Politics Archives

Monday

13 November 2023

Rishi Sunak will regret bringing back David Cameron

So farewell then to the great realignment: Suella Braverman out of a great office of state and David Cameron back into one. As electoral signals go, this one hardly needs much decoding. The alliance of social conservatives that fell into the Tory lap without them really understanding why has been spurned. The boarding school boys are back in charge and the possibilities of the Conservative party embracing much conservatism is at an end. Everything that has happened since 2016 has in effect been wiped in the Westminster equivalent of a Bobby Ewing shower scene. It just needs Cameron to stare at us quizzically as if puzzled at our collective double-take

The Spectator

David Cameron back and Suella Braverman sacked: as it happened

6.07pm Steerpike: Andrea Jenkyns hasn’t taken Suella’s sacking well. The MP has submitted a letter of no confidence in the ‘Machiavellian’ Rishi Sunak to 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady, writing that ‘enough is enough’, since ‘Suella… was the only person in the cabinet with the balls to speak the truth of the appalling state of our streets.’ Enough is enough, I have submitted my vote of no confidence letter to the Chairman of the 1922. It is time for Rishi Sunak to go and replace him with a 'real' Conservative party leader. pic.twitter.com/yJmGc14d75 — Andrea Jenkyns MP 🇬🇧 (@andreajenkyns) November 13, 2023 5.37pm Steerpike: It may have been seven years

Philip Patrick

Celtic’s Remembrance Day shame is the final straw

A portion of the crowd at Celtic’s Parkhead stadium booed the minute’s silence for Remembrance Sunday. It was abandoned after 30 seconds. This latest embarrassment comes just a week after the club suspended the season tickets of over 250 of its most zealously committed fans – a faction of ultras known as the ‘Green Brigade’. The members of this querulous group which occupies the north curve of Parkhead have been causing trouble/engaging in principled activism (depending on your take) for years, with the latest issue being the repeated display of pro-Palestinian flags and banners at matches, despite warnings from the club to desist. The two events were probably connected. The

Patrick O’Flynn

How Sunak can use Braverman’s biggest weakness against her

So Suella is going to get whacked then. One discerns this from the behaviour of senior ministers sent out on the airwaves this weekend. Grant Shapps rolled out the classic ‘a week is a long time in politics’ gambit when asked if the Home Secretary would still be in post next weekend. Veterans’ minister Johnny Mercer expressed his frustration that rows connected with Braverman had distracted from Remembrance ceremonials. All this came hard on the heels of Jeremy Hunt’s icy declaration on Friday that ‘the words she used are not words that I would have used’. When the temperature around a senior colleague drops so far and so fast it

Steerpike

Full list: the MPs criticising Sunak’s decision to sack Suella

Rishi Sunak was never going to please everyone by sacking Suella Braverman. Just like clockwork, MPs are beginning to crawl out of the woodwork to proclaim Braverman true defender of the Tory faith and, while they’re at it, stick it to the Prime Minister. The list of MPs who have criticised Sunak’s decision to give the former Home Secretary the boot is as follows:

Sunday

12 November 2023

Joe Bedell-Brill

Sunday shows round-up: Don’t blame Braverman for disorder, argues Shapps

The Home Secretary Suella Braverman caused controversy this week when she wrote an apparently unauthorised article for the Times accusing the police of bias ahead of Armistice Day and the planned pro-Palestine rally. That march went ahead despite the wishes of some members of parliament. The police had to deal with violence from what was described as ‘far-right groups’ who converged on the Cenotaph as well as disorder from some of the pro-Palestine marchers. Trevor Phillips asked Defence Secretary Grant Shapps if Braverman’s actions might have made it harder for the police to maintain peace. Shapps paid tribute to the police, but claimed that far-right groups had already announced they

Steerpike

Nadine takes aim at Gove (again)

Remembrance Sunday traditionally brings with it a pause in political hostilities but not for Nadine Dorries. The former Culture Secretary was out on Laura Kuenssberg’s show this morning, three days on from the release of her long-awaited book on the supposed ‘plot’ to bring down Boris Johnson in which Michael Gove is cast as one of the central villains. And following the bizarre scenes yesterday in which Gove was mobbed by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, Dorries showed little sympathy with her onetime cabinet colleague: ND: “But the point on Michael Gove in that, I’ve got to raise it, what was Michael Gove doing in the middle of Victoria Station on a day

Steerpike

Farage to seek millions in damages from NatWest

It’s a busy old time if you’re Nigel Farage. The Brexiteer is expected to shortly become the latest politician to enter the jungle on ITV’s hit show I’m A Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here. But before that, Farage has certain scores to settle: including with the state-backed NatWest bank. He is now seeking millions of pounds of damages over the debanking scandal which eventually forced the resignation of chief executive Dame Alison Rose. This weekend Farage instructed London-based Grosvenor Law to act for him in a claim against both NatWest and Rose, with initial legal letters expected to be issued by Farage’s lawyers during the course of next week.

Edward Howell

How North Korea is supporting Hamas

First, it was Russia’s war with Ukraine. Then, it was Hamas’s terrorist attacks against Israel. Both of these events, in gross violation of international law, have certainly not escaped the watchful eyes of that infamous state sponsor of terrorism, North Korea. Earlier this week, a Hamas official said North Korea is ‘part of [Hamas’s] alliance’, and he intimidated Israel and the United States with the words that: ‘the day may come when North Korea intervenes’ by unleashing a direct strike against the United States. Recent events have clearly demonstrated that Hamas does not just want to destroy the lives of Israeli civilians, but the very existence of the Israeli state.

Robin Ashenden

Have we forgotten the lessons of Shoah?

Since Hamas’s assault on innocent Israelis, a wave of anti-Semitism has swept across the world. Jews in Europe feel distinctly unsafe. There’s been an arson attack on a German synagogue, the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Austria, and, last weekend, in Lyon, a Jewish woman was stabbed twice, a swastika sprayed on her door. Meanwhile, in Britain, as the Guardian newspaper proclaims that ‘Israel must stop weaponising the Holocaust,’ the Metropolitan Police report antisemitic attacks to have increased in early October by 1350 per cent. You wonder what the late director Claude Lanzmann would have made of it. Lanzmann’s nine-hour Holocaust documentary Shoah (1985) – meant to be sampled in

Jawad Iqbal

Democrats are tearing themselves apart over Israel

A month is a long time in American politics – or so it would seem judging by the growing split among US Democrats over the Israel-Hamas war. In the days immediately after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 240 hostages, Democrats across the board in America offered unequivocal support for Israel and its right to self-defence. That was then. Now, support for Israel’s actions has plunged the party into an increasingly vitriolic internal battle that is pitting former political allies against each other. The festering divisions in the American left running along ideological, generational and racial lines are set to deepen as the

Jeremy Black

England and Scotland are forever bound in mourning

Today, on Remembrance Day, wreaths will be laid to remember the fallen at 11am at the Stone of Remembrance. It follows the firing of Edinburgh Castle’s One O’clock Gun at 11am yesterday on Armistice Day. In London, there was a firing of guns from Horse Guards Parade and a procession past the Cenotaph. Last Remembrance Day, Nicola Sturgeon lead a wreath outside Edinburgh City Chambers. Humza Yousaf will likely do the same this morning. The history of Scotland and England is one of shared war. It’s only relatively recently, then, that Scots have fought alongside the English, playing a major role in the British army. The union came through war and conquest.

Dan Hitchens

Remembrance Day protests through the ages

It’s not the first time that protesters have intruded on Remembrance Day. But this time feels different. In the 20s, the protests were against the poverty and inequality of the era. On Armistice Day in 1922, 25,000 unemployed ex-servicemen marched past the Cenotaph, wearing their medals next to tickets from pawn shops to indicate their plight. The year before, in Liverpool, 200 men interrupted the two minutes’ silence with shouts of ‘Anybody want to buy a medal?’ and ‘What we want is food, not prayers!’ In the 70s and 80s, more disturbingly, it was the far right who occupied the headlines. The National Front made its Remembrance Sunday march into

Saturday

11 November 2023

Steerpike

Gove mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters

Rarely has a protest had so much hype before it has even happened. But today’s pro-Palestinian march had something for everyone. Sadiq Khan has pointed the finger of blame at Suella Braverman over the attempts by right wing protesters to ambush pro-Palestine supporters. Meanwhile, the chants of ‘from the river to the sea’ have led watchers to question whether this was really a march for peace after all. And now a government minister has been thrown into the mix. Footage is doing the rounds on social media of Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, being mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters at Victoria station this afternoon. Gove appears to have got caught up

Angus Colwell

Inside the Armistice Day protests

The Metropolitan Police today staged their largest-ever operation with two marches – the pro-Palestinian march and a smaller counter-protest – taking place in London. The latter, centred on Westminster, provided most of the arrests. The main route of the pro-Palestine march (which started in Park Lane and was moving towards the US Embassy in Vauxhall) passed more peacefully with fewer scuffles. The demonstration drew perhaps 300,000 (although Jeremy Corbyn claimed a million) and the main arrests seem to be those who decided to sit down at Waterloo station and not move when asked. No one person on the march can hope to give an account on the whole thing. But I can

Cindy Yu

Why the Tories need the new Hong Kong voter base

With the Conservatives trailing around twenty points in most polls, the outcome of the next election seems all but set. However, even if Rishi Sunak will struggle to lead his party to a fifth term, the scale of a likely Labour victory remains unclear. Whether it’s a backlash from the Muslim community over Starmer’s position on Gaza or Scottish independence, there are plenty of factors that could dampen a Starmer victory parade. One of these unknowns that could swing the balance for some crucial seats in the next election are that of the new voters from Hong Kong, 125,000 of whom have come to the UK on British Nationals (Overseas)

Niall Gooch

The Tories’ biggest missed opportunity

In about a year’s time, maybe less, the British people will collectively hand the Tory government their P45s. Rishi Sunak will be mildly disappointed for about five minutes and then move on to a cushy billet in a Silicon Valley tech firm. The Cabinet members will mostly return to the backbenches. Some of them will be able to wangle regular gigs in the newspapers or on TV, where they will argue for the red meat policies that they failed to pursue in office. And so will pass one of the most incredible missed opportunities in British political history. A Tory majority of a size not seen since the Thatcher years has been used to achieve a great deal of nothing at all.

Limor Simhony Philpott

After Hamas, who will control Gaza?

Who will rule Gaza once the war is over? Israel, so far, hasn’t provided an answer. The country’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been clear that his aim is to wipe out Hamas. He said this week that Israel will claim responsibility for security in Gaza for an ‘indefinite period’, in order to stop Hamas from rearming and establish long-term security. But Israel is unlikely to have the stomach to stay in Gaza as casualties mount. So who will step into this vacuum? One possible solution is for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take over as the ruling body in Gaza. The PA governed over the Palestinian territories following the

James Heale

Has Nadine Dorries lost the plot?

14 min listen

This week Nadine Dorries’s new book The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson has been published, and it has ruffled some feathers in Westminster. In it, she claims there was a plot orchestrated by a secret cabal of back room advisors, politicians and individuals in the media to overthrow Boris Johnson. Just what is ‘the movement’? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Christopher Howse, assistant editor at the Telegraph. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Patrick O’Flynn

Rishi Sunak is in office but not in power

Can Rishi Sunak still catch a break or has the plughole spiral of British politics now dragged him firmly into its unsparing ambit? It is just possible that he will come up for a lungful of air on Wednesday, when the Supreme Court delivers its long-awaited verdict on whether the Rwanda scheme is legal. More likely, the justices will rule the plan incompatible with their ever-more elastic interpretations of European Convention rights, sending him whirling further downwards. Suella Braverman probably won’t be Home Secretary by then. Or, if she is, she will probably walk should Sunak fail immediately to come round to her view that we must now leave the