Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Sunday

Michel-Yves Bolloré

It's getting harder for scientists not to believe in God

Many Baby Boomers are sceptical about God. They think that believing in a higher power is probably incompatible with rationality. Over the last few centuries, religious belief has appeared to be in rapid decline, and materialism (the idea that the physical world is all there is to reality) has been on the rise, as the natural outcome of modern science and reason. The majority of Gen Z respondents believe that you could be religious and be a good scientist But if this scepticism is common among my older generation, times are changing. As we come to the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, the tables are turning

Adam LeBor

What Margaret Thatcher meant to Hungary

It is a most fitting tribute: an iron and steel statue of the Iron Lady in a city once behind the Iron Curtain. And not just any city – but Budapest, a place that Mrs Thatcher electrified with her visit in February 1984. The statue commemorating her 100th birthday was unveiled last week in the Millenaris culture complex in the Hungarian capital. The ceremony was both moving and beautifully choregraphed as several luminaries of the Thatcher era and her children Sir Mark and Carol gathered with Hungarian government ministers to commemorate her legacy. More than 40 years after her first arrival, the Iron Lady is still remembered in Budapest with

Saturday

Steerpike

Watch: Activist blasts SNP for 'mistrust' in party

Well, well, well. SNP conference has gotten off to a rather, er, interesting start. As one might expect, the subject of independence has dominated the first day of the big meet-up in Aberdeen. The party’s strategy as laid out by First Minister John Swinney says that an SNP majority at next year’s Holyrood election would be a mandate for a second independence referendum. But party activists aren’t happyabout the state of the SNP: both its independence stance and the way the party has conducted itself more generally over the last few years. Mr S can hardly blame them… The crowd sat up when veteran Graeme McCormack – of ‘flatulence in

Patrick West

The tyranny of ‘kindness’

The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Irene Tracey, has been giving some gloriously counterintuitive advice recently on how to safeguard free speech in academia. On Tuesday, she claimed that teaching the ethos of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) ‘goes hand in hand with our commitment to academic freedom and free speech.’ Yet diversity training always has the opposite effect. The only things students inducted into the race-obsessed, hyper-liberal doctrine of EDI are likely to learn is what words not to say and what opinions not to air in order to avoid ostracism, censure or cancellation ‘Kindness’ is the velvet glove covering the iron fist of hyper-liberalism The next day, speaking

Lucy Dunn

Is anyone listening to the Scottish Tories?

There may have been a decent turnout of both youthful Tory members and elderly cardholders at this year’s Conservative party conference in Manchester, but it was the missing group in the middle that made all the difference. The crowds were significantly slimmed down without the corporate types, with parts of the venue ghostly quiet by mid-afternoon. And the party could have done with more support from its elected representatives: despite the Holyrood election being just seven months away, just a smattering of MSPs journeyed down from Scotland.  Former crime journalist-turned-party leader Russell Findlay was on good form, however, quipping during the Scottish reception that Wales was Kemi Badenoch’s ‘second favourite

Steerpike

Stephen Flynn attacks Farage over Russia

To the north of Scotland, where in Aberdeen the SNP conference has begun. Activists are gathering, once again, to try and figure out how exactly Scotland might achieve independence after a decisive 2014 referendum, a Supreme Court slap down and, er, almost 20 years of substandard SNP rule. Best of luck, chaps! The party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn bagged the opening speech this morning, kicking off the conference in his usual punchy style by taking pops at his opponents. First up was an ornithology jibe directed at another politician from the north-east. Celebrating new murals that had sprung up around Aberdeen, Flynn quipped: ‘One of my favourite installations is a

James Tidmarsh

In reappointing Lecornu, Macron is clinging to power

Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, a loyalist whose government collapsed in mere weeks, and whose resignation Macron accepted just days ago. The announcement by the Elysée was made at 10pm on Friday night following two days of tense talks with party leaders. This is a last-ditch attempt by Macron to retain control, to shield his presidency from the advance of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and to preserve his increasingly fragile authority. His move shows just how precarious his position has become. It’s a retreat into the familiar, prioritising his own personal survival over the country’s desire for change.  What France needed was a reset, not this political

Liz Walsh

No wonder the Irish hate Netflix's House of Guinness

Beer, Brits, and bad language are the few culturally accurate elements of the new Netflix series, House of Guinness. Loved by American and UK critics, hated by Irish critics, the series on the battle for control of the iconic Irish Guinness family brewery in 19th-Century revolutionary Ireland has sharply divided opinion. Are we Irish an over-sensitive lot? A ‘steampunk Mr. Tayto’ or a ‘rollicking retelling’ of an Irish version of Succession sums up the extent of the divide. The eight-part drama debuted with an 89 per cent audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a five-star review from the Guardian. But to Irish critics, House of Guinness is historically inaccurate, stereotypical

Lois McLatchie Miller

Taylor Swift has shattered feminism's fragile lie

Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has done more than dominate the charts. It’s reignited one of the oldest – and fiercest – battles in modern womanhood. Once again, the pop icon has found herself cast as both heroine and heretic in the (pop) culture war’s endless inquest into what women should want. In The Tortured Poets Department, the mask began to slip as Swift tore into her non-committal ‘forever-boyfriend’ But this time, the controversy isn’t over her style or sound. It’s over something far more dangerous in 2025: her desire for love, marriage, and children. Swift’s confession in track five, ‘Eldest Daughter’ – ‘When I said I didn’t believe in marriage, that was a lie’ – has startled her audience. In a single

Michael Gove

Who is the greatest ever conservative?

40 min listen

From wartime leadership to economic revolutions, Conservative figures have shaped Britain’s past and present. But who stands out as the greatest of them all? In this conversation, recorded live at Conservative Party Conference: Katie Lam makes the case for William Pitt the Younger, Camilla Tominay nominates Margaret Thatcher, William Atkinson points out the number of young Tories who now idolise Enoch Powell, and Neil O’Brien explains why all conservatives should know about Jerzy Popieluszko. Who wins? You decide.

Friday

Svitlana Morenets

Putin's winter campaign begins

For the fourth winter in a row, Vladimir Putin believes now is the time when Ukrainians will finally break. Russia’s campaign of systematic strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure has begun once again with the first cold winds. Last night, Putin unleashed nearly 500 Shahed drones, decoys and missiles against Ukraine, launched simultaneously at different regions from multiple directions, with energy and gas production sites as prime targets. Only 13 missiles and 60 drones made it through. A child was killed and at least 24 people injured across the country. Eight regions, including Kyiv, were left partially without electricity and water. Ukrainians knew that another winter of blackouts was coming.

Madeline Grant

When will Labour be honest about its China spy problem?

Yvette Cooper managed to say ‘let me be clear’ twice, in a couple of minutes during her interview with Nick Robinson on the Today Programme this morning. For seasoned Labour-watchers, the phrase ‘let me be clear’ was one inherited from the grand panjandrum of political deceit – Tony Blair himself – and is almost always an indicator that the person saying is it about to be as unclear as possible. They might as well walk around with the phrase ‘I’m lying’ written on their foreheads in red paint, so obvious an indicator of incoming deceit it is. If these are the grown ups, then send in the clowns The Foreign Secretary

Freddy Gray

Is AI satanic?

28 min listen

Max Tegmark is an author and professor doing AI and physics research at MIT. He joins Freddy to discuss the moral and spiritual dangers of artificial intelligence, the rise of Silicon Valley’s ‘tech overlords’, and why he believes technology must remain a tool – not a master.

Tim Shipman

Tim Shipman, Ian Williams, Theo Hobson, Lara Prendergast & Lisa Haseldine

34 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman says that the real war for the right is yet to come; Ian Williams examines the farce over the collapses China espionage case; Theo Hobson argues that the Church of England is muddled over sex and marriage; Lara Prendergast reads her letter from America; and, Lisa Haseldine goes on manoeuvres with the German army, the Bundeswehr. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Alexander Larman

How the Royals jumped on the Mental Health Day bandwagon

Whether you consider World Mental Health Day an important and necessary means of drawing attention to often overlooked issues, or a gimmicky fad that somehow manages to overlook the other 364 days a year that such matters are equally important, there is no doubt that the royal family have been doing their bit to raise awareness. Never mind that it is most likely that the late queen’s solution to any mental health issues was to put on the Marigolds and engage in a spot of light cleaning (later, of course, to be done at greater length by a flunkey). The modern-day Firm is all about the caring and sharing, and they are taking great care

Eliot Wilson

A judge has finally seen sense over the SAS's ambush of three IRA men

It didn’t take long for a judge to deliver his withering verdict on a judicial review application into the use of SAS force in an IRA ambush. The legal challenge over the killing of three Provisional IRA (PIRA) men in June 1991 was described as ‘utterly divorced from reality’ by Mr Justice McAlinden. At the High Court in Belfast, McAlinden pulled no punches: Three PIRA terrorists drove a stolen car from Moneymore, County Londonderry, to Coagh in order to murder a soldier ‘This Court is being asked to slow the passage of time down, to analyse events in freeze-frame and to address the issue of absolute necessity in slow-motion… It

Michael Gove

How can the Tories turn it around? Live

40 min listen

Recorded live in Manchester, during the Conservative Party conference, Michael Gove sits down with Tim Shipman, Madeline Grant and Tim Montgomerie to discuss how the Tories can turn their fortunes around. Do the Tories need to show contrition for their record in government? Has the party basically been split ever since the Coalition years? And does Nigel Farage need to set a deadline for Tory to Reform defectors? Plus – from Canada to Italy – which countries do British Conservatives need to look towards for inspiration? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Danny Shaw

The parole system still prioritises offenders over victims

David Norris, one of the men who murdered the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, had his parole hearing this week, but he was so uncomfortable about being seen that those watching on a videolink only ever saw the back of his head. They did, however, learn a lot about what goes on inside it – and why Norris is nowhere near ready for release from prison. The two days of evidence also highlighted an alarming disparity between the attention given to a criminal bidding for freedom and the victims he left behind. The parole system is still geared towards the needs of offenders, with a pathway to rehabilitation and release for those serving

Freddy Gray

The Nobel snub won't bother Trump

Of course, Donald Trump has not won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Scandinavian grandees on the committee wouldn’t dream of honouring him. It was silly to think that they would. The award has gone instead to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition figure, so well done to her. Still, it speaks to the fundamental vanity of our age that the Nobel is today’s big story, as if the complexity of world affairs can be boiled down to a yearly episode of Peace Has Got Talent. The Nobel is a joke and has been for some time The headlines chirp that Trump has ‘failed in his bid’ to secure the prize. And

Stephen Pollard

Donald Trump is an awful person – but a brilliant president

Donald Trump is a bully. He is a braggart. He is venal. But, as this week’s ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas shows, he is also capable of acts of uniquely brilliant statecraft. The US president is a master at using the hard power of his office to force changes that make the world a better place. Trump and LBJ both demonstrate how loathsome people can do good things Fascinatingly, because it shows how we tend to look at politicians through a two-dimensional prism, those words could also be applied to another, relatively recent, US president: Lyndon B Johnson. Trump and LBJ both demonstrate how loathsome people can nonetheless do