Politics

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

Tuesday

Andrew Tettenborn

Could the ‘Kathleen Stock’ amendment backfire?

The hounding of Kathleen Stock – who left Sussex university following a concerted campaign against her by trans rights activists – was a disgraceful indictment of freedom of speech on campus. But one remedy for preventing a repeat – the so-called ‘Stock amendment’ to the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, now passing through the Commons – isn’t the answer. Impetuous legislation is normally bad legislation; unless we think very carefully, we may end up with something ineffective or even counter-productive. At first glance, a simple ban on students piling in to demand the sacking or departure of professors on account of their politics or teaching might look good. Indeed, it could be defended

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Germany’s ‘day of fate’ is a reminder of the country’s troubled past

The 9 November is often called Germany’s Schicksalstag – Day of Fate. The date punctuates the fabric of the country’s calamitous search for a political identity like no other: from its origins as a constitutional monarchy, through democracy, dictatorship and division. As every year, today too marks a point of introspection for my compatriots. Let’s hope they use it well: German democracy has come a long way, but it is far from perfect. On 9 November 1918, Germany’s first democratic experiment as a nation state ended in spectacular failure. Only the third German Kaiser since the country’s inception in 1871, Kaiser Wilhelm was forced to abdicate, and with him fell the

Monday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Boris attacked by Mark Harper

‘Après moi, le déluge.’ Owen Paterson may be gone but Boris Johnson is still feeling his presence. This afternoon the Commons gathered for an emergency debate on the debacle of last week, with opposition MPs queuing up to (metaphorically) give the Prime Minister a damn good kicking. Within five minutes the first ‘tinpot dictator’ taunt had been hurled at the PM; within twenty he was accused of turning Parliament into the Duma of Tsarist Russia. For the absent PM, who is reportedly watching today’s debate from a television in his office, it must have made for sobering stuff. But while the opposition brickbats might sting, it will be the contributions from Johnson’s

Steerpike Steerpike

Which Labour MPs earn the most?

Labour has been raising much hue and cry over the Owen Paterson debacle. The party’s MPs have lined up to attack the Tories for taking second jobs, with some pointing to the last Labour manifesto, which declared that ‘we will stop MPs from taking second paid jobs, with limited exemptions to maintain professional registrations like nursing.’  Cantabrigian Corbynista Richard Burgon is meanwhile using the debacle to push his private members’ bill to ban second jobs for those in the Commons, a practice he decries as ‘MPs cash grabbing from corporate interests and short changing the public.’ Strong stuff. But Mr S would suggest that the flatulating anti-Zionist might want to get his own

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Fact check: are the NHS chief’s Covid claims correct?

The seven-day rolling average suggests Covid cases peaked around 23 October and have been in decline for almost two weeks. Despite this, there are frequent claims that Britain’s Covid rates are continuing to skyrocket. So what’s going on? As always with the virus, every shift in the data must be taken with a pinch of salt; there’s always a chance things could take a turn for the worse. But some data is set in stone: that is, the virus’s trajectory last year and how it compares to what’s happening now.  Today, a strange update was given by Amanda Pritchard, the new head of NHS England. In a bid to encourage people

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Why is Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party trying to disarm the police?

A French police officer was attacked with a knife in Cannes this morning. The victim – whose bullet-proof vest saved him from serious injury – was at the wheel of his stationary car when the assailant opened his door and plunged the weapon into his body. There are reports that the attacker uttered the words ‘in the name of the Prophet’. The man was ‘neutralised’ by another policeman and is now in a serious condition in hospital. As the attack unfolded, left-wing MP, Mathilde Panot, appeared on a popular morning radio show and was asked about her party’s controversial stance on giving weapons to police officers. Panot is a member of La France Insoumise

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Who is responsible for the recent fracas around Tory sleaze?

15 min listen

Over the weekend most media tore into the Owen Paterson affair, with a lot of talk about MPs’ second jobs like those of Geoffrey Cox… ‘I think if you go down this route of essentially banning all these outside interests, we’re going to end up with far more people of inherited wealth in the House of Commons, who don’t need to earn any other money, and I think you will lose some knowledge and expertise.’ – James Forsyth …How Conservatives pick their peers, and even Lords reform. But how did it come to this? Who should have told Boris that last week’s actions and reactions were bad politics? ‘I know

Steerpike Steerpike

Top MoD mandarin: supporting BLM is ‘not political’

Is it political to support Black Lives Matter? Not according to No. 10’s most senior security adviser. Stephen Lovegrove (he/him) was until March this year the top civil servant in the Ministry of Defence, before being promoted to national security adviser in Downing Street. During an MoD staff call in June last year, Lovegrove stated supporting BLM is: ‘Not a political position whatsoever. It’s not a gesture of support for any particular organisation. It is about the general principle of recognising that, at the moment, there is a problem that we, as a society, need to fix.’ Now, Mr S isn’t sure about this one. Perhaps Lovegrove hasn’t seen the official BLM

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The trouble with Austria’s vaccine passport plan

Are vaccine passports being used in other countries in an attempt to cut Covid infections – or to try and boost vaccine take up by curtailing the social lives of those who refuse? The latest change in policy in Austria would appear to confirm that for them, it’s the latter. From today, access to restaurants, bars and any event with more than 25 guests will be limited to people who can prove they have been fully vaccinated, that they have previously recovered from Covid or that they have had one jab and a negative PCR test. In four weeks’ time, only the double-jabbed and those who can show they have

Steerpike Steerpike

Qatari cash splashed on jet-setting MPs

Case rates are falling, booster rates are sky-rocketing and Westminster is consumed by the Owen Paterson affair: what more signs are needed that normal life is resuming? And more proof, if needed, was provided by this week’s release of the updated Members’ Register of Interest, in which under-fire MPs revealed that jet-setting junkets have now resumed.  Some 16 Labour and Conservative MPs were last month flown to Qatar as part of the British-Qatari All Party Parliamentary Group, at a cool cost of some £120,000, paid for by the country’s embassy. According to their entries, the MPs were there for discussions on the country’s ‘humanitarian and political response to the Afghanistan crisis, preparations

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Can the Paterson Tory sleaze row continue to damage Boris?

After a bruising week for Boris Johnson over the Owen Paterson lobbying row, the government U-turned on its plan to rewrite MP standards rules and Paterson quit the Commons. Yet the whole saga is far from over: the Prime Minister is likely to spend the next week dealing with the fallout from his botched plan to spare the Tory MP a one-month suspension over a breach of lobbying rules. Although Johnson’s environment secretary George Eustice declared on Sunday that the row amounts to a ‘storm in a teacup’, Tory MPs are furious and raising concerns over the No. 10 operation. To make matters worse, the government is now facing a spate of Tory sleaze stories from

Rupert Darwall

Are we heading for a net zero crash?

So far, the big message from the Glasgow climate conference is the role of finance in decarbonising the global economy. It’s a dangerous development. In his speech to COP26 last week, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, pledged action to ‘rewire the entire financial system for Net Zero.’ Finance has taken centre stage in large part because of inadequate government policies. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, around two-thirds of global emissions are linked to private household activity. Reducing them requires major changes in people’s lifestyles, UNEP says. Rather than imposing carbon taxes that really hurt – the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates a minimum of $135 a ton, rising

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Starmer calls Boris ‘corrupt and contemptible’ over Paterson

Keir Starmer: PM’s actions over Paterson ‘corrupt and contemptible’ If the government could write its own headlines, the last week would doubtless have been awash with the litany of pledges being churned out at Cop26. Instead, Boris Johnson has managed to earn the ire of not just the opposition, but also his own side of the House of Commons, after putting forward some hastily-retracted plans to reform Parliament’s disciplinary process. To cap it all, Owen Paterson, the MP whose career the proposals were transparently designed to save, has announced that he will be leaving the House after all. The leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, condemned a ‘pattern of

John Ferry John Ferry

The strange greenwashing of Nicola Sturgeon

It was only a matter of time. When the Scottish Green party entered government alongside the SNP in August, it was clear Nicola Sturgeon would use the party as a shield against her questionable record and stance on the environment. The surprise is that it happened so quickly and so blatantly. This week we had the extraordinary situation of the Scottish Greens attacking Greenpeace for daring to push the First Minister to explicitly come out against exploitation of the Cambo oil field off Shetland. Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said Greenpeace was unfairly criticising Sturgeon and is ‘not particularly politically active in Scotland’. Ramping up the ‘othering’ of Greenpeace, Harvie’s

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

John Major attacks Boris Johnson (again)

Shock! Horror! Sir John Major has attacked Boris Johnson! In a breathlessly reported appearance on the Today programme, the former Tory PM lambasted his successor for his ‘shameful’ handling of the Owen Paterson row, denouncing Johnson’s behaviour as ‘politically corrupt’ and ‘damaging at home and to our reputation overseas.’ Pretty strong stuff. Or it would be, perhaps, if Major hadn’t made a number of similar such comments before. In Johnson’s two years in office, his predecessor has launched at least half a dozen attacks on him over Brexit, the Supreme Court prorogation, the Internal Markets Bill, foreign aid and the Afghanistan withdrawal. Among accusations levied by Major include Johnson whipping up ‘fear and

Wolfgang Münchau Wolfgang Münchau

What is the Bank of England playing at?

Last week, the Bank of England sent a number of confused messages. One was almost shocking: Andrew Bailey said that it isn’t his job to steer markets on interest rates ‘day by day and week by week’. But as economic commentator Matthew C. Klein dryly noted this is literally his job. It is debatable whether the Bank of England needs to manage the entire yield curve (ie, buying and selling bonds in an attempt to set interest rates years into the future) but the central bank should be in charge of the short end. Those opposing an interest rate rise say that central banks should never shock markets. The Bank

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver, Kit Wilson, Peter Hanington, Robert Porter

28 min listen

On this week’s episode, we’ll hear from Lionel Shriver on how the Biden Administration’s border policies are a gift for Trump and the Republicans. (00:52) Then Kit Wilson on what we can expect from Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. (09:53) Third, it’s Peter Hanington talking about his love of haikus. (18:48) And finally, Robert Porter’s notes on the bagpipes. (24:32) Produced and presented by Sam Holmes

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

The Tice is right: is Reform about to break through?

History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes, said Mark Twain. Right now the commentariat is looking for something that will rhyme with the famous Battle of Knutsford Heath of 8 April 1997. In that face-off, Neil Hamilton and his formidable wife Christine were ranged against the white-suited ‘anti-corruption’ independent candidate Martin Bell. Though the Hamiltons gave as good as they got for the cameras, Bell had the last laugh by comfortably winning the formerly impregnable Tory seat of Tatton in the general election held a month or so later. With a by-election now looming in Shropshire North following the sleaze scandal that engulfed departing Tory MP Owen Paterson, leftish