All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Labour MPs who want a second referendum are threatening to table their own motion calling for one next week if their frontbench fails to do so. Jeremy Corbyn is expected to call for a vote of no confidence in the government once Theresa May’s deal is defeated in the Commons this evening. The Labour leadership
Westminster has been a febrile place for months, but today, as the meaningful vote on Theresa May’s Brexit vote approaches, it has tipped into something quite different. The streets around the House of Commons are lined with protesters from all sides, clutching placards, ringing bells and chanting. Flags are swirling, balloons are bobbling in the
Relations between the Speaker and the government have taken yet another turn for the worse this afternoon. Ahead of tonight’s vote on Theresa May’s doomed Brexit deal, ministers had hoped that an amendment tabled by Andrew Murrison – calling for an end date on the backstop – could win backbench support and save the Prime
Why did Britain vote for Brexit? As Parliament gazes into the abyss, the question seems worth asking, even if I don’t pretend to be able to offer a simple answer. And that’s the point, really. Britain is teetering on the brink of a grand failure of policy and politics because, insofar as anyone involved has
If, as seems inevitable, the Commons votes to reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal later today – thereby sparing Britain from the humiliation of being trapped in the backstop, forced to accept EU rules without having a say in them – the hero of the hour will be Dominic Grieve. Him and Anna Soubry, Nicky Morgan,
We have got used to a lot of odd things in British politics recently. Many of the usual rules have been suspended: Theresa May has survived losing her majority in an election she called and we’ve seen the departure of not one, but two Brexit Secretaries. But tonight she will defeated by a massive margin
While much remains uncertain when it comes to how Brexit will play out in the coming days and weeks, it is clear that John Bercow will play a pivotal role. To the dismay of government figures, the Speaker has of late refused to follow parliamentary norms – choosing to ignore precedent just last week when
Theresa May will lose the vote tonight on her Brexit plan, widely seen as the most important vote in Parliament since the early years of the Second World War, and yet nothing of importance may change – or at least not immediately, at least. How can that possibly be – especially since she could well
Tensions are running high today in Westminster, as Theresa May’s Brexit deal finally comes before the the House of Commons. Those supporting the deal are in for a tricky day, as they prepare themselves for what could be a historic defeat. This may explain why environment secretary Michael Gove was on the defensive this morning,
A fixed rate bond can earn you more interest than a notice or easy access savings account, but it does mean putting your cash to one side for a year. If you can face doing that, then here are some of the best one year fixed rate bonds on the market at the moment, from
Against a background of drooping eurozone growth (the consensus forecast is 1.6 per cent this year) I met no one in France who was celebrating the 20th birthday of the euro, despite European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker’s imaginative toast to it as ‘a symbol of unity, sovereignty and stability [that] has delivered prosperity and protection
Surprise! Prince Harry has let it be known that he meditates daily after being presented with a copy of Eight Steps to Happiness by a Buddhist monk, Kelsang Sonam. It is of a piece with his assertively detoxed marital masculinity which reportedly involves eating kale and doing yoga, and describing himself as a feminist, which
Does President Xi’s first address of the new year spell trouble for Taiwan? In a 30 minute speech on Taiwan, Xi used much fiercer language than his predecessors on Taiwan’s reunification. Journalists have reported it as ‘chest-beating’ and ‘threatening’. Phrases like ‘the reunification of Taiwan…is the inevitable requirement of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ and
The ninth weekend of the gilet jaune protest movement was a mixed result for Emmanuel Macron. The nationwide demonstrations were relatively peaceful with only minor skirmishes between protestors and police, but numbers were up, with a total of 84,000 taking to the streets, 34,000 more than the previous Saturday. This is an impressive figure given that
Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence in the Commons by 325 votes to 306. Tory MPs – as well as the DUP’s members – backed the Prime Minister in tonight’s crunch vote. The decisive support from the Conservative party meant that the votes of Labour, SNP and Lib Dem MPs were not enough
There has just been another series of pointed exchanges between government backbenchers and the Speaker over procedure. Following the Sunday papers and the Boles plan released earlier today, several Tory MPs sought reassurance on procedure from John Bercow. Bercow was strikingly unwilling to give it. He approvingly quoted Willie Whitelaw’s dictum that bridges are best
If you’re a not particularly impressive leader of a political party preparing a response to any statement given by Theresa May, the easiest phrase that you can lazily reach for is ‘nothing has changed’. You know it will apply to anything the Prime Minister says about how she has improved her Brexit deal. All three
John Bercow clearly isn’t backing down in his stand-off with ministers. Today he opened a new front in the House of Commons, taking aim at the government for refusing to allow MPs who are pregnant or on maternity leave to have a proxy vote. The issue came up when Harriet Harman made a point of
In Parliament a glimmer of hope has emerged ahead of the vote on Theresa May’s seemingly doomed Brexit deal. It’s not that it suddenly has a hope of passing as it is – instead it’s that a backbencher amendment could carve a way out of the Brexit deadlock. Usually loyal backbencher Andrew Murrison has tabled
With only one day to go until the vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal, the government has been doing its best to convince wavering MPs that supporting it is the only way to avoid the catastrophic consequences of no-deal Brexit. Which may explain why the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride, was snapped today
As the Brexit vote looms closer, the whips are on a hunt for MPs. Not so much to discover how they’ll be voting, though, but to find the owner of a lost ring. A message went out to MPs from their whips this morning saying that ‘a silver ring with the inscription “forever best friends”
The letter from Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk ahead of tomorrow’s vote is not the cavalry arriving. It is more a restatement of what has gone before than anything else. If the EU is to make a big play to help Theresa May’s deal pass it will come before a second vote; as one Secretary
As things stand, it looks inevitable that Theresa May’s Brexit deal will be defeated in the House of Commons on Tuesday, but what happens afterwards is the great unknown. While a number of MPs have voiced their opposition to May’s deal and no deal, the majority still have not made clear what they would support
Theresa May is making a last ditch attempt this morning to convince MPs to back her Brexit deal when it’s finally put to a vote tomorrow evening. To do this, the Prime Minister will cite the 1997 referendum on creating the Welsh assembly. In that vote, Yes won by 0.3 percent, on a turnout of
Looking at the past year, it’s evident that 2018 saw some incredibly high-profile cases of money laundering. For offenders to operate successfully in organised criminal circles, ‘dirty’ money needs to be cleaned before it can be used. This poses a real threat to not only businesses but also to the general public, as criminal activity
It’s been a busy weekend for subscriptions at The Spectator and already it’s our best January since our records began (in 1828). Today (Monday) we’ve already broken the one-day record. Which stands to reason. These are uncertain times, so you will want the best and sharpest analysis – all of which is up our website
Venezuela is a country in crisis: inflation hit one million per cent last year and GDP has plummeted by half since 2013. Those who dare stand up to president Nicolás Maduro risk finding themselves locked up – or worse. Many have opted to leave: three million migrants and refugees have fled the country in the
My first viewing of Roma left me with a bitter taste: yes, the majority of critics are right in celebrating it as an instant classic, but I couldn’t get rid of the idea that this predominant perception is sustained by a terrifying, almost obscene, misreading, and that the movie is celebrated for all the wrong reasons.
Today’s Sunday Times splash – about a ‘coup’ being plotted by Tory rebels to take over Brexit – looks and feels like it was dreamed up in No. 10. It wasn’t and the story shouldn’t be dismissed because of that. The Speaker’s actions last week have changed the calculations: something previously judged procedurally impossible (for rebels
The prime minister will tomorrow make a powerful speech – in the heart of Brexit UK, Stoke on Trent – that MPs ‘all have a duty to implement the result of the referendum’, because failure to do so would wreak ‘catastrophic harm’ on ‘people’s faith in the democratic process and their politicians’. Coming as it