How the EU’s vaccine rhetoric could backfire
12 min listen
Another day, another dig from across the channel on the UK’s vaccine reliability. Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about how this rhetoric could backfire.
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.
Tuesday
There are serious gaps in the Domestic Abuse Bill
Is the government making the most of its landmark Domestic Abuse Bill? The legislation is currently at committee stage in the House of Lords, with peers discussing hundreds of amendments. Some have little chance of success, but others point to serious gaps in the Bill which could undermine its overall clout. One of the most
Britain’s wild places: where to escape the crowds this summer
If last year was the one where people started to notice the beauty of the wildlife right on the doorstep during lockdown, this should be the one where we start to get to know some of the best wild places in our own country, rather than presuming that all that is rare and interesting can
Monday
Why is Westminster unable to solve the cladding crisis?
The government was never going to come out well from Monday afternoon’s cladding debate in the House of Commons, given it has taken so long to address the crisis facing tens of thousands of leaseholders trapped in dangerous and unsellable flats or holding bills for tens of thousands of pounds. Secretary of State for Housing,
Where the vaccine debate goes next
10 min listen
The EU’s row with AstraZeneca came to a head on Friday, with the bloc publishing its contract with the pharmaceutical giant and introducing vaccine export controls. With the UK’s rollout continuing at pace, where will the vaccine debate go next? Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
Saturday
The cost of school closures
How can ministers stop one of the worst legacies of the pandemic being a generation of children left behind after a year out of the classroom? This week, when Boris Johnson confirmed 8 March as the earliest schools will return, he also announced money to help pupils catch up and a long-term plan for education.
Wednesday
Boris Johnson’s risky timeline for schools reopening
If there’s one lesson you’d think Boris Johnson might have learned from his handling of the pandemic so far, it would surely be that it is too risky to set a date by which things will start returning to normal. And yet this evening the Prime Minister found himself talking about a date for schools
Will Tory MPs accept a March return of schools?
16 min listen
In his statement to the Commons today, Boris Johnson suggested March 8 as a date for schools to return. This is earlier than some predictions but certainly later than many were expecting when schools were shut earlier this month. Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about what this tells us about when
PMQs: Starmer’s opposition is strangely muted
Boris Johnson had a very difficult backdrop to today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, having marked 100,000 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic last night. But, strangely, he didn’t have a particularly difficult session in the Commons. Sir Keir Starmer did, as you might expect, lead on the death toll, asking the Prime Minister repeatedly why he thought
Why Boris’s tree planting plans could damage the environment
Tree planting is one of those motherhood-and-apple pie policies that it’s quite hard to argue with. We have a climate crisis, and a dreadful decline in biodiversity, and more trees will help with that. They will restore our denuded landscape to something more natural, and they’re good for our mental health. Only a curmudgeon could
Tuesday
Backbench MPs are doing Labour’s job on school closures
Labour had an urgent question about schools reopening in the Commons this afternoon, but once again it wasn’t the Opposition that really increased pressure on the government but Conservative backbenchers. They are getting increasingly agitated by the prospect of classrooms remaining empty for many weeks longer than ministers had originally suggested, and were keen to
Did Boris Johnson do ‘everything he could’ to limit Covid deaths?
Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty and Simon Stevens held a very sombre press conference in Downing Street this evening to mark the awful milestone of more than 100,000 UK deaths in this pandemic. The Prime Minister offered his ‘deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one’, and promised that ‘when we have come through
Could the EU’s vaccines spat impact the UK’s supply?
10 min listen
In the last 24 hours, the EU has threatened to place export controls on vaccines manufactured in the EU; while a German paper has been corrected by Berlin for misreporting that the German government thought the Oxford-Astrazeneca jab was only eight per cent effective in over-65s. Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth
Monday
Why are ministers worried about borders now?
12 min listen
The government’s Covid-O group will be making a decision on the UK’s border restrictions imminently. On the podcast, Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about what is being considered and why now.
Thursday
When will Boris come clean to Tory MPs about the length of lockdown?
This evening’s Downing Street coronavirus press briefing showed that ministers are still focused on enforcement of existing restrictions, rather than introducing even tighter curbs. Home Secretary Priti Patel announced £800 fines for people attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of £6,400. Patel said the police would target
Tuesday
Why is Labour calling on Gavin Williamson to resign?
Why has Labour chosen today to call for Gavin Williamson to resign as Education Secretary? This morning, shadow education secretary Kate Green released a statement saying ‘it is time for Gavin Williamson to go’, arguing that his ‘record throughout this pandemic has been shambolic’ and ‘he has bounced from one crisis to another without learning
Are Tory sinosceptics the real opposition?
14 min listen
Today the Commons debates the ‘genocide amendment’ to the Trade Bill, which would allow judges to restrict the government’s ability to sign trade deals with countries deemed guilty of genocide. It’s a clear swipe at China and its treatment of the Uyghur minority, and on the podcast, Katy Balls discusses with James Forsyth and Isabel
Monday
A Universal Credit u-turn seems inevitable
Labour’s opposition day motion calling on the government not to drop the £20 uplift in Universal Credit has just passed in the Commons – because the government abstained on the vote. This was expected, but what was more of a surprise was that there was a vote at all: no one was there to oppose
Gavin Williamson licks his wounds in the Commons
Of all the government ministries grappling with the impact of the pandemic, the Department for Education has probably had the most torrid – and least impressive – time. There is currently no sign that things are improving, either: in the past week, ministers have had to deal with a highly politically-toxic row over the quality of
Why are the Tories split on universal credit?
12 min listen
The Commons will today see a debate over extending the universal credit uplift. While Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, wants the weekly increase to remain, Rishi Sunak wants to replace it with a one-off £500 payment. Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the Tory split.