All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Boris Johnson wanted to make Britain ‘the Saudi Arabia of wind’. But Grant Shapps is keen to send Britain’s green agenda in a new direction. Speaking at The Spectator’s Energy Summit on 26 April, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net-Zero announced the government’s ambitions for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage – CCUS – where
This week both parties have been attempting to manage expectations ahead of the imminent local elections. The Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper has been reiterating the worst-case prediction that the Conservatives could lose up to 1000 seats. But Keir Starmer told Sophy Ridge he thought the Conservatives should be making ‘significant gains’, given
It’s easy to spot when a party thinks it is going to get the thumbs down from voters in the annual round of local elections each May. It tries to up everyone’s expectations of just how badly it will do. It does so in the hope that the results themselves are not actually as bad
When the singer Lily Allen found herself flak-catching recently, she was quick to point out she was the OK kind of nepo-baby, because: ‘The nepo-babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics, if we’re talking about real world consequences
On any objective assessment, things are not going well for Rishi Sunak. Despite being praised for bringing a sense of calm back to the process of government, the criteria by which he asked to be judged tell us that he is a failure. His five key objectives for the year, chosen allegedly on grounds of
When he bought Twitter in October last year, Elon Musk set out a bold vision for the bird app. The billionaire said his acquisition was ‘an accelerant’ towards building ‘X, the everything app,’ emulating the functionality of China’s WeChat, with which users can transfer money, play video games, shop online and more. But so far, beyond
In a historic speech to the US Congress on 12 March 1947, President Truman addressed the menacing spread of Communism and the Soviet take-over of Eastern Europe. Known as the ‘Truman Doctrine’, he portrayed the battle lines for the Cold War as a struggle between autocracy and democracy – something which resonates uncannily today in
The Guardian thinks of itself as Britain’s fearless liberal conscience, trigger-sensitive to racist ‘dog whistles’ in the language and editorial judgements of everyone except itself. It takes a special interest in cartoons published by right-of-centre newspapers which are accused of bigotry. When the Murdoch-owned Herald Sun ran a cartoon depicting Serena Williams throwing a tantrum,
The General Secretary of China’s Communist Party is a different kind of leader. Now in his third five-year term, Xi Jinping believes that time is running out for him to secure his legacy as Mao Zedong’s true successor. He spent a decade dismantling the technocracy and politburo consensus government ushered in by Deng Xiaoping after
Clever people often believe that their cleverness gives them the right to control other people. Nowhere is this more manifest than in nanny state Britain. So fixated was Public Health England on shielding us from our own bad decisions that when an infectious disease arrived on our shores the quango was woefully unprepared. Junk food advertising bans
Kim yo-Jong, the powerful and influential sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, has launched a savage personal attack on US President Joe Biden after he signed a new nuclear cooperation deal with America’s ally South Korea. The female Kim said that 80-year old Biden was ‘in his dotage’, calling him an ‘old man with
Everything is going according to Anna Delvey’s plan. If you’ve read anything about her, you probably think her plan was all about money; to extract millions of dollars from unwitting marks before knocking them to the sidewalk in her hurry to zoom around in private jets with other brainless socialites. There was plenty of that,
16 min listen
The Tories are preparing for a drubbing in the local elections next week. But just how bad will they be? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and John Curtice. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Max Jeffery.
33 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Ed Condon who is the editor of The Pillar. On the podcast they talk about Biden’s Catholicism; how it plays out in his politics and whether it will be a big part of his presidential campaign.
My own relationship with the gambling industry is almost entirely framed by horse-racing. If I’m at a race, I’ll put a couple of quid each way on a horse I like the look of with a bookie. If I’m absent from the event, I’ll go for an Irish trainer and a name I like. My
Social distancing. Test and trace. Face-masks (what was wrong with just ‘masks’? Nobody could ever tell me). Clapping. Substantial meals. Scotch eggs. I think I speak for the majority when I say that those terms evoke both profound relief that it’s all behind us and a sense of unreality. I confess I’m flirting with the
While the Taliban continues to double down against women in Afghanistan, the UN appears to be wanting to normalise relations with them. Women in the country are already blocked from almost all jobs and all education. Yet a week after the extremist group barred females from working for the UN, the organisation’s deputy secretary general
The leader of a governing party that seems to be spending most of its time helping police with their inquiries would, you might have thought, be a little wary of launching one of the most radical changes to the justice system in 800 years – but not Humza Yousaf. The politician who gave us the
It’s back! The scrap of paper left in 2010 by Labour’s outgoing chief secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne for his successor, that half-jokily, semi-sympathetically stated ‘I’m afraid there is no money’ is once more in the news. When the recipient of the note, Liberal Democrat David Laws, made its contents public it was widely
When Sinead Watson had a double mastectomy in June 2017 at the age of 26, she was initially ‘quite euphoric.’ Although born female, she had been taking testosterone for two years and was using the name Sean. The mastectomy, or ‘top surgery’, was the last step on her transition. ‘I was so glad that I’d
There’s not a day that goes by in Scottish politics without the woes of the Sturgeon-Murrell empire being discussed in full. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross didn’t hold back when asked about whether he felt sorry for Nicola Sturgeon during what feels like the SNP’s perpetual state of crisis. Mr S caught the slightest of
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Richard Sharp has quit as chairman of the BBC, following an investigation into whether he properly disclosed his role in enabling an £800,000 loan to Boris Johnson before his appointment. What will happen next? Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu and Max Jeffery.
What salary should a soldier receive in a war-torn country? Obviously, there is no number that can make up for the sacrifice Ukrainians make on the frontline. But a proper salary is still necessary. When Russia invaded last year, Volodymyr Zelensky increased the payment for the military to seven times of the average salary in
The government’s proposal to overhaul and tighten betting laws, ostensibly to target problem gamblers, has understandably raised concerns about government interference and nanny-state overreach. Yet viewed from a wider perspective, we should welcome these initiatives and for the precedent they could set: they could be the final recognition that young adults do not reach maturity
The UK car industry is, of course, doomed. First we lost our native manufacturers and then, post Brexit, overseas manufacturers like Honda started to close down their UK factories, too. Finally came the farce of BritishVolt: the Tyneside factory which was going to transform the UK car industry by pumping out batteries, but collapsed before
Could the Scottish Conservatives’ party conference have been timed any better than bang in the middle of the SNP’s implosion? Mr S can only imagine the glee with which Douglas Ross’s party planned its 2023 Glasgow conference, the country’s ruling party having handed their opponents an entire dossier of material to orchestrate their ousting. And
Richard Sharp has resigned as BBC chairman following a report into the circumstances of his appointment after claims that he had helped to facilitate a £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson while he was in 10 Downing Street. The report – by Adam Heppinstall KC – found that he had breached the code on public appointments
Seasoned observers of Meghan Markle – and by now, surely, there cannot be any other kind – might be forgiven for wondering why the Duchess of Sussex has been keeping a comparatively low profile so far in 2023. Her husband seems ubiquitous, whether popping up in the law courts to denounce the media, plugging his
The government is making a mistake in turning a blind eye to China’s plans to send a high ranking politician responsible for crushing democratic freedoms in Hong Kong to the King’s coronation. Han Zheng, who was appointed President Xi’s deputy last month, is due to represent China at the historic event on 6 May. In
Hollywood will be backing him en masse. The major newspapers will be rooting to put him back in the White House. And most of corporate America, in between filling in the forms for the next round of ‘green subsidies’, will be quietly hoping for another four years of lavish spending and protectionism to keep out
11 min listen
A judge has ruled that strikes by the Royal College of Nursing be cut short by a day, because the six-month mandate for strike action will have passed. Two more unions are still to vote on Health Secretary Steve Barclay’s pay offer. If they support it, could the RCN change their mind on the deal?
There is nothing more boring than potholes. I remember that from my own days as a parish councillor. It saps the spirit every time the subject comes up, makes you wish you could be anywhere other than this damned meeting. How much more exciting it must have felt to have been the councillors in Cambridge