Politics

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

Sunday

Lisa McKenzie

The rise (and fall?) of Lee Anderson

It has taken only three years for Lee Anderson to rise from fledgling Tory MP to deputy chairman of his party. It’s a remarkable achievement for a man who, until 2018, was a Labour politician. Since his election, Anderson has frequently hit the headlines – not least after an interview in The Spectator earlier this month in which he backed the death penalty. ‘100 per cent effective,’ he said of the ultimate punishment. For that intervention, Anderson was promptly lambasted and denounced as ‘thick’ and monstrous – but also won plenty of support. It’s clear Anderson is a politician loved and loathed in equal measure. But it’s difficult to understand

Nicholas Sheppard

Jacinda Ardern’s resignation has saved New Zealand’s Labour party

Many expected the abrupt resignation of Jacinda Ardern to fatefully deprive New Zealand’s government of its best asset. However, the moderate pragmatism of her successor, Chris Hipkins, may in fact have allowed many Kiwis to give themselves permission to return to Labour. Within a fortnight of taking over, Hipkins has been confronted with a quick succession of civil defence emergencies, with the second, Cyclone Gabrielle, being the most significant weather event in New Zealand so far this century. At least 10,500 people have been displaced by Gabrielle so far, according to officials. The new Prime Minister has none of his predecessor’s star power, although he is widely seen as competent and

Maya Foa

Newcastle United’s success comes at a heavy price

Newcastle United play their first cup final for over 20 years this afternoon. Facing Manchester United in the Carabao Cup is a big moment for the club and the city and is a mark of Newcastle’s recent success. But these achievements are tainted because it is built with money from a bloodthirsty Saudi Arabian regime, which has executed over 1,000 people in the last eight years. Since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle United in October 2021, 157 people, including some children, have been put to death. These executions are overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who is also the Chair of the PIF. Dozens more have been arbitrarily arrested

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Why China is courting Hollywood again

Until a few years ago, Hollywood dominated Chinese cinemas. In the People’s Republic, Marvel’s superhero romps were the people’s favourite. In 2019, Avengers: Endgame took more than 4 billion RMB (£510 million) at Chinese box offices. That success might partly explain why the Chinese Communist party went on to effectively ban Marvel films for the next three years. Real heroes should be Chinese.  Other Hollywood smash-hits such as Top Gun: Maverick and Spider-Man: No Way Home have also beendenied entry into the Chinese market. A new Film Administration Bureau, created in 2018 and headed by a Xi loyalist, brought film distribution closer to the party line. Last year, only 29 American-made films were released in China; compared to 73 in 2018. One estimate put the China-shaped gap for Hollywood at $2 billion. American filmmakers were about to lose hope. But that’s all

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Senedd triumphs in Westminster rugby clash

The Six Nations season is well underway, which means the return of the parliamentary tournament too. Two weeks ago the Westminster team delivered the sporting equivalent of a Section 35 order, when they beat their Holyrood equivalent 17-10 in a feisty match that saw multiple yellow cards awarded for the first time in a Commons & Lords game. Good to see no love lost… But today saw an even tougher test for the Westminster side, when they faced a Senedd squad comprised of the finest talent that Cardiff Bay has to offer. And while the Welsh national team is currently facing a few difficulties, its parliamentary side has no such

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Biden’s muddle on Chinese arms for Russia

Will China send arms to support Russia? That was the possibility that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised at the Munich Security Conference, accusing Beijing of considering doing so. China has officially rejected this claim and, as of last night, so has President Biden. ‘I don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia,’ Biden told ABC, seemingly directly contradicting his right-hand man on foreign policy. Is this just another case of Sleepy Joe misspeaking, a comment that will have to be walked back by his team in the hours to come? After all, Biden has form. He has previously pledged to defend Taiwan

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

How is the government helping Ukrainians in Britain?

14 min listen

Today marks one year since Putin sent the Russian army into Kyiv. Since then, what has been the experience of the Ukrainians who fled their homes and came over to the UK? Svitlana Morenets, a staff writer at The Spectator speaks to Kate Andrews about the year reporting on her war-torn country from Britain. Also joining the podcast is Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis UK whose work involves helping those 4000 Ukrainians who arrived on the Homes for Ukraine scheme and are now at risk of homelessness. 

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The secret truth about Dom: The Play

‘Who wrote it?’ asks the Times, of Dom: The Play. I’ll let you in on a secret: it was me. If you’re selling a product, you need to advertise what you’re flogging, rather than its creator. That’s why, when my satire about Dominic Cummings launched at The Other Palace in Victoria this week, I withheld my name from the poster and the programme. Simple reason: my name doesn’t shift tickets. And a poster without the waffle is likely to cut through better. As a result, our poster has the show’s emphatic title in crimson letters beneath three shots of Dom’s face taken from different angles. This has a decent chance

Jawad Iqbal

The many missteps of Humza Yousaf

The apparently irresistible rise of Humza Yousaf, the SNP politician seen as the frontrunner to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first minister, reveals much about the dearth of talent at the very top of Scottish politics. Yousaf is a politician with almost no discernible achievements to his name despite almost a decade in senior ministerial roles. If truth be told — cruel as it may sound — many will consider Yousaf a serial political incompetent who has made a name for himself in Scottish politics for all the wrong reasons.  Even so, Yousaf certainly takes himself seriously enough. There he was on Monday launching his leadership campaign in Clydebank, a

Harry Mount

Humza Yousaf and Anas Sarwar’s debt to private schools

Humza Yousaf, the favourite to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scottish First Minister, has been ticking all the right boxes in his campaign so far. Last week, he declared: ‘As your SNP First Minister, and as someone from a minority background myself, I will stand up and champion equal rights for all.’ I don’t imagine he’ll be championing the rights of Scottish public-school boys, though. But that is exactly what Yousaf is.  Yes, the 37-year-old Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is the first non-white, first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish government. But he’s also an old boy of Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow, one of the oldest public schools in Scotland,

Robin Ashenden

What happened to the Russia I loved?

For three and a half years, between Autumn 2018 and 2022, the most thrilling words I could say to anyone – especially myself – were ‘I live in Russia.’ I had read about the country since I was a child – obsessively from my mid-twenties onwards – and it was Holy Land for me. Other people I knew had flirted with the place on study-courses, temporary work-placements or backpacking, yet always with an end in sight. But I had a child growing up in Rostov, in southern Russia, had put down roots, integrated into its society and planned to grow old there. For the rest of my life, I thought,

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Has Prigozhin pushed his luck too far with Putin?

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the businessman behind Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries, is hardly a man to keep a low profile. He is at his loudest and most vitriolic, though, either when he feels he has the upper hand over his (many) enemies or when he is on the ropes. He’s pretty outspoken these days, and no one thinks it’s because he’s winning. For months, many of the small gains made by the Russians had been thanks to Wagner and its use of expendable soldiers recruited from the prison system. This had given Prigozhin a degree of latitude and license and, true to form, he had used that to prosecute his personal vendettas,

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Second Tory MP in party deselection battle

Some late-night Friday drama in the West Midlands. The selection committee of the Stafford Conservative Association have tonight passed a motion to prevent incumbent MP Theo Clarke from being their candidate next time around. Clarke was elected in 2019 and resigned her role as a government trade envoy last July in protest at Boris Johnson’s leadership. She returned on Monday from six months of maternity leave. In a statement tonight she said: I have only returned from maternity leave this week and I have been very disappointed by the abuse that i have received since i announced I was having a baby. The selection committee have made their decision and

Steerpike Steerpike

Why was EU chief due to meet King Charles?

There’s been a sense of deja vu in Westminster in recent days, with a Tory leader under pressure on Europe from the right of his party. As Rishi Sunak tries to finalise a new deal on the Northern Ireland protocol, Tory Brexiteers have been questioning the wisdom of the Prime Minister’s strategy. But now there is a brand new element: the royals. After excited chatter earlier that Sunak could unveil his deal tomorrow that no longer appears to be the case. Reports have emerged from Sky and the Times tonight that the government was planning to have the King host Ursula von der Leyen at Windsor before Sunak unveiled his

Svitlana Morenets Svitlana Morenets

Why Ukrainians won’t settle for a ceasefire

Growing up as a Ukrainian means being acquainted with death when you are too young to know much about life. When I was a teenager, I saw dozens of coffins being brought to my hometown from Vladimir Putin’s war in the Donbas. Now, I am seeing my friends go to war – and, like so many thousands of Ukrainians, die. One was buried last month: Maksym Burda, a 25-year-old wedding photographer. Another friend went to war this week. This friend, an artist, had just five weeks of accelerated training: now he’s an infantry soldier in one of the hottest spots on the Dobas front. He has been provided with a

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

How Putin is fomenting Europe’s migrant crisis

‘Watch the Sahel,’ warned Tony Blair in an article marking the first year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Because of Russian influence, the region ‘will be the source of the next wave of extremism and migration to Europe,’ the former PM forecast in the Daily Telegraph.  As the increased numbers crossing the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe in 2022 demonstrated, the next wave of migration has started. Frontex, the EU’s border agency, reported recently that last year migration across the Central Mediterranean ‘rose by more than half to well over 100 000 detections’.  This mass movement of people is creating tension, not only in Europe. Earlier this week, the president of

Steerpike Steerpike

Civil war engulfs the SNP as leadership race turns toxic

For many years, it seemed like the SNP were immune from the normal rules of politics. Their unity was unshakeable, its leader unquestioned. Message discipline was rigid; disputes played out privately, away from the cameras. But all that has now crumbled following last month’s trans debacle and Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation. The race to replace her began just a week ago but already the debate has turned toxic, with all three candidates for First Minister today being embroiled in various spats and brawls. The day began with SNP grandee Alex Neil attacking frontrunner Humza Yousaf on the front page of the Scottish Daily Mail, claiming that he asked for an excuse

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol imminent?

Rishi Sunak hoped to end the week with a new agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Instead, the Prime Minister delayed his plans to announce a fresh agreement in the face of concerns from the DUP – and members of the European Research Group. As I say in this week’s politics column in the magazine, the rebellion against Sunak’s plan started before any MPs have seen the final text. Downing Street insist nothing is agreed – though others accuse Sunak of having been sitting on the main thrust of a deal now for weeks. After DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson warned Sunak there was no need to rush, a consensus has

Nigel Jones

Justin Welby is wrong: Russia should be punished for its war in Ukraine

As the world marks the grim first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin should give thanks that there appears to be at least one of what Lenin called ‘useful idiots’ left in the West. Step forward – after removing your foot from its usual place in your mouth – the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most Reverend Justin Welby. Fresh from presiding over a schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion over gay marriage, the Archbishop is now favouring us with his deeply misguided views on Putin’s aggression and its possible consequences. It may not sit well with Welby’s milk and water theology Welby has said that ‘when the time comes’