All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Could a no-deal Brexit destroy the Tory party’s reputation for competence and lead to a crushing electoral defeat in the same way as Britain’s withdrawal from the Exchange Rate Mechanism did in 1992? That is certainly the view of some seasoned commentators, such as Jeremy Warner in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, and the parallels to an acrimonious Brexit
Wealth taxes are back in fashion. In the United States, Senator Elizabeth Warren is proposing an ‘ultra-millionaire tax’. In the UK, there are calls for greater taxation of property from a coalition stretching from Lord Willetts, a former Conservative minister, to Owen Jones and other Corbynista activists. I say ‘back’ in fashion, because these taxes
The Bank of England today downgraded its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2019 from 1.7 per cent (a forecast it made in November) to 1.2 per cent. That is a chunky fall, but really, does anyone really care? As I have pointed out here many times before, the Bank’s record for forecasting is pretty
It’s been a busy old week in Scottish politics. The SNP government is suffering a public backlash over plans to allow councils to levy a tax on workplace car parks. There has been a fatal infection outbreak at another hospital. MSPs are angry that the nationalists have installed one of their own as chair of
With 50 days left before the official date for leaving the EU, we may just have hit peak Brexit mayhem. Can it get any worse than this? Seriously. The cabinet has a three-way split between those who see a no-deal Brexit as economic and political armageddon – the Rudds, Hammonds, Gaukes and so on –
In this week’s books podcast I’m joined from Los Angeles by Andrew Morton — the Royal writer who scooped the world with the inside story of Princess Diana’s marriage. To coincide with the publication of a revised and expanded edition of Diana, Her True Story — including new material recovered from the tapes they smuggled
Today, the think tank Resolution Foundation hosted an event which asked, after Brexit ‘Where are the Conservatives heading?’ Inevitably, the debate quickly turned to a vital issue which has become a battle for the heart and soul of the Party: whether the state should be telling people how much food they eat, and how big their
Yesterday, Donald Tusk used a hellish press conference to say that Remain had no effective representation in the UK owing to the fact that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition support Brexit. Tusk said that as a result it was time to face up to the fact that the UK really
One of the main messages that Theresa May is taking to Brussels today is that significant, legally binding changes to the backstop are needed to get the withdrawal agreement through the House of Commons. Jeremy Corbyn’s letter to her undermines that position. In it, the Labour leader sounds less hostile to the backstop than he
Donald Trump takes no punches. He prides himself on being a counter-puncher, a person who won’t think twice about hitting an opponent in the teeth. It only took a few days for those who hoped the Oval Office and the nuclear button would smooth the edges of his boisterousness, combativeness, and unbounded egotism to learn
Theresa May’s attempt to alter her Brexit deal is going down badly in Brussels. The anger is partly understandable: after all, this is the agreement May’s own government negotiated. Donald Tusk’s barbed comment today – that there is a “special place in hell” for those who promoted Brexit without a plan – can be explained by this
Until now, Brexit-related legal challenges have been brought by Remainers, apparently hoping to find legal means of slowing down or stopping Britain’s departure from the EU. Gina Miller’s crack legal team persuaded the Supreme Court in 2017 that sending the Article 50 notification to Brussels could only be authorised by an Act of Parliament. And
It’s all over, folks. This is absolutely the last time you’ll ever see Theresa May live in concert. Until the next time. May has become a bankrupt rock-star taking her tired old hits out on the road yet again. This week’s futile tour includes Belfast, Dublin and Brussels. Futile because the EU won’t grant any
Washington, DC Donald Trump, the unity president — doesn’t sound right, does it? Trump is, we know, divisive. Under his administration, America is polarised to the point of madness. Democrats and Republicans despise each other, culture wars rage, sane people speculate about another civil war. In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, however,
As Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss has shown herself unafraid to say what she thinks. Whether it’s the need to defend Conservative values, rallying against Michael Gove’s wood-burning stove ban or poking fun at her current party’s Brexit secretary related woes. On Monday night, Truss gave a speech to female entrepreneurs and founders
Westminster is in a flurry this afternoon over Donald Tusk’s comments at a press conference this morning with Leo Varadkar. The European Council president used the platform to declare that he had been pondering of late what that ‘special place in hell’ for ‘those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan of
Oh dear. Donald Tusk has been causing trouble this morning with his comments about some Brexiteers deserving a special place in hell. But it seems that the Irish Taoiseach is determined to go one better. At the end of a press conference in Brussels, Leo Varadkar was caught out on microphone making a gag with Tusk
I don’t believe in turning George Orwell’s writing into Holy Scripture – he would have hated the reverence as much as anything else. But if the Brexit right is going to crow and quote his dislike of the communist-influenced left intelligentsia of the 1930s and 1940s it should read the rest of his work first.
With Theresa May instructed by parliament to renegotiate her withdrawal agreement and attempt to remove the backstop, all eyes today were on the Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, as he headed to Brussels to discuss the Irish border issue with the EU. But at a press conference following the talks, it was President of the European Council,
Patrick Jardin lost his daughter when Islamist terrorists attacked the Bataclan in November 2015. Nathalie was one of 130 people killed that evening in Paris and her father still pays her mobile phone charges so that he can hear her voice on her answer message. For Jardin, time has healed nothing. He spearheaded a successful campaign
Is there a name for the moment something objectionable becomes so mainstream that those responsible can solemnly lament it as a fact of life? I propose that we call it the Formby Point. This week, Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby reportedly told a parliamentary party meeting that it was ‘impossible to eradicate anti-Semitism and it
This morning, Donald Tusk had an unusually provocative line in his speech. “I have been wondering what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it safely,” he said. Any politician knows that the image of Brexiteers going to hell cannot
Emmanuel Macron, the young, dashing president of the Fifth French Republic, is the epitome of what it means to be a card-carrying member of the Paris political elite. The 41 year-old president was ushered through Sciences Po, France’s premier centre of political education and a near requirement for youngsters who aspire to become politicians and
The interest on all bank accounts has taken a big hit in recent years, but some certainly offer better rates than others. Here are the best savings accounts on the market at the moment – from data supplied by moneyfacts.co.uk.
It’s been almost two decades since the UK Government first introduced the right to request flexible working for parents and carers. Since then, a lot has changed within our working environments; from the introduction of innovative technologies right through to our daily routine. All employees now have the legal right to request flexible working arrangements,
The greatest criminal barrister of all time, Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC, who probably saved more men and women from the gallows than anyone in English history, was famous for his ‘scales of justice’ speech, in which, as described in Sally Smith’s magnificent biography, he would stand for several long minutes with his arms outstretched
Reports that Theresa May’s team are considering a June election haven’t exactly been met with universal acclaim. Tory MPs in marginal seats are horrified by the prospect, demanding assurances from the party’s chairman Brandon Lewis that this isn’t the case. But it’s not only Tories concerned about losing their seats who should be worried. A
Theresa May has been in Northern Ireland today attempting to ease concerns over her commitment to avoiding a hard border. The Prime Minister told business leaders in Belfast that while Parliament wanted ‘changes to the backstop as it currently exists’, her commitment to no hard border in Northern Ireland was ‘unshakeable’. However, May’s words also went
Today, the Pope celebrated mass in Abu Dhabi and you do know what that means? It’s a mass in the Arabian peninsula, the birthplace of Islam. And for the first time in centuries – whenever the Nestorian church last had its rites there, maybe 1300 years ago, the gospel was said in Arabic there. It
Venezuela is in ruins and its people are suffering greatly as a result of Nicolas Maduro’s failed socialist experiment. So who is to blame? Many would say the buck stops with Maduro himself. As a result, Britain and other countries have joined forces in recognising Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim leader in an attempt to
Has the time come to hold a referendum on Irish unity? The best way for the UK to leave the EU would be via a Canada-style free trade agreement, an option that was offered by the EU last year. But as things stand, the 1.8 million population of Northern Ireland is preventing the rest of
As Theresa May attempts to reopen negotiations on the terms of the backstop, there is a view in Downing Street that May won’t be able to win any substantial changes until Yvette Cooper’s no deal amendment has been defeated for a second time. The Prime Minister will put down a neutral motion next Wednesday and
On Saturday, there was another wave of Yellow Vest protests in France. The focus was not the price of diesel, the carbon tax, the cost of living or President Macron, as has been the norm, but police brutality and their use of rubber bullets. Thousands took to the streets of Paris and elsewhere instead in
Liam Neeson has been ‘cancelled’, which is internet-speak for ‘cast out’. Overnight he has gone from being the avuncular star of ropey American thrillers to being ‘trash’, persona non grata, a foul, nasty man Hollywood should no longer indulge. His crime? He confessed, during an interview, to having once had a terrible thought, a thought