Isabel Hardman is assistant editor of The Spectator and author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians. She also presents Radio 4’s Week in Westminster.
An appearance from ageing rocker Gene Simmons from KISS, watching from behind his dark glasses in the gallery, was one of the few highlights from today’s stand-in session of deputy Prime Minister’s Questions. This session wasn’t so much glam rock as it was rock bottom boring. Oliver Dowden and Angela Rayner had written a list
What’s wrong with the government’s AI strategy? Labour has been claiming today that it is ‘already out of date’, with shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell arguing that developers should be licensed by the government before they can work on advanced AI. Powell has suggested that an arms-length body could run the licensing regime in the
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James Heale is joined by Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls to discuss Rishi Sunak’s visit to Dover in a bid to tackle small boats. Also, following a clash between Keir Starmer and members on the left of the party, how much of a problem has Andy Burnham become for the Labour leader?
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Natasha Feroze speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale about Geraint Davies, a Labour MP who has been suspended from the party amid allegations of sexual harassment. Another Pestminster scandal to add to the list, how many more could be out there? Also on the podcast, as Rishi Sunak meets European leaders in Moldova to
Where have Boris Johnson’s diaries and WhatsApp messages gone? The row over the demands of the Covid Inquiry for evidence from the former prime minister and his aide Henry Cook took another twist yesterday, with his team insisting that he has already handed over all the relevant material to the Cabinet Office and that it
The number of Britons turning to private healthcare has risen by a third since the pandemic. The figures from the Private Healthcare Information Network aren’t a surprise: they show that there were more ‘self-pay’ admissions for treatment in 2022 than in any other year the organisation has data for. If long waiting lists remain, then
If you’d read the advance coverage of this week’s Chelsea Flower Show, you might be forgiven for thinking the entire event had been choked by bindweed, dandelions and nettles. Yes, there are some show gardens that use plants commonly called ‘weeds’ as part of their designs, but the show gardens this year really aren’t radically
What is the real difference between the two main parties on immigration? Not much, if today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was anything to go by. Both parties say they want to drive net migration down, both accuse the other of not really wanting to do this and of letting things get out of control, and both
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Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about the ongoing case of Suella Braverman’s speeding saga. And now Boris Johnson has returned to the spotlight over reports he broke more lockdown rules. Does the energy around these stories say something about the culture of Westminster? Also on the podcast, Kate Andrews takes a
As luck would have it, the Home Secretary was down to answer departmental questions in the chamber this afternoon, and a lot of those questions were on her speeding ticket. ‘I hope this isn’t going to be a repetitive session,’ said Suella Braverman in the Commons, before offering exactly that for an hour. Braverman had
For the past few months, Keir Starmer has looked a little like Russel Crowe’s John Nash in the film A Beautiful Mind, wandering around looking everywhere for an original idea. He has baffled the public with promises to make the next Labour government ‘clause IV on steroids’ (there are people who’ve had the vote for
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James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman about how Suella Braverman’s speeding scandal might unravel; and what to expect from Keir Starmer’s vision to build and NHS fit for the future.
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Immigration and the economy are priorities for Rishi Sunak’s government. But under Boris Johnson and Theresa May, net zero was also a major policy focus for Conservative governments. Is Sunak as keen on it as his predecessors were? James Heale speaks to Fraser and Isabel Hardman.
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Rishi Sunak is in Hiroshima for the G7 summit. President Zelensky has said he’ll be making a surprise appearance, and Sunak will be meeting with President Modi on the sidelines. What does Sunak want from the trip? Max Jeffery speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman.
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James Heale speaks to Isabel Hardman and Fraser Nelson about Rishi Sunak’s response to the impending migration figures and what could be in Keir Starmer’s plans to ‘make Brexit work’.
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Keir Starmer promised in an interview with the Times today that as prime minister he would back the ‘builders not the blockers’. But is it all bluster? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman.
What a nonsense debate the fight over the green belt has become. Today Keir Starmer has been – rightly – stoking it up arguing that councils should be given the freedom to build on green belt land. The Labour leader told the Times: ‘It cannot be reduced to a simple discussion of will you or
Oliver Dowden had 20 years and four Tory leaders to prepare him for his understudy moment at PMQs. He’s helped a series of leaders work out their attack lines, their defences and their jokes – so it’s unsurprising that his chance at the despatch box sparring with Angela Rayner was so textbook that he should probably
The National Conservatism conference is entering its third day in London, and has managed to grab more headlines than the official Conservative conference usually does. Tory party conferences have become so stage-managed that attendees often don’t bother going into the main hall – except for a quiet breather – because they know they won’t learn
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Home Secretary Suella Braverman said that there is no good reason the UK can’t train its own lorry drivers and fruit pickers in order to bring immigration rates down. Katy Balls speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman about why this has rubbed some up the wrong way and Keir Starmer’s speech over the weekend,
