Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Monday

John Connolly

Is Boris right to delay the lockdown easing?

It now seems likely that freedom day is going to involve rather less freedom than everyone had hoped. Later today, Boris Johnson is expected to announce that the 21 June easing of lockdown will be delayed by up to four weeks, until every adult has been offered at least one vaccine by the end of next month. The delays mean that nightclubs will stay closed and work from home guidance will remain in place – although the 30-person limit on wedding guests is expected to be lifted and there will be more outdoor events allowed to take place. The abrupt change to the lockdown easing plan comes as the Indian (or Delta) variant sweeps across Britain.

Sunday

Steerpike

Watch: Andrew Neil’s opening GB News manifesto

At long last GB News is here. After months of speculation and excitement, the first national TV channel to launch in 21 years finally launched at 8 p.m. on Sunday night with chairman Andrew Neil appropriately being the first to speak on air.  He subsequently introduced various GB News stars ranging from archaeologist Neil Oliver and columnist Mercy Muroki to the unabashed 'naughty corner' duo of former BBC anchor Simon McCoy and ex Brexit party MEP Alexandra Phillips. Declaring 'we are proud to be British' Neil told viewers: It's 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June the thirteenth, 2021.

Rod Liddle

Euros 2021: Football’s coming home

Match 3: England 1 (MBE 57) Croatia 0  I have no animus against Croatia. Catholic Slavs who think they’re Austrians, basically: not a bad mix. Many of my friends, the Spiked lot – ie former Revolutionary Communist Party – turn puce if you mention the name of the country. My mate Mick Hume, for example, wouldn’t dream of going there on holiday. Ustase! Nazi collaborators! Ah live and let live, Mick. Look at Luka Modric’s mournful little face – how can you not love him? And their islands. I’ve had such wonderful meals on islands named by an imbecile: Krk, Rab, Pag.  Horseface left Jack Grealish out but otherwise picked a reasonable side.

Kate Andrews

The risky business of delaying 21 June

It seems almost certain that ‘freedom day’ will be delayed. So now we consider the details. On the latest episode of Coffee House Shots, we debate the implications of extending restrictions and what that would mean – not just for the summer – but for the rest of the year. Fraser Nelson makes the case for caution on the podcast (and on Coffee House here), arguing that the Delta variant has changed the equation and the PM should be given the benefit of the doubt, as well as a little more time to get a 'reasonable grasp of the risks and trade-offs.' There was broad agreement between us that the issue isn’t so much the date itself.

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson’s Northern Ireland problem

In an at times grouchy press conference, Boris Johnson tried to calm the row over the Northern Ireland protocol. The Prime Minister declined to comment on what Emmanuel Macron is supposed to have said about Northern Ireland’s position in the UK. He said that the whole issue of the protocol had taken up a ‘vestigial’ amount of time at the summit. (Interestingly, Mujtaba Rahman of Eurasia Group, who is particularly well connected in EU capitals, says that he has been told it took up two-thirds of the conversations in the margins of the summit).  Instead, Johnson wanted to emphasise the vaccine commitments that the summit had made and how these would help ‘demonstrate the benefits of democracy and freedom and human rights’ to the rest of the world.

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: ‘Northern Ireland deserves more respect’

Not all is harmonious in Carbis Bay this morning. Amid the sun and sea air, a row has erupted between Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron reportedly suggested to the Prime Minister that Northern Ireland was not part of the same country as the rest of the UK, as part of a heated discussion about sausages, which have become symbolic of the trading difficulties imposed by the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Foreign Secretary, who is also in attendance at the G7 summit, spoke to Andrew Marr about the incident: https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1404009290768265219?

Theresa May

Why is the government so reluctant to give freedom back to citizens?

One year on, we are no further forward. We have a devastated industry, jobs lost and global Britain shut for business. We have gone backwards. We now have more than 50 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, yet we are more restricted on travel than we were last year.  I really do not understand the government’s stance. It is permissible for a person to travel to countries on the amber list, provided that it is practicable for them to quarantine when they come back, but the messaging is mixed and the system chaotic. Portugal was put on the green list, people went to the football, then Portugal was put on the amber list, leaving holidaymakers scrabbling for flights. That is not to mention the impact on the airlines, on travel agents, and on the tourist industry.

Steerpike

Could crabs be next on the menu for a Defra ban?

It has been a difficult 2021 for the British shellfish industry. Since the end of the Brexit transition period, fishermen have had to contend with new rules which mean that live mussels, cockles, oysters and other shellfish caught in most of the UK’s waters are no longer allowed to enter the EU. Legal action against the government has been mooted, with environment secretary George Eustice accused of misleading the industry over its post-Brexit arrangements. Given this context and the fact many fishermen live in Tory coastal seats, you might have thought the department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) would be doing all it can to reassure the industry.

Robert Peston

Boris Johnson’s refusal to talk about faith

I am struggling to make sense of the Prime Minister’s answer to my question: whether he is a practising Roman Catholic - which I asked in good faith and with good reason because he was recently married in Westminster Cathedral. His answer was: 'I don’t discuss these deep issues. Certainly not with you.' He is aware that - for better or worse (worse for a long time) - this has been a pertinent question for chief and prime ministers since Henry Vlll. More broadly, the professed faith (or none) of a leader matters to many voters. But it was the 'certainly not with you' that took me aback. There is nothing in my 35 years as a journalist to suggest that I would trivialise or denigrate religion, or any issue of conscience.

Claire Fox

Can GB News live up to the hype?

British TV viewers have never had so many channels to watch, yet they've also never had so little choice. The Brexit referendum exposed this lack of political diversity all too clearly. As a panellist on Radio 4’s The Moral Maze for 20 years, I suppose I was something of a BBC luvvie. No doubt I was still seen as a bit of a maverick by some, but I was accepted on the media scene. However, when I casually mentioned back in 2016 that I was going to vote Leave, things changed.  'But you’re an intelligent, well-educated person, Claire', said one senior producer. From that moment on, in studios and green rooms, I was greeted with a familiar sneer. From my position of privilege, it was hardly a problem.

Saturday

Rod Liddle

Euros 2020: Switzerland’s superiority complex cost them the game

Match 2: Switzerland 1 (Carl Jung 49) Wales 1 (Carl Jung og 74) Ah, the perils of arrogance and a superiority complex. Switzerland – historically perhaps the most over-achieving international football side in the world, alongside Uruguay – were hammering the Welsh. Mollocating them. This was a case of complete dominance; quick, incisive passing which left the sons of Glyndŵr confused and oafish. They scored in the 49thminute – after which, they decided they’d done enough for the day. These rain-soaked warbling valley dwellers were simply beneath their station, they reckoned – and they became dilatory, lazy, careless. They failed to track back. They gave up on attacking.

Steerpike

CCHQ levels up its recruitment

Having pledged to 'level up' the country during the last election, it seems that CCHQ are determined to practice what they preach. With Treasury civil servants set to move next year across the country to a new campus at Darlington, party apparatchiks in Tory central office are following suit. Party co-chair Amanda Milling announced plans for a new hub in Leeds at October's virtual conference 'in the heart of the blue wall.'  Now CCHQ has stepped up recruitment, advertising yesterday for its first party apprentices in Leeds in the fields of 'finance and marketing.

Fraser Nelson

Should we delay 21 June?

29 min listen

On Monday, the Prime Minister will announce whether the 21 June unlocking is to go ahead. Because of the increased transmissibility of the Delta Covid variant, cases in the UK are continuing to rise. Does it make sense to wait for data to confirm that the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths has been broken, or should we confidently reopen? Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls, Kate Andrews and Cindy Yu discuss.

Fraser Nelson

The case for delaying 21 June

Word is that Boris Johnson will delay the 21 June re-opening by two weeks, possibly even a month — an announcement that has caused some division of opinion in the offices of The Spectator. In the circumstances (the Indian variant growing exponentially) I can see the case for waiting another week or so until we have more data. That's not say that I want delay, just that the rise of the Indian variant in the UK has made me see the abolition of remaining restrictions as a finely-balanced argument. Whereas, a few weeks ago, I thought the facts heavily favoured going ahead with a full reopening.  I discuss this with Kate Andrews, Katy Balls and Cindy Yu in today's Coffee House Shots podcast.

Benedict Spence

The secret to beating Croatia

First things first: don’t get your hopes up. England don’t have a bad team. In fact, this year they’re pretty good; not quite the 'golden generation' of 2006, but good enough to win the tournament. That very fact ought to sound a note of caution: we’ve been down this weary road before. After the year we’ve had, we could use something to celebrate, but another crushing disappointment after foolishly allowing ourselves to believe would be too much.  With that in mind, it would be jolly sporting of England if they didn’t win their opening game too easily. No 7-0 demolition jobs for us, thanks; what we need is a cagey, narrow win, or maybe even a credible draw, full of pluck, blood and thunder, to set us off on the right path: under no illusions.

Steven Fielding

How Starmer can beat Boris

How should Keir Starmer deal with a problem like Boris Johnson? Despite the Prime Minister's mistakes in the handling of the pandemic – and a string of embarrassing stories about his private life and finances – Boris seems unassailable. Johnson is seen as best suited to be Prime Minister by 40 per cent of voters compared to just 23 per cent for Starmer; most surveys give the Tories a double digit lead over Labour. Party leaders receive much unsolicited and often useless advice. Starmer is not alone in that. Over the years, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has been scoured for helpful aphorisms, while Machiavelli’s The Prince is still seen as a repository of sage advice. But relevance – and obscurity – are often a problem with such sources.

David Patrikarakos

The war Israel is losing against Hamas

The Gaza conflict is bloody, brutal, and genuinely heartbreaking, but it is also perfunctory. This is a fight in which the military battle is predetermined: Hamas cannot win, and Israel cannot lose. What happens in between is almost balletic in its endless predictability. Hamas fires rockets, Israel fires back; Hamas targets Israeli cities; Israel bombs buildings in which Hamas hides and stores weapons. So what’s the point? Well, apart from Hamas needing to show strength – and Israel needing to, in the words of its security experts, 'mow the grass' by periodically degrading Hamas’ military capabilities – there is a wider battle raging. This fight isn't about missiles or rockets but about narratives; to fight you need a reason.

Friday

Katy Balls

Will lockdown be extended by a month?

As Boris Johnson wines and dines world leaders and their partners in Cornwall, ministers are increasingly pessimistic over the pace of the government roadmap out of lockdown. The Prime Minister isn't due to make a final decision on whether the June 21 unlocking will proceed until Sunday with an announcement due on Monday. Yet in Whitehall, reports are circulating that a delay is near inevitable and that rather than the two week delay floated in the papers last week it could actually be for a month. Government aides are gloomy over the chances of any substantial reopening – pointing to rising case numbers as reason for caution.

Rod Liddle

Why did Scotland reverse their decision to ‘take the knee’?

Game One Turkey 0 Italy 3 The start of the tournament and the first game was overshadowed by the exciting news that Scotland’s players intend to kneel, when they play England next week. They had originally not intended to 'take a knee' – thinking it rightly (to judge from their press statements) a pointless and embarrassing bit of showing off. But they changed their mind, presumably after fevered phone calls from south of the border. They should have stuck to their guns: the kneeling has become a ludicrous vanity project for Gareth Southgate and the Football Association. It gets sillier by the day. Needless to say, neither the young Turks nor the more elderly Italians did anything so stupid as to kneel and nor will Croatia on Sunday.

Steerpike

‘Hitler was right’ journalist leaves BBC

Tala Halawa, the BBC journalist who was found to have tweeted ‘Hitler was right’, is out at the Corporation. Almost three weeks ago, Steerpike highlighted how media watchdog organisation Honest Reporting and others had uncovered a string of tweets posted on Halawa’s Twitter account from 2014. These included pronouncing that ‘Israel is more Nazi than Hitler’ and ‘Hitler was right’. Halawa had also declared ‘ur media is controlled by ur zionist government’ and tweeted a graphic of a child being burned on a menorah, the Jewish ritual candelabrum.