Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Suella tells Rishi: ‘You have repeatedly failed to deliver’

15 min listen

When Suella Braverman was sacked on Monday she warned that she would have more to say in due course, and she has just released her resignation letter. It is predictably punchy, accusing the prime minister of backtracking on policy promises he made to her and especially on his commitment to stop the boats. Will Sunak come to regret casting Suella Braverman aside? Is this the start of a leadership bid? Cindy You speaks to Katy Balls and Paul Goodman.  Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Monday

Katy Balls

Sunak’s reshuffle: refresh or rewind?

15 min listen

It's reshuffle day in Westminster. Suella Braverman is out as Home Secretary, replaced by James Cleverly, with former prime minister David Cameron making a shock return to parliament in the vacant Foreign Secretary slot. It's the first time since 1974 that a former PM has been appointed to the cabinet. Can Rishi Sunak really still claim to be the candidate to end the 'thirty year status quo'? Will he regret bringing Cameron back? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Friday

Katy Balls

Where does the Suella Braverman debacle go next?

The debacle concerning Suella Braverman makes the front page of most papers today after No. 10 confirmed that the Home Secretary had failed to get sign off for a Times op-ed on police bias published earlier this week. Despite Downing Street using Thursday's lobby briefing to say that Braverman and her team had ignored a No. 10 request to tone down the piece, the Prime Minister has said he still has confidence in his Home Secretary. Given several Tory MPs and anonymous government ministers have joined in with calls from opposition parties for Sunak to sack Braverman, the question in Westminster is how long this current position can hold. Jeremy Hunt has become the latest Cabinet minister to distance himself from Braverman's comments.

Katy Balls

The Arlene Phillips Edition

34 min listen

Arlene Phillips was born in Lancashire, but moved to London to pursue her love for dance. She started age 3 and by the age of 20 she became a dance teacher. From here she formed the dance troupe Hot Gossip and made regular appearances on the Kenny Everett show, catapulting her into the public eye. She went on to be involved with some of the biggest productions on West End – including Grease, Guys and Dolls and the Sound of Music. She’s also choreographed films such as 1982’s Annie and has worked with some of the stars like Freddie Mercury and Tina Turner. In 2004 Arlene was on the original judging panel for Strictly Come Dancing – now one of the nation’s favourite shows.

Thursday

Katy Balls

What is Suella Braverman up to?

10 min listen

Suella Braverman has again dominated conversation with her controversial rhetoric, this time comparing the pro-Palestinian marches to the Orange Marches of Northern Ireland in a punchy op-ed for the Times. Has she finally gone too far for this government? Max Jeffery talks to Katy Balls and James Heale. Produced by Max Jeffery and Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls

What is Suella Braverman up to?

Another day, another row involving Suella Braverman. The Home Secretary has penned a comment piece for the Times in which she accuses police officers of employing a 'double standard' on protests whereby they take a softer approach to left wing groups than they do right-wing protests. Braverman accused the Metropolitan police of 'playing favourites', likening the pro-Palestinian marches to the sectarian rallies held in Northern Ireland during the troubles. She once again referred to those attending the rallies as 'hate marchers'. Her piece comes after Sunak warned Mark Rowley – the head of the Met – that he would be 'held accountable' if pro-Palestine marches impact this weekend's Remembrance events. However, after Rowley and Sunak met, No.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Will Mark Rowley ban the pro-Palestine protests?

13 min listen

Rishi Sunak met with Met Commissioner Mark Rowley today to discuss the Palestine protests planned for the Remembrance weekend. Sunak has called the marches ‘disrespectful’, and said he would hold Rowley ‘accountable’ for not banning them. Will the Commissioner change his mind? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Danny Shaw, former home affairs correspondent for the BBC.

Katy Balls

Rishi and Suella’s fates hinge on the Rwanda ruling

The first King’s Speech for more than 70 years was a festival of the expected: the royal reading of a No. 10 press release. Some dividing lines were drawn between the Tories and Labour and some loose ends tied up – but there was no real change in political direction. ‘It’s a continuance of the direction and path we are on,’ explained a senior government figure. ‘The most inspiring thing Rishi has done is refusing to endorse Braverman’s comments’ But if current polls are any indicator, to continue in the same direction means a landslide Labour victory and a Tory defeat of historic proportions at the next election. ‘It won’t spark rebellion but it certainly won’t lead to much excitement,’ was one MP’s quickfire assessment of the speech.

Katy Balls

Will more Labour frontbenchers resign over Gaza?

Overnight, Keir Starmer suffered his first shadow minister resignation over his position on Gaza. Imran Hussain has quit as shadow minister for the New Deal for Working People over his desire to 'strongly advocate for a ceasefire' in Gaza. While Hussain used a statement to insist that he remains committed to Labour's agenda more generally, he said that his view on what is currently happening in Gaza differs 'substantially' from the Labour leader's position. He wants to now be a 'strong advocate' for calling for a ceasefire: 'It is clear that I cannot sufficiently, in all good conscience, do this from the front bench given its current position'.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

What did King Charles say?

12 min listen

It was the King’s speech today. King Charles announced that the government would introduce new laws to, among other things, force criminals to attend their sentencing hearings, scrap most jail sentences of less than a year, and sell all new houses as freehold properties. Is it enough for the Tories to turn around their deficit in the polls? Katy Balls speaks to James Heale and Isabel Hardman.

Monday

Katy Balls

Is Suella Braverman in trouble over rough sleepers?

14 min listen

The Home Secretary sparked fury over the weekend for her comments on homelessness, suggesting that rough sleepers using tents is a 'lifestyle choice'. Senior cabinet members including the Rishi Sunak didn't jump to her defence from the comments. What was behind her decision to take such a firm line? Also on the podcast, Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman about the serial rapist cover-up allegations levelled at the Tory party.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Has WhatsApp ruined government?

13 min listen

WhatsApps between officials in Boris Johnson’s government have been centre-stage at the Covid inquiry this week. Is the app encouraging on-the-hoof policymaking and nasty briefing?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Guido Fawkes chief Paul Staines.

Katy Balls

Katy Balls, Matthew Parris and Fabian Carstairs

20 min listen

This week: Katy Balls reads her politics column on Keir Starmer's ceasefire predicament (00:54), Matthew Parris warns us of the dangers of righteous anger (06:48), and Fabian Carstairs tells us how he found himself on an internet dating blacklist (14:29).  Presented by Oscar Edmondson.  Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Did Boris’s No. 10 have a women problem?

11 min listen

Today the Covid inquiry heard from Helen McNamara, former deputy cabinet secretary (who infamously supplied a karaoke machine for one of the government's lockdown parties). Her evidence suggested that the government's pandemic response had a women problem – from not properly understanding lockdown's impact on domestic abuse to not considering that PPE is designed for male bodies, not female. Is that fair? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Katy Balls

Starmer’s foreign policy problem is only just beginning

This could have been the week that Keir Starmer buckled under pressure from his party and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. A fifth of his MPs have publicly backed one, including 13 frontbenchers and big names such as Anas Sarwar, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham. Starmer’s suggestion in a radio interview that Israel could be justified in defending itself by cutting off electricity and water to Gaza had already led to more than 25 Labour councillors quitting, while several shadow ministers are on resignation watch.  Labour’s divisions over Israel are more complicated than the party right vs the hard left Instead of U-turning in the face of party mutiny, Starmer doubled down.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Starmer takes on his party over Gaza ceasefire demand

Keir Starmer has tried to get back on the front foot today over his party's position on Israel and Palestine. Following growing discontent in Labour over Starmer's refusal to call for a ceasefire, the party's leader used an impromptu speech at Chatham House to insist that he would not bow to demands to change his mind. Despite more than a fifth of his MPs calling for one, Starmer argued that 'a ceasefire now is not the right way forward' as it would stop Israel from dismantling Hamas and could embolden the terrorist group.

Monday

Katy Balls

What’s the point of the Covid inquiry?

14 min listen

The Covid inquiry enters its most dramatic week, questioning Martin Reynolds (a.k.a. 'Party Marty'), as well as former No. 10 advisors Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings. But it seems that the inquiry has gone down more the route of interpersonal drama rather than lessons learnt for government decisionmaking. So what's the point of it? Katy Balls talks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Sunday

Katy Balls

How long will Jeremy Hunt remain as chancellor?

As Jeremy Hunt prepares for next month's autumn statement, the question being asked among Tory MPs isn't so much what will be in it (the view is the Spring Budget is the place for significant tax cuts) and instead how long Hunt will remain in post for. In the past few weeks there have been reports that Hunt could be moved in the reshuffle Sunak is planning before the end of the year. Senior Tories are agitating for a change in No. 11. ‘Jeremy [Hunt] was more front-footed when he was health secretary,’ says a former cabinet member. ‘The election will be about the cost of living. We need a chancellor out there with enthusiasm [while being] focused on comms.

Friday

Katy Balls

Will Starmer cave in to calls for a Gaza ceasefire?

12 min listen

Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure from his party to back a call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict. The week began with the Labour leader correcting comments he made on LBC that Israel had a right to defend itself. But now, politicians to the left of his party are campaigning for a ceasefire. Is this something Starmer can support? Also on the podcast, James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson about more 'pestminster' scandals and Liz Truss on AI and China.