James Heale is The Spectator’s political correspondent.
11 min listen
Liberal Democrat Conference wraps up today in Brighton. It could well be the happiest conference we visit this season with the party riding high after winning 72 seats at the election. The challenge that they face now is improving on that number, providing some opposition to the Labour party and protecting their new Surrey MPs
14 min listen
Last week, there was a surprise visitor to the Treasury: Gordon Brown. The former prime minister and chancellor secretly returned to his old digs for the first time since he left office 14 years ago. According to onlookers, Brown visited his old office as he caught up with the new chancellor – and his friend
10 min listen
Keir Starmer and David Lammy are in the Washington for a planned foreign policy summit with Joe Biden. They will principally be talking about a new deal regarding the use of UK long range missiles in Russia, a move which Putin has warned would constitute an escalation of the war and the formalisation of NATO’s
15 min listen
The Prime Minister has described the NHS as in ‘critical condition’ in a speech this morning after the release of Lord Darzi’s damning independent report. Lord Darzi had only nine weeks to conduct his investigation into –and assessment of – the National Health Service. But this truncated timeline does not appear to have led to
13 min listen
It’s been a busy day in Westminster today. Labour avoided a large scale rebellion on the winter fuel allowance and Mel Stride was eliminated from the Tory leadership race – not to mention the sale of a certain weekly politics magazine. Oscar Edmondson discusses with Katy Balls and James Heale. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
On paper, the result was a success for Labour. Despite excited reports, government whips managed to keep their party’s great winter fuel revolt down to 40-odd abstentions and a single rebel. Poor Jon Trickett was the only government MP to troop into the Opposition lobby; given the treatment meted out to the child benefit rebels,
14 min listen
Tomorrow MPs will vote on Rachel Reeves’ decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners who aren’t eligible for pension benefits. We spoke on this podcast on Friday about the pressure that Labour is under from all sides on this, but the temperature has increased over the weekend with the trade unions getting involved. What’s
14 min listen
Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls join James Heale to look ahead to a crucial week for Labour. On Tuesday, Parliament will hold a binding vote on the changes to winter fuel allowance – how are Labour expected to deal with this? Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, and husband of the current home secretary Yvette Cooper,
It’s not just the Tories facing a big vote next week. Across the House of Commons, MPs will be choosing which of their number should chair the 26 select committees up for grabs. Every MP gets a vote but only backbenchers can stand: nominations close on Monday with voting done on Wednesday. Positions are allocated
39 min listen
This week: Miliband’s empty energy promises. Ed Miliband has written a public letter confirming that Labour plans to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030. The problem with this, though, is that he doesn’t have the first idea about how to do it. The grid doesn’t have the capacity to transmit the required energy, Ross Clark
Few people had heard of Zia Yusuf before he spoke at Reform’s final campaign rally in Birmingham. But after a stirring speech to 4,000 supporters, he became one of the election’s overnight stars. ‘This boy’s got real talent,’ admitted Nigel Farage afterwards. He is now emerging as one of the more intriguing figures in the
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The first round of the Conservative leadership race has seen Dame Priti Patel eliminated with the fewest votes. Robert Jenrick came out on top but, with a second vote taking place on Tuesday, where could Patel’s supporters go? Who could get eliminated next? Will ‘Melmentum’ build? Oscar Edmondson speaks to Katy Balls and James Heale.
16 min listen
Seven years after the tragedy, the inquiry into the Grenfell fire has published its report. What did we learn from it and who bears responsibility? And, with thousands of buildings still believed to contain flammable cladding, what should happen next? With such important lessons to be learnt, why do British inquiries take so long? Also
This evening Tory MPs filed into parliament’s Committee Room 14 to hear from the six hopefuls aspiring to lead their party. Each candidate had up to ten minutes to make a final pitch to colleagues, followed by questions. Robert Jenrick went first, followed by Kemi Badenoch, Tom Tugendhat, Mel Stride, Priti Patel and, finally, James
Tom Tugendhat finally launched his leadership campaign today with a big speech in Whitehall – the third he has made in as many weeks. After previous efforts on the riots and public sector reform, today was Tugendhat’s last chance to hammer home his main message before the first ballot of MPs tomorrow: I’m a proper
16 min listen
Keir Starmer has been in Germany today visiting Chancellor Olaf Scholz, before heading to Paris to meet President Macron. This is part of his plan to ‘reset’ relations with Europe – but how close does he want to get to the EU? And, given Brexit wounds are still raw, what’s achievable? James Heale is joined
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Winter is coming. That’s the message from Keir Starmer’s set-piece speech this morning from the No. 10 rose garden. After a tricky few weeks for the new Prime Minister on cronyism claims and anxiety about cuts to the winter fuel allowance, Starmer and his team attempted seize the agenda with a speech looking ahead to
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As the Democratic National Convention draws to a close in Chicago this week, Patrick Gibbons is joined by James Heale and Gerry Baker, editor at large of the Wall Street Journal to try to make sense of what a Harris presidency could mean for the UK. Is she continuity Biden? Do we really know what
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Ofgem, the energy regulator, has announced that the price cap will rise by 10% in October. Is this bad news for Labour, or will they be successful in framing it as part of their economic inheritance from the Conservatives? And could this strengthen opposition to the proposed change to winter fuel allowance? Patrick Gibbons speaks
11 min listen
Today’s GCSE results show an exams system that has largely returned to pre-Covid norms. It has also given the government a chance to talk about skills and apprenticeships – something that Bridget Phillipson’s predecessor as education secretary was also keen on. Cindy Yu talks to James Heale and Amanda Spielman, former chair of Ofqual and
