Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson rejects lockdown (again)

Boris Johnson latest Covid press conference was slightly confusing. The Prime Minister spent nearly an hour saying nothing particularly new. He warned that there was ‘considerable pressure’ on the NHS at the moment and unveiled daily priority lateral flow testing for 100,000 essential workers so that key services, including healthcare, don’t seize up due to staff absences. But while he accepted that hospitals were feeling the heat, he also insisted that there was no data suggesting that a lockdown was necessary or helpful. Indeed, he argued:  ‘We have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again. We can keep our schools and our businesses open, and we can find a way to live with this virus.

Robert Peston

Boris’s plan to test key workers daily

The Prime Minister is attempting to lessen the threat posed by Omicron to essential services by requiring around 100,000 workers in specified industries to take daily Covid tests. In order to keep the lights on, maintain the supply of food and keep aeroplanes flying, these workers will have to test five days a week —  so that infections are caught as early as possible, to minimise spread of the virus to colleagues. A government source said the requirement to test daily would apply to those in civil, nuclear and other power generation, air traffic control, meat processing and food supply chains.

Patrick O’Flynn

The flaw in Starmer’s ‘patriotic’ pitch for power

If campaign messaging is too subtle then the chances are that the electorate won’t even notice it, so in his first speech of 2022 Keir Starmer kept things very simple. Standing in front of not one Union flag, but two, an immaculately turned-out Labour leader in notably perky form told an audience in Birmingham today: 'We are patriotic.' 'The Labour party is a deeply patriotic party rooted in the everyday concerns of working people,' he added. And he sought to embody this alleged spirit of patriotism in a 'Contract with Britain' which he said would be both 'solemn' and 'binding' and based on three core principles of security, prosperity and respect.

James Forsyth

New year new Keir?

11 min listen

Keir Starmer arrived in Birmingham today to deliver his agenda-setting speech, outlining Labour's vision for the future. The opposition leader had to tread the delicate path between offering a substantial, policy-based agenda whilst holding his cards close to his chest.'One of the challenges of opposition in the midterm is, they come up with new policy and then the government pinches it' - James Forsyth.Also on the podcast, James and Isabel discuss the reaction to the news that Tony Blair is to be awarded a knighthood. The former prime minister is a controversial choice for some, raking up to 500,000 signatures on a petition demanding to reverse the decision. For others, the question is: why has it taken this long?Cindy Yu is joined by Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Annabel Denham

How well is Brexit going?

Twelve months after a comprehensive trade deal was signed with the EU, where are we now? How has the UK performed? Even arch Remainer Andrew Adonis admitted last year that 'the UK government clearly did a better job than the EU in procuring vaccine supplies and putting in place urgent industrial production'. Yet so far we’ve had no financial or employment deregulation, we’ve signed up to a minimum corporation tax (like the EU), and we haven’t reformed our commitment to the European Court of Human Rights. If Brexit were a pupil, what would its 2021 report conclude? Has the UK proven itself a strong independent learner, or should it try harder?

Steerpike

School’s out for education mandarins

Ministers have been keen to bang the 'back to the office' drum for much of the past year. But not all in the civil service have been so keen to embrace that message, with Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, being a staunch defender of mandarins who work from home.  Walking down by the Department of Education on Great Smith Street this morning, Steerpike was struck again by how few civil servants seem to actually be in Whitehall, after a fire alarm forced the entire building to evacuate. A few disconsolate dozens stood around in huddles, with one complaining to Mr S of the 'ghost town' atmosphere of the ministry.

Steven Fielding

Will the real Keir Starmer stand up?

Keir Starmer begins 2022 looking like the best-placed Labour leader since the distant days of Tony Blair. That at least is what many opinion polls currently suggest. During December, the party moved into a sustained lead over the Conservatives, making Starmer more highly rated as a leader than Boris Johnson. But much of this has been the result of the public turning away from the government thanks to revelations about Number 10’s egregious flouting of its own Covid rules rather than them seeing Starmer’s leadership in significantly more positive terms. In some ways those who supported Johnson in 2019 have merely moved from active dislike to a basic uncertainty about Labour and its leader.

Monday

Ross Clark

The problem with ‘vaccine equity’

'A stain on our soul'. That was how Gordon Brown, in his latest missive on the subject, described the failure of the west to ensure that the whole world is vaccinated. In a previous attack on western policy — at the end of November, just as Omicron was emerging — he wrote of “hoarding” and 'vaccine nationalism'. Take Africa: it is certainly true that vaccination rates in many countries are very low. While the UK has managed to deliver 195 doses per 100 people, Nigeria has only managed seven, Ethiopia and Somalia nine, and Chad and South Sudan two. Can all this be blamed on the failure of western nations to donate vaccines?

Cindy Yu

Has England dodged lockdown?

15 min listen

The government has delayed making any announcements about further Covid restrictions in the face of Omicron for weeks. But with more data coming in every day about this new variant, seemingly showing it leads to a lot less hospitalisations than previous waves, will there even be any new measures at all? 'The science and the vaccines have created the situation where Britain doesn't have to lockdown.' - Fraser NelsonCindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth about the UK's response to Covid at the beginning of 2022.Subscribe to The Spectator's Evening Blend email, from Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls, for analysis of the day's political news and a summary of the best pieces from our website. Go to spectator.com/blend to sign up.

Steerpike

Siemens defends slave labour (again)

‘Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ Well it seems the tech bosses over at German giant Siemens have, unwittingly or not, neglected that iron rule of history, judging by the comments this week of its CEO Roland Busch on China. For over in Germany, the Green Party are a sounder bunch than their sandal-wearing socialist siblings found in Britain. And Berlin’s recently-elected Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has been urging a tougher stance against the communist regime in Beijing because of human rights violations. Unsurprisingly though, big business has not always been keen to cooperate, given the abundance of cheap labour found in China.

Robert Peston

Is Boris feeling lucky?

The political and economic new year is all about surging Covid and a surging cost of living. The list of what families in particular will contend with in the coming weeks is enough to induce tears of exasperation. Take schools for starters. Staff absences, largely caused by coronavirus, were 8 per cent at the end of last term. On the Department for Education's own projections, the Omicron surge means these absences will rise to between 9 per cent and 13 per cent at the beginning of this term, and it is not inconceivable the upward path in absences will peak at between 20 per cent and 25 per cent. The Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, is determined schools should remain open.

Steerpike

Police chief: safe standing leads to more cocaine

'History-making' is an all too often overused term when it comes to the Premier League. But yesterday was indeed something of a red letter day in English football. For Liverpool's away game at Chelsea marked the first time fans could watch from standing areas for nearly 30 years, since the Taylor Report in the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy. For football-lovers now have the option to sit or stand in certain grounds, with a seat as well as a barrier running between rows. Each attendee in the section is given a designated space. But despite months of planning, years of lobbying and widespread demand from fans and football bosses alike, not all are happy at the return of safe standing.

Isabel Hardman

Boris Johnson’s friendship problem

Boris Johnson is hoping that his MPs have calmed down over the Christmas break and that this term will be slightly less turbulent than the autumn. There is not, though, much evidence that this will be the case. Worries about the cost of living, ongoing Covid problems and the unwinding of various Tory party rows will mean that Johnson needs to be on top form to tackle this spring. There is not yet much evidence of that, either. Johnson is not the kind of man who makes new year’s resolutions to transform his character There is a consensus among Tory MPs that the Downing Street operation needs to change. There seems to be little love lost for his chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, who backbenchers complain doesn’t understand the party – or indeed how ministerial egos work.

Sunday

Steerpike

Guardian readers back JK Rowling after trans row

Oh dear. There seems to be something of an ongoing campaign against JK Rowling at the moment. The Harry Potter writer has dared to continue speaking out about her views on sex and gender in recent months, earning the ire of the Twitter mob in the process. Despite incidents – like her credit being downsized to being barely visible in the trailer for the forthcoming Fantastic Beasts sequel – the writer retains her popularity with fans, something the Guardian discovered when it asked its readers 'Tell us: who is your 2021 Person of the Year?' An online social media campaign swiftly ensured to put Rowling's name forward, with supporters writing on the submission form their reasons for why she ought to be 'Person of the Year.

Saturday

Simon Cook

Boosters give 88 per cent protection against hospitalisation

The good news picture continues to build for Omicron. Late on New Year’s Eve, the UK Health Security Agency released an update to their estimates for vaccine effectiveness, and for the first time they’ve been able to give a picture of how well vaccines protect against hospitalisation from Omicron. The figure is strong: 88 per cent. This bodes well for a country with the highest booster uptake in Europe (94 per cent of over-60s are now boosted) and the study should offer reassurance ahead of Monday’s decision on whether to impose more restrictions on England. First of all, this chart shows protection against symptomatic disease. Oxford/AstraZeneca is ineffective against Omicron for symptomatic infection.

Steerpike

Tories scent victory in anti-hunting campaign

It may be a new year but it’s the same old story in Westminster. As the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill winds its way through the legislative process, two opportunistic backbenchers have seized their chance to further their anti-hunting campaign. Professional Boris-basher Sir Roger Gale has today teamed up with Chagossian champion Henry Smith to put down an amendment which would ban animal based scents for hunting activities. The pair are two of the loudest advocates for animal welfare in the Commons, with both men being staunch critics of fox hunting. So far, so laudable. But, much like the government’s controversial Animal Sentience Bill, could this be another classic case of good intentions leading to bad policy?

Stephen Daisley

Tony Blair’s knighthood is long overdue

Arise Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Yes, that should give a fair few people a more punishing than usual New Year’s Day hangover. Britain’s most successful Labour leader, despised by all the worst aspects of the British character, honoured at last. Blair made three great mistakes as prime minister: he introduced devolution, he set a target for 50 per cent of young people to attend university, and he didn’t sack Gordon Brown. For some these will render him unworthy of his knighthood. For others it will be his decision to join the United States in overthrowing Saddam Hussein, who, it transpired, no longer had stockpiles of WMDs.

Steerpike

Watch: BBC’s cringe New Year monologue

Some accuse Britain of being a mawkishly sentimental nation. So what better rejoinder could be offered to that than the BBC's New Year's Eve fireworks display, when an army of drones spelled out the letters 'NHS' in the sky. As Big Ben struck midnight yesterday, actor Giles Terera recited a poem more twee than a tea commercial, eulogising the country's supposed 'achievements' in 2021. For nothing screams progress like a Hamilton actor performing a YouTube star's piece about COP26 on the Millennium Bridge.  Emphasising every word as if it were crafted by Shakespeare himself, Terera did his best with a structure that managed to rhyme 'vaccination' with 'nation' and Tom Daley's 'cardie' with 'camaraderie.

Friday

Steerpike

Gongs galore: the New Year’s Honours List

It's that time of year again. As sure as ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and Sadiq's fireworks farce, poring over the names of the newly-published Honours List is a time-honoured custom on New Year’s Day. Mr S got his embargoed copy and is delighted to regale his readers with news of the big-hitters collecting gongs in 2022. Tennis champ Emma Raducanu does indeed become the youngest MBE recipient ever, following her US Open triumph, with Olympian power couple Laura and Jason Kenny getting a damehood and knighthood apiece. Adam Peaty and Tom Daley receive OBEs for raising awareness of mental health and LGBT issues respectively as well as their gold medal winning achievements at Tokyo 2020.

Matthew Goodwin

Boris Johnson’s coalition of voters is falling apart

Boris Johnson enters the third year of his premiership in a much weaker position than when he started it. Alongside major rebellions inside his own party, humiliating by-election defeats and growing speculation across Westminster about who will succeed him, he has another problem: the coalition of voters who propelled him into Number 10 Downing Street is now rapidly falling apart. One reason why Johnson emerged with the biggest Conservative majority since Margaret Thatcher’s third and final majority in 1987 is because he united Leavers; those who have felt ignored, neglected and even held in contempt by much of the ruling class. While this process began under Theresa May, Johnson’s ‘Get Brexit Done’ strategy took it to its logical conclusion.