Politics

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

Thursday

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Kent Tory Burns Sturgeon

It’s Burns night on Tuesday and after two years of pandemic politics, what better time to celebrate the Union? Yesterday evening Tory unionists piled into the opulent splendour of the the Cavalry and Guards Club for the London branch of the Scottish Conservatives’ annual celebration of the national poet. Steerpike’s spies were in attendance to enjoy the traditional bagpipes and whisky, with Dame Eleanor Laing delivering a magisterial toast to the haggis in her wonderful Paisley accent — a job for which her stints in the Speaker’s chair have certainly proved good training. Scottish leader Douglas Ross was the star turn, having found himself caught between a Holyrood/Westminster tug-of-war in recent days after

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Harry and Meghan’s tax wheeze

Money is very important to Harry and Meghan – as evidenced by their multi-million dollar deals with a string of top companies. Not for them, ‘go woke, go broke’: their philanthropic vehicle Archewell raised less than £37,000 for their charities up until June last year, with more being spent on legal fees to dissolve their previous UK effort, Sussex Royal.  Still, this hasn’t stopped their website gushing about the couple’s ‘shared purpose, global action’ and ‘leading the way with compassion.’ Its mission statement proclaims passionately that ‘our core purpose is to uplift and unite communities — local and global, online and offline — one act of compassion at a time.’ Talk about

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Devi Sridhar concedes defeat

Amid all yesterday’s defection drama, it was easy to miss that Boris Johnson announced the scrapping of his ‘Plan B’ Covid measures. Such a move has not gone down well among the more hysterical elements of Covid Twitter who appear to see the restoration of civil liberties as a dastardly Tory plot to privatise the NHS. The SNP MP for Central Ayrshire Dr Philippa Whitford spoke for such elements when she called the announcement ‘crazy’, asking ‘Would you slash your seatbelt or airbag in the middle of a car crash?’ Not all of Whitford’s nationalist fellow travellers agree though. For Professor Devi Sridhar, an ardent supporter of ‘Zero Covid’ and lockdowns appears to

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

Joe Biden’s Civil War re-enactment

We can’t blame American progressives for yearning to relive the civil rights movement. Those were heady days. Opposition to segregation — real ‘structural racism’ — placed you conspicuously on the proverbial right side of history. Joining the cause was like shooting up moral heroin. So maybe it’s predictable that when talking up his two voting rights bills in Atlanta last week, Joe Biden evoked the 1963 bombing of a black church in Alabama and MLK’s storied march in Selma two years later. Yet it’s one thing to wax nostalgic, quite another to insist that it’s still 1965 — much less 1865. Biden’s speech recalled a Civil War re-enactment, with polyester

Andrew Tettenborn

A Covid amnesty won’t save Boris Johnson now

Timing is everything in politics. Partygate showed the usually sure-footed Boris at his most careless and inept, dwarfing even his run-in with the Commissioner for Standards that cost him North Shropshire last month and (one suspects) helped lose him Bury South on Wednesday. But the British electorate can be very forgiving. When it elected Boris it did not mind too much about his tendency to get things wrong on points of detail, seeing him instead as the man who saw what had to be done, was honest about it and got on with the important part of the job. At the time the scandal broke about the ‘drinks cabinet’ at

Wednesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Is Boris safe for now?

14 min listen

Last night rumours were flying around Westminster that letters of no confidence from Tory MPs were pouring in and Boris might be leaving sooner rather than later. But with the surprising crossing of the aisle by MP for Bury South, Christian Wakeford, it appears that old party tribalism may have stayed some hands. ‘While a coup against a leader is one thing defecting is quite another.’ – James Forsyth Katy Balls talks with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about all of today’s political drama, from Keir Starmer’s ‘very good‘ jokes to David Davis’s public call for Johnson to ‘in the name of God go!’ Subscribe to The Spectator‘s Evening Blend

Steven Fielding

Is this the start of a Labour revival?

Few may know of Baron Howarth of Newport. But in 1995, on the eve of the Conservative party conference, as plain old Alan Howarth he became the first Conservative MP to directly defect to the Labour party. Today, just ten minutes before PMQs, Christian Wakeford became the fourth Tory MP to join the Labour benches. His timing was excruciatingly cruel for a Prime Minister visibly sinking under the weight of his many contradictory obfuscations over ‘partygate’. Howarth had been an MP since 1983, a junior minister and a strong supporter of Margaret Thatcher’s reforms: he was no wet. His defection was a body blow to the already embattled John Major

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Britain’s cost of living crisis worsens

If Boris Johnson manages to cling on to his job, he’ll have much more than the parties of lockdowns past to worry about. Britain’s cost of living crisis is worsening still, with CPI inflation rising by 5.4 per cent in the 12 months leading up to December last year. This has, once again, outpaced consensus, surging even further past the Bank of England’s most recent official forecast. There’s little doubt left that heavy government spending is playing a significant role in the inflation we’re experiencing now Inflation is now at a 30-year high. And it’s still rising. Capital Economics now estimates a peak of 7 per cent around April, and there

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

PMQs: Pantomime Starmer wasted his chance

Does Boris lie? Well, yes, of course, he’s a politician. That’s the standard response to the honesty question. And in some circumstances, we forgive MPs for telling whoppers. Christian Wakeford, elected as a Tory for Bury South, has just joined the Labour party and effectively admitted that he told a pack of lies to voters at the 2019 election. Yet Sir Keir Starmer welcomed this proven swindler to the opposition and boasted about his defection at PMQs. Labour crowed with pleasure. Boris tried to silence them by predicting that Bury South would return to the Tories at the next election, ‘under this Prime Minister.’ Hear that? Boris won’t quit. The

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Former Tory MP gets revenge on Boris

Partygate may be what does for Boris but it was the North Shropshire by-election which triggered the landslide. The fallout from the disastrous decision to contest Owen Paterson’s suspension by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has fuelled the anger and discontent which now leaves Johnson clinging on the precipice. For in losing a constituency which had returned Tories for more than 100 years, the PM spooked nervy backbenchers into thinking their seats could be next. Now though, the latest publication of the register of members’ interests has revealed the schadenfreude which others are deriving from Johnson’s North Shropshire woes. For the newly-elected Helen Morgan has declared £28,000 in donations since her triumph there,

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Christian Wakeford’s defection has saved Boris – for now

An MP crossing the floor just before PMQs is the stuff of prime ministerial nightmares. But, oddly, Christian Wakeford’s defection might, in the very short term, have helped Boris Johnson.  MPs hate defectors and so Tory MPs will unite in condemnation of Wakeford. His decision also makes it easier for Johnson’s allies to raise questions about the judgement of those pushing for a rapid vote of no confidence in the party leader. Tory MPs who are on the fence about the Prime Minister’s future think Wakeford’s defection has probably made it more likely that the number of letters required for a no confidence vote won’t be reached until after the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

The curious timing of Boris Johnson’s Covid announcement

You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist who mutters regularly about ‘sheeple’ to find the timing of Boris Johnson’s latest Covid update rather suspicious. This afternoon, he followed his dramatic Prime Minister’s Questions session with an announcement about the end of restrictions which had been introduced to slow the spread of the Omicron variant. They include an end to a number of measures, including compulsory mask-wearing in public places and guidance to work from home. The short-lived but controversial vaccine certification scheme has also been shelved. If this was a political rather than policy-based move, Johnson will be grateful that the first Tory questions came from Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt

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Labour youth reject Tory defector

Labour have made much of Christian Wakeford’s defection today. The party is keen to show it has moved on from the Corbyn era, with some pointing to Wakeford’s staunch support of the Jewish community in Bury as proof that Starmer has successfully detoxified Labour’s brand. It’s the first direct Tory defection to Labour in 15 years and gave Starmer another stick with which to beat Johnson at a gag-filled PMQs. Yet not all in Labour are so keen to welcome the Conservative MP into the fold. For the party’s youth wing has greeted the news by vehemently attacking Wakeford and rejecting him as a Labour representative. Young Labour, the last Corbynista holdout in Starmer’s brave new

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

PMQs: Johnson comes out fighting

Today’s PMQs was as dramatic as you might expect. It began with the spectacle of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford being cheered as he crossed the floor to the Labour benches. Sir Keir Starmer was in a joyful mood, as you might also expect. What was striking was how energised Boris Johnson was in his responses. Johnson will have had a couple of minutes to prepare for a session about the shock defection of one of his own Red Wall MPs, and he clearly had decided that the best way to deal with this was to fight his way through the session rather than appearing sorrowful. He shouted across the

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Rishi, it’s not the 1980s anymore

The stench of death clings to Boris Johnson. Bury South MP Christian Wakeford has crossed the floor to join Labour. David Davis has told him to resign ‘in the name of God’. Tory MPs reportedly continue to hand in letters of no confidence to the 1922 Committee. Once they reach 54, there will be a vote of confidence. Fresh polling on the Red Wall, conducted by JL Partners for Channel 4, puts Labour at 48 per cent and 37 per cent for the Tories, a near inversion of the 2019 election result. Sir Graham Brady — and Sir Keir — should expect some more knocks on their doors. The revelation

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David Davis: ‘In the name of God, go!’

It never rains but it pours. Boris Johnson began PMQs just minutes after backbencher Christian Wakeford defected to Labour, with the subsequent session largely consisting of Keir Starmer and opposition MPs laughing at the Prime Minister’s current difficulties. But the highlight was undoubtedly senior backbencher calling for Johnson to go, quoting the words of Oliver Cromwell to the Long Parliament in 1653. Like many on these benches, I spent weeks and months defending the Prime Minister against often angry constituents. I have reminded them of his success in delivering Brexit, and on the vaccine and many other things. But I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take.

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Six times defecting MP Christian Wakeford attacked Labour

Defecting Tory MP Christian Wakeford did not mince his words in his letter to Boris Johnson, informing the PM of his decision to switch to the Labour party. ‘You and the Conservative party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves,’ he wrote.  Wakeford is no stranger to criticising his fellow politicians: he famously called Owen Paterson a ‘c***’ in Parliament. The fledging Labour MP also made a habit of attacking Kier Starmer’s party during his brief spell on the Tory backbenches. Here are six times Wakeford took a pop at Labour: Wakeford is no stranger to criticising his fellow politicians ‘What we

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Omicron is on its way out

Omicron peaked in England in early January, according to figures just released by the ONS. The estimates from the weekly infection survey show that cases in the UK peaked at around four million before falling. In the week ending 15 January, 1 in 20 had Covid in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 1 in 25 in Wales. We shouldn’t be surprised by this We shouldn’t be surprised by this — this is how Omicron seems to go world over. As in Gauteng, as in South Africa, as in Lambeth, as in London and now in the UK: it falls almost as fast as it rises. Quite simply, the variant is so infectious that it quickly

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Red Wall Tory MP Christian Wakeford defects to Labour

In the past few minutes Boris Johnson’s Red Wall has started to crumble in a more dramatic way than he thought possible. Christian Wakeford, the Conservative MP for Bury South, is defecting to the Labour party, having previously submitted a vote a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Wakeford has been conspicuously unhappy with the leadership of his party for some time: he famously called Owen Paterson a c*** in the voting lobbies during the attempts to help him evade the standards regime that started the turmoil around Boris Johnson. This is the worst possible timing for Johnson This is the worst possible timing

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Ousting Boris Johnson now would be a mistake

There must come a time when even Beth Rigby starts to ask whether she is too fixated on a small staff party which happened nearly two years ago and not quite enough on the highest inflation rate in 30 years and the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. But to be fair to Sky TV’s political editor – who herself was taken off air for three months last year for attending a party which broke Covid rules – she is hardly the only one. As well as every other media outlet pursuing the same story to the point of absurdity the story is being fed by a number of