All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
It’s well known that all good Silicon Valley billionaires these days have one issue that is firmly at the top of their agenda. So it’s no surprise that when the owners of the tech behemoth Google hosted their seventh ‘Google Camp’ – a private, three day conference for the rich and famous on the southwest
Beto O’Rourke needed a wing and a prayer. The second Democratic presidential debate was an opportunity for the 46-year old Texas congressman to shut down the naysayers and speculators who were doubting his candidacy after a less-than-optimal fundraising stretch and a 2.8 per cent ranking in the polls. The game-plan for the former boy wonder of
The elderly lady’s face is red with rage as she screams with all her might at police. Leaning firmly on her walking stick, her head doesn’t even clear the top of their riot shields. Her grey hair tied back in a ponytail, her worn T-shirt is in bitter contrast with the army green and black
This week, The Sun instructed Remain Conservative MPs to unite behind Boris Johnson or see Jeremy Corbyn’s desire to ‘turn Britain into an experiment in 21st century Marxism’ become reality. It need not have bothered: the threat of a ‘Marxist’ Corbyn government is one of the few things about which all Conservatives agree. But what kind
It’s a strange beast, the internet. On Monday night, I was slightly reluctantly dragged onto Newsnight to discuss Brexit. Attentive readers will know that I very rarely write or speak about the subject. There are many reasons for this, one of which is that I said most of what I had to say three years
Boris Johnson’s senior adviser Dominic Cummings has found himself in the news today after a video clip emerged of him suggesting most Conservative MPs ‘do not care’ about ‘poorer people’ or the NHS. Now in No. 10, Cummings appears to be on a mission to change that – with a focus on applying the Johnson ethos
I’ve never voted Conservative and I never will. Having been raised in a working-class home, I can’t get past the fact that had the Labour party not come into being, the Tories would have kept my people serfs for as long as inhumanly possible. But I’m also an extreme Brexiteer; far from the past three
If Labour were serious about stopping the most right-wing Conservative government within living memory, it would revolutionise its approach to politics. Clearly, it would have to remove Jeremy Corbyn as leader. Ideally, Corbyn would remove himself. He would not allow the struggle to force him out to waste precious time. He would look at his leadership
Does Momentum do requests? If so, any chance they could deselect Yvette Cooper as a priority? Her dull, maudlin tones are bad enough when she’s lamenting a no-deal Brexit, a prospect she has done more than most to aid, but when the subject is the Labour party her funereal strains bear some of the most
Lots and lots of optimism. Some can-do spirit. A dash of hope, a sprinkle of belief, some added willpower and a pinch of positive thinking. Oh, and in case you forgot, some more optimism (and a few rays of sunshine as well). A whole week into his premiership, which is longer than some of the
Prince Harry’s revelation that he intends to only have two children for the sake of the planet is woke politics at its worst. As his critics have readily pointed out, if he truly believes that having fewer children will save the planet then why not stop at one child? As much as Harry might like
Bokan was designed to make the most of the striking views. Panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows flood all levels with daylight and paint an incredible picture of all London’s major landmarks. The cityscape is further brought into the venue through the use of antique mirrors, ensuring that no matter where you are, you will always experience an
The PM’s partner has one of the toughest jobs in politics even though it’s not a political appointment. That’s the nub of the difficulty. The role is undefined and unpaid. And whatever the partner does can be labelled a blunder and used to attack the prime minister. I’ve just written a play, ‘Cherie – My
During the 2016 referendum battle, I consistently said that leaving the EU would make the UK poorer, though probably not as poor in the short term as George Osborne was arguing. But – as I always added night after grinding night on the News at Ten and in a couple of Tonight films I made
I had forgotten how much I disliked cannabis until I found myself under its influence, in the rain, trying and failing to find Toronto’s Union Train Station so I could get to the airport and go home. The plan had been to enhance my mood for a long journey, floating back to the UK in
It’s less than four years since Jeremy Corbyn’s hard-left sect seized control of the Labour Party, and yet already its anti-Semitic views – so alien to Labour tradition – seem too deeply rooted to eradicate. Today’s ‘Holy Smoke’ podcast puts this sinister development in the broader context of the ‘Red-Green’ alliance – the love affair
Boris Johnson has appointed a former Daily Mirror Chicken as his chief spin doctor, the paper’s front page revealed today. Lee Cain, Boris’s new communications director, donned the infamous costume during a stint at the Labour supporting newspaper and began ruffling Tory feathers during the 2010 general election, when he pursued David Cameron round the
In yesterday’s Evening Blend newsletter – to which you should sign up – Katy Balls concluded that ‘If the Conservative party is going to continue to prosper in Scotland’ Boris Johnson and Ruth Davidson must, between them, ‘find a way to pitch a pro-Union, pro-Brexit message – and fast.’ Well, indeed. The problem, though, is
Jeremy Corbyn was in Blackpool today, where he joined a protest against the fracking firm Cuadrilla and launched his ‘Green Industrial Revolution in the North West’. On his trip to the seaside, Corbyn was joined by local Labour politician Chris Webb, who is currently vying to become the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. Webb certainly seemed to
Does the arrival of Boris Johnson in Downing Street signal the end of the politics of branding and the beginning of the politics of principle? Can we already see in the announcements and actions of the Johnson Government a new style of politics? The early signs would suggest so. Boris’s first speech outside No.10 was
Two Spectator contributors were invited on to the BBC’s Newsnight last night to discuss the prospect of Britain leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October. Matthew Parris and Doulgas Murray joined Emily Maitlis in the studio, as the pair discussed the nature of no deal, whether the vote to Leave in 2016 was a true mandate
Boris Johnson is sometimes compared to Winston Churchill, not least by the man himself. Unfortunately for Britain’s new Prime Minister, most of these comparisons are fatuous. But there are some similarities. Both are politically fluid and both share an enormous sense of ambition propelling them in unexpected and contrary directions. So far, we have had two
Boris Johnson’s Downing Street is being quite clear that if the EU wants to talk then it needs to be prepared to reopen the withdrawal agreement. If the EU isn’t prepared to budge on this, the message is that there will be no deal. The EU isn’t inclined to take this threat that seriously right
Are we allowed to criticise the niqab yet? This question crossed my mind as I watched that viral clip of a niqab-clad woman hurling homophobic invective at a Pride marcher in Walthamstow in London. Surely now it will become acceptable to raise questions about this medieval garment (banned in several Muslim countries) and about the
Now that Boris Johnson’s new ministers are in place and the key players in his administration firmly established, the curtain has been decisively drawn over the May era. But who has lost the most and been cast aside in the transition to Boris’s new ‘golden age’? Mr S. presents his pick… Alan Duncan Alan Duncan,
You have to admit that Brexit party MEPs have a fun job. Imagine turning up to work to insult your colleagues, ridicule your duties and still collect a pay cheque. As I am fortunate enough to enjoy my work, though, I don’t think it is jealousy that makes me find at least some of their
Jeremy Corbyn – I’m not worried about Boris Johnson Sophy Ridge travelled to Mansfield earlier in the week for an interview with the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. At the 2017 election, Labour lost Mansfield to the Conservatives after having held the seat for 94 years. Ridge asked Corbyn about how prepared the party was to
Boris Johnson has two big advantages: the ability to drive his opponents quite mad, and strikingly low expectations. Pick up a newspaper recently and you might have read that Britain is ‘mortified’ to have such a bozo foisted upon the nation by a handful of retired Tories. If that were the case, the opinion polls
So the party of family values has chosen as leader a man of whom to say he has the morals of an alley cat would be to libel the feline species. Thus the Tories, with two women PMs to their credit, have achieved another historic first: scuppering the belief — argued by the Daily Mail in my
It’s hard to think of a prime minister who has reached No. 10 with lower expectations. Boris Johnson has been dismissed as a philandering clown, a joker calamitously miscast as prime minister in a moment of national crisis. Obloquy has been hurled at him every time he has taken a new job — from mayor
On the surface, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson look like two peas in a pod. Their hairstyles are blonde and moppy. The height of their collective ambition makes the Empire State Building and Big Ben look puny in comparison. Both are proud and unapologetic of their unconventionality and large personalities. Indeed, Trump was so smitten
Usually after a big government reshuffle, the happiest-looking people are the ministers, whether they’ve survived the axe or are celebrating a promotion. But at the end of this week, the most cheerful MPs appear to be the ones who left government, whether of their own volition or after being sacked by Boris Johnson. They’ve been
When Boris Johnson was interviewed by The Spectator ahead of becoming Prime Minister, he said that on Brexit, his ‘determination burns with a magnesium brightness to get it done and to deliver’. Less than a week into his premiership and that commitment is echoed by senior No. 10 staff – many of whom come from
I don’t blame Harvey Proctor for having scant sympathy for his ludicrous accuser, Carl Beech. I think it’s entirely right that Beech be sent to prison – or some other secure institution – for a while. But eighteen years? It’s more than most murderers get. Isn’t it the case that while Beech without doubt deserves
