Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
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Today was the day for Rachel Reeves, as she delivered her big growth speech in Oxfordshire. This was not this government’s first attempt to pivot towards a more business-friendly, growth-generating narrative, but it was its best effort. The headline announcement is, of course, a third runway at Heathrow, throwing her support behind the ‘badly needed’
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Richard Hermer was one of the surprise announcements from Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet, and one of the most controversial since. Starmer’s old pal came with some notable baggage: his former clients include Sri Lankan refugees to the Chagos Islands and ex-Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, as well as British-Bangladeshi Isis bride Shamima Begum. In government,
It’s ‘growth week’ in government, as the Chancellor Rachel Reeves attempts to convince sceptical business leaders, bankers and voters that she has a plan to get the economy going. After a dismal start to the year in which bond market jitters saw the cost of government borrowing soar, Reeves is hoping to turn things around
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Starmer and Trump have finally spoken, with a 45 minute phone call taking place between the two leaders. The pair reportedly discussed the ceasefire in Gaza, and trade and the economy, with Starmer attempting to find common ground by talking up his plans for deregulation. Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about
Does Keir Starmer finally have cause for optimism over Donald Trump? It did not go unnoticed that the only Labour figure to bag an invite to the President’s inauguration last week was Maurice Glasman, the architect of Blue Labour. On returning from Washington DC, the Labour peer told PoliticsHome that the team around Trump is
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For the past fortnight, Canada’s Parliament has been empty. After Justin Trudeau resigned as Liberal leader, all the polls are pointing to the likelihood that Canada will become another example of the West’s shift to the right. This is partly due to the incumbency problem (and the ongoing internal struggles in the Liberal Party), but
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Reform MP Rupert Lowe has called for the death penalty to be re-established in the wake of the sentencing of the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana. With the Assisted Dying Bill still making its way through Parliament, it has been decades since the topic of death has been so hotly debated by MPs. Katy Balls speaks
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Rachael Maskell has been the MP for York Central since 2015. With over two decades experience working in the NHS, and as a trade unionist, she has championed causes on the left from improving healthcare to combating climate change. Yet, she has not been afraid to take what she says is an ‘evidenced approach’ to
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After last week’s bond market jitters, the Chancellor pledged to go ‘further and faster’ to improve the UK’s anaemic economic growth. It looks as though Rachel Reeves’ hunt for growth could come at the expense of Labour’s green agenda. Reeves is poised to make a series of announcements over the next month, starting with a
Keir Starmer surprised his colleagues during his first week in power when he appointed his old friend Richard Hermer KC as Attorney General. Emily Thornberry, the holder of the role in opposition, was banished to the backbenches. Senior Labour figures had sensed something was afoot. ‘Sue [Gray] was keeping those transition talks under lock and
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It’s Davos day two, and Rachel Reeves has touched down in Switzerland to continue her hunt for growth. On the agenda today was a fireside chat with the Business Secretary on ‘The Year Ahead for the UK’, and she will also be attending a series of meetings with business leaders. The party line is that
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At a press conference this morning, Keir Starmer moved quickly to announce a public inquiry into the Southport murders. This comes after Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to murdering three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift–themed dance class last year. The Prime Minister promised that ‘no stone’ will be ‘left unturned’ when it
After coming under criticism for not announcing a national inquiry over the grooming gangs scandal, Keir Starmer moved quickly on Monday to announce a public inquiry into the Southport murders. Following Axel Rudakubana’s guilty plea to the charge of murdering three girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last year, the
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The parties – and protests – have already kicked off, as Trump’s inauguration gets underway in Washington D.C. today. Katy Balls speaks to Michael Gove and Republicans Overseas UK’s Sarah Elliott about what we can expect from the first week of Trump’s second presidency, and how Keir Starmer will attempt to navigate the ‘special relationship’.
Donald Trump is back. Later today, Trump will once again take the oath of office and be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. A host of UK politicians are in Washington D. C. to watch the spectacle including Trump’s friend Nigel Farage, former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, shadow
It’s been a mixed week for Kemi Badenoch. The Tory leader can – alongside Elon Musk and Nigel Farage – claim a partial win after Labour announced an audit and inquiries into grooming gangs (though stopped short of a national one). She also set out the first part of her plan for restoring trust –
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There will be more inquiries into grooming gangs. After sustained pressure, the Home Secretary announced yesterday a series of local, government-backed inquiries, rather than a full public inquiry. Critics argue that this either doesn’t go far enough, or that Labour have been forced to go back on their word by certain figures on the right
Kemi Badenoch’s first big speech of 2024 was meant to seize the news agenda and tell the public that the Tory party is changing under her leadership. Yet in a sign of the difficulties opposition leaders have getting their messages out, Badenoch had to compete with the Labour government announcement of a ‘rapid national audit’
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Keir Starmer is in Ukraine today, on his first visit to Kyiv since becoming Prime Minister. And he came bearing gifts: a 100-year partnership agreement between the UK and Ukraine, covering nine ‘pillars’ from culture to science. It is hoped that the new pact will define the relationship between the two countries well beyond the
‘We’ve had enough of living in two-tier Britain,’ bellows Nigel Farage to cheers from an 800-strong crowd at Chester’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, where he is holding court. ‘There is not a single person on that Labour frontbench who’s ever worked in private business,’ the Reform leader declares. ‘So, is it any wonder they’re making such