All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Dorothy Byrne, Channel 4’s head of news, last week told the Edinburgh television festival: ‘Here is what we all need to decide: what do we do when a known liar becomes our prime minister?’ Yet she is surprised when Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn — both of whom she calls ‘cowards’ — do not come
If Boris Johnson does call a snap election this year, his fortune will be decided in the same places that swung the referendum for Brexit. Britain’s forgotten towns, places like my home town of Consett, perched high in the hills of north-west Durham, will determine the Prime Minister’s fate. In Consett, there is little sign now
Jon Sopel has a new book out this month – A Year at the Circus. But the BBC’s North America editor hasn’t spent the last 12 months taming roaring lions in a sawdust ring or swinging on a trapeze wearing a skin-tight sparkly leotard. He’s been covering Trump’s presidency. And the ‘circus’ he refers to
In these fractious times, a public compliment from the President of the United States can be a mixed blessing for a British politician. On the one hand, Boris Johnson must be delighted to hear the leader of the free world dub him “exactly what the U.K. has been looking for”, especially after the relentless criticism
The departure yesterday of Ruth Davidson as leader of the Scottish Conservatives has prompted much discomfort among some pro-Union commentators. There is no doubt that she was a stunningly effective campaigner but it is an exaggeration to claim that the revival in the fortunes of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party was solely down to
Has Boris Johnson done a Charles I and shut down Parliament indefinitely? The headlines this week might lead you to think so. ‘Uproar as Boris Johnson shuts down parliament to protect Brexit plan’, reported the FT. John Bercow called it ‘a constitutional outrage’. ‘It’s tantamount to a coup against Parliament,’ raged former attorney general Dominic Grieve. Nicola
As a Leave voter, it is satisfying to watch Boris’s Johnson’s bold Brexit plan unfold. The predictable backlash to it – what Jacob Rees-Mogg called the ‘candyfloss of outrage’ – is also an entertaining spectacle, with some of those most determined to stop Brexit resorting to ever lurid analogies to describe the Prime Minister. But why
It’s all out war in the Conservative party this morning, after the former Tory Prime Minister John Major announced that he was joining a legal action (started by the Remain campaigner Gina Miller) which will argue that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful. In his statement Major grandly stated that: ‘I promised to that,
Funny how language changes over time. Or rather, how we change language to advance our agenda. Sometimes it’s a natural process, a long process – what works survives and what’s easy thrives. The word ‘smart’ originated as something to describe pain or a stinging sensation. The ‘sting’ associated with the word moved to an understanding of ‘quickness’ or
It’s time for Donald Trump to take a leaf from Boris Johnson, for the master to take tuition from his pupil. Instead of trying to placate his critics, Trump should prorogue the American Congress. The approval rating of Congress is somewhere in the teens, even lower than Trump’s, so most Americans would likely greet such a move
It has been the privilege of my life to serve as the leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party. The almost eight years I’ve spent at the helm have coincided with one of the most remarkable and important periods of recent Scottish political history. I am proud of the teams we have built in
We know that the Conservatives are gearing up for an election in the next few months. Their official line is that they don’t want one, largely because it will appear better if they are apparently pushed into a poll, but that doesn’t mean that preparations aren’t well underway. One of the main benefits of proroguing
This morning, a petition demanding ‘Do not prorogue Parliament’ is doing the rounds. At the time of writing, more than 1.4 million people have signed it. Remainers are very excited. They’re holding the petition up as proof of a mass outpouring of democratic disdain for Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for a few more
Ruth Davidson’s departure is a blow to the Tory party and the Union. Without her, the Tories will find it even more of a struggle to keep hold of their Scottish seats at the coming Westminster election. At the same time, the removal of such a formidable campaigner will make it that bit easier for
Boris Johnson sees method in and admires some of Trump’s apparent madness: not the ‘send them home’ abusive chants about ethnic minority Democrat critics, but the refusal to play by the normal rules of politics or international relations (threatening to nuke North Korea before talking with its despot; imposing new tariffs on China while claiming to
There were howls of outrage yesterday when Boris Johnson announced that he was calling for a Queen’s Speech on 14 October, and suspending parliament for several weeks beforehand. MPs, Remainer commentators and even the Speaker of the House of Commons chimed in to label the move a ‘constitutional outrage’, and accused the government of politicising
When news broke on Wednesday morning that Boris Johnson was planning to prorogue Parliament for five weeks ahead of a new Queen’s Speech, a conference call was hastily scheduled with his Cabinet. By the time it happened, every minister on the call was aware of what the Prime Minister was seeking to propose. The Prime
Last night, hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to vent their fury at Boris Johnson and his decision to prorogue parliament for several weeks in September. The crowd were in a raucous mood, but none were in finer spirits that the left-wing journalist Paul Mason. In a video published online, Mason could be seen (with
Political debate, as we are forever being told, has become coarser in recent years. But there is a bigger change of which rather less is said. Debate seems to focus less and less on actual arguments and more and more on seeking to deny the legitimacy of those who are speaking. Never mind what they
Ruth Davidson is on the brink of resigning as leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party. As I write this, party sources are making it clear there will be no statement on her future this evening. The absence of an immediate, dismissive, denial, gives greater credence to the suggestion that she will resign soon. Not
Ruth Davidson is set to quit as Scottish Conservative leader. A party source is quoted in the Scottish Sun saying Davidson’s departure will be as a result of the ‘huge pressure’ of new motherhood — she gave birth to a son, Finn, last October — and finding herself ‘at increasing odds with the new leadership in
We do not yet know which 100 citizens will make it to the ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to be chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, which will look at ways of preventing a no-deal Brexit. So we cannot yet judge whether the organisers have come up with a system of selection which improves on the representative powers
Boris Johnson is being widely accused of subverting the British version of democracy with his plan to suspend or prorogue parliament for four weeks – unprecedented in modern times. His apparent aim is to make it much harder for MPs to take control of the process of when and whether the UK leaves the EU.
Talking to various figures in Government today, it is clear that Boris Johnson’s team want the choice for MPs to be between their Brexit strategy and making Jeremy Corbyn prime minister. They believe that ultimately there aren’t enough MPs prepared to make Corbyn prime minister; meaning that they’ll get to carry out their Brexit strategy.
So what now for the opponents of no deal? Boris Johnson has dramatically called their bluff, and as Mr Steerpike reports, not all of them are taking this particularly well. Both proponents and opponents of Britain leaving without a deal are engaged in a political wrestling match, with all the theatrics that entails. Both are
Not content with agitating against democracy with his relentless Remainer shenanigans, now Tony Blair appears to be aiming his fire at freedom of speech. Seriously, is there no civilisational liberal value this man doesn’t want to take down? A new report for Blair’s think-tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, says hard-right groups should
Chancellor Sajid Javid’s approach to the spending review is in danger of stopping the Boris-inspired Tory revival in its tracks. The Chancellor needs to think more like an entrepreneur and less like he’s a newly-wed on a tight income. He intends to stick to the current spending rule that the annual deficit should not exceed
Dear Colleague, I hope that you had an enjoyable and productive summer recess, with the opportunity for some rest ahead of the return of the House. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the Government’s plans for its business in Parliament. As you know, for some time parliamentary business has been sparse.
Downing Street has just confirmed that the Prime Minister will be asking the Queen to prorogue parliament ahead of a new Queen’s Speech on 14 October. In a letter sent to MPs this morning, Boris Johnson claims that this is a move designed to put a fresh domestic programme before Parliament, writing: ‘I therefore intend
Boris Johnson announced this morning that he will attempt to schedule a Queen’s speech on 14 October, and will suspend parliament for several weeks in September to do so – cutting down the amount of time MPs have in parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit. It’s entirely normal for a new government to schedule a
Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament is not going down well with MPs, not least among some of those on the Tory backbenchers. Dominic Grieve reacted furiously to the news. The Tory MP said the Prime Minister’s decision is ‘outrageous’ – and he threatened to help bring down the Tory Government, even if it means
The parliamentary battle of our age, and of many ages – over how and whether the UK Brexits – begins, with the signal from Downing Street that the Commons will rise some time between 10 and 13 September and will return for a Queen’s Speech on 14 October. This will leave MPs with just a
Greta Thunberg’s yacht, the Malizia II, has delivered her to the UN climate conference in New York – two weeks after she first set sail from Europe. The transatlantic trip was a masterstroke in PR, with every major media outlet broadcasting updates on the journey and detailing the hardships Thunberg has endured – no toilet, no
Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to use ‘all tactics available’ to block a no-deal Brexit. The Labour leader is meeting MPs today to try work out how to do just that. But with no deal back in the headlines, are we having the wrong discussion about what it would mean for Britain to leave the EU
