Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
12 min listen
The problem of Nadhim Zahawi may not have gone away as quickly as the Prime Minister might have hoped. Today, allies of the former Tory Chairman have suggested the decision to sack Zahawi has been 'rushed' and 'unfair'. Is there more of this story to come? Natasha Feroze speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
Why was Nadhim Zahawi fired? Today’s report by Laurie Magnus, the PM’s adviser on ministerial interests, says it’s a question of honesty and disclosure. HMRC started talking to Zahawi about his tax affairs in April 2021 but this became a formal investigation shortly after he became Chancellor on 5 July last year. By this time, he had been knocked out of the Tory leadership race. He had agreed to pay a penalty and the matter was closed. But he’s accused of keeping this hidden and has, it seems, been fired for the secrecy. The Magnus report goes into detail about the offense. A minister facing an HMRC investigation would have been expected 'to inform their permanent secretary and seek advice', it says (paragraph 9) and then 'update their declaration of interests form'.
13 min listen
This morning, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the Conservative party chairman Nadhim Zahawi over the scandal surrounding his tax affairs. This story has been ongoing for a few weeks now – why now? Natasha Feroze speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
18 min listen
It emerged this week that Nadhim Zahawi was in a row last year with HMRC over tax payments, but he is currently holding onto his post as Conservative party chairman. When should a politician resign? And is it worth fighting back? Ten years ago, the News of the World broke a story about then Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten’s personal life. On the podcast, Mark joins Fraser Nelson and James Heale to talk about what it’s like to be in the centre of a scandal.
14 min listen
Jeremy Hunt unveiled his plans to grow the economy in a speech this morning. His strategy will focus on four pillars or 'four E's': enterprise, education, employment and everywhere. Natasha Feroze speaks to Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson – who were at the Bloomberg headquarters, on their key takeaways from the speech.
12 min listen
Having just recovered from his own seatbelt fine saga, Rishi Sunak spent the weekend fighting two more Tory sleaze scandals. First over the ongoing investigation into Nadhim Zahawi's taxes and the second linked to the BBC chairman Richard Sharp's £800,000 loan guarantee. Both stories link back to Boris Johnson's time as Prime Minister, but how much damage could this do to Rishi Sunak? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.
The videos showed a typical summit: Volodymyr Zelensky next to Ukraine’s flag and Boris Johnson next to the Union Flag. But there’s a difference. Johnson is no longer the prime minister and was visiting Kyiv as a private citizen – yet was greeted and treated like he was still calling the shots. A video of the meeting, with rousingly patriotic music, has been released. ‘I will do whatever I can’ says BoJo: but with what? In what capacity did his summit with Zelensky take place? Some may see this in the context of an attempted Boris Johnson comeback, but in the leading article in this week’s Spectator we make the case for his defence. Every Prime Minister wants a legacy, and what does Johnson have?
24 min listen
Kate Andrews talks to Fraser Nelson and the New Zealand based journalist and author Andrea Vance about the surprise announcement from Jacinda Ardern that she will be leaving the world stage next month.
14 min listen
Rishi Sunak may be facing a fine from the police for not wearing a seatbelt in the backseat of a car on his tour around the country yesterday. Is this all a storm in a teacup or is there a legitimate point to the row? Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson debate on the podcast, hosted by Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu.
12 min listen
In today's Prime Minister's Questions, Rishi Sunak went heavy on accusations that Keir Starmer cannot be trusted, having flip-flopped on various policy positions throughout his time in politics – 'he is not just for the free movement of people; he also has the free movement of principles'. On the podcast, Katy Balls discusses with Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman whether that's such a bad thing. Produced by Cindy Yu.
13 min listen
Boris Johnson's potential comeback has been dominating headlines for several months now. As Rishi struggles to unite the party, Katy Balls, Fraser Nelson and James Heale discuss whether the prime minister should be worried.
17 min listen
Rishi Sunak is in Scotland meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and said today that he is concerned about new gender laws in Scotland which would allow 16-year-olds to apply for a gender recognition certificate to change their gender. But with Sunak trying to improve relations with Holyrood, should he send Kemi Badenoch, the minister for women and equalities, to fight the fight for him? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.
12 min listen
Welfare reform is back on the agenda. Today there have been reports of how the Tories plan to reform welfare benefits in this country. What is Mel Stride thinking? Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak will this evening travel to meet with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. What will they be discussing? Why is it that our prime ministers treat trips north of the border like foreign visits? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.
41 min listen
This week: Who's afraid of Keir Starmer? In his cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator's Editor Fraser Nelson says that without a Labour demon to point at the Tories stand little chance in the next election. He joins the podcast alongside journalist Paul Mason, to discuss why Keir Starmer is so hard to vilify (01:10). Also this week: In the magazine, The Spectator's newsletter editor Hannah Tomes exposes the social media campaign targeting young women, such as herself, to freeze and donate their eggs. She joins the podcast alongside Sophia Money-Coutts, host of the Freezing Time podcast, to consider whether it is right to market this as an altruistic undertaking (16:58).
Fear of the Labour party has long been the most powerful Tory weapon. During every election campaign, the Tory strategy is to talk up the threat of Labour: the demon-eyed Tony Blair, ‘Red’ Ed Miliband or the Corbynite menace. Tories, for all their quirks and flaws, keep the other guys, the dangerous ones, out of power. Rishi Sunak may struggle to revive this argument at the next election. The economy is in recession, the NHS is collapsing, national debt has doubled. After four Conservative prime ministers, public services are in such a state that strikes don’t make much difference. When things go back to ‘normal’, the trains, border control and ambulances are still in crisis. Some interesting solutions are, at least, floating around.
9 min listen
In an interview on Sunday, Rishi Sunak refused to tell Laura Kuenssberg whether he has a private GP. Could this question come back to haunt him amid accusations he is 'out of touch'? As Parliament returns from recess, ministers are holding talks with unions to avoid further public sector strikes. However, with strike action still set to go ahead, the expectation of these talks by union bosses may not coincide with reality. Is the government fighting a losing battle? Also on the podcast, could a Boris Johnson comeback be on the cards? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Earlier this week, I was asked to list the three biggest threats to the media. Aside from the general sales decline of newspapers, I said, the threat of bot censorship – and the lack of accountability from the firms who apply it. We at The Spectator have just come across a classic example of this, when Facebook refused to publish this week’s cover satirising Joe Biden when we submitted it as an advert. The cover asked if Biden would serve for six more years, but the illustration had him holding up five fingers. A nice joke, but hardly a cruel one. So we appealed. An email came back saying: You asked for another review of your rejected ads. After another review, it's been determined that they still don’t comply with our Advertising Policies. So that was it.
In his speech today, the Prime Minister gave five targets: ‘Halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut [NHS] waiting lists and stop the boats.’ But are these real targets, or are they the old politician’s trick of promising what will happen anyway? Sunak’s job is made easier by the way economics is reported: everyone says what inflation is, but no one ever prints the forecasts. No one, that is, except The Spectator’s data hub. We like to think we show you what people think is coming, as well as what just happened. A trawl through the data hub shows that all of Sunak’s pledges are, in fact, statements of what was expected to happen under Boris Johnson, let alone Liz Truss. Let’s go through them in turn.
15 min listen
Millions of Britons will forever shun trains because of the ongoing strikes, a government sources told the Times today. Are the strikes proving as effective as unions hoped? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Max Jeffery.
With a new year comes the New Year’s Honours and I’m struck to see an MBE given to Pouria Hadjibagheri. He’s the technical lead of a civil service team whose drive and creativity led to the Coronavirus data hub. It was a breakthrough in the democratisation of public data. He and his team saw to it that information and metrics were not the secret preserve of a Whitehall cabal, cherry-picked to make a certain point, but available to everyone. This transformed the debate about the virus and the need for lockdown, allowing for new perspectives and new projects. The Spectator’s data hub was one of them. If you were pleased we avoided lockdown in December last year, you have Hadjibagheri’s team to thank – they made the debate possible.
