Is Brexit safe under Keir Starmer?
9 min listen
James Heale speaks to Isabel Hardman and Fraser Nelson about Rishi Sunak’s response to the impending migration figures and what could be in Keir Starmer’s plans to ‘make Brexit work’.
Latest from Coffee House
All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Thursday
Carole Cadwalladr to pay million-pound costs
Oh dear. It seems that FBPE’s (Follow Back, Pro EU) favourite journalist is paying the price for her accusations against Arron Banks. The Court of Appeal costs have just come through against Carole Cadwalladr after making claims about Banks’ ties to Russia. And with costs on both sides in the region of £1.6 million, the
Britain should get out of the electric vehicle business
A frantic round of last-minute lobbying is already underway. Officials are trying to stitch together a deal. And the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pushing hard to find a compromise that works for both sides. There are lots of negotiations over ‘rules of origin’ for electric vehicles that will allow Vauxhall to keep its plants
BT replacing jobs with AI is nothing to be scared of
BT has announced that it will cut up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. The company currently employs 130,000 staff, and it could cut up to 42 per cent of its workforce. BT has struggled in recent years as the one-time nationalised giant has had to keep up with a rapidly-evolving communications
Corbyn keeps Momentum among local Labour faithful
The Corbynites might have been routed but there’s still one area where they hold sway. In Islington North, the home patch of Jeremy Corbyn, Labour members are still staying loyal to their local MP and former party leader. The magic Grandpa has sat for the seat for 40 years but was blocked from standing as
Does Harry and Meghan’s car chase story add up?
Anyone who has ever visited New York City will be scratching their heads over Harry and Meghan’s claims about a car chase. The Duke and Duchess of Montecito have said paparazzi subjected them to a ‘relentless pursuit’ and ‘near catastrophic’ chase that lasted for ‘two hours’. In NYC? Where you famously can’t drive so much
Cambridge Footlights launch ‘sensitivity reading’ service
Here’s something that will make John Cleese splutter on his cornflakes. The Cambridge Footlights – whose alumni include Peter Cook, Clive James and David Mitchell – is now recruiting for a new ‘sensitivity reading’ service to ensure that ‘all student comedy’ is as ‘inclusive and welcoming as possible’. This is ‘to check for potential oversights
Wednesday
Would Starmer really build more houses?
13 min listen
Keir Starmer promised in an interview with the Times today that as prime minister he would back the ‘builders not the blockers’. But is it all bluster? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.
The myth of the beautiful green belt
What a nonsense debate the fight over the green belt has become. Today Keir Starmer has been – rightly – stoking it up arguing that councils should be given the freedom to build on green belt land. The Labour leader told the Times: ‘It cannot be reduced to a simple discussion of will you or
PMQs was a battle of the understudies
The party leaders were absent today so the understudies stepped in. Angela Rayner filled the vacuum that is Sir Keir Starmer, while Oliver Dowden performed for Rishi Sunak. Rayner had prepared for the encounter by spending the entire morning in hair and make-up. Result, a sharp off-white jacket and matching slacks. And her famous ginger
The ‘marking boycott’ is yet another betrayal for students
Students have had a rough deal over the past years. They’ve had their degrees interrupted by Covid and teaching strikes, they’re set to graduate into an economic crisis, and they’re saddled with record amounts of debt which they’ll repay earlier and for longer. So for many, the proposed ‘marking boycott’ might feel like the last
Will Rishi Sunak admit the truth about Net Zero?
Grant Shapps, the energy secretary, popped up on television at the weekend to explain that the cost of installing a heat pump is only about £3,000, the same as a gas boiler. Hmm. Good luck with that. That number is only true once a £5,000 grant from the government (of which only 90,000 are available)
How Keir Starmer plans to snatch the centre ground from the Tories
Tories have spent the week giving speeches about what it means to be a conservative at the National Conservatism conference in Westminster’s Emmanuel Centre. However, another speech on conservatism could reveal more about what the next ten years will look like in UK politics. Over the weekend, much of the news agenda was centred on
Is Sadiq Khan right about the UK’s LGBT rights regression?
Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. The occasion has probably passed most people by – but the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was quick to wave the rainbow flag this morning. Khan said it was ‘unacceptable’ that the UK has fallen to 17th place in a European league table of LBTQ+ rights. ‘LGBTQ+
Nat Con won’t save conservatives
Nat Con is the talk of Twitter, a dubious accomplishment for any movement seeking popular relevance. Progressives are having a grand old time taking offence at every tweet out of the event while others are gleeful at the prospect of the Tory party heading down an electoral dead end. Some right-wingers appear to share that
Oliver Dowden rains on Angela Rayner’s parade
He’s been writing PMQs lines for 20 years but today, at long last, Oliver Dowden got the chance to deliver them himself. With Sunak globe-trotting, his deputy relished the chance to face off against the Stockport scrapper, Angela Rayner. Labour’s deputy leader got some laughs with her reminder that after last year’s locals, Dowden had
Oliver Dowden’s textbook turn at PMQs
Oliver Dowden had 20 years and four Tory leaders to prepare him for his understudy moment at PMQs. He’s helped a series of leaders work out their attack lines, their defences and their jokes – so it’s unsurprising that his chance at the despatch box sparring with Angela Rayner was so textbook that he should probably
What is America’s Grand Strategy?
42 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Michael Anton, professor at Hillsdale College and former member of the National Security Council under George W Bush and Donald Trump. On the podcast Freddy and Michael discuss his speech at the National Conservatism conference about Winston Churchill’s Grand Strategy in an American context.
Starmer’s savvy Brexit position
Keir Starmer has made the anodyne demand that Britain seek a ‘closer trading agreement’ with the EU. But why doesn’t he go the whole hog and make it Labour policy to rejoin the single market? The Labour leader could hardly be accused of seeking to reverse Brexit. Some Leavers, prior to the 2016 referendum, wanted Britain
Meghan’s lecture on ‘service’ is hard to take
Since the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare in January, Meghan has kept an unusually low profile by her standards. Her non-appearance at the coronation earlier in the month was widely interpreted as a snub to the Royal Family, whom she has missed no opportunity to castigate. Now the Duchess of Sussex is making a
Why is the SNP pushing ahead with its costly ferry fiasco?
In an extraordinary admission this week, the Scottish government has vowed to continue funding the SNP’s ferries fiasco — despite accepting it would be cheaper to scrap the second vessel and commission a new one from scratch. Economy secretary Neil Gray said a review had found that finishing the second boat, known as Hull 802, does not
Suella Braverman is making Rishi Sunak look weak
The National Conservatism conference is entering its third day in London, and has managed to grab more headlines than the official Conservative conference usually does. Tory party conferences have become so stage-managed that attendees often don’t bother going into the main hall – except for a quiet breather – because they know they won’t learn
Keir Starmer’s housing pledge has trapped the Tories
Sir Keir Starmer has broken cover on planning. In perhaps his most daring policy announcement so far, he has declared his intention to overhaul the planning system to free up more housing. When pressed on the morning media round he was clear – he would take the fight to NIMBYs and wouldn’t yield to backbenchers
In defence of Miriam Cates
I’m starting to feel sorry for Miriam Cates. Every time she expresses an opinion, her words are either coarsely inflated beyond recognition or fiercely spat back at her. Her latest remarks on children, some of which were made on a Daily Telegraph podcast and others in a speech at National Conservatism Conference on Monday, have already
Truss in Taiwan warns of new Cold War with China
Liz Truss is in Taiwan this week, urging the West to take a stronger stance against China. Her message is clear: Europe’s future is ‘inextricably linked’ to that of the island, you can’t trust Beijing to follow the rules and Britain and its allies must now take action. Citing Chinese naval expansion, military build-up, economic decoupling
Danny Kruger is right: marriage is the bedrock of society
It didn’t take long for Danny Kruger to get jumped on for stating the obvious. His observation yesterday that ‘The normative family, the mother and father sticking together for the sake of the children, is the only basis for a safe and functioning society. Marriage is not only about you, it’s a public act to
What the Royal Society of Chemistry gets wrong about free speech
Why has the Royal Society of Chemistry published a 37 page opinion piece entitled ‘Academic free speech or right-wing grievance?’ in their new journal Digital Discovery? Digital Discovery publishes ‘theoretical and experimental research at the intersection of chemistry, materials science and biotechnology’ focusing on ‘the development and application of machine learning’. So it is a
Tuesday
Why are the Nat Cons so serious?
The problem with socialism, the saying goes, is that it takes up too many evenings. Well, the National Conservatism conference, or NatCon, is currently detaining ‘delegates’ for 12 hours at a time, for three days in a row. We’ve had long agonised debates about protectionism vs free trade, communitarianism vs individualism, Ukraine support or Nato
Rishi’s ECHR battle at the Council of Europe
11 min listen
The Prime Minister has gone to Iceland today to see the Council of Europe, where he has been talking about immigration and the ECHR with other European leaders. On the episode, Katy Balls explains his mission to get other leaders on board with the UK’s hardline approach to immigration. Cindy Yu also talks to James
Suella Braverman and the dirty secret about white guilt
The chattering classes are mad at Suella Braverman again. What’s she done this time? Brace yourselves: she said racial collective guilt is a bad idea. She said we should not demonise an entire race just because some members of that race did something bad. She said we should never engage in racial shaming. Is there