Politics

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

Wednesday

24 May 2023

Is Sunak heading for a showdown over Rwanda?

When the Prime Minister first assembled his cabinet, the most controversial appointment was Suella Braverman as Home Secretary. She had only just left the role under Liz Truss after she admitted sending an official document from a personal email account. But when Truss fell, Braverman called for Rishi Sunak rather than a Boris Johnson restoration. She was back in the Home Office after less than a week. ‘It’s either stop the boats or leave the ECHR,’ says one senior Tory Some suspected a grubby deal between the two, but Sunak had plenty of reasons to want Braverman back. While critics accuse her of harbouring unsubtle leadership ambitions, her place in

Freddy Gray

Can Trump’s opponents prove him wrong on Ukraine?

Boris Johnson, Britain’s most sought-after Churchill impersonator, visited Texas on Monday to urge a group of rich right-wing Americans to never, never, never give in to Vladimir Putin. ‘I just urge you all to stick with it,’ Agent Bojo told a private lunch of conservative politicians and donors in Dallas. ‘You are backing the right horse. Ukraine is going to win.’ Johnson wasn’t paid to speak at the lunch, though it’s worth noting that he only stopped over in Texas on the way to the SCALE Fintech conference in Las Vegas, where he is expected to receive a six-figure sum for talking about the future of innovation alongside Saudi Arabia’s

Steerpike

Watch: Lindsay Hoyle boots Tory MP out the Commons

Another week, another angry ticking off in the House of Commons by speaker Lindsay Hoyle. Today it was Conservative MP Paul Bristow who felt the full might of Hoyle’s wrath after being singled out for heckling Labour leader Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions. Standing at the despatch box, Starmer had challenged Rishi Sunak’s grip on illegal immigration. To the sound of taunting from the government benches, he said: ‘Mr Speaker, if anyone wants to see what uncontrolled immigration looks like, all they’ve got to do is wake up tomorrow morning and see what this government…’ It appears that Hoyle managed to make out Bristow’s voice amongst the hecklers, because

Isabel Hardman

Sunak and Starmer fail to convince on immigration at PMQs

What is the real difference between the two main parties on immigration? Not much, if today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was anything to go by. Both parties say they want to drive net migration down, both accuse the other of not really wanting to do this and of letting things get out of control, and both find the subject compelling and uncomfortable all at once. Keir Starmer chose to lead on the highly anticipated net migration figures due out tomorrow. They are expected to show a record high in the number of people coming to this country. Ministers have been getting their excuses and defences in early, including with the announcement

Freddy Gray

It’s a long way to the presidency for Ron DeSantis

Joe Biden became America’s president in 2021 because the alternative was four more years of Donald Trump. If Ronald Dion DeSantis, who has announced his candidacy on Twitter today, wins the Republican party nomination next year, it will also be because the alternative is you-know-who. Trump fatigue is a real phenomenon: even many Trump supporters think it’s time to move on, which is the key to the 44-year-old DeSantis’s appeal. He is Trump but he gets stuff done. He is Trump but you get two terms. At the same time, DeSantis’s biggest problem is that he’s up against Donald Trump, one of the most effective political campaigners of the

Katy Balls

Are the Tories addicted to psychodrama?

12 min listen

Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about the ongoing case of Suella Braverman’s speeding saga. And now Boris Johnson has returned to the spotlight over reports he broke more lockdown rules. Does the energy around these stories say something about the culture of Westminster? Also on the podcast, Kate Andrews takes a look at today’s inflation figures. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

John Sturgis

Can you tell if he’s dead yet? The secret life and death of Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, the disgraced entertainer and sex offender, is dead. Harris’s death was confirmed yesterday – but his death certificate showed that he passed away at his home in Bray, Berkshire, on 10 May. This confirmed what many journalists already knew: a fortnight ago, a private ambulance was photographed backing into the doorway of his riverside home. News organisations were ramped up to full alert. Old obituaries were dusted down, pages drawn up, commentators considered for comment. And then…nothing. Two weeks elapsed, almost to the minute, from the moment the rumours began to swirl to the official confirmation yesterday of his death at the age of 93. The tipping point came

Douglas Murray

There is such thing as a stupid question

Some people seem to make a career of being ashamed (or at least claiming to be ashamed) of their country. Personally I don’t feel it – apart from when I see journalists from the BBC, ITV or Sky questioning our political leaders while they are abroad. Then a great wave of revulsion and national shame surges within me. It happened last weekend when Rishi Sunak was at the G7 summit in Japan. These meetings of the world’s leading economies are pretty important affairs, so much so that major media organisations fly journalists out to cover them. But as Sunak and his hosts stood to answer questions about the summit, what

Chris Mullin

British politics has become a nasty game of Gotcha

As Tony Blair once remarked, British politics has become a game of Gotcha. I am, to put it mildly, no fan of Suella Braverman, but for the life of me I cannot get excited about this latest piece of nonsense to do with her speeding ticket. It is certainly no resigning matter. When I have made this point, I have generally received a favourable response. But there are some dissenters. One response was that, ‘We’re talking about Braverman, Chris. How do we get rid of her?’ To which there is an obvious riposte: ‘At a general election, perhaps?’ We live in the age of the feeding frenzy. Originally a tabloid

Katy Balls

Suella Braverman avoids speeding fine probe

Suella Braverman will not face an investigation into whether she broke the ministerial code over her handling of a speeding offence. Following claims that the Home Secretary asked civil servants to arrange a one-to-one speed awareness course for her, after being caught speeding in 2022, Sunak consulted with both Braverman and his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus. In a letter to Braverman, Sunak says Magnus advised that ‘further investigation is not necessary’: ‘On the basis of your letter and our discussion, my decision is that these matters do not amount to a breach of the Ministerial Code. As you have recognised, a better course of action could have been

Kate Andrews

Inflation falls to 8.7% – but pressures remain

Since the start of the year, politicians and central bankers have been promising a collapse in the inflation rate. But monthly data kept rolling in, and the rate remained in double digits. This put even more pressure on the data this morning, published by the Office for National Statistics, with the Bank of England (BoE) making clear in its last report that April’s figures would turn the corner on price hikes. Unlike its previous predictions in this inflation saga, it seems the BoE has managed to get this one right. Prices rose 8.7 per cent on the year to April – still a staggeringly high figure, but down from 10.1

Euan McColm

Alex Salmond’s firebrand reinvention is hard to take

In power, Alex Salmond was, according to the senior lawyer who successfully defended him against a series of sex charges, ‘an objectionable bully’. Out of power, he breezed into a new career as a presenter on the Kremlin-funded propaganda channel, RT. He maintained his relationship with the broadcaster until the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Salmond deserves to be yesterday’s man. He’s utterly discredited, both morally and politically – and yet, he’s back. The current crisis in the SNP, still under investigation by Police Scotland as a result of fraud allegations, has given Salmond an in. Suddenly, every TV channel and radio station in the country wants to hear

Tuesday

23 May 2023

Steerpike

Ron DeSantis set to announce presidential bid on Twitter

Ron DeSantis is expected to announce his 2024 presidential bid during a Twitter Space with the app’s ‘chief Twit’ Elon Musk in the next few hours, according to NBC News. At 11 p.m. UK time Wednesday, DeSantis will appear in a discussion with Musk – perhaps part of a bid to make the governor seem less awkward? – moderated by David Sacks, ‘a Musk confidant and DeSantis supporter’. The Florida governor’s entry into the race is long awaited – and the unique decision to make his announcement on Twitter is earning plaudits from his supporters. ‘@RonDeSantis announcing his campaign with @elonmusk is a big deal – and not only because it’s

Steerpike

SNP councillors form breakaway party

These days, it would be news if the Scottish nationalists were actually getting along. The latest row today is part of an unfolding scandal about former SNP North Lanarkshire Council leader, alleged ‘sex pest’ Jordan Linden, who quit his position in July after accusations emerged that he had groped and assaulted a teenager at a Dundee Pride afterparty. Eight former SNP councillors were disciplined by the SNP earlier this month for highlighting their concerns that accusations of Linden’s behaviour hadn’t been investigated properly. Two were expelled from the party, four were suspended, one received a written warning and another is still yet to receive a punishment after leaving the meeting

Steerpike

Boris referred to the police over lockdown breaches (again)

Just when Boris thought the worst was over with Partygate. The former Prime Minister has today been referred to the police by the Cabinet Office over fresh claims that he broke Covid lockdown rules. According to the Times, Johnson’s ministerial diary from 2020 and 2021 has revealed visits by friends to Chequers during the pandemic. The trips to the grace and favour residence were highlighted during preparations for the Covid public inquiry. In an incredible twist of fate, this story appears to have come about because the government is currently paying Johnson’s legal fees for the duration of the inquiry. He handed over the aforementioned diaries to the lawyers but

Iain Macwhirter

Humza Yousaf is facing a summer of discontent

You could almost hear the groans from Scots hard hit by the cost of living crisis when Humza Yousaf this week announced another ‘summer of independence’. The FM is promising to bring the campaign ‘to every corner of the country’, setting up ‘regional assemblies across Scotland to bring together and harness the energy of our members’. The intention is of course to do precisely the reverse and revive the divisions over the constitution. We’ve had these summer offensives every couple of years since the 2014 referendum whenever Nicola Sturgeon tried to reboot her campaign for Indyref2. They invariably achieved little except stirring up apathy, as the late Willie Whitelaw might

Brendan O’Neill

We need to talk about Just Stop Oil’s class privilege

I have never felt such a strong desire to buy a man a pint as I did when I watched that builder clear Just Stop Oil protesters off the road. The clip has gone viral. We see an irate bloke take direct action against doom-mongering posh irritants. They were doing one of their funereal marches on Blackfriars Bridge in Central London, to raise awareness about the coming eco-apocalypse or some nonsense, when the man appeared out of nowhere, fuming. He ripped their daft banners from their hands. He pushed one of them off the road. He looked furious, and why not? A man being prevented from getting to work by

James Heale

Is the ministerial code fit for purpose?

15 min listen

Paul Goodman, editor of Conservative Home joins Katy Balls and James Heale to discuss the most recent victims accused of breaching the ministerial code. The code covers things like telling the truth in Parliament, keeping cabinet discussions secret and not allowing conflicts to arise between public duties and private interests. But is it fit for purpose? Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Christopher Gage

How the Cardiff riot was sparked by social media

After a traumatic night which saw rioters torch cars, volley fireworks at police, and indulge in nine hours of mayhem, residents of the close-knit Ely, in Cardiff, are left to deal with the reality of what a rumour can do in the social media age. It started on Monday evening. A tragedy which would usually define such a night was only the beginning of the destruction which followed. On Ely’s Snowden Road, two teenage boys said to be riding an off-road bike or scooter, were killed in a crash. Such a harrowing event was the catalyst for what reporters on the ground described as a ‘war zone.’ As news of

James Heale

Tory MPs line up to support Suella Braverman

Once it was David Gauke, then it was Michael Ellis. Now it is Jeremy Quin who bears the honorary title of ‘minister for sticky wickets’. The Paymaster General was called upon to answer an Urgent Question in the House this lunchtime on – what else? – the allegations about Suella Braverman’s speeding fine. He confirmed that Rishi Sunak has ‘asked for further information’ from both Braverman and Sir Laurie Magnus, his independent adviser, after meeting with them both. Quin insisted that ‘It is right that the Prime Minister, as the head of the executive and the arbiter of the ministerial code, be allowed time to receive relevant information on this