All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
It’s not easy to keep track of household bills. Now new research has revealed that more than a third of people do not know how much it costs to run their home. Householders vastly underestimate the true costs, which are on average £1,505 a month for homeowners and £1,819 a month for tenants. Those surveyed by property
This podcast is sponsored by Berry Bros, The Spectator’s house red. In this week’s episode of the Spectator Podcast, Isabel Hardman is joined by Douglas Murray and Haras Rafiq, managing director for the Quilliam Foundation, to discuss the Brussels attacks. ‘In the wake of a terrorist attack, everything barely worth saying will be said endlessly. And the
Today is Independence Day, the 24 March, the day Alex Salmond nominated as his ‘independence day’ following a Yes vote. Today’s edition of The National, the newspaper dedicated to the cause of Scottish independence, imagines what might have been. But one rather important story is missing. Yesterday, the Institute for Fiscal Studies updated its forecasts on
As the leader of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn is a busy man these days. So busy in fact that he was unable to attend last week’s Scottish Labour conference. Happily, Corbyn did manage to find time, however, to attend last night’s British Kebab Awards. Politicians, kebab shop owners and meat-lovers alike gathered in the Westminster
With the PLP more divided than ever today thanks to the discovery of Team Corbyn’s ‘hostile list’ — which ranks MPs in terms of the their loyalty to the leader — tensions are high among Labour politicians. Now it appears that Team Hostile have decided to have some fun. ‘Hostile’ MP Jamie Reed claims to have ‘uncovered’
A few years back, Mr Steerpike wrote a blog entitled ‘How Danny Finkelstein botched the reshuffle‘ – revealing how those around Iain Duncan Smith were furious to see his future in an expected reshuffle being discussed on Newsnight by the Fink. Our joke: that IDS might well have moved to the Justice department has he not
Corbyn had an open goal at PMQs. Cameron is weaker than he’s ever been. His favoured successor is toast. His party are restive and mutinous. Three months from now the retirement committee may gather around the PM with tense smiles and whetted blades. All Corbo had to do was kick straight. But asking the Labour
While PMQs took place in the Commons this lunchtime, outside in the Central Lobby a protest could be heard. Disability campaigners had gathered outside Parliament to protest the benefit cuts in the Budget. Not that the powers that be want you to hear about the protest. The BBC’s Norman Smith was interrupted live on air by
Why have Jeremy Corbyn’s allies drawn up a list ranking Labour MPs according to how hostile they are to the leadership? It’s not the first list that categorises MPs: I revealed in the Times recently that the moderates who are plotting to destabilise the Labour leader had drawn up their own list that ranged from
On Sunday at noon, few would have predicted that Tory MPs would have come out of PMQs cheered and unified. But thanks to The Times’ Sam Coates revealing this morning that the Labour leader’s office have ranked their MPs from core group to hostile, David Cameron won this session hands down and cheered up Tory MPs
Here’s a sobering fact for you: yesterday in Brussels, Isis sympathisers killed five times as many civilians in one hour as British airstrikes have killed or injured Isis fighters in Syria since December. At the last count, in late February, British airstrikes over Syria had killed or hurt just seven Isis fighters in three months. Seven. Not even
Today’s PMQs ought to have been a walk in the park for Jeremy Corbyn following days of in-fighting and rebellion in the Conservative party. However, a secret document changed all that, with the Times today publishing a spreadsheet which categorises all the Labour MPs in terms of their loyalty — or lack there of —
Once again, Europe finds itself reacting to another terrorist attack – this time in Brussels where simultaneous suicide bombers, all who appear to have been known to Belgian authorities, were responsible for the murder of at least 30 people, with at least 100 hundred wounded, some critically. Brussels has a tortured history of inadvertently harbouring terrorism cells,
David Cameron has been chairing a Cobra meeting this morning to discuss the UK government’s response to yesterday’s terror attacks in Brussels. Inevitably, the issue has become deeply partisan, with Ukip’s Mike Hookem managing to release a statement while the attacks were still taking place, arguing that ‘this horrific act of terrorism shows that Schengen free movement
No-one in their right mind would have willingly created the monster that is now the country’s current pension system. It has become the financial Hydra of modern day Britain. Bizarrely, it is deterring most of us from saving for retirement because we are intimidated by its many heads of poisonous anti-saving rules. Governments past and
It’s a tough world out there for singletons in the digital age. Although dating apps like Tinder mean it’s never been easier to look for love, many find that any such romance is fleeting and miss the days of proper courtship. So, perhaps that’s why some women are now thinking outside the box. The artist Tracey Emin
After years in the doldrums, the reinvigorated housing market continues apace. With a stamp duty stampede attributed to rising prices in London, the south east and the east of England, the boom shows no signs of petering out. According to the Office for National Statistics, house prices nationally rose by 7.9 per cent in the year to
Well at least we all know the form by now. This morning Islamist suicide-bombers struck one of the few European capitals they haven’t previously hit in a mass-casualty terrorist attack. The standard response now goes as follows. First the body parts of innocent people are flung across airport check-ins or underground trains. Briefly there is
The flags are at half-mast in Westminster in a show of solidarity with Brussels, one of those ceremonies Europe seems to be getting used to. We’re long used to the statements of shock by politicians (why the shock?) as well as the platitudes about this having nothing to do with any particular religion. After that
It was only a matter of time before Brussels got the suicide-bomb allahu akbar treatment, as the Belgians knew full well. Part of the city – especially Molenbeek – is a cesspit of Islamic extremism. The authorities have been content to let such areas fester and until recently the police were noticeable by their absence. Quite aside
George Osborne turned up in the Commons chamber with a clear plan to get through this Budget debate: turn it into a partisan slug fest. His aim was to make it a straight Labour/Tory fight and by doing that, rally the Tory benches to him. With some help from the whips and the PPSs, he
This morning, we woke up to the terrible news that two bombs had exploded in Brussels airport. Having been through it a few days ago, unfortunately I can’t say I’m surprised that this attack has happened in this particular airport. When I arrived at Brussels airport on Sunday I expected to see a heavy police
With the Conservatives currently experiencing inner party turmoil following Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation over the Chancellor’s Budget, there are concerns that in-fighting may soon overshadow the party’s work. However, despite several backbenchers speaking out about their doubts in George Osborne’s ability, not every Tory is so fussed about the growing row. In an interview with Conservative
This week the Independent will publish its last ever print edition. With a reduced number of staff being kept on to work on the digital-only edition, around 75 journalists are thought to be being made redundant. So last night’s Words by Women journalism awards proved to be a poignant affair with several soon-to-be ex-Indy journalists present.
This morning, Belgium became the latest European country to have suffered a major terrorist attack. The scenes in Brussels serve as a grotesque reminder of the war that has not gone away. After the arrest of Salah Abdeslam, chief suspect over atrocities at the Bataclan centre in Paris last November, Belgian officials warned of the
Are there going to be more welfare cuts or not? In an afternoon in which the government tried to calm the row following the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith, the key line that stood out was Stephen Crabb telling the Commons that ‘we have no further plans to make welfare savings beyond the very substantial
Our leaders, of course, love democracy – until it comes up with an answer different to the one they were expecting. Last week, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced an online poll for the public to vote for the name of a new Arctic and Antarctic-going vessel to replace my ageing near-namesake the RRS
It’s officially Spring, bringing it with the prospect of sunshine, longer days and warmer weather. So you could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief over falling energy bills. Not so fast. Thousands of homeowners are set for energy bill hikes in the next two weeks, with 29 fixed-rate tariffs due to expire at
In a world where fewer and fewer people use their landlines to make calls, new proposals from the Culture Minister will be welcome news. Under plans unveiled today, Ed Vaizey said that phone companies could be banned from charging for landlines. He accused BT and other telecommunications providers of charging households for landlines that they
At least 14 dead after two explosions by ‘suicide bombers’ at American Airlines check-in desk at Brussels airport. 81 injured. Firemen are said to have found a third unexploded device. Separate explosion at Maelbeek metro station in Brussels city centre, 500 metres from an EU institution. At least 20 dead and 55 injured. Islamic State have claimed responsibility for
With George Osborne’s disastrous Budget the main topic of conversation today in the Chamber, Jeremy Corbyn surprised his colleagues by opting not to mention the Tories’ current inner-party turmoil — let alone Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation — in his speech. Instead it fell on his estranged comrades Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall to land some blows.
The government is in a mess, with the Chancellor having to go underground while a row rages in the Conservative party about whether or not the central mission of the Prime Minister to lead a compassionate Conservative party is really happening in practice. David Cameron had to use his statement on the European Council this
A historic session took place in the Commons today and not jut because of the current omnishambles building around George Osborne’s Budget. Instead, it was Paula Sherriff who has managed to make history thanks to her question to the Prime Minister on the tampon tax. The Labour MP asked David Cameron about plans by the government
Normally, the Republican National Convention is a mere formality. The primary voters pick the presidential nominee, who in turn picks the vice presidential nominee and then the convention officially ratifies both choices. Delegates can mostly go sightseeing in the host city by day and listen to political speeches at night. There is nothing normal about
