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.
From our UK edition
Rishi Sunak’s sell to the Commons this evening was that his Windsor Framework has ‘taken back control’ and that MPs need to ‘seize the opportunity of this moment’. In other words, Brexit is done and history will judge you if you don’t back what’s just been agreed. The Prime Minister was keen to pay tribute
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Today Rishi Sunak has reached a revised agreement with the EU on Northern Ireland, and hailed it a ‘turning point’ for the people of Northern Ireland. But how will the DUP and – more importantly – Tory MPs, react? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Sam Lowe. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
From our UK edition
A lot of the grand choreography around today’s Northern Ireland Protocol deal is designed to make it much harder for critics to cause chaos. There’s the meeting in Windsor between the King and Ursula von der Leyen, which Downing Street is insisting was something the Palace wanted, rather than being requested by Rishi Sunak. The
From our UK edition
13 min listen
Isabel Hardman hosts the highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says there’s ‘quiet confidence’ about the Northern Ireland Protocol deal. Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Labour would act in the ‘national interest’, and expects to support the deal. SNP leadership hopeful Humza Yousaf said that with sustained public support, ‘independence
From our UK edition
23 min listen
This week: Isabel Hardman asks whether politics and religion can mix (00:58), Christopher Howse discusses the transformative power of folk costume (08:06), and Lucy Dunn reads her notes on meal deals (19:18).
From our UK edition
39 min listen
This week: In his cover piece for the magazine, Andrew Roberts says that the British Army has been hollowed out by years of underfunding and a lack of foresight when it comes to replacing the munitions we have sent to Ukraine. Historian Antony Beevor and author Simon Jenkins join the podcast to discuss Britain’s depleted
From our UK edition
Somewhat inevitably, Kate Forbes has issued a lengthy apology for her rather forthright comments on moral issues in the early days of the SNP leadership contest. The Scottish Finance Secretary put out a lengthy post on Facebook in which she said: Every leader’s identity is multifaceted – I am a woman, I am a Highlander,
From our UK edition
10 min listen
Keir Starmer has set out Labour’s five missions for government in a speech today, but was there anything Labour about them? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman about where this speech leaves the Labour party’s chances to win the next election. Also on the podcast: the government’s plan to cut the asylum
From our UK edition
10 min listen
Rishi Sunak continues to try to get his MPs onside when it comes to the government’s deal with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Some Eurosceptics have warned that the Prime Minister could see resignations from his government if this is handled badly, with some touting Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s name. What’s the latest?
From our UK edition
The most important question at Prime Minister’s Questions came from DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who brought the Chamber to silence as he demanded certain assurances from Rishi Sunak about the negotiations between the UK and EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Sunak has spent the past few days holed up in meetings with the most
From our UK edition
Edinburgh What did Kate Forbes’s supporters expect would happen? When the Scottish finance secretary and Scottish National party leadership candidate was asked whether she would have voted for the legalisation of gay marriage if she had been in the Scottish parliament at the time, she said that she wouldn’t, because as a devout Christian she
From our UK edition
Today was supposed to be the day when Rishi Sunak presented an agreement which resolved the issues over the Northern Ireland Protocol to his cabinet. That was the plan, at least, when the Prime Minister flew to Belfast on Friday for talks with the parties at Stormont. But today’s cabinet came and went and no
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Today was meant to be the day that Rishi Sunak presented his Northern Ireland Protocol plans to parliament, instead he told the cabinet that intensive negotiations continue with the EU. Is he doomed to repeat Theresa May’s Brexit mistakes? Will he need the backing of the DUP for any agreement? Also on the podcast, as
From our UK edition
Do over-fifties need to get back off the golf course and into work? That’s the narrative that ministers have been pushing recently, with Jeremy Hunt saying later life ‘doesn’t just have to be about going to the golf course’. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is conducting a review of the factors keeping people out
From our UK edition
14 min listen
Scotland’s finance secretary, Kate Forbes has formally declared her campaign to be leader of the SNP. Currently the bookies’ favourite – what direction would she take the party in? Also on the podcast, will there be more news on the Northern Ireland protocol this week?
From our UK edition
13 min listen
As it looks like the government is about to agree a new deal with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Rishi Sunak is in Belfast today meeting with the DUP. Will they accept a compromise? Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Hardman and Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform. Produced by
From our UK edition
12 min listen
Nicola Sturgeon has announced her resignation as First Minister of Scotland. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman about her decision to leave and Sturgeon’s nine years as leader.
From our UK edition
Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed her ‘intention’ to resign as First Minister, staying in office until her successor is elected. She said she had been wrestling with the decision for ‘some weeks’. Sturgeon sounded emotional as she opened by saying First Minister was ‘the best job in the world’ and a privilege that had ‘sustained’ her.
From our UK edition
Nicola Sturgeon is expected to quit as First Minister of Scotland at a press conference later this morning. She has come under increasing pressure in recent weeks over the case of convicted rapist Isla Bryson, but also over her government’s handling of the NHS crisis and striking workers. This is an unsurprising surprise: Sturgeon had
From our UK edition
10 min listen
The chatter in Westminster has been dominated by comments the new deputy chairman of the Conservative Party gave to James Heale, The Spectator’s diary editor, in an interview published today. When asked if he was in support of the death penalty, Lee Anderson said: ‘Yes. Nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed. You know that,
