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.
12 min listen
Christmas has been cancelled, after all. In London and parts of the South East, new Tier 4 restrictions mean that households will not be able to mix indoors; whereas in the rest of the country families can only get together on Christmas day. Does this government suffer from consistently over-promising? Katy Balls talks to James
Boris Johnson is to hold a press conference a 4 p.m. today with the chief medical officer and chief scientific adviser where it is expected he will announce further restrictions to try to deal with the spiralling infection rate in London and the South East of England. The Prime Minister is chairing a cabinet call
Tomorrow will see the next flashpoint in the row between Conservative MPs and the government over the tiered system, with the publication of new allocations today, following a review of the restrictions. Backbenchers have been led to believe by ministers that there will be a more localised approach to the tiers, which is something they
Boris Johnson is taking a gamble with his decision to stick with the easing of Covid restrictions for Christmas. The gamble is that people will suddenly start adhering to government guidance and severely restrict their contact with their families, even though the law does not force them to do so. Although, as the Prime Minister
Gay conversion therapy has been heading for a ban for a few years now, with Boris Johnson repeatedly pledging to stop the ‘absolutely abhorrent’ practice. The government is working on the details of such a ban, which is not without its problems, particularly when it comes to therapy for transgender people. But it would be
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While the government wrangles with Christmas coronavirus rules, negotiations in Brussels are continuing. Boris Johnson seemed more upbeat about the prospect of a deal at PMQs today, telling SNP leader Ian Blackford that that there was ‘every opportunity, every hope’ of a deal. Is the PM bracing for an agreement? Katy Balls speaks to Isabel
Boris Johnson told Prime Minister’s Questions today that the meeting of the four nations of the UK ended with the leaders agreeing to keep the relaxation of rules over Christmas. He said there had been ‘unanimous agreement’ at the meeting that ‘we should proceed in principle with the existing regulations because we don’t want to
Sir Keir Starmer has called on Boris Johnson to hold an emergency Cobra meeting, arguing that the current plans to ease coronavirus restrictions over Christmas should be reviewed. The Labour leader said this afternoon that his party would support the government if it decides that tougher measures are needed. He stops short of calling for the Christmas easing
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The government is coming under pressure to reverse the Christmas relaxation of Covid rules, with two of the country’s leading health journals – the Health Service Journal and the British Medical Journal – jointly calling for a rethink. Keir Starmer, meanwhile, has called on Boris Johnson to hold an emergency COBRA meeting to review the
Tonight’s coronavirus press conference was very awkward for the government. It highlighted the bizarre tension between what is happening with the virus, and what ministers have decided is feasible in terms of measures to contain it. While Matt Hancock and the government scientists set out the ‘exponential rises’ in cases in London, the emergence of
What’s the worst thing about Thursday’s Ockenden Review into the latest NHS maternity scandal, at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital? Is it the scale of the trauma, the deaths and the lack of compassion which put together make for the worst maternity scandal that the health service has ever seen? The inquiry started with 250 cases,
Sir Keir Starmer will start setting out his vision for the Labour party in the new year, Coffee House understands. The Labour leader will ‘move onto another level’, according to party sources, talking about what life under a Starmer government might look like, and encouraging his frontbenchers to make policy announcements. Up to this point,
Matt Hancock sounded like a man who had just been rescued from a rapidly sinking ship when he welcomed the start of the vaccine programme in the Commons this afternoon. Almost visibly dripping with relief, the Health Secretary told MPs that it was an ’emotional’ day, and paid tribute to his civil servants and team
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The world’s first doses of an authorised Covid vaccine were administered today, with ninety-year-old Briton Margaret Keenan first in line for the Pfizer jab. Health secretary Matt Hancock said it ‘makes me proud to be British’, after confirming that restrictions could begin to be lifted once the most vulnerable were protected. Has his approach been
The Covid wars in the Tory party aren’t going away any time soon, not least because MPs are expecting a change of policy on the tiered system later this month. But rebels aren’t just demanding a more localised approach to the tier system. They also want a change of tone from ministers. There was fury in
Boris Johnson is wrong if he thinks this week’s Tory rebellion on the tiered system marks the end of his party management problems. In fact, Tuesday night’s rebels tell me that the main purpose of the vote was to increase the likelihood that a good number of areas will be moved down a tier when
14 min listen
The UK is the first western country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine, it was announced today. The first doses of Pfizer’s jab will be distributed from next week, and the news has renewed hopes that restrictions could soon be lifted. But after last night’s vote saw 55 Tory MPs reject the new
Prime Minister’s Questions didn’t feel particularly high wattage today. Sir Keir Starmer seemed to be using his questions to lay the groundwork for a future showdown with Boris Johnson. He used his first three questions to ask whether the government had done the necessary logistical planning to ensure the smooth roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine,
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The government looks set to win today’s Commons vote on the return of the tiers system for England, but tens of Tory backbenchers are unhappy. For them, the Prime Minister’s reassurances have lost credibility, so on today’s podcast, Isabel Hardman discusses with Katy Balls and James Forsyth whether or not Boris’s optimism has backfired.
After hoping that MPs wouldn’t notice that they’d been given a dud impact assessment of the new tiered system, Boris Johnson is now trying to reduce the size of the rebellion against these measures with the enticing prospect of areas moving down tiers within the next two weeks. Johnson is trying to reduce the size