Politics

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

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Remainers: Brexit led to Covid deaths

Oh dear. For four years, Best for Britain have fought the most ferocious rearguard action since Dunkirk, desperately seeking to overturn the 2016 Brexit vote. But despite their millions, a sixteen-man team and the dubious patronage of newly appointed chair Lord Darroch – our former man in Washington – the rabid Remainers have yet to see much in the way of success, save for launching Gina Miller’s flatlining political career. But despite regularly pumping out paeans to ‘values, morals and basic decency’ it seems that in their desperation these last hold-outs from a long-concluded war have been forced to abandon such principles. For today Best for Britain launched their latest attack line

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can Boris take back control?

21 min listen

Last night Boris Johnson suffered the biggest rebellion of his Tory premiership. But, unlike his predecessor, he still managed to get his vote through with Labour’s support. Nearly 100 Conservative MPs voted against the government’s plans for vaccine passports. Their reasons for rebelling varied. For some, they want to send a message to the PM that he cannot take his majority for granted. For others, it is about the principle of vaccine passports. ‘Boris Johnson is proving to be a deeply illiberal Prime Minister. He’s turning into the sort of Prime Minister he used to warn us against when he was writing’ – Fraser Nelson Katy Balls is joined by

Steerpike Steerpike

Royston Smith’s vaccine passports U-turn

Southampton – it’s where so many great chapters in English history have begun. From the Agincourt archers to the Pilgrim Fathers’ discovery, the ‘Gateway to the Empire’ has seen countless memorable journeys over the years. Unfortunately, one of those leaving Soton’s berth yesterday did not live up to such past glories after exercising a last minute U-turn with all the adroitness of the Titanic, trying to avoid that iceberg. For Royston Smith – the Member for Southampton Itchen – last night pulled off something of a reverse Mission Impossible, snatching shame from the mouth of glory after being one of just two self-declared vaccine passport rebels to instead vote for the measure. Smith, who told his local

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can Boris Johnson take back control of No. 10?

There’s a mutinous mood in Westminster this Christmas. In quiet corridors on the parliamentary estate the question is being asked: has Boris outlived his usefulness? Ministers are laying low. Tory WhatsApp groups are hushed. MPs are dodging calls from the whips, claiming to be sick or working from home. In conversations with Tory MPs, it isn’t long before the topic of Johnson’s long-term future comes up. ‘Everyone’s sniffing the air — you can just feel it,’ says a former adviser to the Prime Minister. Members of the cabinet, from Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak, are accused of being on manoeuvres. One former minister has taken to measuring his office to

John Ferry John Ferry

Sturgeon’s war on business is strangling Scotland’s economy

There was one minor and one big surprise in the Scottish government’s latest budget, which was set out by Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, last week. The minor surprise was the Sturgeon administration’s decision to provide less business rates relief, in comparison with England, to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors during the next financial year. Businesses in Scotland will be eligible for 50 per cent relief, capped at £27,500 per rate payer, but only for the first three months of the 2022-23 financial year. In England, the same businesses will be eligible for 50 per cent relief for the whole financial year. A winding down of rates relief was

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MPs who voted for vaccine passports

In spite of a last-minute plea from Boris Johnson to the 1922 committee, exactly one hundred Tory backbenchers voted against the government on the introduction of Covid certification passes. With Labour announcing in advance that they would support Sajid Javid in implementing the so-called ‘Plan B’ measures, it was obvious that they would always pass. But few were expecting such a large Tory revolt, with audible gasps being heard when the tellers read out the result. The rebellion was nearly twice as large as the previous biggest revolt of Johnson’s administration in December 2020, also on Covid and the introduction of tier restrictions. For context, some 118 Tory MPs voted

Tuesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Boris is in deep trouble

This evening feels eerily familiar to anyone who remembers the meaningful votes of Theresa May’s premiership. The Tory rebellion on the Covid measures is bigger than expected; the rebels are claiming to be the mainstream of the parliamentary party; the cabinet ministers loyalists to the PM are blaming the whips office; there are mutterings about how long this can go on for. There is, of course, one crucial difference: thanks to Labour, Boris Johnson won tonight’s vote. But it is clear that if he wants to tighten restrictions further, he will be reliant on Starmer’s party’s support in doing so. Relying on the opposition to get their business through is

Steerpike Steerpike

Roll of honour: every MP who voted against vaccine passports

So despite a last-minute plea from Boris Johnson to the 1922 committee, exactly 100 Tory backbenchers voted against the government on the introduction of Covid certification passes. With Labour announcing in advance that they would support Sajid Javid in implementing the so-called ‘Plan B’ measures, it was obvious that they would always pass.  But few were expecting such a large Tory revolt, with audible gasps being heard when the tellers read out the result. The rebellion was nearly twice as large as the previous biggest revolt of Johnson’s administration in December 2020, also on Covid and the introduction of tier restrictions. For context, some 118 Tory MPs voted against Theresa May on the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Boris suffers huge Tory revolt over vaccine passports

Boris Johnson has just suffered a large majority-busting revolt in the House of Commons over vaccine passports, with 100 Conservatives rebelling against the government. The measure passed with Labour support, and 369 voted in favour with 126 against. Before the debate, some 86 Tories had said they would vote against. There had been concerted attempts by the whips to drive down those numbers. Johnson himself had been on the phone to individuals identified as possibly wavering. This was quite obviously not a rebellion just from the usual suspects That this many Conservative MPs voted against the government not long after a personal address by Boris Johnson to an emergency meeting

James Kirkup James Kirkup

The sex work divide in British politics

They seem like completely unrelated questions: ‘Is sex work real work?, and ‘Who will replace Yvette Cooper as chair of the Commons Home Affairs Committee?’ Yet the two are deeply linked. Sex work first. If you’re not familiar with the phrase ‘sex work is work’, get used to it, because you’re going to be hearing it a lot more in public debate in the next few years. The phrase has been around since at least the 1970s, but is now being used with growing frequency and energy by people on the self-appointed ‘progressive’ side of politics. As a result, ‘sex work is work’ is looking like being a new dividing

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour is the real winner of tonight’s vote

Sajid Javid found himself wading through treacle as he tried to make the case for the government’s ‘Plan B’ to MPs this afternoon. The impediments to his progress were constant interventions from all sides, including his own, questioning the wisdom of these measures, the data behind them and the principles at stake. The Health Secretary tried to be as mollifying as possible, taking the majority of these interventions, even when they were from an MP who had interrupted him before. His respectful manner did mean that colleagues weren’t visibly angry with Javid, but given their ire is largely directed at Boris Johnson, this tells us very little about the size

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Desmond Swayne rails against the ‘Ministry of Fear’

It’s match day in Parliament as MPs gather to vote on Boris Johnson’s ‘Plan B.’ Sajid Javid kicked things off in the Commons with a plea to Tory rebels to back Boris Johnson’s last-minute compromise, there’s still much anger on the green benches, with Mr S hearing further names could be added to the 85-strong list of Conservatives who won’t vote for tonight’s measures.  And such sentiment was given voice early on this afternoon after Sir Desmond Swayne, the maverick member for New Forest West, rose shortly after Wes Streeting’s 40 minute long address gave paroxysms of pleasure to every Britpopping centrist dad. Deploying his usual tact and moderation, Swayne launched into a

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Can the rebels trust Boris’s word?

There’s white smoke blowing over the House of Commons today as Sajid Javid declares ‘Peace in our Time.’ The Health Secretary – Daladier to Johnson’s Chamberlain – has emerged with an olive branch to the dozens of Tory MPs opposed to Covid passes. In a bid to placate potential rebels like Danny Kruger, Javid and Johnson are offering a compromise: they won’t proceed with mandatory jabs and vaccine passports will always carry the option of showing a lateral flow test (LFT). Many MPs remain unconvinced, with many citing the government’s failure to produce evidence that vaccine passports actually work.  Still, the concession by Johnson shows even he recognises the limits of coercion. Yet Mr

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What does a large rebellion mean for Boris?

11 min listen

Christopher Whitty has told the public he expects a ‘significant increase’ in Omicron hospitalisations over the next few weeks. The chief medical officer is concerned about the pressures this new variant will put on the NHS. Could he be overreacting? In contrast, there are encouraging signs coming from South Africa that continue to show that Omicron is less severe than Delta. The Commons vote on vaccine passports is looming where Boris Johnson could face a rebellion larger than his majority. The vote this evening is currently predicted to have over 80 rebels that want to send a message to the Prime Minister:‘The worry is that the vaccine program, something that

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The Independent’s double standards for J.K. Rowling

It’s fair to say that J.K. Rowling’s latest intervention has put the cat amongst the pigeons. The Harry Potter author criticised Police Scotland’s new policy for trans suspects after the force confirmed it will record rapes by offenders with a penis as carried out by a woman if they identify as female, regardless of whether they have legally changed gender. Rowling’s implicit criticism of this move – riffing on Orwell that: ‘War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman’ – has sparked a terrific backlash, with much of it seeming to come from angry, pompous middle-aged men. But leaving aside the Jolyons of this world, the

Ross Clark Ross Clark

What does this South African study reveal about Omicron?

While the government’s policy on Omicron is being driven by modelling suggesting the possibility of a huge wave of hospitalisations in January, some more real-world data has come in from South Africa.  A presentation by the South African Medical Research Council this morning has offered evidence that while Omicron does indeed appear to be more transmissible than the Delta variant, the trajectory of hospitalisations is flatter.  This would appear to confirm earlier data from hospitals in Gauteng province that Omicron is causing a milder disease than previous variants. Indeed, the graph of the latest outbreak shows a marked decoupling on infection figures for hospitalisation and death figures, compared with earlier

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why a large rebellion matters for Johnson

Boris Johnson will this evening face his largest Tory rebellion yet as the issue of vaccine passports comes to a vote in the House of Commons. Today MPs will vote on various aspects of the government’s Covid Plan B proposals — much of which has already come into force. There will be four votes: one on face masks being mandatory in venues like the cinema and theatre; another on daily lateral flow testing to avoid self-isolation if you are a close contact of a positive Omicron case; a third on mandatory vaccination for NHS staff and finally — and most controversially — the introduction of vaccine passports.  The Spectator has a live tally of

Toby Young Toby Young

The good and bad news about the Online Safety Bill

If you care about free speech, the just-published report of the Joint Committee on the Online Safety Bill – a cross-party parliamentary committee composed of six MPs and six peers – is a mixed bag. This is the Bill which began life as a White Paper under Theresa May. Its aim? To make the UK the safest place in the world to go online. It will achieve this by subjecting social media platforms and internet search engines to state regulation, empowering Ofcom to impose swingeing fines on companies that fail to observe a new ‘duty of care’. Let’s start with the good news. The Joint Committee recommends that the current

Steerpike Steerpike

The revenge of the Mayites

Mr S has been keeping a close watch on the number of mounting Plan B rebels these past few days and is delighted to see the numbers totting up to more than 80 at the time of writing. But one thing that did catch Steerpike’s eye was the number of onetime Mayites who look set to vote against Boris Johnson’s Covid plan. For the list of mounting rebels includes both May’s former de facto deputy Damian Green and her ex-PPS Andrew Bowie, who last month quit his post as Tory vice chair. Other names include longtime ministers in her government Harriet Baldwin, Greg Clark and Robert Goodwill.  All this just two days after a flurry

Steerpike Steerpike

Could the Commons have Covid passes?

Today is the big day. MPs are set to vote on the ‘Plan B’ package of restrictions by 6:30 p.m tonight with many Tories publicly denouncing the winter restrictions as a step too far in a society protected by what Boris Johnson once called the ‘huge wall of immunity’ from vaccines.  The big question of course is how big the rebellion will be – 82 Tories are currently named on the Spectator’s list of self-declared rebels. If all were to vote against, it would be the biggest rebellion of Johnson’s premiership, comfortably beating the 55 who voted against a new Covid-19 tier system for England last December, with another 16 abstentions. Labour votes