Politics

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

Saturday

Steerpike Steerpike

Zac Goldsmith, No. 10’s rapid rebuttal service

It’s a tough gig defending this government. So tough in fact that the Prime Minister’s official spokesperson Allegra Stratton left the role before even giving a single press conference. The past week is a case in point – with No. 10 facing miserable headlines over the ongoing feud between Johnson, his fiancée Carrie Symonds and departed No. 10 aide Dominic Cummings.  Johnson has had to deny making a ‘bodies’ comment on Covid deaths while several inquiries are now underway as to how the funding for the refurbishment of the Downing Street flat first came about. Perhaps it’s little wonder then that these days ministers don’t seem overjoyed to be out

Henry Hill

What Arlene Foster’s ousting means for Northern Ireland – and the Union

The brutal defenestration of Arlene Foster as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party could have severe implications for an already volatile situation in Northern Ireland. It is almost certain that whoever succeeds her will lack the instincts which saw the outgoing First Minister try initially to make the Protocol work. Instead, the mission seems to be to try and shore up the base and prevent the hard-line Traditional Unionist Voice doing to the DUP what the DUP did to David Trimble and the Ulster Unionists. This is a grim prospect for London, Dublin, and Brussels, although it won’t hurt the former’s case that fundamental change is needed if the Protocol

Roddy McDougall

Roddy McDougall, Theo Zenou, Gus Carter and Toby Young

23 min listen

On this week’s episode, Roddy McDougall remembers heroes of the speedway, (01:15) Theo Zanou examines at Stanley Kubrick’s fascination with Napoleon, (07:20) Gus Carter looks at a memorial to everyday heroism, (17:20) and Toby Young explains what’s wrong with Equity’s anti-racism guidelines. (21:35)

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What does the DUP shakeup mean for Northern Ireland?

21 min listen

Arlene Foster’s departure has left the DUP in a difficult place. Unionists could become disaffected if another relative moderate takes over, but younger voters might abandon the party if a hardliner becomes leader. What does this mean for Northern Ireland? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Denis Staunton, London editor of the Irish Times.

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Carry on Boris: why Starmer’s ‘sleaze’ barbs won’t harm the PM

Rather like Lord Farquaad, the vertically-challenged establishment choice for Princess Fiona’s hand in marriage in the movie Shrek, Keir Starmer was on his high horse this week. The Labour leader manoeuvred Boris Johnson into making a Commons despatch box denial of ever having used a phrase about letting the bodies pile high rather than imposing a third lockdown. He then followed it up by quoting from the ministerial code: ‘Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation.’ Starmer said he would let things rest there for now, but predicted much more would come out on the matter. His implication was clear – he expects the Prime Minister to

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Dominic Cummings’s Bismarck complex

‘One’s enemies one can count on — but one’s friends!’ Otto von Bismarck quotes have mostly gone out of fashion since the middle of the last century. But perhaps not as far as Dominic Cummings is concerned.  Cummings describes Germany’s first chancellor — and the man responsible for the country’s unification in 1871 — as a ‘monster’. He says in his 2017 blog that ‘the world would have been better if one of the assassination attempts had succeeded’. But it is clear that Cummings seeks inspiration from the Iron Chancellor for his own political doings. When Cummings writes that Bismarck ‘understood fundamental questions better than others’, it’s hard not to think that he

Friday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

What’s wrong with American media?

20 min listen

What’s wrong with American media? The Sunday Times‘s Josh Glancy, formerly Washington correspondent at the newspaper, joins Freddy Gray to discuss the how the last five years have changed the institution.

Steerpike Steerpike

Exclusive: Two more London Labour politicians face anti-Semitism accusations

Last month Steerpike revealed that two sitting Haringey councillors suspended for claims of anti-Semitism had been quietly readmitted to the party despite Keir Starmer’s vow of a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on this issue. Following a backlash, both were quickly resuspended with one of them, Preston Tabois, being dropped from Labour’s list of candidates for next week’s London Assembly elections. Now it appears there is some evidence another Assembly candidate has been indulgent with regards to possible anti-Semitic material posted on her Facebook page. Faduma Hassan is both an elected Brent councillor and who according to the most recent register of members’ staff works for Keir Starmer. When asked about Ms Hassan, Labour said

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

One hundred days in, is Biden getting a vaccine boost?

Boris Johnson is set for a vaccine boost next week when local election results start rolling in. As James Forsyth explains in this week’s magazine, the vaccine rollout is forefront in voters’ minds, with seven out of ten now inoculated or even fully jabbed up. For all the chaos raging around Johnson, with accusations from his former allies and long-term opponents coming in thick and fast, the PM looks set to retain his support where it matters: at the polling station.  Can the same be said for Joe Biden? Across the pond, America is experiencing an equally successful vaccine rollout, as both the US and the UK hover around the top

Matthew Lynn

The eurozone’s Covid recession has arrived

The US is booming. The UK is set to grow at the fastest pace in half a century. China is expanding again at a blistering pace. Stock markets are rising. And commodity prices are racing ahead.  Across most of the world, economists are starting to worry about a runaway boom, stimulated by too much easy money. This, they fear, could easily run out of control. There is one exception, however: the eurozone. As of today, the zone is officially in a double-dip recession. The vaccine downturn has arrived. And while the consequences remain unpredictable, one thing is clear: they won’t be good. The reality is that the eurozone was already the

Steerpike Steerpike

Exiled Osbornites find sanctuary at the Standard

Evening Standard editor Emily Sheffield waded into the row over Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishment this week. Sheffield – a regular visitor to Downing Street in the Cameron era, when her brother-in-law was prime minister – insisted the No. 11 flat ‘is no skip’ as some have implied.  As well as having the opportunity to check out the interiors firsthand, Sheffield also appears to have made some important connections along the way, judging by the familiar faces now adorning the pages of her newspaper. Sheffield, who once inadvertently posted a picture of David Cameron online in 2013, replaced George Osborne in the role as editor last year. Osborne, of course, is a man whose last journalistic experience was

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Unionist opinion will harden unless the EU gives ground

Arlene Foster has been forced out as DUP leader because of Unionist anger about the Northern Ireland protocol. She is blamed for being far too trusting of Boris Johnson. Her party’s anger with her has been compounded by how it has fallen in the polls since the protocol started being implemented. But as I say in theTimes this morning, the protocol isn’t even yet in full effect. If the protocol were to be implemented in full, Unionist opposition towards it would escalate to the next level. Next year’s Stormont election would turn into a proxy referendum on the protocol, with unionist parties arguing that if they can get a majority, they

Robert Peston Robert Peston

How Tory MPs plan to clip Cummings’s wings

On 26 May, Dominic Cummings will give evidence to MPs grouped on the health and science super committee, chaired by Jeremy Hunt and Greg Clark. This will be box office politically, because – as I have mentioned – Cummings will prosecute Boris Johnson and his scientific advisers for failing to lock down early enough in March 2020, and Johnson and Rishi Sunak – though not the scientists – for failing to lock down in early September (not late September). But the Tory controlled committee will not allow him to use them to humiliate the PM in other ways (though some might say the charge that the PM put thousands lives

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What’s the solution to unaffordable housing?

28 min listen

Over the last year of intermittent lockdowns, most of us have spent more time staring at the four walls of our living room than we ever thought possible. One of the biggest factors affecting someone’s pandemic experience is the type of accommodation they’re in, and 8.4 million people in England are living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes. There are, however, attempts being made to help fix the problem, with promises to build new homes, a stamp duty holiday, and a new mortgage guarantee system. To discuss the problem of unaffordable homes, and the potential solutions, Katy Balls is joined on this sponsored podcast by Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow secretary

Tom Chamberlin

Tony Blair and the perils of long hair

Tony Blair must be starting to empathise with Samson this week. Can you imagine being a short-haired former Prime Minister, who on every rare appearance on the Today Programme and Remembrance Sunday has the Twittersphere baying for blood, demanding the police arrest him and send him to The Hague? Then he appears on ITV looking like David Ginola and everyone is tweeting, ‘gosh, look at his hair!’ Though I confess, he doesn’t look too bad, Delilah is still the patron saint of smart men. Should you be considering letting your Covid long locks play out, and avoiding booking a full grooming session at Truefitt & Hill, Trumpers or Pankhurst of London, then

Thursday

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

The nightmare: Boris’s battles are just beginning

28 min listen

In this week’s podcast, ITV’s political editor Robert Peston joins The Spectator‘s deputy political editor Katy Balls to talk over this week’s cover story, on the maelstrom of mayhem surrounding Boris Johnson. (1:29) With the recent exit of Johnson’s oldest advisor, Lord Udny-Lister, from Downing Street, the rumbling row over what Boris did or didn’t say in earshot of Cabinet staff, chatty rats and John Lewis – all in all, it hasn’t been a vintage week for Boris Johnson. ‘Prime Ministers don’t often pick up the phone to newspaper editors to denigrate a former official – in fact, I can’t remember any incidence of that in British political history’ –

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Has Starmer misfired on wallpaper-gate?

12 min listen

Keir Starmer was pictured shopping for wallpaper in John Lewis today, poking fun at Boris’s ongoing No. 10 refurbishment troubles. But is the Labour leader really just playing to the PM’s advantages? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Vaccine passports for mass events might be the worst of all worlds

Are vaccine passports in our future? The ‘Covid-status certification’ review is underway, carved out of the Prime Minister’s roadmap and handed to Michael Gove in the Cabinet Office to assess and very possibly implement the scheme after Britain has been declared ‘free’. Since the first review update was published — clear on intention but vague on the details — there’s been plenty of speculation as to what kinds of events or establishments might require a passport to access them. Today we got some hints. A written statement from Gove has been published, on the ongoing ‘extensive review’ that has so far involved consulting ‘clinical, ethical, equalities and privacy specialists, faith and

Steerpike Steerpike

Will Laurence Fox top Count Binface?

It has been an interesting year for onetime Rada star Laurence Fox. The former Lewis actor turned Question Time guest announced he was running for London mayor last month but has thus far barely managed to make a ripple ahead of polling day in just a week’s time.  A city-wide poll last week showed the culture warrior on just a miserly 1 per cent — the same number as self-proclaimed joke candidate Count Binface. Whereas the former boasts of having a £5 million war chest for his ‘Reclaim’ party, the latter has had to crowdfund the £10,000 deposit needed for his campaign. Binface told Steerpike that all excess money will