Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
It’s been confirmed today that those aged 16 and 17 in the UK are on course to be offered Covid vaccines within weeks. The announcement came after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) unveiled new recommendations in favour of a first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for this age group — stating that it would ‘provide good
10 min listen
Boris Johnson is visiting Scotland today, but has declined an offer from Nicola Sturgeon for a meeting. Why doesn’t the PM want to meet with the First Minister, and, after a period of relative quiet, is independence back on the agenda for Sturgeon’s government? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth.
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Nicola Sturgeon said she expects that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation will soon be recommending that those aged 16 and above will be offered a vaccine. Is this an acceptance that vaccine certificates and Deliveroo discounts aren’t enough to reach herd immunity? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
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In a ConservativeHome poll on who should replace Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak came out on top. It comes as the Chancellor is reportedly pushing the PM to relax travel restrictions. Is this a problem for No. 11? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
The Westminster rumour mill is in overdrive today on the question of whether Rishi Sunak will be Boris Johnson’s successor in No. 10. It’s not that there’s a job vacancy. Instead, the first ConservativeHome poll on who Tory members would like to be the party’s next leader has put Sunak out on top, with International Trade
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Team GB has had a brilliant start in Tokyo – can the government learn lessons on how to pick and nurture talent? And looking to the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 – which foreign secretary Dominic Raab said he is ‘very unlikely’ to attend – should Britain boycott them? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth
Over the past week, the government have been upping the ante when it comes to calls for vaccine passports. Long gone are the days when ministers went out on the airwaves to declare that the UK was not a ‘papers please’ country. Instead, the Prime Minister has already declared that they will be needed to
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A row is brewing with France over the government’s decision to put the country on an ‘amber plus’ list, where restrictions on quarantine are tighter. But the reasoning for this has been ill-communicated by the government – is the measure worth the trouble? On the podcast, Katy Balls summarises the reasons for a backlash succinctly:
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Joanna Scanlan, an actress best known for her role of Terri in the The Thick of It, had a long and winding road before becoming a star of stage and screen. Born in Cheshire and moved to Wales aged three, she went to two convent schools before an Anglican school where she broke every possible
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With over two thirds of young people now vaccinated, does the messaging on how to reach the final third need to shift? And are the government putting the cart before the horse by hinting that vaccine passports are more about coercion than safety? And finally are we in for another turbulent exam season? James Forsyth
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Fully vaccinated travellers from the EU and US could be allowed to come into the Uk without quarantining, under plans being discussed by the government. Will this help businesses to recover, or is it an unnecessary change that risks seeing a repeat of the fiasco around India’s traffic light status back in April? Katy Balls
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On a visit to Glasgow today, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove went further than other politicians have in saying that those who refuse the vaccine for non-health reasons are ‘selfish’. It looks as if the government will continue pushing through its vaccine certificate plans, but what if it has to rely on Labour votes to
Boris Johnson hoped to mark his two year anniversary with a series of big domestic policy announcements as part of his plans for the post-Covid recovery. Instead, the Prime Minister had to spend it in self-isolation on a weekend in which a series of polls pointed to a dip in support for his government. The most striking
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University students could need to be double-vaccinated if they want to attend lectures or stay in halls, according to reports today. Young people have the lowest jab uptake, and these reports follow the announcement last week that clubbers will need a vaccine passport to enter venues from September. Will it work? James Forsyth speaks to
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It’s our first ‘freedom’ weekend, but it was only a few weeks ago when our own Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews clashed heads over the most sensible way to open up. Kate thought we should stick to the 21st of June, Fraser argued that the later opening date made sense. Now it’s time to see
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Daily cases have fallen again today, leading to cautious optimism that – perhaps – cases in this exit wave have peaked. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
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This week we’ll hear Katy Balls on the government’s dwindling COVID optimism (00:41), Douglas Murray’s prediction of a dull decade of arrested development (04:26) and finally Nigel Farndale of why we owe so much of what we love about the Olympics to the Nazis (12:50).
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Today the CBI gave a stern warning that the test and trace app is ‘closing down the economy’. Despite this, the government’s key workers list – promised on Monday – has still not been released. What’s the hold up, and what will this mean for Boris Johnson’s summer as MPs head home for recess? Cindy
When the news broke on Sunday morning that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak planned to skip self-isolation — availing themselves of a loophole — the reaction was as much disbelief as fury. Could the Prime Minister and Chancellor, even for a second, think it right to excuse themselves from the Test and Trace regime that
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On the 80th anniversary of Prime Minister’s Questions, viewers were treated to a distinctly lacklustre performance today. James Forsyth argues that Starmer’s questions are still too long; and proper scrutiny is not helped by the technical issues that accompanied the Prime Minister’s virtual contribution. Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
