Politics

Read about the latest political news, views and analysis

Christopher Gadsby

Friedrich Merz is driving his coalition to breaking point

‘Whoever has visions should see a doctor.’ Dubiously credited to the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt, this bon mot has become a stock phrase of Berlin political jargon, an unofficial motto for Germany’s sober political culture of pragmatism and restraint. When Friedrich Merz ran for election last year, he tried to reassure voters that he was a doctor of a kind. He had only to open up his ill-fitting blue polyester jacket to reveal a thousand pockets heavy with sensible centrist miracle cures for every kind of populist hallucination and far-right hysteria. In a country such as Germany whose citizenry are not known for their incredulity towards alternative medicine, Merz’s

Tim Shipman

Are the Greens repeating Corbyn’s mistakes?

18 min listen

As voters prepare to go to the polls in a set of local elections that could redraw the political map, we examine the ‘outsiders’ on today’s episode – starting with the Greens. After Zack Polanski’s grilling on the Today programme, are the Greens facing the same scrutiny that once engulfed Labour under Jeremy Corbyn? Also on the podcast: Tim writes a letter to Britain’s aspiring prime ministers. What does Keir Starmer still lack? Does Andy Burnham have a plan beyond Manchesterism? And why do so many politicians seem to hate politics? Noa Hoffman discusses with Tim Shipman and James Heale.

Matthew Lynn

A banking windfall tax would be a terrible idea

Most people might think that the ability of Britain’s major banks to come through the turbulence of the last decade intact is something to be celebrated. They have survived the pandemic, dealt with leaving the European Union, and successfully switched from a financial system that was based on cash and branches to one that is mostly digital. At least, then, one of the country’s major industries is doing well. It appears, perhaps unsurprisingly though, that the trades unions don’t want to celebrate. The TUC is calling for a windfall tax on the banks – even though it could kill them off.  After the big four high street banks reported combined

Ross Clark

Don’t feel sorry for the business leaders who backed Labour

Just what were business leaders expecting when so many of them sucked up to Labour before the 2024 general election? Only Keir Starmer’s party, 121 of them declared in an open letter, could deliver Britain’s full economic potential. They swarmed around Rachel Reeves like drones around a queen bee. Richard Walker of Iceland even turned up to the party’s manifesto launch to praise it for its economic plans. They are not cheering now. Only 17 of the 121 who signed the 2024 letter are currently prepared to restate their support for Labour. The rest are moaning – many of them anonymously – that they are being killed off by hikes in employers’

Today

Madeline Grant

Mockery is the best way to engage with Zack Polanski

Oh dear, it’s all looking a bit glum for Zack Polanski. A string of headlines about both him and his party has been less than flattering. It’s beginning to twig in some quarters that the Greens aren’t just a cuddly group who want to make sure that nature gets a fair hearing – sort of like the National Trust, but less left-wing. Rather, they appear to be a much more extreme political force. There can be no doubt that Mr Polanski has been transformative for the Greens – it is under his leadership that they have metamorphosed from run-of-the-mill lentil-botherers into a sort of Home Counties Hezbollah. Marrying Maoism to the

Steerpike

Burnham’s Green flirtation angers Labour MP

Andy Burnham has once again sent Labour’s Blairite backbenches into a storm. The wannabe Prime Minister has a knack for infuriating his party’s ‘right’ and today is no exception. His latest wheeze? Signing up to a ‘progressive rally’ in East London, where he’ll be parked alongside such political luminaries as former Green leader Caroline Lucas and Lib Dem grandee Sir Vince Cable. The Change:Now event, slated for the end of this month, is choc-a-bloc with trade union barons, left-wing think tankers and even the director of an organisation dedicated to ‘building migrant power’. Ministry of Housing minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, an Ed Miliband acolyte, also makes the bill. Talk about a

Roger Kimball

MAGA isn’t finished. It’s just getting started

What’s the one thing that every pundit and certified member of the Fourth Estate knows? Why, it’s that MAGA is finished.  How many stories have we been treated to about ‘the fracturing of MAGA?’ NPR knows it, Politico intuited it, Salon bet on it and the New Republic salivated over it. ‘Trump’s MAGA Base Splits Dramatically,’ that anti-Trump orifice recently crowed. ‘New poll shows Donald Trump’s support continues to drop.’ Then of course there is the New York Times, which has predicted and rejoiced in the death of MAGA again and again. That is – that was – the narrative. What is the reality? Yesterday’s primaries tell a very different – in fact, contradictory – story. MAGA’s vitality was reaffirmed, as was President

MAGA
Steerpike

Polanski grovels over Golders Green (again)

With a day to go before voters head to the polls, Zack Polanski is determined to go out with a bang. Having already issued a quasi-apology to the police after criticising their handling of the Golders Green knife incident, the great Green boob whisperer decided the morning before local elections day would be the perfect moment for a sequel. Cue an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, where Nick Robinson invited him to explain why his ire seemed directed less at the man with the blade and more at those trying to stop him. In a bid to appeal to both the Mothin Alis and Caroline Lucases of the

Chas Newkey-Burden

Football is a sport for right-wingers

There were howls of disbelief when the former captain of Chelsea FC, John Terry, replied “100% yes” to a social media post by Rupert Lowe calling for “foreigners” to be barred from claiming benefits and for the deportation of migrants who can’t support themselves. How could a footballer – in 2026 for goodness sake! – lean to the right on politics? Haven’t we all quietly agreed that footballers are supposed to be cuddly liberals now? Terry is not alone in occupying football’s political right flank Ever since the England men’s team of the 2020 Euros was presented as a progressive collective with shin pads, there’s been a tendency to imagine

Andrew Gilligan

This Green candidate thinks the UK is a ‘terrorist state’

A Green candidate at tomorrow’s election has called the UK a ‘terrorist state,’ blamed Jeremy Corbyn’s demise on the ‘web of lies Israel released on him’ and reposted a claim that Israel has ‘captured’ Britain’s Department for Education. Batchford is, by my count, the 24th Green candidate at tomorrow’s election to be exposed for expressing extremist views specifically related to Jews, ‘Zionism’ or Israel Marc Batchford is one of a cluster of Green candidates in Walsall with extreme views. Another, Raja Ateeq, described Jews as ‘cockroaches’. A third Walsall Green candidate, Joe Belcher, has been allowed to run again tomorrow for the party despite having been dropped from a previous

Steerpike

Polanski squirms on Red Cross claims

Zack Polanski is no stranger to reinventing himself. He’s been an actor, a hypnotherapist capable of enlarging breasts, a nightclub promoter, a mental health counsellor and even… a Lib Dem. Now the Times has uncovered another entry on the already well-stuffed Polanski CV. According to the Green leader, he once served dutifully as a spokesman for the British Red Cross. Only the Times also discovered that this was a complete fiction, the left-wing leader never actually held the role. Polanski made the claim on his site while running for Green deputy leader in 2022. But the British Red Cross last night confirmed Polanski ‘has not been a spokesperson’. Rather, he had been an on-stage

James Heale

Kemi Badenoch: ‘I’m the one holding Labour to account’

It is 11:26 a.m. and Kemi Badenoch is on her second drink of the day. The Tory leader is out visiting a craft brewery in Suffolk. ‘I’m not a beer drinker’, she admits, while sampling its signature line – ‘so if I like it, it must be good’. The gin is to more to her taste, and she takes a hearty gulp before bustling around the brewery to promote the Conservatives’ small business focus. Later, she gets to hammer a mallet to batter a sealed cask shut – a weapon she might wish to wield at some of her recent defectors. The past 12 months have been a tale of two

Lisa Haseldine

Trump’s missile cut has left Germany exposed

It has been a choppy 12 months for transatlantic relations since Friedrich Merz was sworn in as chancellor of Germany a year ago today. Fittingly, he is marking one year in office by dealing with the fallout of a spat with Donald Trump which has resulted in very real consequences for German – and potentially European – defence. On Friday, the Pentagon announced that 5,000 American troops would be withdrawn from German soil over the coming six to 12 months. Additionally, contrary to an agreement struck between Merz’s predecessor Olaf Scholz and Joe Biden, no new intermediate-range missiles would be stationed in Germany in the immediate future. Germany currently hosts

Joanna Williams

The slow death of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

For the past few years, woke has been on life support. Back in 2020, police officers knelt for Black Lives Matter, children were taught that boys could become girls, and the trans-inclusive Pride flag seemed to fly from every building in the country. Since then, there has been something of a retreat. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) industry still has a pulse and is more than capable of reinvention, but it is less confident and more defensive. Human Resource officers were able to rule the roost Why the change? Donald Trump’s second term in office is one reason for the vibe shift. The US President punctured all manner of

Amar Singh Bhandal

Russia is losing its grip on Africa

Russia’s military reputation in Africa was built in Kidal, Northern Mali. Late last month, it was buried in the same spot. The Russian flag that Wagner hoisted over Kidal in 2023 was up for less than 30 months when on 26 April an Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) fighter from the separatist rebel group allied with al-Qaeda’s Malian affiliate fashioned the tricolour into a turban decoration. This was the last thing Russian troops saw as they withdrew hastily from their base, one that until 24 hours prior had been held up as the model of Russian security force assistance in Africa. The image of Bedouin rebels carrying Kalashnikovs while escorting Russian mercenaries out

Michael Gove

Britain’s antisemitism ’emergency’ – and have Reform gone too far?

45 min listen

This week: antisemitism in Britain, the government’s response – and where Reform may have gone too far. After the attack in Golders Green, Michael and Madeline ask whether antisemitism has become a daily reality for Britain’s Jewish community – and whether ministers are willing to confront the Islamist extremism, hard-left apologism and far-right hatred that are feeding it. They also look ahead to the local elections and ask what a bad night for Labour would mean for Starmer’s leadership. Could losses to the Greens in Labour’s urban heartlands push the party further left? And if MPs do move against Starmer, would any of the likely alternatives be an improvement? Plus:

Yesterday

Tim Shipman

Who will survive the local elections?

12 min listen

The local elections are nearly upon us. Political editor Tim Shipman and deputy political editor James Heale bring you the one-stop shop podcast with everything you need to know ahead of the day. What could happen to Keir Starmer, what will a really bad day look like for Labour, and is the political map about to be redrawn? If you enjoy Coffee House Shots, you can join Tim Shipman and James Heale live as the election results roll in. Will Starmer survive the night? Are Reform and the Greens about to redraw the political map? And what happens next? Along with a panel of familiar faces and special guests, get

Lara Brown

Will Arts Council England finally stop funding hate?

It took the stabbing of two Jews in Golders Green to bring Arts Council England’s decade of funding hate to a close. On Tuesday, Keir Starmer criticised the Arts Council (ACE) for funding organisations that promote the work of ‘anti-Semitic artists’. The Prime Minister also promised to force the body to ‘suspend, withdraw and claw back’ money from organisations that have platformed anti-Semitism.  It’s nice that Starmer has woken up to the fact Britain’s main arts and culture grant provider is using taxpayer money to fund hate. But one does have to ask where he’s been for the last decade? British Jews will remember when ACE awarded £14,000 of funding

Mohammad Sabaaneh, during the 'Art & Resistance in Palestine' event hosted by Trinity BDS Campaign and Trinity College Students' Union (Getty)
Steerpike

Starmer to 2024 intake: back me or else

With two days to go before voters take to the ballot box, leadership manoeuvring, that perennial Westminster pastime, has slipped into a higher gear. Allies of Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting have been making the rounds among ever more febrile backbenchers. And their respective teams are at work to ensure plans are in place should the first blow be struck amid what many are bracing to be a local election bloodbath. So grave is the mood that Rayner has even quit vaping. One can only wonder if booze will be next after she was alleged to have drunkenly crashed into the door of parliament’s Strangers bar last week…

Andrew Gilligan

The Green candidate who thinks Iran should bomb the White House

A Green candidate in this week’s council elections says the White House should be blown up, described Hamas taking ‘filthy hostages,’ and denies that anyone was raped by the terror group on 7 October. ‘I hope Iran can destroy Israel and leave no-one there,’ writes one member of the group. Shahin replies: ‘Iran should hit the Whitehouse. It is the headquarters for evil’ Feda Shahin, a Green candidate in Bournemouth, was first exposed – for different extremist statements – by The Spectator on 21 April. We disclosed she had said that ‘the Zionists killed 20 million Christians’ and that ‘Zionists are trying to control the world.’ She is ‘secretary general’ of a

Matthew Lynn

Reeves’s mansion tax has backfired before it’s even kicked in

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, made plenty of bold promises for her planned mansion tax when she announced it last year. It would be a victory for social justice. It would create a fairer housing market. And it would raise the money the government needs to fund public services. How has that worked out in practice? It turns out that Reeves’s levy on homes worth more than £2 million is already costing hundreds of millions before a penny of the new tax has even been collected. There shouldn’t be any surprise about that. Wealth taxes, which is what the mansion tax amounts to, always backfire. This is just the latest example. 

Brendan O’Neill

Why the pro-Palestine marches must stop

It is not even a week since that horrific act of violence against Jews in Golders Green, and what is the left calling for? The right to agitate for more violence against Jews. The right to beat the streets hollering for ‘intifada’. And what is ‘intifada’ other than the infliction of harm and horror on Jews by militant outfits such as Hamas? Their wilful blindness to the toxic fallout of their rallies is maddening Even by the iffy standards of the keffiyeh left, it’s been a tawdry spectacle. The speed with which the Golders Green debate went from being about the right of Jews to live in safety to the

Sam McPhail

Making homes more affordable won’t solve London’s housing crisis

Centre for London research, presented last week at the London Housing Summit, argued that the main cause of London’s home ownership crisis is ‘affordability, not shortage’ – and the claim was widely reported. There is clearly a housing crisis in London, especially in home ownership. But it’s a crisis of supply. Last year, work started on only 5,547 private-sector homes, down 84 per cent in a decade, and on around 4,500 affordable homes. Between 2001 and 2021, the proportion of homes that were owner-occupied fell from 57 per cent to 47 per cent, while the proportion that were privately rented almost doubled to 30 per cent. Greater London’s population has also increased by around 2.7 million.

Patrick West

Why so many drivers jump red lights

The signs that civic society in this country is disintegrating grow more apparent by the week. In a year which has witnessed the arrival in earnest of a shoplifting epidemic, the continued normalisation of fare-dodging on London’s train and tube network, and a surge in fuel theft at garage forecourts, it now transpires that drivers are increasingly ignoring traffic lights. According to a report in the Sunday Times, between 2022 and the end of last year, there was a 61 per cent increase in the number of drivers caught going through red lights. Across the 29 police forces that supplied figures to a freedom of information request, this figure rose from