Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Thursday

Steerpike

Test and Trace’s multimillion merchandise

Before the vaccine roll out, it's easy to forget now how much faith was placed in NHS Test and Trace. Announcing the new system in spring last year, the then Health Secretary Matt Hancock lauded contact tracing, claiming it would enable an NHS clinician and the person with the virus to work together 'like detectives' to identify the possible movements of the virus. Fifteen months on, such optimism has long gone as costs have spiralled. In June this year, the National Audit Office reported there were still significant weaknesses in the system, particularly around slow turnaround times for test results.

Freddy Gray

The Afghan withdrawal may not hurt Joe Biden

When was the only time America’s left-liberal media gave President Trump any real credit? The answer is 7 April 2017, after he threw a few fairly pointless missiles at Assad’s forces in Syria. ‘I think Donald Trump became the President of the United States last night,’ gushed Fareed Zakaria of CNN. The New York Times said Trump had shown ‘heart’. Brian Williams, an anchor on MSNBC, went so far as to quote Leonard Cohen: ‘I am guided by the beauty of our weapons.’ In recent days, the same outlets have for the first time started airing heated criticisms of President Biden over his decision to pull America’s troops out of Afghanistan and his stubborn insistence that he’s right to do so even as the Taliban regain control.

Katy Balls

How much trouble is Dominic Raab in?

When MPs returned to parliament on Wednesday to debate the situation in Afghanistan, it was Joe Biden who received the most criticism during the debate. But a close second in the firing line was the UK Foreign Secretary. After Dominic Raab waited until Sunday night to fly back from his holiday in Crete, opposition MPs were quick to go on the attack. When Raab asked Starmer what he would do differently give the complexity of the situation, the Labour leader replied: 'I wouldn't go on holiday when Kabul was falling'. The SNP's Ian Blackford also joined in – suggesting Raab ought to be ashamed of himself.

Lucy Morgan-Edwards

The Taliban’s lightning victory was no surprise

As the debacle in Kabul unfolds, in Washington and London the mud slinging about who is to blame is beginning. British Generals are blaming ‘spineless Johnson and Biden’ and the ex military MP, Tom Tugendhat, contends that we should have stayed put. That the spectacular ending of Afghanistan’s brief interlude in ‘Western Liberalism’ appears to have been such a surprise only underlines the utter delusion of the last twenty years. I worked for an aid agency in Kandahar at the height of the Taliban regime and remained in Afghanistan until just prior to the British deployment to Helmand.

Robert Clark

Afghanistan will once again become a breeding ground for terror

'Bin Laden is dead and al Qaeda is degraded in Afghanistan and it's time to end the forever war'. So said Joe Biden earlier this year when he announced his decision to pull US troops out of the country. The scenes of chaos that have followed that departure makes it vital that this myth – that western troops had already outstayed their welcome in Afghanistan – is not allowed to go unchallenged. The reality is rather different: Biden's decision to 'end' the war (or at least America's involvement in it) was a politically motivated one, which suited the president.

Stephen Daisley

The blind spot in the SNP’s ‘war on drink’

Scotland’s grim reputation for abnormally high drug fatalities has become embedded in the public consciousness over the past year. The fact that fake benzodiazepines (‘street valium’) can be procured for 50p a pill on the streets of Dundee and Glasgow is now common knowledge, as is Scotland’s unenviable place at the top of Europe’s drug deaths league table. However, belated attention to this crisis should not allow signs of another to slip below the radar. New figures from National Records of Scotland (NRS) show a 17 per cent surge in alcohol-specific deaths between 2019 and 2020, a rise from 1,020 to 1,190 in the space of 12 months, what NRS terms ‘a marked increase’.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

Did parliament’s Afghanistan debate matter?

Today’s Commons debate on Afghanistan was unusually and surprisingly good. It had the benefit of speeches from many MPs who had themselves served tours of duty in the country, or were veterans of military action elsewhere. It had the advantage of a former Prime Minister speaking with all the authority of someone who knows just how difficult these matters are, rather than the criticisms of backbenchers who had only run their own constituency office. It was a full day’s session operating under usual rules, rather than the hybrid parliament of the past year and a half. This meant that MPs could intervene on speeches, amid the normal hubbub of the Chamber. So what did we learn from the government in today’s session?

Isabel Hardman

Raab fails to reassure over Afghanistan

Dominic Raab’s speech closing the Commons debate on Afghanistan provided a neat summary of the government’s response to the crisis: defensive, sketchy on detail and irritated by valid criticism. The Foreign Secretary’s name had cropped up repeatedly today in the chamber as opposition MPs slammed his decision to stay on holiday as the Taliban surged back through Afghanistan. He did not address this directly (naturally) but instead paid tribute to the many speeches he had heard from across the House. None of them, as Lisa Nandy had just observed in her winding-up speech, was devoid of criticism for this government. Many were in fact full of it.

Steerpike

Watch: Top five blue-on-blue Tory MP attacks

After seven and a half hours, the House of Commons debate on Afghanistan has finally concluded. Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab will not have fond memories of the day. Keir Starmer, in front of a packed House of Commons for the first time in his leadership, delivered a respectable performance, replete with jabs at the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.But it will be the criticisms from Tory MPs that will have alarm bells ringing in No. 10 tonight, after a series of bruising condemnations delivered by one senior backbencher after another. Below Steerpike brings you the top five flashpoints of blue on blue attacks from today's debate in the House of Commons.

Katja Hoyer

The German Greens can’t make up their mind on Afghanistan

The situation in Afghanistan has suddenly dominated the debate in the middle of a sluggish German election campaign. Candidates to succeed Angela Merkel are having to declare their positions. Military intervention is out of the question without US backing. The question then becomes a repeat of the Syrian crisis: will Germany once again open its doors to potentially hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants? It’s an unequivocal ‘nein’ from the government. ‘There will not be another 2015’ came the strong response from the ruling coalition of Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU and the SPD. The Green party, currently in opposition but the second strongest party in most polls, are fudging the issue.

Charles Moore

Joe Biden’s shabby treatment of the Afghan army

Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?The President: No, it is not. Q. Why? The President: Because you — the Afghan troops have 300,000 well-equipped — as well-equipped as any army in the world — and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban. It is not inevitable… Q. Do you trust handing over the country to the Taliban? The President: No, I do not trust the Taliban. Q. So why are you handing the country over…? The President: It’s a — it’s a silly question. Do I trust the Taliban? No. But I trust the capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- — more competent in terms of conducting war.

Sam Leith

Tom Tugendhat’s speech was a masterclass in oratory

An ounce of emotion, it has been said, is worth a ton of fact. Tom Tugendhat’s remarkable speech to the Commons today was delivered with a current of emotion – pathos, as scholars of oratory call it – that was all the more electric for its restraint. His jaw clenched and trembled; his voice, now and again, seemed on the verge of faltering. As he said in his opening words: 'Like many veterans, this last week has been one that has seen me struggle through anger, and grief, and rage. The feeling of abandonment of not just a country but the sacrifice that my friends made. I’ve been to funerals from Poole to Dunblane. I’ve watched good men go into the earth, taking with them a part of me and a part of all of us.

Katy Balls

Have Tory backbenchers lost faith in Boris?

12 min listen

This morning was the first time that we saw the chamber of the House of Commons full since the pandemic began. MPs were called back from recess to discuss the worsening situation in Afghanistan. Emotions and tensions ran high on both sides, some directed at the government, some at the Prime Minister and some at the White House. Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman dissect the first half of today's debate.

Tom Tugendhat

Afghanistan: The error of withdrawal

Like many veterans, this last week has been one that has seen me struggle through anger, grief and rage. The feeling of abandonment, not just of a country but of the sacrifice that my friends made. I’ve been to funerals from Poole to Dunblane; I’ve watched good men go into the earth, taking with them a part of me and a part of us all. And this week has torn open those wounds, left them raw, left us all hurting. I know it’s not just soldiers. I know aid workers and diplomats who feel the same way. I know journalists who’ve been the witnesses to our country in its heroic effort to save people from the most horrific fates. This isn’t just about us. The mission in Afghanistan wasn’t a British mission, it was a Nato mission.

Douglas Murray

Why did the BBC bury this detail about a homophobic attack?

In the last decade or so, a sinister group of individuals from a range of organisations have spent their energies trying to rein in the free press. Specifically they try to stop the reporting of stories that might portray any follower of Islam in a negative light. So, for instance, when someone goes full 'Allahu Akbar' during an attack, the press is likely to report the fact and conclude that the attacker might have been inspired by a certain religion. At which point the army of anti-media mujahideen get to work to complain to Ofcom, Ipso and whatever other regulators they can find. In time, their work has an effect. If every story about Islam causes editors to receive a blizzard of complaints then soon they start to wonder whether it wouldn't be easier to cover some other story.

Steerpike

Finally, the Sussexes speak out on Afghanistan

If you're an Afghan translator sheltering in a Kabul compound, life must seem pretty grim. The Taliban's triumph has brought with it the restoration of sharia law – a throwback to when the movement ruled Afghanistan 20 years ago. The only difference between then and now seems to be their warriors' concerted PR push, with journalists on the ground subject to ceaseless Taliban press conferences. If Madison Avenue did coups, perhaps. But the night is darkest just before the dawn. And now, at last, hope is here: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally released a public statement.

Isabel Hardman

Tom Tugendhat has shown what the government lacks

Tom Tugendhat has just delivered what should be the defining speech of this recall of parliament. The Conservative chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee spoke in pin-drop silence about his own emotional response to the events in Afghanistan, about what he saw as the failure of world leaders, particularly President Biden, and about what must be done to help those desperate people who are trying to leave the country. He spoke from his own experience as someone who served both as a soldier and a civilian in Afghanistan. He said the events of the past week had 'torn open some of those wounds, left them raw and left us all hurting'. He recalled colleagues who had died, saying: 'I've watched good men go into the earth, taking with them a part of me and a part of us all.

Isabel Hardman

May and Starmer hold Boris’s feet to the fire over Afghanistan

Boris Johnson has had a very uncomfortable start to today's Commons debate on Afghanistan. Not only did he have a series of critical interventions from his own backbenchers when he was speaking, he then had to sit through an unusually powerful speech from Sir Keir Starmer. The Leader of the Opposition criticised the PM's 'careless leadership', slammed the Foreign Secretary's 'dereliction of duty' in remaining on holiday as the situation worsened, and pointed to an 'unforgivable' lack of planning over the 18 months following Donald Trump's deal with the Taliban.  This was swiftly followed by an equally furious Theresa May.

Katy Balls

Boris Johnson opens Afghanistan debate to frosty reception

Boris Johnson opened the debate on the situation in Afghanistan to a packed house. With virtual parliament rules now gone, MPs on both sides crammed into the Commons Chamber to take part in the debate. But the large audience didn't actually help the Prime Minister. In fact, it served to highlight the criticism the government is facing both from opposition politicians and its own MPs. Within minutes there had been critical interventions from Labour and Tory members.  Johnson began his statement by looking back on the 9/11 terror attacks, which saw the UK – along with other allies – join forces with the United States to enter Afghanistan. The Prime Minister said the aim was to stop further terror attacks being planned there and to stabilise Afghanistan.

Steerpike

Watch: Starmer’s holiday jibe at Raab

The chamber is packed in the Commons today for the first time in more than a year as MPs flock in to debate the collapse of Afghanistan.  While many hold doubts about the impact such a debate will have – with one backbencher confiding to Steerpike that it was nothing more than a chance for MPs to see their new offices in Richmond House – the exercise has nevertheless created several awkward moments for Boris Johnson and his Cabinet. Keir Starmer wasted no time in pointing out that Johnson's last visit to Afghanistan had been as Foreign Secretary three years ago, on the day of a politically inconvenient vote on Heathrow's third runway.