Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Wednesday

Steerpike

Watch: nine bombshells from Dominic Cummings

After a mammoth seven hour session, Dominic Cummings' appearance at the joint science and health committee meeting has finally ended. The former chief special adviser took aim at Cabinet ministers, Boris Johnson's fiancée, senior Whitehall officials and Jeremy Corbyn in three different segments focusing on the national lockdowns and Britain's test and trace system. Below are Mr Steerpike's guide to the highlights of the day... Cummings' relationship broke down with Boris Cummings opened up for the first time to reveal in depth why he fell out with Boris Johnson. He says his decision to quit No. 10 was linked to Carrie Symonds, Johnson's partner, trying to change various Downing Street appointments.

The Spectator

Cummings, Covid and groupthink – a cautionary tale

It is hard to deny the importance of the issues raised this week by Dominic Cummings. His decision to identify the many mistakes made at the start of the pandemic is not about seeking vengeance; it is a vital process to ensure that errors are identified and not repeated. A vaccine-evading variant or a new virus could come along at any time. Should this happen, ministers must be ready. Some of the world’s finest minds worked on pandemic planning, in Britain and throughout the western world. The UK was once ranked as more prepared for a new virus than any country in Europe. But the failure to provide adequate PPE equipment was the most visible sign of implosion.

Lloyd Evans

Boris will be delighted with Dominic Cummings’s evidence

Here it was. At long last. Dominic Cummings in the flesh at the parliamentary select committee. He was dressed in the same immaculate white cotton shirt that he sported for his ‘agony in the garden’ appearance in Downing Street a year ago. But this time he wasn’t in the dock. He was like a school governor on prize-giving day, handing out gongs, and delivering the odd stiff rebuke to senior prefects. Matt Hancock got a dressing-down he won’t forget. He was accused of misleading officials and the public. ‘He should have been fired for at least 15 or 20 things,’ said Dom, ‘for lying to everyone on multiple occasions.’ Whoops. Time for Hancock to start work on his memoirs. Boris got off fairly lightly.

Steerpike

Matt Hancock’s nine firing offences – according to Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings was invited to appear in front of MPs today to talk about the government’s coronavirus response in the early stages of the pandemic. A neutral observer might suggest though that the true purpose of Cummings’s visit was to demolish the health secretary Matt Hancock. Near the beginning of his evidence Cummings suggested that there were ‘at least 15 to 20’ different reasons Hancock should have been fired since the outbreak and described him at various points as a 'serial liar', 'stupid', 'disgraceful' and even, 'criminal'.

Coffee House

‘We failed’: Dominic Cummings’s evidence, as it happened

Dominic Cummings has given evidence to a joint meeting of the science and technology select committees about the government's response to Covid-19. Below is how the bombshell session unfolded. The top lines:  Cummings said the government's response to Covid-19 meant that 'tens of thousands of people died who didn't need to die'. (14:12)Matt Hancock 'categorically told' No. 10 he would test those discharged from hospital into care homes. Hancock failed to do so, according to Cummings: 'It was complete nonsense'. (13:15) Boris Johnson initially dismissed Covid as a 'scare story', comparing it to swine flu. (09:53)Cummings said he moved his family to Durham because of security threats.

Joanna Williams

School playgrounds are no place for ‘free Palestine’ protests

GCSE and A level assessments. Enforcing social distancing. Catch-up provision for pupils who fell behind during lockdown. Mental health support. Behavioural issues. Headteachers have more than enough to worry about right now. The conflict between Israel and Palestine? This one, at least, can be filed under ‘beyond my pay grade’. Or perhaps not. Should pupils be able to wear lanyards that show the Palestinian flag? Or display pro-Palestinian posters? Some see engaged teenagers exercising their right to free expression; others a stoking of racial tensions. Getting the balance right, particularly in a large, ethnically diverse school, is not straightforward. Mike Roper, headteacher at Allerton Grange school in Leeds, faced this problem head on.

James Kirkup

Boris should be worried about Steve Baker, not Dominic Cummings

While Westminster fixates on Dominic Cummings, what could well be a bigger political challenge for Boris Johnson is being somewhat overlooked. That challenge is called Steve Baker. Baker has now launched his long-whispered campaign over net zero and the policies it entails. He’s in the Sun today talking about issues including gas boilers and the need to replace them with something that doesn’t burn gas. Reaching net zero carbon emissions means a boiler switchover has to happen, and soon. Homes account for about 14 per cent of the UK’s carbon output, and weaning the country off gas boilers is possibly the trickiest bit of making net zero (a legal requirement, remember) actually happen.

Isabel Hardman

Cummings leaves Boris rattled at PMQs

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Downing Street as Dominic Cummings gave his evidence to the science and technology and the health select committees this morning. As it happens, we had the chance to see Boris Johnson reacting almost in real time to the revelations and allegations from his former aide, because he was taking Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, with the main exchanges with Sir Keir Starmer falling conveniently in a 15 minute intermission in the evidence session. And the Prime Minister was clearly rattled.

Andrew Willshire

The tragedy of Dominic Cummings

Dominic Cummings's main concern as he appears in front of MPs is to identify the failures of government and ensure everyone knows they weren't his failures, but those of the fools who refused to listen to him. It's rather a tragic final act, for the truth is that Cummings did fail (and, to be fair, he has admitted some of his failings in front of the committee). Not so much as regards the pandemic (although given his influence, it is hard not to assign some culpability to him) but in his stated desire to improve the overall performance of government. For those of us who admired his intellect, his drive and his ambition to use data and technology to improve the decision-making that affects millions of people, it is a crushing disappointment.

Henry Hill

Eurovision is too important to let the SNP play politics with it

The SNP never passes up an opportunity to make the case for separatism. Now, its campaign for independence has moved away from politics and into the world of the Eurovision song contest. The party has responded to the United Kingdom’s dire showing at the competition with a predictable demand: that Scotland should be allowed to compete separately next time around.  Alyn Smith, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, believes we should 'talk seriously about entering UK nations separately into the contest'. 'Scotland is rich in talent and culture, and I want the world to see it. By entering independently, we could one day bring Eurovision back to Scotland,' Smith added.

John Myers

How to build more houses

Since the 1930s, bad planning has destroyed swathes of our most precious heritage while causing economic damage that, by some estimates, exceeds that of the second world war. We will end the disaster only if we learn from past mistakes. The current war about housing targets and ‘concreting over the South East’ is the latest in a long line of — generally successful — revolts against government housebuilding plans. In the 1940s, jeering protestors coined the name ‘Silkingrad’ for housing minister Lewis Silkin’s new town of Stevenage. In the 1980s, Nicholas Ridley’s controversial boost in housebuilding was reversed when he was replaced by Chris Patten.

Patrick O’Flynn

An electoral pact would be disastrous for Labour

How do you tell a politician who has just been punched in the face by the electorate that something is looming that will cause him a bigger and far longer-lasting headache? Keir Starmer probably already has an inkling about the next tortuous twist facing his Labour leadership: mounting pressure to open talks with the leaders of other left-of-centre parties about forming an electoral pact. The weekend’s latest opinion poll by YouGov set out the nightmare trap into which the left in general and the Labour party in particular has fallen. The party ratings were as follows: Conservatives 46, Labour 28, Greens 8, Lib Dems 8, SNP 5, Reform UK 2, Plaid Cymru 1.

Steerpike

Domageddon previewed: what Cummings will say

D-Day is finally here. Like the rest of SW1, Mr S will be tuning into Dominic Cummings's appearance at a Commons joint committee later today. Kick off is 9:30 a.m. with four hours of theatrics expected to focus on his criticisms of the government's handling of the Covid pandemic. The political editor of ITV Robert Peston revealed yesterday that the former chief special adviser will 'not pull his punches' and claim Johnson said 'Covid is only killing 80-year-olds' when justifying a delayed lockdown in the autumn. Now the impeccably connected Simon Walters goes further in previewing what Cummings will say this morning.

Tuesday

Ross Clark

The boiler ban fiasco and the true cost of net zero

Politically it must have seemed an easy promise for Theresa May to make in the dying days of her premiership: to commit Britain to a legally-binding target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, rather than the 80 per cent reduction previously stipulated in the Climate Change Act. It was the summer of 2019 and Extinction Rebellion protests had taken place with surprisingly little counter-protest. David Attenborough’s TV documentary was received warmly by the press, and polls indicated that the public appeared to supported action on climate change – according to a YouGov poll in December 2018 two thirds of the population stated they did not believe the risks of climate change were being exaggerated.

Isabel Hardman

The local lockdown debacle

What a mess. Ministers have today been defending the decision to place eight areas in what is being called a 'lockdown by stealth', after it turned out that the government had quietly published guidance to slow the spread of the Indian variant without telling anyone in those areas.  That guidance, which pitched up on the gov.uk website at 5.26pm on Friday, told people to avoid indoor meetings and avoid travelling in and out of affected areas unless it is essential. But when journalists from the Manchester Evening News approached local politicians and public health officials, it turned out that they didn't know about this guidance. Which rather begs the question of what the point of it is.

Steerpike

Wanted: Commons pastry provider

Amid rumours that parliamentary bosses are mulling the closure of MPs' favourite bar, Mr S is pleased to report that some traditions remain intact. An advert appeared last week on the government contracts website for the 'provision of frozen desserts and afternoon tea sweet selection.' The body demanding this service? None other than the mother of all parliaments, the Palace of Westminster. According to the advert, the corporate officers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons are seeking to contract a sole supplier for the 'provision of a selection of frozen desserts and afternoon tea products' which are to be used in 'its restaurants, banqueting and catering outlets.

Stephen Daisley

The Tories, Islam, and the importance of pluralism

The Conservatives will be relieved that an independent investigation has not found the party to be institutionally racist, though relief is about all they can feel. Professor Swaran Singh’s report, which has taken two years to arrive, paints a picture of a party at best complacent about how its members talk about Muslims.  Professor Singh examined 1,418 complaints about 727 incidents between 2015 and 2020, of which two-thirds were allegations of anti-Muslim discrimination and three-quarters were from social media.

Robert Peston

Cummings will not pull his punches

Dominic Cummings will not pull his punches when criticising the Prime Minister when he appears before MPs on Wednesday morning. In evidence to MPs on the combined health and science committees, he will allege Boris Johnson said 'Covid is only killing 80-year-olds' when delaying lockdown in the autumn. Cummings will say that the PM insisted he wouldn’t repeat what he saw as his mistake of March when being pressurised over the possible collapse of the NHS, and added that 'I’m going to be the mayor of Jaws, like I should have been in March'. As I have reported, potentially the most damaging testimony from Johnson’s former chief aide is likely to be around his failed attempt to persuade the prime minister to lock down in September.

Fraser Nelson

The Spectator’s internship scheme for 2021 is now open

The Spectator’s internship scheme for 2021 is now open. It’s CV-blind and name-blind: we don’t ask about where (or whether) you went to university. We don’t ask about your age, nationality or immunological status. We don’t even ask your name: we anonymise all entries. In journalism, all that matters is whether you can do the job. The Spectator is growing and we’re looking for talent: when vacancies arise, we normally think back to recent interns. Our internship scheme pays (but not very much) and we even provide help with accommodation for those who need it. Internships are normally the first casualties of lockdowns and social distancing orders. We pressed ahead with our scheme last year and will do so again if the law allows.

Katy Balls

How damaging is the Tory Islamophobia report?

11 min listen

Islamophobia 'remains a problem' in the Conservative party, a report has found. Professor Swaran Singh, who analysed more than a thousand complaints of misconduct for his investigation, said that some Tories needed a 'completely new mindset'. Boris Johnson himself gave evidence to the inquiry, and when asked about his column saying a group of black people had 'watermelon smiles' said: 'Would I use some of the offending language from my past writings today? Now that I am prime minister, I would not.'On the podcast, James Forsyth says: 'There's an interesting question now about whether Boris Johnson goes further. Normally he is very reluctant to get drawn into specific newspaper articles.' And one year on from Dominic Cummings's extraordinary press conference in the No.