Politics Archives

Sunday

18 January 2026

Can Germany be saved from itself?

Nine months into the chancellorship of Friedrich Merz, the outlook for Germany looks grim. The country’s economy, the world’s third biggest, has been in recession or stagnation for the past three years as its leaders confront the worst economic crisis since the 1950s. Damningly, portions of the German press have accused Merz of presiding over an ‘economically lost year’. Last year’s data makes for tough reading: industrial production was down 1.3 per cent and large corporate bankruptcies up 25 per cent. In the first six months of the year, 109,000 manufacturing jobs were lost. 48,000 of these were in the battered car industry which has a 24 per cent share

Ian Leslie

Keir Starmer is a populist who is bad at populism

For all his problems, Keir Starmer has never been a victim of high expectations. When he entered Downing Street in 2024, voters did not throng the streets as they did for Tony Blair in 1997. There was little talk of new dawns. Britain was too battered by Brexit and its aftermath, and by a series of dismayingly inadequate Tory prime ministers, to feel optimistic about its next leader. Starmer’s reversals stem from a staggering lack of forethought about how to run the country he had just spent three years campaigning to govern Then there was the leader himself, a man almost incapable of inspiring warmth or excitement. Voters accepted him

Patrick Gibbons

The truth about Britain’s claim to Greenland

Every time Donald Trump repeats his threats towards Greenland, a familiar claim does the rounds that the UK has ‘first dibs’ should Denmark ever choose to sell the territory. Most versions of this story trace back to comments by Tom Hoyem, who served as Denmark’s last minister for Greenland in the 1980s. The claim gained traction again after Trump’s recent threats about acquiring the island, saying ‘one way or the other, we’re going to have Greenland’. These threats – which have now been accompanied by additional tariffs on countries including the UK – are being taken so seriously that the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers met US vice president J.D. Vance

James Vitali

The truth about Sandhurst

My friends were baffled. Why, at the age of 30, was I going back to school? And, worse, to an institution where your days are longer, your freedoms more limited, and being shouted out is a common occurrence? But last year, that is exactly what I did. It was the best decision of my life. In the spring of 2025, I passed the Army Officer Selection Board. From September through December, I left my civilian life behind and embarked on the intensive short commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. It was the least ‘free’, least comfortable, least independent place I have ever lived. But, somehow, I had never

Saturday

17 January 2026

Steerpike

Farage turns on Tory MP over Mauritius

It seems that Nigel Farage has not taken too kindly to all Kemi Badenoch’s talk of ‘cleaning house’. The leader of Reform UK has had his fair share of run-ins with different Tory MPs since being elected to parliament in 2024, even going so far as to call half of them ‘stuffy, boring old bastards’ at a Press Gallery lunch last year. Why don’t you tell us what you really think, eh Nige? One Honourable Member who has attracted Farage’s particulae ire is Sir Geoffrey Cox, the baritone barrister who sits for Torridge and West Devon. The former Attorney-General has hit the headlines in recent years for his outside earnings

Freddy Gray

These tariffs aren’t just about Greenland

During his visit to Washington, DC on Wednesday, the Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that he had a ‘frank but also constructive’ discussion with Vice President J.D. Vance. He added, however, that the Kingdom of Denmark and the US remained in ‘fundamental disagreement’ about the future security of Greenland. Well, in typically explosive style, Donald Trump has just emphasised how deep that disagreement is. On Truth Social, he has announced that, starting on February 1, his administration will impose 10 per cent tariffs on all goods sent to the United States from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom. These charges, he went

Felix Hardinge

British people still hate the nanny state

In recent years a popular assumption has arisen in Britain that we are a nation of ‘curtain twitchers’ with an affinity for petty authoritarianism. This claim is usually supported by issue-specific polling: historic support for ID cards, contemporary backing for lockdowns, public health interventions such as smoking restrictions, or proposals to ‘Keep Children safe online’. I suspect that it is partly because of this narrative that Keir Starmer and the people around him believe that he can even entertain the banning social media platforms like X, breaking from liberal democracies like Canada (who ruled it out) and joining a club with Iran, Russia and China. It was also probably what

Michael Simmons

Trump slaps Britain with tariffs over Greenland

Donald Trump has announced that he will impose tariffs on goods from the UK, Denmark and other European countries. The 10 per cent levies on exports to the US will apply to ‘all or any goods’ and come into force from the beginning of next month. The move is in response to Europe’s opposition to his plan to take over Greenland. It’s worth looking at his explanation which was posted on his twitter clone Truth Social: If no deal is reached by June the tariffs will be hiked again to 25 per cent and remain there until an agreement is reached for the US to purchase Greenland from Denmark. The

Steerpike

Badenoch backs Starmer on Greenland

Leave it to Donald Trump to knock Robert Jenrick off the news cycle. The US President has not taken too kindly to the European contigent sent to Greenland, amid his continued threats to annexe the Danish territory. This afternoon Trump announced plans to hit the UK, Denmark and other European countries with a 10 per cent tariff on ‘all or any goods’ exported to America from 1 February. Pity Rachel Reeves’ economic forecasts… The Labour government is yet to respond – but help is coming from perhaps an unexpected quarter. Kemi Badenoch has taken to X to throw her weight behind the embattled Prime Minister. The Tory leader wrote that

Steerpike

Andy Burnham joins Hillsborough revolt

Can Keir Starmer get anything right? Just days after yet another U-turn on digital ID, it now seems that his flagship ‘Hillsborough law’ will provoke a Labour rebellion too. The bill is designed to impose a legal duty on public officials to act truthfully and support investigations into the state to ensure wrongdoing is not concealed. But controversy centres on how the legislation will be applied to the intelligence services. Campaigners claim that a government amendment before the Commons could allow security officials to ‘hide serious failures behind a vague claim of national security’. Now, Andy Burnham has joined the backlash. He and Steve Rotheram, his Liverpool counterpart, have today

Michael Gove

What does loyalty mean in politics?

For David Cameron, there were two types of politician. Team players. Or tossers. Although he preferred a slightly saltier description for the latter type. For a year I was the member of his team whose principal job was tosser-hunter. As government chief whip between 2014 and 2015 I was responsible for maintaining parliamentary discipline, unity and cohesion. I wasn’t a roaring success. I was in a swimming pool on holiday in France when the news broke that our Clacton MP Douglas Carswell had defected to Nigel Farage’s Ukip. Far from proving a George Smiley whose formidable intelligence skills had smoked out a double agent, I was proving to be more

Stephen Daisley

Malcolm Offord must improve

The biggest beneficiary of Robert Jenrick’s defenestration and defection was neither Kemi Badenoch nor Nigel Farage but Malcolm Offord. He is the former Tory peer whose unveiling as Reform’s Scottish leader was in progress when the purring notifications orchestra struck up among the assembled reporters and Reform staffers. The news of Jenrick’s ouster dominated the remainder of the proceedings, which was fortunate for Offord because his first media event as leader was a handy reminder of his shortcomings. Reform is trying to have it both ways with Offord, selling him as a political outsider and a safe pair of hands with experience in parliament and government. If he truly were

David Shipley

Why was the West Midlands Police chief allowed to retire?

Even as he resigned, Craig Guildford couldn’t do the decent thing. Perhaps that’s no surprise. We have learned in recent weeks that the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police has been habitually obfuscating over the circumstances under which Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were banned from Birmingham, and even misled parliament when he failed to disclose that the force’s intelligence report included an entirely invented football match. This week Guildford was entirely discredited in a report by Sir Andy Cooke, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, and has lost the confidence of the Home Secretary. Despite all this, Guildford was unapologetic, claiming that his resignation was due to ‘the political and media

Calum Miller

Debate: what's the point of the Lib Dems?

24 min listen

As Ed Davey condemned Donald Trump’s military manoeuvres abroad, Annabel Denham looked on and asked ‘what’s the point of the Liberal Democrats?’. Thinking about the Lib Dem’s longstanding europhile stance, the senior political correspondent at the Telegraph wrote: ‘the party that once stood on a tradition of civil liberties now wants us to rejoin a bloc which regulates everything’. Calum Miller MP – foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats – joins Annabel and deputy political editor James Heale to address Annabel’s challenge that the party is defined more by opposition the other parties than by their own policies. So, from localism and the UK’s place in the world to

Maria Botcharova

Amid the bombs, life in Kyiv carries on as normal

How do you convey the oddness of Kyiv during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? The reality of living under the constant threat of drones and missiles, combined with the undeniable fact that life continues as normal for most of the time? Kyiv isn’t just bombs. It’s pet grooming salons with neon signs and coffee shops called ‘202 Degrees Fahrenheit’. It’s WiFi signal that doesn’t fail, matcha tea with your choice of milk, ride-sharing apps and electric scooters. The city is as cool as the coolest corner of Shoreditch. Almost the first thing I do when I arrive is explore the bomb shelter underneath my flat. It’s surprisingly clean and recently renovated

Gavin Mortimer

Marine Le Pen is unstoppable

Marine Le Pen returned to court this week to contest her conviction last spring for misusing EU funds. Convicted of diverting more than €4 million (£3.5 million) meant for Brussels affairs in order to pay her staff, the leader of the National Rally was fined €100,000 (£86,600) and disqualified from politics for five years with immediate effect. The appeal will last a month and the verdict is expected in June. If Le Pen is successful, she will be able to run in next year’s presidential election; if she fails to overturn or drastically reduce the sentence, her protégé, 30-year-old Jordan Bardella, will represent the National Rally. Le Pen struck a

Friday

16 January 2026

Steerpike

Now the cabinet guns for Wes Streeting

Oh dear. With the right in civil war, Keir Starmer might have thought his week was ending on a high, after yet another U-turn – this time over digital ID. But his loose-lipped cabinet have done it again, telling the Times that they believe Kemi Badenoch’s dramatic sacking of Robert Jenrick ought to serve as a model for our poor Prime Minister. Perhaps Sir Keir lacks Kemi’s confidence eh? In a series of briefings tonight, various ministers sound off about Wes Streeting, the omnipresent Health Secretary who is never backward about coming forward. One member of the cabinet told the Times that ‘What he [Streeting] is doing is so obvious, he

Tim Shipman

Jenrick’s defection strengthens both Kemi and Farage

What a week. Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform yesterday electrified Westminster and the fallout is still spreading. When our editor asked everyone at The Spectator whether Badenoch or Farage was stronger as a result of the Tory leader’s decision to pre-empt the deal and kick him out, I answered that they both were in a better position than they had been on Thursday morning. Badenoch has solidified her control on the Tory party and Farage has enhanced a team which is weak on ministerial experience, showing further momentum. The battle to convince their own sides that Jenrick is a traitor/a key component of a future government has continued today. I understand

Freddy Gray

What will Donald Trump say at Davos?

25 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by John Carney, who leads finance and economics news for Breitbart, to discuss what Donald Trump will say at the World Economic Forum. Will the president ‘stick it to Davos man’ about tariffs and the world’s trade reliance on China? They also discuss how Trump’s quest to resolve the cost of living crisis has led him to find common ground with unlikely figures: Zohran Mamdani and Elizabeth Warren.

Steerpike

West Mids police chief bows out (finally)

Congratulations to Craig Guildford who has finally realised whatever else knew two days ago. The disgraced West Midlands Police chief has, at last, bowed to the inevitable and quit his post with immediate effect. It comes after the Home Secretary announced on Wednesday that she had ‘lost faith’ in Guildford after his force made misleading statements about its decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from a game at Villa Park. But – in one final ignominy – he has been allowed to retire voluntarily, rather than face the sack. Par for the course in British policing these days… In a statement, theWest Midlands Police Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, said: