Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Sunday

Theo Davies-Lewis

Interview: Rowan Williams on Wales, independence and the King Lear of Westminster

Rowan Williams is no stranger to politics. As Archbishop of Canterbury he was as comfortable criticising Tony Blair over Iraq as passing stern judgment on David Cameron’s austerity measures. Even in these pages, at the height of the global crisis in 2008, Williams was arguing that Marx could teach us a thing or two about financial markets. Still, in recent weeks it just might be that he has embarked one of his most controversial projects yet: a commission to help define Wales’ constitutional future in the UK. As the spectre of Scottish independence haunts Westminster and Welsh nationalism gains momentum, it is a timely mission. In October, Williams was unveiled as head of a Welsh government independent commission on the constitution, set up by Mark Drakeford.

Saturday

Steerpike

Sajid Javid’s underlings let the cat out the bag

Oh dear. The House of Commons is due to vote on the government's 'Plan B' Covid strategy on Tuesday, with speculation mounting about the scale of parliamentary opposition to the proposed vaccine passports. Mr S has been keeping track of the number of Tory rebels with the current figure standing at 65 MPs – potentially the biggest rebellion since the 2019 election. But with Labour having already announced that they will back the government, it seems inevitable the restrictions will pass, regardless of the Covid Research Group's manoeuverings. Still, amid talk of possible concessions, ministers continue to pay lip service to the notion that Parliament is being consulted on the issue.

Steerpike

Andrew Griffiths’s failed comeback

There's been much chaos and drama this week in Westminster but a hundred miles away from the capital, a far more serious scandal has been playing out in a Derby court. For yesterday, former Conservative minister Andrew Griffiths was found to have raped and physically abused his wife and successor as MP for Burton-upon-Trent, Kate Griffiths. A family court judge concluded the former MP pressurised his now-divorced wife into engaging in sexual activity by using 'coercive and controlling behaviour.'  The news comes three years after Griffiths had the whip withdrawn and was forced to resign as a minister after sending up to 2,000 sexually explicit texts in a three-week period to two of his female constituents.

Steerpike

Covid passport rebels: in their own words

On Tuesday, MPs will vote will be held on the government's new Covid restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant. Despite mounting public and parliamentary opposition, such measures are set to include vaccine passports for large gatherings, compulsory face masks in more places, and people being asked to work from home when they can though, er, they can still go to parties. Mr S has been monitoring the growing list of declared rebels to such plans, with more than 60 Tories now planning to vote against the so-called 'Plan B' measures. Below are some of the reasons why they are planning to do so in their own words: Dehenna Davison: 'I have long opposed vaccine passports, and so will vote against their introduction next week.

Andrew Tettenborn

Julian Assange and the deep flaw in our extradition laws

You could almost hear the rejoicing in Whitehall on Friday morning when the High Court cleared the way for Julian Assange to be extradited to the US, rejecting a plea that he was too mentally frail. The man has, after all, been a thorn in the administration’s side for 11 years: 18 months contesting his rendition to Sweden, followed by seven embarrassing years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, and then two-and-a-half years in Belmarsh fighting extradition to the US on espionage charges. But there is one disquieting feature. The offences he is charged with in the US are not ordinary charges of criminality, like the accusations he faced in Sweden, but are essentially state crimes: in this case espionage and the betrayal of US state secrets.

Patrick O’Flynn

Boris’s successor should be Rishi Sunak, not Liz Truss

Is the ball about to come loose at the back of the scrum? Though an imminent defenestration of Boris Johnson is still just about odds-against, the chances of him leading the Tories into the next election are certainly receding. Should a leadership contest be required as early as next year it is already clear who the two leading candidates would be. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak will face off against the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for the right to define yet another new Tory era. Truss is a total rookie in a great office of state, having been in post for just a few months. As someone yet to mark his second anniversary as Chancellor, Sunak is hardly a seasoned statesman either. But there is nobody around the Cabinet table who eclipses these two media performers.

Sam Holmes

Douglas Murray, Mary Wakefield, Peter Hitchens

22 min listen

On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Douglas Murray on the political fate of US vice president Kamala Harris. (00:58)Next, Mary Wakefield on her experience during storm Arwen and subsequent media coverage. (09:39)And finally, Peter Hitchens on his fears regarding the future of the city of Oxford. (15:58)Produced and presented by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: spectator.

Friday

Ross Clark

Should we be scared of the Omicron variant?

Why is the government so scared of the Omicron variant? So far, most of the evidence we have for transmissibility and virulence of Omicron is based on very limited data from South Africa, but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has now published its own preliminary study of the variant — the results of which will presumably have been available to ministers and scientific advisers prior to Wednesday’s decision to enact ‘Plan B’. They appear to show a variant which is more transmissible, more likely to evade vaccines and more likely to reinfect people who have previously had Covid. But there is a very big caveat: they are based on tiny numbers of Omicon cases.

Mary Dejevsky

Why Britain should not extradite Julian Assange

Julian Assange is facing extradition after the high court ruled there is no legal impediment to him facing espionage charges in the United States. The decision would seem to justify the fears that the WikiLeaks founder and his supporters have long harboured: that the UK has essentially served as a holding pen until such time as a legal mechanism could be found to enable his dispatch to the US.  Assange has always believed that the US would not stop until it had exacted retribution. His former lawyer and now fiancee, Stella Morris, said after the latest ruling that they would appeal, if possible, to the UK Supreme Court. The extradition case now returns to Westminster Magistrates’ Court where it began.

Freddy Gray

Ian Maxwell on the treatment of Ghislaine

24 min listen

The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell has gripped the world, a woman accused of truly horrendous crimes. But have we as a society thrown out the cardinal rule of innocent until proven guilty? Freddy Gray sits down with her brother Ian Maxwell who believes that her treatment pre-trial has been nothing short of torturous.

Michael Simmons

Sturgeon: all cases will be Omicron by Christmas

Nicola Sturgeon has said that Scotland should expect a ‘tsunami’ of Covid cases, so has said Christmas parties should be cancelled and household contacts of any positive case — Omicron or not — should isolate for ten days regardless of vaccination status. Given that Scotland and England have very similar Covid profiles (both in waves and vaccination) this is relevant to the whole of the UK. But what especially jumps out is the prediction from Scottish government modelling that Omicron will account for all Covid cases by Christmas. Her document: Omicron in Scotland — evidence paper released during Sturgeon’s TV appearance pointed to modelling to suggest that half of new cases could be Omicron by Monday.

Steerpike

Ian Maxwell: Ghislaine thinks Epstein was murdered

Away from the shenanigans of Westminster, the details of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ongoing trial have been filling our national newspapers this week. Images have been released of the British socialite cavorting with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at Balmoral, the Queen’s home in Scotland, with Maxwell facing allegations that she facilitated and participated in the sexual exploitation of girls for her longtime companion. In such circumstances, Steerpike was intrigued to hear that Ian Maxwell, Ghislaine’s brother, was appearing on The Spectator's Americano podcast to discuss the ongoing trial.

Steerpike

Whitehall hit by party cancellations

After a fraught few months, you'd have hoped the hard-pressed masters and mandarins of Whitehall could let their hair down with a good old Christmas bush. Unfortunately, in the wake of 'partygate' a wave of cancellations is now sweeping Westminster with No. 10 canning their planned shindig on Wednesday and Rishi Sunak now calling off his Treasury drinks for the lobby on Monday. Mr S hears that further cancellations are in the works, amid fears about the Omicron variant and growing questions about the growing number of secret soirees which went on last year in lockdown. How will our cheese and wine industries cope? The cancellations are all the more curious given, er, the Prime Minister's own advice is for Christmas parties to still go ahead.

Katy Balls

Is Boris in for a Christmas rebellion?

12 min listen

Boris Johnson's problems are not going away anytime soon and he is facing extreme pressure on several fronts going into the weekend. Hypocrisy charges from the media and the Labour Party, more scandal regarding the No. 10 flat refurbishment, and a massive Tory rebellion regarding his Plan B measures. Not to mention his recent announcement that it is time to have a serious conversation about vaccine mandates. 'This anger is diffuse across the parliamentary party. It isn't just one ideological faction that are upset with him.' - James ForsythKaty Balls breaks down the Prime Minister's many woes with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.

Steerpike

Diane Abbott shills for China

With No. 10 in crisis and his party opening up a six point lead in the polls, can anything ruin Keir Starmer's Christmas? Well the Socialist Campaign Group seem to be doing their damnedest, given their propensity for high-profile interventions to remind voters of the collection of cranks still adorning Labour's collection of cranks. The latest leftie lemming to pop out of the woodwork is Diane Abbot, who, since relinquishing the Shadow Home Affairs brief in April 2020, has spent the past eighteen months appearing on Zoom platforms alongside various racists and opponents of the West.

Steerpike

Claudia Webbe goes missing in action

Pity the poor people of Leicester East. Having finally rid themselves of the disgraced Keith Vaz in 2019, the long-standing Labour constituency now finds itself lumbered with convicted criminal Claudia Webbe. Despite being slapped with a suspended jail sentence, Webbe still clings on in the Commons, pending her appeal, after her barrister's pleas for the last judge to 'consider my client's suffering as a black woman' was, er, unsuccessful. If her appeal fails, a by-election will (finally) be triggered. Let's hope next time Labour pick someone who won't threaten others with acid – nor get caught in a Sunday Mirror drugs and escort sting... With all her appearances in court, it's no surprise that Webbe is being accused of neglecting her long-suffering constituents.

Kate Andrews

The economy was stagnant even before Plan B

The economy is tantalisingly close to returning to pre-pandemic levels, now just 0.5 per cent off recovery. But this last hurdle may be the most difficult to overcome. The economy was more or less at a standstill in October, with GDP climbing by a measly 0.1 per cent. Services output grew by 0.4 per cent, mostly thanks to an uptick in GPs heading back to their surgeries for face-to-face appointments. While services recovered to pre-pandemic levels in October, the underlying figures don’t look so rosy: production output fell 0.6 per cent, while construction took its biggest hit since the first lockdown, falling by almost 2 per cent. These are disappointing figures in their own right, made far worse by what we know is going to hit businesses in the weeks ahead.

Charles Holland

No, there is no Downing Street Christmas party loophole

Was 10 Downing Street really a rule-free zone when it came to the coronavirus regulations, the laws which have governed our lives to varying extents since the pandemic first erupted? Steven Barrett writing on Coffee House, says that it was: 'the regulations almost certainly never applied to No. 10 anyway,' he argues. I'm not convinced. Why? Because the so-called 'restrictions on gatherings' were restrictions that applied to individuals wherever they were, including on Crown land. It's true that there is such a thing as a 'Crown exemption rule'. In short, an Act of Parliament doesn't bind the Crown unless there is an express provision saying so or an obvious implication that it applies.

Cindy Yu

Was COP26 really worth crying about?

31 min listen

When the Glasgow climate jamboree ended after two weeks, COP26 President Alok Sharma broke down in tears and seemed to apologise for his failure to get countries like China and India on side. But now that the dust has settled from Glasgow's COP26 summit, but how will this one be remembered? There were protestors, no shows from state leaders and new commitments were made whilst backroom wrangling had mixed results.What are the key factors that make these summits a success? Given the mammoth task ahead of the countries that have committed to tacking climate change, is it realistic to expect real change?In this podcast, Cindy Yu is joined by seasoned professionals in climate change and sustainability.