James Heale

James Heale

James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.

Thursday

James Heale

The Tories have played Raynergate well

Angela Rayner is now in a bind. Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser, will report shortly on whether the Deputy Prime Minister's purchase of a Hove flat broke the ministerial code. If Magnus finds that she did, then Rayner, who in opposition demanded that the code be strengthened, will have to resign. Even if Magnus clears Rayner, questions will remain about the answers that her spokesman has given to the press. Last week, it was claimed that Rayner had ‘paid the correct duty owed on the purchase, entire properly’ and that ‘any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.’ Now, Rayner has admitted that she failed to pay a £40,000 tax bill on her second home.

Sunday

James Heale

How have the 2024 intake found frontline politics?

20 min listen

As Parliament returns from summer recess tomorrow, three rising stars of the 2024 intake join Coffee House Shots to provide their reflections on frontline politics so far. Labour's Rosie Wrighting, the Conservatives' Harriet Cross and the Liberal Democrats' Joshua Reynolds tell deputy political editor James Heale how they have found Parliament so far, and their most – and least – favourite thing about being an MP. Plus: while they are all new, and young, MPs, their parties' fortunes have all varied wildly – how have they dealt with that? Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Saturday

James Heale

Why Angela Rayner is so iconic

17 min listen

The Daily Telegraph have run a story this week that Angela Rayner may have dodged stamp duty on her second home. But beyond the story, its the photos of the Deputy Prime Minister on the beach at Hove – drinking and vaping – that went viral. Christian Calgie, senior political correspondent for the Daily Express, joins James Heale to unpack the story and the wider questions it raises for British politics, but also to discuss Rayner herself. Could 'teflon Ang' turn around the Labour Party's fortunes? And why do so many people – including many Tories – like her so much? Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons.

Friday

James Heale

Reform take 15 point-lead over Labour

Party conference begins next week when Reform UK kick off their two-day jamboree in Birmingham. Spirits within Nigel Farage's party are high after a successful summer in which they dominated the recess period with a well-executed 'flood the zone' media strategy. A steady drumbeat of weekly announcements culminated on Tuesday when Reform's long-awaited deportation strategy was unveiled. Now, the party has received a further boost with a new poll for the i paper which gives them their highest polling to date: Reform 35, Labour 20, Conservatives 17 per cent. This is the first time Reform has hit 35 points. Polling averages are what matters most but today's survey is a statement nonetheless.

James Heale

Bell Hotel latest: ‘two tier justice’?

17 min listen

Human rights barrister Dr Anna Loutfi and deputy political editor James Heale join Michael Simmons to unpack the latest court ruling over the migrants housed at the Bell Hotel. The government has won an appeal today – but how much of a victory is it really? Anna explains how the legal questions considered by this case raise a much wider debate about the rights of citizens. Is this another example of 'two tier justice'? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Natasha Feroze.

James Heale

Judge rules that asylum seekers can stay put in Epping hotel

Asylum seekers will be allowed to stay at the Bell Hotel in Epping after the Court of Appeal lifted a temporary injunction preventing them being housed there. The High Court ruled last week that 138 men living at the Essex hotel must leave by 12 September. But they will now be allowed to stay after the government won an appeal against the ruling. The system of migrants being housed in hotels can continue nationwide Lord Justice Bean said that the High Court judge who issued last week's injunction made a number of errors that 'undermine(d) his decision'. The earlier High Court judge, he said, failed to take into account Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's right to take part in the decision about whether the hotel should remain open.

James Heale

Rayner’s stamp duty saving could cost her

Angela Rayner's living arrangements are causing the Deputy Prime Minister a headache. The Daily Telegraph has today splashed on claims that Rayner allegedly ‘dodged’ £40,000 in stamp duty on her new £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex, after telling tax authorities it was her main home. The paper reports that she removed her name from the deeds of her constituency house in Greater Manchester a few weeks before the purchase. By changing her primary residence, it meant she paid £30,000, instead of £70,000, in stamp duty. A spokesman for Rayner has said: 'The Deputy Prime Minister paid the correct duty owed on the purchase, entirely properly and in line with all relevant requirements. Any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis.

Thursday

James Heale

Revenge of the left

12 min listen

James Heale writes in The Spectator this week that Keir Starmer is facing a three-pronged attack from the left: the Greens, the Gaza independents and this new – as yet untitled – Corbyn party. It was not so long ago that we were giving Starmer credit for his ruthless streak, purging the party of the far left and making Labour an electable force once again. But now it looks like he may well be the architect of his own downfall. Each of these groups has a grievance against Starmer and it all seems just a little bit personal: ‘After the treatment meted out to Corbyn and the left, many of these figures are looking forward to returning the favour.’ So, what is left of the left of Labour?

James Heale

The left’s fightback against Labour has begun

If there is a hallmark of Keir Starmer’s leadership, it is a willingness to bash the left. For five years, he has repeatedly sided with his moderate factions to make Labour electable. Corbynites have been purged from parliament and the party machine. Principles and policies have been changed to meet the electorate’s approval. Last summer’s election result appeared to vindicate the Prime Minister’s strategy. But with Starmer’s authority crumbling, the British left is aiming to reassert itself and wreak its revenge from outside, rather than inside, the Labour party. ‘This Labour government is here to appease Reform. We are here to defeat Reform’ Three groups pose a threat to Starmer. The first is the new ‘Your Party’, led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

Wednesday

James Heale

Labour goes on the Farage offensive

12 min listen

As James Heale writes online for the Spectator today, 'two issues continue to plague the government': how best to attack Nigel Farage. and how to frame an incrementalist approach to policy 'when the national mood favours radical change'. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for UK-EU relations, attempted to tackle both today as he came to the Spectator to set out Labour's Europe strategy. Labour are pursuing 'pragmatic alignment' – what they argue is greater co-operation when beneficial to the British interest. But what does this mean? James joins Michael Simmons on the podcast to unpack the speech.

James Heale

Reform’s new MSP is a portent of the future

Another red-letter day for Reform as the party unveils its second defector at Holyrood. Graham Simpson, a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), has today crossed the floor to join the ranks of Nigel Farage’s ever-expanding army. He is Reform’s second ever MSP, after Michelle Ballantyne’s short-lived spell from January to May 2021. Simpson, though, is likely to last longer, by fighting his Central Scotland seat at the upcoming election in May next year. At a press conference, Simpson told assembled journalists that he was joining Reform ‘to create something new, exciting and lasting that puts the needs of people over the system.’ He is expected to play a leading role in the planning and the policy development of Reform in Scotland.

James Heale

Labour’s latest Farage attack? Brexit

As recess draws towards its close, two issues continue to plague the government. The first: how best to attack Nigel Farage, riding high on a wave of migration outrage? The second: how to frame ministers’ modest protest, at a time when the national mood favours radical change? Today, it was the turn of Nick Thomas-Symonds to answer both. The Cabinet Office minister, who handles the brief of UK-EU relations, came to The Spectator to set out Labour’s Europe strategy. Thomas-Symonds’s argument for Labour’s reset is one of pragmatic alignment – pursuing greater co-operation when beneficial to the British interest. After unveiling the long-awaited EU reset in March, he now plans to build on this in the autumn.

Tuesday

James Heale

Farage finally unveils his deportation plan

13 min listen

Today James Heale has been on quite the magical mystery tour. Bundled into a bus at 7.45 a.m. along with a group of other hacks, he was sent off to an aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire where Nigel Farage finally unveiled his party’s long-awaited deportations strategy. The unveiling of ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ was accompanied by some impressive production value, including a Heathrow-style departure board and an enormous union flag.

James Heale

Farage sets out his mass deportation plan

In an Oxfordshire aircraft hanger this morning, Nigel Farage finally unveiled his party’s long-awaited deportations strategy. For six weeks, asylum and small boats has dominated the airwaves. Now, after a successful summer offensive, Farage laid out his plan to deal with the problems he has exploited so successfully. To stop the small boats, he is launching ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ – an initiative to enact mass deportations if Reform wins power.  The ambition is for 600,000 people to be deported by the end of Reform’s first parliament A five-page document was handed out to 200 attendees. It explains how Reform will leave the ECHR and disapply the Refugee Convention for five-years if elected in 2029.

Friday

James Heale

Starmer’s authoritarian turn – with Ash Sarkar

15 min listen

Since the government’s decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action, arrests have mounted across the country, raising questions not only about the group’s tactics but also about the government’s handling of free speech and protest rights. On today’s special edition of Coffee House Shots, Michael Simmons is joined by The Spectator’s James Heale and journalist Ash Sarkar to debate whether this is evidence of an increasingly authoritarian bent to Starmer’s Labour. Has the ban made prosecutions easier, or has it created a chilling effect on freedom of expression? And is this further evidence of the overreach of the attorney-general, Lord Hermer?

James Heale

How parliament is weaponised against Reform UK

A recent trend has emerged at Prime Ministers' Questions. Each week, after Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch have had their exchange, a series of Labour backbenchers will stand up. Among the usual points about constituency matters, there is typically at least one Member who will take aim at either Reform UK or its leader, Nigel Farage. This fits with Labour's overall political strategy of going after the Clacton MP personally, with a series of attack adverts produced last weekend. Now, for the first time, The Spectator has obtained data which shows the scale of the assault which Reform UK is facing each week. So far this year, there have been 24 sessions of Prime Ministers' Questions or Deputy PMQs.

Thursday

James Heale

Is the Blair-Cameron consensus on education over?

19 min listen

GCSE results day has brought a mixed picture; the pass rate has fallen, yet the regional gap has reduced and the gender gap is the narrowest it has ever been. Isabel Hardman and Sir Nick Gibb, former Conservative schools minister, join James Heale to discuss education policy, how changing cultural expectations may be helping the gender gap and why Labour seem determined to attack the Conservatives’ record on education. In Nick’s words, is Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson a ‘more political figure than education figure’? Plus: how the recent High Court ruling over migrant hotels could spark a crisis for the government as more councils, including Labour-controlled ones, seek an end to the policy. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

James Heale

The Epping ruling is the last thing Yvette Cooper needs

It is another scratchy, difficult week for the government. Inflation is up, to 3.8 per cent in July – the highest level since January 2024. Asylum applications are now at record levels with 111,000 applying during Keir Starmer's first year in office. But the real body blow is the interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Epping. Unsurprisingly, dozens of councils of the country are now poised to launch similar action. That creates a very difficult dilemma for Yvette Cooper. The Home Secretary has sought to downplay and depoliticise the housing of asylum seekers, pointing, not unfairly, to the industrial scale under which this occurred for many years under the Tories.

James Heale

Nigel Farage is banking on a political sea change

Nigel Farage is adept at riding the currents of British politics. When he named Reform after the Canadian party in 2020, it was a statement of intent. Like Preston Manning in the 1990s, he aimed to displace this country’s main centre-right party and refashion it in his image. But where Manning fell short, handing over the reins to Stephen Harper, Farage aims to go one better by becoming prime minister himself. A keen angler, Farage has spent his few moments of downtime this summer fishing. On one such trip, he took an assembled group of journalists to the English Channel to highlight the small boat crossings.

Tuesday

James Heale

Zelensky’s diplomatic masterclass

13 min listen

What a difference six months makes. The last time Zelensky and Trump met in Washington we were mourning the end of America’s commitment to security in Europe and a new era of isolationism. But yesterday was a totally different story – and Zelensky deserves much of the credit for his change in tactics. Trump complimented Zelensky’s suit as he arrived at the White House, the two exchanged warm words of thanks, and while they didn’t manage to settle on anything substantial when it comes to a peace deal, there was some vague consensus on security guarantees. The stage seems set for a Trump/Putin/Zelensky trilateral. The mood seems positive but is it too soon to celebrate? Lucy Dunn speaks to James Heale and Svitlana Morenets. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.