Politics

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

Thursday

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

The two halves of Ireland can’t be forced together

Last week, Edwin Poots was elected leader of the DUP. You will have read all about him. I have. You may not previously have known much about him. I didn’t. We should hesitate, I think, to respond to his elevation with a broad-brush sneering dismissal, or in personal terms. We know, of course, about Mr Poots’s creationist beliefs and most of us reject them, and I don’t like his views on homosexuality or abortion; but Poots has proved able to work pragmatically with republican fellow politicians. In an important way, though, this isn’t about Poots, but what he represents: a unionist shift towards back-to-basics fundamentalism. His party is lurching towards

Steerpike Steerpike

Saint Jacinda’s immigration clampdown

For several years now New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has enjoyed the status of being one of the world’s leading liberal icons. The popular premier has backed progressive policies like bereavement leave for miscarriage, gun control reforms and tackling period poverty. Her handling of the pandemic – completely shutting the country off from the rest of the world – was rewarded by the voters last October when she romped home in a landslide. Predictably of course such actions have been greeted with an orgy of fawning praise from politicians here in Britain. Labour MPs gushed over Jacinda’s ‘real leadership’ and suggested that: ‘Jacinda shows what a competent, moderate, progressive, emotionally intelligent, immensely likeable

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

What’s the real reason so many people hate Israel?

Did you know that for the past three weeks Turkey has been engaged in a military assault on Iraqi Kurdistan? It’s been brutal. The Turks, who have one of the most powerful military forces on Earth, have used F-16s, F-4 Terminators and other terrifying hi-tech weaponry to pummel Kurdish positions in northern Iraq. Families have fled their homes in terror. Livelihoods have been destroyed.  ‘Every day, every night… we are being bombed. Our lands are being destroyed. We cannot grow our crops’, says a Kurdish farmer.  It’s unclear how many people have died. According to Turkey, dozens of Kurdish people, mostly militants, apparently, have been killed or captured. Have you seen

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Hancock tries to calm holiday confusion

The government is sounding increasingly upbeat about the prospect of sticking to the roadmap. At this evening’s coronavirus press briefing, professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the Indian variant was probably no higher than 50 per cent more transmissible than the Kent strain, at least according to initial assessments. Meanwhile, Dr Jenny Harries said there was currently no evidence to suggest that the variant was driving up hospital numbers. But Matt Hancock was keen to remind viewers that 14 June is when the final decision will be taken on whether to stick to 21 June as the unlocking date. The Health Secretary also had to deal with the ongoing confusion over the amber list. He had

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What does Sturgeon’s new cabinet say about IndyRef2?

10 min listen

Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her new Cabinet today, reshuffling familiar faces with a clutch of new ministerial appointments. Will it be a line-up that causes sleepless nights for No 10? Joining Isabel Hardman to assess Team Sturgeon’s new look are Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Christopher Snowdon

The insanity of Britain’s housing market

On the day the Office for National Statistics announced a sharp rise in consumer price inflation, albeit to a still modest 1.5 per cent, we discovered that house prices have jumped by a staggering 10.2 per cent in the last year. The average house in England now costs £275,000, close to ten times the average annual income. In 1992, the average house cost three times the average income. A housing boom during a pandemic in the wake of the deepest recession in 300 years doesn’t make a lot of sense, but a few recent events can partially explain it. After three lockdowns, there is pent-up demand, including for houses. The

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Sir Keir was defeated by his own strategy at PMQs

The great thing about being trashed in the polls is that the tiniest improvement looks like a triumphant comeback. At PMQs the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, needed to do some minor damage to Boris’s armour. The teeniest dent could be spun as a glorious revival. But Sir Keir was defeated by his own strategy. He attacked the government’s red-amber-green system of travel restrictions. This metaphorical tricolour is easy to interpret: amber-list countries are safe to travel to except when they’re dangerous. And amber-list countries are dangerous to travel to except when they’re safe. It’s the legal equivalent of an ‘amber shopping day,’ when thieves can operate with impunity. Sir

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Starmer’s flip-flopping came back to haunt him at PMQs

Prime Minister’s Questions today wasn’t a particularly easy session for either man taking the main exchanges. For Boris Johnson, it was a struggle to answer what Sir Keir Starmer referred to as a ‘simple question that goes to the heart of this issue’: if it’s not advisable for people to travel to amber list countries unless absolutely necessary, is it now easier for them to do so?  Johnson repeatedly stressed that the government has been clear on travel restrictions, quarantine measures and penalties for failing to observe these rules. But a simple rule in politics is that if you’re having to insist you’ve been clear, then your messages are as

Matthew Lynn

Inflation is the biggest threat to Boris

The vaccines are rolling out. Lockdown is easing, the EU has been forgotten about, and the Labour party has returned to its traditional pastime of plotting furiously against its leader. No one is even talking about wallpaper anymore. Things could hardly be going better for Boris Johnson, and that has been reflected in local election results and in the polls. There is one looming threat, however. The return of inflation. In truth, rising prices have been destroying governments for a hundred years, and it would be complacent to imagine this one will be the exception. President Biden has embarked on a tax, spend and borrowing spree the like of which

Steerpike Steerpike

London Labour youth wing calls for the abolition of Israel

Pro-Palestine rallies were held across the country at the weekend amid the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. Onetime Labour leader turned independent backbencher Jeremy Corbyn was the star attraction at the London shindig, waving a rose to his adoring fans just yards away from a ten foot inflatable caricature with devil horns and maniacal red eyes. While the suspended MP enjoyed a rapturous reception, he probably did his bid for re-admittance to Labour little good after being introduced to the stage by comedian Alexei Sayle who called his successor Keir Starmer ‘a little shitbag’. Elsewhere on the same day, London Labour’s youth wing did their bit to help their party’s current embattled leader

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Does getting Covid-19 protect you against reinfection?

How well does prior exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus protect you against reinfection? It has been a hotly-debated subject since the first trickle of reported cases of reinfection with the virus began to be reported last spring. Now, a study involving 16,000 students from South Carolina has attempted to quantify the protective effect of natural infection. The students involved in the study, which is published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, were each swabbed for a PCR test last autumn, as a condition of being allowed to return to campus. They were swabbed again this spring in similar circumstances.  Out of 16,101 students, 2,021 were found to be infected in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Australian trade deal is about more than just trade

What happens with an Australia trade deal won’t just reveal how serious this country is about free trade but also how committed it is to helping democratic countries stand up to China. China is Australia’s largest trading partner but since Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus, Australian-Chinese relations have severely deteriorated. Beijing is now trying to use this economic relationship to get Canberra to fall into line.  China has imposed huge tariffs on Australian barley and on wine for the next five years, while technical reasons have been found to bar most Australian timber and beef from the country. If in these circumstances the UK failed

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: George Eustice’s new nickname

George Eustice has not enjoyed an easy time since being elevated to the Cabinet last year. The environment secretary has had a lot on his plate with the Brexit fall out, pesticide squabbles, a department dominated by Goldsmith allies and near-endless rows about free trade deals impacting Britain’s food. This week a Cabinet row over talks with Australia has exploded out into the open with Eustice’s faction concerned about the consequences for British farmers if trade secretary Liz Truss secures a tariff-free deal. Not for nothing is a new nickname for the hapless minister now doing the rounds: George Useless. Tory MPs have been heard uttering the phrase in exasperation, with Tory

Jake Wallis Simons Jake Wallis Simons

British cops shouldn’t support Palestine – or Israel

Picture the scene. A female police officer — hi-viz police jacket, regulation black hat, facemask slipping from her nose — punches the air, proclaiming: ‘free, free Palestine!’ Her words are met with cheers from the crowd at the anti-Israel rally in central London that she was supposed to be policing. Actually, you don’t have to bother picturing the scene. Just watch the video clip below to see a perfect symbol of the toxic blend of state authoritarianism and hard-left politics that is creeping across British institutions today. After I posted the video on Twitter, the Metropolitan Police said it was ‘reviewing the footage’ and would provide an update ‘shortly’. One

Ross Clark Ross Clark

What Greenpeace’s ‘Wasteminster’ stunt won’t tell you

Greenpeace has been responsible for many a fatuous stunt over the years, but its latest video has a point. It shows an animated Boris Johnson making a speech outside 10 Downing Street, boasting about his government’s environmental achievements, like banning plastic straws. Meanwhile, plastic waste starts to rain out of the sky, engulfing the Prime Minister as well as all of Downing Street, the Cabinet Office and much of the Foreign Office, too. This immense pile, we are told, is the quantity of plastic waste which we are dumping daily on developing countries. I’ll take Greenpeace’s word for it that the size of the pile is accurate. But whether our

Steerpike Steerpike

Neil Ferguson’s Indian variant optimism: ‘the curves are flattening’

Amid much gloom in Westminster over the threat posed by the new Covid Indian variant, Mr S was intrigued to hear a counter blast of optimism this morning from an unlikely source – Professor Neil Ferguson.  The epidemiologist appeared on Radio 4’s Today programme in which he said that this new strain appears to be less transmissible than some have previously feared as the ‘curves are flattening a little’ according to the ‘most recent data.’ Presenter Nick Robinson asked: Transmissibility is this key thing that you’re looking to get the answer to. When do you think you will have that answer and is it really a case as we were hearing earlier on the

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Andy Burnham is Labour’s king over the water

There are few things so perilous for an under-performing opposition leader as the emergence of a ‘king over the water’. This is typically someone who is a member of the same party with an impressive track record but who isn’t currently in the Commons and is therefore not subject to the patronage wielded by the leader. As the leader flails, the king over the water is deemed to have acquired miraculous powers. Each new poll recording the leader’s unpopularity launches a thousand new daydreams among party members fondly imagining how the king over the water would reshape things in ways they yearn for. Keir Starmer is now faced with just

Tuesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Penny Mordaunt savages Angela Rayner

Oh dear. Labour’s unofficial collector of titles Angela Rayner popped up in the Commons today to attack the government over its supposed ‘Covid cronyism’. Ministers such as Priti Patel have been accused of improperly helping to secure PPE contracts last year.  Unfortunately for Rayner her opponent at the dispatch box was none other than the redoubtable Penny Mordaunt. Mordaunt savaged Rayner’s claims in a brutal exchange: I would suggest to [Ms Rayner] that an Essex MP is perfectly entitled to forward an offer of help from the Essex Chamber of Commerce to help in a pandemic. MPs do it all the time, it’s part of our job, but [Ms Rayner] already knows

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Should Starmer let the cameras in?

11 min listen

Keir Starmer is reportedly thinking about giving access to a camera crew in order to create a fly-on-the-wall documentary about his leadership of the Labour party. Is this a good idea? Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Robert Peston Robert Peston

The fatal flaw in the Covid travel restrictions

Here are two Covid questions, thrown up by the rate at which the Indian variant is infecting parts of the UK. First, does it show that the traffic light system, which was designed to prevent the UK from importing new strains and variants from abroad, is unfit for purpose? The delay of one to two weeks in moving India from the amber to red category – which I’ve been banging on about for a month – is relevant, and looks like a serious government mistake. But isn’t there a more fundamental flaw in the system? Ministers keep pointing out that with India in the amber category the UK should have