Max Jeffery is The Spectator’s online commissioning editor. X: @MaxJeffery_
Ben Wallace thinks Ukraine needs to be careful. The West has used a whole load of political energy this week to try and bring Ukraine closer to Nato, and its government’s response has been a bit unthankful. ‘There is a slight word of caution here,’ Wallace told a gaggle of reporters this morning, on the
Afternoon is boom time in Quang Tri, Vietnam. Fifty years since the war here ended, and they’re still getting rid of America’s mess. Frags, flechettes, Bouncing Bettys and cluster bombs are scattered unexploded across the country, ready for a farmer to run them over or a child to pick them up. ‘Deminers’ work with metal
27 min listen
Next week is the NHS’s 75th birthday. Why is the health service in such a poor state? Are the Tories selling it off? And is there any hope for its future? Max Jeffery speaks to Kate Andrews and Isabel Hardman.
17 min listen
Matt Hancock gave evidence at the Covid inquiry today. The former health secretary said that ‘the doctrine was wrong’, care home preparation was ‘terrible’ and improper planning was an ‘absolute tragedy’. But why was it accepted that harsher lockdowns would’ve helped? Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Oakeshott and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Max Jeffery.
8 min listen
Boris Johnson’s team today suggested that they would be happy to hand over his WhatsApp messages from during the pandemic to help the Covid enquiry. Why has the civil service got itself in such a muddle over this, and why have the Tories failed to reform Whitehall? Max Jeffery speaks to James Heale and Kate
10 min listen
Rishi Sunak is in Hiroshima for the G7 summit. President Zelensky has said he’ll be making a surprise appearance, and Sunak will be meeting with President Modi on the sidelines. What does Sunak want from the trip? Max Jeffery speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman.
13 min listen
Keir Starmer promised in an interview with the Times today that as prime minister he would back the ‘builders not the blockers’. But is it all bluster? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.
15 min listen
Early results from the local elections are coming in. The Conservatives were expected to perform badly, and Labour to make gains, and that’s certainly happened. But, if Labour were to replicate these results in a general election, would they win? And are the Liberal Democrats the ones really doing well? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy
11 min listen
Rishi Sunak’s personal poll ratings are on the up, by why don’t the public love Keir Starmer? We talk through the latest polling. And Mark Spencer, now the farming minister, has been cleared by an investigation into whether he made Islamophobic investigations to fellow Tory MP Nus Ghani. Is the row over? Max Jeffery is
14 min listen
Channel crossings were down 17 per cent in the first three months of 2023, compared with 2022. Why? And a new poll of Tory members from Conservative Home shows Rishi Sunak jump from being the sixth least popular member of the cabinet in November, to being the sixth most popular member member today. Does it
13 min listen
Keir Starmer today seemed to change his party’s stance on self-identification for transgender people. Before, Starmer said Labour would update the Gender Recognition Act so transgender people could self-identify as whatever gender they wanted. Today, he said that ‘if you’re going to make reforms, you have to carry the public with you.’ What’s changed? Max
US diplomat Brett McGurk is being teased again. In 2008, he was in Iraq, negotiating with Nouri al-Maliki’s government the ‘Status of Forces Agreement’ that determined the withdrawal of American soldiers. At the same time, he was having an affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter. Emails between the pair were leaked a few years later when
19 min listen
This week: Max Jeffery reads his letter from Abu Dhabi where he visited the International Defence Exhibition (00:56), Emily Rhodes discusses the tyranny of World Book Day (05:59), and Daisy Dunn tells us about the mysterious world of the Minoans (10:22). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.
37 min listen
This week: Is Putin winning? In his cover piece for the magazine, historian and author Peter Frankopan says that Russia is reshaping the world in its favour by cultivating an anti-Western alliance of nations. He is joined by Ukrainian journalist – and author of The Spectator’s Ukraine In Focus newsletter – Svitlana Morenets, to discuss whether this
‘Yalla! Yalla! Yalla!’ shouts a Saudi man. There are arms dealers, fixers, military men and gun geeks; tanks, assault rifles, mortars and drones. Jets do aerobatics overhead and a band plays Maroon 5. A Chinese robot dog bangs into delegates. Welcome to the International Defence Exhibition in the United Arab Emirates. Business is booming. On
13 min listen
As it looks like the government is about to agree a new deal with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Rishi Sunak is in Belfast today meeting with the DUP. Will they accept a compromise? Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Hardman and Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. Produced by
11 min listen
New GDP figures show that the UK economy narrowly avoided recession at the end of 2022. Between the final quarter and the third quarter of last year, there was no change in the economy’s output. Is this really good news? And do GDP figures matter if people still feel poorer? Max Jeffery speaks to Kate
10 min listen
President Zelensky was in Westminster today to address Parliament. The Ukrainian leader came to London to ask MPs to give Ukraine fighter jets. Will Rishi Sunak agree to? Max Jeffery speaks to Svitlana Morenets and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Max Jeffery.
13 min listen
Rishi Sunak announced a reshuffle of his cabinet this morning. Among other changes, Greg Hands will become the Tory party chair, and Michelle Donelan will become the culture secretary. Why is Sunak making these changes just 18 months before an election? Will they make any real difference to how his government works? Max Jeffery speaks
12 min listen
Today, Rishi Sunak faced another round of questioning over the two ongoing Tory sleaze scandals. What is it about these stories that infuriate voters, and can the Prime Minister close the chapter on them as he promised to do? Max Jeffery talks to Katy Balls and pollster James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners. Produced by
