Tim Shipman is political editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
Britain is to get a new ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’ under plans to be outlined by the government on Monday, which will also include a new definition of Islamophobia. The Spectator has been leaked a draft copy of Protecting What Matters, a document outlining Labour’s new cohesion strategy The Spectator has been leaked a draft copy
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As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, the British government continues to face questions about its response. Was the UK too slow to act, and if so – why? Tim Shipman reveals in the Spectator today that Keir Starmer was initially minded to approve American use of British bases but was persuaded not to
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12 min listen
It was a bad tempered PMQs today – Kemi Badenoch attacked Starmer over his involvement, or lack thereof with the Iran conflict. And Starmer hit back at Badenoch over her questions. Not the type of unity you’d want to see on the major foreign policy issue of the day. Also today, three more arrests have
The American-Israeli attacks on Iran were publicly called Epic Fury, but behind the scenes it is Britain’s handling of the war which provoked that reaction – not just from Donald Trump but from the UK’s allies in the Gulf. A Labour peer was in Washington when the first missiles slammed into Tehran on Friday evening
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The fallout from America’s audacious attack on Iran continues, and there are a whole host of questions for Keir Starmer. The prime minister has been accused of being slow to react, having initially confirmed that ‘the United Kingdom played no role in these strikes’, Labour since agreed to allow the Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford bases to
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So Gorton and Denton has become another of those parliamentary seat names which enters the collective memory of British politics – a name which will stand alongside Glasgow Hillhead, Brent East, Clacton and Bermondsey in the annals of great by-election wins. Divining what it all means could take months or years, but here is my
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In the end, it was not even that close. The Green party has stormed to victory in Gorton and Denton, winning their first ever parliamentary by-election by more than 4,000 votes. The result changes everything: the Lib Dems are no longer the party of the protest vote; Reform’s tanks are parked on Labour’s lawn; the
From our UK edition
-19 min listen
The Greens have taken Gorton and Denton, defeating both Labour and Reform in the early hours of this morning. Hannah Spencer’s victory marks the first ever Green by-election gain – but the real shock is Labour’s collapse into third place in one of its safest seats. For Sir Keir Starmer, it’s hard to imagine a worse
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Polls are open in Gorton and Denton for the by-election but as we eagerly await the result we thought we’d discuss economics, because looking ahead to next week we’ve got the spring statement. It’s not a major fiscal event – as Rachel Reeves will be anxious to point out – but one which is taking
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17 min listen
Megan McElroy unpacks a rowdy PMQs with Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman. Kemi Badenoch made Keir Starmer uncomfortable over student loans but – at a time when trust in the Conservative brand is low – could some of her rhetoric backfire? Plus, what did they make of the revelation that it was the Speaker of
“The Special Relationship only exists when the Americans want something,” a former Downing Street aide observed after Donald Trump rejected the Chagos Islands deal. There are profound differences between London and Washington over military action against Iran while the fourth anniversary of the war in Ukraine this week has exposed further fault lines. The result
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Overnight, Peter Mandelson has been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has not commented publicly in recent weeks, though he has previously denied any wrongdoing. How long will this row continue to haunt Labour? With more documents due to be released relating to his appointment as US
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10 min listen
Bridget Phillipson has unveiled Labour’s long-awaited overhaul of the special educational needs and disabilities system – a £4 billion reform designed to rein in spiralling costs and bring order to what MPs across the House describe as a broken model. Ministers insist this is reform, not retrenchment – but with councils under intense financial pressure
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Keir Starmer has had a pretty torrid couple of months but, as the curtain comes down on another turbulent week, not even Donald Trump attacking the Chagos Islands deal again, or the exposure of how the pressure group that got Starmer elected was smearing journalists, compares with the turmoil in the royal household. The royals
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12 min listen
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been released under caution after he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office – the image of him sat slumped in the back of a car while leaving Norfolk police station on his 66th birthday splashes all the morning papers. Focussing on the politics, his could throw up lots of difficult
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35 min listen
General Sir Nick Carter, former chief of the defence staff, joins Tim Shipman to discuss Britain’s military preparedness – or rather, lack thereof. While a friendlier US presence at the Munich Security Conference may have provided some relief, the military threats to the UK and to Europe presented are still stark. So what choices need
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It is Robert Jenrick’s big day out today. The newly-minted Reform ‘shadow chancellor’ made his first speech this morning, where he had the chance to show what kind of chancellor he would be and – sporting a snazzy pair of specs – he had plenty of soothing words to calm the jitters of the bond
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When Keir Starmer was told his pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP in the next parliament was not enough to fund his vision for the armed forces, as outlined in the strategic defence review (SDR), he put his head in his hands and snapped: ‘Why are you doing this to
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12 min listen
Reform UK is no longer a one-man band. Nigel Farage has unveiled Reform’s four spokesmen for the “great offices of state” at a press conference in Westminster. Recent Tory defector Robert Jenrick has been given the Chancellor brief, Zia Yusuf is in charge of home affairs, Suella Braverman is responsible for education and Richard Tice
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23 min listen
Following a weekend at the Munich Security Conference, there have been reports that the Prime Minister is set to sign off on a huge increase in defence spending. While this comes at a time of increasing threats to Britain, it isn’t just the UK’s position that’s under threat but Keir Starmer himself – who continues
