at how we can better serve our own readers. This is not about chasing clicks – it’s about helping us create an app and a website that reads as easily and intuitively as the magazine. We need to identify and eliminate any point of friction that annoys our subscribers and do what we can to make it easy for them to find the best

David Loyn David Loyn

Why Iran and the Taliban are clashing over water

Remarkable as it may sound, it looks as if a border skirmish this week between Iranian and Afghan border guards, which involved at least three deaths, was about water. This is not the first border clash as tensions grow over scarce water resources between Iran and the 20-month old Taliban regime, although it is the first that is known to have cost lives.   Earlier this month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi raised the issue of the 1973 water treaty, designed to share access to water from the Helmand river, which flows across the border. He claimed that the Taliban were violating terms of the agreement, under which Afghanistan is committed

Annabel Denham

Starmer’s economic promises would spell disaster for the UK

Britain is paying a terrible price for two decades of fiscal incontinence. Our borrowing costs have risen to the highest amongst advanced economies. Core inflation (which excludes food and energy) is actually rising. Mortgage costs are spiking as expectations mount that interest rates will be raised once again. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has conceded he would be comfortable with a recession if it brought down inflation. We have been living beyond our means, and the day of reckoning is here.  Rishi Sunak has lost any claim of being a ‘safe pair of hands’ at the tiller; all the opposition really needs to do is sit back and watch the Conservatives lose the

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Brexit could fix inflation

Has food price inflation finally peaked? Figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) this morning reveal that food prices were up 15.4 per cent in the past 12 months, down from 15.7 per cent in the year to April. Last week’s figures from the Office of National Statistics also showed a small fall, from 19.2 per cent in March to 19.1 per cent to April. The BRC’s methodology is different from the ONS’s, not only in that it tends to produce slightly lower figures but that it also runs slightly ahead. The inflation story has subtly changed, from being one led by energy prices to being dominated by food

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

France’s failure to tackle migration is a warning to the Tories

Perhaps the most illuminating comment made by Nigel Farage during his discussion with Fraser Nelson on Spectator TV earlier this month was when he reflected on the Brexit campaign. ‘I remember being told, by [Daniel] Hannan and Boris Johnson, “no, no, don’t discuss immigration in the referendum”,’ reminisced the former leader of UKIP. ‘”We’ll lose the referendum. Some of our very posh friends don’t like this sort of thing”.’  It’s not just posh Tories who blanch at the mention of the ‘I’ word; so do posh socialists, which explains why immigration is now out of control in the UK. The vast majority of MPs, if not all strictly ‘posh’, certainly

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Moscow is now a target in Putin’s war

Russian drones attacked Kyiv last night, the 17th such assault this month. But this time there was a difference: just after 4 a.m, Moscow came under what seemed to be a retaliatory attack. Most of the 25 drones were shot down by the city’s air defences, but three managed to get through. As Russia has found in Ukraine, this ratio is not unusual for drone attacks.  Of the drones that did succeed in flying over Moscow, one failed to detonate but the other two hit buildings in the New Moscow area of the city. Footage has surfaced on Russian social media purporting to show drones flying over Moscow suburbs in

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Boris stand for Henley?

Come one, come all! Applications to stand as the Tory candidate in Henley are now open, following the decision of the local MP John Howell to retire. And with such a vacancy comes the inevitable speculation about the return of Boris Johnson, who proceeded Howell as Henley’s MP from 2001 until 2008. Polls suggest Johnson will lose his current Uxbridge seat (majority: 7,210) and would therefore seek the safer berth of Henley (majority: 14,053). Such speculation about a ‘chicken run’ has only been fuelled by Johnson’s new living arrangements. The ex-Prime Minister moved into a £3.8 million Oxfordshire residence earlier this month and was last weekend spotted making a surprise

William Nattrass William Nattrass

Czech Foreign Minister: Ukraine needs to ‘transform’ before it can join the EU

It doesn’t take long for visitors to Prague to figure out how the locals feel about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Fifteen months since the war started, yellow and blue flags still seem to flutter in almost every city centre street.   The current Czech government – an ideologically varied five-party coalition united by its pro-EU and pro-western outlook – has played its part in supporting Ukraine’s successful war effort. As a proportion of GDP, Czech military aid to Ukraine has been among the most generous in the world. And when I meet Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, who is set to meet UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly this week, he is unequivocal

Monday

Steerpike Steerpike

Why won’t Humza Yousaf condemn Celtic fans?

Saturday saw Celtic lift the Scottish Premiership trophy after a 5-0 victory over Aberdeen. Fans crammed into Parkhead, in Glasgow’s east end, to watch goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, Hyeon-Gyu Oh and Carl Starfelt. By way of celebration, Hoops supporters painted the town green — and then some.  Ten people were arrested on suspicion of assault, police assault and public order offences. Three men were hospitalised after being ‘seriously assaulted’. Video footage shows a firework being set off among a crowd of fans while a viral clip has captured the scale of the clean-up operation faced by Glasgow City Council after supporters dumped litter throughout the city’s streets.  A senior police officer has blasted the revellers for ‘an unacceptable level of anti-social

Jim Lawley

What the rise of Vox means for Spain

Vox, the most right-wing of Spain’s mainstream political parties, has emerged considerably strengthened from Sunday’s local and regional elections. With the left-wing vote slumping badly, the Partido Popular, the largest right-wing party, also had an excellent night, but crucially it will need the support of Vox to govern in many regions and town halls.          These elections then suggest that Vox may be a highly influential (albeit junior) partner in the central government after the general election which, it has just been announced, will be held on 23 July. At present it is the third-strongest party in the national parliament with 52 of the 350 seats, while the Partido Popular

Owen Matthews

Erdogan made himself indispensable – to Turkey and the West

Some Turks voted for the devil they knew. More voted for the hero they knew. Either way, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election in the most fiercely contested election of his career last Sunday was a victory for fear over hope, for security over uncertainty, and of the past over the future.  Erdogan has, over the last five years, seen the economic miracle he helped create collapse into runway inflation, cronyism and gross economic mismanagement. Yet despite a litany of failures that would have demolished the career of any western European politician, it’s easy to see why over 52 per cent of Turks voted to stick with Erdogan. His opponent, the avuncular

Nigel Jones

Europe’s rightward drift and the myth of backwards Britain

It is an idée fixe among British Europhiles that continental Europe is a progressive place firmly wedded to left-wing parties and policies, and that in leaving the EU, Brexit Britain was demonstrating its irredeemably reactionary and backward nature. The picture of Europe beloved by British Eurofans as a safe space for only left-wing politics is a complete myth In fact, as a brief examination of recent European elections and current governments reveals, this is the exact opposite of the truth: across Europe the right and often the far-right are on the rise. Meanwhile, the once mighty Socialist and Social Democratic parties that dominated the continent are in eclipse, if not

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Keir Starmer has become the Just Stop Oil candidate

So, Just Stop Oil is now His Majesty’s Official Opposition. Keir Starmer has adopted the group’s main demand – no development of new oil and gas reserves – as his own. Presumably he hopes to attract green votes, especially in Scotland where the SNP has a similar policy. But it means going into the next election with a policy which is both economically and environmentally illiterate. Even with a drive towards clean energy – and even if tricky targets to outlaw new gas boilers and petrol and diesel cars could be met – Britain is going to remain dependent on oil and gas for decades to come. In spite of

Steerpike Steerpike

Phillip Schofield tries to defend himself (again)

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again. The scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield shows no sign of going away, with the disgraced star expected to cost ITV millions in lost advertising revenue and a reduced share price. And Schofield is doing his best to deflect and defend by issuing various statements, including one over the weekend in which he admitted to misleading his lawyer and lying to the Daily Mail about a relationship that he had with someone working on This Morning. Now Schofield has done it again, in blithe defiance of the aphorism that ‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging.’ He has released a statement on

Dr Philip Mortimer

How much compensation should contaminated blood victims get?

The Financial Times estimated on 10 May that the impending compensation relating to the UK haemophilia treatment misadventure around 1980 will reach £12 billion. The Times has suggested the figure is £8 billion. These are very large sums indeed, and they relate to previous UK government failures to engage with a problem that the press now refers to as a scandal. ‘Scandal’ implies gross maladministration and/or professional incompetence, and the current (third) inquiry into the matter, under Judge Langstaff, now needs to resolve the problem without any further delay. Judge Langstaff has undertaken to report by the autumn of this year, and he has already recommended interim awards of compensation.

Daniel Thorpe

Erdogan’s debts are piling up

President Erdogan once again emerged victorious in Sunday’s presidential elections. In the highly contested race, he secured 52 per cent of the votes, beating his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu by four points. With challenges mounting from his previous terms, the next five years will be one of the most challenging for President Erdogan. The biggest and most immediate crisis he is facing is the Turkish lira. Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2018, the lira has lost over 450 per cent of its value against the US dollar. In the run-up to the elections, the Turkish Central Bank burned billions of dollars to keep the Turkish lira from sliding

Charles Parton

The next Chinese tech threat is already here

In recent years we’ve had fierce debates about the safety and security of Huawei, 5G, TikTok, semiconductors, ChatGPT and artificial intelligence. All of which may have given you technological indigestion. Let me add something even more threatening to the mix of the threat from China: the security of cellular (internet of things) modules.   Unlike the mythical urban rat, you really are never more than a few feet away from a cellular module. If semiconductors are the bricks with which the new industrial and lifestyle revolutions are being built, cellular modules are the doors and windows. They are small components embedded within equipment or devices which process software, have geolocation capability, e-sims