All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Almost 60 MPs have announced their intention to stand down at the general election. It has been claimed the turnover of parliamentarians is a worrying reflection of the state of British politics. This is partly true. But it’s also a sign that our democracy is working well. Here’s why. Yes, dozens of MPs are now
Indian Fine Dining Restaurant with British Flair in the Heart of Mayfair. Benares Restaurant and Bar since its opening in 2003 has been considered one of the finest Indian Restaurants in the city. Guests enter an elegant lounge with hand-crafted India inspired furniture and is complemented by a beautiful pond decorated with fresh flowers, creating
This week, an election has officially been called – so what do the major parties need to do to win? Katy Balls speaks to Stephen Bush and Will Tanner about ‘Workington Man’ and Labour’s electoral strategy. Plus, after America’s much-publicised withdrawal from Syria, it looks like Trump is back in, this time to protect valuable oilfields
Do we want Jews and Muslims to live in this country? It’s a serious question and one prompted by the National Secular Society calling on the next government to ban non-stun ritual slaughter of animals. Dhabihah (halal slaughter) and shechita (its kosher equivalent) cater for Muslims and Jews who observe strict dietary laws on the
Douglas Murray was not ‘ambushed’ by me on the Today programme. Nor was he called out. Nor was he misquoted. He was asked about something he once said and wrote in a lengthy Today programme discussion – around eight minutes and not the four he suggests – about Barack Obama’s warning about the idea that
There’s been much speculation this week about how the Brexit party will approach the incoming general election. Varying reports suggested Nigel Farage’s party could choose to target anything from 20 to 100 seats. However, speaking in Westminster this morning, Farage made clear that he had bigger ambitions. The Brexit party leader said that unless Boris
Until this morning, Nigel Farage’s creation of the Brexit Party stood as an object lesson in how to found a new political party in a two party system. Many have tried this of course, from David Owen to Chuka Umunna, and all have floundered – some quicker than others. The Brexit party, by contrast, went
Never knowingly undersold. The slogan of one of our best-loved retailers could equally be applied to Nigel Farage. Despite poll ratings softer than a collapsing souffle, the Brexit party leader had Britain’s political media exactly where he wanted them today: in a state of feverish excitement about his general election plans. With the kudos of
I’m not on Twitter so haven’t seen any of the fury and outrage over my piece in this week’s Spectator. But I have been told that there was some. Ripped, as ever, out of context. There was no hate speech or Islamophobia whatsoever in my piece. None was meant, none intended and none should be
Many Brits still bristle at the importation of Halloween. It’s easy to see why. It is an American holiday that involves grown adults dressing up and children begging for food from strangers. But there is one upside to it that we can all enjoy: woke campus officials losing their minds over ‘offensive’ costumes. It’s hilarious,
They gathered at a secret location under the cover of darkness. Total confidentiality had been maintained, even between friends who embraced each other as they arrived to discuss gay rights. But this was not some socially conservative society under the thumb of a repressive regime. Nor was it a secret society in Victorian London. It
The lunch sold out almost the minute it was advertised and it was an expectant and – let’s be frank – thirsty bunch of Spectator readers that gathered ever-promptly in the boardroom last week to meet Nicolas Bureau from Glenelly Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Nick is not only the export director of Glenelly but
Could Donald Trump help Boris Johnson stave off the threat of the Brexit party and enable the Tories to win the snap election? He certainly seems to be doing his best to help out the PM. Nigel Farage has interviewed Donald Trump for his radio phone-in show on LBC tonight and the president urged the
John Bercow has received his fair share of fawning eulogies of late, as the House of Commons laments his departure as Speaker. But, unsurprisingly, several MPs are equally happy to see him go. Today was Tory MP Andrew Bridgen’s turn to pass on his farewell – the MP was in Parliament to debate the recent
Ah, the BBC. There’s really nothing like it is there? This morning I had the pleasure of appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. I know what you’re already thinking: ‘You fool, you fool – it’s a trap’. But I was phoned last night and asked if I would come on this morning to discuss
Nigel Farage’s European election-winning machine is the guest that has not yet turned up to the 2019 general election party. This can only be because it has certain fundamental questions still to settle about the nature of its campaign. Such as how many seats to fight. And whether to adopt a strategy of being slightly cuddly
As Jeremy Corbyn launches the Labour campaign today, talk has turned to the key battlegrounds that will decide the result of the general election. However, when it comes to where the most pivotal campaigning will take place, increasingly the answer is online. Digital campaigning has risen in importance with each election. With bad weather likely
There is no doubting Labour’s green credentials, according to the party’s MP Catherine West. After all, Jeremy Corbyn has a bike – and an allotment. Speaking on Sky News, West said of the Labour leader: ‘He was green before the greens existed. He rode a bike. He’s got an allotment. He will do both. He
Last night’s report in the Financial Times that Nigel Farage is considering a pact with Boris Johnson has terrified what remains of the ‘Remain’ movement. Their statisticians believe it could guarantee a Tory majority, and maybe a huge majority. The smart thing to say about this election is that nobody knows anything and any outcome
So Jeremy Corbyn has finally agreed to back Boris Johnson’s demand for a December election. In the end he had little choice but to bow to the inevitable: Johnson already had the votes thanks to the SNP and the Liberal Democrats. But Corbyn also wanted this election. What had been holding him back was the
All Hallows’ Eve is almost upon us and busy-bodies everywhere are sharpening their knives ahead of the inevitable annual costume scandal. For ordinary party-goers, there is reason to be fearful. Pick the wrong outfit and the consequences – getting fired, kicked out of university, ending up on the front page of a national newspaper –
Nicky Morgan has announced she is standing down as a Conservative MP at the next election. She isn’t the first to say she’s off, but what’s different about this resignation is that Morgan is a serving member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet. In her resignation letter, she cites the need to send more time with her
Anti-racism campaign Labour Against Anti-Semitism (LAAS) has today issued its position on the General Election. LAAS, responsible for exposing a litany of anti-Semites in Labour’s ranks, warns party members that ‘Jeremy Corbyn is unfit to be Prime Minister and that the Labour Party is unfit to be in government’. It says Labour poses ‘the greatest
John Bercow, at his last ever PMQs, heard tributes from all sides of the house. ‘Best speaker I’ve seen,’ said veteran Ronnie Campbell. ‘You have stood up for democracy,’ oozed the SNP’s Ian Blackford. Tory Nigel Evans: ‘No one has done more to promote LGBT rights than you. I salute you.’ And he dipped his
Jess Phillips’s frustration at Britain’s trains is a feeling plenty of commuters can relate to. But Mr S isn’t so sure the MP for Birmingham Yardley is right to blame Boris Johnson for the current misery at Euston – or for spoiling her son’s birthday: The problems at Euston are caused by a broken down
Once upon a time, the Labour party believed the road to Downing Street ran through Scotland. This was, it is true, a long, long, time ago. By which I mean it was what the Labour party’s leadership believed in the summer of 2017. A different time; a simpler time. Then Labour people were fond of
Amber Rudd was one of the more high profile ex-Tory MPs, quitting the cabinet and the party whip in protest at the way her colleagues who had rebelled on taking control of the order paper had been treated. It is therefore particularly awkward that her status has become the subject of such controversy. This morning,
The uncertainty will be lifted. Businesses will know where they stand. Our politics can return to something approaching normality, and the government can get on with tackling all the other issues the country faces. Whatever the precise pluses and minuses of Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement for getting out of the EU, you might think that
The last PMQs before the general election offered a teaser for what to expect over the next six weeks. With Boris Johnson keen to fight the incoming election on a promise to get Brexit done so the UK can focus on domestic issues, it’s clear Jeremy Corbyn plans to respond by suggesting the Prime Minister’s
There is no love lost between John Bercow and Boris Johnson but the Prime Minister managed to bite his tongue as he bid farewell to the Speaker in the Commons just now. Boris paid tribute to Bercow’s ‘Tony Montana scowl’ and called Bercow an ‘uncontrollable tennis ball machine’ for peppering parliament with his numerous interventions
In this week’s Spectator Books, I’m talking to the award-winning historian Thomas Penn about his new book The Brothers York: An English Tragedy — in which he argues that the ‘Wars of the Roses’ weren’t determined by a struggle between the houses of York and Lancaster so much as by the catastrophic white-on-white conflict that cause
Yet again, listeners to the Today programme awoke this morning to hear a dire forecast for the economic consequences of leaving the EU – with no critical analysis nor even explanation of how the forecast was arrived at. This morning’s horror story came courtesy of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR), a
Halloween used to be easy. It was a fancy-dress party: you could wear whatever you liked. The idea was to have fun. As teens, my friends and I would dress up as ghouls, spiders or witches, with cones of black paper on our heads. When we became more mature, Halloween turned into a tarty affair.
Will the Tories’ election gamble pay off? Or will Boris Johnson follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and regret his decision to call a snap poll? Win or lose, the Boris’s fortunes are likely to be decided in a handful of marginal seats up and down the country. If the Conservatives can win back