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
The High Court’s ruling today that the government broke the law on the discharge of patients to care homes in the early days of the pandemic further undermines the claim by the then Health Secretary Matt Hancock that ministers had thrown a ‘protective ring’ around the sector. The case was brought by two relatives, Cathy
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13 min listen
Today a pre-briefing on what Boris Johnson plans to say to the Cabinet about the cost of living crisis was released. He wants them to brainstorm ideas to ease the pain felt by the British public in the face of rising prices of food and energy. The catch, is these have to be non-fiscal ways.
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12 min listen
French President, Emmanuel Macron secured victory over the weekend. But with the election over, will we see a reset in relations between the UK and France? Apart from support for Ukraine, there has been little the governments on either side of the Channel have agreed on. Katy Balls is joined by Isabel Hardman and James
From our UK edition
The Commons has approved – without a vote – a motion calling for Boris Johnson to face an investigation into whether he misled the House over partygate. Labour’s motion, supported by other opposition parties, means the Privileges Committee will start an inquiry after the Metropolitan Police’s work on the lockdown parties has concluded. There was
From our UK edition
MPs are now likely to pass the motion referring Boris Johnson to a privileges committee inquiry into whether he misled parliament after the government dropped its opposition. Now, Conservative MPs have a free vote and are on a one-line whip, with their party whips instructing them that the Prime Minister is ‘happy for the Commons
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Prime Minister’s Questions took a rather bizarre twist this afternoon when the Labour leader ended up demanding Boris Johnson apologise to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Prime Minister reportedly complained to Tory MPs last night about Justin Welby’s criticism of the government’s Rwanda asylum policy. Sources at the meeting said Johnson had claimed Welby was ‘less vociferous’ about
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Boris Johnson faced MPs today for the first time since he was issued a fine for breaking lockdown rules. He apologised in the Commons, but maintained that he did not know he was breaking any rules at the time. Is that enough? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth.
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Boris Johnson bundled his Commons apology for breaking Covid laws together with an update on Ukraine because he wanted to try to draw a line under the matter. He spent a couple of minutes reiterating his apology that he’d already given in response to his fixed penalty notice, before performing a handbrake turn and saying:
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Why is Priti Patel trying to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda? Is it to stop so many of them drowning in the Channel after their people smugglers’ inflatable boats have sunk? Is it to help develop the Rwandan economy? Or is this purely a political move? The Home Secretary naturally claimed the first two
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The Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has just confirmed that MPs will be able to debate a motion on whether Boris Johnson misled parliament over whether Covid laws were broken in Downing Street. Lindsay Hoyle said that Keir Starmer will be able to table the motion for debate on Thursday, but it is not clear yet what that
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Cindy Yu, Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls discuss the Prime Minister’s remarkable ability to keep his head above the surface of even the choppiest waters.
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12 min listen
This week the government has announced a pilot scheme meant to address the increasing number of asylum seekers dangerously crossing the English Channel. While some have criticised this plan as expensive and immoral it could prove to be popular among large swathes of Conservative voters. Cindy Yu talks with Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls about
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It’s only been two weeks since the Ockenden report on the maternity scandal at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust came out. That report criticised – among many other things – a focus on ‘normal birth’ and a low Caesarean section rate which had harmed some of the mothers and babies in the cases
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After the news of the fixed penalty notices, Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and Rishi Sunak paid their fines and issued a public apology. For Boris, the reaction has been surprisingly positive compared to the beginning of the year. The majority of cabinet ministers have come out in support of the Prime Minister, but
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson has now apologised for receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending a lockdown-busting party. In a clearly very carefully scripted statement read to camera, the Prime Minister also made it clear he hadn’t thought he was breaking the rules by attending the gathering in the Cabinet Room, which lasted ‘less than ten minutes’.
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15 min listen
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have been told that they are going to be fixed penalty notices by the Metropolitan Police over parties held in Downing Street. The Chancellor has already had a tough week – might he now resign? Could Tory MPs push the Prime Minister out of No. 10? Isabel Hardman speaks to
From our UK edition
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are both to receive fixed penalty notices for attending lockdown parties, it has just emerged. The police fines for breaking Covid laws, which these two men created, throw everything around the Prime Minister and the Chancellor into the air. Previously, many Tory MPs had said this would be a resigning matter
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11 min listen
Crispin Blunt, a Conservative MP, was forced to apologise today after he tweeted support last night for Imran Ahmad Khan, another Tory MP who was found guilty of sexual assault. His statement called the verdict ‘a dreadful miscarriage of justice’ that relied on ‘lazy tropes of LGBT+ people’. ‘The condemnation has been pretty universal. I
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Rishi Sunak has referred himself to Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser to investigate whether he followed the rules on ministers’ interests. After the row over his wife’s tax status has built up, how much has the past week weakened his position as a possible contender for the Tory leadership?‘The two top players in the Tory party
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed Europe forever. That was the argument that Boris Johnson made on Friday when he held a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. One of the changes Johnson was keen to emphasise was that European leaders are united in their support of Ukraine and against Putin. This, he
