A level results: is the system broken?
17 min listen
Isabel Hardman discusses the latest A level results and the impact on university places, with Fraser Nelson and student Lella Halloum. What more can the government do? Produced by Matt Taylor.
Fraser Nelson
Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
Saturday
Friday
What does Mick Lynch want?
12 min listen
The UK has been hit by another round of rail strikes today with rising inflation and falling wages a recipe for continued disruption in the public sector. Labour rebels such as Sam Tarry are fast becoming celebrities among the unions. Could this leave Starmer in another predicament? Also on the podcast, as Liz Truss remains ahead in the leadership polls: is the special relationship safe in her hands? Natasha Feroze is joined by Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.
Monday
Would Starmer’s energy plan work?
15 min listen
Keir Starmer has unveiled a £29 billion plan to freeze energy bills for six months. Under his proposals, the Labour leader said Brits would not face the enormous price hikes anticipated in October and January.But is his idea a serious one? Where would the money come from? And how have the Tories responded? Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.Produced by Max Jeffery.
Saturday
Why Liz Truss is right to say ‘forecasts are not destiny’
‘Forecasts are not destiny,’ said Liz Truss in last night’s debate: a remark that has drawn alarm in some quarters. If she genuinely believes that, says Robert Peston, she needs to say what her understanding is of the status and point of economics and economic forecasting. ‘Are we back to Gove’s “experts are discredited”?’ he asks. ‘This stuff matters.’ It certainly does. I’d go further and say that the approach to economic forecasts is one of the biggest differences between the candidates. Rishi Sunak’s campaign is rather fatalistic: he seems to think we cannot really avoid a big-state, high-tax, low-growth future described by these forecasts.
Monday
The trouble with Sunak’s new tax promise
Rishi Sunak should have started his campaign offering a 4p cut to the basic rate of income tax instead of going with a Cameronesque finger-wagging 'stability before tax cuts' message. His pledge to cut the rate to 16p, unveiled last night, now looks like a panicked U-turn when it is in fact consistent with his long-standing view of politics: that Britain is in danger of turning into a high-tax, high-spend European style social democracy because Tories keep forcing through extra spending without thinking how they’d pay for it. As chancellor, he sought to stand athwart such process by putting up taxes and hoping the pain would force his party to think twice about the extra spending they all wanted. After spending restraint, he'd argue, taxes would fall.
Friday
Is Truss unstoppable?
12 min listen
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were in Leeds yesterday for the first of the leadership hustings in front of Tory members. Truss put in an assured performance, while Sunak had to defend his announcement that he would cut VAT on energy bills, after saying that tax cuts would be 'immoral'. With little time left for the former chancellor to turn things around, is Truss unstoppable?Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.Produced by Max Jeffery.
Monday
Truss vs Sunak: verdict on their first head to head
18 min listen
Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls give their analysis and snap reaction to Monday evening's first head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Was Rishi Sunak too aggressive? Or did Liz Truss's economic pledges get skewered? And ultimately, will this have changed any Conservative party member's mind? Produced by Cindy Yu.
Sunday
Why does Thatcher loom over the Tory leadership race?
13 min listen
Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Matthew Parris about the influence Margaret Thatcher exerts over the Conservative leadership race.
Thursday
Can Rishi catch up?
14 min listen
So far, most polls of Tory members show that they'd prefer Liz Truss to Rishi Sunak when it comes to the next Conservative party leader. With ballots for the membership phase going out at the beginning of August, it's vitally important for Sunak to break through to members as soon as possible. Can he catch up? Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson.Produced by Cindy Yu.
Wednesday
Cold War: Is Germany caving to Putin’s gas blackmail?
After a summit in Tehran yesterday, Putin spoke about the massive Russia to Germany Nord Stream 1 pipeline – currently closed for its annual maintenance period and due to reopen tomorrow. There’s a big question as to whether it will and at what capacity, given that Germany is at Russia’s mercy. Putin said that everything depends on western sanctions. He wants a turbine for the NordStream1 pipeline repaired in Canada – which would break sanctions – and the Germans are all for giving in. One turbine has just been repaired in Montreal, and Berlin begged the Canadians to send it back to give Putin what he wants. But Putin now wants a second turbine repaired. No turbine, no gas (and cold Germans).
Monday
What’s behind the leadership debate boycott?
15 min listen
This morning, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss pulled out of the Sky News leadership debate, scheduled for tomorrow evening. What does this say for public scrutiny in Britain?'I’m afraid to say if you want to be Prime Minister you need to be able to fight anywhere, any place, anytime' - Fraser Nelson.This evening, candidates will be whittled down to four remaining prospective leaders. Who do we expect to be knocked out and where will their votes go? Tune in again tonight for a second Coffee House Shots after the results.Katy Balls is joined by Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Sunday
The verdict: the second Tory leadership debate
‘If you’re still watching this debate, well done,’ said Mordaunt, bizarrely, in her closing statement. ‘I wish tonight had been less about us and more about you.’ She obviously scripted that comment before she had any idea how the evening was going to pan out and her own contributions were certainly forgettable. But the others made for an interesting night. Tom Tugendhat quite rightly said the whole evening's discussion – tax, defence etc. – was about the country. ‘We need to restore confidence in our government and in ourselves,’ he said. I'm not sure Britain needs its self-confidence restored: it’s the Tories who are having a collective breakdown.
Saturday
Penny drops, Kemi soars in Tory activist poll
While Tom Tugendhat won the public opinion poll after last night’s debate, this is a race that will be decided by Tory members – and they seem to have a new winner (for now at least). A new ConservativeHome poll has seen Penny Mordaunt knocked off the top spot by Kemi Badenoch – who now has a double-digit lead. In a rapidly-moving contest, it’s quite significant. 'Mordaunt’s ship is becalmed,' says Paul Goodman in the ConHome analysis. She led Badenoch by 46 per cent to 40 per cent in an either/or poll last Tuesday. But in this different poll (with all five candidates) she’s on just 18 per cent, with Liz Truss second at 21 per cent and Badenoch quite clearly ahead on 31 per cent.
Thursday
Blue Murder
47 min listen
In this week’s episode:The knives are out in the Tory leadership fight, who looks likely to make the final two?Fraser Nelson writes this week’s cover piece about the Tory leadership race. He’s joined by the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson (0.49).Also this week:Mary Wakefield challenges Stonewall's guidelines for parents with trans children. One of these parents is Tammy Plunkett, a former nurse, life coach and author of Beyond Pronouns (21.43).And finally: James Ball reviews Matthew Ball’s The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionise Everything for the magazine this week. He is joined by Sid Venkataramakrishnan from the Financial Times to discuss the future of the Metaverse (36.
Blue murder: the knives are out in the Tory leadership fight
To Ronald Reagan, it was the 11th commandment: thou shalt never speak ill of a fellow conservative. Tories tend to observe the opposite rule: anyone ambitious enough to stand for party leadership needs to be targeted and weakened – ideally, destroyed. Attack dossiers will be drawn up, rumours concocted and poison darts blown. Fighting for leadership does not mean articulating a positive message or agenda nearly as much as it means trying to crush the other guy. And whoever can survive such attacks might – at a push – deserve the job. The Conservatives ought to be having a period of reflection.
Wanted: The Spectator is looking for a product owner
Every successful publication has one thing in common: a brilliant tech person working hand-in-glove with editors. We’re looking to hire such a person. This is one of the most important vacancies we have ever advertised. We’re calling this role a ‘product owner’ but the job is something bigger: in effect, a digital editor who is able to help us shape our apps and website so they look as good as the magazine. The quality of a digital publication’s product is now as important as its journalism – so The Spectator’s future success depends on us getting this appointment right.
Wednesday
Can Penny Mordaunt win it?
12 min listen
Today all candidates need 30 nominations to make it through to the next round. One dark horse in the race is Penny Mordaunt who is seen as Labour's greatest threat. This morning she held her official campaign launch in at Westminster's Cinnamon Club - promising to 'fix a broken Whitehall'. But will she be able to see off her rivals in the Tory leadership race?Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
Suella Braverman is right about welfare
At a time of a worker shortage, we are somehow managing to keep 5.3 million people on out-of-work benefits. This is too much, says Suella Braverman. My colleague Stephen Daisley fervently disagrees and in his riposte, he quotes various figures about how Britain doesn’t spend very much on welfare compared to other countries. This is precisely what New Labour argued when it was keeping five million on benefits throughout the boom years and the argument didn’t stack up then either. The below shows the problem to which Braverman alludes: it really is quite a scandal and points to massive government failure. Set aside the wasted money: keeping 5.3 million working-age people in out-of-work benefits in a period of job vacancy abundance is a waste of lives and potential.
Monday
Who will win over the Tory right?
16 min listen
Liz Truss has today announced her candidacy for the Tory leadership. With Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman already looking to win votes from MPs on the right of the Conservative party, and with Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti Patel also considering a run for the top job, who will become the candidate of the Tory right? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Max Jeffery.
Sunday
Penny Mordaunt’s embarrassing start
Penny Mordaunt, the second-favourite to be the next Prime Minister, has declared that she’s running – via a video where she barely features. It's a mush of Tory visual cliches with a Little Britain-style voiceover man talking about service, the future etc with pictures of flags, soldiers, ships and (of course) Thatcher. But it doesn't really feature her. Her voice comes right at the end saying that 'our leadership needs to become a little less about the leader' and more about 'the ship'. And that seems to be it. On her website (registered, it seems, three years ago) Mordaunt lambasts Boris Johnson for policy that is 'poorly planned and executed'. Fair enough, but it seems she has cocked up her own video. Aren't those American marines?
