Society

Tuesday

Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Did Carlos Ghosn really flee ‘injustice’ in Japan?

Q: What were the this year’s big New Year films on Japanese TV? A: The Great Escape and Ghosn with the Wind. Former Nissan supremo Carlos Ghosn’s dramatic escape from house arrest in Tokyo in December, ahead of his trial for financial irregularities, has produced plenty of jokes and divided pubic opinion in Japan. Some see Ghosn’s successful flight to Lebanon as damning proof of his guilt, while others still believe he deserves a measure of sympathy and support. Whether Ghosn really was, as is being reported, smuggled out of his closely surveilled Roppongi residence in an instrument case after a private concert, in a scheme masterminded by his second wife

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Labour must learn from its catastrophic Brexit blunder

Boris Johnson says he is desperate to get Brexit off the agenda for his own government, so that it can start applying blue cement to the bricks he turned blue in Labour’s red wall – or throw money and popular policies at the midlands and northern seats he recently pinched from Labour. In fact he tried to persuade me, in an interview during the election, that only saddos like me will be remotely interested in the details of the trade and security deal with the EU he courageously believes can be negotiated in a record-breaking 11 months. For better or ill, he may be right. I am flabbergasted that many

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Did Boris dodge Corbyn’s questions on Iran?

Why didn’t Boris Johnson update the Commons on the tensions between Iran and the US, instead of sending his Defence Secretary Ben Wallace to give a statement this afternoon? Jeremy Corbyn thought this was worth complaining about when he responded, telling the Chamber that the Prime Minister was ‘hiding behind his Defence Secretary’. He demanded that Wallace explain ‘where the Prime Minister is and what he is doing that is so much more important than addressing parliament on the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani’. Wallace’s retort was that Johnson was ‘running the country’. He also accused Corbyn of producing ‘the usual tripe about “this is about Trump, this is

Steerpike Steerpike

Long Bailey: Corbyn is a 10 out of 10 Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn is a two-time election loser who condemned his party to a dismal defeat at the hands of Boris Johnson last month. So how would those vying to replace Corbyn rate his time at the top? Asked to give a mark out of ten, Rebecca Long Bailey had this to say: ‘I thought Jeremy was one of the most honest, kind, principled politicians that I ever met…I’d give him ten out of ten because I respect him and I supported him all the way through.’ Mr S wonders what Corbyn’s score would have been had he actually succeeded in winning an election…

Steerpike Steerpike

Why is Lord Kerslake still being treated as though he’s impartial?

In recent weeks, a former head of the civil service has been quoted almost incessantly in the pages of the British press. Lord Kerslake today warned the government over its supposed plans for Whitehall reform. Last week, he criticised the ‘serious and extraordinary’ leak of personal New Year’s Honours list data. Before that, the same Lord Kerslake called on the government to end the Brexit no-deal uncertainty by looking at the possibility of a second referendum. Readers might be forgiven for treating the pronouncements of a former head of the civil service as somehow above politics. After all, the civil service code calls on Whitehall mandarins to adhere to strict rules of impartiality. It

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How will new Tory MPs deal with constituency problems?

MPs are back in Parliament today after the Christmas recess, and for some of them, this is the first real week of work after spending their first few days in the Commons reeling after winning their seats. New MPs are still waiting to be given offices, and are starting to hire new staff so they can start up with constituency work and trying to understand what’s happening next on the parliamentary agenda. All new members go through a period of trying to work out what sort of MP they’re going to be, but it’s a particularly interesting question for the Conservative MPs who won former Labour ‘red wall’ seats in

Steerpike Steerpike

Jack Straw: Labour needs a Corbyn successor like a hole in the head

Labour’s Rebecca Long Bailey formally announced her leadership bid last night, and formally planted her flag as the Corbyn continuity candidate. In a piece in the left-wing Tribune magazine, the aspiring Labour leader said the she didn’t just agree with Jeremy Corbyn’s policies at the last election, she ‘spent the last four years writing them’, and blamed the party’s loss on its lack of a ‘coherent narrative.’ But some are clearly not a fan of the party continuing with Jeremy Corbyn’s legacy. This morning, former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw certainly didn’t hold back from criticising Long Bailey’s view that the party should avoid its ‘Tory-lite policies’ of the past. In an

Claire Fox

My clash with Alastair Campbell convinced me it’s time to hug a remainer

I confess I had butterflies doing the first BBC Politics Live of 2020. It felt like the first day back at school. Beyond Twitter spats and Christmas family banter, the festive period had been politics-free. Would I be rusty, especially as one of the other panelists was the formidable Alastair Campbell? As a former People’s Vote heavyweight, Campbell is something of an arch nemesis who has a reputation for taking no prisoners. But regardless, one of my new year resolutions is to not dwell on past enmities. I am keen to build some unity, in order to make Brexit as productive as possible. Ahead of the programme, I reminded myself of the importance of not

Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Boris Johnson’s dismal response to Qasem Soleimani’s assassination

Two weeks ago, I asked what kind of prime minister Boris Johnson might be and whether he could be ‘the great disruptor’ on foreign policy, defying standard practices and elite assumptions as Donald Trump has. I think I might have my answer. On Trump’s decision to take out Iranian terrorist-in-chief Qasem Soleimani, the Prime Minister was silent for two days. When he finally spoke, it was hardly worth it. Of course Johnson was right to say, given the Quds Force head’s role in the killing of thousands of civilians, ‘we will not lament his death’. He was right too to warn Tehran against escalation. But in stopping there and failing

James Kirkup James Kirkup

In defence of SpAds

Government by headline is always tempting, and always a mistake. Some of the worst such mistakes concern the machinery and cost of politics, where it’s all too easy to announce stuff that sounds good for a day or two yet inflicts long-term harm on the quality of politics and government. Scrapping and merging Whitehall departments generally falls into the category of ‘things that sound sensible but aren’t’, so reports that such a reorganisation has been canned are encouraging. In any case, there are bigger problems to fix in Whitehall, problems caused by politicians putting appearances before effectiveness. Public sector pay is a good example. Early in the Coalition days, David

Steerpike Steerpike

Lavery backs out of Labour’s leadership race

For true socialists up and down the land, last night must have been a bitter blow. Electoral defeat might be something they have come to expect, but as we know the actual job of a left-wing leader is to remould the party and cast out the Blairites. So to lose the only real revolutionary in the fight is a true misfortune. Yes, Ian Lavery has decided not to run. Having said that he was ‘seriously considering’ a tilt at the top job, the party chairman has decided others are better placed to lead Labour. The MP for Wansbeck, we were told, was the only candidate who ‘wouldn’t take any crap

Monday

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

The strategy of France’s Islamists is to turn Muslim against non-Muslim

France has endured an appalling series of Islamist terror attacks in recent years. One might feel a sense of relief that the country escaped relatively lightly last Friday. That will, of course, be no consolation to the family of the man who was killed by 22-year-old Nathan C, a recent convert to Islam, who stabbed his victim to death as he defended his wife in the Parisian suburb of Villejuif. She is recovering in hospital, as is another woman, while a passer-by apparently has his religion to thank for his survival. Confronted by the killer who was dressed in a djellaba and shouting ‘Allah Akbar’, the man pleaded for mercy,

Duncan Gardham

It’s time to cut the terrorism red tape

What you see is not always what you get. When a judge hands down a 16-year terrorism sentence it’s really eight years in custody with the rest on parole. The set-up is a bit of a swindle dating back to the 1960s, backed up by journalists who like a big number for the headline – myself included. In the Queen’s Speech last month, the government promised to extend custodial sentences for terrorists as a reaction to the London Bridge attack on 29 November in which Usman Khan stabbed two criminologists to death just a year after he was released from a ’16-year’ terrorism sentence halfway through. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel are

Richard Ekins

The legal problem with Boris Johnson’s new Brexit withdrawal agreement bill

The main business for Parliament this week will be to consider the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. Enacting the bill will make it possible for the UK to ratify the withdrawal agreement and thus to leave the EU later this month in an orderly fashion, with EU law set to continue in force in the UK throughout the implementation period. This is due to end on 31 December. The bill was introduced to the House of Commons on 19 December and differs in important respects from the bill considered before the election in October. So what’s changed? The bill now empowers ministers by regulation to authorise any UK court, not

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Rebecca Long Bailey goes continuity Corbyn in leadership pitch

After weeks of speculation, Rebecca Long Bailey has finally announced that she is entering the race to be the next Labour leader. In an article for Tribune magazine, Long Bailey says she is standing for election on the grounds that Labour needs a ‘proud socialist’ to lead who is ‘driven by their principles and an unwavering determination to see democratic socialism in our lifetime’: ‘For all of these reasons and more, I have decided to stand for election to become the next leader of our Party. I don’t just agree with the policies, I’ve spent the last four years writing them. Labour’s Green New Deal, our plans to radically democratise the

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour moderates were wrong to fear a leadership contest stitch-up

Despite the muttered predictions from some of the leadership campaigns, Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee has today decided on a set of rules for its leadership contest that even a really committed conspiracy theorist would struggle to badge a ‘stitch-up’. The timetable is very slightly longer – Jeremy Corbyn will remain Labour leader until 4 April when his successor is announced – and the rules on registered supporters applying to be able to vote are the same as in the 2016 contest. Candidates have a week to get enough nominations from MPs and MEPs (the threshold is 22). If they succeed, they progress to a second phase, lasting a month,

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

Labour’s far left is a personality cult without the personality

The Labour left that has dominated radical culture since 2015 appears to have had a stroke. Its candidates for the Labour leadership seem paralysed. The ‘journalists’ who have sold their souls and become propagandists don’t know what to say. Supporters of the Keir Starmer and Jess Phillips campaigns believe the machine will crank up again when a left-wing candidate finally emerges. But no one can be sure. At present, all we can see is factional hatred. Readers who have grown tired of pious lectures about the ‘issues being more important than the personalities’ will not be remotely surprised to learn that the hatreds are all about personalities, with divisions on

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Ricky Gervais has given Hollywood the thrashing it richly deserves

Finally, Hollywood has received the thrashing it so richly deserves. The self-satisfied movie elites have been called out — to use their own PC parlance — over their hypocritical moral preening and hollow woke posturing. Courtesy of our very own Ricky Gervais, Hollywood’s right-on bubble has been burst, and what a brilliant sight it was. Gervais’s one-man war on Hollywood cant took place at last night’s Golden Globes. He was presenting (‘for the last time’, he said, no doubt rightly). He spared no one. He mocked individuals over everything from their dating habits (Leonardo DiCaprio) to their height (Martin Scorsese). And he mocked all of them, the entire industry, over

Ricky Gervais

Full text: Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globes speech

Hello and welcome to the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards, live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel here in Los Angeles. I’m Ricky Gervais. Thank you. You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking: I never did. NBC clearly don’t care either – fifth time. I mean, Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars because of some offensive tweets. Hello [pointing at himself]. Lucky for me, the Hollywood foreign press can barely speak English and they have no idea what Twitter is. I got offered this gig by fax. So let’s go out with a bang. Let’s have

Christopher Snowdon

The truth behind the election’s so-called fact checkers

All election campaigns see politicians exaggerate, stretch the truth and make promises they can’t keep. But if a report issued in early December is anything to go by, the 2019 general election campaign was a particularly dishonest affair – and one party was particularly guilty. On 10 December, Metro reported: Similarly, the Independent reported: Websites which make no attempt to be impartial were more vociferous. Under the headline, The Tory war on truth – and how to fight back, Open Democracy reported: Independent fact checkers have found that 88% of Tory Facebook adverts contain lies, while 0% of Labour’s do. After the election, the (admittedly risible) Canary asserted that: The 2019 election was won on the back of lies