Politics

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

Thursday

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

The new elite: the rise of the progressive aristocracy

40 min listen

On the podcast this week:  In his cover piece for The Spectator, Adrian Wooldridge argues that meritocracy is under attack. He says that the traditional societal pyramid – with the upper class at the top and the lower class at the base – has been inverted by a new culture which prizes virtue over meritocracy. He joins the podcast alongside journalist and author of Chums: How a tiny caste of Oxford Tories took over the UK, Simon Kuper, to debate (01:04).  Also this week:  In the magazine, ad-man Paul Burke suggests how the Tories should respond to Labour’s attack adverts. Released last week, the adverts have caused a stir for attacking the

Brigid Keenan

Mary Quant 1930–2023

The fashion designer and icon Mary Quant has died at the age of 93. Brigid Keenan wrote the following piece in 2019. It is almost impossible to explain to today’s readers why Mary Quant (and the other Young Designers, as they became known) had such a huge impact. Over the half-century since, there have been so many ‘new’ ideas in fashion that her and their initial shock value has been diluted. Luckily, though, the Christian Dior exhibition is also showing at the V&A, and a quick visit there — look particularly at the fashions of the 1950s — will give you a clue. Pre-Quant, clothes were constricted: fussy, fitted, buttoned,

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Humza flails on motorhome seizure

Even the most skilled politician would struggle with the legacy left by Nicola Sturgeon – and Humza Yousaf is very far from being skilled. The new First Minister has been forced to do an awkward interview today, outlining what he knew about the recent raid on his predecessor’s home. Yousaf has now admitted that a luxury motorhome seized by police during an investigation into SNP finances is owned by the party. He also confirmed that he had seen the warrant listing other items confiscated as part of the probe, saying: Of course the police have done the responsible thing in terms of giving us, and I as leader have seen

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Gove’s war on buy-to-lets will kill the holiday economy

The term ‘hostile environment’ was dreamt up by the Home Office to describe a policy of making migrants lives’ so difficult that they would be minded to pack up and leave the country. But it could equally well have been coined to apply to the government’s policies towards buy-to-let investors. For years, governments of all colours sat back and did nothing as rampant house price inflation priced many young people out of the market. Then something clicked and George Osborne, together with his successors at No. 11, decided that it was not a good idea to have investors and speculators scoop up properties by the armful, outbidding aspirant owner-occupiers. Without

Sam Olsen

France won’t be able to escape conflict in Taiwan

The last month or so has been an active time in Chinese-western relations. Early March saw President Xi threaten the US with conflict unless Washington stopped trying to ‘suppress’ his country; shortly afterwards he flew to Moscow to reaffirm his ‘no-limits’ friendship with President Putin. Next, Taiwan’s President Tsai travelled to the US to meet with lawmakers there. In response, Beijing ordered massive military incursions into Taiwan’s sovereign waters, announced that it would be able to inspect Taiwanese shipping, and briefly cut off the island using ships and aircraft in what many took to be a dress-rehearsal for a blockade. Whether Macron likes it or not, both the EU and

Steven Fielding

Labour aren’t the first to fight dirty with attack ads

If you believe Britain’s commentariat, Labour’s new series of political ads, which make a variety of claims about Rishi Sunak, have polluted the nation’s politics. A consensus has emerged among them that they mark a ‘new low‘ in political debate, are undoubtedly ‘immoral‘ and could possibly encourage Q-Anon-like conspiracy theories. Even Labour front benchers Yvette Cooper and Lucy Powell seemed to want to distance themselves from the ads. It is certainly true that the first of these ads was especially contentious. Asking if the reader thought adults convicted of assaulting children should go to prison, it claimed, juxtaposed next to a smiling Sunak, that the Prime Minister did not. The

Amber Athey

Was Biden’s visit to Belfast gaffe-free?

12 min listen

President Joe Biden landed in Belfast this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. For the podcast, Washington editor, Amber Athey is joined by Lew Lukens, former deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in London to talk about the significance of this state visit for Biden who now embarks on a four-day trip visiting family in Ireland. With proud Irish roots, a hostility to Brexit, and someone famous for his gaffes, has the trip passed by without any awkward moments? Produced by Natasha Feroze and Saby Kulkarni.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

The strikes are taking their toll on UK growth

February was a no-growth month, according to the latest update from the Office for National Statistics, published this morning. A rise in construction was offset by a fall in services, resulting in zero headline growth. The strikes are taking their toll. The biggest contribution to the fall in services came from education and public administration, as striking teachers downed tools. Education fell by 1.7 per cent. Meanwhile public administration fell by 1.1 per cent, as ‘this industry also saw industrial action take place within the civil service during February 2023.’ An optimist might note that while the strikes offset economic activity in other sectors, at least there was some growth to point

Annabel Denham

Junior doctors’ pay demands aren’t reasonable

Is a 35 per cent pay rise reasonable? That’s the question which, rightly or wrongly, is at the heart of the junior doctors row.  We are part way through a 96-hour walkout which the NHS national medical director for England warned would cause ‘unparalleled levels of disruption’. Coming straight after the Easter weekend, coinciding with Ramadan and Passover, and lasting longer than any other walkout in NHS history, it has been timed for maximum impact. The health of sick people will be compromised: hernias will rupture, appendixes burst, cancer treatments will be delayed. But it will have subtler effects, too. One letter in yesterday’s Telegraph expressed dismay at the advice to ‘avoid

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will Sunak’s charm offensive on Biden pay off?

Joe Biden’s trip to Belfast was seen in government as a chance to strengthen the special relationship. The initial hope had been that by the time the US President jetted to Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, power-sharing would have returned to Stormont. However, after the DUP voted against Rishi Sunak’s renegotiation of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Biden instead used his speech in Belfast to praise the Windsor Framework and express his ‘hope’ that ‘the assembly and executive will soon be restored’. Such words from the US President – who often speaks of his Irish heritage with pride – were given short shrift by

Andrew Tettenborn

Europe is falling apart on the world stage

There is rather more than meets the eye to Emmanuel Macron’s inept visit to Beijing last week. The immediate fallout – Xi’s flat refusal to change tack on Ukraine, and Macron’s subsequent insistence that France was not beholden to the US or for that matter over-concerned with what China might do in Taiwan – looks like a stinging national rebuff to France and a face-saving retreat by Paris to curry favour with China. And so it is. But it goes further. There is a strong EU dimension to this whole debacle: what it really shows is the increasing weakness and disunity of Europe when it tries its hand at power projection

Wednesday

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Resurrecting Scotland’s gender law battle is an error for Humza Yousaf

Humza Yousaf’s decision to challenge the British government in court over Scottish gender laws is a tactical play. And yet it confirms just how little the new First Minister knows about tactics. Yousaf is having a terrible old time of it. Almost half of SNP members voted against him becoming leader. He has stuffed his government with loyalists: just one of his 27 ministers endorsed his leadership rival. The SNP’s finances are under police investigation, former chief executive Peter Murrell was arrested, the home he shares with Nicola Sturgeon raided by officers, and Yousaf only just learned that his party’s auditors quit months ago. (Neither Murrell nor anyone else has been charged with any offence.)

James Heale James Heale

Rishi meets Biden: bi-latte or bi-lateral?

15 min listen

James Heale is joined by Katy Balls and Talk Radio political editor, Peter Cardwell who has been in Belfast for Biden’s state visit. A symbolic time as Northern Ireland marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Given the President’s proud Irish roots and vocal criticism of former Prime Ministers, was Rishi Sunak able to thaw the special relationship?

Alexander Larman

Why isn’t Meghan going to the coronation?

Today’s announcement that Prince Harry will be coming to London for his father’s coronation is not a surprise. Yet it comes with a sting in the tail. It has been revealed that Meghan will not be attending; the official statement from Buckingham Palace, while saying that they were ‘pleased’ that the Duke of Sussex would be present, also announced ‘The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’.  Usually, there would be some face-saving explanation for her absence, but as none has been offered, speculation will begin immediately. No doubt the ever-active ‘friends’ of Harry and Meghan will soon start spreading discord more or less

Andrew McQuillan

Will Northern Ireland ever learn to solve its own problems?

If the relationship between the UK and the United States is allegedly special, the relationship between Northern Irish politicians and the US presidency is a whole different level.  In the mythologised, Derry Girls telling of the Troubles, Bill Clinton turning on Belfast’s Christmas lights in 1995 heralded a transformative US intervention. One which allegedly managed more in delivering the Belfast Agreement than the hard yards trod by UK and Irish civil servants, the security forces and the more constructive figures involved in local politics.  How can Northern Irish politicians be encouraged to take some responsibility for providing stable, local government?  Since then, Northern Irish politicians have revelled in the purported glamour of

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

What junior doctors really earn

How much money do junior doctors really earn? If you’ve been listening to the British Medical Association – the trade union which represents junior doctors – this week you will have seen comparisons made between their salaries and the wages of Pret A Manger employees. The union talks about members having to ‘cut back on food and heat to pay bills’. To think of notoriously overworked junior doctors in such circumstances is outrageous. But how typical is that scenario of those demanding a 35 per cent pay rise? First-year junior doctors are still some of the better-paid workers in Britain, and this is only the jumping-off point A doctor can

James Heale James Heale

The gloves are off in the Labour party

When Rishi Sunak became Tory leader, the party was 30 points behind Labour: that kind of deficit has historically been terminal for a political party. But since then, inflation has slowed, the Northern Ireland Protocol has been resolved and a deportation deal with Albania meant small boat arrivals fell for the first time on record. That Labour lead has fallen closer to 15 points; one poll last weekend put it as low as 11. A Keir Starmer defeat is now at least conceivable. As one Labour party insider says: ‘Nice doesn’t win elections’ This is the context in which Labour has tried a new tactic: attacking the Prime Minister personally.

Steerpike Steerpike

Now Humza gets his day in court

Is Humza Yousaf set to repeat his predecessor’s mistakes? He’s certainly not doing much to avert fears: today, his government has confirmed that it will be launching a legal challenge against the UK government’s section 35 order that blocked the bill. Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Cabinet secretary for social justice, wrote in response to a parliamentary question: The use of section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to stop the legislation proceeding to Royal Assent is an unprecedented challenge to the Scottish parliament’s ability to legislate on clearly devolved matters. To uphold the democratic decision of the parliament, and ensure proper protection of devolution, Scottish Ministers will now lodge a petition

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The apotheosis of Starmerism

To celebrate this week’s 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the European Movement has launched a ‘powerful intergenerational film’ which, it says, ‘exposes Brexit as the biggest threat to peace since the 1994 ceasefire’. The film contains ‘true stories of how… Europe’s mission, commitment and hope for a peaceful future transformed Northern Ireland, changed the course of history and inspired the world’. Not a lot of people know that. Even fewer know that ‘the only organisation with the courage and commitment to… win the Battle for the Soul of our Country – is the European Movement.’ Mere raving? Such thoughts are not a million miles from EU/US orthodoxy. In

Paul Burke

How the Tories should respond to Labour’s attack ad

When I was writing ads for Labour’s 1997 election campaign, I’d never have presented an idea as factually, creatively and strategically wrong as Labour’s recent ‘attack ad’ on Rishi Sunak. If I had, I’d have been the one under attack for failing to understand the simple principles of advertising. What you need when writing any ad is calm, dispassionate advocacy rather than silly, partisan evangelism Let’s start with the first and most obvious one: ‘Don’t tell lies.’ Labour’s ad suggests that the Prime Minister would be quite happy to let sex offenders go unpunished. Nobody – not even the person who wrote it – believes this to be true and