All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Kemi Badenoch has saved the biggest news of the Tory reshuffle for last. This morning, the headlines were dominated by news of James Cleverly’s return. But this evening, the only story causing shockwaves is Lee Rowley’s departure as Badenoch’s chief of staff. His importance to the Kemi project cannot be overstated. The pair entered parliament
Cries of ‘Shame!’ rang out in the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, today as lawmakers from Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People Party, backed by most opposition parties, voted to bring key independent anti-corruption agencies under government control. The new law, which was backed by 263 lawmakers with just 26 opposing or abstaining, has sparked widespread condemnation
When French General Bosquet watched the 600 men of the Light Brigade charge helplessly into the Russian heavy artillery at Balaclava he muttered ‘c’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre’. Well, history repeats first as tragedy then as farce. And so today, those words came to mind as I watched Rachel Reeves prepare to
Despite Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s efforts, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced this afternoon that the doctors’ strikes are on. From 7 a.m. this Friday until 7 a.m. next Wednesday, medics across England will stage a walkout – the first of Keir Starmer’s premiership – over pay disputes. The announcement by the doctors’ union
The war for Ukraine’s future is being fought not just on the battlefield, but also within its democratic institutions. Today, one of those battles was lost. The parliament passed a bill that destroys the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption bodies. If signed into law, it would effectively dismantle their ability to investigate all senior officials
The Commons is closing down for the summer, but Kemi Badenoch has treated us to a shadow cabinet reshuffle. At the beginning of the year, Badenoch’s team were keen to stress stability, dismissing talk of an early reshuffle. But, as so often in politics, events have forced her hand. Ed Argar, the shadow health secretary,
Well, well, well. It would appear the former Unite the Union boss Len McCluskey is not immune to the temptation of free gifts. An internal report has revealed that the trade unionist enjoyed private jets and freebie football tickets arranged by a company in charge of building a multi-million pound hotel for the organisation. Alright
This afternoon, Nigel Farage unveiled his party’s first defector in the Welsh parliament. Laura Anne Jones was first elected to the Senedd in 2003 and has been a card-carrying Conservative for more than 30 years. But today she has crossed the floor, citing the dire state of the country and the urgent need for change.
A few years ago, I was encouraged to apply for a role within the College of Policing for an advisory body on a revamped code of ethics for police officers. When asked what sort of qualities the code should embody, my answer was succinct: ‘moral and physical courage.’ I didn’t make the cut, of course,
The ability of Britain’s quangos to sugarcoat their rather unflattering performance figures will never fail to amaze Mr S. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Authority (DVSA) is just the latest example. The organisation’s chair and chief executive have both issued glowing reports of the company’s ‘progress’ thus far, using an exciting range of buzzwords to
For more than 650 days of war in Gaza, one swathe of territory remained mostly untouched by Israeli ground manoeuvres: the dense, urban core of the central camps – Nuseirat, Deir al-Balah, Maghazi, and Bureij. That pattern has now decisively changed. On Sunday morning, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued evacuation orders for southern Deir
Former home secretary James Cleverly is expected to make a return to the Tory frontbench as Kemi Badenoch reshuffles her shadow cabinet. Cleverly has been content sitting on the backbenches since losing the leadership race in November, but with the Tories’ poll rating dropping to 17 per cent, the Braintree MP is returning to the
Hurrah! We are going to get a new water regulator. Sir John Cunliffe’s independent water commission has recommended that Ofwat be abolished and replaced with a new body which also incorporates the drinking water inspectorate. It will be yet one more opportunity for a quangocrat to take a plumb job, while Ofwat’s bosses are pensioned
Things are not going so well with left-wing comedian talk show hosts over the water. Last week came the news of the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert by CBS/Paramount. And Ellen de Generes, whose daytime chat show was chopped back in 2022, revealed this weekend that she’s moved permanently to the Cotswolds,
When nurse Sandie Peggie complained about the presence of a trans-identifying man in the women’s changing room at Falkirk’s Victoria Hospital, she was treated as a dangerous bigot. A witch-hunt saw her suspended from the job to which she had devoted thirty years of her life and she faced horrifying allegations of placing patients in
Britain is continuing to chuck billions onto our mounting pile of debt. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that last month the state had to borrow just under £21 billion. That was £6.6 billion more than in June last year and the second-highest June borrowing total since records began 32 years ago.
The UK-EU summit in London in May was proclaimed as a ‘new chapter’ in the post-Brexit relationship. Only now are we finding out the true cost. Perhaps the British government should not have so eagerly chased a scheme that was bound to work to our disadvantage The EU’s Security Action for Europe (Safe) – a
In just a few days, doctors across England will stage strikes for five days. Hospitals are preparing for staff shortages from Friday until next Wednesday, hoping that bulked-up locum rates will attract enough ‘scabs’ to mitigate the walkouts. But now the BMA has taken aim at NHS bosses, warning that the decision not to cancel
The people of Epping have a message for Tommy Robinson: stay away. The far-right activist is currently mulling joining protestors in Essex who have taken to the street outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers. While there have been violent clashes between police and demonstrators – and a number of arrests – many of
If you want a sign of how badly things have gone wrong for this government, compare Keir Starmer’s third Liaison Committee grilling with his first. Back in December, it was all stonewalling and smiles, as the Prime Minister gently dead-batted questions in front of a (largely) sympathetic crowd. Seven months on, the audience remains the
Sir Keir Starmer has a sausage problem. Stop sniggering at the back. Not only was there his infamous slip demanding that Hamas ‘return the sausages’, but there is also the fact that he increasingly resembles a great British banger: pink-skinned, spitting and whistling when grilled and filled with all kinds of rubbish. Sir Keir has
Reform UK has dominated headlines this morning, as the party kick off their six-week campaign on crime. During a central London presser this morning, Nigel Farage told journalists that his party will halve crime in Britain if it gets into government – insisting that all foreign criminals will be deported and serial offenders would have
This morning’s paper on leaving the ECHR from Suella Braverman and the Prosperity Institute doesn’t say much that hasn’t been said somewhere before. It reiterates the fairly obvious political case for a UK ECHR exit. It talks about the erosion of sovereignty over immigration, policing and vast swathes of social policy; the baneful ‘living instrument’
As the 2026 Holyrood election looms, parties are scrambling to get their candidate lists finalised. Today the Scottish Greens have released their regional list names – with some rather interesting selections amid party splits. One of the most significant decisions sees the current MSP for the North East region, Maggie Chapman, demoted on the list
It’s hard to disagree with Nigel Farage’s diagnosis that ‘Britain is lawless’. The Reform leader painted a bleak image of London in particular, as he unveiled his party’s crime crackdown in Westminster. Farage’s message for criminals is that a Reform government would have ‘zero tolerance’ Farage spoke of a city where ‘moped gangs [are] running
Will Britain continue to be dragged back closer and closer to the EU so that when we eventually rejoin, in say a decade’s time, our politicians can present it as a mere exercise in regularising an arrangement which effectively already exists? At some point it must have dawned on most frustrated remainers that they were
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Nigel Farage has unveiled the party’s policy proposals for tackling crime should they get into government. The Reform leader said that his entire policy platform would cost £17.4 billion, and suggested that a Reform government would introduce a ‘three strikes’ system for repeat serious offenders. Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Tim Shipman about
Many people are now terrified to say what they think, voice unfashionable opinions, or even let slip the wrong words, having seen what happens to those who do. As we witness in the headlines with unremitting regularity, uttering something potentially offensive might cost you your job or prompt a visit from the police. This is
Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is preparing to be grilled by the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee this afternoon – and Mr S has a question for the lefty Cabinet minister too. While the veteran politician has expended a lot of his own energy on taking a pop at net-zero sceptics for ‘talking their
There is increasing speculation that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state imminently, possibly in coordination with France. On this morning’s Today programme, for example, Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was the latest senior MP to push the idea. Open Jew hate is now the norm in Britain It sounds sensible,
This weekend, the Sunday Telegraph reported that Rachel Reeves is eyeing a ‘£5 billion bitcoin sale’ to ease the pressure on the public finances. Some commentators have grasped the wrong end of the stick here – these sales could not be used to fill a ‘black hole’ under the current fiscal rules. Others have argued that it
The government is briefing that Rachel Reeves is ruling out a wealth tax, and won’t surrender to pressure from the left on the Labour backbenches to raid the assets of the rich. It will only accelerate the exodus of the wealthy from the UK, they say. It won’t raise any serious money. And just about
‘It is a difficult situation and we have to take it very humbly and seriously’. This was the typically understated and solemnly delivered verdict of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba after his party and their coalition partners lost their majority in the Upper House elections on Sunday. It is the kind of wording used by
The moment I heard that there’d been a backlash against James Gunn’s reboot of the Superman franchise on the grounds that he’d ruined this great American icon by turning the Man of Steel ‘woke’, I thought, sign me up! Until then, I hadn’t been planning to go. Even as a longtime enthusiast for all things
