Politics

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

Saturday

Andrew Tettenborn

Julian Assange and the deep flaw in our extradition laws

You could almost hear the rejoicing in Whitehall on Friday morning when the High Court cleared the way for Julian Assange to be extradited to the US, rejecting a plea that he was too mentally frail. The man has, after all, been a thorn in the administration’s side for 11 years: 18 months contesting his rendition to Sweden, followed by seven embarrassing years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, and then two-and-a-half years in Belmarsh fighting extradition to the US on espionage charges. But there is one disquieting feature. The offences he is charged with in the US are not ordinary charges of criminality, like the accusations he faced in

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Boris’s successor should be Rishi Sunak, not Liz Truss

Is the ball about to come loose at the back of the scrum? Though an imminent defenestration of Boris Johnson is still just about odds-against, the chances of him leading the Tories into the next election are certainly receding. Should a leadership contest be required as early as next year it is already clear who the two leading candidates would be. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak will face off against the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for the right to define yet another new Tory era. Truss is a total rookie in a great office of state, having been in post for just a few months. As someone yet to mark his

Sam Holmes

Douglas Murray, Mary Wakefield, Peter Hitchens

22 min listen

On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Douglas Murray on the political fate of US vice president Kamala Harris. (00:58) Next, Mary Wakefield on her experience during storm Arwen and subsequent media coverage. (09:39) And finally, Peter Hitchens on his fears regarding the future of the city of Oxford. (15:58) Produced and presented by Sam Holmes Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

Friday

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Should we be scared of the Omicron variant?

Why is the government so scared of the Omicron variant? So far, most of the evidence we have for transmissibility and virulence of Omicron is based on very limited data from South Africa, but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has now published its own preliminary study of the variant — the results of which will presumably have been available to ministers and scientific advisers prior to Wednesday’s decision to enact ‘Plan B’. They appear to show a variant which is more transmissible, more likely to evade vaccines and more likely to reinfect people who have previously had Covid. But there is a very big caveat: they are based on

Mary Dejevsky

Why Britain should not extradite Julian Assange

Julian Assange is facing extradition after the high court ruled there is no legal impediment to him facing espionage charges in the United States. The decision would seem to justify the fears that the WikiLeaks founder and his supporters have long harboured: that the UK has essentially served as a holding pen until such time as a legal mechanism could be found to enable his dispatch to the US.  Assange has always believed that the US would not stop until it had exacted retribution. His former lawyer and now fiancee, Stella Morris, said after the latest ruling that they would appeal, if possible, to the UK Supreme Court. The extradition case now

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Ian Maxwell on the treatment of Ghislaine

24 min listen

The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell has gripped the world, a woman accused of truly horrendous crimes. But have we as a society thrown out the cardinal rule of innocent until proven guilty? Freddy Gray sits down with her brother Ian Maxwell who believes that her treatment pre-trial has been nothing short of torturous.

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Sturgeon: all cases will be Omicron by Christmas

Nicola Sturgeon has said that Scotland should expect a ‘tsunami’ of Covid cases, so has said Christmas parties should be cancelled and household contacts of any positive case — Omicron or not — should isolate for ten days regardless of vaccination status. Given that Scotland and England have very similar Covid profiles (both in waves and vaccination) this is relevant to the whole of the UK. But what especially jumps out is the prediction from Scottish government modelling that Omicron will account for all Covid cases by Christmas. Her document: Omicron in Scotland — evidence paper released during Sturgeon’s TV appearance pointed to modelling to suggest that half of new cases could be

Steerpike Steerpike

Ian Maxwell: Ghislaine thinks Epstein was murdered

Away from the shenanigans of Westminster, the details of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ongoing trial have been filling our national newspapers this week. Images have been released of the British socialite cavorting with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at Balmoral, the Queen’s home in Scotland, with Maxwell facing allegations that she facilitated and participated in the sexual exploitation of girls for her longtime companion. In such circumstances, Steerpike was intrigued to hear that Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine’s brother, was appearing on The Spectator’s Americano podcast to discuss the ongoing trial. Among the highlights of the episode: the businessman’s thoughts on the conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s reported suicide – an event which echoed the

Steerpike Steerpike

Whitehall hit by party cancellations

After a fraught few months, you’d have hoped the hard-pressed masters and mandarins of Whitehall could let their hair down with a good old Christmas bush. Unfortunately, in the wake of ‘partygate’ a wave of cancellations is now sweeping Westminster with No. 10 canning their planned shindig on Wednesday and Rishi Sunak now calling off his Treasury drinks for the lobby on Monday. Mr S hears that further cancellations are in the works, amid fears about the Omicron variant and growing questions about the growing number of secret soirees which went on last year in lockdown. How will our cheese and wine industries cope? The cancellations are all the more curious

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Is Boris in for a Christmas rebellion?

12 min listen

Boris Johnson’s problems are not going away anytime soon and he is facing extreme pressure on several fronts going into the weekend. Hypocrisy charges from the media and the Labour Party, more scandal regarding the No. 10 flat refurbishment, and a massive Tory rebellion regarding his Plan B measures. Not to mention his recent announcement that it is time to have a serious conversation about vaccine mandates. ‘This anger is diffuse across the parliamentary party. It isn’t just one ideological faction that are upset with him.’ – James Forsyth Katy Balls breaks down the Prime Minister’s many woes with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. Subscribe to The Spectator‘s Evening Blend

Steerpike Steerpike

Diane Abbott shills for China

With No. 10 in crisis and his party opening up a six point lead in the polls, can anything ruin Keir Starmer’s Christmas? Well the Socialist Campaign Group seem to be doing their damnedest, given their propensity for high-profile interventions to remind voters of the collection of cranks still adorning Labour’s collection of cranks. The latest leftie lemming to pop out of the woodwork is Diane Abbot, who, since relinquishing the Shadow Home Affairs brief in April 2020, has spent the past eighteen months appearing on Zoom platforms alongside various racists and opponents of the West. And now, with her trademark tact, diplomacy and insight, Abbott has this week become the only

Steerpike Steerpike

Claudia Webbe goes missing in action

Pity the poor people of Leicester East. Having finally rid themselves of the disgraced Keith Vaz in 2019, the long-standing Labour constituency now finds itself lumbered with convicted criminal Claudia Webbe. Despite being slapped with a suspended jail sentence, Webbe still clings on in the Commons, pending her appeal, after her barrister’s pleas for the last judge to ‘consider my client’s suffering as a black woman’ was, er, unsuccessful. If her appeal fails, a by-election will (finally) be triggered. Let’s hope next time Labour pick someone who won’t threaten others with acid – nor get caught in a Sunday Mirror drugs and escort sting… With all her appearances in court, it’s no

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

The economy was stagnant even before Plan B

The economy is tantalisingly close to returning to pre-pandemic levels, now just 0.5 per cent off recovery. But this last hurdle may be the most difficult to overcome. The economy was more or less at a standstill in October, with GDP climbing by a measly 0.1 per cent. Services output grew by 0.4 per cent, mostly thanks to an uptick in GPs heading back to their surgeries for face-to-face appointments. While services recovered to pre-pandemic levels in October, the underlying figures don’t look so rosy: production output fell 0.6 per cent, while construction took its biggest hit since the first lockdown, falling by almost 2 per cent. These are disappointing

Charles Holland

No, there is no Downing Street Christmas party loophole

Was 10 Downing Street really a rule-free zone when it came to the coronavirus regulations, the laws which have governed our lives to varying extents since the pandemic first erupted? Steven Barrett writing on Coffee House, says that it was: ‘the regulations almost certainly never applied to No. 10 anyway,’ he argues. I’m not convinced. Why? Because the so-called ‘restrictions on gatherings’ were restrictions that applied to individuals wherever they were, including on Crown land. It’s true that there is such a thing as a ‘Crown exemption rule’. In short, an Act of Parliament doesn’t bind the Crown unless there is an express provision saying so or an obvious implication

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Was COP26 really worth crying about?

31 min listen

When the Glasgow climate jamboree ended after two weeks, COP26 President Alok Sharma broke down in tears and seemed to apologise for his failure to get countries like China and India on side. But now that the dust has settled from Glasgow’s COP26 summit, but how will this one be remembered? There were protestors, no shows from state leaders and new commitments were made whilst backroom wrangling had mixed results. What are the key factors that make these summits a success? Given the mammoth task ahead of the countries that have committed to tacking climate change, is it realistic to expect real change? In this podcast, Cindy Yu is joined

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The three problems facing Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson may be celebrating the birth of a baby daughter but that doesn’t mean the pressure on him is eased. Instead, the Prime Minister is fighting on three fronts going into the weekend. The first is the alleged Downing Street parties with more claims emerging that there were several events. While cabinet secretary Simon Case is investigating, it’s already looking tricky for key Downing Street staff, with ITV reporting that Downing Street director of communications Jack Doyle gave a speech and handed out awards. While No. 10 figures suggest a speech is a pretty regular occurrence, the real issue with the claims is that Doyle is the person who

Thursday

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: Whitehall’s £33 million WFH spend

Throughout much of 2021, ministers have been keen to get civil servants back into Whitehall. Oliver Dowden called for mandarins to ‘get off their Pelotons and back to their desks’; his fellow Tory Jake Berry has accused them of ‘woke-ing from home.’ But the civil servants themselves have proved somewhat reluctant to do so, with Dave Penman, the leader of the FDA trade union, suggesting ministers instead should be celebrating the civil service… making the most of new technology whilst making savings for the taxpayer.’ In spite of the government’s efforts to pressure businesses to order staff to return to the office, it appears that such efforts have also fallen short in the state

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Has Boris seen the Omicron data?

There was nothing but gloom about the Omicron variant at yesterday’s No. 10 press conference. But with reporters preoccupied with last year’s Christmas parties, no one thought to bring up a statement by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, who earlier told reporters that there is ‘some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta, but again it’s still too early to be definitive.’  You don’t want to make decisions before you have good evidence, but if it does turn out that Omicron is a milder disease, won’t the government’s efforts to suppress it with travel bans and restrictions be counter-productive? If Omicron makes people significantly less ill than Delta, it should be