Politics

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

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Nats blast Humza in ministerial interview series

Uh oh. There’s more trouble in nationalist paradise. A series of interviews with past and present Scottish government ministers have been published on the Institute for Government website as part of a devolved government series – and they make for some rather revelatory reading… As if the Nats hadn’t aired their dirty laundry enough, the IfG interviewees – including former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and disgraced ex-health minister Michael Matheson – pulled no punches when conversations turned to their colleagues. One person in particular came out of it all worse for wear – with hapless Humza Yousaf on the receiving end of a rather lot of criticism. First, the SNP’s

James Heale James Heale

Priti Patel’s migration defence was a serious misstep

This week looks to be a significant one for polling in British politics. For the first time, every poll released across seven pollsters has had the Reform ahead of the Conservatives. So it is regrettable for Tory chances then, that an interview by Priti Patel has reignited debate around her party’s failure on mass migration. This failure is cited as the single biggest reason why 2019 Tory voters abandoned the Conservatives last year, according to the most comprehensive study to date. Speaking to Harry Cole on TalkTV, the Shadow Foreign Secretary was asked about the explosion of arrivals on her watch. As Home Secretary under Boris Johnson, net migration figures

Terry Barnes

Australia’s Jews are living in fear

Just when it seemed Australia’s anti-Semitism crisis couldn’t worsen, it has. This week, it was disclosed that a caravan loaded with plastic explosive was found in Sydney’s rural fringe. The explosives are of a type commonly used in mining operations and, along with the explosives, papers were discovered that named a Sydney synagogue – reportedly the Great Synagogue in central Sydney – presumably as an identified target. Police estimated that, if detonated, the caravan’s deadly cargo would have created a 40-metre blast wave: if parked outside the synagogue, the explosion would have destroyed it and surrounding buildings, likely with very heavy human casualties and loss of life. The owners of

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Will Trump follow through on his tariff threat on Canada and Mexico?

No one can really act surprised if Donald Trump pushes ahead with substantial tariffs on Canada and Mexico tomorrow. ‘Tariff’ is the President’s favourite word, as he said many times on the campaign trail in the lead up to last November’s US election. The only words that could compete for the top slot were ‘love’ and ‘religion’. So, the countdown to 1 February – when a staggering 25 per cent border tax is slapped on the countries north and south of America’s border – isn’t, in theory, some dreaded doomsday for Trump. If anything, it’s more like the countdown to Christmas. Is this really the end game for the President? But

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Sacrificing farmland for net zero is a big mistake

Yesterday it was a court ruling to invalidate licences for oil and gas extraction in the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields. This morning comes another perverse consequence of Britain’s legally-binding net zero target. Environment Secretary Steve Reed is to announce that he intends 9 per cent of farmland in England to be taken out of production in order to help achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This continues a rewilding programme set up by the last government. From the point of view of achieving the net zero target it makes perfect sense; in fact it would make even more sense to take 100 per cent of farmland out of production

David Shipley

Why was this convicted murderer released to kill again?

The details of the terrible murder of Sarah Mayhew are almost too appalling to bear, but one question stands out most of all: why was the convicted murderer who killed her free to take Sarah’s life? Sansom had murdered before, when he was just 19 Sarah, a 38-year-old mother of two, was lured to a flat in south London last March and never seen again. Steve Sansom and his partner, Gemma Watts, killed Sarah in a manner which involved sexual and sadistic conduct. The killers had previously exchanged messages detailing a desire to kill people with a knife or knives while engaged in sexual activity. After’s Sarah’s murder, the couple

Loyd Grossman

Loyd Grossman, Tanya Gold, Harry Halem, Angus Colwell, Philippe Sands and Michael Simmons

45 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Loyd Grossman pleads to save Britain’s cathedrals, as he reads his diary for the week (1:31); Unity Mitford is a classic case of aristocratic anti-Semitism says Tanya Gold (7:47); looking ahead to another Strategic Defence Review, Harry Halem warns that Britain is far from prepared for the era of AI warfare (12:42); ‘the worst echo chamber is your own mind’: Angus Colwell interviews philosopher Agnes Callard (24:24); reviewing Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice, by Steve Crawshaw, Philippe Sands argues that while the international criminal justice system was prejudiced from the start the idea was right (31:01); and, Michael Simmons contradicts the

Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

Are Syrian Christians who speak the language of Jesus about to disappear after 2,000 years?

26 min listen

There has been a Christian community in Syria since the first century AD. But it is shrinking fast and faces terrifying new threats as the country’s government, following the overthrow of President Assad, forges alliances with hardline Muslims including foreign jihadists – Uighurs from China, Uzbeks from Central Asia, Chechens from Russia, Afghans and Pakistanis. Mgr Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Anglican Bishop of Rochester who is now a Catholic priest of the Ordinariate, has written a heartbreaking piece for The Spectator about the Christians of Maaloula in southwest Syria. It’s one of the last remaining communities to speak Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ. ‘Were this community to

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

The interview that exposes the Tories’ migration failures

Can we trust the Conservatives to deliver – or even to try to deliver – on whatever migration-sceptic policy pledges they unveil for the 2029 general election? It would be wrong to say that the party’s record on this issue is chequered or that it has been unreliable in the past. Because during the 21st century it has been 100 per cent reliable – reliable in letting us down. The Tory party has never delivered on its immigration promises and never put much effort into doing so either. In 2010, 2015 and 2017 it promised voters that annual net migration would be cut to ‘the tens of thousands’. In 2019, when

Steerpike Steerpike

J.D. Vance mocks ‘110 IQ’ Rory Stewart

Oh dear. In his never-ending desire to appear clever, it seems that Rory Stewart has slipped up again. You might have thought that after his poor predictions of a Kamala Harris landslide, the former Tory MP might be taking a break from super-forecasting and philosophising. But no, undaunted by past humiliations, ‘Florence of Belgravia’ seems unable to break his addiction to social media, weighing in on each and every matter on both sides of the pond. Today it’s an interview which J.D. Vance did with Fox News in which he declared that: There’s this old school – and I think it’s a very Christian concept by the way – that

Steerpike Steerpike

Trump: Diversity hires to blame for Washington crash

While the investigation into the Washington air crash has only just started, already President Trump has hinted at what he considers is to blame. His conclusion? Diversity hires. The horrific crash took place on Wednesday evening when an American Airlines flight carrying 64 people collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac river, a short distance from Ronald Reagan national airport. There were no survivors – and both aircraft remain in the river as the recovery operation continues. Speaking to reporters in the White House press room, Trump insisted: ‘We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.’ Not skipping

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Are the Democrats paralysed?

35 min listen

The first phase of Trump’s presidency has been a whirlwind of news. The President signed a succession of executive orders, which overwhelmed and confused the Democratic Party with the amount of ‘energy in the executive’. But there are signs of life, particularly in opposition to Trump’s attempts to freeze federal grants and loans. What’s going on? Are the Democrats finding their feet? To discuss, Freddy is joined by Damon Linker, senior lecturer in political science at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the Notes from the Middle Ground substack.

Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Japan’s smoking ban is a sham

The Japanese city of Osaka has banned smoking on the streets in an apparent effort to smarten up the city and make it more ‘visitor-friendly’ ahead of this year’s World Expo, which begins in April. Smoking had been prohibited in six zones, including around the central station prior to the announcement. But on Monday, all public streets, buildings, parks and plazas in the city became smoke free. Smoking and vaping in all but the smallest eateries has been banned too, though designated smoking rooms will still be permitted. The fact that the smoking ban is getting significantly more coverage than the Expo itself highlights the difficulties organisers have had in rousing

Thursday

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Can Reform turn more Tory donors?

15 min listen

Tuesday night’s Reform fundraiser was designed to spook the Conservative party, says Conservative peer and journalist Paul Goodman on today’s episode. He talks to Cindy Yu and James Heale about whether Kemi Badenoch can keep her cool under Reform’s domination of the airwaves. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Who killed Salwan Momika, the Iraqi who burned a Quran?

Salwan Momika, the Iraqi man who spearheaded the Quran burning protest in Sweden, was shot dead today. Five men have been arrested for the murder, which was committed in front of an online audience, with the victim livestreaming on TikTok at the time of his killing. While police in Stockholm haven’t formally announced the motive for the crime, Momika isn’t the first critic of Islam to have been brutally murdered in Europe – and I expect he won’t be the last. Momika had repeatedly received threats, from radical Muslims and Islamic countries alike, following the 2023 Quran burning demonstration, during which he had been attacked. He was initially provided with protection, but local authorities revoked it after a

Cristina Odone

Parents are asking too much of teachers

For a truly educational experience, visit your neighbourhood primary school. Watch the goings-on in the playground: tiny tots rushing around in nappies, pushing and shoving one another, tantrums puncturing the air. You can’t understand what most of them are saying because they mumble – inarticulate and mostly incomprehensible. Say hello to the ‘Covid babies’ – in our classrooms and out of order. Teachers up and down the country are welcoming to their Reception classes the babies of the early months of the pandemic – only to find that this cohort is like no other. A survey out today of more than 1,000 teachers and 1,000 parents of Reception-aged children in

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Priti Patel challenged to apologise over borders failure

As Reform UK’s support surges, the Conservatives are coming under scrutiny for failing to deal with immigration to the UK during their time in power. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel found herself in the firing line after she was grilled on the Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots today. Quizzed by the newspaper’s political editor Harry Cole, Patel was first shown a graph of Britain’s immigration levels before being told: ‘You ended free movement for Europeans and you threw the borders open for the rest of the world!’ Ouch. An indignant Patel insisted ‘legal migration’ was behind the spike, and claimed ‘the brightest and the best’ had been let into Britain

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

Migration mystery, Ipso’s trans muddle & are you a ‘trad dad’?

46 min listen

This week: why don’t we know how many people are in Britain? How many people live in the UK? It’s a straightforward question, yet the answer eludes some of the nation’s brightest statistical minds, writes Sam Bidwell for the cover this week. Whenever official figures are tested against real-world data, the population is almost always undercounted. For example, in England alone, nearly 64 million patients are registered with GP practices – higher than the Office for National Statistics (ONS)’s estimated population of 58 million. Sam argues there are serious consequences for our society at large, including for tax, housing and our utilities. Who is to blame for this data deficiency?

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Why are ‘anti-racists’ silent about Arbel Yehud’s terrible ordeal?

Watching Arbel Yehud being freed in Gaza today, I thought to myself: this is what it must have been like at Salem. Here we had a diminutive woman being paraded through a baying mob of hollering men. They barked religious slogans at her. They shoved and jostled to get a better view of the marked woman. They thrust their mobile phones in her face to capture her terror for posterity. They’ll no doubt share the clips. ‘Look! See how scared she was!’ Mercifully, Ms Yehud was being marched, not to the gallows, but to liberty. She was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led pogrom of

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Britain is not ready to give up North Sea oil and gas

Ed Miliband seems to have gone missing since Rachel Reeves announced her ambition for a third runway at Heathrow yesterday. Just before he disappeared, he mumbled that ‘of course’ he wouldn’t be resigning over the issue – in spite of threatening to do just that when he was climate secretary in Gordon Brown’s government. But then who needs Ed Miliband to thwart government growth plans when we have the courts to do it for him? This morning, Lord Ericht in the Scottish Court of Session hammered another great brass nail into the coffin of the North Sea. He ruled that licences granted to extract oil and gas from the Rosebank