Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Friday

Steerpike

Top ten moments of the SNP police probe

One whole year has passed since the infamous forensic tent was set up outside former first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s Glasgow home. On the same day, her husband and former chief executive of the party, Peter Murrell, was arrested in connection with the police probe into the ‘missing’ £600,000 of donations the party received for its IndyRef2 campaign. The police investigation, Operation Branchform, has been ongoing for three years and The Spectator has documented every twist and turn. Peter Murrell, former SNP CEO, is arrested A year ago today, the former chief executive of the SNP and Sturgeon’s husband, was arrested at 7.45am and taken into police custody. Murrell was questioned

Thursday

Steerpike

Honeytrap scandal: William Wragg admits leaking MPs’ phone numbers

Oh dear. There has tonight been a fresh development in the Westminster honeytrap sexting scandal.  William Wragg, the vice chairman of the 1922 committee, has admitted to the Times that he was the source responsible for leaking MPs’ phone numbers to a man he met on the gay dating app Grindr. Wragg, the chairman of the Public Administration Committee, said he provided the details after sending intimate pictures of himself to the user. Wragg said he was ‘scared that the man ‘had compromising things on me’. And now, thanks to him, they have compromising things on others… Those colleagues – which included several unnamed MPs, parliamentary staffers and a political journalist –

Steerpike

Listen: David Cameron refuses to answer Gaza questions

After the tragic news of the deaths of three British aid workers, killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza, both the public and politicians are demanding answers. And so at the end of his interview on the BBC’s Ukrainecast, Lord Cameron was asked about the situation in the Middle East. Before his interviewer had finished asking her question, however, the Foreign Secretary cut her off: ‘This is Ukrainecast. I’m not- I’m doing that later.’ When pressed again on whether he had time for any questions on the Israel-Gaza conflict, Cameron told her: ‘We don’t really… I’ve got to do a pool later.’ Trying one last time, his interviewer asked: ‘Will

Gus Carter

The Starmer supremacy

40 min listen

On the podcast this week: what could achieving a large majority at the next election mean for Labour; how much should parents worry about picky eating; and why are humans fascinated with the apocalypse?  First up: The Starmer supremacy. If the polls are correct, Labour could be on to a record landslide at the next general election. Any political leader would relish such a win. But can achieving such a large majority present internal problems of its own? Labour MP Harriet Harman joins The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls to discuss. (1:32) Then: Lara and Gus discuss some of their favourite pieces from the magazine, from Charles Moore’s column to

Cindy Yu

Should Britain end arms sales to Israel?

13 min listen

The row over arms sales to Israel continues today, as over 600 high profile figures in the legal profession, including former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption, sign a petition arguing they believe Israel has breached international law, and more Conservative politicians say, on the record, that they believe the UK must respond with an arms sale ban. Cindy Yu talks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman about where this row could go next. Produced by Megan McElroy and Cindy Yu.

Ross Clark

Scrapping Ofsted would suit teachers – but be terrible for children

There is one thing that seems to have gone missing from the campaign by the National Education Union (NEU) to abolish Ofsted: children. They hardly get a mention. What we do learn, from the press release announcing the NEU’s latest motion to get rid of the government’s schools’ inspection regime, is that the teaching profession ‘can be trusted to do their jobs effectively without a punitive, high-stakes system to keep them in line’. Further, Ofsted’s regime causes ‘teachers and other school staff sleepless nights, anxiety, and an urge to leave the profession’. The teaching profession, we’re told, ‘can be trusted to do their jobs effectively’ In other words, NEU members

Steerpike

Full list: Tories calling to end arms sales to Israel

The tragic news of the deaths of three British aid workers in Gaza, killed in an Israeli strike, has sobered the nation this week. It sparked a strongly-worded letter from Rishi Sunak to Israel’s Prime Minister on Tuesday evening, in which Sunak said he was ‘appalled’ by the killing of aid workers and the ‘intolerable’ situation in the Middle East. The PM also told Benjamin Netanyahu that ‘Israel’s rightful aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe’.  Now, Conservative peers and MPs are publicly calling for the UK to halt arms sales to Israel. The list includes Tory peer Sir Nicholas Soames, the grandson of

Patrick O’Flynn

Rishi Sunak’s empty human rights threat

Is there anyone in Britain who believes that Rishi Sunak will take us out of the European Convention on Human Rights? If there is then that person may also still think they got an absolute bargain when they paid a man in a pub £10,000 in cash to take ownership of Tower Bridge. For the Prime Minister to airily imply that he is ready to take the UK out of the ECHR and the jurisdiction of its supervisory court in Strasbourg amounts to a new low point in his parlous handling of the small boats crisis. The embarrassing truth is that a flailing, failing PM is fixated on just getting

Steerpike

Watch: Ex-Tory minister turns on Tom Tugendhat

The Tories are battling bad press almost every day now, what with rumours of rebellions and leadership challenges on top of a number of unflattering polls. The party might have hoped, then, that if former Conservative MPs wanted to raise party-specific concerns they would do so in private — rather than adding publicly to the party’s woes. Not so. Today, former government minister Sir Alan Duncan gave a fiery media performance to LBC when he came out gunning for certain Tory bigwigs — and even called for security minister Tom Tugendhat to be sacked. And now, in a further development only hours after his outburst, Duncan has been placed under

Terry Barnes

Australia’s activist governor-general spells trouble for the royals

While the King and the Princess of Wales both battle cancer, the business of monarchy goes on. In the realms of the Commonwealth that includes ensuring the Crown is represented in each respective constitutional government. In Australia, though, the choice of candidate for governor-general is far from reassuring news for the monarchy. Samantha ‘Sam’ Mostyn, an activist and lawyer, was named by Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese as the country’s 28th governor-general. ‘Ms Mostyn is known for her exceptional service to the Australian community. She is a businesswoman and community leader with a long history in executive and governance roles across diverse sectors’, said Albanese. There’s no question that Mostyn is a

Steerpike

MPs targeted in sexting scam

As if MPs didn’t have enough security threats to consider just now, a growing number of Westminster staff have raised concerns about being caught up in a phishing operation. 13 men have now come forward after receiving intimate and rather salacious messages from suspicious mobile numbers. Behind the messages, foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns believes, is ‘almost certainly a foreign state’. A Labour MP and a current government minister are among the targets, as well as a Tory backbencher, a former MP, a manager of an APPG, a former SpAd, four party staffers, two political journalists and a broadcaster. The scammers, going by the names of either ‘Charlie’ or

Eliot Wilson

Nato’s unhappy birthday

Nato marks its 75th birthday today, but the alliance is in no mood for celebration.  At its foundation, and for much of its lifetime, Nato worked well. On 4 April 1949, representatives of a dozen countries signed the North Atlantic treaty in Washington DC ‘to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law’. Although the Cold War was not always cold, and flared into bloodily hot conflicts in Vietnam, Cambodia and Angola among other places, there was never a face-to-face showdown between Nato and members of the Soviet Union-led Warsaw Pact, let alone a nuclear one.

Rod Liddle

Labour’s Gaza problem

The district of Pendle in Lancashire has a long history of dissenters, nonconformists, witches and murderers. Perhaps because it is so sodden and bleak and northern: life is nothing but an impoverished struggle against everything, accompanied by the occasional maniacal cry of the curlew and the demented smoke-alarm call of the lapwing. The Pendle Witch Trials of 1612 are famous and many locals have campaigned to have the seven women and two men who were hanged posthumously pardoned. I don’t know if they were witches, but they certainly sounded hugely irritating – especially Alice Nutter, who lived up to her name. The more Starmer sticks to a nuanced line, the

Katy Balls

What a super-majority means for Labour

When the last Tory government fell, the famous question after election night was: ‘Were you up for Portillo?’ Were you awake in the small hours when the man many expected to be the next leader lost his seat? This year, there’s no shortage of big beasts likely to be turfed out by the electorate. Jeremy Hunt, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Grant Shapps are just some of those tipped to lose their seats. Many touted as potential leaders – Penny Mordaunt, Miriam Cates and James Cleverly – are also endangered. If current polls are to be believed, the Tories could be reduced to a rump of about 100 MPs and Keir Starmer

John McTernan

Can Starmer control 450 unruly MPs?

It doesn’t matter how loyal a candidate is. Once elected, all MPs (to a greater or lesser extent) conclude they have won their seat because of their unique qualities and personal vision. When they look in the mirror, many will see a future prime minister. Almost every backbench MP believes they are one reshuffle away from ministerial office. Managing 450 MPs is a tall order for any party leader. As prime minister, Keir Starmer would have his work cut out managing the payroll vote of 150-160, especially as only around a third of the new parliamentary Labour party will have been in office before. A big Starmer win would inevitably

James Heale

Could Sadiq Khan lose London?

With Labour 20 points ahead in the national polls, a lot of Tories have already written off next month’s mayoral contest in the capital. London, they maintain, is a Labour city that occasionally votes Conservative. But supporters of Sadiq Khan and his Tory challenger Susan Hall agree: it’s going to be closer than many think. The mayor’s image is as likely to be found on Conservativeleaflets as on Labour ones Three factors are held by both camps to be at play. The first is the incumbency factor versus ‘time for a change’. Khan’s re-election team has consulted other campaigns which won three in a row; all agreed this was the

Wednesday

Daniel Thorpe

The Besiktas nightclub fire was tragically inevitable

At least 29 workers died and two were seriously injured yesterday in a fire at an Istanbul nightclub. The Masquerade club is in the basement of a 16-storey building in the Turkish city’s Besiktas district, known for its nightlife, and was being renovated. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the blaze. The fire has shone a spotlight on the dangers to construction workers in Turkey. Last year, almost 2,000 died in workplace accidents. Trade unions and opposition parties have long accused the government of failing to enforce safety regulations in order to maintain economic growth and attract foreign companies. A construction boom has been taking place in Turkey following last year’s huge earthquake in which tens of thousands of people died, many from buildings collapsing. In the rush

James Heale

Has Israel lost British support?

13 min listen

The killings of three British aid workers in Gaza has caused fury across the board in Westminster, with Rishi Sunak conducting a candid phone call with Benyamin Netanyahu last night. Today, the question is over whether the UK should ban arms sales to Israel in a bid to influence Jerusalem’s hardline approach to Gaza. Has Israel lost the support of the UK, and western countries more widely? James Heale talks to Isabel Hardman and Sophia Gaston, head of foreign policy at the think tank, Policy Exchange. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Steerpike

Poll predicts Labour could become Scotland’s largest party

As Scotland’s embattled First Minister continues to face backlash over his Hate Crime Act, his party has been hit with yet more bad news. New polling from YouGov suggests that Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party will become the largest party in Scotland, taking 28 seats and pushing the SNP into second place. The Nats are predicted to lose almost 25 of their Westminster seats, retaining just 19, the next time the electorate head to the ballot box. The MRP poll suggests that Labour will sweep up across Scotland’s central belt – widely regarded within the Scottish party as being ‘the first red wall to fall’ – and is even predicted

Brendan O’Neill

The truth about Israel’s ‘friendly fire’

David Cameron has got some front. The Foreign Secretary is haranguing Israel over its tragic unintentional killing of seven aid workers in Gaza, and yet he oversaw a war in which such ‘friendly fire’ horrors were commonplace. In fact, more than seven people were slain in accidental bombings under Cameron’s watch. Terrible accidents happen in war It was the Libya intervention of 2011. In that Nato-led excursion, in which Cameron, then prime minister, was an enthusiastic partner, numerous Libyans died as a result of misaimed bombs. Things got so bad that the West’s allies took to painting the roofs of their vehicles bright pink in an effort to avoid Nato’s