Read about the latest political news, views and analysis
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Lee Fang is an independent journalist formally at the Intercept. He discusses his forced apology for how he covered the 2020 BLM protests, how and why media and journalists collude as part of the censorship industrial complex, what he discovered during the Twitter Files investigations and FBI surveillance.
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Matt Hancock gave evidence at the Covid inquiry today. The former health secretary said that ‘the doctrine was wrong’, care home preparation was ‘terrible’ and improper planning was an ‘absolute tragedy’. But why was it accepted that harsher lockdowns would’ve helped? Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Oakeshott and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Max Jeffery.
The questions aren’t going away for Tory mayoral candidate Daniel Korski. The self-proclaimed tech entrepreneur is having a tough time answering questions about claims that he grabbed the breast of a woman when he was working in No. 10 under David Cameron. In a bid to clear the air, Korski – who denies the allegation – has today done an interview with TalkTV. The former war reporter claims that: I didn’t do what’s been alleged. I absolutely didn’t do that. Ten years ago, when it happened, nothing was said to me. Seven years ago, when this first came out, nobody alleged anything to me. I just didn’t do what’s being
Philip Morris International is one of the world’s most interesting and controversial companies. Recently, they announced their vision to exit the business of making cigarettes and enter what they describe as a ‘smoke-free world’. But what pace are they moving at? And what are the risks involved? Jacek Olczak the chief executive of Philip Morris International joins The Spectator’s editor, Fraser Nelson to discuss what a smoke-free future might look like; the risks and rewards to cigarette alternatives; and why he believes big tobacco can be a force for good.
When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, the overall mood among those around me – Russians from a range of ages and social groups – was one of scarcely believable elation, even hope. ‘Judging from the news this morning,’ one man said to me that day, ‘the borders of the Russian Empire will soon be moving westwards.’ I didn’t share his enthusiasm. ‘In two years’ time, we’ll be lucky if there’s a Russian Empire at all,’ I replied. Last Saturday, as Prigozhin and his Wagner group set out on their abortive coup, the picture was reversed: for the first time in 18 months, I felt a limited optimism about
Matt Hancock’s evidence to the Covid inquiry was some of the most explosive we’ve seen so far. It was largely damaging to anyone who wasn’t Matt Hancock, naturally, but the former health secretary did induce some rather big cringes from all present when his voice cracked as he said ‘I’m not very good at talking about my emotions’. He also apologised to all those who had lost loved ones. Hancock did offer some important insights into the mistakes made at crucial moments in the run-up to the pandemic. He also backed the idea of a resilience minister who can work on planning rather than being distracted by the many other
It’s been more than six years since the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people and made many more homeless, yet the survivors – and families of those who died – are still waiting for answers. The Grenfell Inquiry, which launched a few months after the disaster, was meant to hold people to account, to question the management and design of high-rise buildings and to rebuild trust. Yet the only tangible results so far seem to have been the £70 million paid to an army of lawyers. The Inquiry has been labelled a ‘never-ending circus’ by the British-Nigerian novelist, Jendella Benson. It’s a description that is hard to disagree with. And while the
The campaign for Scottish independence is at an impasse. Humza Yousaf used the SNP’s conference in Dundee to set out his party’s latest strategy for achieving statehood for Scotland. That strategy isn’t all that different from what the party faithful has heard before: keep winning elections, keep up the pressure on Westminster, and sooner or later something will happen. The problem with this tartan Micawberism is that something has been going to happen for rather a long time. Here is a list, by no means exhaustive, of events that were supposed to shift the dial on independence: the SNP’s commanding wins in the 2015 and 2019 general elections; its victories
Remember Eric Pickles? The larger-than-life Coalition mainstay who inspired such legendary headlines as ‘I did not spend £10,000 on extra biscuits.’ These days Lord Pickles is chairing the Cabinet Office watchdog Acoba, which vets appointments for senior civil servants and ministers upon leaving government. The agency is currently somewhat overworked, with onetime appointees from the Johnson and Truss administrations now going off to collect all sorts of exciting gigs. Among them is, of course, Boris Johnson himself. The rambunctious rule-breaker announced he was taking up a new column with the Daily Mail a fortnight ago. But emails released today between Johnson’s office and Acoba reveal that he only informed the
The Prince of Wales has announced that homelessness will be his charitable focus while he awaits his eventual succession to the Crown. In an announcement this week, he pledged £3 million as the start of a lifelong commitment to tackling the issue, which will begin by funding ‘housing first’ schemes in six areas, taking the lead from Scandinavian approaches which aim to stop people falling between the cracks and sort them with accommodation before focusing on other issues in their life. There is a danger of being another wealthy man throwing money at a problem that others have already found impossible to solve It is a sensible choice for the
‘The left is sweeping to power across Europe,’ suggested the headline in the Independent in September 2021. The newspaper called on the analysis of Denis MacShane, the former Labour MP, to explains to its readers why this was so. MacShane posited that the election of Joe Biden as US president had reinvigorated the left-wing electorate while the population at large were voting for parties who were dealing with climate change most vigorously. Eighteen months later and red has become an endangered colour in European politics. The latest blow to the left was in Sunday’s Greek general election; not only was the centre-right Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis re-elected with over
Trailed as an historic address to the nation following the weekend’s Wagner rebellion, Vladimir Putin’s short speech on Monday night was instead an unconvincing condemnation of everything generally and nothing much specifically. If the speech was historic, it was only because of the way the president brought up Russia’s historical betrayals and revolutions. No amount of snarling and lip-curling could distract from the feebleness of Putin’s argument on Monday night Putin’s (mis)uses of historical grievance often cause bemusement in the West but it serves him well domestically. Replicated by the Kremlin propaganda machine, the President’s messages about the chaotic, desperate 1990s and the long scars of Russia’s bloody 20th century civil wars are carefully designed to invoke fear
In his most recent column for the Mail, Boris Johnson fires a shot at, among other things, ‘the leftie twittersphere’. Lest we forget, that would be the same Boris Johnson that, during his time as prime minister, told us there was ‘nothing wrong with being woke’; who seemed remarkably unbothered about mass illegal immigration; who blithely nodded through the Bank of England printing funny money like there was no tomorrow (you’ll never guess, but it turned out there was, and we are now living in that tomorrow). He even, bizarrely, described the invasion of Ukraine as ‘a perfect example of toxic masculinity’. Hilariously this demand for equal grinding impoverishment for
Drama tonight at the latest hustings for the Tory mayoral candidate. The Conservative Environment Network were putting the final three candidates through their paces when a story from the Times broke accusing Daniel Korski – one of the favourites in the contest – of sexual misconduct. Daisy Goodwin, the former head of a TV production company, claimed that Korski groped her during his time working in No. 10 under David Cameron. A spokesman for Korski said: ‘In the strongest possible terms, Dan categorically denies any allegation of inappropriate behaviour whatsoever.’ One eyewitness at tonight’s event told Mr S that ‘everyone was looking at their phones’ before an aide beckoned Korski over and he
What’s the point of the government’s flagship Rwanda deportation scheme if it isn’t going to save money for the taxpayer? That’s a reasonable question to ask after the Home Office finally published its impact assessment on the plans – as yet unrealised – to deport asylum seekers to the East African country. That document revealed it will cost £169,000 per person, and this would only represent a saving for the UK taxpayer if 37 per cent of small boat arrivals were deterred. Home Secretary Suella Braverman published this assessment (which she is legally required to do) with her own written ministerial assessment, in which she also argued that the costs
Will Partygate claim yet more scalps? For a fortnight now, Sir Bernard Jenkin, the Privileges prober-extraordinaire, has refused to comment on claims that he attended a lockdown-breaking bash for his wife in December 2020. But will that silence continue to hold, given fresh revelations from the Guido Fawkes blog about other attendees at the aforementioned shindig? Sir Bernard was not the only parliamentarian at the drinks gathering, according to the website’s intrepid sleuth-hounds. They report that the MP for Ynys Môn, Virginia Crosbie, was the co-host of the Anne Jenkin birthday drinks party, held in Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing’s parliamentary offices during the pandemic. Crosbie was at the time serving
The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has released an 11-minute audio message after leading a march on Moscow. Here is an edited transcript of what he said: The Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) is probably the most experienced and combat-ready unit in Russia, and possibly in the world. (It is made up of) Motivated fighters, who have performed a huge number of missions in the interests of Russia – in Africa, in Arab countries and around the world. Most recently, this unit has achieved good results in Ukraine. (Yet) As a result of…ill-conceived decisions, this unit was due to cease to exist on 1 July 2023. A
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As mortgage rates surge and a new Opinium poll finds Labour’s lead has jumped to 18 points, Rishi Sunak appeared on Laura Kuenssberg’s BBC show to insist that his plan is the right one. But was his slightly cranky reaction to some of the questions a reflection of how the party is really feeling about its future? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
After a bruising week, perhaps Andrew Bailey could take some solace in Rishi Sunak’s interview with Laura Kuenssberg this weekend. For a start, the Prime Minister threw his support behind the Bank of England governor, after senior figures within the Conservative party accused Bailey of being ‘asleep at the wheel’. But it was also a reminder that, no matter how bad things may seem at Threadneedle Street, they’re probably worse in No. 10. When Bailey hits out at wages, it looks like another desperate attempt to deflect blame away from his own institution Sunak is facing demands for proof that his plan for our economic recovery will work at a
It’s a sign, possibly, of my increasing age and bad temper that I find myself harking back to an imaginary past in which tradesmen could be relied upon to know what they were about. A time when people took pride in their work. You know the sort of thing: back in the good old days a plumber or electrician would diagnose and fix the problem on the first call-out; you didn’t have to spend six months trying to get your builder to come back and reopen all the windows he painted shut; and if you got a brutal warlord marching on the capital with 25,000 hairy-bottomed ex-cons, he wouldn’t leave his coup