Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Tuesday

Steerpike

Greens select Kathleen Stock’s persecutor

It's not been a great new year for the Greens. From the north of Britain to the south, two examples in the past week haven't exactly shown the party at its best. First, the Scottish Sun revealed that Lorna Slater, the co-leader north of the border, told aides she didn't want to work every day of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow – despite billing it 'the last chance to save the world.' Slater, who has now been dubbed 'Lorna Slacker,' told government officials she didn't want them to arrange more than 'two things in one day', before being snapped on the first day of COP drinking in a pub at 5 p.m.  And now, 430 miles south of Edinburgh, another incident emerges down on the south coast.

Mark Galeotti

Britain’s fiery relationship with Russia could help Ukraine

Britain last night sent soldiers and hi-tech kit to bolster up Ukraine's defences amidst the threat of a Russian invasion. But as well as preparing for war, the UK is also opting for jaw jaw with the Kremlin. For some, this is grounds for apoplexy, as – in the midst of arguably the most dangerous European security crisis since the end of the Cold War – Defence Secretary Ben Wallace invites his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, to visit Britain. But he’s absolutely right to do so. No one is going to mistake Wallace for some closet Putinist, what the Germans call a Putinversteher, or ‘Putin understander.

Monday

Steerpike

Which MPs are expensing their licence fee?

It's not just the BBC's well-paid stars who didn't like hearing that the licence fee will be abolished. Labour MPs have been spitting feathers at Nadine Dorries's audacious move to phase out the existing system by 2028, with many standing up in the House of Commons today to proclaim their dismay. Lucy Powell, Dorries' opposite number, wailed that the government's 'cultural vandalism' risked 'destroying everything that is great about Britain.' As the creator of the Ed Stone, she'd know all about that. Powell doubled down on Twitter, claiming the abolition of the licence fee was 'the end of of the BBC as we know it'. Strong stuff and Powell's colleagues were quick to retweet in solidarity and express their admiration for the BBC.

Katy Balls

Did Johnson mislead the Commons?

Boris Johnson had hoped to move attention this week from parties — with a series of policy announcements planned as part of 'Operation Red Meat', his fightback plan. Nadine Dorries this afternoon told MPs in the Commons of plans to freeze the BBC licence fee for two years while No. 10 plan to bring the military in to tackle the channel crossings — a move that led MPs to congratulate the government on the Tory WhatsApp group. Yet as No. 10 waits for Sue Gray's report into Partygate, the situation is moving.

Steerpike

Is this the BBC’s best defence?

Proposals by Nadine Dorries to scrap the BBC licence fee have produced something of a meltdown over at Broadcasting House. The Culture Secretary wants to keep the licence fee flat at £159 a year until April 2024, after which it will rise in line with inflation until 2028 when it will be replaced by an as-yet-unknown funding model. The news has induced dozens of the Beeb's highly-paid stars into paroxysms of rage, not seen since the days of Brexit, as the Corporation's biggest names rush to defend their employer on Twitter. Mr S has a soft spot for Auntie but some of the arguments being mounted in its defence are simply laughable.

Robert Peston

Boris Johnson’s bid to save his own skin could easily backfire

Militarising the border with France and abolishing the BBC licence fee may seem an extreme way to win back estranged backbench MPs, but the Prime Minister is in dire straits.  The heaviest burden is therefore on Sue Gray, the second permanent secretary at the Cabinet Office. She has been given the unenviable task of providing an objective assessment of whether lockdown or other rules were broken when Downing Street partied over the past 18 months and who may have been to blame. Her task has been made all the harder over the past three days, following widespread briefing by allies of the PM that the culprits are civil servants and special advisers, and he is in effect an innocent victim.

Patrick O’Flynn

Boris can’t fix the migrant crisis

British prime ministers like to deploy the armed services in civilian life because doing so is one of the few levers they can pull that seems to be attached to something that makes an actual difference. While billions extra can be thrown at the NHS with no discernible change or poured into failing public services which go on to fail again in just the same way, calling in the British Army, Royal Air Force or Royal Navy means handing a problem over to men and women of action. The forces are goal-orientated and don’t partake in go-slows, strikes, inclusivity workshops or any of the myriad other things that sap public sector productivity. Their involvement in a problem usually brings forth helpful headlines that convey the idea a tricky nettle is being grasped.

Katy Balls

Will Operation Red Meat work?

10 min listen

Tory MPs have just returned from their constituencies after a weekend of persuading voters to support their party in the May local elections. It’s not just the public that is angry, the local associations are equally outraged at the scandals that have marred the first month of 2022. Those around Boris Johnson are planning 'Operation Red Meat' which is a policy tactic to save the Prime Minister's premiership. Nadine Dorries has announced her plans to cut the budget of the BBC. It has also been announced that the military is stepping in to try to stop migrants crossing the English Channel. But is it a little too late? ‘They’ve been telling us they are going to sort this [migrant crisis] out but for two years the problem has got worse' - James Forsyth.

Steerpike

Mike Penning’s fat fingers blunder

There's a fevered atmosphere within Parliament at present as MPs gather to debate Boris Johnson's future. The triennial game of 'pass the crown' is on again as revelations continue to emerge about what went on at Fabric No. 10 throughout the pandemic. Rumours abound as to whether Tory whips have posted sentries to watch Sir Graham Brady's office for any MPs submitting letters to call for a vote of confidence, with some handing them to braver colleagues to hand them in. Fortunately for nervy backbenchers, the 1922 committee rules were recently changed to allow letters to be sent via email. With tensions running high, any sign of MPs breaking ranks could cause the rest of the herd to stampede.

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson prepares to fight back. Will it work?

Tory MPs return from their constituencies today to Westminster after canvassing opinion about the ongoing partygate row. The good news for Boris Johnson is that only one of the party's MP has come out over the weekend to call for him to resign. Tim Loughton – the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham – said he had received extensive messages from constituents and had regretfully concluded that Johnson’s 'resignation is the only way to bring this whole unfortunate spectacle to an end'. Other MPs report the feedback from their voters over the weekend as 'bleak'. The final step of the plan to save Johnson has been dubbed 'Operation Red Meat'.

Rachel Johnson

In defence of my brother Boris

As you might have guessed, it hasn't been the calmest, quietest weeks in the Johnson family, and lots of broadcasters – the BBC among them – have asked me to contribute on events across Westminster, and, of course, the repercussions across the country. I didn't see much of the Prime Minister and his family during lockdown, but the times I did see him, he was completely compliant: he dotted every 'i', he crossed every 't'. If it was 'rule of six', there were six. And what I didn't see were all the things you've been reading about.  If he did go out into the garden – and he's told us he did – for him, that would have been work For example, at his birthday, it was me, my three brothers, Carrie and Wilf. That was six people.

Steerpike

Tory MPs attack Boris in local papers

It's easier than ever for Tory MPs to attack the PM. Whereas once media was the preserve of four channels and dominated by a handful of national papers, platforms like Twitter have made it quicker than ever before for Conservative backbenchers to issue stinging criticisms. And indeed many have made the most of such sites in recent weeks, as the pressure on Boris Johnson over partygate steadily increases. Tim Loughton became the sixth Tory MP to call for Johnson to go on Saturday, taking to Facebook to explain his decision. Some though prefer to express their criticisms through the more traditional mechanism of an MPs' weekly column in the local constituency newspaper. And, in a sign which should worry No.

Steerpike

Dominic Grieve returns to the frontline

Ping! An email lands in Steerpike's inbox. It's been a while since we heard from Dominic Grieve, the Francophile Beaconsfield barrister who quit the Tory party in October 2019. Since losing his seat by 15,000 votes at the last election, Grieve has largely contented himself with minor academic sinecures and occasional swipes at his old nemesis Boris Johnson. But now the president of the Franco-British society has returned to the fray, drafting a critical amendment to the government's flagship Policing, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill today. Grieve has — surprise, surprise — teamed up with the ardent Remainiacs over at Best for Britain, the anti-Johnson pressure group last seen trying to make a Brexit culture war out of Covid.

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Keir Starmer – I think Boris broke the law and lied about it

Keir Starmer – I think Boris broke the law and lied about it To preside over one lockdown party might be seen as a misfortune. Two begins to look like carelessness. Imagine then, the Prime Minister’s incredulity if even half of the alleged Downing Street parties are indeed found to have taken place by the ‘Partygate’ investigator-in-chief, Sue Gray. The leader of the opposition Keir Starmer joined Sophie Raworth this morning to discuss what seems to be the only story in town. Having called for Boris Johnson to resign last week, Sir Keir Starmer did not relent in his bid to keep up the pressure on the PM, arguing that he had known full well about ‘industrial scale partying’ taking place: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1482658157348466689?

Stephen Daisley

Why are Tories still loyal to Boris Johnson?

As an outsider looking in, it is curious to note just how loyal some remain to Boris Johnson. Not the payroll vote or even the backbenchers keeping their heads down, but the grassroots, the rank-and-file members and Tory voters both lifelong and more recent. Boris is a man who has never given loyalty and has no grounds to claim it from others. This is also a party storied for its ruthless despatching of even beloved leaders when they become electoral liabilities. So what gives? I have a couple of theories. One is that, closing in on 12 years in power, the party has grown tired and listless, no longer sure why it’s in government or to what end.

Saturday

Steerpike

The SNP’s struggles with statistics

To read some of the coverage of No. 10’s parties, you’d have thought Boris Johnson’s government was a uniquely mendacious, duplicitous and scandalous regime. Fortunately, just north of the border, Nicola Sturgeon’s administration is doing its bit to prove it’s every bit as secretive, flawed and contemptuous of standards. Today’s Scotsman on Saturday reveals that the Holyrood government broke Freedom of Information laws in its battle to keep its Covid modelling secret. Ministers were found to have unlawfully kept second wave death and case predictions hidden during a 16 month transparency battle with the newspaper, according to the Scottish Information Commissioner Daren Fitzhenry.

Katy Balls

Can Boris Johnson can make it past the May local elections?

Boris Johnson has gone into the weekend with his fate in the hands of Tory MPs. Since the Prime Minister apologised in the Commons chamber for attending a drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown, there has been a concerted effort to shore up his position. Members of the Cabinet have come out to defend him – even if the comments have been lukewarm at best – and Boris Johnson has started to frequent the MPs’ tearoom. As of Thursday, there was increased optimism that Sue Gray’s report into alleged Downing Street parties would be something Johnson could weather – with speculation building that he would then reshuffle his Downing Street team and attempt a reset to put the whole saga behind him.

Steerpike

Fresh fears over parliamentary police

It’s been a pretty dreadful week for security at the Palace of Westminster. First, there was the admission that a Chinese spy suspect, Christine Lee, had donated thousands of pounds to Barry Gardiner’s office where her son, Daniel Wilkes, was employed as a member of staff. His access to the parliamentary estate was not revoked until he resigned yesterday, with Wilkes still being listed as a member of Gardiner’s Microsoft Teams group as recently as last night. It comes four months after Met police officer Wayne Couzens was convicted for the murder of Sarah Everard, with Priti Patel announcing on Tuesday that a new inquiry will look at whether any 'red flags were missed' earlier in Couzens' career.

Katy Balls

Katy Balls, Nicholas Farrell, Lisse Garnett

23 min listen

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Katy Balls on who may take Boris Johnson’s place if he resigns. (00:49)Next, Nicholas Farrell on the potential return of Silvio Berlusconi. (06:21)And finally, And Lisse Garnett on what’s it like to date and influencer. (18:00)Produced and presented by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:spectator.