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.
A telling moment in today’s urgent question on the IMF’s economic outlook came when Angela Eagle pointed out the dearth of Tories who’d turned up to hear the Treasury defend its performance. She said: Despite the minister’s bluster, the benches opposite are empty. They haven’t come in in large numbers to defend the government’s economic,
Jeremy Hunt is giving a speech that is part of the government’s economic relaunch this morning. The Chancellor is going to argue that the ‘declinism’ narrative about Britain is wrong and that ‘the UK is poised to play a leading role in Europe and across the world on the growth sectors which will define this
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Over the last few days, Downing Street has been quietly distancing itself from Nadhim Zahawi, though seems unwilling to do anything until the investigation into Zahawi’s tax affairs finishes. Today, the Tory chairman’s plight was made worse by comments from Jim Harra, chief executive of HMRC. Cindy Yu discusses with Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.
Keir Starmer could have made Prime Minister’s Questions much more uncomfortable for Rishi Sunak, given the state of the Tory party. The Labour leader decided to focus his first three questions on the murder of Zara Aleena and the Probation Service failings that allowed her death to happen. Starmer listed the devastating findings of the
When Keir Starmer won the Labour leadership in 2020, following the party’s worst election defeat since 1935, many people shook him by the hand, said ‘good luck’ and then added darkly ‘you’re not going to do it in five years’. Just three years later, he has done ‘it’, to the extent that Labour is 20
Beth Matthews saved lives with her brutally honest, often shockingly graphic, posts about surviving a suicide attempt. She was an extraordinary young woman, whose blogs and social media threads often reached other unwell people at the darkest moments in their lives. She met the police officer who had held her hand after her own suicide
In the past few minutes, Lancashire Police has confirmed that Rishi Sunak has received a fixed penalty notice for sitting in a moving car without wearing a seatbelt. The Prime Minister filmed a video while touring the north west on Thursday which showed he had taken his seatbelt off, and a statement from the constabulary
How serious are the Conservatives about levelling up? Their MPs have reportedly been told not to use the phrase in their campaign literature, presumably on the basis that it is meaningless. Today, however, ministers are fanning out across the country to make a big fuss about the latest round of levelling up funding. The biggest problem
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In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak went heavy on accusations that Keir Starmer cannot be trusted, having flip-flopped on various policy positions throughout his time in politics – ‘he is not just for the free movement of people; he also has the free movement of principles’. On the podcast, Katy Balls discusses with Fraser
Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions saw Keir Starmer launch his strongest attack on Rishi Sunak so far. The topic was the same – the NHS – but the technique new. He opened by asking the Prime Minister to tell the Commons how long someone who called for an ambulance now would have to wait before it
Another day, another strike. Nurses are walking out today and tomorrow, with the Royal College of Nursing vowing to ‘keep going’ with industrial action until ministers compromise on pay demands. Ambulance workers will also announce further strike dates today. Barclay and colleagues are acutely aware that they aren’t winning in this war of attrition Strikes
The Commons was wearily furious as it responded to the David Carrick case this morning. Carrick yesterday admitted 49 sexual offences across more than two decades as a Metropolitan Police officer. The fury of MPs didn’t stop at the police. There was a great deal of frustration with ministers for being too slow to do
It would have been news if the Commons debate about the Scottish Gender Recognition Bill hadn’t turned ugly quickly. The questions and answers following Scottish Secretary Alister Jack’s statement about using Section 35 of the Scotland Act to stop the progress of that legislation were deeply uncomfortable. Jack insisted that he was merely focusing on
Rishi Sunak and Michelle Donelan will this afternoon bow to the inevitable and accept rebel changes to the Online Safety Bill. They are doing so after it became obvious that the government was going to lose a vote on the legislation, due to have its remaining stages in the Commons later today. The Online Safety
MPs and peers are going to spend the next few weeks in an almighty fight about strikes and protests. Today the Commons debates the second reading of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. Business Secretary Grant Shapps and Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner are going head-to-head on legislation requiring unions in key sectors to provide
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It’s looking like a busy week in Westminster. So busy in fact that prime minister Rishi Sunak will not be attending the annual Davos meeting, organised by the World Economic Forum. His opposite number Kier Starmer will be making the trip however, is this a shrewd move from Labour? Also on the podcast, amended plans
Rishi Sunak has a rebel problem: we already know that. He’s got factions of Tory MPs prepared to vote against the government on a range of issues, and the Prime Minister knows that on each issue, there are different rebels, rather than just one easy-to-identify awkward squad. Even when he is, as Katy explains in
For a politician who has set much store by being pretty boring, Keir Starmer seems to be enjoying his current provocative spell. His desire to shake up the ‘nonsense’ bureaucracy in the NHS makes the Sunday Telegraph splash and was a key feature of his interview this morning with Laura Kuenssberg. He argued that ‘the
The Princess of Wales is in hot water for some remarks she made while visiting the Open Door charity in Birkenhead, which helps teenagers with their mental health problems through arts and dance. She is reported to have said: ‘Talking therapies don’t work for some people, they’re not for everybody. It’s so important to have
Matilda played with her mother’s stethoscopes when she was a child. As a teenager, she pored over anatomy books. She devoted her early twenties to medical school and has been cramming for postgraduate exams well into her thirties. Last summer, she jacked it all in. Being a doctor ‘was turning me into a bad person,’
