Gus Carter is The Spectator’s deputy features editor.
The Scottish First Minister misled Holyrood. That is the conclusion of the Scottish parliamentary committee investigating her government’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond. Nicola Sturgeon gave an ‘inaccurate’ account of a meeting with her predecessor when she gave evidence to the committee earlier this month, according to the investigating body. MSPs voted five
Boris Johnson still has a journalist’s ear for snappy phrases — levelling up, an oven-ready Brexit, Global Britain. The PM attempted to flesh out one of those headlines on Tuesday with his integrated review — so called because it ties together foreign and defence policy alongside trade and international aid. The 100-page document — designed
If you’re sick to death of Deliveroo, it’s time to take a look at the meat box. Forget vegan meats and plant-based pretenders. It’s dark and wet and we’re all stuck indoors — there’s no point making ourselves any more miserable. Steakhouses and brasseries have been moving their menus online and into cardboard boxes, with
There have been inquiries, committees, multiple court cases and conflicting reports — the Salmond affair is as slippery as it is fishy. But the fundamental question is this: was there a conspiracy to take down Alex Salmond? Having been acquitted of 13 counts of sexual assault last year, the former first minister has alleged that
Back in 2005, Boris Johnson wrote that among geopolitical gloomsters, China was becoming the ‘fashionable new dread’. They were obsessed with the idea that this ‘incubator of strange diseases’ was angling to become ‘the next world superpower’ — ‘China will not dominate the globe’ he concluded. The China question is now the most fashionable new
The House of Commons was due to vote on the so-called ‘genocide amendment’ to the Trade Bill later today. The proposal gives British courts the right to decide if a country is committing genocide and was on course to trigger a major Tory rebellion — with China hawks ready to take a stand. However, that plan has been
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Boris Johnson has been told to self-isolate by contact tracers after meeting with a Covid positive MP last week. It comes just as the PM was expected to reset his premiership following the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain. Gus Carter is joined by Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
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Backbench Tory MPs are questioning the government’s plan for rolling out the vaccine. Meanwhile, rumours over a new Downing Street chief of staff have triggered a spat inside No. 10. Gus Carter talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
Some believe that All Hallows’ Eve is adopted from a much older Celtic holiday, Samhain, that marked the change from harvest’s living richness to the darkness of winter. In its modern guise, Halloween still retains something of that pagan philosophy — a time when the borders between the living and the spirit world are supposed
Boris Johnson has announced sweeping new Covid restrictions, imposing a curfew on pubs and restaurants and telling office workers to return to home working if they can. In a statement to the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said the UK is at a ‘perilous turning point’ and promised that more measures would be introduced
Last night’s second reading of the Internal Market Bill passed with a comfortable 77 votes for the government. In truth, this was always going to happen. A second reading vote confirms merely the principle of a bill so the real question was over the size of any potential rebellion rather than the future of the
Following widespread speculation that the UK government intends to renege on the Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was summoned to the chamber to answer an urgent question on the issue. Despite government attempts to suggest that intended changes to the Withdrawal Agreement through the new Internal Market Bill were simply to tie up loose
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Simon Case has been appointed the new cabinet secretary, tasked with leading the UK through its coronavirus recovery and reforming the civil service. Is he up to the job? Gus Carter speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the country’s most powerful official.
For many Lib Dems, this leadership election felt like an existential choice. The party is now on its fourth leader in almost as many years, while Brexit has left the party a polarising – and increasingly irrelevant – force in British politics. Sir Ed Davey made clear that he knows his party is facing serious problems during
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The Liberal Democrat leadership race will finally come to an end this month but, after December’s crushing election defeat, is the party over too? In a special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Gus Carter speaks to Katy Balls and Nick Tyrone, author of Politics is Murder, about how a new leader could pull the
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Belgium, Andorra and the Bahamas were added to the UK’s quarantine list yesterday evening, meaning Brits returning from those countries will be required to stay at home for two weeks. With Belgium’s neighbour, France, also seeing a surge in coronavirus cases, will they be next? Gus Carter speaks to Katy Balls – who is on
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Douglas Ross has won the Scottish Conservatives leadership election – but can take on the SNP without risking a second independence referendum? Meanwhile, pressure is growing on the Tories to suspended a former minister accused of rape. Finally, a new report by a cross-party group of MPs suggests the failure to impose quarantine on travellers
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Pizza Express today announced that 1,100 jobs are at risk as they close 67 outlets. With the Chancellor’s furlough scheme winding up in November, should we expect more mass redundancies when the government support is cut? Gus Carter speaks to Kate Andrews and Katy Balls about the UK’s economic outlook, and also asks whether the
The report into Russian interference in British politics was finally published on Tuesday morning following a nine-month delay. Here are the five most interesting takeaways from the report: 1. The government ‘actively avoided’ investigating Russian interference During this morning’s press conference, intelligence and security committee member Stuart Hosie made the extraordinary claim that ‘no one in government knew if Russia
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Tory MPs are increasingly concerned about the impact of the two-metre rule, with No. 10 facing pressure to relax the policy to help save businesses. Gus Carter talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
