Politics Archives

Tuesday

22 June 2021

Covid restrictions are taking a terrible toll on our schoolchildren

In some senses, life in Britain is slowly returning to normal. Thousands of people gathered to watch Royal Ascot last week. Next week is Wimbledon, where 15,000 fans will pack into centre court to watch the finals. Meanwhile at Euro 2021, up to 65,000 people are expected to attend the tournament's climax at Wembley. It’s wonderful to see these sporting events back. However, it is deeply troubling that this ‘can do’ attitude doesn't seem to apply to events holding equivalent significance in children’s lives. The end of what has been a historically troubled school year is upon us.

Steerpike

Did Liz Truss snub Justin Welby?

Back in October, international trade secretary Liz Truss held the first meeting of the reconvened historic Board of Trade after decades in abeyance. The appointment of former Aussie PM Tony Abbott among others to this once great commercial champion prompted a paroxysm of fury from the usual suspects, with Truss's shadow Emily Thornberry dubbing him a 'Trump-worshipping misogynist.' But now it transpires that Abbott's appointment could have been the least of the Department of International Trade's worries. A Freedom of Information request has confirmed that the modern Board is a continuation of the late eighteenth century entity, established by the Order in Council of 1784.

Nick Tyrone

Why the Unite election matters

Next Thursday, the voters of Batley and Spen will go to their polling stations ostensibly to pick their next MP — but at the same time, could decide the ultimate fate of Keir Starmer. If Labour lose the by-election, his leadership will face a whole new level of trouble. Yet despite the importance of this contest, there is another one that is about to properly kick-off that is even more key to Labour’s future — the race to become the next general secretary of Unite. The current general secretary of the largest trade union in Great Britain, Len McCluskey, is rightfully infamous.

Andrew Tettenborn

Prepare for the EU’s ‘Hamilton moment’

The EU may boast a common currency like any other state (even if nearly a third of its 27 members do not use it). It may also have, through its regulatory jurisdiction over banks and financial services, a vast say in the running of the financial system throughout the bloc: powers at least comparable to those of a federal government such as that in Canada or Australia. But there is one thing the EU has not yet managed to get: a unified tax system. Any attempt seriously to impinge on national tax laws still requires unanimity among member states. This irks Euro-federalists. One reason is that it draws the centre into unseemly squabbles.

Krish Kandiah

The tragic plight of black children in care

A young black boy is living with me. He is my foster son. I know what he likes for breakfast, where his friends live and what makes him smile. I have watched in fear and then awe as he has taught himself skateboard tricks. I have taken him to the doctor, and on holiday. Now I have to tell him that he will be leaving to stay with another foster family. According to social workers, this family is better for him in the long run. But the stats suggest otherwise. He is more likely than most to face destitution, exploitation and incarceration Recently published figures from the government’s racial disparity unit are very concerning. Black children make up five per cent of the general population, but eight per cent of children in care.

Monday

21 June 2021

Isabel Hardman

Labour fails to split the Tories on planning

Labour's attempt to bring Tory divisions over planning reforms into the House of Commons flopped this evening, with no Conservatives at all supporting the party's opposition vay vote. They all abstained. Labour's failure to capitalise on the row following Chesham and Amersham doesn't mean the planning problem is going away It was a reasonably anodyne motion, calling on the government 'to protect the right of communities to object to individual planning applications'. But there weren't even that many Conservative MPs who turned up to the debate to be critical of the reforms as they are proposed at present. A smattering of them lambasted Labour for being opportunistic, or for overseeing inappropriate development at local government level.

Steerpike

Galloway gets the gang back together in Batley and Spen

The final fortnight of the Batley and Spen by-election has turned ugly up in West Yorkshire. Yesterday, the Mail on Sunday columnist Dan Hodges quoted an anonymous Labour official claiming that 'We're haemorrhaging votes among Muslim voters and the reason for that is what Keir has been doing on antisemitism... he challenged Corbyn on it and there's been a backlash among certain sections of the community.' Predictably such an incendiary quote sparked fury among Labour MPs with the hunt now on for the possible culprit. But as tensions rise in the seat and polls show a narrow six point lead, one familiar face seems all too happy to cause as much controversy as possible.

John Connolly

Andy Burnham turns the tables on Nicola Sturgeon

As leader of the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon has earned a reputation for rallying against what she argues is an arrogant Westminster elite which rides roughshod over Scots. It appears now though that the Scottish First Minister might be getting a taste of her own medicine. This week, she has ended up in a fierce war of words with the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, after the Scottish government unilaterally introduced a travel ban on Manchester and Salford. On Friday, Sturgeon announced without warning that travel between the two North West areas and Scotland would be forbidden from Sunday, due to rising concerns about the Indian (or Delta) variant. Travel had already been suspended between Scotland and Blackburn, Darwen and Bolton.

Ross Clark

Is Covid really to blame for HS2’s runaway costs?

Covid has doomed the public finances — not just because the cost of mitigating it has been high in itself but because it has normalised high public spending. When you have just allocated £37 billion to Test and Trace and spend £54 billion on the furlough scheme, a £106 billion high-speed railway to Manchester and Leeds looks relatively good value — at least taxpayers will have something lasting for their money. And who would even notice if the budget for that railway quietly crept up by a further £1.7 billion? That is exactly what has happened today. The construction costs of the first phase of the railway, from London to Birmingham, have apparently been increased by social distancing.

Brendan O’Neill

Oxford, ‘sensitivity readers’ and the trouble with safe spaces

The list of things that students must apparently be protected from grows longer every day. Controversial speakers, rude comedians, sombreros (banned at the University of East Anglia in 2015 because apparently it is racist for non-Mexicans to wear them). And now, their own student newspapers. Yes, the list of terrifying things that might offend students and ever so slightly dent their self-esteem — the horror! — now includes the student press. Officials in the Oxford Student Union are thinking of setting up a Student Consultancy of Sensitivity Readers to check the output of the university’s newspapers and make sure that no ‘insensitive material’ is published. It really is as chilling as it sounds.

Isabel Hardman

What’s the plan for planning reform?

13 min listen

With the Conservatives still taking stock after their loss in the recent by-election, it seems the governments ambitions for planning reform are now firmly under the microscope. 'When you speak to these MPs... they are absolutely convinced that planning reform is dead' - Katy Balls And on what would have been 'freedom day', there are reports that the powers at be don't think they'll have to extend restrictions again (we've heard that one before). 'If they don't hit July 19th they would have major political and I would suggest economic problems too because I think that would create a real loss of confidence about when the UK would ever re-open fully.' - James ForsythIsabel Hardman is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Steerpike

The best and worst of Cummings’s online Q&A

He was once best known for his expansive, rambling blog posts but now Dominic Cummings appears to have a new favourite form of medium. Boris Johnson's former chief special adviser announced a fortnight ago he was joining paid-for newsletter site Substack, launching his first incendiary post last Wednesday by sharing screenshots in which his former boss called health secretary Matt Hancock 'hopeless.' Today the Vote Leave supremo has returned to the site for an 'ask me anything' public Q&A session with his army of public subscribers who paid £100 a year for the privilege. Mr S is reading along with the rest of Westminster and will be providing you with a list of the highlights and lowlights from Cummings's virtual grill-athon.

Cass Pennant

Taking the knee isn’t the best way of showing black lives matter

As a black football fan who grew up going to matches in the seventies and eighties, I know more than most about the beautiful game’s troubles with racism. I can still remember my own club West Ham United being the first English Football League side to select three black players in their starting team on Easter Saturday 1972; and I can still recall, for two seasons in a row, a particular section of fans in the old west side stand ‘Sieg Heil' saluting during every home game. Nowadays, racism in football is less obvious but it still exists – and it needs to be called out. But I’m convinced that ‘taking the knee’ isn’t the way to do it.

Jonathan Sacerdoti

What’s the real reason Israel’s vaccines were rejected by Palestinians?

Sipping an iced coffee in a Tel Aviv café this week, it felt like it was 2018 again. Nobody wears a face mask, tables are close together and there’s no hand gel in sight. Very few people one meets even talk about Covid-19. Though a tiny increase in the occurrence of the Indian variant has been noted in recent days, Israel is rightly proud of its vaccination and mass immunity success. It is therefore surprising that Israel’s offer to advance over one million Pfizer vaccines to the Palestinians has been rejected by the Palestinian Authority only hours after they initially accepted the deal. Many countries are still grappling with the ethical dilemma of when to offer their own supply of vaccines abroad to help others; few are expecting such offers to be rejected.

Katy Balls

Johnson vs Sunak: The political battle of the autumn?

As ministers grow increasingly confident that they will be able to unlock by 19 July, Boris Johnson is facing a series of other political problems coming up the track. After the party lost the Chesham and Amersham by-election to the Liberal Democrats, Tory MPs with seats in the south are particularly restive. CCHQ has spent the weekend reaching out to these MPs in a bid to offer reassurance that the party has not forgotten about them. Yet the biggest problem Johnson faces is on spending. The spending review in the autumn will see all these various debates playing out Over the weekend, there have been a series of reports of a rift between the Prime Minister and his Chancellor on the Covid recovery. Figures in the Treasury are growing frustrated with a No.

Steerpike

Remainers declare war on Fox’s biscuits

Next Thursday is election day in the Batley and Spen by-election and with polls showing a six point Tory lead, it's no surprise CCHQ has been stepping up its ground game there. Boris Johnson was deployed on Friday to visit the constituency, taking in Batley's largest employer, Fox's biscuit factory, the home of kids' favourite party rings. Asked for his favourite biscuit, a suitably on message PM told local hacks: 'My favourite biscuit I had today was a Fox’s jam and cream I think it’s called. It was terrific' Unfortunately for Fox's the Prime Minister's visit has gone down less favourably on social media, with some of the most notorious Remainiac accounts using it as a chance to dunk on the popular biscuit manufacturer.

Tim Ogden

Inside the city under Russian siege

Had I been on the pier just a few days earlier, strolling past the penny arcades, I would have heard the distinctive whompf of Russian artillery fire. Ukrainian politicians are keen to turn the city of Mariupol (population 440,000) into a resort akin to those in Crimea and Turkey. Yet despite the pleasant climate, it feels more like Port Talbot than a subtropical holiday spot. The vast industrial limbs of the city’s deep water port, built by Tsar Alexander III in the 1880s, crawl across the horizon. By the time the Azov Sea reaches the town, its clear blue waters have been tinged a muddy brown. Ukraine’s most recent casualties came during the sudden build-up of Russian troops just a few miles away.

Sunday

20 June 2021

Fraser Nelson

Ministers need to start bracing Britain for the third wave

The third wave of Covid-19 may now be no more deadly than a typical wave of influenza (thanks to vaccines) but be in no doubt: the rise in cases is real, likely to continue for some time and may dwarf the second wave. It may still be safe to unlock against this backdrop, but this (very different) scenario would need properly explained, with self-isolation rules rewritten. The facts have changed, but the argument has not (yet) changed. We've been tracking the emergence of the India/Delta variant on The Spectator's data hub. The below is a summary of the likely direction of travel. It has taken the UK from having the lowest Covid case levels in Europe to having the highest in just a few weeks - with much more still to come.

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: ‘I do not identify with the Conservative party’, says John Bercow

John Bercow – ‘I do not identify with the Conservative party’ Last night, it was revealed that the former Commons Speaker John Bercow had not merely distanced himself from his former party, but had disowned it altogether. Interviewed by the Observer, he castigated the Conservative party as ‘reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic’. Bercow’s jump across the divide may come as no surprise to some, but in doing so he has become the first ex-Speaker to ever make such a move back into the political arena. Trevor Phillips spoke to Bercow, once an enthusiastic figure on the Tory right, about the reasons for his change of allegiance: https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1406523980979355655?

Steerpike

John Bercow joins Labour

John Bercow has once again broken with convention. The former House of Commons Speaker has defied three centuries of tradition by announcing a return to party politics post-speakership with an 'extraordinary broadside' against Boris Johnson. His reason for joining the Labour party – or making the move official, as Tory wags now quip – is primarily his disgust at the 'reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic' Conservative party and his support for the 'Labour brand' of 'equality, social justice and internationalism.' Quite a claim for a onetime committee secretary of the hard-right Monday Club who backed the 'assisted repatriation' of immigrants. https://twitter.com/pauljholmes/status/1406369369119248384?