Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Sunday

Bruce Anderson

The real reason Boris is unfit to be prime minister

Three years ago, imagine that you had wanted to write a film script about a prime minister and his travails. By some coincidence, your draft bore a close relationship to Boris Johnson’s character and recent developments. We know the outcome. You would have been laughed out of the producer’s office. ‘Some of this is quite amusing,’ you would have been told. ‘You clearly have a talent for slapstick. But you have none for verisimilitude. You are writing about the head of government of a serious country, at a time of great events and challenges, at home and abroad. And this is how you portray the PM and 10 Downing Street? Donnez-moi un break. How long a break? In the last few hours, Boris may have been granted a stay of execution.

Saturday

John Lloyd

The power of black conservatives

Black conservatism is a particular form of conservative politics. As a movement, it’s American, with strengthening echoes in the UK, in France and beyond. Some of its most prominent activists would be classed, and class themselves, as straight-down-the-line conservatives. Some, such as Glenn Loury, an economics professor at Brown University, confess to being, as Irving Kristol’s neoconservative quip has it, ‘liberals mugged by reality.’ All would say of themselves that they are Americans first, patriots, proud of being and glad to be so, dismissive of the radical critique of their country, and harsh on black personalities and protestors who they believe parade a status of subjugation which they have not earned.

Cindy Yu

Can Boris save his premiership?

12 min listen

Boris Johnson has come out fighting, but that doesn't mean he's in the clear. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the Prime Minister's efforts to keep himself inside No. 10.

Friday

Steven Fielding

Does Keir Starmer really want Boris Johnson to step down?

It's time for Boris Johnson to go, says Keir Starmer. Angela Rayner agrees: 'Fundamentally the British public are starting to see that Boris isn't fit to be Prime Minister'. Other members of the shadow cabinet think the same: the PM 'should do the decent thing and resign now,' says Labour Anneliese Dodds. But should they be careful for what they wish for? Whether Labour really wants Johnson to go – at least not until he has fatally damaged his party by its association with a leader many in the public now regard as a blatant liar and hypocrite – is moot.

Matthew Scott

Why the Met’s partygate redaction makes legal sense

Having said just days ago that they had no objection to Sue Gray’s report being published, the Met have now executed a screeching, tyre-burning U-turn and have asked that the parts of her report dealing with the most serious allegations – the only parts in which anyone has any interest – should not be published until they have completed their own investigation. No. 10 will be more than happy to comply. Nobody can be in any doubt about the staggering, bumbling ineptitude of its presentation, but the latest Met position does actually make some sense.

Cindy Yu

Will Sue Gray’s report be a whitewash?

10 min listen

Today the Metropolitan Police requested that Sue Gray's report makes 'minimal reference' to the events in her inquiry, whilst there is an ongoing police investigation. 'I think it puts the government in a difficult position. If you publish the report with minimal reference to the alleged parties being investigated by the police you’ll be accused of a whitewash report' - Katy Balls.As a consequence of the police investigation, there are also rumours that staffers in Whitehall might be fined over parties in the coming weeks. What will be the outcome of this? Will the culprits, who are likely to be junior staffers at No.10 dispute the fines?All to be discussed as Cindy Yu speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Steerpike

Nadine Dorries’s Twitter game backfires

The current impotence of the Prime Minister can be measured in many forms. But one of them is just how few Cabinet ministers are willing to go out and give Boris Johnson their full-throated support on various media platforms.  It’s telling that of the 30 or so ministers attending Cabinet, only two seem to be shouldering most of the responsibility: Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries. But while Mogg tends to focus his energies on traditional broadcasters, Dorries prefers taking to Twitter to proclaim her loyalty and decry the waverers. Unfortunately, the recently-appointed Culture Secretary appears to be embracing her social media brief a little too enthusiastically.

Sam Holmes

Martin Vander Weyer, Laurie Graham, Michael Mosbacher

15 min listen

On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Martin Vander Weyer on the crash of crypto. (00:47)Next, Laurie Graham on the difficulties of downsizing. (04:20)And finally, Michael Mosbacher on the history of the fur industry. (12:20)Produced and presented by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:spectator.

Steerpike

Has Cressida bailed out Boris?

‘Wait for Sue Gray’ was the ministerial mantra last week. And wait, we all have, as the days have ticked by with no sign of her report into the lockdown parties allegedly held at No. 10. But now, after a week of stasis which has had Westminster on tenterhooks, Cressida Dick and the Met police have dropped another bombshell on a quiet Friday morning. Dick revealed on Tuesday that her officers would be launching a criminal investigation into ‘partygate,’ having previously ignored all calls to do so. And today the Met has issued a fresh statement, saying they want ‘minimal reference’ in Gray’s report to the No.10 parties which they’re investigating.

Katy Balls

The Met calls for the redaction of Sue Gray’s report

After a week of speculation about the release of Sue Gray’s report into partygate, its publication has now been complicated further. This morning the Metropolitan police released a statement confirming that they have asked the government to make ‘minimal reference’ to the eight events they are now investigating after being passed evidence from the Cabinet Office that triggered a police investigation. A Met spokesman said:  Pushing the report into the long grass is not without risk for the Prime Minister ‘For the events the Met is investigating, we asked for minimal reference to be made in the Cabinet Office report.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Who authorised Pen Farthing’s animal rescue operation?

16 min listen

Whilst everyone waits for the Sue Gray report, all eyes turn to the next scandal: Pen Farthing's animal rescue operation out of Afghanistan. It has been revealed that Boris Johnson's parliamentary private secretary, Trudy Harrison contacted a jet hire company in an attempt to secure a plane to evacuate the pets. The PM has responded to these allegations saying they are 'total rhubarb' - but what does that mean?'You don’t seem to get the impression that Downing Street feels as if they are under pressure about this' - Katy BallsAlso on the podcast, is Boris Johnson planning a shake-up of his staff at No.10? And if so, who might go? Martin Reynolds? Dan Rosenfield?All to be discussed as Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Tucker Carlson

Read: Tucker Carlson on Ukraine, ethno-nationalism and M&Ms

This week, Tucker Carlson spoke to Freddy Gray on the latest episode of Spectator TV. You can watch their conversation here, or read it below: Freddy Gray: It’s a great honour to be joined by Tucker Carlson, who is the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, which is a show on Fox News, but it’s also available in the UK or through the Fox News app. We’re going to continue to be talking about Ukraine. And Tucker, I think it's fair to say you've encountered quite a lot of criticism in recent days because as far as I can figure out, you are the only mainstream host who is sceptical of the idea that President Biden needs to interfere militarily if Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine. And for that, you have been called a Russian spy and a Russian asset.

Freddy Gray

Tucker Carlson: Why should America go to war over Ukraine?

24 min listen

On Spectator TV this week Freddy Gray interviews the Fox News host Tucker Carlson on what role the US should play in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Here is the full unedited conversation. 'Western European nations — which I think we at this point can trust to have weapons — should defend themselves. I mean, that's the idea of the nation state!' - Tucker CarlsonWatch the full Spectator TV episode here: https://youtu.

Lara Prendergast

The phoney war

39 min listen

In this week’s episode: Will Putin invade Ukraine? For this week’s cover story, Owen Matthews argues that if Putin is going to invade Ukraine, he will do so later rather than sooner. He joins the podcast, along with Julius Strauss who reports on the mood in Odessa for this week’s magazine. (00:42)Also this week: Is Brexit working?This week marks the second anniversary of Brexit. But how successful has it been? Joining the podcast to answer that question is Lord Frost who was Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe from January 2020 until his resignation in December last year - and the journalist Ed West, who runs the Substack, Wrong Side of History (13:12)And finally: What is the allure of a classified ad?

Steerpike

BBC advertise for new Laura K

Roll up, roll up: the biggest prize in political journalism is up for grabs. Laura Kuenssberg is stepping down as BBC political editor after more than six-and-a-half years, which means a bun fight over who gets to replace her. Highly-rated internal candidates include Jon Sopel and Alex Forsyth, after the favourite, Kuenssberg's deputy Vicki Young, ruled herself out of the race. The job advert went live six hours ago so Mr S has been taking a dive into what the corporation wants from its political editor in 2022. Scoop-getting is clearly top of the bill, with the Beeb demanding 'a strong track record of breaking stories first' and 'an extensive contacts book at the most senior level of government.

Duncan Gardham

Has MI5 learned its lesson from the Manchester Arena bombing?

The Manchester Arena Inquiry has adjourned for three weeks as its chairman Sir John Saunders considers the last, and most secret, part of the evidence. It involves the critical issue of why Salman Abedi was investigated by MI5 and found to pose no risk, and why his case was never re-opened. At the centre of the Inquiry is a nugget of information which, MI5 says, cannot be trusted to the public, even five years after the attack. After Abedi's case was closed, two pieces of intelligence were received in the months before the bombing. These were assessed to be 'innocent activity' or 'non-terrorist criminality'.

Stephen Daisley

No one should celebrate the decline of America

Where is America? Like an old friend who hasn’t been in touch for years, you wonder if its silence is lost interest or if it just got too busy. America used to be everywhere, the dominant voice in world affairs, a desirable friend and a much-feared enemy. It intervened (and, yes, interfered) whenever it felt its interests or values were threatened. Often its involvement was unwanted and sometimes it didn’t improve matters, but there was a reliable solidity to it, a sturdiness born of military might, prosperity and national self-belief. It could be admired or reviled, but it had to be reckoned with. America shies away from it all now. Observe how Joe Biden alternates between stark warnings and unintelligible ramblings on the prospect of a ground war in Europe.

Steerpike

Boris’s Brexit bonanza

Tory whips are working overtime to win round waverers as Boris Johnson struggles to rescue his flailing premiership. Among the arguments being deployed to keep the beleaguered premier is that Brexit could be endangered – a claim which Johnson's longtime Remainer critics like Lords Heseltine and Adonis are only too keen to deploy too.  So, as Tory loyalists seek to remind their colleagues about Johnson's role in winning the referendum and getting Brexit over the line, what better occasion to do that than on the second anniversary of Britain leaving the EU? Next Monday will indeed mark two years since that faithful day and Mr S hears Whitehall's finest in the Cabinet Office are planning a series of eye-catching announcements to mark the occasion.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes

Life after Plan B: are we ready for the ‘new normal’?

Is Covid over? With Plan B restrictions finally lifted, there'll be no more working from home. Masks will no longer be required in shops. Covid passes will become a thing of the past. We can go back to normal permanently. Or can we? Things won't be the same as they were in 2019, but they will be close. We will live in a world where occasional booster jabs – and careful monitoring of those arriving in our country – are the only noticeable things separating life before and after the pandemic. This normality is available to us, if we want it. The problem is, I’m not totally certain everyone does. Lockdowns, masks, social distancing and limits on meetings were never intended to be an endpoint. They were a way of managing the pandemic until something better came along.

James Forsyth

The Tory party is split on one issue: Boris

‘I can’t put into words how awful this is’ remarks one Tory MP. The party is split not on the kind of policy issue that people can debate but on the question of one man: the Prime Minister. Neither side is finding this struggle rewarding. The Johnson loyalists feel that they spend all day trying to bail water out of the boat, only to be hit by another wave as yet another story breaks. Those who want Johnson gone fear that the police investigation may slow every-thing down and that the current mantra, ‘Wait for the Sue Gray report’, will simply morph into ‘Wait for the Met report’. In No. 10, there is still a mood of defiance.