Tom Goodenough

Tom Goodenough

Tom Goodenough is online editor of The Spectator.

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough

IDS’s claim about Germany’s hidden EU renegotiation role is hugely damaging for ‘Remain’

Yesterday, David Cameron was all talk of ensuring peace in our time and preventing world war three by staying in the EU. But today, as the EU debate rumbles on, he'll have come crashing back to earth after reading the front page of The Sun. The paper quotes Iain Duncan Smith as saying that Germany was secretly in control of David Cameron's EU renegotiation throughout. The former Work and Pensions secretary, who quit the cabinet in February, is set to add in a speech this morning that: “There was a spare chair for them - called the German Chair. They have had a de facto veto over everything.” IDS goes on to make a fairly explosive claim, suggesting that the 'red line' demand for an emergency brake was watered down following intervention from Berlin.

Monday

Tom Goodenough

At last! The Chilcot Report into the Iraq war will be published

At last. We now know that the long-awaited Chilcot Inquiry report into the Iraq war will be published on July 6th. Writing to the Prime Minister, Sir John Chilcot said today: ‘National security checking of the Inquiry’s report has now been completed, without the need for any redactions to appear in the text. I am grateful for the speed with which it was accomplished.’ Given how long the report has taken, it’s probably the first time we’ve heard the word ‘speed’ associated with the Chilcot Inquiry. The wait for its findings has been tremendous: more than seven years or some 2,579 days since Gordon Brown set it up in June 2009. It’s also cost more than £10.

Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Boris vs Dave

With the May elections over, the EU referendum campaign is now in full swing. David Cameron started the day warning that Brexit could put peace in Europe at risk. In his speech at the British Museum this morning, the PM also asked whether leaving the EU was a risk worth taking. Here's what he said: Boris hit back by making his case for voting out, saying that negotiating on behalf of the EU is like 'trying to ride a vast 28-man pantomime horse': He also sung 'Ode to Joy' in German: And Boris even appeared to forget the name of the city which, until a few days ago, he was the Mayor of: Whilst on the subject of the EU referendum, Tory MP Crispin Blunt said after careful consideration he was backing Brexit: But it wasn't all about the European Union.

Tom Goodenough

David Cameron is now in full ‘Project Fear’ mode

David Cameron's speech this morning about the EU referendum will succeed in doing one thing: infuriating the hell out of Eurosceptics. The Prime Minister is set to warn that peace and stability could be at risk if Britain walks away from Europe. He'll also go on to say that the European Union has brought together countries previously 'at each others' throats for decades'. In the Project Fear brand, it's certainly a classic in the genre. But will it work? One of the interesting aspects of his line of argument is the appeal it is likely to have to younger people. Those under the age of 34 are generally much more in favour of remaining in Europe, with only a third (29 per cent) of those aged 18-34 backing Brexit, according to an Opinium poll.

Friday

Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: Erdogan’s Europe

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. Has Erdogan brought Europe to heel? In his Spectator cover piece, Douglas Murray argues that the Turkish President has used a mixture of intimidation, threats and blackmail to do just that and throw open the doors of Europe to Turkey. Douglas says Erdogan is a ‘wretched Islamist bully’ who has shown just how the EU works. But in pushing Europe around, is Erdogan now more powerful than Merkel, Juncker and Cameron? And how does the Turkish PM's resignation this week changed the country's relationship with the EU? Isabel Hardman speaks to Rem Korteweg, from the Centre for European Reform.

Thursday

Tom Goodenough

Donald Trump backs Brexit

Donald Trump has waded into the EU referendum debate tonight, saying he thinks that Britain is better off walking away from Europe. It was just a matter of time before Trump had his say on Brexit, as the presumptive Republican nominee has never been shy about giving his opinion on a whole host of matters. But whatever people think about Trump, now that he looks to have the GOP race wrapped up, there's an argument we should take him seriously. After all, where has laughing at Trump got us? Here's what he had to say on Fox News: 'I think the migration has been a horrible thing for Europe, a lot of that has been pushed by the EU. I would say that they're better off without it, personally.

Wednesday

Tom Goodenough

May 2016 elections: The Spectator guide

Britain goes to the polls this week, as electoral contests take place in London, Scotland, Wales and across England. They’re the elections which James Forsyth described in the Spectator last week as the ones ‘no one has even heard of’. So what will happen on Thursday night and when will the results be announced? Here’s The Spectator’s run-through of the May 2016 elections: London Mayoral election: Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan go head-to-head in the London Mayoral contest. In 2012, Boris and Ken ran a close-fought race, with Boris getting 971,000 first-round votes to Ken’s 889,918. The relatively small margin between the two meant the result didn’t filter through until early evening.

Tom Goodenough

Donald Trump wins Republican race – will the next stop be the White House?

Donald Trump's victory in Indiana means he's now all but certain to be the Republican nominee. It's a moment that many thought just couldn't happen. As journalists, we've spent months writing off the Donald and ruminating on why his latest 'gaffe' will spell the end - he has said he wants to build a wall to keep Mexicans out, described China as 'raping' the US and even said he could shoot someone and wouldn't lose votes. And do you know what? He looks as though he's right. But now that Trump is set to take on Hillary in the race for the White House, surely where fed-up Republican voters lapped up his wild rhetoric, American voters won't follow? As with everything about this race so far, it's hard to say.

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough

Is Indiana the end of the road for Ted Cruz?

Today's Indiana primary is Ted Cruz's last chance of disrupting Donald Trump in his bid to wrap up the Republican nomination. Cruz knows that if Trump wins, barring what will be seen as a Republican coup, his rival will be facing off against Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. Whilst the results from Indiana aren't in yet, the early signs do not look good for Ted. The polls show that Trump is the favourite to win the contest in Indiana. Real Clear Politics, which provides an average of various polls, puts the Donald on 42 points, with Cruz trailing on 32.7. Cruz has spent his time in Indiana being heckled by Trump supporters.

Saturday

Tom Goodenough

Listen: Ken carries on digging after Labour’s anti-Semitism row

Ken Livingstone's doggedness has kept him in politics for 40 years. Yet the same tenacity was also on display this morning in this refusal to say sorry and finally help his party out by burying this row. Instead of using his interview with Michael Crick on LBC today to bring an end to this week's anti-Semitism row, his time on the airwaves served instead to reinforce the deep issue at the heart of the Labour party. The former London mayor parroted the same lines which ran him into trouble earlier this week. He spoke about quoting history; he also told of wanting to return to his garden and his beloved newts. But where he could have just said sorry and apologised for bringing up Hitler, he found a new source of blame for this week's row.

Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: When the right goes wrong | 30 April 2016

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. Is crazy all the rage in today’s politics and are conservatives going a little bit mad? That’s the topic for this week’s Spectator cover piece in which Freddy Gray argues that in America and in Britain, the right is tearing itself apart. Whilst Brits might be busy pointing and laughing at Donald Trump, all over the world conservatism is having a nervous breakdown, says Freddy. And the EU referendum is starting to prove that British Conservatives can be as barmy as everyone else.

Friday

Tom Goodenough

‘Labour at war’: Papers make miserable reading for Corbyn as Ken row rumbles on

The Labour party knew that the row over Ken Livingstone's suspension was not going to disappear overnight. And this morning's papers show that this story will be bubbling along for some time. All of this comes at a dreadful time for Labour with just days to go until Britain goes to the polls. In particular, it will be interesting to see how these front pages could have an impact on London's mayoral race. Sadiq Khan has acted swiftly to distance himself from what happened. But with this very public row not likely to go anywhere any time soon, whether this undermining of Labour's credibility affects Khan remains to be seen. Here's what the papers had to say about yesterday's day to forget for Ken: The Daily Mail described the row as 'a civil war'.

Thursday

Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Ken’s day to forget

Ken Livingstone has been suspended by the Labour party after plonking himself firmly at the centre of the anti-Semitism row by once again stepping in to defend Naz Shah. The former London mayor said the Labour MP's remarks were 'over-the-top but they were not anti-Semitic'. During his interview with Vanessa Feltz, he added: 'Let's remember when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism and this was before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.' Next up for Ken was the Daily Politics show, in which he tried again to defend his remarks. Ken told Andrew Neil: 'I've seen nothing to suggest to me that she is anti-Semitic. In 47 years in the party, I have never heard anyone say anything anti-Semitic.

Tom Goodenough

Watch: The Spectator’s Brexit debate

In the largest event in The Spectator’s 188-year history, 2,200 people packed into the Palladium this week to watch our debate chaired by Andrew Neil on whether Britain should leave the EU. Dan Hannan, Nigel Farage and Kate Hoey backed Brexit. Whilst Nick Clegg, Liz Kendall and Chuka Umunna argued that Britain was better off remaining a part of the European Union. Leave won the debate, which was sponsored by Rathbones, with a resounding number of the audience siding with Hannan, Farage and Hoey. But if you weren’t lucky enough to make it to the Spectator’s Brexit debate yourself, then you can make up your own mind by watching the full video, using the player above.

Tom Goodenough

Ken Livingstone suspended by Labour

Ken Livingstone has been suspended by Labour after wading in to defend Naz Shah in the anti-Semitism row. Labour officials finally stepped in following comments made by Ken on the BBC earlier today in which he declared that saying the ‘Jews are rallying’ was not an anti-Semitic remark. A spokesman for Labour said: 'Ken Livingstone has been suspended by the Labour party, pending an investigation, for bringing the party into disrepute.' Instead of keeping a low profile following his blundering appearance on the Vanessa Feltz show, Ken spent the morning touring the studios, acting in the words of Labour MP Wes Streeting 'like a political arsonist'.

Tom Goodenough

The Spectator podcast: When the right goes wrong

To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you can follow us on SoundCloud. Is crazy all the rage in today's politics and are conservatives going a little bit mad? That's the topic for this week's Spectator cover piece in which Freddy Gray argues that in America and in Britain, the right is tearing itself apart. Whilst Brits might be busy pointing and laughing at Donald Trump, all over the world conservatism is having a nervous breakdown, says Freddy. And the EU referendum is starting to prove that British Conservatives can be as barmy as everyone else. Freddy speaks to Lara Prendergast and is also joined on the podcast by Tom Slater, author of 'Unsafe Space', and deputy editor of Spiked.

Wednesday

Tom Goodenough

Is Brexit to blame for the GDP slowdown?

Britain’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of this year to 0.4 per cent, down from 0.6 per cent at the end of last year, according to ONS figures out today. What did George Osborne have to say about the slowdown? Predictably enough, he invoked the threat of Brexit and turned the news into a pitch for staying in the EU. The Chancellor said: ‘It’s good news that Britain continues to grow, but there are warnings today that the threat of leaving the EU is weighing on our economy. Investments and building are being delayed and another group of experts, the OECD, confirms British families would be worse off if we leave the EU. Let’s not put the strong economy we’re building at risk and vote to remain on June 23rd.

Tom Goodenough

Republican nomination within Trump’s grasp

Every time we write Donald Trump off in the race for the Republican nomination, he seems to bounce back. Last night's huge win in five states showed him doing just that and arguably doing so in the most resounding way so far. Trump is now calling himself the 'presumptive nominee' having beaten his rival Ted Cruz in Conneticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. He told his supporters: 'It's amazing what has been happening, the crowds we have been having are record-breaking crowds. The best way to beat the system is to have evenings like this, where you get record-setting votes and delegates. I use the analogy of the boxer: when the boxer knocks out the other boxer you don't have to wait for the decision. We have millions more votes than Cruz.

Tuesday

Tom Goodenough

Hunt hits back – but is he now pulling his punches?

Jeremy Hunt has not done himself any favours in the past with his comments about junior doctors. But today - the first time junior doctors have ever walked out without providing emergency cover – was the time for sounding conciliatory. The Health Secretary said it was a ‘very, very bleak day for the NHS’. Hunt went on to add that: ‘The reason this has happened is because the Government has been unable to negotiate sensibly and reasonably with the BMA over a manifesto pledge’. His emphasis on the Conservative’s ‘manifesto pledge’ is a clear part of the Health Secretary’s tactics to win over the public and Hunt repeated his focus on this point several times during his interview on the Today programme.

Monday

Tom Goodenough

Today in audio: Jeremy Hunt stands firm ahead of junior doctors strike

Jeremy Hunt has been facing questions in the Commons ahead of tomorrow's junior doctors strike. The Health Secretary said the industrial action was 'wholly unjustified' and said 'we are proud of the NHS but we must turn that pride into actions': His sentiment wasn't enough to placate Dennis Skinner, however, with the MP for Bolsover telling Hunt to 'wipe that smirk off your face': Labour's Heidi Alexander insisted tomorrow would be one of the saddest days in the NHS - and said that the Health Secretary was to blame: Nicky Morgan also faced a tough time in the Commons as she defended Tory plans for all schools to become academies by 2020.