Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Thursday

Douglas Murray

I’ll soon be the only commoner I know

It is starting to dawn on me that I will soon be the only commoner I know. I am racking my brains trying to think of anyone I have even met in recent years who has not been ennobled, and at present I am drawing a blank. Each time I am out of the UK I return to find another honours list and another batch of peers. By the time the magazine has gone to press this column’s sub-editor will probably have been called to the Upper House. Should the Upper House really be a chamber filled with failed MPs, council leaders and spads? This is not – I would like

The Spectator

The Tories are too weak to capitalise on Labour’s failings

The polls suggest that Labour is in line for a general election victory later this year which could match or even exceed Tony Blair’s landslide of 1997. Yet the party exudes none of the confidence and maintains none of the self-discipline which it did 27 years ago. On the contrary, were the Conservatives not in an even worse state themselves, Keir Starmer’s party could well be in deep trouble. For Labour to contrive to lose a safe seat in the current circumstances is remarkable. But that is exactly what the party has done with its failure to vet properly Azhar Ali, the candidate chosen to fight the Rochdale by-election following

Rod Liddle

Labour still has an anti-Semitism problem

Then there’s the other candidate, or ex-candidate, for the Rochdale by-election, the one nobody is talking about. The Green party hopeful, Guy Otten, had his party’s support withdrawn last week and he decided to pull out over tweets he had written, some of them up to ten years ago. The one which really narked his Green colleagues, apparently, was this: ‘The Quran is full of war, slaughter, rape and pillage, with genocide and slavery as well. It’s not fit for the 21st century.’ Hmm. How to put this? I have to say, as a description of the gorier bits of the Quran it’s not terribly wide of the mark, is

James Heale

Can Sunak find the common touch?

A former Tory minister likes to tell the tale of a recent charity dinner in his constituency. The organiser began by stressing that the occasion had to remain ‘a strictly non-political event’. The MP rose to reply: ‘Not to worry, ladies and gentlemen – I belong to a strictly non-political party.’ That question of Rishi Sunak’s political instincts – or lack thereof – is preoccupying Tory MPs. Three recent encounters are held up as examples. An ill-judged bet with Piers Morgan was followed by a warm embrace with the Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O’Neill. Images of this latter encounter went down badly with Tory MPs who served in the

Max Jeffery

Is Nato ready for a Russian invasion?

Tapa, Estonia In a pine forest two hours from Estonia’s border with Russia, preparation for war is under way. British, French, American and Estonian soldiers are rehearsing what Nato would do if Vladimir Putin invaded. They’ve brought Challenger II tanks, an F-16 fighter jet and Himars artillery systems – some of the best equipment the West has – for a fortnight of battle simulations. It means preparing for trench warfare, minefields, ambushes and mortar strikes in -20°C and a foot of snow. Not long ago, the idea of fighting a war against Russia was dismissed as a joke. When Mitt Romney ran for US president he said Moscow was a

Charles Moore

British cheese… or gay dating website?

If you can vote in Rochdale, you have a choice of three candidates with Labour backgrounds in the coming by-election. There is George Galloway, the man who famously saluted Saddam Hussein’s ‘courage and indefatigability’. George used to be a Labour MP but is now the candidate of the Workers Party of Britain. Then there is Simon Danczuk. He too was a Labour MP, for Rochdale indeed. He was a scourge of paedophiles, peddling conspiracy theories about Dolphin Square, the innocent Leon Brittan etc, but – as so often with those who love hurling sexual allegations – he got tangled up himself, sending ‘inappropriate’ texts to a 17-year-old girl, and subsequently

Wednesday

Steerpike

Watch: Marjorie Taylor Greene insults Lord Cameron

David Cameron is currently in the States, urging politicians there to back support for Ukraine. Currently Washington DC is ensuring a stalemate over £75 billion of aid for Kyiv’s struggle against their Russian invaders. The Foreign Secretary used an article in the DC website the Hill to urge Congress to support Ukraine with more funding. He wrote: I believe our joint history shows the folly of giving in to tyrants in Europe who believe in redrawing boundaries by force. I do not want us to show the weakness displayed against Hitler in the 1930s. He came back for more, costing us far more lives to stop his aggression. But his comments

Iain Macwhirter

Edinburgh University’s new rector must save it from gender ideology

Simon Fanshawe has been installed as the rector of Edinburgh University. The arrival of the comedian and Stonewall dissident to the post will hopefully bring to an end a dismal episode in the life of one of Britain’s greatest academic institutions. But don’t bank on it. The campaign by transgender activists and others to uninstall Mr Fanshawe is already underway – and they know what they are doing.  For the past decade a collection of campus zealots has been allowed to run rampant in this supposed seat of higher learning. They have threatened the health and livelihoods of lecturers and banned freedom of speech – often with the tacit acquiescence

Jonathan Miller

Journalists are out to censor the French GB News

Left-wing journalists have won a huge battle in France against CNews, the country’s most popular news channel. France’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has given the media regulator Arcom six months to investigate the channel to determine whether or not it is keeping to strict rules on balanced and independent journalism. CNews is one of five French news channels and the only one that defiantly ignores the groupthink of leftist Paris journalists. It’s long been the target of those seeking to silence it in a campaign reminiscent of that waged against GB News by leftist groups in Britain, who both complain to Ofcom and organise advertising boycotts.  France is

Ross Clark

Britain’s unemployment figures can’t be trusted

Britain’s unemployment statistics are unreliable, and the Office of National Statistics is experimenting with a new method of counting the number of people out of work. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, said as much this afternoon while giving evidence to the House of Lords Committee on Economic Affairs. Until the 1990s the unemployment figure was a simple count of the number of people who were claiming unemployment benefit. Since then, however, the figures have been collected via the Labour Force Survey, which is a questionnaire put to a sample of households. As Bailey says, the size of this sample was already shrinking before the pandemic, making the

Melanie McDonagh

How to get through Lent

Well, it’s a pig of a coincidence to have Ash Wednesday coinciding with Valentine’s Day. So, at the start of Lent, on the very day that traditionalists are allowed one light meal and two collations – basically less of everything and no meat – you’re meant to be celebrating the love stuff, always supposing you’re of an age. There are ways round this. First, remember that fish is fine. Oysters, that well known aphrodisiac, are absolutely legitimate; ditto lobster. You can’t really feel that hard done by if you’re putting away Coquilles St Jacques for two.  Or else you could always go vegan. It’s not often you want to embrace

James Heale

Have the Tories given up on Wellingborough & Kingswood?

10 min listen

Inflation figures released this morning have remained at 4 per cent – a worry for Rishi Sunak’s five pledges. There are several hurdles are still to come for the Prime Minister this week, including growth figures tomorrow and two by-elections on Friday. Why are the Tories keeping things low-key on the campaign trail? James Heale is joined by Kate Andrews and Lucy Fisher Whitehall editor of the Financial Times. 

Damien Phillips

The Body Shop won’t be the last high street chain to collapse

The collapse of the retail chain The Body Shop marks a new low in the sorry tale of Britain’s shops and their struggle for survival. The brand was put into administration by private equity firm Aurelius only a few weeks after it had been acquired from its former owners Natura & Co for £207 million. The demise of The Body Shop could see the loss of its 199 shops across the UK and an uncertain future for nearly 2,000 employees – but sadly it is only the latest in a long line of big retail closures. Only last month, Lloyds Pharmacy entered liquidation owing nearly £300 million to its creditors.

Kate Andrews

Inflation stays at 4 per cent – despite Red Sea disruption

The government had been facing two economic challenges this week, ahead of the by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough: the publication of the latest inflation figures and the economic growth figures for the last quarter of 2023. It has just about survived the first challenge. This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics shows the inflation rate sticking at 4 per cent on the year in January, unchanged from December. This is still double the Bank of England’s inflation target, but it is better than expected news, as economists were predicting an uptick to 4.2 per cent. A combination of factors – including the January sales for home goods and furniture and

Gavin Mortimer

Will the Tories be wiped out like the French Republicans?

Vote for me or you’ll end up with Keir Starmer. That was the threat from Rishi Sunak on Monday evening when in front of the GB News cameras he addressed voters in Country Durham. The Prime Minister warned that the general election will be a straightforward choice between the Conservatives and Labour. He then listed what was at stake: controlling spending, cutting taxes, boosting the economy, protecting borders and policing the streets. ‘All of those things that you care about, who is more likely to deliver them?’ Not the Tories, if the polls are to be believed. One poll last month predicted the party will be ‘wiped out’ in the

Benedict Rogers

Lionel Messi shouldn’t have been in Hong Kong in the first place

Football has turned messy in Hong Kong. Last Sunday, the beleaguered Hong Kong Chinese Communist party was hoping for a public relations boost after Inter Miami agreed to play a friendly in the city against the Hong Kong Team. Instead, the game was overshadowed by a furious row after Miami footballer Lionel Messi failed to come out on the pitch because of a groin injury. The Hong Kong government reacted with outrage, and fans booed the players and demanded refunds. Three days later Messi was well enough to play in Japan, adding insult to injury in the eyes of the CCP. The outcry has now spread to mainland China, with state

Limor Simhony Philpott

Israel has to invade Rafah if it wants to destroy Hamas

When news broke that Israel planned to start an offensive in the city of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, it was faced with a barrage of warnings and condemnations, including from its allies. Foreign Secretary David Cameron urged Israel to ‘think seriously’ before it launched a large-scale operation in the city. US President Biden called on Israel to halt the offensive. The EU representative for foreign affairs and security, Joseph Borrell, urged Israel’s allies to stop arming it, and Egypt threatened to suspend the peace deal over the planned offensive. Rafah sits close to the border with Egypt. Originally home to about 250,000 people, it’s where

Tuesday

Natasha Feroze

Can Labour learn from its mistakes?

15 min listen

Keir Starmer has rolled back on his support for the Rochdale by-election candidate, Azhar Ali over further comments made about on Israel-Palestine. John McTernan and James Heale speak to Natasha Feroze about the lessons Labour can learn, and whether antisemitism could topple Starmer. Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak has been taking advantage of Labour’s U-turns, and Michael Gove has laid out his new house building plan. 

Isabel Hardman

Starmer suspends second Labour candidate

Labour has now suspended Graham Jones as a parliamentary candidate after a recording emerged of him allegedly saying that Britons who travel to Israel to fight for the IDF should be ‘locked up’. The former MP, who is standing again in Hyndburn, was taped appearing to refer to ‘f***ing Israel’, and saying it was ‘illegal’ for Britons to fight for Israel. It isn’t – the UK recognises the right of dual nationals to join ‘legitimately recognised armed forces’, but it is a point that has been debated within politics, and suggests that Keir Starmer is lowering the bar following the fallout from his Rochdale decision. Starmer has made a real

Isabel Hardman

David Cameron is taking a harsher line on Israel

Lord Cameron has shown again this afternoon how much the government’s tone on the conflict in Gaza has changed recently. The Foreign Secretary was taking questions in the Lords and heavily laboured the point that Israel should think twice before going into Rafah. He repeated his regular argument that there had been too many Palestinian deaths. Cameron also said he had personally challenged the Israeli government over certain incidents, and urged it once again to abide by humanitarian law. This is a shift from the previous line where ministers said Israel must follow the law, but refused to offer any criticism or indication that they thought the IDF might be