Politics Archives

Saturday

17 July 2021

Colin Pitchfork should die in jail

Colin Pitchfork, the child rapist and murderer who was sentenced to life in prison in 1988, will soon be a free man. On 31 November 1983, Lynda Mann was raped and strangled by Pitchfork in Leicestershire; on 31 July 1986, Dawn Ashworth was raped and strangled by him in a neighbouring village. Both girls were just 15. The pathologist who examined Dawn’s body, which had been hidden under branches in a field, said it showed signs of a 'brutal sexual assault'. Pitchfork, who left his baby son in his car asleep when he raped and murdered Lynda Manns, showed no sign of remorse when caught. I don't trust the police and probation service to correctly monitor Pitchfork Pitchfork had a history of violence against women.

Friday

16 July 2021

Freddy Gray

Is the War on Terror finally over?

13 min listen

American troops have all but left Afghanistan, months ahead of their 11 September deadline. The country looks ready to fall into a full-scale civil war, with the Taleban overrunning government forces and seeing off local pockets of resistance. Will Biden keep America out, and will he walk away from Iraq too? Freddy Gray speaks to Dominic Green.

Fraser Nelson

When will restrictions end for good?

21 min listen

In our last Coffee House Shots before the so called 'Freedom Day' on Monday, James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson share their thoughts on just how free it will feel, what's the right call on vaccine passports and would a further delay be the right thing to do rather then open and close again later?

Steerpike

Fact check: is Andy Burnham really not part of the ‘metropolitan elite’?

Andy Burnham is very much the flavour of the month in Labour circles at present. Having left Westminster in 2016 when it became clear he wasn't going to become leader any time soon, he has undergone something of a renaissance as mayor of Manchester. In this capacity he gets to govern an overwhelmingly left-leaning city and enjoy the tributes of cooing London based journalists who declare him the 'king of the north.' The contrast between Burnham and his struggling leader was most apparent in the aftermath of May's local elections; whereas the former was re-elected with 67 per cent of the vote and bagged himself a column in a London newspaper, the latter gave a dreadful pool clip and then disappeared for the following 48 hours.

Isabel Hardman

Is the NHS about to be privatised?

Is the NHS about to be privatised? That’s the charge from some campaigners as the Health and Care Bill starts its journey through parliament. Certain doctors, mainly on social media, are calling on MPs to scrap the Bill because they claim it will open up the NHS to more privatisation and allow private companies to skim profits off our healthcare system. It’s a big charge, albeit a familiar one, as it tends to pop up whenever there is legislation on the health service. But the strange thing is that it’s very hard to find the evidence for these social media claims in the actual legislation. In fact, these proposals are aimed at dampening much of the emphasis on competition introduced by Andrew Lansley’s controversial Health and Social Care Act in 2012.

Mary Dejevsky

Is London being ‘levelled down’ already?

In his ‘levelling up’ speech in Coventry this week, the Prime Minister insisted time and again that this was no ‘zero sum’ game. Improving the fortunes of the poorer parts of the country would not entail levelling richer parts of the country down, he said: ‘Levelling up is not a jam-spreading operation. It's not robbing Peter to pay Paul.... It's win-win.’ Well, maybe. But there was good cause for his defensiveness. One reason advanced for the Conservatives’ dramatic defeat in last month’s Chesham and Amersham by-election was apprehension that such places would have to help pay the bill for, say, regenerating Hartlepool.

James Forsyth

What is the point of Starmer’s listening tour?

14 min listen

After a year and a half of Zoom speeches held in empty rooms, opposition leader Keir Starmer is heading out on a listening tour to connect with voters. That may be all well and good, but is anyone listening to him? And even if they are, does he have anything worth saying? James Forsyth talks to Isabel Hardman about the struggling Labour leader.

Steerpike

Starmer’s youth wing backs Cuban dictatorship

Oh dear. Having squeaked home in the Batley by-election and with the summer recess less than a week away, Sir Keir Starmer probably thought he had made his way over the finish line of the parliamentary calendar. Unfortunately his party's youth wing have been able to get one last embarrassment in before MPs pack up for their summer hols, with Young Labour today proudly declaring their support for the Cuban dictatorship. The organisation, which represents Labour supporters between the age of 14 and 26, has given its 'unconditional solidarity to the Cubans in the struggle against imperialism,' blaming the recent protests against the country's leadership as a result of the 'imperialist attacks and economic warfare by the United States from the first days of its revolution.

Matthew Lynn

The EU’s Brexit bill doesn’t add up

A dozen hospitals. A hundred million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and a lot more of the Oxford one. Or even a few trips in one of Jeff Bezos’s new space rockets. Even with inflation, there is still plenty you can buy with an extra three to four billion pounds. In recent days, it has emerged there is a big gulf between what the European Union insists we owe under the terms of our departure agreement, and what the UK believes is due. In the EU’s accounts, it put the sum at £40.5 billion. The UK now says it will be £37.3 billion, or £3.2 billion less than the EU reckons. Despite this discrepancy, the EU continues to insist the UK should pay that full sum of money.

James Forsyth

Whitty’s lockdown warning will trouble Boris

In a Science Museum webinar yesterday, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, warned about the increasing number of people in hospital and said that, if in the next five to eight weeks 'things are not topping out, we do have to look again and see where we think things are going.' He added that 'we've still got 2,000 people in hospital and that number is increasing. If we double from 2,000 to 4,000 from 4,000 to 8,000...and so on, it doesn't take many doubling times until you're in very, very large numbers indeed.' If new restrictions are imposed as schools go back, the government will find itself in the worst political position it has been in yet during this pandemic The implication of these statements is that some restrictions could come back.

Wolfgang Münchau

Germany’s flood disaster could trigger a political upheaval

There is an interesting history to the politics of floods in Germany – and a possibility that history might be repeating itself. The official death toll in Germany has risen to 93 this morning, but 1300 people are still reported missing in the region of Ahrweiler, in western Germany. This is without a doubt the most extreme natural disaster that has hit Germany in living memory. We should not at this point draw any hasty conclusions about the political impact. It is possible that it will benefit the Greens because climate change is back on the political agenda. Historically, floods have benefited incumbent governments.

Steerpike

Seven scandals on Cressida Dick’s watch

Cressida Dick has tonight resigned as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Last July, Steerpike looked at her greatest hits... This week it emerged that Cressida Dick wants to continue running the Metropolitan Police, in spite of a string of recent scandals. Dick, who became the Met's first female commissioner in 2017 will see her contract expire next April, has reportedly indicated to a 'small number of political and policing figures' that she hopes to remain in office. Informal discussions are expected to begin next month, with Home Secretary Priti Patel making the appointment after considering recommendations from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Thursday

15 July 2021

Lara Prendergast

Nanny Boris: the PM’s alarming flight from liberalism

42 min listen

What are the pros and cons of vaccine passports?(00:33) Also on the podcast: Is it time for restaurant kitchens to ditch their toxic masculinity?(18:00) And finally... Cricket, what does the new tournament, the Hundred mean for the sport?(30:14)With: Fraser Nelson; Melanie Phillips; Olivia Potts; the chef and owner of Darjeeling Express, Asma Khan; Freddie Wilde, an analyst for Cricvis and legendary sports journalist Henry Blofeld.

Fraser Nelson

Is it up to the state to tackle obesity?

21 min listen

The government has been advised by Henry Dimbleby, founder of LEON food chain, to introduce a new tax on sugary and salty foods. While the Prime Minister has distanced himself away from the proposal, it has caused a lively debate in The Spectator's office. Tune in to hear Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Kate Andrews debate the limits of the state when it comes to our health and our diets; how much obesity is related to class; and whether it really is impossible to find vegetables in Tooting.

Nick Tyrone

Why are Labour MPs excusing Cuba’s authoritarian regime?

Thousands have taken to the streets in Cuba this week to protest against the authoritarian government that rules over them. The Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated Cuba’s already bad living conditions, and anger at the government’s handling of the situation reached a point where it could no longer be contained. Cuba’s one-party state has cracked down hard on the protesters, by beating, shooting and imprisoning its own citizens. Last night, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canal took a novel step and admitted that his government’s handling of the crisis had possibly not been as brilliant as his people should have expected. ‘We have to gain experience from the disturbances,’ he said during a televised address to his people.

Patrick O’Flynn

In defence of ‘levelling up’

Modern pragmatist political leaders are generally keen to reassure us that there is a unifying philosophy to be found running through their mish-mash of measures. In reality, perhaps they are keenest of all to reassure themselves of it. Tony Blair had the 'Third Way' and David Cameron the 'Big Society'. Boris Johnson has 'levelling-up'. But despite the largely hostile political class reviews being rolled out on Thursday in response to his speech on the latter, Johnson’s formulation is actually far more readily understandable than those of his predecessors. Many of you will vaguely recall that the Third Way was something to do with synthesising right-of-centre economics and left-of-centre social policy (and try selling that on the doorsteps on a wet Wednesday in Withernsea).

James Forsyth

The rise of the unwhippable Tories

When the government announced a Commons vote on its decision to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent of GNI to 0.5, the expectation was that the vote would be tight. In the end, the government won comfortably: it had a majority of 35. But despite their success, the whips would be wrong to be feeling triumphalist about this, I write in the magazine this week The usual whips’ line — if you keep your nose clean preferment might come your way — is ineffective Twenty-four Tories voted against the government, 14 of which were former ministers. The overwhelming majority of these are either uninterested in returning to ministerial office or are only interested in doing so on their terms.

Steerpike

Poll: public oppose Matt Hancock’s comeback

Tomorrow will mark three weeks since the Matt Hancock scandal broke. The man himself has been keeping a very low public profile since his resignation as Health Secretary on 26 June but already there is talk about an improbable return to government. Boris Johnson's letter accepting Hancock's resignation ended by claiming 'your contribution to public service is far from over' and the latter certainly seems to believe that, judging by a report in the Mail on Sunday which suggested he has appealed to current and former Ministers 'for advice on how to fight back.

Fraser Nelson

Has Boris got cold feet over ‘freedom day’?

A very strange ‘freedom day’ greets us on Monday. Legally, almost all restrictions will be lifted. But practically, ministers are deeply worried by the surge of the Indian variant and the rise of hospitalisations to around 600 a day — a figure that will probably double according to the Bristol University PCCF project (which we at The Spectator find to be the most reliable). Hence this massive fudge: the government abolishing the mask mandate but saying it ‘expects’ people to wear them in shops and crowded spaces nonetheless. The NHS will continue to mandate them in hospitals. Then perhaps the biggest surprise: the vaccine passport U-turn whereby companies are told it’s their social duty to ask people for proof of immunity or a negative test.

Christopher Snowdon

A salt and sugar tax doesn’t make much sense

What is the point of the National Food Strategy? When Henry Dimbleby was hired as Britain’s ‘food tsar’ several years ago, the idea was to develop some blue sky thinking and to have someone look at the issue with a fresh pair of eyes, but when he produced his first report last year, it contained the same generic, flat-pack, bone-headed, nanny-state recommendations that every other voice of the establishment had been calling for. So predictable were his conclusions that the government had already committed itself to implementing most of them by the time it was published and he resorted to moaning about Percy Pigs to give himself an angle. The second part of the strategy has now been published and it is, incredibly, even worse than the first.