Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Friday

Steerpike

FT’s Treasury ‘scoop’ shredded by FT readers

Has the Financial Times just been sold another pup? Its economics editor Chris Giles (who predicted that the Brexit vote would lead to recession) has written what could be a Labour Party press release today. He reports as fact a claim by the NIESR, a left-leaning economics think tank, that Rishi Sunak could have saved £11 billion had he taken their advice and taken out insurance against rising interest rates. A startling claim, interesting hypothetical and worthy of a report. It might fall down upon further scrutiny: could the Treasury really ordered the Bank of England to force commercial banks to swap reserves for gilts? Would this not have been a massive gamble that could easily have lost money?

Freddy Gray

The Capitol riot hearings are farcically partisan

Let’s get the boringly obvious out of the way. What happened in Washington on 6 January, 2021 was bad. Very bad. America, the world’s most powerful democracy, looked a horrible mess. Rioting is always wrong. Rioting on Capitol Hill on the day when power is meant to be peaceably transferred is anti-democratic and anti-conservative. Even if you believe the presidential election of 2020 election was rigged, as many ardent Trump supporters do, it is never acceptable to smash up federal property. To target America’s most important building is especially egregious. It doesn’t matter how angry you are. Obvious point two: from the election in November to January, Donald Trump behaved irresponsibly, dangerously and stupidly.

Isabel Hardman

Where will Boris get his ideas from?

Has Boris Johnson run out of ideas? It's not an unreasonable question at the end of a week in which more than 40 per cent of his MPs said they didn't want him leading them any more. Still less unreasonable when his big reveal policies have been getting on with something that David Cameron signed off on in 2015 but that hasn't yet happened; and a 'once in a generation' transformation of the NHS which seems to amount to some middle managers going on a course. The right to buy announcement will merely implement an old policy, while the mortgage review alongside it may help a few first time buyers.

Ross Clark

Soaring fuel prices could be lethal for Boris Johnson

As if Boris Johnson was not in enough political trouble already, the latest surge in oil prices is threatening to overwhelm the government. This week, petrol prices in some filling stations have crossed the symbolic threshold of £2 per litre. This would be a problem for any government, but, for a Conservative administration which owes its last election victory to the votes of relatively low-paid manual workers, it is an existential threat.  People who rely on their cars to get to work face being priced out of the workplace. Decades of sky-high property prices – and high moving costs thanks especially to stamp duty – have changed the pattern of living and working. There are large numbers of voters who must drive long distances to reach their place of work.

James Forsyth

Boris has to deliver change without the authority he needs

Boris Johnson needs to be bold: business-as-usual will not save his premiership. But, as I said in the Times yesterday, never has it been more difficult for him to get anything significant done. The first reason is that Johnson must operate knowing that another confidence vote is a near certainty. The rebels need only 32 more votes to oust him and so Johnson must tread carefully. He can’t afford to lose the support of any more MPs. This acts as a check on radicalism. Boris Johnson will need to be able to show Tory MPs that things have improved, that changes are happening. The second is that when a system thinks a PM might not be around that much longer, everything slows down.

Patrick O’Flynn

Starmer has spotted Boris’s big weakness

Boris Johnson’s relaunch speech this week contained something for everyone: a clear-sighted policy on Ukraine, the bizarre idea that stoking up housing demand is the way to overcome a shortage of housing supply and a take on the economy that one might charitably describe as a Keynesian-Thatcherite synthesis. But the most telling line came in a section about energy policy, when the Prime Minister claimed to be 'building a new nuclear reactor every year rather than one every ten years'. Not to be planning to do so, but actually to be doing so right now, in real time as it were. In Johnson’s mind, the preliminary expression of an intention to do something complicated, time-consuming and difficult clearly means it is being done.

Jonathan Miller

Abolish the railways!

As the country is held hostage once again by the rail unions, it’s time for the nation to ask itself: does it need trains at all? The last time anyone dared ask this question was 60 years ago when Dr Richard Beeching boldly closed more than 2,000 stations and 5,000 miles of track. The time has come to finish the job and shut down the rest of Britain’s viciously expensive, underperforming and fundamentally inefficient rail network. The economic reasons for doing so are irrefutable, no matter how the railroad anoraks might sputter. Originally private, then nationalised, then privatised again, then morphed into an odd hybrid in which tax subsidies are higher than ever, British railways are hideously expensive, uncomfortable and unreliable.

Steerpike

BBC apologises for Antony Gormley Brexit blunder

It looked like another case of bad Brexit news: one of Britain’s most famous artists was giving up his passport as a result of Britain’s departure from the EU. That, at least, was how the BBC reported the story about the ‘Angel of the North’ artist Sir Antony Gormley. On BBC One’s main news bulletin over the Jubilee weekend, the BBC reported that: ‘Sir Anthony said he was giving up his British passport because of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.’ But there was a problem: it wasn’t true. Gormley isn't giving up his British nationality. And while, as a dual national, he is applying for a German passport, he is keeping hold of his British passport, despite the claims made by the BBC.

Max Jeffery

Can the UK save the two Brits sentenced to death?

10 min listen

Two British citizens fighting the Russians have been sentenced to death in Ukrainian territory controlled by the Kremlin. How has the UK responded thus far? And domestically, Lord Frost has said that Boris Johnson has until the autumn to turn things around.Max Jeffery talks with Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Sam Ashworth-Hayes

Ben & Jerry’s is wrong about Britain’s ‘racist’ Rwanda plan

Why is an ice cream brand lecturing Britain on the morality of its immigration policy? Ben and Jerry’s, otherwise known for flogging overpriced junk food, has weighed in on the government’s new policy of sending mostly single men dodging Britain’s border control to Rwanda. The plan is 'cruel and morally bankrupt', 'racist and abhorrent', according to the ice cream company, which says sending people 'to a country they’ve never been to, and have no connection with' could 'put people’s lives at risk'. Setting aside the source of these allegations, let’s evaluate these statements.

Katy Balls

The Julie Bindel Edition

30 min listen

Julie Bindel is a radical feminist, journalist and activist. Growing up in Darlington, she left school aged 15, and at 16 moved to Leeds in search of – in her own words – 'scary-sounding feminists'. In the 90s, she founded Justice For Women, a feminist campaigning organisation that supports, and advocates on behalf of, women who have fought back against or killed violent men. On the podcast, Julie talks about her upbringing in the North East, her fight in the gender ideology debate, and she shares her thoughts on Pretty Woman.To read more on Julie Bindel, visit her Substack page here.

Thursday

Isabel Hardman

Tory bid to delete controversial schools law

There's a row afoot in the House of Lords. That's a bit of a dog-bites-man line these days, with government defeats in the Upper Chamber being so common that they're totally unremarkable. But this latest spot of bother doesn't come from Labour or the Lib Dems or even those difficult-to-read crossbenchers. No: the new rebels are a bunch of Tory ex-ministers who want to delete a large chunk of their party's own bill. At this stage, the trio are merely politely asking ministers to delete the first 18 clauses of the bill. The Schools Bill is currently in the Committee Stage - where peers go through line-by-line scrutiny of the legislation - in the Lords.

Katy Balls

What’s behind Boris’s relaunch?

11 min listen

By sticking to his promise to ‘move on’ after the confidence vote, Boris has announced his new flagship policies during a speech in Blackpool. He unveiled the ‘benefits-to-bricks' pledge aimed at extending a home-buying scheme. Will new housing measures be enough to regain the support of the public and the dwindling respect from his party?Also on the podcast, two by-elections are on the way. This could be either a triumphant or disastrous result for the Prime Minister. How might he fare in an election of his own?Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.

Steerpike

New Yorker claims ‘racism’ dominated jubilee

Just what is it with New Yorkers and London? Normally Steerpike's ire for the Big Apple is reserved for the city's 'flagship' newspaper, the New York Times, whose view of Merrie England post-Brexit resembles something of a North Korean-style dystopia, without the hope. But now another leading liberal outlet has done a disservice for 'the city that never sleeps' with its reporting of a landmark UK event. Step forward the New Yorker magazine, which yesterday printed a bizarre take on the celebrations of the past week titled 'Racism outshines Platinum Jubilee'.

William Moore

How the rebels plan to finish off Boris

45 min listen

In this week’s episode: Is the Prime Minister a dead man walking? Spectator Political Editor James Forsyth and MP Jesse Norman who expressed no confidence in Monday's vote discuss the future of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party. (00:45)Also this week:Why is there so much virtue signalling in modern advertising? Spectator Columnist Lionel Shriver and veteran copywriter Paul Burke discuss its origins, its prevalence, and its effectiveness. (20:20)And finally:Is the dinner party dead? Gus Carter writes in The Spectator this week about how he is never invited to any. He’s joined by Mary Killen to give him some tips on planning a sophisticated bash on a budget.

Steerpike

Seven times Boris promised low taxes

Boris Johnson's speech in Blackpool today prompted much dry commentary from the assembled press pack. With its talk of low taxes and prudent government, it's no surprise that many of the journalists were left asking 'Who's the new guy?' and 'If only he had been Prime Minister these past two years.' Johnson talked a good game, as usual, telling his audience that: The overall burden of taxation is now very high – and sooner or later, and I would much rather it was sooner than later, that burden must come down. The answer is economic growth. You can’t spend your way out of inflation, and you can’t tax your way into growth. Sound stuff of course but we've been here before.

Kate Andrews

Boris Johnson’s half-baked economic reset

As part of his revival (and survival) strategy, Boris Johnson is trying his hardest to convince the public and fellow MPs that he can get the cost of living crisis under control. But did today’s speech help him make that case? His wide-ranging speech in Lancashire covered a vast array of economic, policy and trade topics, which he struggled to pull into a cohesive theme. ‘We do not grow many olives in the UK,’ he pointed out. ‘Why do we have tariffs on bananas?’ Both excellent points when it comes to liberalising trade, but not obviously at the top of people’s priority lists when it comes to tackling energy bills in the next few months. ‘We do not grow many olives in the UK,’ he pointed out. ‘Why do we have tariffs on bananas?

Steerpike

Hunt hits the phones

What's Jeremy Hunt up to after breaking cover as an agitator against Boris Johnson this week? Mostly phoning people, if his social media is anything to go by. Mr S has been amused to follow the trail of the former (and now wannabe) Conservative leadership contender as he posts endless Instagram photos of himself looking serious on the phone. There's a clear favourite pose that he likes to adopt: Jeremy Hunt (Credit: Jeremy Hunt/Instagram) Jeremy Hunt (Credit: Jeremy Hunt/Instagram) Jeremy Hunt (Credit: Jeremy Hunt/Instagram) Mr S also couldn't help noticing that Hunt has a framed copy of The Spectator cover that never ran displayed on the bookcase behind him. The cover shows him triumphantly striding through the door of Number 10.

Jonathan Miller

Why Jeremy Corbyn is being feted by the French left

Into the three-ring circus of the French legislative election campaign has stepped Jeremy Corbyn. The papi magique arrived on the Eurostar last weekend to campaign for candidates of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose insurrectionary ultra-left campaign is threatening to deny the recently re-elected Emmanuel Macron a presidential majority in the parliament. First round voting is on Sunday. A runoff will be a week later. Those tempted to overlook the continuing appeal of Mr Corbyn and dismiss him as a political has-been or even an unreconstructed Marxist clown, would perhaps have been startled to see him mobbed by adoring fans in Paris. Corbyn was feted as a red prince from over the water. And of course he immediately provoked an anti-Semitism row in France.

Steerpike

Mark Harper hits out at Hunt

Boris Johnson's recent woes have coincided with a renaissance for Jeremy Hunt, the man he pipped to the Tory leadership in 2019. The Surrey MP was quick to put in his letter of no confidence on Monday and has followed that up with a stinging rebuke today to Michael Gove over the Dunsfold drilling development. It follows a string of media appearances for Hunt to mark the release of his much-vaunted new book on how to fix the NHS. Yet while the former Health Secretary now finds himself one of the favourites to succeed Boris Johnson, questions still remain about his role in the Covid crisis.