Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
How will the UK respond to Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’? After the US President announced a batch of new tariffs yesterday, including a 10 per cent blanket levy on imports from the UK, ministers are discovering the pros and cons of the new normal. Supporters of Keir Starmer have taken comfort that the White House
In Westminster, politics is often a zero-sum game. There is a winner and a loser. But this week, two politicians from opposing sides found themselves being praised for the same thing: the Sentencing Council climbdown. After a long standoff with the government, the independent body stalled plans to bring in new rules on sentencing criminals
Labour MPs are still reeling from last week’s Spring Statement in which the Chancellor slashed welfare spending and made further cuts in a bid to calm both the markets and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Yet this week could prove even more seismic when it comes to the state of the public finances. On
Rachel Reeves wakes to a swathe of tricky front pages this morning after the Spring Statement in which the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) slashed next year’s growth forecasts. The Chancellor also announced extra welfare cuts in order to meet her fiscal rules. The verdict on the statement isn’t exactly positive, with Reeves facing criticism from
A few months ago, over a plate of bone marrow, a Tory adviser was considering how best to kneecap Labour. With the government’s working majority at 168, opposition debates could only go so far. Viral attack videos were hard to come by and CCHQ was depleted. Then the adviser hit upon something: a league table
Rachel Reeves has spent the morning touring the broadcast studios as she attempts to pitch roll for Wednesday’s Spring Statement. While this was never meant to be a big fiscal event, it has taken on a new significance as a result of the worsening public finances. The Chancellor is looking for billions in savings with
Keir Starmer is gearing up for a showdown with his party as the Prime Minister prepares to unveil his welfare reforms. On Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall will announce the details of the government’s plan to shake up the benefits system in a bid to reduce the ballooning welfare bill and get more
Labour MPs these days are experiencing whiplash. When in opposition, the party attacked the Tories’ proposed benefits cuts for ‘effectively turning on the poorest in our society’. Now, Keir Starmer plans to drive through £6 billion in welfare cuts of his own. Labour ministers previously spent much of their time scolding the government for showing
Well, that didn’t take long. Despite much talk of professionalisation, Nigel Farage’s latest political outfit is following the pattern of the parties that came before: infighting. On Friday night, the Reform party stripped one of its five MPs, Rupert Lowe, of the whip after referring him to the police. Lowe stands accused of workplace bullying
When Donald Trump addressed Congress this week, he declared he was ‘just getting started’. His words will not have soothed politicians in the UK, who are still playing catch-up with the President’s first 43 days. This week, Trump proved yet again that he is the biggest force in British politics. His blow-up with Volodymyr Zelensky
Donald Trump’s decision overnight to pause US military aid to Ukraine has sent politicians across the world into a tailspin. Here in the UK, political leaders are still grappling with the fallout from Friday’s disastrous meeting between the US president and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky. Keir Starmer has pitched himself as a ‘bridge’ between the two
There is only one story dominating the news this weekend following Volodymyr Zelensky’s disastrous meeting on Friday with the US President in the Oval office. After the Ukrainian president’s conversation with Donald Trump and JD Vance descended into a war of words, Zelensky’s trip to the White House was cut short and a planned minerals
Keir Starmer will have been pleased on Thursday after his meetings with Donald Trump managed to avoid any major gaffe or diplomatic incident. There was some relief when Trump chose not to repeat his past comment that Volodymyr Zelensky was a dictator. However, the same cannot be said of Friday’s meeting between Zelensky and the
Keir Starmer has lost another minister. Anneliese Dodds is stepping down as International Development Minister following No. 10’s decision to slash the foreign aid budget by almost half to pay for an increase in defence spending. That policy decision was announced earlier this week ahead of Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump at the White
The Trump charm offensive has begun. Keir Starmer has met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office as his first White House visit gets underway. What was initially billed as a short welcome before officially talks turned into a 30-minute question and answer session with the travelling press pack. It made for a wide-ranging discussion
Kemi Badenoch has finally announced a policy. Ahead of the Labour government’s Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill being debated in Parliament next week, the Tory leader has unveiled her party’s latest offering on immigration. The Conservatives say immigrants should only be allowed to apply for British citizenship after 15 years of being in the
In 1603, James VI managed to do what few thought possible. The self-styled first King of Great Britain succeeded in bringing the ‘auld enemies’ of Scotland and England under one monarch. That union of the crowns is a topic of chatter and inspiration for the British right these days. Admirers of Nigel Farage now talk
There’s reason for cheer at Reform HQ this morning: Nigel Farage’s party is leading Labour in a YouGov voting intention poll for the first time. According to the poll, Reform UK leads on 25 points with Labour in second place on 24 per cent and the Conservatives in third on 21 per cent. Meanwhile, the
How far will the Labour government’s European reset go? This is the question being asked in Westminster as Keir Starmer embarks on a Brussels charm offensive. On Sunday, the Prime Minister met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with the pair citing Donald Trump’s tariff war (launched over the weekend) as a reason why it’s a ‘good
When a prime minister leaves No. 10, they usually discover the phone soon stops ringing. But there is at least a brief window when they are more popular with colleagues than they were in office. Why? The resignation honours list. It is a way to curry favour, settle debts and win back friends. While the
