James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
12 min listen
It seems that the BBC is once again setting the news agenda – via tales of its own incompetence. The Corporation has spent days battling accusations that it aired a doctored clip of a speech by President Trump in a Panorama documentary back in January 2021. The White House Press Secretary has called the Beeb
26 min listen
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: James Heale considers the climate conundrum at the heart of British politics; Rebecca Reid explains why she’s given up polyamory; Damien Thompson recounts the classical music education from his school days; Margaret Mitchell asks what’s happened to Britain’s apples; and Julie Bindel marvels at the history of pizza. Produced and presented by James
A year ago, the Chancellor called her £38 billion tax rise a ‘one-and-done’ move. Now she looks set to rinse and repeat, with reports that a 2p increase in income tax is on the table. According to The Times, she has informed the Office for Budget Responsibility that a rise in personal taxation is one
Rachel Reeves billed her £38 billion in tax increases last year – the biggest tax-rising Budget since Black Wednesday – as a ‘one and done’ approach. As she prepares to deliver her second Budget in three weeks’ time, the Chancellor is set for a ‘rinse and repeat’ strategy, as she tries to wring similar sums from
12 min listen
With three weeks until the Budget, the main political parties have been setting out their economic thinking. Each faces the same bind: anaemic growth, fiscal constraints and uncomfortable exposure to the bond markets. The upshot is that there is less ‘clear blue water’ on the economy between Labour, the Conservatives and Reform. This has left
With three weeks until the Budget, the main political parties have been setting out their economic thinking. Each faces the same bind: anaemic growth, fiscal constraints and uncomfortable exposure to the bond markets. The upshot is that there is less ‘clear blue water’ on the economy between Labour, the Conservatives and Reform. Even Sir Mel
15 min listen
In a crowded field, today’s could have been the most bizarre PMQs ever. From David Lammy pronouncing ‘I am the Justice Secretary’ as if it were an affirmation to be chanted in the bathroom mirror, to the wild hair on display on both benches, it surely takes the mantle of parliament at its most ridiculous
Since returning to politics in May 2024, Nigel Farage has had one central goal: replacing the Conservatives as one of the two great parties of British politics. Having led in the polls since April, Reform UK has focused in recent weeks on the intellectual battle, by attracting bright thinkers on the centre-right. Danny Kruger MP
11 min listen
It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference today to, in her words, ‘set out the circumstances and the principles’ guiding her thinking on 26 November. Her speech followed a familiar pattern. First, there was the evisceration
After Nigel Farage’s address on Reform’s tax plans yesterday and Rachel Reeves’s effort to lay the groundwork for the Budget this morning, Kemi Badenoch completed the trifecta of economic speeches this lunchtime. Appearing at the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Conservative leader sought to wrestle back the limelight for her party, as pre-Budget speculation ramps
It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference today to, in her words, ‘set out the circumstances and the principles’ guiding her thinking on 26 November. One line in particular stood out: ‘If we are to build
15 min listen
With Reform leading in the polls, Nigel Farage is determined to ensure that nothing can impede its growth. This morning he sought to bolster his credibility on an area that the Tories think could be his Achilles heel: the economy. Reform’s £90 billion programme of tax cuts promised at the last election has been constantly
With Reform leading in the polls, Nigel Farage is determined to ensure that nothing can impede its growth. This morning he sought to bolster his credibility on an area that the Tories think could be his Achilles heel: the economy. Reform’s £90 billion programme of tax cuts promised at the last election has been constantly
He helped ‘break’ the Bank of England – but now Scott Bessent is helping to shape its future. As a young hedge-fund manager, he served in George Soros’s firm when it made $1 billion on Black Wednesday. But as Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary, he has overseen an explosion in cryptocurrencies this year which has left
14 min listen
There are reports that the OBR will downgrade Britain’s productivity growth forecasts, increasing the size of the black hole facing the Chancellor at the end of the month. This continues the spate of bad news for the Chancellor on the economy – but can we trust the figures? James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick
Six weeks after his defection from the Tories, Danny Kruger will tomorrow set out his thinking on how a Reform administration would function. The East Wiltshire MP is billed as the party’s ‘head of government’ unit and is charged with working out how to overhaul the British state. In a speech, he will set out
14 min listen
With the news that the Home Office has spent billions of taxpayers’ money on asylum hotels – and following the accidental release of the Epping sex offender – Tim Shipman and James Heale discuss this most shambolic of government departments. Is it fit for purpose? Can Shabana Mahmood fix the cursed department? And, if not,
14 min listen
We thought when we organised this podcast that there would just be the newly announced deputy Labour leader to discuss – Lucy Powell beat Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson by 87,407 votes to 73,536. But instead we also have evidence the Prime Minister may have lied to Parliament over the collapse of the China spy case,
Lucy Powell has won Labour’s deputy leadership election, beating her rival Bridget Phillipson. The result was announced this morning after a low-key, five-week contest. Having led in each of the various membership polls, Powell duly triumphed with 54 per cent of the vote to Phillipson’s 46 per cent. A worryingly low turnout of just 16
16 min listen
On the face of it, the Caerphilly by-election result is a disaster, a drubbing and a humiliation for Keir Starmer’s Labour party. A once secure bastion of the Welsh Labour heartlands fell without a squeak from the governing party. Their vote collapsed to a miserable 11 per cent, while Plaid Cymru won with 47 per
