All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Standing outside Downing Street, Theresa May’s speech was notable for a number of reasons — not just her claim that politicians in Brussels were trying to interfere in the election result. In a sign of how the Tories are trying to turn this snap election into a presidential-style contest, May talked about ‘my local candidates’— rather Conservative candidates.
When was the last time you checked your credit history? This vitally important information can seriously affect many aspects of your financial life, from your ability to get a smartphone contract to obtaining a mortgage. Every time you apply to borrow money, the lender will run a search on you to try and determine how likely
There were times during last night’s televised debate between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron when it resembled more a playground slanging match than a pitch to become president of France. The National Front leader and her En Marche! counterpart traded insults, exchanged stares and did their best to shout each other down during two-and-a-half hours
Theresa May’s missive to Brussels delivered on the steps of Downing Street had a simple message: keep out of our election. The PM’s speech was her most direct attack yet against the EU and showed that she was intent on living up to her moniker of being a ‘bloody difficult woman’. Her words might have
Exceptions aside, Spectator readers are not consumers of luxury for luxury’s sake. They are unassuming keepers of style, guardians of distinction – and firm of belief that any claim to sophistication demands a renunciation of bling. In fact, I can only assume that this is being read by a pious confederacy of cashmere-clad clones. You
When my old friend – a lifelong Labour supporter – told me he was voting Tory at the election, I posted a message on Twitter: That was that, I thought. But then the replies started piling in. One of the first responses came from someone who thought my friend would regret his decision if he
Theresa May has kicked off the Tory general election campaign with a remarkably punchy statement in Downing Street. She accused the European Commission of trying to interfere in the UK general election. She said that the hardening of the Commission’s negotiating stance and the leaks of recent days ‘had been deliberately timed to affect the
I have just been to Buckingham Palace for an audience with Her Majesty The Queen to mark the dissolution of this Parliament. The 2015 Parliament is now at an end, and in 36 days the country will elect a new Government and choose the next Prime Minister. The choice you now face is all about
Ukip is a party searching for a purpose. In recent weeks, its focus has been on Islam. Now, it has hit on a new ruse to try and win over voters: going after Britain’s foreign aid budget. The party has said it will scrap the 0.7 per cent spending commitment put into law by David
After Simon Danczuk was barred from standing as the Labour candidate for Rochdale, there have been reports that the Leader’s Office are keen for Corbyn adviser Katy Clark to be put forward for the seat — after she lost out in Leigh. However, now the word on the ground is that Labour want a local candidate over concerns
What a curious election this is proving to be. It is hard to think of another general election in which the two largest political parties indulged in so much nonsense, nor did their best to persuade you that what is evidently true cannot possibly be true. In the first place, the Conservative party asks you
With Labour predicted a catastrophic election result come June 8, many MPs are resorting to rather desperate tactics in a bid to cling on to their seat. So, Mr S was curious to learn of an encounter a comrade experienced over the weekend. At an address in one of the capital’s marginal constituencies, a canvasser was
The French philosopher Jean-Pierre Faye’s career has encompassed everything from fiction to prose poetry, but he will best be remembered for his contribution to political science: Horseshoe Theory. This maxim holds that the far left and far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a linear political spectrum, in fact closely resemble each other.
Theresa May’s awkward dinner date with Jean-Claude Juncker stole the headlines, but there was another Brexit development that passed with much-less fuss: the European Union’s plan for Ireland to reunite after Brexit, which it inserted quietly into its negotiating guidelines. Few in Britain paid much attention to it. Across the Irish Sea, it was a different story. Among Catholic
Tim Farron has been doing his best to appeal to Remain voters left fed-up at the outcome of last year’s referendum. The only problem? In doing so, he’s angered those on the other side of the debate. Today, on a visit to Kidlington, he got his comeuppance as he came face to face with one such
I’m in one of those moods. The one where I’m beset by delusions of adequacy, I can’t work up the energy to pretend I like people, and every email is filled with doom and gloom and stories of bad behaviour. Which brings me to today’s missive from the comparison site uSwitch. According to new research, consumers
Oh dear. Although Labour have had a lacklustre campaign so far, things are beginning to look up. While the shadow home secretary might not be able to get her figures right on bobbies, the party is still capable of a good old-fashioned stunt. Today hacks are gathered at a venue in Westminster to hear Philip
One hundred days is way too short a time to assess a presidency. On this, if little else, there was unanimity among our stellar panel, facing a 1,000-strong audience in the dramatic arena of Westminster’s Emmanuel Centre. In summary, The Donald’s performance has been erratic and high-risk, but he isn’t all bad: panellist and self-proclaimed
Even David Davis’s loudest critics would concede one thing about the Brexit secretary: he is nothing if not breezily confident. His performance on the media rounds this morning was no exception; and his message following Theresa May’s now-famously frosty Downing Street dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker could not have been clearer: keep calm and carry on
If Labour ever does make it to No.10, it’ll be Jeremy Corbyn with his finger on the nuclear button. The Labour leader has been famously wishy-washy on whether he’d retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack. And it seems Corbyn isn’t alone on the Labour frontbench in dithering on the subject. Following his performance
So far, the Tory candidate selection has been a predictable process: the regurgitation of old names rather than the recruitment of new talent. But tonight, this changed. Kemi Badenoch, former head of digital at The Spectator, has been selected for Saffron Walden in Essex– a seat with a Tory majority of almost 25,000. I suspect that
What does it say about today’s athletes that the men’s triple jump record hasn’t been broken since 1995, the long jump since 1991 and the discus since 1986? Or that the women’s long jump record still stands from 1988 and the 800 metres since 1983? Does it say that athletes all used to be a
What a very boring election this is. The Tories are trying to keep their Prime Minister away from anyone who isn’t an android programmed to wave a placard about ‘strong and stable leadership’. Journalists from local papers are being kept in rooms to prevent them from – gasp – filming an interview with the Prime
I awoke this morning to hear Diane Abbott’s brains leaking out of her ears and all over the carpet during an interview with LBC’s excellent Nick Ferrari. You will need a mop and a bucket very sharpish, I thought to myself, as she gabbled on, the hole beneath her feet growing larger with every syllable she
Over the weekend, Theresa May fell prey to a rather brutal Brussels briefing when details of the Prime Minister’s ‘disastrous’ Brexit dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker found their way into a German newspaper. With the Prime Minister accused of ‘living in another galaxy’ and lacking a clue when it comes to the Brexit negotiations, one could be
Jean-Claude Juncker: what a nasty piece of work. There aren’t many politicians I’d say that about. Even most of those I disagree with strike me as being pretty decent people. Theresa May might be a petty authoritarian, but she isn’t sinister. Jeremy Corbyn is wrong about everything, and stuck politically and sartorially in 1983, but
At midnight, we won’t have any MPs. The dissolution of Parliament means that no-one who has sat on the green benches of the Commons for the past two years has any official status above their fellow candidates in the General Election. Some will return victorious for another five years (or until another advantageously early election).
Today George Osborne has begun his new job as the editor of the Evening Standard. Given that the paper’s proprietor previously claimed the former chancellor would provide the real opposition to Theresa May, it should come as no surprise that Osborne has wasted no time in turning his ire on the Prime Minister. In today’s
As lenders’ names go, The Bank of Mum and Dad is rather appealing. There’s instant brand awareness, the prospect of small or non-existent interest rates, and the likelihood that financial negotiations will end with a hug and a few happy tears. I’m a member of this institution. When I moved back up North following 14
On the one hand, perhaps he should only be thinking about football, Minecraft, his Lego Millennium Falcon and whether he is actually capable of magic. On the other, I can’t let this window of opportunity go by. Being five-years-old is a prime time for learning about the world and how things work. It might seem
Bad weather swept across southern France over the May Day holiday but summer is just around the corner and with it will come the burkini. Last week, a call was issued to burkini-wearers to gather at the Cannes film festival later this month, with the organiser saying it will be the perfect moment ‘to celebrate
I see that the polls have narrowed a bit, although I can’t see an earthly reason why they would have done so, given that Corbyn is as stupid now as he was six days ago. Except that people are perhaps feeling increasingly resentful that an election has been called at all, and dislike the arrogance
Is there something in the water today? First Nick Clegg lost his temper on Good Morning Britain, and now Diane Abbott has gone and outdone him with an awkward LBC interview on a policy she is supposed to be advocating. The shadow home secretary has been doing the rounds unveiling Labour’s plans for putting more
Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker were pictured on the steps of Downing Street greeting each other warmly ahead of their working dinner on Brexit last week. The next time Juncker comes for tea, the reception is likely to be somewhat frostier. An account of the meeting suggesting the PM was ‘on another galaxy’ has found