Politics Archives

Sunday

8 February 2026

The Mandelson scandal is far grubbier than the Profumo affair

The pundits are convinced that Peter Mandelson’s friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein is the ‘biggest British political scandal since the Profumo affair’. The latest tranche of the Epstein files, released last week, revealed the extent of the pair’s sordid association. But what’s striking to me (and I could probably do the Profumo affair as my specialist subject on Mastermind) is how both wholesome and glamorous the Profumo affair was in comparison. The teenage girls involved in the 1960s scandal – pretty, smart Mandy and beautiful, wild Christine Keeler – were far from trafficked, unlike the lost girls preyed on by the repulsive procuress Ghislaine Maxwell for her paedophile puppet

Saturday

7 February 2026

Stewart McDonald

There will be few politicians like Jeane Freeman again

There is no shortage of noise in contemporary politics, nor of people keen to confuse it with authority. Jeane Freeman, the former Scottish health minister who passed away this weekend, never did. She moved through political life with the calm confidence of someone who was always three steps ahead of any room she was in and entirely comfortable letting others catch up. This is not, however, to be confused with arrogance, of which she displayed not a hint. I came to know Jeane a little over the last few years, meeting every so often for coffee or lunch. I can’t claim we were close friends, but I always enjoyed those

Ian Leslie

Why centrists have an anger problem

There is an argument that the (further) disgrace of Peter Mandelson has been magnified out of all proportion. Mandelson was fired from his government post several months ago. These latest revelations will rightly ensure his permanent exclusion from civic life and possibly his inclusion in jail, but they shouldn’t be the dominant story of the day. Britain has much bigger and more urgent problems than the question of how to withdraw an honorary title from someone who can make no use of it anyway. Yes, the affair raises a question mark against Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s judgement, but the page is already dense with those. The marginal value of this one is near zero. Why

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid

Pakistan’s terror problem is of its own making

At least 31 were killed and over 170 wounded in a suicide bombing targeting a Shia mosque in Islamabad on Friday. The deadliest attack on Pakistan’s capital since 2008 comes just months after a bombing targeting one of the district courthouses jolted the city in November. These successive terror raids in the capital – already on high alert and full of security – signify that the militancy, largely confined to the country’s western frontier in recent years, is now vying for Pakistan’s heartland. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s bombing, releasing a blurred image of the purported attacker. The jihadist outfit has frequently targeted Shia Muslims, dubbing them ‘heretics’.

Andrew Tettenborn

Palestine Action and the limits of jury justice

Five out of six Palestine Action protesters on trial in relation to a break-in at the Elbit Systems factory in Filton in 2024 were released on bail on Wednesday. The verdicts handed down to them at Woolwich crown court over events at the UK subsidiary of the Israeli defence manufacturer – reported to have caused over £1 million’s worth of damage – will not have pleased the government. Labour has been desperate to show its zeal in fighting violent protest and assure supporters of Israel that it hasn’t abandoned them. Nevertheless, despite whoops of delight from left-wingers including Jeremy Corbyn and Zack Polanski – together with others who ought to

Robin Ashenden

The words that could – and should – doom Starmer

The current Labour government, those ‘adults…back in the room,’ are now the UK’s unofficial Party of Sleaze. In the wake of lurid revelations about the Mandelson-Epstein love-in – not least that Mandy allegedly passed secret, prejudicial information to the late disgraced financier and may have been guilty of misconduct in office – Labour is under constant attack, even from within. As the Prime Minister attempts to blame the security services for Mandelson’s appointment, it’s worth remembering the way he himself spoke about such matters Dame Emily Thornberry mutters about ‘the weaknesses in our vetting process and in our due diligence process.’ Kemi Badenoch lambasts the PM for ‘his catastrophic judgement

Cristina Odone

Why so many autistic children no longer go to school

Louis, 9, rocks back and forth. He can draw the solar system and place every planet on it, but he will not meet your gaze and a high-pitched voice will have him clap his hands to his ears in agony. Louis’s parents recognised his autism early on and sought a referral to a specialist from their GP. Early diagnosis – and a middle-class postcode – has helped them seek prompt speech and occupational therapy for their son. This came with guidance for Louis’s parents on navigating the unfamiliar bureaucracy of special needs education: how to obtain a needs assessment from the council; ensure Louis received an Education, Health and Care

Rory Hanrahan

Can Nigel Farage save the great British pub?

Good morning from behind the bar, where the beer is still pouring – just. So far this year I have been involved in the sad, and probably permanent, closure of three family-owned pubs. The choice was stark in each case: bankruptcy or fold up. Three families almost ruined, three perfectly good business that employed over a dozen staff and three villages that had already lost their churches, their post offices and – the final nail in the coffin – their pubs. I watched Nigel Farage and Lee Anderson, pint in hand, holding a live-streamed conference from behind a pub bar on Wednesday. Reform UK had decorated the beer taps on

Friday

6 February 2026

Tim Shipman

Labour has bottled it – what happens next?

Where are we then, after the most consequential week in British politics since the last one? Keir Starmer no longer commands a majority in the House of Commons on key issues he cares about, the basic requirement which gives prime ministers their constitutional legitimacy. That much became clear on Thursday when Angela Rayner and other Labour MPs sided with the Tories to insist that the Intelligence and Security Committee should decide – not the cabinet secretary – which documents on the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States should be released. So Labour has a working majority of 156 but Starmer no longer commands it. He

Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan, Melanie McDonagh, Matt Ridley & Rachel Johnson

24 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Piers Morgan reveals what Donald Trump told him from his hospital bed; Melanie McDonagh ponders the impermanence of email, amidst the Peter Mandelson scandal; Matt Ridley argues that polar bears – which are currently thriving – pose problems for climate enthusiasts; and finally, Rachel Johnson attends the memorial service for Dame Jilly Cooper – and says she made a fool out of herself. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Piers Morgan, Melanie McDonagh, Matt Ridley & Rachel Johnson

Freddy Gray

What will happen in the midterms?

35 min listen

The midterms in November are shaping up to be one of the most expensive elections yet. Freddy Gray and Ryan Girdusky, author of the National Populist Substack, discuss how inflation, crime and immigration are shaping voter patterns, whether the Trump coalition remains as strong as he claims, and what impact Trump’s recent focus on international affairs will have with his voter base.

Oscar Edmondson

Keir's worst week – but Kemi's best?

10 min listen

The sun is setting on Keir Starmer’s worst week in No. 10 – but potentially Kemi’s best. We go into the weekend with MPs publicly calling for his most senior aide, Morgan McSweeney, to step down because of his role in the botched vetting of Peter Mandelson, and with huge questions remaining about how much the Prime Minister knew about Mandelson’s association with Epstein. All of this means that the upcoming by-election on the Labour party’s patch in Gorton and Denton is poised very precariously. Meanwhile, Kemi has seized the opportunity to capitalise on Labour’s woes – but are she cutting through enough? And with her position looking more assured,

Mark Nayler

What Spain’s social media ban gets wrong

Spain’s Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez is proposing a ban on under-16s using social media, following the example set by Australia last year. Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai earlier this week, Sánchez said: ‘Today our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone… We will protect [them] from the digital Wild West.’ The Spanish premier’s announcement comes at a time when several other European nations are also attempting to combat the harmful effects of social media on children. France’s ban on under-15s using social media is expected to become law later this year, while Greece, Portugal and Denmark have signalled their intention

Lisa Haseldine

Who shot Russia’s intelligence chief in Moscow?

One of Russia’s top military generals, Vladimir Alekseev, is in a critical condition after being shot while leaving his Moscow apartment earlier this morning. Lieutenant General Alekseev, a deputy director in Russia’s military intelligence agency – still best-known by its former acronym, the GRU – has been taken to hospital following reports he was shot multiple times in the back in the lobby of his apartment block in the north of the city. The assailant fled the scene immediately after the shooting, which took place shortly after 7 a.m. local time, and reportedly has yet to be caught. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Nevertheless, this hasn’t

Freddy Gray

How deep does Epstein's network go?

23 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by historian Andrew Lownie, to react to the latest release of Epstein emails – and how they are bringing down a global network of elites. They discuss whether Epstein was a Soviet spy, the renewed pressure on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and if politicians will hide behind ‘national security’ to prevent the release of more files.

Steerpike

Mandy’s PR firm plunged into crisis

Oh Mandy. You came and you took and kept taking. For it is not just the Labour party wrestling with the fallout from the Peter Mandelson scandal. Global Counsel – the lobbying firm which he co-founded in 2010 with his former aide Benjamin Wegg-Prosser – is battling to cope with the wave of bad PR which has followed Mandelson’s humiliation. And now, amid reports of firms looking at cutting ties over Mandelson’s stake in GC, its leadership has decided to act. Wegg-Prosser is out as CEO, according to an email by chairman Archie Norman, first seen by Guido Fawkes. It says that: I am writing to inform you that we

Edward Howell

The Chagos deal has cemented Britain’s global decline

For a moment, it looked as if this tragic inevitability would not happen. But yesterday evening, Donald Trump gave the green light for Sir Keir Starmer’s disastrous Chagos Islands deal following ‘productive discussions’ between the two leaders. As a result, the UK has moved one step closer to realising its greatest strategic blunder in history. The ceding of a vital British sovereign strategic asset to Mauritius, which so many had tirelessly campaigned to avoid, looks set to become a reality. For the US president, his decision to back the deal was a volte face from a fortnight ago when he rightly derided the deal as an ‘act of GREAT STUPIDITY’.

Steerpike

Labour MPs demand McSweeney’s head

It’s all gone a little bit Pete Tong for Sir Keir and the gang in No. 10. No acts of seppuku have yet been committed – but it is surely only a matter of time before heads are offered up on chargers. Currently, it is Morgan McSweeney, the Downing Street chief of staff, who is primed to be in the firing line. The Labour backbenches are screaming for his blood, given both the chaotic state of No. 10 and McSweeney’s extensive links to Peter Mandelson. Most are couching their demands using couched terms about a ‘reset’… In the last 48 hours, various MPs have taken to social and traditional media

Owen Matthews

Why is America determined to pick a fight with Poland?

Until very recently it was hard to find more stalwart allies of America in Europe than the Poles. Poland was an early supporter of Washington’s policy to expand Nato and actively pushed for a stronger US role in central and eastern Europe. The Poles also stood up as an enthusiastic member of every US-led military coalition, taking leading roles in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was to Warsaw that US President Joe Biden travelled – twice – in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to give barnstorming speeches affirming that America would stand by Kyiv. All the more surprising, then, that the recently appointed US ambassador to Warsaw chose to

Brendan O’Neill

The Epstein scandal has morphed into a moral panic

That’s it, I’m out. I’m finished with the Epstein scandal. This morning I read about a man who is on the cusp of cancellation because he once sent a flirtatious email to Ghislaine Maxwell, years before her crimes were known about. This is getting ridiculous. It feels like MeToo on steroids. There’s a medieval vibe of finger-pointing and rumour-mongering The man is Casey Wasserman. He’s chair of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. And there are hollers for him to stand down. All because he once got digitally horny with Ms Maxwell. ‘I think of you all the time’, he wrote in one email. ‘What do I have to do to