Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Wednesday

Robert Tombs

Backing Badenoch is a risk the Tories should take

Whoever is chosen to lead the Conservative party will be plunged into a storm of problems needing rapid and decisive action. This will require a fresh mind, boundless energy and courage. In short, the attributes of youth. This puts Kemi Badenoch and Rishi Sunak – both 42 years of age – at an advantage. Sunak, the current frontrunner, came across as suave and impressive in his leadership pitch yesterday. But Badenoch looks to be the better option for a Tory party – and for a country – in need of radical change. Too many leading politicians seem exhausted by office. At a time of soaring inflation and the threat of a summer of strikes, this is no time for an old hand.

Jake Wallis Simons

Sri Lanka’s revolution looks doomed

Reporting from Sri Lanka over the years has left me with mixed memories. On the one hand, there’s the horror and trauma of the Easter Bombings of 2019, which claimed 269 lives. The traumatic scenes at the hospital and morgue have been hard to forget, as have the eeriness of the tourist spots after all its foreign visitors had fled. On the other hand, there is the country itself. It is relatively poor, of course, and beset by endemic corruption and nepotism, particularly at the top of government, along with its fair share of ethnic tension. But it has an incredibly warm-hearted and hospitable culture, filled with Buddhist gentleness and good humour, and that charming, slightly stuffy anachronistic Englishness that you find in certain postcolonial societies.

Tuesday

Steerpike

George Freeman’s leadership shenanigans

It seems that George Freeman has got his summer flip-flops in early. The (recently departed) science and innovation minister hasn't had a great few weeks in the Commons recently. First, there was last month's leadership vote in Boris Johnson in which Freeman initially refused to say which way he had voted. This was then followed by last week's rather more successful coup against Johnson in which Freeman submitted a public letter of no confidence in the PM . He did not, however, make clear if he was resigning or not, sparking confusion and derision among bemused colleagues and hacks. Having announced that he had, in fact, resigned, Freeman then took to Twitter to bemoan his loss of office, sharing a series of flattering quotes from academics about his departure.

Kate Andrews

Investing today: how tech can change the face of finance

59 min listen

Staying on top of your personal finances has never been easier. Anyone can now buy and sell stocks at the tap of a phone screen, with even more progress in fintech just around the corner. What does this bold new world of investing mean for markets, policymakers and everyday investors? Does smart technology mean easy decisions? Will technology ever replace the human touch? And what tools are out there for the less digitally savvy?

Svitlana Morenets

How Justin Trudeau caved to Putin

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the West was certain that its sanctions were worth the pain. But there always was a question as to whether this resolve would last once the domestic difficulties actually started. This week, western countries moved closer to admitting it might be too much to bear. At the time of the invasion in February, a massive Russian turbine was being repaired in Montreal. It was one of many turbines used to send gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany. When the Russians moved into Ukraine, it was kept in Canada as punishment. Over the next few weeks and months Russia replied, cutting off gas supplies to the continent.

Lloyd Evans

Bleak, vapid and banal: why are the Tory leadership videos so awful?

The Tory candidates have released a set of videos presenting their claim to become Britain’s next prime minister. Frontrunner Rishi Sunak has dubbed his pitch, ‘Ready for Rishi’, which sounds, unfortunately, like the cheapest option at a Hounslow massage parlour. His movie centres on his unstoppable rise to world domination. His mum was a penniless immigrant who passed her exams and worked at a chemist’s shop in Southampton. His Dad was a humble NHS doctor. Scratchy old Kodak photos show us the ‘Sunak Pharmacy’ in all its faded grandeur. He omits his public school days and his City whizz-kid career. And he says nothing about his mega-rich wife. https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1545426650032111616?

James Forsyth

Who will Priti Patel endorse?

Priti Patel is not running for the Tory leadership. The Home Secretary ruled herself out in a statement released minutes ago. Her decision not to stand makes it much more likely that Suella Braverman can get the nominations needed to get on the ballot and the 30 votes required to stay in the contest. Patel does not say who she is going to back herself. But the speculation is that it will be either Nadhim Zahawi or Liz Truss rather than Braverman, her rival for the support of the ERG. Patel’s support would be an adrenalin shot for the Zahawi campaign which is not yet at 20 publicly declared backers.

Ian Williams

China’s Ponzi banks are teetering

What began as a run on a handful of provincial banks is rapidly morphing into one of China’s worst financial scandals, threatening the stability of the country’s heavily indebted financial system. It poses a serious challenge to a Communist party obsessed with social order, which has thuggishly cracked down on desperate depositors demanding their money back. At the weekend, protesters in Henan’s capital Zhengzhou were charged, beaten and dragged away by unidentified security officials dressed in white shirts and dark trousers, who appeared to be working in concert with uniformed police.

Katy Balls

Can the leadership candidates take the heat?

11 min listen

Appropriately matched to the summer heatwave, the Tory leadership contest is hotting up. Whilst Grant Shapps has pulled out and decided to back Rishi Sunak, candidates must secure nominations from at least 20 MPs by this evening to enter the contest.Who will go through to the next round? And are they ready to be Prime Minister?James Forsyth speaks to Katy Balls. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Tom Tugendhat

We need a clean start

Families in the United Kingdom face a moment of crisis. It is becoming harder for people to simply get by. For so many of them, there is more month than there is pay. We face danger abroad, division in our politics, an economy saddled with debt and a creeping sense of despair about our collective future. This is a defining moment for us. It is a defining moment for our country. It is a defining moment for our party, and it is going to test the values for which we stand. I am going to talk about economic policy today: but for me - for conservatives - leading on the economy is not only a question of policy. It is a question of values - it is a question of mission - a question of our task and purpose.

Kate Andrews

Is Rishi’s tax cut pledge enough to rally MPs?

Rishi Sunak has a reputation for sleek and snazzy presentation, and his leadership launch this morning was no exception – by Westminster standards, anyway. The air-conditioning was on full blast as young activists lined up with their ‘Ready For Rishi!’ signs, next to heavily branded backdrops. And the guest list was long. MPs in attendance included many who had already declared for Sunak: Bim Afolami, Claire Coutinho, Helen Whately, and Liam Fox. There were also surprise guests, including the Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who introduced Sunak and credited him for delivering ‘the biggest tax cut for working people in a decade’ by lifting the National Insurance threshold for millions.

James Heale

How far will Tugendhat go?

There were three leadership launches in Westminster this morning. Rishi Sunak, the frontrunner, spoke at the QEII Centre; Kemi Badenoch, the rising star, pitched to Policy Exchange. But what of Tom Tugendhat, the longtime backbencher, kicking off his campaign at the BBC's Westminster studios? How best to describe his place in the Tory leadership race? The former army officer's appearance this morning epitomised his strengths and weaknesses within a crowded field. His speech was prepared and heavy on policy: his pitch stressed integrity and the need to win public trust.

Katy Balls

The big question over Kemi Badenoch’s bid

Kemi Badenoch has just completed her leadership launch. Although she is an outside bet, her campaign has been building momentum after Michael Gove endorsed her and she came a narrow second in a ConHome poll on who should be the next Tory leader. The launch saw her try to put the flesh on the bones of her pitch to MPs – which so far has been dominated by identity politics. In a flick to her position on culture wars, the toilets at the venue had paper signs put on them so they weren’t gender neutral. In her speech, Badenoch was all too happy to put clear blue water between herself and Boris Johnson, saying politicians ought to be honest that people can’t have their cake and eat it.

Steerpike

Kemi Badenoch’s toilet stunt

War and famine in Ukraine and inflation and rising bills at home. These are tough times in Britain and abroad: the winning candidate for the Tory leadership will have to be able to really deal with the big issues. But, er, not every MP in the running is keen to focus on such themes. Kemi Badenoch, the surprise star in this contest, has taken a rather different approach, preferring instead to dive head-first into the culture war. And so it was in that spirit that the Badenoch campaign sought to make something of a stunt out of the facilities at their official launch this morning. Camilla Turner, the Telegraph journalist, spotted that makeshift signs have been added to toilet doors to say 'Men' and 'Ladies'. Could it be an apparent dig at one particular candidate?

Stephen Daisley

Does Suella Braverman understand welfare?

Suella Braverman’s welfare tirade exemplifies the current Tory pandering to baby boomer myths about social spending and moral decay. Interviewed by ITV News on Monday, the leadership candidate said: I think we spend too much on welfare. There are too many people in this country who are of working age, who are of good health, and who are choosing to rely on benefits, on taxpayers’ money, on your money, my money, to get by. I don’t think there’s enough rigour. Universal Credit’s been a brilliant thing in stamping out the culture of dependency but there’s further we can go, there’s more we can do. Since I’m about to be very critical, let's begin in a spirit of charity. There are roughly 3.

Steerpike

Watch: Beth Rigby heckled at Sunak’s launch event

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak tried to strike a conciliatory tone at his campaign launch this morning, in which he praised his former boss Boris Johnson as a ‘remarkable’ man with a ‘good heart’. It appears though that Sunak’s defenestration of the PM might be a sore point for his campaign. At the launch, Sunak was grilled by Sky’s Beth Rigby, who suggested he was a divisive figure, saying: ‘You have a police fine over partygate and there have been questions too over your very wealthy family avoiding paying millions of pounds in tax due to your wife being a non-dom taxpayer...’ Mr S isn’t sure that Rigby is best placed to suggest that those who break the Covid rules should have no place in public life.

Julian Jessop

Cutting taxes isn’t irresponsible

Everyone is supposed to have their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I have just had mine, after the contenders for the Tory leadership were invited to endorse the ‘charter for tax cuts’ that I co-wrote for Conservative Way Forward. It was certainly pretty cool to be namechecked at the launch event on Monday both by the new Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, and by a strong candidate to be the next prime minister, Suella Braverman. The thinking behind the charter was simple. I wanted to summarise the case for tax cuts and respond to some of the arguments against; including that we cannot afford them, or that they would be inflationary. The timing, as it turned out, could not have been better. The changes at the top of the Tory party are a golden opportunity to rethink economic policy.

Kemi Badenoch

Why I should become prime minister

This is an edited transcript of Kemi Badenoch's speech announcing her candidacy for the Conservative party leadership. It's time to tell the truth. For too long, politicians have been telling us that we can have it all: have your cake and eat it. And I'm here to tell you that is not true. It never has been. There are always tough choices in life and in politics. No free lunches, no tax cuts without limits on government spending, and a stronger defence without a slimmer state. Governing involves trade-offs, and we need to start being honest about that.  Unlike others, I'm not going to promise you things without a plan to deliver them. People are sick of that. They're crying out for honesty. Today, I want to be honest about our economic challenge.

Nick Cohen

Cakeism is Boris Johnson’s true legacy

The smirk on the faces of politicians and journalists when they talk about 'cakeism' shows how Boris Johnson degraded public life, and will carry on degrading it long after his overdue departure from Downing Street. The Munchkin civil war we call the Conservative leadership contest shows that 'cakeism' is the one part of Johnson’s legacy that will survive him.  'My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it,' he said in 2016. Instead of laughing at Johnson and saying his desire to have it all ways was one of many reasons to ignore him, they laughed with him as if he were Billy Bunter at the tuck shop. And they’re still going along with it now.

Rishi Sunak

My plan to give Britain a better future

Rishi Sunak launched his Tory leadership bid today. Here's the full text of his speech: We need to have a grown up conversation about where we are, how we got here and what we intend to do about it. It is a conversation for those of us gathered here in this room today and the Conservative party more widely. But, above all, it’s a conversation we need to have with the British people. And it starts with being honest with each other. That matters because the decisions we make in the coming days and weeks will set a course that will determine whether the next generation of British people inherent a stronger and more confident nation. The Conservative party was elected with a large majority so it falls to us to decide who carries the flag forward in this parliament.