All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Don’t expect much movement on Brexit this side of Valentine’s Day, I say in The Sun this morning. There are two reasons for this. First, EU leaders are irritated with Theresa May. She signed off on a deal with them, assured them it could get through the Commons and then lost by a record margin.
In past years, I have been a critic of HS2. I might now change my mind. One simple tweak might make HS2 worthwhile — while saving the taxpayer most of its £60 billion cost. For this to work, all you need to understand is that 1 x 200 is not the same as 200 x
What to do about the coming shortage of green groceries of which several supermarkets warned yet again this week if there is a no-deal Brexit on 29 March? I am just old enough to remember when fresh fruit and veg were in short supply at this time of year. People used to know how to
It’s been a hectic week in Westminster. After the Brady amendment passed on Tuesday, Theresa May finally got a second chance to get her Brexit deal through parliament. But can she persuade the EU to renegotiate? James Forsyth writes in this week’s cover article that there is good reason to think the EU will budge,
This week Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt launched his Independent Review into Christian Persecution. Except nothing was actually launched. Nothing published, precious little announced, and it doesn’t look like much has been agreed between Foreign Office officials and the Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, who Hunt appointed to chair it. Instead a picture is emerging of a
What to do about the coming shortage of green groceries of which several supermarkets warned yet again this week if there is a no-deal Brexit on 29 March? I am just old enough to remember when fresh fruit and veg were in short supply at this time of year. People used to know how to
Paying tax — which many of us have been doing this week before HMRC’s 31 January deadline — is a citizen’s duty, not an act of virtue. But for the very rich it is also a choice, since with the help of expensive advisers they can duck it or pay very little of it by
As Venezuela continues its descent into economic ruin and poverty, it’s becoming harder and harder for left-wing supporters of the embattled president Nicolas Maduro to continue defending his socialist regime. That hasn’t stopped some from trying though. Last night, the former mayor of London Ken Livingstone was on the BBC’s late night show to do
When the actor Jared Leto won the Oscar for best supporting actor in 2014 he used his acceptance speech to send a message to those people protesting against poverty. ‘To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say we are here,’ declared
Another day, another teenager fatally stabbed on the streets of Britain. It’s a domestic issue crying out for urgency and action. It’s something the Home Secretary is reportedly losing sleep over – as are many parents, particularly in those communities most affected. Today’s announcement of a new Knife Crime Prevention Order forms part of a
If I’ve learned one thing in my twenty years in Japan it’s how to enter someone’s home. What you did is this: take off your shoes at the genkan (porch) and say the following, o jama shimasu (the nuisance is here). Under no circumstances should you copy the de-cluttering Goddess Marie Kondo, who in her
I don’t know what it is like to work as a checkout assistant in Asda, still less in an Asda warehouse. But if I did work in a company’s shops and I learned that there were better-paid jobs available in its warehouses I am pretty sure I know what I would do: apply for a
Oh dear. It’s been a rollercoaster for the European Research Group of late. Once heralded as the Machiavellis of Brexit, the group of backbench Eurosceptics have lately become the subject of some mockery thanks to their botched attempts to oust Theresa May as Prime Minister. However, things appeared to turn in their favour again this week
This week, after regulations passed through the House of Lords, parliament approved legislation which will allow universities to offer fast-track degrees which are only two years long – allowing students to graduate earlier and save twenty per cent on tuition fees if they opt for shorter courses. The news, you might expect, would have been
Writing for The Spectator, I am already at grave risk of being expelled from the liberal elite, doubly so as a Remainer who (wearily, sceptically, fearfully) accepts the democratic mandate for Brexit. Soon I won’t be able to pick up breakfast at my local vegan food truck without the guy shrieking, ‘OH, DOES ROD LIDDLE
After much speculation, Andrea Leadsom has confirmed that the February recess will be cancelled. This means that – in theory – MPs will be deprived of any ski holidays scheduled for the week of 18 February. It’s still up in the air what Commons business – if any – will take place that week given
With all the dramatic votes this week, it could easily have been missed that an important debate about immigration also took place in the chamber on Monday, on the government’s new proposals to limit immigration after Britain leaves the EU. Pulling no punches was the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, Jess Phillips, who used a speech
It’s no coincidence that the EU had already prepared a statement on Monday that ruled out any Brexit renegotiation, even before the ‘Brady amendment’, which requested the replacement of the backstop within the withdrawal agreement had been voted on. One of the reasons why, is that a certain Martin Selmayr is now very much sitting in
Almost more interesting than what Corbyn and the PM said to each other this afternoon was who accompanied the Labour leader to the meeting. He was joined by his chief of staff Karie Murphy and his director of strategy Seumas Milne (as well as the opposition chief whip Nick Brown) but not by his Brexit
After refusing to meet with Theresa May until she ruled out a no deal Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn finally held talks with the Prime Minister this afternoon. Accompanied by members of his inner circle – Seumas Milne and Karie Murphy – the Labour leader used the meeting to put May under pressure on the customs union.
In this week’s books podcast I’m joined by Josh Cohen, author of the Not Working: Why We Have To Stop (reviewed here by Houman Barekat). Josh is a literary critic and a working psychoanalyst, and his book is a thoughtful and subtle discussion of the way in which work dominates not only our lives and identities
Bit of a different day at PMQs. There wasn’t a peep from Remain Corner where Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan and Sarah Woollaston like to hold court. Perhaps they’re all re-training as Uber-drivers in case a snap-election renders them jobless. And we heard nothing from the Labour party’s Bullingdon Club of Brexit-saboteurs, Yvette Cooper, Stephen Kinnock
From Venezuela to Zimbabwe, the noise that defines failing states is the wail. It’s not our fault, their leaders cry. We are the victims of a foreign conspiracy, fifth columnists and saboteurs. The most obvious and least discussed consequence of last night’s capitulation by the British Prime Minister to the right of her party is
The EU only functions as a collection of 28 nations – minus one on 29 March – because of its streamlined, centralised processes. And that efficient bureaucratic process was magnificently on display in two years of negotiation between the Article 50 taskforce of the European Commission, led by Michel Barnier, and the UK government. It
The morning after the night before finds the Tory party still in good spirits. There is a sense of relief that the party managed to find something that all but 18 of them could vote for. It was no small achievement to get nearly every Tory MP into the same lobby on Europe with Brexit
If you’re looking to buy a property in the near future then this week’s Best Buys – of five year fixed rate mortgages – might be of use.
The Royal College of Physicians will soon begin yet another consultation with its members on the subject of ‘assisted dying’. The college is opposed to legalisation, but a minority are unhappy with this. They know there is no chance of persuading a majority to support such practices. So they are pressing for the college to
For two decades, violent, extremist organisations have had a devastating impact on the African continent. Attacks by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Boko Haram, and their splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have displaced millions within and across national borders and decimated vital services, education, healthcare, and businesses. Since 2009, Boko Haram
It’s been a disappointing night for the Remain and soft Brexit factions of parliament. Ahead of the votes on amendments to Theresa May’s Brexit plan, there had been a hope among some that the votes would serve as an opportunity to soften the government’s Brexit position. After the Prime Minister’s deal was voted down by
At long last, something changed in the House of Commons tonight; at long last Theresa May had something that could, with only a little squinting or wishful thinking, be considered something close to a good day. Her deal, the withdrawal agreement backed by her Government and agreed with the EU, that seemed moribund less than
You could tell that the result of tonight’s vote on the Brady amendment (which calls for alternative arrangements to replace the Northern Irish backstop) came as a surprise to those at the top of government from the look on Chief Whip Julian Smith’s face as he re-entered the Commons. He looked as though he had
Graham Brady’s amendment – that will send Theresa May back to Brussels to renegotiate her Brexit plan – has passed by 16 votes. The amendment, which was put together by the chair of the 1922 committee and was backed by the Government, states that the controversial backstop should be ‘replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid
Caroline Spelman’s Brexit amendment – saying that Britain should not leave the EU without a deal – has passed in the Commons tonight. The amendment – which won by 318 votes to 310 – displays Parliamentary opposition to a no deal exit, but it is purely advisory and has no legislative force. This means the amendment
After another long day discussing Brexit in the House of Commons, it was the job of the Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, to finally close the debate with a rousing speech ahead of the votes on several amendments to the Prime Minister’s motion. Barclay has not exactly, to put it mildly, made a huge impact since he