Politics

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

Monday

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

In praise of Leo Varadkar

The number of abortions taking place in Ireland is more than 8,000 a year, up from the memorable figure of 6,666 abortions in the first year after the law legalising abortion came into force in January 2019. It’s all rather a far cry from the situation that abortion campaigners talked about during the referendum campaign, when it seemed that foetal abnormalities and pregnancies that threatened the life of the mother were the problem. There are, however, a couple of factors that mean that abortion is not quite as readily available in Ireland as the abortion lobby would like. One is that doctors don’t seem to like it much. A review

Coffee House

Full list: how will Tory MPs vote on the partygate report?

Today, MPs will get the chance to debate and vote on the Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson. This will not be whipped by the government, allowing Tory MPs to vote how they wish. So far more than a dozen of Johnson’s supporters in parliament have expressed public criticism of the report but some stop short of saying that they will vote against the recommendations. Below is The Spectator’s list of MPs who are not abstaining on Monday: Voting against the report (5): Voting for the report (8):

Euan McColm

Is Scottish Labour really a threat to the SNP?

Members of the Scottish Labour party may be forgiven for feelings of jubilation following publication of a new poll. Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Leith near Edinburgh this morning to be met by comrades cheered by the suggestion their party is on course to defeat the SNP at a general election for the first time since 2010. A Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times has Labour winning 26 of Scotland’s 59 seats and the nationalists just 21. Given that Labour took only one seat in Scotland in 2019 while the SNP won 48, this would mark quite the reversal of fortunes. But Labour supporters who believe this poll signals the beginning

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Cameron tells Covid Inquiry to blame ‘groupthink’

Everyone giving evidence to the Covid Inquiry has their own corner to defend. And every ex-prime minister has a part of their premiership that they spend the rest of their life talking about and trying to justify. For David Cameron, it was his public spending cuts. Experts blame them for the health service being in very poor shape when the pandemic arrived. The former prime minister had his session before the inquiry this morning, and unsurprisingly he was keen to argue that these spending cuts weren’t just unavoidable, but essential to ensure the country’s economy was in a robust shape so it could afford to respond to crises including pandemics.

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Why Xi Jinping finally agreed to meet Antony Blinken

When Antony Blinken got on the plane to Beijing two days ago, the US Secretary of State didn’t even know if he’d be meeting with Xi Jinping. Blinken’s visit was originally planned for February before the US withdrew, at the last minute, after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted over Montana. Beijing has always insisted there was nothing untoward about the balloon, seeing the cancellation of Blinken’s visit as an overreaction. US-China relations have been frosty since. Despite this tension, the Secretary of State was granted an audience with the Chinese leader earlier today – but only with a few hours’ notice. The short meeting, which lasted only 30 minutes, is a sign that Beijing, like Washington, wants to

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will there be another partygate investigation?

Any hope Rishi Sunak had to use Boris Johnson’s resignation to turn the page on partygate is dwindling fast. The Prime Minister is likely to miss the debate on the Privileges Committee report this afternoon and the hope in government is that a vote isn’t even called. But even if ministers get their wish, the story could remain in the news for some time. Over the weekend, new footage emerged of staff who worked for the London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey partying in 2020 despite strict Covid rules at the time. It went on to dominate the Sunday politics shows. Other reports the police are thought to be looking into

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris allies plan ‘widespread boycott’ of Privileges report

It’s crunch time in the Commons today. After five days of speculation, MPs today get the chance to approve the Privileges Committee report on Boris Johnson misleading the House. But will there even be a vote on it? Despite much talk of Boris backers lining up to defend their former leader, it seems there’s been a change of heart from the man himself. Johnson told his allies on Friday not to vote against the report, arguing that it had no ‘practical effect’ though a cynic might wonder whether such a vote would reveal a potential lack of supporters. Pro-Boris MPs have now heeded the message, with one telling Mr S

Matthew Lynn

Keir Starmer is clueless about energy security

It will create lots of well-paid jobs, especially in Scotland. It will reduce our electricity bills. And it will make sure the lights can still be switched on regardless of what is happening in the rest of the world. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has made a big pitch today for ‘energy security’, promising to rip up planning rules for onshore wind power and create a state-owned green energy giant that will provide all the power the UK needs, as well as hitting all our targets on climate change. But hold on. On closer inspection, it seems that Sir Keir knows barely anything about energy security. His backbenchers, and definitely

Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Why Japan doesn’t do Pride

Want to avoid Pride month? Bit tired of the, almost literally, in your face, carnival of uninhibited sexual freedom we see on our streets throughout June? Then come to Japan. It’s not that Pride doesn’t happen here at all, just that the Japanese for various cultural and historic reasons, don’t make a song and dance – or a borderline street cabaret – out of it. Japan’s version ‘Rainbow Pride’ is held in April and lasts just two days. It was back on this year for the first time since 2019 and was apparently reasonably well-attended. I say ‘apparently’ because I saw no sign of it, nor watched or read a

Jason Pack and Guy Fiennes

Russia’s sexual health crisis just got militarised

As Ukraine pushes forward its long-anticipated counteroffensive, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu seems more concerned with reeling in his institutional rivals, not least the wildcard Wagner group. But internecine institutional tensions are not the only affliction plaguing Russian occupation forces. As temperatures rise and the Ukrainians press the frontline, infectious diseases remain another challenge for Russian forces. In Wagner’s assault on Bakhmut, the self-proclaimed ‘most powerful army in the world’ made a slow, eight-month advance and suffered soaring casualties, of which 90 per cent were reportedly prisoner recruits. One in five of the 50,000 Wagner prisoner recruits who made up the bulk of their assault on Bakhmut were HIV positive – and a staggering 80 per cent

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Rishi Sunak’s mortgage timebomb

Another week, another round of partygate stories. Leaked footage over the weekend of Tory aides working on the London mayoral campaign in 2020 partying despite strict covid rules at the time meant that the top news line from the Sunday government media round was Michael Gove apologising on behalf of the Conservative party. Later today, MPs will seal Boris Johnson’s punishment after the privileges committee found the former prime minister guilty of deliberately misleading parliament. However, the debate could be a lot less dramatic than expected, with MPs on a one-line whip and Johnson standing down several of his supporters – asking them not to vote against the proposed punishment

Debbie Hayton

Rishi Sunak is no transphobe

Does a woman have a penis? Of course not. Until recently, that basic biological fact was accepted by almost everyone. Perhaps it still is but, with the transgender thought police waiting in the wings, it is a truth that few politicians are willing to articulate. After a leaked recording emerged – allegedly from a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs – we can perhaps be clearer about Rishi Sunak’s views. Referring to Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, the Prime Minister pointed out that, ‘You may have noticed Ed Davey has been very busy…trying to convince everybody that women clearly had penises’. Sunak added: ‘You all know, I’m a

Iain Macwhirter

The SNP’s fall could be as rapid as its rise

Scottish Nationalists are putting a brave face on the latest opinion poll showing Scottish Labour apparently winning the race for Westminster. The Times/Panelbase survey suggests that Labour is on course to return 26 Scottish seats at the next general election against the SNP’s 21. The nationalist are currently the third largest party in Westminster with 48 MPs, so this would be a shocking reversal of fortune. The survey was conducted between 12 and 15 June – just after Nicola Sturgeon had been arrested and released under Operation Branchform – the police investigation into irregularities in party funds and fundraising. Ach, it’s not as bad as it looks, say the Nats.

Sunday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Partygate video threatens to derail Johnson honours’ list

Will Partygate ever be over? Today’s front page of the Sunday Mirror splashes on leaked footage of Shaun Bailey’s mayoral campaign team enjoying an illicit Christmas party in December 2020. At least two dozen revellers were filmed drinking and laughing while two even twirled past a sign that reads ‘Please keep your distance’. The news hook for this story is that two of those involved – Bailey himself and his aide Ben Mallett – have just been given honours in Boris Johnson’s resignation list. Bailey gets a peerage while Mallett had to make do with an OBE. The latter might be feeling especially embarrassed today because he’s currently running Moz Hossain’s campaign

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

In defence of Howard Donald

The mob has claimed another scalp. This time it’s Howard Donald’s. The Take That star has been found guilty of likecrimes. That is, he liked some ‘problematic’ tweets, including a tweet that said – brace yourselves – ‘Only women have periods’. For this, for giving his approval to a statement of biological fact, he’s been damned as a vile bigot and dumped from July’s Nottingham Pride Festival. Next time someone tells you cancel culture is a myth, point them to the unpersoning of Howard Donald. For here we have a good bloke, a veteran of the boyband era, being publicly shamed not even for anything he said but simply for

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Albanian small boat arrivals fall 99 per cent

With the return of Tory psychodrama and the leak of CCHQ lockdown party videos, Rishi Sunak needs something to go badly right for him. His best hope will be the Court of Appeal green-lighting his Rwanda deportation plan which he hopes will show major progress towards his pledge to ‘stop the boats’. The latest data on Albanian deportations, published on The Spectator data hub, will give him some reason for optimism. Sunak’s rationale is that small boats are a symptom of a people smuggling industry run on an economic basis: people will fork out $15,000 to get to Britain because once you’re here there is little realistic chance of deportation.

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Is Isis preparing to exploit Europe’s open borders?

There is a growing sense of unease in France that a new wave of Islamist terrorism will soon break over Europe. In February, Adel Bakawan, a Franco-Iranian specialist in Islamic extremism, said that the Islamic State is regrouping and is planning a mass casualty attack in ‘Berlin, London or Paris’. This week Thibault de Montbrial, president of the Centre for Reflection on Homeland Security, spoke in similar terms during a radio interview.   While Isis, or the Islamic State, no longer has a caliphate as it did between 2014 and 2019, it still has many fanatical followers scattered in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Referencing a report written by the Dutch intelligence

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Fourth by-election looms for Sunak

Not another one. Less than a week after the resignations of Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams prompted by-elections in their respective constituencies of Uxbridge and Selby, another contest now looms in Somerton and Frome. David Warburton, suspended as a Tory MP since April 2022, has tonight said he will shortly stand down from parliament too. Nadine Dorries meanwhile is expected to (at some point) follow through on her promises to quit the Commons and her Mid Bedfordshire seat. It means that Rishi Sunak  now faces the nightmare scenario of losing four elections in North Yorkshire, North London, the East of England and the South West, all within the space of

Euan McColm

Douglas Ross has been a coward about Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson’s dwindling brigade of supporters point to the Conservatives’ landslide election win of 2019 as evidence he’s too gifted a politician for his party to lose. But they conveniently ignore the fact his charm stopped working at the border with Scotland. Voters across much of England may have flocked to Johnson but he repelled many Scots. In 2019, the SNP won back 13 of the 21 seats it had lost two years previously, when Theresa May was prime minister. The Tories lost seven Scottish seats. There is a particular caricature of the distant, uncaring Conservative that repels Scottish voters. And that caricature is Boris Johnson-shaped. So, over recent years,