James Forsyth

James Forsyth

James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.

Monday

James Forsyth

Will Boris disappoint the lockdown hawks in government?

15 min listen

Behind the scenes, the Cabinet is split on whether or not to lift the lockdown. The hawks such as Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss, and Alok Sharma, are concerned about the economic and human costs of a sustained lockdown; the doves, such as Matt Hancock, worry that lifting the lockdown too soon risks a second wave. Given Boris's liberal instincts, the hawks hope that he will come down on their side. But will the Prime Minister disappoint?

Friday

James Forsyth

Why isn’t the UK testing at full capacity?

14 min listen

The government revealed today that its testing capacity is at 38,000 a day. So why, then, are less than 16,000 tests being taken each day so far? Cindy, James, and Katy also discuss the new vaccines task force, the extension of the furlough scheme, and what the latest numbers out of China mean.

Thursday

James Forsyth

The five tests for easing the lockdown

15 min listen

As expected, Dominic Raab announced an extension to the lockdown today, with no clear end date set. But he did offer insight into the criteria that the government is using to judge when that time might come. Katy Balls writes about it here and she discusses them on the latest episode with James and Cindy. The difficulty comes from tests four and five - in particular, some in government tell James that the goal to carry out 100,000 tests per day may not be met until mid-May. In this episode, James also reveals that the government is considering changing its advice on masks.

James Forsyth

Corona wars: will either Trump or Xi win?

44 min listen

Historian Niall Ferguson writes in this week's cover piece that, even before coronavirus, the Cold War between America and China was already getting underway. With the current pandemic, animosity between the two superpowers has only increased. So when it comes to the geopolitics of the 'corona wars', who will win? Niall tells Cindy on the podcast that it may not be either; that when it comes to pandemics, city-states actually do better than empires. That's the Taiwans, the South Koreas, and the Singapores. He's joined on the podcast by Gerard Baker, the editor at large of the Wall Street Journal.

James Forsyth

Prepare for a radically different Tory party

Before he went into isolation, Boris Johnson had remarked to Downing Street aides that he was keen to get back to the agenda on which he had been elected. But as I say in the magazine this week, this virus has now so changed the landscape that there will be no simple return to the world before coronavirus. One normally understated Downing Street figure predicts it will ‘change things for a generation’. The question for the government is whether it wishes to attempt to return to what went before or to try and combine its various agendas – levelling-up, Brexit and net zero – in its post-Corona reconstruction job. Currently, all the signs point to the latter.

James Forsyth

How Covid-19 will change the Tory party

Politics is full of events that are meant to change everything but actually do little. Yet the coronavirus crisis will be one of those rare events that does have lasting political impact. This disease, and its aftermath, will change how the country works. Covid-19 has already directly affected every household, business and institution in the country in a way that not even the 2008 financial crash did. Boris Johnson’s government will now be defined by how it handles both the crisis and its aftermath. Before he went into isolation, Johnson remarked to Downing Street aides that he was keen to get back to the agenda on which he had been elected. This virus has so changed the landscape now, though, that there will be no easy return to the world before corona.

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Keir Starmer’s coronavirus gamble

13 min listen

Keir Starmer has written to the government to demand that they publish detailed criteria on what would be enough to lift this lockdown. It's his first offensive as the leader of the Opposition in the current crisis, but it's not a move that has been welcomed by all on the left. So how shrewd is his gamble?

James Forsyth

The UK will not request an extension to the Brexit transition period

David Frost, the Prime Minister’s chief Brexit negotiator, has held discussions with the First Secretary of State Dominic Raab and other senior ministers in the last few days. As I say in tomorrow’s Spectator, the conclusion of these discussions has been that the UK will not request an extension to the transition period. Interestingly, I understand that no one in these discussions backed asking for an extension. The thinking is that a delay would not solve the fundamental policy problems and that a deal is either possible or not. Another factor, I understand, is that the government worries about the cost of any extension.

Sunday

James Forsyth

Is the UK on track to be Europe’s worst hit country?

18 min listen

On the Andrew Marr Show today, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a senior scientific advisor on the government's scientific advisory group Sage, warned that the UK is on track to become one of the worst hit countries in Europe by coronavirus. So has the British government been too slow in its response?

Thursday

James Forsyth

Ending the lockdown is a decision that will have to wait for Boris Johnson

The news coming from St Thomas’ hospital is encouraging. Boris Johnson’s condition is continuing to improve. His close friends are audibly more relaxed when discussing his condition than they were a few days ago. But, as I say in the magazine this week, Boris Johnson is going to require a proper convalescence. Any idea that he can return to work as soon as he is discharged is deeply unwise. He will, as with anyone who has been in intensive care with this disease, need time to fully recover. The decision about when, and how, to end the lockdown is one that will almost certainly have to wait for Boris Johnson’s return to work.

James Forsyth

Dominic Raab is the constitutional choice, but a complicated one

We have never had a moment like this before in our history: a time when the Prime Minister is, in the most personal way possible, fighting the very problem his government is trying to tackle. After Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus, he insisted that he would keep leading the government from self-isolation in Downing Street. His determination was influenced by the fact that No. 10 believed that parts of government needed pushing to make sure they delivered; there is frustration in Downing Street about the speed of progress in testing, for instance. But those in virtual meetings with him did worry that he was often coughing, and his performance was not up to his usual standard. When he was admitted to hospital on Sunday, some thought this would allow him to get some rest.

James Forsyth

Dominic Raab is the constitutional choice, but a complicated one

We have never had a moment like this before in our history: a time when the Prime Minister is, in the most personal way possible, fighting the very problem his government is trying to tackle. After Boris Johnson tested positive for coronavirus, he insisted that he would keep leading the government from self-isolation in Downing Street. His determination was influenced by the fact that No. 10 believed that parts of government needed pushing to make sure they delivered; there is frustration in Downing Street about the speed of progress in testing, for instance. But those in virtual meetings with him did worry that he was often coughing, and his performance was not up to his usual standard. When he was admitted to hospital on Sunday, some thought this would allow him to get some rest.

Wednesday

James Forsyth

Will coronavirus usher in a new Conservatism?

15 min listen

The Chancellor ended today's press briefing with the words: 'Our economic plan and the plan for charities we announced today are built on one simple idea: that we depend on each other.' On the podcast, James explains why he thinks coronavirus is the dawn of a new kind of Conservatism.

Tuesday

James Forsyth

The decision Dominic Raab can’t make

12 min listen

One of the biggest decisions in the government's approach to tackling coronavirus is when and how to lift the lockdown. But this is also one of the most divisive issues within Cabinet. With the Prime Minister not yet out of hospital, this will be one of the things that Dominic Raab can't decide in his stead.

James Forsyth

Raab stands in for Boris – but he can’t take the biggest decision of all

Dominic Raab is a lawyer, not a doctor, by temperament as well as training. He is not a politician who talks about his feelings much. This made it all the more striking to hear him talking about Boris Johnson as a ‘friend’, and his hopes for his recovery. The reassuring news is that Boris Johnson’s condition is stable and he hasn’t required a ventilator. Raab faced a barrage of questions about how him deputising for Boris Johnson will actually work Understandably, Raab faced a barrage of questions about how him deputising for Boris Johnson will actually work. Raab emphasised Cabinet collective responsibility and how they were implementing the plans that Boris Johnson had already set out.

Monday

James Forsyth

Who is running the government?

16 min listen

With Boris Johnson currently hospitalised with no sign of release any time soon, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is the 'designated survivor'. But at today's press conference, he admitted he hadn't spoken to Boris Johnson since Saturday. So who is running the government?

Sunday

James Forsyth

Boris Johnson admitted to hospital for coronavirus tests

Boris Johnson has been admitted to hospital for tests after having a continuous temperature for 10 days since testing positive for coronavirus. Those close to him are keen to stress that he is in for ‘routine checks’ and that this is not an emergency admission, or anything like that. I am told the problem is that the symptoms are persistent and refusing to clear up. They are, I am informed, not getting worse. Number 10’s official statement tonight stresses that Boris Johnson remains in charge of the government. But someone who has been unwell enough with coronavirus to be admitted to hospital, albeit for tests, will clearly struggle to operate at their normal capacity. This is especially true given how draining coronavirus can be.

Saturday

James Forsyth

Keir Starmer may have a better chance of taking Labour to power than anyone expected

First impressions matter in politics. Once the public have made their mind up about a politician, they rarely change it. This is why the first 100 days in charge are so important for any new leader. Get off to a good start, and everything is possible. Stumble out of the gate and your race is run. Keir Starmer is widely expected to be announced as the new Labour leader on Saturday, but he faces the prospect of having to keep his distance from the electorate for the bulk of his first 100 days. The pandemic means that he won’t have the choices that normally come to the winner. There can be no victory rally, no tour of the country designed to show that there aren’t any ‘no-go areas’ for him — the whole country is a no-go area for anyone who isn’t local.