Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Tuesday

Lawrence Goldman

The problem with Cambridge University’s slavery report

It's perfectly legitimate for Cambridge University to seek to understand its history, warts and all. But the University's final report of its ‘Legacies of Enslavement Advisory Group’, established in 2019 to investigate the university’s historic links with slavery, is short on facts and long on opinions. It also fails to consider Cambridge’s links with the noble cause of anti-slavery. It is hardly surprising that Cambridge should have been associated with slavery. The Atlantic slave trade and West Indian slavery were integral to the British empire between the late sixteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Yet the report tells us that no ‘Cambridge institutions directly owned any plantations that exploited enslaved people’.

Gavin Mortimer

Why the European right is gaining ground

Last month the new Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, shared online a brief video of a Ukrainian woman being raped in Piacenza by an African migrant. The reaction among Italy’s media and political elite was one of outrage; not at the fate of the 55-year-old woman, but at Meloni for having dared posted the footage on Twitter along with the declaration: ‘One cannot remain silent in the face of this atrocious episode of sexual violence against a Ukrainian woman carried out in daytime in Piacenza by an asylum seeker. A hug to this woman. I will do everything I can to restore security to our cities.

James Snell

Iran’s ‘kamikaze’ drones take to the skies above Ukraine

Ukraine is awash with foreign-made weapons, something that is true of both sides. While Ukraine uses American-made rocket systems, French, German and British artillery pieces, and anti-tank weaponry from across the globe, Russia is resorting to foreign suppliers of its own. This means artillery shells from North Korea and, increasingly, drones from Iran. Russia relying on these countries has produced a lot of mockery, some of it justified. Why would a country which claims to be winning its war, with an economy unaffected by sanctions, request resupply from North Korea – a nation whose entire economy is the size of an American city? But on drones, at least, the Russian strategy does not appear so ridiculous.

Simon Heffer

John Major has taken a pounding (1992)

It’s three decades ago this month since the UK government was forced to withdraw the pound from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism on ‘Black Wednesday’. As the pound sinks this week, we revisit Simon Heffer’s cover story from 1992 on how John Major dealt with the debacle. You can read more on our fully-digitised archive. Like many who profess affection for the works of Anthony Trollope, the Prime Minister is not thought to have strayed far beyond the well-known favourites. He is probably not familiar with a lesser work that accurately reflected his state of mind until the markets trussed him up last week — He Knew He Was Right.

Steerpike

Harri in a hurry to get his next gig

Every revolution has its casualties and the Truss takeover was no exception. With a new PM comes new courtiers, and No. 10 has duly witnessed a clear-out of staff from Boris Johnson's ancien régime . And while the fallen king contents himself post-premiership with his long-awaited Shakespeare tome, other members of his court must find new ways to enrich themselves. Among them is Guto Harri, the spin doctor supreme whose greatest hits in Downing Street include claiming his boss wasn't a 'complete clown' and likening Chris Pincher to Dr David Kelly. So after a glorious seven month spell in government, where next for the comms guru? It seems that Harri is in a hurry to make a quick bob or two. For just three weeks after leaving No.

Isabel Hardman

Is Labour ready for power?

Labour conference has been pretty strange so far. Not the sort of strange that parties in opposition get comfortably used to: eccentric stalls in the conference centre, frontbenchers sounding off about their own pet projects that directly contradict what the leader is up to, or fights between members on the conference floor (sometimes involving inflatable animals to get more attention). But strange because of the absence of those things, and a seriousness that has quite visibly changed the demeanour of most people in Liverpool. Yes, there are gripes from the conference floor about Keir Starmer not turning up to picket lines, but the membership is upbeat and largely supportive of the Labour leader.

Katy Balls

The message behind Starmer’s Labour conference speech

As market volatility in response to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng's Budget on Friday continues to dominate the news, Keir Starmer will try to use his conference leader's speech to pitch his party as the safe choice on the economy. When Starmer takes to the conference hall stage this afternoon, he will say it is now the Labour party that stands for 'sound money' – as he attempts to capitalise on the fallout of Friday's fiscal event. Starmer wants to position Labour as the 'party of the centre-ground' The Labour leader will accuse the Tories of having 'lost control of the British economy' and for bringing in 'tax cuts for the richest one per cent in the country'.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes

Is Europe’s attitude to asylum seekers changing?

The EU spent last November reinforcing its borders as Vladimir Putin directed a wave of refugees through Belarus towards the bloc. This winter, politicians in Brussels are once again preparing for another wave of asylum seekers caused by Putin – Russian men fleeing conscription. Baltic countries are taking a hard line. Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas told CNN that ‘every citizen is responsible for their country’s deeds… so we are not giving any asylum.. For Russian men’, while interior minister Lauri Laanemets said asylum ‘would be fundamentally contradictory to the aim of all our sanctions so far, which is the collective responsibility of Russian citizens’.

Brendan O’Neill

Does the EU respect the Italian people?

I know we’re all meant to be quaking over the election result in Italy. That we’re all supposed to be gnashing our teeth over the ‘first far-right politician since Mussolini’ to lead the Italian people. That is how much of the media is referring to Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party and now on course to become Italy’s first female Prime Minister following the victory of the right-wing bloc in Sunday’s elections. And yet I find myself far more concerned – troubled, in fact – by the behaviour of Brussels than by anything that has happened in Italy. Consider the comments made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Charlie Methven

Why football needs a regulator

Plans by the government to introduce a regulator to the football industry – endorsed by all Westminster parties just a year ago – have, to use jargon oddly appropriate in this case, been ‘kicked into the long grass’. Truss is instinctively against regulating almost anything. When I asked her about the ‘fan-led’ Crouch Report on the campaign trail a few weeks back, she replied, not very cryptically, that she would apply a ‘very high bar’ to any new types of regulation. So, the news that the legislation has been paused is no great surprise to me.

Monday

James Forsyth

Labour storm ahead of Tories in latest poll

Tonight’s YouGov poll in the Times is brilliant news for Keir Starmer ahead of his conference speech tomorrow. It has Labour 17 points ahead, its biggest lead since the company started polling in 2001. These numbers, following the market reaction to the statement, are an awful start To be sure, the numbers reflect more voter disappointment with the government than a sudden bout of Starmer mania. Some 68 per cent of voters said the government was managing the economy badly. Only 12 per cent thought the ‘mini-Budget’ is affordable. Just 19 per cent said it was fair, against 57 per cent who thought it was not fair. And 69 per cent of those who voted Tory in 2019 opposed the scrapping of the 45p tax rate.

Rod Liddle

The BBC’s Meloni problem

Here is a quote from the BBC Europe Editor, Katya Adler’s, very short piece on the BBC Radio 4 Six O'Clock News this evening, concerning the electoral victory of Giorgia Meloni in Italy: Millions of Italians didn’t vote for her. They say they do not recognise themselves in her nationalist, protectionist proposals, her anti-immigration rhetoric and her conservative family mores. Isn’t that remarkable? Can you imagine the awful Adler, or indeed any correspondent, commenting on the victory of a left-wing candidate:  Millions of people didn’t vote for her.

Winston Marshall

Jordan Peterson: The Book of Revelation, Ronaldo and the role of the artist

117 min listen

Winston speaks with best-selling author, clinical psychologist and leading public intellectual Dr Jordan Peterson. They discuss the role of artists in society and the state of the arts today. What is so original about Dr Peterson’s work? How hopeful is he for universities? Is it the duty of the privileged to serve the oppressed? And, among other things… Ronaldo, the Book of Revelation, the New Atheists, the Queen’s personality traits and how the energy crisis will end in apocalypse.

Kate Andrews

Can the Bank of England inspire confidence?

It has dawned on the government that last week’s mini-Budget might have been a bit too one-sided: £70 billion worth of extra borrowing and not a single mention of spending cuts or efficiency gains has seen borrowing costs spike (up by 0.3 per cent just today). As James Forsyth reports on Coffee House, this afternoon’s announcement that a ‘medium term fiscal plan’ will be announced next month is an attempt by the Treasury to reassure markets – and convince them that fiscal responsibility has not totally disappeared from this government’s agenda. Emphasis is being placed on previous promises to make sure debt falls as a percentage of GDP in the coming years. But what about the other side of the coin?

James Forsyth

Can Kwarteng reassure the markets?

The Treasury has just released a statement saying that a medium term fiscal plan will be delivered by Kwasi Kwarteng on 23 November, accompanied by an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast. This plan will, the Treasury says, set out the government’s fiscal rules and how it intends to ensure debt falls as a percentage of GDP in the medium term. The Treasury also confirms the Times story this morning that there’ll be no new spending settlements, meaning an effective cut for departmental budgets.

Steerpike

Labour’s assisted suicide pitch

It’s day two of Labour conference and there’s no end of attractions for bleary eyed delegates. Rachel Reeves, Ed Miliband, David Lammy: all the party’s intellectual heavyweights are up before the faithful. But away from all the centrist paeans and ritual Tory bashing, Mr S couldn’t help but observe the roaring popularity of one of the fringe stalls in the conference hall. ‘My Death, My Decision’ are campaigning to legalise assisted suicide in the UK, urging delegates to pressure MPs to change the law on euthanasia. A novel approach to win the grey vote? Intrigued – and all too aware of the obvious puns – Mr S sidled up to hear the elevator pitch.

Kate Andrews

The miscalculations exposed by Kwarteng and Truss’s Budget

The Chancellor’s first ‘fiscal event’ has revealed two major miscalculations – one by most of the political class and the other by the government. The political class broadly didn’t think Liz Truss’s government would actually push forward with its campaign pledges. It did. The government, for its part, appears to have badly underestimated the sceptical reaction of the markets to its economic agenda. Let’s take these in turn. First, anyone who is shocked by discussion of higher interest rates wasn’t paying attention during the leadership campaign. The attacks on ‘Treasury orthodoxy’ were frequent and explicit.

James Heale

Is Labour on the cusp of victory?

13 min listen

It's day two of Labour Conference and the party appear upbeat and confident of their chances at the next election. But are they being too reactionary in their narrative? What do they have to offer other than not being the Conservative party?From Liverpool, James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Stephen Daisley

Liz Truss is a liberal. So how will she approach immigration?

Should Tories already be feeling buyer’s remorse over their new leader? It has been only 20 days since Boris Johnson, a liberal who pretended to be a populist, was replaced by Liz Truss, a liberal who doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a liberal. Whereas Johnson’s was a patrician liberalism with a keen sense of public opinion, Truss is an economic liberal with a swot’s enthusiasm and a swot’s grasp of human instincts. In short, the Tories have swapped a lazy dissembler for an ardent geek. It’s not all they’ve swapped. The communitarian shift that began under Theresa May has been set in reverse and libertarianism has regained the upper hand in the Tory party.

Philip Patrick

The anger behind Shinzo Abe’s state funeral

Tokyo While not quite on the scale of Her Majesty’s service, Tuesday's state funeral of Japan’s longest serving PM Shinzo Abe, gunned down while campaigning on the streets of Nara in July, will be an extravagant affair. The ceremony will take place at the Nippon Budokan in central Tokyo with approximately 6,000 attendees including the US Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese. Theresa May will represent the UK. It will cost 1.6 billion yen (10.5 million pounds). The event has become mired in controversy. Many in Japan are fiercely opposed to the decision, made by current PM Fumio Kishida, to grant a state funeral to Abe, allegedly to placate his party’s right-wing.