Fraser Nelson

Fraser Nelson

Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

How Britain (narrowly) avoided lockdown last Christmas

Exactly a year ago today, the cabinet met to decide whether or not to lock down to tackle Omicron. At the time, published Sage documents had outlined a range of 600 to 6,000 daily deaths unless more action was taken. Recalling the anniversary, I had an interesting exchange with Graham Medley, who chaired the SPI-M modelling committee that fed into Sage. ‘We obviously made sure that the people we were talking to did understand,’ he told me. That raises the prospect that a subset of people may have been briefed that Sage was discarding real-world South African data on the mildness of Omicron – so its ‘scenarios’ could bear no resemblance to reality. As proved to be the case.

Thursday

Fraser Nelson

Christmas Special

65 min listen

Welcome to the special Christmas episode of The Edition! Up first: What a year in politics it has been. 2022 has seen five education secretaries, four chancellors, three prime ministers and two monarchs. But there is only one political team that can make sense of it all. The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson, deputy political editor Katy Balls and assistant editor Isabel Hardman discuss what has surely been one of the most dramatic years in British political history (01:13). Then: Christmas is a time to spare a thought for our neighbours. While in the UK we have our own hardships, families in Ukraine are facing a Christmas under siege.

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

Will Rishi’s immigration plan work?

15 min listen

Rishi Sunak today revealed a plan he says will tackle illegal immigration. 'Enough is enough', he said. The asylum backlog of 150,000 will be cleared by the end of next year, and the government will do a deal with Albania to return people from the country. Will it work? Max Jeffery speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

Is the Tory party undemocratic?

10 min listen

Rishi Sunak has now served as prime minister longer than his predecessor Liz Truss, but that doesn't mean that it's all plane sailing. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has backed a campaign to 'restore democracy' in the Conservative party. Should the government be worried?  Also on the podcast, as Rishi prepares to set out his agenda, is there a narrow path to conservative re-election?  Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Thursday

Fraser Nelson

Are Harry and Meghan bad for Global Britain?

11 min listen

A number of measures are under discussion as Christmas looks like it will be dominated by strike action. What measures will the government put in place to limit the disruption? Also on the podcast, after the first episodes of Netflix's new series Harry and Meghan were released, could the documentary be bad for Global Britain?  Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.  Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson

Is Rishi Sunak a blancmange Prime Minister?

12 min listen

Shots were fired at PMQs today as Keir Starmer referred to Rishi Sunak as a 'blancmange Prime Minister'. The line came after Rishi Sunak conceded on the Tory rebellion over mandatory housing targets. Katy James and Fraser mull over this attack. Also on the podcast, with Stephen Fry elected as the SNP's new Westminster leader, what could this mean for Sturgeon? Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

Can Sunak grip the Tory coalition?

8 min listen

The government has backed down in the face of the planning rebellion, watering down their targets for housebuilding. At the same time, another revolt is brewing over permissions to build onshore wind. Is Rishi Sunak facing a more unruly Tory coalition than his predecessors, and does he have a grip on the party? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

Why is Labour so keen to reform the House of Lords?

12 min listen

Today former prime minister Gordon Brown has released a review which includes recommendations to overhaul the constitution and replace the House of Lords. Could Labour push through reform? Also on the podcast, after Kier Starmer said that he doesn't see Jeremy Corbyn standing at the next election, has Starmer finally silenced the far left faction in his party?  Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Saturday

Friday

Fraser Nelson

Are the Tories in terminal decline?

14 min listen

Sajid Javid has announced that he won't be standing for re-election, while also today, the Chester by-election saw the Conservative party suffered the worst loss in seat since 1832. Is the party in terminal decline? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson

How effective is Labour’s class war?

13 min listen

In today's Prime Minister's Questions, Keir Starmer went in on Rishi Sunak's privileged background. Starmer detailed the various facilities available at Winchester College, where Sunak was educated, from an art gallery to a shooting range. Is this an effective line of attack, or do voters simply not care? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

The Online Safety Bill is still a censor’s charter

One of Rishi Sunak’s pledges was to remove the ‘legal, but harmful’ censorship clause that Boris Johnson was poised to bring in via the Online Safety Bill. A few weeks ago it was said that he had done so and I wrote a piece congratulating him. I may have spoken too soon. The Bill as published would actually introduce (rather than abolish) censorship of the written word – ending a centuries-old British tradition of liberty. The censorship mechanism is intended for under-18s – an improvement on the original, draconian plan. But it still raises problems that I doubt have been properly discussed in Whitehall given the bias amongst officials desperate to get this Bill through.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

Can Sunak get a grip on his party?

14 min listen

As MPs mull over whether they would like to stand in the next general election, the cracks in the party widen. Notable MPs like Chloe Smith and Dehenna Davison have already declared they will not stand but there are likely to be more over the coming days. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has two rebellions to take on this week. One is led by Theresa Villiers over mandatory housing targets; the other by Simon Clarke railing against the ban on offshore wind farms. On the podcast, Katy, James and Fraser discuss what kind of uphill struggle this week might bring. Can the cracks in the party be patched over ahead of the general election?  Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Sunday

Fraser Nelson

Yes, five million are on out-of-work benefits. Here’s the proof

How can 20 per cent of people in our great cities be on benefits at a time of mass migration and record vacancies? It’s perhaps the most important question in politics right now, but it's not being given any scrutiny because the real figures lie behind a fog of data. But the fog is easily cleared, if you know where to look. What follows is for anyone with an interest in doing so, and it follows a few queries to The Spectator about how we found the five-million figure we’ve been using for a while. To solve a problem, you need to recognise a problem Every month, an official unemployment figure is put out on a press release – and news organisations are primed to cover it. It’s normally about 1.

Thursday

Fraser Nelson

Net migration has surged to 504,000. Why?

Net migration to Britain has passed 500,000 for the first time ever – twice as high as the recently upgraded forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The figure is quite stunning. Net migration had been expected to halve to just over 100,000 after Brexit, a figure the OBR doubled to 200,000 last week. So what’s going on? And how reliable is the data? It’s a complex story, and the 504,000 headline figure can be deceptive. It’s a mixture of students flooding back after lockdown and a surge in Ukrainians and Hong Kongers who arrived here as part of one-off refugee policies under Boris Johnson. EU net migration actually turned negative: some 51,000 more people went back to Europe last year than arrived on British shores. The ONS also calculates this in different ways.

Wednesday

Fraser Nelson

Scottish independence was never a matter for the courts

It is testament to the SNP’s tactics that today’s Supreme Court judgment on a Scottish referendum happened at all. Of course, the Scottish parliament doesn’t have the power to call referendums: this was an explicit condition of its creation. Schedule 5, part 1 of the Scotland Act spells out the things Holyrood is not allowed to legislate on: among other things, ‘the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England’ and ‘the parliament of the United Kingdom’. So this was never in question, never a matter for the courts. But Nicola Sturgeon pretended otherwise – the better to rally her troops, who always want to believe that battle lies just around the corner. Now that the Court has restated the law – that she cannot call any such referendum – her job is made harder.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

Is the government trying to soften Brexit?

13 min listen

Over the weekend, government briefings that they will be looking towards a Swiss-style arrangement with the EU reignited the Brexit rows. Dormant Brexiteers like Nigel Farage and the European Research Group resurfaced, making it clear that they would not accept a so-called 'Chequers 2.0'. On the record, the government has been keen to reject this briefing. So what really happened? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Saturday

Fraser Nelson

Austerity 2.0: is all the pain really necessary?

34 min listen

It's no doubt a depressing time for the British economy, but how much that is the fault of the government, either for getting us to this stage and/or for not setting out a more optimistic exit route? On this episode, Cindy Yu moderates a debate between Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Kate Andrews who battle out their respective views. Produced by Cindy Yu and Matt Taylor.

Tuesday

Fraser Nelson

Why is the workforce shrinking?

11 min listen

Figures released today show that the number of people in employment has dropped by 50,000 since September, despite a national worker shortage of 1.25 million. Does this shed some light on the recession? Are these shortages simply because of disputes over pay or could the NHS waiting list be to blame?  Also on the podcast, as public sector pay stagnates, how many will be lost to the private sector?  Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.  Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

What can we expect from the G20 summit?

11 min listen

The G20 summit kicked off as world leaders arrived in Bali overnight. Ahead of the summit, Biden and Xi met to discuss tensions over trade, tech and human rights. The two claim they are ready for candid exchanges as China-US relations are at their lowest in decades.  Rishi Sunak also flew to his first G20 summit. The Prime Minister is expected to hold multiple bilateral meetings as he tries to make his mark on the world stage. Meanwhile, can he keep a grip on domestic issues ahead of the Autumn Statement this Thursday? Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.