Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman

Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.

How did the Tories not see the school concrete crisis coming?

How did they not see this coming? Normally that question is one of the laziest you can ask in Westminster: easy for pundits or opposition politicians to say with a confident flourish in hindsight when they hadn’t seen it coming beforehand, either. But in the case of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), everyone saw this

Why can’t NHS managers spot a serial killer?

No one who has paid any attention to NHS scandals over the past few decades should be at all surprised by the way in which managers at Lucy Letby’s hospital repeatedly dismissed concerns about her. When worried consultants produced considerable evidence to show that the nurse was present at every single event where a baby

Will the NHS learn from Letby’s murders?

Will the fallout from the Lucy Letby case really lead to lasting change in the NHS? The most prolific killer of babies was able to continue even as doctors raised concerns about her – to the extent that the consultants themselves were forced to apologise to her face for a ‘campaign’ of bullying, rather than

How was Lucy Letby able to operate in an NHS hospital?

How was Lucy Letby able to operate as a serial killer in an NHS hospital? Now that the verdicts in her trial are in – guilty on seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, not guilty on two attempted murder charges and the jury unable to reach verdicts on six further charges

Results day: is the worst of the pandemic over for students?

12 min listen

As A-level students receive their exam results, Cindy Yu speaks to Isabel Hardman and Mary Curnock Cook who is the former chief executive of UCAS. In a bid to curb recent grade inflation, fewer of the top results have been handed out to students who were the first year group to sit through pandemic style

Public sector pay pushes wage growth to record high

14 min listen

Natasha Feroze speaks to Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman about today’s wage growth figures which have reached a 22-year high due to public sector pay. Are these an accurate reflection of the economy? Also on the podcast, Isabel Hardman takes a look at NHS week – each day the government has announced new measures to

How the Tories plan to take the fight to Labour on the NHS

Brace yourselves for health week. After the rip-roaring success of the government’s ‘stop the boats’ week, you might forgive the NHS for looking a bit scared that now ministers have the health service on their media grid for the coming days. As with last week’s focus on illegal immigration, the government is kicking off with

Should Team Truss accept resignation honours?

12 min listen

Bibby Stockholm, the government’s first migrant barge opened this morning. Intended to house up to 500 migrants, will this plan to cut the costs of putting migrants up in hotels work? Also on the podcast, Natasha Feroze speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls about the Liz Truss honours list – who are the contenders?

Ulez isn’t the election gift Sunak wishes it was

Given everyone has won a prize in this round of by-elections, the three main party leaders have been feasting on their respective wins. Rishi Sunak has arguably had the best day by holding one seat when his party had briefed it would lose all three. He has used the win in Uxbridge to say that

Sunak returns to PMQs with a subpar performance

Everyone was very keen to attack Labour at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, particularly over Keir Starmer’s decision not to scrap the two-child benefit limit. Before the session, SNP staffers handed out ‘controls on family sizes’ mugs to journalists in the Commons press gallery, a reminder of Labour’s disastrous 2015 ‘controls on immigration’ mug. Then SNP

Isabel Hardman

Has Starmer become the villain?

15 min listen

Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and former Labour advisor John McTernan to discuss the ongoing Labour row over the child benefits limit. Reactions were muted during today’s shadow cabinet meeting, but is this a reflection of a looming reshuffle?  Produced by Natasha Feroze. 

Isabel Hardman

How the challenges to the Illegal Migration Bill were seen off

The Illegal Migration Bill is making its final crossing today to become an Act, after peers and MPs voted into the small hours on the final changes to the legislation. The House of Lords eventually dropped the amendments that they’d been holding out on, including the plan by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for

Will public sector pay rises stop the strikes?

That Rishi Sunak chose to announce his decision to give public sector workers a 5 to 7 per cent pay rise with a press conference tells you everything you need to know. There is no requirement for him to be anywhere near a pay announcement: indeed, it was chief secretary to the Treasury John Glen

Tories will be missing Sunak at PMQs

Are you tiring of the stand-in routine at Prime Minister’s Questions? Oliver Dowden seems to be. When he first started this now regular gig for Rishi Sunak, the Deputy Prime Minister was clearly delighted that he could deliver the lines he’s been coaching other prime ministers to say for years. Today, as he stood in

Tories fight over Illegal Migration Bill

The Illegal Migration Bill is back this afternoon for ‘ping pong’ – the final stage of its legislative passage where MPs and peers bat amendments between their respective chambers until a compromise is found. There were 20 such amendments for the government to deal with and there is still a chance that some key Conservatives

Chris Pincher’s suspension spells more trouble for Rishi Sunak

14 min listen

A year on from allegations that Chris Pincher groped two young men at the Carlton Club (allegations that ultimately triggered the downfall of Boris Johnson), Parliament’s standards watchdog has now found that Pincher brought the House into disrepute and recommended an eight-week suspension. On the podcast, Isabel Hardman says that this makes a by-election in

Isabel Hardman

Starmer commits to oracy classes for children

Keir Starmer is giving another speech on one of his five missions (remember them?) today. The Labour leader has a lower bar to meet with his five pledges than Rishi Sunak. While the Prime Minister has to achieve things like halving inflation by the end of the year, the Labour leader just has to stick