Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Saturday

Nigel Jones

Did Hitler really have only 'one ball'?

Everyone knows the rhyme about Adolf Hitler. The popular ribald wartime song, beloved of school children, has it that: ‘Hitler has only got one ball/ The other is in the Albert Hall/ Himmler is very similar/ And poor old Goebbels has no balls at all!’. The rhyme works, but is it right? A two-part Channel 4 documentary airing tonight suggests the verse about the Nazi dictator might not be entirely fictitious. Now that same science has been deployed to help explain the deeds of the biggest criminal of them all: Adolf Hitler Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator uses an analysis of his DNA to suggest he suffered from Kallmann

Charlie Taylor

Why are so many prisoners accidentally released? With H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons

15 min listen

Britain’s prisons are a legislative problem that has beset successive governments. New revelations show 91 accidental early releases in just six months, the latest in a growing pattern of administrative chaos across the criminal justice system. Between drones delivering drugs, crumbling Victorian buildings, exhausted staff and an ever more convoluted sentencing regime, what is the cause of so many blunders? And what will Labour’s promised reforms actually fix – and are more crises inevitable? James Heale speaks to Charlie Taylor, H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy.

John Power

John Power, Madeline Grant, Ysenda Maxtone-Graham, Calvin Po & Gus Carter

33 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: John Power examines the rise in drug abuse and homelessness on British streets; Madeline Grant explains the allure of Hollywood radical Sydney Sweeney; Ysenda Maxtone Graham laments the rise of the on-the-day party flake; Calvin Po warns of a war on Britain’s historic architecture; and Gus Carter reads his Notes on the brasserie chain Browns.

Friday

Tim Shipman

Keir Starmer's omnishambles government

What a week. Seven days ago, we were wondering what Rachel Reeves was up to with her pre-Budget messaging. At the start of this week the future of the Prime Minister was seriously called into doubt with a bunch of calamitous late-night briefings to the media. At the end of the daftest seven days in British politics since 2022, it’s as if the Chancellor called up No. 10 and said: ‘Hold my beer.’ At 10 p.m. yesterday, the FT – the constitutionally expected route through which the Treasury leaks – revealed that Labour is ditching plans to raise income tax by 2p in the pound. One Labour MP noted: ‘We rolled the

Brendan O’Neill

The Jewish blood libel is back. Its return should trouble us all

It’s back. The lie that led to the slaughter of so many Jews has returned to public life. The calumny that caused so much anti-Jewish persecution, expulsion and bloodshed has stirred, zombie-like, from its historic slumber. Jews drain the blood of Christians and use it to make bread – incredibly, unconscionably, this most appalling falsehood has returned. It is obscene that such words are being uttered on a university campus in 2025 At University College London (UCL) this week, a lecture was given in which it was allegedly suggested that Jews murder Gentiles and use their blood in perverse rituals. The comments were made by Samar Maqusi, a US academic.

Tim Shipman

What is going on in the Treasury!?

15 min listen

With less than a fortnight to go until the Budget, it seems Rachel Reeves has performed an almighty U-turn. At the beginning of the week, the established consensus in Westminster was that the base rate of income tax would rise, breaking Labour’s flagship manifesto pledge. The Chancellor had already rolled the pitch, holding a press conference at which she warned ‘each of us must do our bit’. But the Financial Times – Reeves’ newspaper of choice – reports today that she has ‘ripped up’ her plans. Why the sudden change of heart? Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Tim Shipman. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Patrick West

Why can't the BBC just say sorry?

A famous pop star once sang that sorry seemed to be the hardest word. Almost fifty years after Elton John uttered those sentiments, nothing has changed. Saying sorry for your own errors or moral transgressions remains for many individuals and organisations an almost impossible task. Saying sorry for your own errors or moral transgressions remains for many individuals and organisations an almost impossible task The BBC’s reputed apology to Donald Trump, for having spliced a speech of his from January 2021, is an instructive example of how and why people will dodge this substantial and consequential word. ‘While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was

Henry Donovan

Why German conscription should worry Britain

For years, Germany, like Britain, has drifted through history as though nothing could ever again disturb its peace. The world outside was assumed to be orderly, rational, restrained. Conflict was something that happened elsewhere. The Bundeswehr, neglected to the point of embarrassment, became a case study in strategic complacency. Germany’s political class preferred moral posturing to the dull, necessary business of national defence. Some fear that conscription is merely a prelude to sending Germany’s youth into war And as long as Russia was merely grumbling at its neighbours rather than invading them, Berlin convinced itself it could go on like this forever. Those days are over. And Germany, finally –

Steerpike

Watch: David Davis attacks veteran prosecutions

It has been another bad week for the government. Growth down to 0.1 per cent, a briefing war engulfing No. 10 and now the Budget plans in crisis too. So amid all the various dramas, one story has gone somewhat under the radar. Nine four-star generals signed an open letter to the Times – timed to coincide with Armistice Day – warning that ‘lawfare’ and the erosion of soldiers’ trust in the legal system is a direct national security threat. A warning Sir Keir would do well to heed… One of those leading the charge against veteran prosecutions is Sir David Davis, the veteran Tory MP. He secured an adjournment

Matthew Lynn

The damage from Reeves's 'exit tax' idea has been done

It appears that Rachel Reeves has scrapped her plans for an ‘exit tax’ that would impose a huge levy on entrepreneurs leaving the UK – at least for now. But is anyone actually going to be fooled by that? Once the concept has been leaked, the only rational response is to get out while you still can.  With less than two weeks left before the Budget, no one seems to have any idea what might be in it, including, slightly alarmingly, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The briefings change minute by minute. Even so, it appears that plans for an ‘exit tax’ have been quietly shelved. The Treasury has worked out

Steerpike

Watch: Zarah Sultana squirms on BBC

‘Ohhhhh Jeremy Corbyn!’ Where would Mr S be without him eh? The grift that keeps on giving has been in full flow this month, with the organisers of ‘Your Party’ determined to get their operation up and running prove. At a meeting last week, poor old Jezza’s wife had to step in and wrestle the microphone of one attendee, all underneath a big banner emblazoned with the word ‘UNITED’. No wonder some of Corbyn’s allies think that some of their comrades are secretly MI5 controlled opposition… Still, if you thought the magic Grandpa was bad, that is nothing compared to his prickly spiritual offspring. Zarah Sultana, Coventry’s answer to Citizen

Ross Clark

Who do junior doctors think should fund their pay rise?

I know doctors have a long training and have to absorb a lot of knowledge before they are let loose in a surgery or a hospital ward, but still there is one extra module which needs to be inserted into their schedule: one on the public finances. In fact, maybe just give them an afternoon off to read the papers. For the past couple of months we have had almost daily briefings from Number 11 floating the ever-more desperate ways in which Rachel Reeves is flirting with raising taxes to fill her fiscal black hole. The bond markets are flickering at every suggestion, weighing up the risk that Britain is

James Heale

Rachel Reeves rips up her Budget plans

With less than a fortnight to go until the Budget, it seems Rachel Reeves has performed an almighty U-turn. At the beginning of the week, the established consensus in Westminster was that the base rate of income tax would rise, breaking Labour’s flagship manifesto pledge. The Chancellor had already rolled the pitch, holding a press conference at which she warned ‘each of us must do our bit’. But the Financial Times – Reeves’ newspaper of choice – reports today that she has ‘ripped up’ her plans. Citing two officials, the paper reports that the decision to change tack was communicated to the OBR on Wednesday. Speaking on the media round, Culture

Patrick Gibbons

Is South Korea bracing for a third Trump-Kim summit?

Donald Trump’s meeting with President Xi was the standout moment of this month’s Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit in South Korea. Yet almost as much attention focused on the rumours that Trump’s gaze had turned once again to North Korea. Addressing suggestions he would meet Kim, the American President told reporters, ‘I’d be open 100 per cent. I get along very well with Kim Jong Un.’ A meeting never materialised, but speculation – and tension – has only grown since.  Days after Trump’s departure, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived as part of his own tour of Asia. In Seoul, he became the first defence secretary in nearly eight years to visit

Druin Burch

Junior doctors' strikes are good for my wallet – but totally avoidable

Until Tuesday, I’m once again working as a junior doctor: trying to remember how to take blood, print labels, and manage being bleeped by three wards at once, two of them by mistake. For my troubles, I’ll be earning £200 an hour – a rate far above standard consultant overtime. I’m taking a fat fee from the NHS to fumble through chores a junior could do better. As you spend hours waiting to be seen by an overstretched medic moonlighting as a junior, remember this: the strikes are completely avoidable Yes, junior doctors are on strike again – and the depressing thing is how preventable this walkout is. No money

Michael Gove

Q&A: Who could replace Keir Starmer?

32 min listen

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright This week on Quite right! Q&A: Could Britain see a snap election before 2029? Michael and Maddie unpack the constitutional mechanics – and explain why, despite the chaos, an early vote remains unlikely. They also turn to Labour’s troubles: growing pressure on Keir Starmer, restive backbenchers, and whether Angela Rayner’s sacking has boosted her chances as his successor. Plus: should the Scottish Parliament be abolished? And on a lighter note, if you won a free holiday but had to take one Labour MP, who would you choose? Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Thursday

David Spencer

Police and Crime Commissioners failed to hold useless officers to account

Few will mourn the loss of Police and Crime Commissioners following the news that the government intends their abolition in 2028. An unloved part of our democratic settlement, many of those elected as PCCs failed to capture the public’s interest in the way that was intended when Theresa May as Home Secretary legislated for their creation in 2011. PCCs were a valiant, but ultimately poorly implemented, attempt to hold Chief Constables to account for fighting crime But in the rush to celebrate their demise – and in building what replaces them – we should not forget their original purpose: to expose chief constables from behind the shroud of accountability which

Jake Wallis Simons

Labour is coming for your bicycle

As the recently departed Norman Tebbit would attest, there has long been a connection between bicycles and jobs, particularly for the working classes. It was at the 1981 Conservative party conference that he gave his famous speech describing how in the Thirties, his unemployed father had ‘got on his bike and looked for work and he kept looking ‘til he found it’. Almost half a century later, the parameters may have changed but the fundamental association remains the same. Or it did. Plans reportedly being drawn up by Rachel Reeves ahead of the Budget this month aim to sharply reduce the tax benefits available under the Cycle to Work scheme.

Ian Acheson

Good riddance to Police and Crime Commissioners

So farewell then, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). The government has just announced that this weak and useless experiment in local democracy will be terminated. Few people will notice outside the cottage industry of ineffectual crime busters who will be receiving redundancy notices. That’s part of the problem. Elected PCCs were introduced in 2010 as a flagship Conservative commitment to get police chiefs to respond to local priorities on crime. Instead, they become symbols of wasteful bureaucracy, partisan meddling and bungling oversight. They were set up to replace opaque and often toothless policing authorities composed of local councillors. It has taken 15 years to work out that replacing one set