Lucy Dunn is The Spectator's diary reporter. She is a qualified doctor from Glasgow.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government has made a lot of noise about the perilous state of the NHS, insisting the institution must ‘reform or die’. But while the rhetoric is right, what does Labour actually plan to do about it? There are ‘three shifts’, health minister Stephen Kinnock told Isabel Hardman at The Spectator’s ‘How to fix a
Junior doctors made headlines this week after they begrudgingly accepted the government’s pay deal. Two thirds of British Medical Association (BMA) members voted in favour of Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s offer, meaning medics across England will see a 22.3 per cent rise consolidated into their pay. Yet the move hasn’t entirely eased tensions between junior
Priti Patel’s Tory leadership launch in Westminster this afternoon was an upbeat affair, featuring mango lassi and a tonne of merchandise. With caps, tote bags and even festival-esque ‘tour’ date t-shirts on offer for enthusiastic supporters, today’s event was excitedly dubbed a ‘political Glastonbury’ by one of her team, already kitted out in pro-Priti gear.
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Elon Musk has it in for the Labour government, his latest tweet screenshotting a racist comment Labour MP Lauren Edwards made over a decade ago. On this episode, Lucy Dunn talks to Katy Balls and John McTernan about whether Big Tech can be regulated, and how DSIT Secretary Peter Kyle thinks the government should treat
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The last week has been dominated by rioting, and last night was expected to be a particularly explosive night. How did it measure up against expectations? Meanwhile, the Tory leadership race continues to chug along, with each of the six candidates providing their own take on Keir Starmer’s response to the violent disorder. Rishi Sunak
Scotland’s exam results day has been something of a disaster this year. An already stressful time for anxious pupils has been made worse after hundreds of students across the country received blank email templates instead of their grades – a gaffe which the Scottish Qualifications Authority is scrambling to fix – while a flailing Scottish
Robert Jenrick chose a swelteringly hot day in sunny Newark to stage his official leadership campaign launch. ‘I’m in politics for you,’ he told the packed-out room, filled with a mixed crowd of young families and veteran Tory supporters. ‘We can persuade young people to join the Conservatives again,’ the 42-year-old insisted. ‘We must be
When Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Southport on Tuesday to pay his respects for the victims of the stabbing tragedy, he was heckled by locals. ‘How many more children are going to die in our streets, Prime Minister?’ called one distraught resident, as another cried: ‘Get the truth out!’ Just hours after the PM left,
Just days after junior doctors in England were offered a cumulative pay rise of 22 per cent, general practitioners across the country have voted in favour of industrial action over funding. Now over 98 per cent of senior unionised GPs have voted to take industrial action, on a turnout of just under 70 per cent.
It’s not often that Irish republican party Sinn Féin hosts events in London, but the group included the UK capital in its post-election victory lap this week. Five of its seven MPs gathered in a dimly-lit hall in Hammersmith’s Irish Cultural Centre on Tuesday as the room filled with jubilant supporters, with many a Guinness
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The Conservatives need to choose a new leader, but first they need to agree on the process… Easier said than done. Lucy Dunn talks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls about the latest on the upcoming leadership race: what will the race look like, who are the the runners and riders, and how do they
King Charles has now finished taking part in the state opening of parliament for the first time as monarch. The purpose of today’s King’s Speech was to set out the government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session, the first since the general election. Sir Keir Starmer has put forward a big government programme that
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Keir Starmer is coming under pressure to commit to scrapping the two-child benefit cap, introduced in 2017 by the Conservatives. Plaid Cymru, the Greens, Nigel Farage, the SNP, and now some Labour backbenchers are all calling for its removal. Can Starmer hold the line? Elsewhere: in Wales, First Minister Vaughan Gething has resigned after four
It’s been a turbulent morning in Wales. First, four ministers from the Labour group quit over growing frustration at their scandal-ridden party leader Vaughan Gething. That had the intended effect. Gething has announced he will be stepping down as First Minister – making him the shortest-serving FM the country has seen, serving in the post
Nigel Farage: racism row canvasser is an ‘actor’ It’s been a tricky few days for Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage after one of his party’s canvassers was caught using a racial slur against the Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak hit back at the Reform man’s words, saying it ‘hurts and it makes me angry’. Yet today,
Will Scotland’s central belt turn red? The last eighteen months of SNP chaos, from police probes to iPad scandals, coupled with an intense distrust of the Westminster government post-pandemic have left many Scottish voters politically homeless. Sir Keir Starmer is predicted a historic win and Labour is hoping Scotland will help the party achieve it.
‘Is the biggest problem for the SNP at this election,’ a Times journalist quizzed Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney this morning, ‘a deficit of enthusiasm?’ The SNP leader was in Edinburgh, launching the party’s general election manifesto. It focused on public service improvement, eradication of child poverty, worker’s rights and, of course, Scottish independence. But enthusiasm for
The SNP has dominated Scotland since 2015. In an election held just months after the independence referendum, the country turned almost entirely yellow – with the exception of just three seats. Subsequent national polls have resulted in nothing more than modest change. The question this time is whether the SNP’s hold over Scotland is about
In the second-floor room of a building on Tufton Street, Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond delivered a press conference this afternoon to London journalists. An untouched tray of biscuits sat on a coffee table at the back, while the rest of the space was rather merch-light thanks to forgetful organisers not transporting more materials
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We have spoken a lot on the podcast this week about how a July election could be disastrous for the Conservatives, but what about the SNP? With arrests, investigations, resignations and a recent leadership change, it looks as though a snap election couldn’t come at a worse time for the Scottish nationalists. Katy Balls speaks
