Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Saturday

Robert Service

The Pope is wrong about Russian imperial greatness

Popes may make claims to infallibility but they certainly make mistakes, and Pope Francis is likely to get a dressing down in heaven from his predecessor-but-one, John Paul II, for what he has now said about Russian imperial greatness. What Kyiv least needs at the moment is a blundering intervention by a well-meaning Argentinian who speaks with the supreme authority of the Holy See John Paul was born and baptised in Poland before the second world war and rose to become Archbishop of Kraków before being elected to the Papacy. He had spent decades under communist rule and experienced the brutal ways of Soviet imperialism. He knew his Russian history.

Ian Acheson

How Sinn Fein captured Northern Ireland’s police force

Policing any part of the United Kingdom is a difficult enough task these days. Policing the part of it where the national security threat is highest and the personal details of all officers and staff are now likely in the hands of terrorists after an embarrassing data breach is a whole other story.  We are talking about Northern Ireland, where this week the Chief Constable inexplicably flip-flopped over a court decision that said the PSNI unlawfully disciplined two junior officers. At first Simon Byrne said he would accept the court’s decision, only to later this week say he would launch an appeal. But his volte face is merely the culmination of a

Katy Balls

Katy Balls, Owen Matthews, Kate Andrews and Ian Thomson

28 min listen

This week Katy Balls asks whether Rishi is a risk taker or whether he’ll choose to play it safe as Conference season approaches (01.17), Owen Matthews explains why America is still Ukraine’s best hope for victory (07.27), Kate Andrews is totally baffled and exasperated by the British refusal to get checked out by a doctor (15.34) and Ian Thomson reports from Sicily on the Godfather, Greek Temples and a misunderstanding involving mascarpone cheese (20.50). Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran.

Patrick O’Flynn

Might a Tory defeat in 2024 be something to celebrate?

When a party’s own natural supporters decide they have good reason to turn against it then the writing is normally on the wall. Things, though, are rather worse than that for Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives: Tory-leaning voters would now seem to have not one but two good arguments for hoping the party loses next year’s general election. The first reason is obvious. There is a stone-cold fury at the multiple betrayals, losses of nerve, defenestrations and incompetent U-turns that have taken place since the sweet victory of December 2019 – and an ensuing wish to take revenge.  The party would suddenly have the time and space to develop a coherent policy

Friday

Katy Balls

Inside the No. 10 shake-up

Thursday’s cabinet reshuffle may have been minor but the No. 10 shake-up is proving more substantive. Amber de Botton has stepped down as Director of Communications saying ‘it is the right time to move on’. In her statement, the former broadcast journalist describes No. 10 as ‘a demanding and high pressure place to work – yet the professionalism and talent they display every day is exceptional.’ De Botton’s successor is her former deputy Nerissa Chesterfield. Chesterfield is a long-standing aide of Sunak’s, handling his press operation during his time as chancellor. Prior to that Chesterfield worked for Liz Truss as well as the Institute for Economic Affairs. She is a

Steerpike

Amber de Botton out as No. 10’s director of comms

It’s not just the ministers getting reshuffled. This afternoon, Amber de Botton departed her role as Downing Street’s director of communications, having served just 10 months in the role. Does this mean a new comms strategy could be the offing? In a statement, the former head of ITV’s politics coverage said: It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications but I have decided it is the right time to move on. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister for his support and his leadership. The team he has built around him is dedicated and focused because

Kristina Murkett

The Tories’ dreadful handling of the school concrete crisis

Pupils are due to head back to school over the coming days, but now it seems that some of them might not. Yesterday, the government told schools to prepare evacuation plans for buildings made with RAAC concrete. This morning, schools were instructed to close these buildings altogether. This has caused immense disruption to at least 156 schools who now have to arrange alternative provision a mere couple of days, or in some cases, hours, before their students were due to crowd their corridors. To add insult to injury, schools will have to pay for these new measures themselves, and some parents have already been warned that disruption may last until 2025.

Steerpike

Labour counts the cost of Corbyn

He may have lost the Labour whip, but Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow still looms over the party’s finances. Following the leak of the Forde report into antisemitism in the party, the Labour party launched legal action against five ex-staffers thought to be the source of the leak, including Corbyn’s former chief of staff, Karie Murphy and Alistair Campbell negative image, Seamus Milne. So far that’s netted legal costs of £500,000 but, according to the Guardian, the final bill could cost £4 million – money earmarked for Labour’s Election war chest. The trouble for Labour is that despite the mounting costs and the enlistment of a KC and independent investigator to unmask

Robin Ashenden

What Brits don’t understand about life in Russia

When I tell people in England I’ve just returned from several years abroad and they find out the country was Russia, it is a real conversation stopper. Their minds short-circuit, they seem to gulp in front of you. What question do they ask next? Do they mention the war? Talk about Tolstoy? ‘Ah… Interesting,’ one woman said to me finally, as though looking at someone’s awful etchings and wanting to be polite. ‘That must have been…difficult for you,’ said another. How can I get across to them that, before February last year, it might have been ‘interesting’ but wasn’t difficult at all? It’s depressing when a country you have warm memories

Steerpike

Watch: Nick Gibb flounders over school closures

It’s back to school for many pupils this week – but it seems Schools Minister Nick Gibb is still in holiday mode. Gibb has been touring the airwaves to try and reassure parents in the wake of the announcement that dozens of schools may need to shut some buildings because of safety fears. But Gibb’s interview today on Good Morning Britain was far from reassuring for worried parents and pupils. Host Rob Rinder asked Gibb whether or not be had stuck to a commitment made in the Commons before the summer break to publish a list of ‘at risk buildings’. Rob Rinder: ‘When you made that parliamentary statement, was it

Thursday

Lucy Dunn

Junior doctors and consultants announce their first ever joint strike

For the first time in NHS history, junior doctors and consultants in England will strike together for four days this September. The joint strikes, announced by the BMA, will be in addition to other separate days of industrial action for both junior doctors and consultants. Health secretary Steve Barclay has slammed the BMA’s announcement as ‘callous and calculated’ while BMA representatives have criticised the government for ‘refusing to negotiate’. The decision by the doctors’ union comes after junior doctors voted today to continue industrial action for another six months. Since March, junior doctors have had 19 days of strikes over pay disputes. To end the strikes, the government has offered

Lara Prendergast

India’s century: Sunak’s plan for a new Indo-Pacific alliance

35 min listen

This week: In his cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator’s political correspondent James Heale writes that the PM’s visit to New Delhi for the G20 Summit next week could be a defining moment in the special relationship between Britain and India. He is joined by Shanker Singham, former advisor to UK Secretary of State for International Trade, to discuss Rishi’s Indian summer. (01:18) Also on the podcast: Owen Matthews The Spectator’s Russia correspondent expresses his concern about the US’s waning support for Ukraine in the magazine this week. He argues that ultimately it is America – and the outcome of next year’s presidential election – that could decide Ukraine’s fate. He is joined

Steerpike

Nadine’s book is delayed until after conference

Some sad news to bring you from the literary world. Those who have saved up £25 for Nadine Dorries’ upcoming The Plot: The Political Assassination of Boris Johnson, will have to keep waiting a little longer. Publication day for the explosive real-world political thriller has today been pushed back from September to November to allow ‘the required legal process needed to share her story’ to take place, according to HarperCollins. The book has netted the author a £60,000 advance and was originally intended to be published in time for October’s Conservative party conference, in order to cause as much collateral damage as possible to Dorries’ bête noire Rishi Sunak. The

Andrew Tettenborn

What’s the point of forcing murderers like Lucy Letby into the dock?

We all recoiled when Lucy Letby, a nurse of all things, was convicted of killing seven babies in cold blood. But this murderess had one more card up her sleeve. When called to court for the last time to receive the inevitable sentence – not only life, but in her case whole-life – she casually declined to appear. By doing so, Letby added insult to injury, constraining the grieving parents of her victims to watch the judge address an eerily empty dock.  Under the present law she was arguably within her rights. But not for much longer. The government, with it seems the full backing of Labour, has promised to change things. In

James Heale

Who is Claire Coutinho?

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak may have shelved his plan for a big reshuffle but we have had some cabinet changes today. Grant Shapps has taken his fifth cabinet position in one year, replacing Ben Wallace as Defence Secretary, and Sunak loyalist Claire Coutinho will take over as Energy Secretary. What does Coutinho’s appointment reveal?  James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

Katy Balls

Claire Coutinho is a revealing choice as Energy Secretary

Rishi Sunak has completed his very mini reshuffle with the appointment of Claire Coutinho as Energy Secretary, the role left vacant by Grant Shapps’s move to the Ministry of Defence. Coutinho leaves her role as a minister in the Department for Education and becomes the first of the 2019 intake to make it to the cabinet. Her speedy rise will come as little surprise to her parliamentary colleagues. She is a key Sunak ally, having worked for him as a special adviser when he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury. On entering parliament, Coutinho served as Sunak’s PPS. The Brexiteer – and former banker – backed him in both leadership

Katy Balls

Why Grant Shapps got the job as Defence Secretary

Grant Shapps is the new Defence Secretary, after Ben Wallace officially resigned this morning. The seasoned cabinet minister moves from energy secretary to the coveted role. As I reported in this week’s politics column for the magazine, the desired criteria in No. 10 for the candidate included ‘efficient, non-flashy, loyal, decent’. Does Shapps fit all four? Well, he’s certainly loyal having backed Rishi Sunak not once but twice for leader. He’s also viewed as a capable minister both in terms of running a department and performing on the media. Shapps – who famously took the media round over Barnard Castle when Boris Johnson was prime minister – is seen as

The Spectator

Full text: Ben Wallace’s resignation letter

Ben Wallace has resigned as defence secretary. Here is the full text of his letter to the Prime Minister: Dear Prime Minister, Last month marked my fourth year as Secretary of State for Defence. It also marks the ninth year as a Minister. I have had the privilege of serving you and your predecessors in the task of protecting this great country and keeping its citizens safe. As you know that responsibility carries with it a 24/7 duty to be available at almost no notice. In my time as both Security Minister and at Defence, I have been able to contribute to the Government’s response to a range of threats

Ben Domenech

Will Senator Mitch McConnell step down after his latest freezing episode?

Senator Mitch McConnell appeared to have another elderly moment in Kentucky following an event yesterday, where a question about whether he would run for re-election in 2026 left him silent as the cameras tracked the awkward scene. It is obviously not the first time that this has happened for McConnell — and the eighty-one-year-old deserves the grace that we would grant to anyone struggling with the inevitability of age. But this is also a moment that presents a challenge for the Republican party, an effort that is larger than just one man (despite what diehard fans of Donald Trump would sometimes have you believe), and one that Senate Minority Leader