All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
There was an air of inevitability about the arrest today of Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP had been braced for it. But that doesn’t make the sight of the former first minister of Scotland being taken into police custody any less extraordinary and, to many SNP observers, any more justified. Hadn’t her successor in Bute House,
Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested in connection with the probe into SNP finances. A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon confirmed: ‘Nicola Sturgeon has today, Sunday 11th June, by arrangement with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned in relation to Operation Branchform. Nicola has consistently said she would co-operate with
As the chairman of the standards committee, Sir Chris Bryant doesn’t always demonstrate the highest standards. Whether it’s making false claims in the Commons about Nigel Farage or accusations about unparliamentary language, the winner of the 2022 ‘Civility in Politics Award’ can sometimes falls short of what he demands of others. An excellent demonstration of that
Shapps – ‘the world has moved on’ from Boris Johnson Boris Johnson’s explosive resignation letter has produced further turmoil in the Conservative party this week, with allies supporting his claims that the privileges committee was part of a ‘witch- hunt’ against him. The Secretary for Energy Security Grant Shapps is clearly not part of that
Amid all the excitement about peerages on Friday, it was easy to overlook the fact that, once again, Boris Johnson had managed to upstage the Northern Research Group’s annual conference. Last year it was the Zelenskyy visit; this year it was Nadine Dorries’ shock resignation. And it meant that the words of a jet-lagged Rishi
Such is Boris Johnson’s magnetic draw that his resignation gambit is still being discussed largely in terms of what it means for Boris Johnson: will he be back in the Commons next year? Could he lead his party again? But it is time to ponder what it means for Rishi Sunak, who after all is
Days before Nato leaders descend on Vilnius for the alliance’s annual summit next month, things will be afoot just across the border in Belarus. In a meeting with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko at his summer residence in Sochi on Friday, Putin revealed that Russia will start deploying nuclear weapons to the country on the weekend
Something troubling is happening in Britain’s schools. This week, the government released its findings from the first national survey into pupil behaviour in classrooms. The results are a hard lesson to learn. But, as a teacher who has witnessed chairs being thrown and pupils urinating on teachers’ cars, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Over 40 per cent
‘Cead Mile Failte’, which means ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’, is a sentiment the Irish have long held dear. We pride ourselves on our welcoming nature, our music, our famous pub culture and the fact that the average tourist will be almost overwhelmingly love-bombed by locals who are happy to see a new face and will
Later this year, over two million Muslims will travel to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, for the Hajj, one the five pillars of Islam. Yet the historical basis for the Meccan pilgrimage is far from clear. During Muhammad’s lifetime, Mecca was literally off the map for most of the world. No pre-Islamic source so much as mentions its
Before I went to prison I thought a lot about what it would be like. Almost a year passed after I pleaded guilty to fraud and my sentencing, in February 2020. Informed by TV and film, I expected prison would be violent, dangerous and drug-filled. I was terrified. On 6 February 2020, I arrived at
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Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and former Labour advisor John McTernan about Labour’s announcement that they are watering down their green investment pledge. Is Labour in trouble over this U-turn? And could this be seen as a change in strategy for the party? Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Talk about the end of the peer show. Boris Johnson’s allies have spent the past two days spitting blood and crying betrayal, accusing Rishi Sunak of ‘deceit’ over the alleged removal of several nominees from the honours list. But tonight No. 10 has hit back, telling the Sunday Times that such claims are ‘categorically untrue’
Tucker Carlson is many things but stupid is not one of them. So when he describes Ukraine’s Jewish president (‘a man called Zelensky’) as ‘sweaty and rat-like’, ‘a persecutor of Christians’ and ‘our shifty, dead-eyed Ukrainian friend’, I suspect he knows exactly what he’s doing. Carlson made the remarks in a monologue on his new
Not another one. Less than 24 hours after Nadine Dorries and Boris Johnson announced they were quitting the Commons, Nigel Adams has declared that he too is quitting with immediate effect. The longtime Boris backer was reportedly in line for a peerage in Johnson’s resignation honours’ list but did not make the final cut. Now,
Boris Johnson, so the joke goes, will always be remembered as the third prime minister to have been brought down by…Boris Johnson. After bringing down his old rival David Cameron by campaigning for Brexit, and then helping to bring down Theresa May by campaigning against her soft Brexit, Johnson then set the stage for his
Not so very long ago, Scotland’s nationalist minority was mustering behind a catastrophic plan to treat the next general election as a ‘de facto’ referendum. Having over-promised for years about her ability to deliver a second vote on the constitution, former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon declared that a majority of votes for pro-independence candidates would
The Ukrainian counter-offensive has duly started and, needless to say, there is a rush to judgement. It is going to play out over the coming weeks, even months, though, and at present we are still working off partial and often deceptive information. But, while there is relatively little one can say about the events unfolding
Last night, Boris Johnson unexpectedly resigned from the House of Commons. His graceless and indignant resignation statement made clear that he blamed the Privileges Committee for his departure, arguing that he had been forced out of parliament over partygate. The committee had written to Mr Johnson in advance of the publication of its report, outlining
What are the politics of your bicycle? An interesting question. I’d like to say that mine is an expression of a basically conservative temperament, with its ability to endow individual liberty, its lack of imposition on established cities and countryside, and its preservation of fine and noble sporting traditions. On the other hand, the bicycle
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Kate Andrews, Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson react to the news that Boris Johnson has decided to stand down as an MP. Will the former Prime Minister go quietly? Produced by Natasha Feroze.
A member of the UK Parliament is the keynote speaker at an event tomorrow commemorating ‘volunteers’ in South Armagh. The ceremony will take place in the tiny village of Mullaghbawn, set in the now picturesque Ring of Gullion, more familiar to students of the Northern Ireland Troubles as the heart of ‘Bandit Country.’ According to one Northern Irish politician, previously
Planes grounded in New York, people told to stay indoors – and an actress forced to leave the stage on Broadway because of the smoke. Canada is ‘on fire’ and New York is choking from the drifting smoke – and it is all the result of man-made climate change. We know this because Justin Trudeau and other
For a month that’s supposed to be all about love and acceptance, Pride has a pretty nasty streak. Maybe that’s what one of the mysterious colours on its indecipherable flag represents: the cruelty community. Consider Oxfam’s Pride animation, which it tweeted out earlier this week. Alongside all the usual Pride platitudes – we must love
Why do very smart people so often do very stupid things? Possibly it is because they cannot see how their actions look to those not similarly bestowed with such cerebral gifts. Yet when you are an elected politician, it is the average Joes who ultimately get to decide your fate. The latest case in point
Boris Johnson has stepped down as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip with immediate effect, but is it a case of jumping before he was pushed? With the threat of a by-election looming over him after the Privileges Committee recommended a ten-day suspension for his conduct over partygate, it appears Johnson was not willing
Following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine, politicians in the West have followed the familiar dance of condemnation. ‘If it’s intentional,’ said PM Rishi Sunak, it would be ‘the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war’ and represent ‘new lows’ in Russian aggression. France’s President Macron
There is something rather odd about the SNP’s decision to attack Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over the issue of university tuition fees. Higher education is, after all, a devolved matter. No prime minister, whether Labour or Conservative, will ever have a say in how Scotland delivers for students. Despite this, the SNP is currently
These are testing times indeed for longstanding members of the ‘Boris Johnson is nothing like Donald Trump’ fraternity. Once again, the British blond bombshell is at the centre of a giant political controversy in lock step with the American one. And once again he seems perfectly happy to make politics all about himself. As a longtime
Boris Johnson has announced that he is resigning from Parliament ‘at least for now’, after the Privileges Committee recommended his suspension as an MP for ten days. The Committee had been investigating whether the former PM misled the Commons about parties in Downing Street. Now that he has stepped down, Boris will trigger a by-election in
It’s Boris day in Westminster. First, the publication of his resignations honours list and now a resignation from the man himself. This evening Boris Johnson has released a statement announcing that he has ‘today written to my Association in Uxbridge and South Ruislip to say that I am stepping down forthwith and triggering an immediate
I have received a letter from the Privileges Committee making it clear – much to my amazement – that they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament. They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons. They know perfectly well
Boris Johnson has announced he will be standing down from parliament with immediate effect, after the Privileges Committee recommended a ten-day suspension for his conduct over partygate. There will be a by-election in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Johnson will not contest his seat. In his resignation letter, the former prime minister attacks the