Politics Archives

Monday

29 April 2024

Runners and riders for next SNP leader

It’s a day that ends in ‘y’ which means hapless Humza Yousaf is once again having a tough time of it. After ditching the Green coalition and therefore his pro-independence majority in Holyrood, Yousaf left himself vulnerable to no confidence motions – and opposition parties haven’t let the opportunity pass them by. As Yousaf faces one vote in his leadership and another in his government, conversations about the tenability of his position have picked up pace. The SNP has now confirmed he will make a statement at midday today on his future. If hapless Humza decides his time is up, who’s next in line to replace him? Kate Forbes What

Katy Balls

Plotters set out ‘100 days’ policy plan to rival Sunak

It’s the week of the local elections and the most pivotal of Rishi Sunak’s premiership to date. It’s been clear for some time now that the Prime Minister’s critics will attempt to rally MPs to turn on Sunak if the party faces a drubbing in Thursday’s vote. This is more than the odd unhappy MP: a group of ragtag plotters – including one-time donors and former government advisers – is agitating from outside parliament to destabilise Sunak. Most MPs believe that Sunak ought to be able to hold on Downing Street has used the past few days to try to shore up Sunak with a series of party-friendly announcements, including

James Heale

Is the Rwanda plan already working?

It is fashionable within Westminster to criticise the Rwanda plan. The likes of Suella Braverman, Robert Jenrick and Reform on the right can often be found echoing Labour’s criticisms on the left that the current scheme is both flawed and unworkable. Yet one place where Rwanda is credited with having a deterrent effect is across the Irish Sea. Micheál Martin, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, is now explicitly blaming the scheme for an increase in asylum seekers entering his country from Northern Ireland. ‘I believe the Rwanda effect is impacting on Ireland’, he said on Wednesday night. ‘It is having real impact on Ireland now in terms of people being fearful in

Sam Leith

The parable of Blackpool’s potholes

I read the news today, oh boy. Four thousand holes in Blackpool, Lancashire. Well, in fact, not quite as many as 4,000. The number of holes in the Lancashire town that the Beatles didn’t sing about was a very precise 2,628 – or, translated into another scale, just over half an Albert Hall’s worth. That’s how many potholes Blackpool Council has filled in over the last year alone. In a world where every other bulletin is of swirling climate catastrophe, economic precarity, hot wars, riots, migrant drownings, gusts of online hate and all the jollity of the day-to-day news cycle, this local council has been getting on, patiently and

Iain Macwhirter

The final tragedy of ‘Humza the Brief’

The resignation of Humza Yousaf as First Minister of Scotland marks not just the beginning of the end for him, nor simply for the 17-year long SNP government, but for any hopes of Scottish independence happening in the lifetime of most SNP members. Yousaf might even take devolution with him since the Scottish public are at their wits’ end with the behaviour of the politicians – all of them – who have occupied the Scottish parliament like student activists taking over the university court. The SNP has gone from landslide victory to pariah status in less than a decade Yousaf was always a hopeless case politically. Nice guy – shame about the

Niall Gooch

Count Binface just isn’t funny

On British general election nights, I like to watch Dish and Dishonesty, the first episode of the third series of Blackadder. It pokes some gentle fun at the conventions of election night TV, including the tradition of ‘silly’ candidates. In the episode, Ivor ‘Jest Ye Not, Madam’ Biggun of the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid party is among the challengers to replace the late Sir Talbot Buxomly. It all feels very tired. Exhausted, even Mr Biggun – whose policies of compulsory asparagus for breakfast and free corsets for the under-fives will doubtless be in the next Lib Dem manifesto – is an unsubtle parody of the Monster Raving

Sunday

28 April 2024

James Heale

Why Labour won’t be bounced by Sunak’s defence plans

British politics in recent years has sometimes resembled a waltz. Both main parties show little compunction in mirroring each other’s plans, stealing their opponents’ popular policies and playing down the differences which characterised the Corbyn years. So it was striking to see Labour’s reticence this week to sign up to Sunak’s much-vaunted plan to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030. Both Keir Starmer and John Healey, the Shadow Defence Secretary, have invested much time and effort over the past four years in trying to nullify the Tories’ traditional lead in this area. At the last election barely one in ten voters trusted their party on

Mark Galeotti

Why Russia’s ‘king of the kickback’ was arrested

The universal corruption of the Russian elite suits Vladimir Putin. When everyone has a skeleton in their closet, power rests with whoever decides which closets get searched. The arrest on corruption charges of Timur Ivanov, deputy minister of defence, is noteworthy not because he was infamously corrupt, but because it raises the question: why him, why now? This could be the start of a ‘ditch Shoigu’ campaign by his enemies Ivanov was well known for his lavish lifestyle and his reputation as the ‘king of the kickback.’ Since 2016, he had been in charge of the Defence Ministry’s property portfolio, construction projects and medical services. To put it another way,

Joe Bedell-Brill

Sunday shows round-up: Sunak refuses to rule out summer election

The Tories are expected to lose around half their councillors in the upcoming local elections on 4 May. Trevor Phillips interviewed the prime minister on Sky News, asking him whether a general election could take place as early as July. A frustrated and bullish Sunak claimed he did not get distracted by his diminished approval ratings, and repeatedly refused to confirm or deny the possibility of a July general election, telling Phillips: ‘you’re going to try and draw whatever conclusion you want from what I say’. Conservative defector Dan Poulter: Tories now resemble a ‘nationalist party’ The Conservatives suffered another humiliation this week after MP Dr Dan Poulter quit his

Steerpike

Truss book becomes a bestseller

Much has been made of Liz Truss’s book since its publication a fortnight ago. Jeering critics were quick to mock but Mr S was among the first to note that Amazon actually sold out of copies within 72 hours, such was the demand from punters. And today’s Sunday Times confirms that there is a still keen public interest in what the former premier has to say. For Truss is now number three on the newspaper’s highly-prized bestseller list for general hardbacks, taking the bronze medal behind Salman Rushdie’s harrowing tale of his 2022 assault and, er, RuPaul’s autobiography. The Sunday Times boasts that its list is regarded as the ‘most

Freddy Gray

Coleman Hughes on neo-racism, US election, and The View

47 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to writer, podcaster and musician Coleman Hughes. His latest book The End of Race Politics, The: Arguments for a Colorblind America promotes Martin Luther King’s teachings for a colourblind society. On the podcast they discuss Coleman’s recent appearance on The View; whether Coleman thinks Trump is racist and how the Israel-Gaza war exposed the failings of US universities.

David Abulafia

Trinity College Cambridge has rushed to judgement on Captain Cook

Cambridge has made a mistake in returning to the tribe that made them some spears collected by Captain Cook’s men in 1770. It is always dispiriting to write something and then discover that no one with the power to act has paid any attention. Last year, I complained on Coffee House that Trinity College, Cambridge and the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology were about to make an ill-conceived mistake by repatriating these spears. It seems no one was listening. The truth is that these spears – which were presented to Trinity in 1771 – would not have survived had they not been kept safe in Cambridge. These were

Gavin Mortimer

What France’s celebrities don’t understand about Le Pen voters

Since 2012, the French actor Omar Sy has lived in Los Angeles. One of his houses has included a sprawling villa with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, an outdoor pool and a jacuzzi. With luxury like that perhaps it’s not surprising that Sy – known to British audiences for his role in X-Men, Jurassic World and Lupin – rarely returns to the Republic. But he’s in town this week to promote a book, and has been using his time in television studios to warn the good folk of France about the danger of voting for the ‘extreme right’. First, however, as befits a millionaire actor who lives in a very big

Jawad Iqbal

India is becoming a chess superpower

The Indian chess prodigy Dommaraju Gukesh has made history by becoming the youngest challenger ever for the world chess title. His shot at the world championship comes after a sensational victory at the prestigious men’s Candidates chess tournament in Toronto last weekend. ‘I am so relieved and so happy’, he told reporters in his trademark calm and understated manner. The 17-year-old will play China’s Ding Liren, the reigning champion, for the world title later this year. The face-off between the two will be the latest twist in a growing geopolitical rivalry: a longstanding border dispute (that led to war in 1962) came to a head again four years ago, when

Saturday

27 April 2024

Steerpike

Tory MPs savage Poulter in the group chat

So. Farewell then Dan Poulter. The Central Suffolk MP has today switched from the Conservatives to join the Starmer army, firing off a double-barrelled blast at his former party’s handling of the NHS. The Tories, Poulter says, are now little more than a ‘nationalist party’ who have abandoned ‘compassion’ as part of an increasingly ‘rightward drift.’ Ouch. One place where there is certainly little compassion for Poulter today is in the Tory MPs’ WhatsApp chat where his onetime colleagues are reacting with a mixture of mockery and fury. ‘Didn’t he step down in 2019?’ asked Alex Stafford, labelling Poulter ‘A nobody trying to be a somebody.’ ‘I didn’t even know

James Heale

Tory MP Dan Poulter defects to Labour

Rishi Sunak’s good week in politics just came to an end. Buoyed by a successful defence spending announcement and the passage of the Rwanda Bill, there had been rumours that the run-up to Thursday’s local elections would see the announcement of the general election date. But in a shock move, Tory backbencher Dan Poulter this afternoon announced that he is defecting to Labour, citing the depleted state of the health service. The MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich previously said he was standing down at the next election but will now sit for the Labour party until parliament is dissolved. In an interview with the BBC, the former health

Steerpike

Humza Yousaf’s five worst moments as First Minister

Scotland’s beleaguered First Minister Humza Yousaf is reportedly considering his position this morning, despite insisting on Friday that he would not resign from the post and intended ‘to win the vote of no confidence’. Hapless Yousaf made his bed on Wednesday morning by U-turning on the Bute House Agreement and ditching his coalition partners – after first U-turning on a key government climate target. Has he been swapping notes with Sir Keir Starmer? The First Minister left in his wake a rather furious septet of eco-activists who now plan to form an unlikely alliance with the Tories, backing Douglas Ross’s no confidence motion in Yousaf. Meanwhile, the Scottish Labour party

Ian Williams

Why was Blinken’s China visit so underwhelming?

It had been billed as an electrifying encounter – the US Secretary of State preparing to confront Beijing with a catalogue of global misdemeanours, ranging from stepped up support for Russian aggression against Ukraine to the intimidation of ships in the South China Sea belonging to US treaty ally, the Philippines, and the systematic breaking of world trade rules by flooding the market with heavily subsidised electric vehicles (EVs) and other renewable tech. ‘Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China’s support,’ Antony Blinken said on Friday, at the end of a three-day trip that included meetings with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and with President Xi

Katy Balls

Can Starmer do patriotism?

13 min listen

It was St George’s Day this week, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he has ‘no time’ for those who ‘flinch’ at the St George’s flag. But how authentic is his patriotism? Katy Balls speaks to Tom Baldwin, former Labour Party adviser and author of new book England: Seven Myths That Changed a Country – and How to Set Them Straight. Produced by Megan McElroy.

Lionel Shriver

Douglas Murray, Lionel Shriver, Mark Mason and Graeme Thomson

29 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: reporting from St Helena, Douglas Murray reflects on the inhabitants he has met and the history of the British Overseas Territory (1:12); Lionel Shriver opines on the debate around transgender care (9:08); following a boyhood dream to visit the country to watch cricket, Mark Mason reads his letter from India as he travels with his son (17:54); and, Graeme Thomson reviews Taylor Swift’s new album (22:41). Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.