All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Of all the people who might be expected to get revelatory public comments out of the Prince of Wales, the beetle-browed actor Eugene Levy would not be high on the list. Yet during the Schitt’s Creek and American Pie thespian’s new show, The Reluctant Traveler, Levy ticks off a series of ‘bucket list’ experiences –
As so often, the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis hit the nail on the head over yesterday’s terror attack in Manchester. It was, he said, the result of ‘a tidal wave of Jew hated’. Jews have spent the past two years highlighting the danger posed by the authorities’ refusal to take more than perfunctory action against
Kemi Badenoch has pledged to repeal the Climate Change Act 2008 – and made a lot of noise in the process. This marks the Tory party’s biggest step yet away from the establishment consensus on Net Zero. It also represents another significant step away from voters. Voters don’t choose Reform because of their policy position
America’s Montaigne, Gore Vidal, was born 100 years ago today. Born Eugene Luther Vidal, this Virgil of American populism entered the world on 3 October 1925 (‘Shepherds quaked’, he later said, describing his arrival in his typical, wildly egotistical way). His father, Eugene Luther Vidal – after whom he was named – was a former
Does having money really matter that much? There are those, usually with quite a bit of it, who want us to care less about materialism. But, unequivocally, money really does matter – not because of any status it supposedly brings, but for the freedom it buys: freedom to choose how we live and how we
Shortly after Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the West prohibited transactions with the Bank of Russia and the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Finance. This effectively froze around $300 billion (£223 billion) of sovereign assets in foreign currency and gold reserves, mostly held in Euroclear, the central securities depository in Brussels. Since
Out with old and in with the new. MI6 boss Sir Richard Moore is packing in the clandestine activities for a less secret but perhaps more diplomatic life – hopefully not following too closely in Lord Scandelson’s footsteps. After five years in the role, Moore is stepping aside for Blaise Metreweli – or ‘C’, as
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The Prime Minister was set to announce his crackdown on the existing rights of refugees at the European Political Community meeting today; however, he has flown back to chair a Cobra meeting after a terror attack in Manchester. Two people have been killed and at least two others injured after a driver allegedly rammed a
There are too many middling politicians in this country who look at Donald Trump with envy. I might not like his politics, they think, but isn’t he such a great communicator? Don’t you see how good he is at speaking to normal people? What could we learn from this? The answer, of course, is nothing.
We will wage the war in Ukraine for longer and make you pay more for it. That was the message the Kremlin sent its subjects following the Russian government’s presentation of next year’s budget and the accompanying economic outlook. The budget, which reached parliament for rubber-stamping on Monday, outlines the Kremlin’s vision ahead of the
It is still early in the investigation, and key details remain unconfirmed. But what is already known about this morning’s attack in Manchester is horrifying. At least two people are dead, as well as the attacker. Three others are in a ‘serious condition’. The attack occurred outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, shortly after 9.30
It is not often that the news gives you a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Today’s news from Manchester does. Two dead and three others in a serious condition following a car and stabbing attack outside Heaton Park Synagogue. Britain must now wear that greatest of ignominies – we have become a
Well, well, well. It transpires that NHS Fife – the health board caught up in the Sandie Peggie trans tribunal case – has now U-turned on its toilet policy. After the nurse took NHS Fife to a tribunal over her suspension for complaining about having to share a changing room with a transwoman, it turns
The interminable, and largely bogus, debate about our continued commitment to the Convention normally concerns its abuse by migrants. This week, the Prime Minister announced that the interpretation by judges of the ECHR undermined the government’s attempts to deport illegal immigrants. He specifically mentioned Article 3 (the prohibition of torture) and Article 8 (the right
In December 2024, Bill Clinton spoke with a candour that history affords. Reflecting on Camp David in 2000, he lamented that ‘you walk away from these once in a lifetime peace opportunities, and you can’t complain twenty-five years later when the doors weren’t all still open, and all the possibilities weren’t still there. You can’t
It is twenty-five years to the day since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) came into force. In that time, human rights law has not become a settled, accepted part of our constitution. To the chagrin and dismay of many lawyers, including no doubt Sir Keir Starmer and Lord Hermer, it remains stubbornly controversial. But the controversy is
Today the High Court ordered a company linked to ex-Tory peer Baroness Mone to pay £122 million to the Department of Health for breaching an NHS contract during the pandemic. The company – PPE Medpro – was set up by a group led by the peer’s husband Doug Barrowman. During the pandemic, Mone recommended the
41 min listen
Zohran Mamdani is widely expected to win the race to be the next New York City mayor. The contest is now a three horse race between Mamdani, the Republican candidate Curtis Silwa and Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor. Current democratic mayor Eric Adams was also running but pulled out this week. David Kaufman, who
14 min listen
Tim Shipman and Claire Ainsley from the Progressive Policy Institute join Patrick Gibbons to reflect on Labour’s party conference as it draws to a close in Liverpool. This conference has been received positively for Labour but, on the final day, a hustings for the deputy leadership demonstrated that divides remain under the surface. Is Lucy
Watch Spectator editor Michael Gove in conversation with international bestselling author Jeffrey Archer, in a livestream exclusively for Spectator subscribers. From politics to a publishing career in which he has sold more than 300 million books worldwide, Lord Archer will reflect on the stories that have captivated millions. We will also celebrate the launch of
Ed Miliband is wrong. The greatest threat to climate action is not right wing billionaires buying up TV stations, as he said ahead of his conference speech today. It is expensive electricity. Instead of tackling Britain’s world beating energy costs, Miliband used his speech to announce a ban on fracking – an empty gesture to block himself
He wasn’t able to announce the £300 off household energy bills that was promised during the election campaign. Nor could he unveil any massive new solar farms or wind turbines. Still, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband did have one message to cheer the party faithful in his conference speech today: he is
Back in the day – in 1992 – the think tank I worked for commissioned a series of focus groups of swing voters in marginal seats. They had all voted Conservative in that year’s election, having toyed with and then deciding not to vote Labour. I thought of those voters yesterday, when the Prime Minister
Whisper it, but there’s a name on everyone’s lips at Labour conference. A man who clearly seems to be going places – if we look at the sheer number of times he’s been cited in Liverpool. Who is this whippersnapper? A young socialist exciting the grassroots? A rising cabinet star? Errr, not exactly: it’s Nigel Farage,
Human beings fundamentally hate blatant displays of unfairness. That’s why most people abhor those who jump or barge into queues, or politicians who preach one rule for the public and practice another for themselves. Even plans by Reform UK to reverse previously established terms of indefinite leave to remain, which could affect those who have
All is not well in Reform HQ. On Tuesday, Nigel Farage broadcast a statement where he claimed that Sir Keir Starmer’s rhetoric – dubbing Reform’s plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain ‘racist’ – risked inciting violence against his party’s activists and candidates. This morning, the party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf took to the
Is the Third Reich living rent-free in David Lammy’s head? Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister has accused Donald Trump of being a ‘neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath’, likened the Tory European Research Group to Hitler’s National Socialists – and now he has claimed that Reform leader Nigel Farage ‘flirted’ with the Hitler Youth as a youngster. ‘I will leave it
Last week, Keir Starner swallowed Tony Blair’s argument for ID cards and announced that all we going to be forced to have them if we want a job, just as the former prime minister has been advocating for years. This week, however, the current PM has poured scorn on one of his predecessor’s cherished policies,
Lucy Letby’s barrister says she has ‘new hope’, as he prepares to submit 1,000 pages of fresh evidence that he believes will ‘clear her name’. In an ideal justice system, evidence that proves an inmate’s innocence would of course lead to their release, but we don’t have an ideal justice system, as I learned as
The Labour conference, given the government’s current levels of popularity – somewhere about the same rung occupied by, say, galloping dysentery or Huw Edwards – was always going to be a macabre spectacle. But there’s an aspect to this Grand Guignol that I wasn’t expecting; the unpleasant sight of various members of the cabinet vying,
Last week, the Office for National Statistics published data showing that income inequality in the UK has fallen to its lowest level since 1996. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that – you’ll have doubtless noticed the improvements in social capital, trust and general wellbeing yourself. How, exactly, does income inequality cause anything?
The news that Vladimir Putin is pushing for 135,000 new young recruits in ‘the biggest autumn conscription’ for nearly ten years comes as no surprise. Recently, the Russian leader’s war-machine has been scraping the bottom of the barrel: convicts freed from prison, men in their sixties, debt-ridden farmers, factory workers pulled straight off the line…and