Politics

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

Monday

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Will Rishi Sunak ever deliver on his ‘stop the boats’ pledge?

When Rishi Sunak replaced Liz Truss in Downing Street last autumn, fundamentalism gave way to incrementalism. So far, the results have been suitably unspectacular: a nudging down of the inflation number more slowly than anyone envisaged; the bare avoidance of outright recession; debt at best stuck as a share of GDP; NHS waiting times that are only very slightly less appalling than they were. According to new polling from Ipsos UK, the electorate is so far unimpressed with these baby steps and generally believes Labour could do a better job.  Today Sunak travelled to Dover to give us an update on the last of his five key pledges – to

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Holly Willoughby addresses the nation

If politics is showbiz for ugly people, then showbiz is surely just politics by uglier means. By media standards, Mr S has barely covered the Phillip Schofield saga – penning just two articles on it – but given the skullduggery going on at This Morning, how could he not return to the fray? Especially when our elected leaders have decided, in their infinite wisdom, to summon ITV’s bosses before a parliamentary select committee for a ritual public flaying. Wearily then did Steerpike tune into breakfast television at the anointed hour – 10 a.m – to hear an address to the nation by our secular queen, Holly Willoughby. With eyes watering

Steerpike Steerpike

Prince Harry no-shows on first day in court

For a man who says that his ‘life’s work’ is to change the British ‘media landscape’, Prince Harry has a funny way of showing it. The Duke of Sussex skipped the first day of proceedings in his case against the Mirror because, er, he was celebrating his daughter’s birthday. Talk about getting off to a good start… The renegade royal is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages over alleged unlawful information gathering. But as court proceedings kicked off this morning, it was Harry who was the object of the judge’s ire. Justice Fancourt, who is hearing the case, told the court that he was left ‘a little surprised’ to hear

Robin Ashenden

The haunting words of Russia’s jailed Putin opponents

How many memorable quotes has the Russia-Ukraine war produced so far? Along with Snake Island’s defiant ‘F*** you Russian warship’, we’ve had president Zelensky’s refusal to leave Kyiv at the beginning of the war with the words: ‘I need ammunition, not a ride.’ We also have his ‘Bravery takes you through the most unimaginable hardships to lead you to victory’ and his ‘No one’s going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians’, though these are perhaps less interesting; the first a bit like something from a Disney poster (two kittens find their way home across the desert), the second awkwardly conjuring up memories of the Rocky films. Better,

James Heale James Heale

Is Andy Burnham a problem for Starmer?

11 min listen

James Heale is joined by Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls to discuss Rishi Sunak’s visit to Dover in a bid to tackle small boats. Also, following a clash between Keir Starmer and members on the left of the party, how much of a problem has Andy Burnham become for the Labour leader?

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Russia flounders as Kyiv gears up for its counter-offensive

According to Moscow, Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive has begun, and has begun badly for Kyiv. Of course, we need to treat the Russian account with all necessary scepticism, but the evidence is that the droney, phony war stage of this campaign season is ending and the real fighting is beginning. The unverified Russian claim is that Kyiv launched a ‘large-scale offensive in five sectors of the front in the South Donetsk direction’, which was beaten back at the cost of some 250 Ukrainian casualties and the loss of a full 16 tanks and 24 other armoured vehicles. Even by the Russian account, this attack comprised just six mechanised and two tank

Nigel Jones

Sixty years on: How the Profumo affair ended the age of deference

These days our sex scandals seem like another symbol of Britain’s national decline. They are diminished, petty and tawdry, certainly compared to the grand affair that took its name from its main actor: John Profumo. Sixty years ago today, on 5 June 1963, Profumo rose in the House of Commons to admit that he had lied to his wife, his cabinet colleagues, and the nation, about an affair with a 19-year-old model, and was therefore resigning and retreating into obscurity. In the early 1960s Profumo was a rising star in the durable but tired Tory government of that eminent old Edwardian Harold Macmillan. He had enjoyed an exceptionally good war –

Sunday

Steerpike Steerpike

Burnham clashes with Starmer in left-wing mayoral row

Oh dear. The long-running feud between Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham has blown up again this weekend, this time over a row about the decision to block a sitting mayor from standing for a new role in the North East. Jamie Driscoll, the serving North of Tyne mayor, revealed on Friday that he has been ‘barred’ by the Starmer army from running as the Labour candidate to contest the North East mayoralty but that ‘no explanation has been given’. Talk about bad manners… Driscoll, who has been described as the ‘last Corbynista in power’, was not included on a long list to be the next North East mayor – a

Steven Barrett

The government can’t weaponise legal fees against Boris

The Cabinet Office is trying to weaponise the law against a former prime minister. They have threatened to withdraw funding for his legal fees during the Covid inquiry. Government lawyers wrote to Johnson: The funding offer will cease to be available to you if you knowingly seek to frustrate or undermine, either through your own actions or the actions of others, the government’s position in relation to the inquiry unless there is a clear and irreconcilable conflict of interest on a particular point at issue. To even threaten this is a tyrannical act, the capricious move of a mad monarch. Oddly, it’s the kind of arbitrary behaviour that Boris Johnson’s

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Did Eat Out to Help Out rekindle Covid? A look at the data

John Edmunds was, with Neil Ferguson, one of the main advocates of lockdown but has been remarkably silent about how this theory held up against the results. But he does, still, pop up to attack those who were sceptical of his old advice. Chief amongst them was Rishi Sunak, his target today. The Observer discloses that ‘a leading scientist’ has attacked Sunak for the work he did trying to repair the damage of lockdown on commercial activity with the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. That scientist was, of course, Edmunds, back to his old tricks using his position on Sage (which has still not been disbanded) to attack ministers who

Anna Arutunyan

Who is running Russia while Putin plays war? 

As the war in Ukraine spilled into Russian territory, with shelling in the Russian city of Belgorod, President Vladimir Putin was busy explaining that he ‘sleeps like a normal person’ during an online meeting with families to honour Children’s day. That Putin mentioned his healthy sleeping pattern, without discussing the ongoing Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod – where civilians, including children, were being evacuated – left some observers wondering who is actually running the country while he plays war.   The Russian regime is far from monolithic, and there are other forces in power besides Putin and the turbo-patriots Putin has a penchant for disengaging and struggling to make decisions, especially when there

Saturday

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Who will be on the candidates list?

14 min listen

James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Lord Stewart Jackson, regional chairman of the Conservative Democratic Organisation. On the podcast they discuss Labour and the Conservative’s candidates selection process and the politics behind it.

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

The European left’s fascism fantasy

France, Sweden, Italy, Finland and now Spain. The demise of the left in western Europe continues apace and yet their only solution is to seethe about fascists in a make believe world of their own.   Nine months after Giorgia Meloni was elected Prime Minister – remember the hysterical warnings about her being Mussolini in heels – the only horror the Italian left has experienced is electoral wipeout. At last weekend’s local elections, Meloni’s conservative Brothers of Italy party romped to victory in many towns that were once staunchly Socialist. As a jubilant Meloni crowed: ‘Strongholds [of the left] no longer exist.’ Nine months after Giorgia Meloni was elected Prime

Danny Shaw

Can the Met stop responding to mental health calls?

‘The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.’ Those are the words of Sir Robert Peel, widely regarded as the founder of modern policing. In 1829, as home secretary, he established the Metropolitan Police in London, the first full-time professional force. It’s estimated that 83 per cent of calls into police control rooms across England and Wales do not relate to crime But if Sir Robert, who went on to serve twice as prime minister, were alive today he would surely be appalled at how that ‘basic mission’, the first of his nine ‘principles of policing’, has been eroded. Since the years of austerity, as

Roger Mosey

The BBC’s mad obsession with Philip Schofield

‘Why are you broadcasting what you’re broadcasting? There’s bigger things to worry about.’ In that respect at least, ‘Mizzy’ – the 18 year-old TikTok prankster Bacari-Bronze O’Garro – was doubtless speaking for much of Newsnight’s audience. He had been invited onto the flagship current affairs programme to discuss the BBC’s exclusive interview with the social media figure Andrew Tate, who is facing charges of rape, people trafficking and organised crime. Mizzy, naively captioned by the BBC as a ‘social media influencer’ despite a recent track record of physically threatening members of the public, knew what was happening more clearly than his hosts. ‘I’m on BBC Newsnight now,’ he said. ‘You’re

James Kirkup James Kirkup

What the campaign to abolish inheritance tax tells us about British politics

The Daily Telegraph, where I worked for a decade, has launched a campaign for the abolition of inheritance tax (IHT). It’s backed by at least 50 Conservative MPs, including one former prime minister, Liz Truss. That campaign, and its likely impact, reveal some noteworthy things about British politics, media and society. This observation won’t surprise most readers here, but I think it’s still worth making. I like IHT and so do a lot of people like me: professional policy wonks and economists, who proliferate at Westminster and often get a lot of prominence in political debate – especially on Twitter.  My technocratic tribe largely regards inherited wealth as harmful to

Friday

Svitlana Morenets Svitlana Morenets

Ukrainians are worried about the state of their bomb shelters

Russia fired more than 576 missiles and drones against Ukraine last month; Kyiv was shelled two days in three. Ukrainian air defence works smoothly, shooting down nearly 90 per cent of missiles – but even a successful intercept can lead to debris, causing death. This happened yesterday, in a case that is causing a national scandal. As the siren sounded over Kyiv, a man, his wife and his daughter headed with their neighbours to their shelter in Desnianskyi district – only to find it locked. The man, known as Yaroslav, ran to find someone to open it up. ‘People knocked and knocked again for a very long time. And no

James Heale James Heale

Is the government heading for a court defeat?

14 min listen

The Cabinet Office has officially triggered a judicial review against the Covid Inquiry – but is this a misstep, if eventually they will lose their legal case against it? On the episode, James Heale talks to Katy Balls and the Institute for Government’s Catherine Haddon. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Australians mock UK trade deal

Huzzah! The momentous day has arrived at last: finally Britain can reap the Brexit benefits and enjoy some delicious free-trade Tim Tams. For today is the day the UK’s trade deal with Australia comes into force. Unfortunately it seems that not all our friends down under aren’t, er, quite so sold on the mutual benefits that this new trade deal will bring. Announcing the news this morning, Karl Stefanovic – the host of the Today show on Australia’s Channel 9 – seemed distinctly unimpressed by what the UK would be bringing to the table. Explaining that some British products would become cheaper as a result of the deal, Stefanovic exclaimed