All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
In a judgment that will ring down the centuries, the Supreme Court unanimously finds that a Conservative prime minister had unlawfully suspended Parliament, and press ganged the Queen into being his accomplice. A Conservative prime minister, I should emphasise: the leader of a party that once lectured us on the need to defend the British
What’s the biggest threat facing the Labour party? The Tories? The Lib Dems? Brexit? All wrong, says pro-Corbyn film director Ken Loach. The Kes filmmaker reckons its the likes of Tom Watson and other Labour MPs failing to line up behind Jeremy that is the thing to worry about right now. Loach told Mr S’s
Time was when the box office attraction at Labour conference was going to be Tom Watson’s speech this afternoon. The biggest drama would be activists who planned to walk out in protest at the deputy leader’s constant undermining of Jeremy Corbyn. That was before the Supreme Court verdict, of course, and now Corbyn will be
‘The king hath no prerogative, but that which the law of the land allows him’. So James VI & I was told by the courts in 1611 and so Boris Johnson has, in effect, been told today. There is something weighty, something dignified, about that. The Supreme Court’s ruling this morning, upholding the Court of
Less than two hours ago the Supreme Court released its verdict that Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament was both unlawful and void. In its judgement, the Court decreed that since Parliament was never, legally, prorogued, the House of Commons could return as soon as the Speakers of the Commons and Lords arranged for it
There is no precedent for the Supreme Court finding that a PM acted unlawfully when advising the serving monarch. There is no precedent for the Supreme Court ruling that an order in the Privy Council to prorogue parliament is null and void. There is no precedent at all for the august and magisterial ceremony in
Labour members are planning a mass walkout at Tom Watson’s conference speech this afternoon. And as for Brexit, it’s safe to say Labour remains divided on the issue of whether Britain should stay in or leave the EU. Not so, says Len McCluskey. The Unite boss was asked by Sky News’s Beth Rigby about the split
The Supreme Court ruling has provided Jeremy Corbyn with his most positive outing at Labour conference. On hearing the news that the Prime Minister’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful, Corbyn took to the stage in a dramatic point of order – to rapturous applause. He called on Boris Johnson to ‘in the historic words, consider
There’s been an uneasy mood at the Labour party conference in stormy Brighton this week, as the party has split over whether it should back Remain in a second referendum, argued over the abolition of its deputy leader Tom Watson, and fought over who should be the successor to Jeremy Corbyn’s throne. But despite all the flux,
If you’re a pro-Remain Labour member angry that the conference yesterday voted narrowly – and chaotically – to maintain the party’s ambiguity on Brexit, where do you go? A number of shadow cabinet members are hoping they can be the answer to that question. Emily Thornberry has perhaps been the most obvious candidate to take
There is no love lost between Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson, so the Labour leader will have to grin and bear it as his deputy takes to the stage this afternoon. Here is the pick of today’s events in Brighton: Labour events: 8:30: Policy Seminar 9:45: Morning Plenary Session: Tackling The Climate Emergency 12:35: Votes
‘You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words’ is perhaps the whitest thing anyone has ever said at the UN. What is the correct answer? Is it (a) Go to your room? Or is it (b) Forgive me, to make it up you, Daddy and I are going to set the
The biggest victim of the failure of Thomas Cook is the worldly reputation of its eponymous creator – a sober cabinet-maker from Leicestershire whose pioneering and fantastically successful package tours used a network of temperance hotels. His name is now synonymous with a company whose senior executives paid themselves millions while it crashed and burned.
Once again, question marks surround Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. This is not new. While I was at 10 Downing Street, with the small but significant possibility of a sudden Corbyn departure, we spent some time exploring the electoral impact of who might come next. To work out who might put up the best fight and how best to counter them,
When Labour last came to Brighton for its annual conference, I sat in a studio listening to people who had faced abuse because they were Jewish. I heard statements recorded at a fringe event suggesting it was fine to question whether the Holocaust had ever happened. As leader of the city’s council, I had to
Another fine lunch and a particularly fine Edinburgh venue for our encounter with finalists for the Scotland & Northern Ireland region of The Spectator’s Economic Disruptor Awards 2019. We’re in the Register Club, inside the Edinburgh Grand Hotel on St Andrew’s Square – a building which happens to have been the headquarters of Royal Bank
On paper, Labour’s conference has managed to unite around the Brexit position set out by the leadership. Delegates this afternoon overwhelmingly approved the NEC statement endorsing Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to decide how the party will campaign in a referendum at a special conference after a general election. They then voted down the rebel composite motion
Labour conference was mired in controversy this afternoon, as the party voted against backing Remain in a second referendum. While the party’s conference ended up passing Jeremy Corbyn’s preferred Brexit position, the key vote on whether Labour would back Remain was only dropped after Labour’s general secretary and Corbyn ally, Jennie Formby overruled the debate
In the next election, as in the last one, McDonnellism will prove a serious challenge to the Tories. John McDonnell, as chancellor, confirmed that in government, he and Jeremy Corbyn would make a full frontal attack on 40 years of economic and industrial orthodoxy, the precepts that markets know best and that our prosperity depends
These days everyone in politics is obsessed with ‘optics’, with making sure they never do or say anything that might look bad to the public. Which makes Emily Thornberry’s European Union outfit all the more extraordinary. Thornberry paraded around Brighton in a blue-and-gold EU dress like some wide-eyed devotee of the cult of Brussels. What
John McDonnell’s speech showed what Labour’s aim for this conference – were it going smoothly – is. The party wants to present a domestic policy agenda so radical that it drowns out discussion of Brexit. As the progress of this conference shows, though, that’s going to be very difficult. The shadow chancellor announced plenty of
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has promised that if Labour wins the next election it will use its first budget to ‘immediately close the tax loopholes used by elite private schools and use that money to improve the lives of all children.’ This slab of red meat went down well with the class warriors at
Labour conference will this afternoon vote on three different motions on its Brexit position. There are two – one from the NEC, and one from delegates – which endorse the leadership’s plan to put this decision off until after the next general election, and then to hold a special one-day conference to decide instead. Then
One of the downsides of all this snarking at David Cameron over Brexit is that the rest of his legacy is getting away relatively snark-free. Fraser Nelson has resumed his valiant campaign to repackage the Cameron years as a well-spring of progressive Toryism, specifically in job creation, the expansion of academies, and shifting the tax
So once again we learn just how committed the EU is to free trade. A trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur – comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – has been under negotiation for 20 years. The icing appeared to be on the cake, the ribbon about to be cut – but at
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell takes to the stage in Brighton today. Last year, he made an unashamedly socialist pitch. So expect more of the same. Here are the events to keep an eye on today: Labour conference: 8:30: Policy Seminars 9:45: Morning Plenary Session: New Economy John McDonnell’s Speech 12:35: Votes 12:45: Break 14:00:
Norway. That idyllic, small nation of five million people just across the North Sea, is not what it seems. With its high standard of living, peculiarly slow TV shows (do you want to watch people build a clock for 30 hours?), and beautiful, quiet nature, you’d be fooled into thinking it’s a nice, peaceful country.
Emily Thornberry took to the stage today at Labour conference to try and make the case for her party backing an unequivocally Remain position ahead of a potential second referendum. Perhaps wisely, the Shadow Foreign Sec opted to ditch her EU themed outfit from yesterday, but Thornberry still managed to cause a stir with her
In the new That’s Life podcast, comedian Simon Evans joins journalist Benedict Spence and Spectator Life contributor Andy Shaw to give you a sideways look at the events, people, words and ideas that shape the news agenda. Andy and Benedict talk to Simon about cancel culture, Boris’s hospital debacle and why Guy Verhofstadt is his
Drones have come of age in the war on terror. When the United States and Britain invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the technology was barely out of the lab. Today, these flying machines represent a huge security threat. If reports are to be believed, a Houthi rebel-launched drone attack in Saudi Arabia last weekend shut down
Boris Johnson’s announcement last week that five Type 31e frigates are to be ordered is welcome. But we must not delude ourselves that this will resolve the problem of the lack of frigates in the Royal Navy’s inventory. The Royal Navy currently has thirteen frigates, all of the Type 23 variant. Designed to have a
Labour was supposed to be having only one big row this week at conference – on Brexit. Instead, it’s ended up having two: one about how the party will campaign on Britain’s future relationship with Europe and the second on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Today has not seen a good recovery from the Labour leader after
This year’s Labour conference is proving to be a rather sedated affair after a difficult few days for Jeremy Corbyn. Rather than Corbyn-mania taking hold of attendees, attendees report of a flat atmosphere following the high drama of John Lansman’s botched attempt to oust Tom Watson as deputy leader. After the first vote failed on
Here we go. As the debate continues within the Labour party as to which Brexit policy will win the party the most seats at a general election, the mainstream domestic policy agenda is progressing nicely. This evening, Labour delegates approved a motion for a Labour government to seemingly abolish private schools. The motion is to