Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Putin’s mind games still have power over Ukraine

The air raid sirens sounded yesterday, the American embassy in Kyiv closed, as did the Italian and Greek. The British and French embassy warned nationals to take care and encouraged staff to work remotely. The Ukrainian air force warned residents of the city to seek shelter from an incoming massive air attack. And then nothing happened. It’s not clear which is more embarrassing. That the Russians seem to have been able to perpetrate a nerve-jangling hoax, not least by circulating messages on social media and messaging apps seeming to come from HUR, Ukrainian military intelligence. These claimed that a ‘particularly massive’ airstrike was on the way involving more than 300

Joanna Bell

‘We want to put common sense into Irish politics’: inside Ireland’s new populist party

When the Taoiseach Simon Harris called a snap election for 29 November, Ireland’s electricity board asked political parties not to put election posters on telegraph poles. They might as well have asked them to take the time off on holiday. As I drive through the Irish countryside on my way to County Cork, I notice plenty of posters on poles, but the usual suspects – Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and Labour – are now joined by a new force in Irish politics – a grouping dedicated to a punchier, more populist, anti-immigration and pro-family agenda. ‘Irish politics is different to British politics and American politics, which are very

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

What does the City really think of the Chancellor?

Regular invitations to Mansion House banquets petered out after I asked a shifty-looking waiter for a glass of champagne and he told me he was a deputy governor of the Bank of England. So I can’t report firsthand whether last week’s speech by Chancellor Rachel Reeves was greeted by assembled financiers with napkins on their heads or cries of ‘By George, I think she’s got it!’. What I can say is that – her text having been largely leaked beforehand – she was well upstaged by Governor Andrew Bailey’s unexpected attempt to reopen the Brexit debate; and that she seems to ‘get’ the City a lot better than she understands

Douglas Murray

Britain’s failing statecraft

I mentioned some weeks ago that one of the great points of interest – not to say enjoyment – in our era will be seeing how Keir Starmer’s government copes with the incoming Donald Trump administration in Washington. It is fair to say that many Labour MPs, not to mention the mayor of London (who spends more time grandstanding abroad than he does addressing violent crime in his own city), have been wildly impolitic. If there are two candidates in the running to lead your most important ally it would seem prudent for a wise man to keep his diplomatic options open. Alas, Westminster does not appear to be flooded

Today

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Labour’s Chinese takeaway

I was thrilled to learn that our government intends to enjoy an ‘open’ relationship with China – one of my favourite countries, as I am sure it is yours. Sir Keir Starmer announced this intention when he bumped into Xi Jinping at the G20 beano in Rio de Janeiro. He also said: ‘We want our relations to be consistent, durable, respectful, as we have agreed, avoid surprises where possible. The UK will be a predictable, consistent, sovereign actor committed to the rule of law.’ Those agreeable adjectives are all Keir’s – I didn’t slip any in, surreptitiously, Not even ‘predictable’, which I assume was there to reinforce the earlier commitment

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Wild Wes: Streeting is causing trouble for Starmer

Avote on assisted dying was supposed to be one of the easiest reforms for Keir Starmer’s government. To many, including the Prime Minister himself, a law allowing terminally ill patients to choose to die would be a self-evidently progressive and historically significant change. It would mean Britain could transcend the objections of a religious minority and join Canada, the Netherlands and other countries in a modern, more enlightened era. In the assisted dying debate, the PM appears a mere onlooker, while Streeting is taking the lead Starmer didn’t want to have to order his MPs to vote for assisted dying. The strategy instead was to use a private members’ bill, brought

Gill Furniss

Do no harm: the progressive case against assisted dying

Next week, parliament will have its first opportunity to vote on assisted dying in almost a decade. This is a matter of conscience; it supersedes party politics and each MP is rightly given the freedom to make up their own mind. I sympathise with many of the views expressed on both sides of this debate, which are put forward in good faith and built from a genuine desire to achieve the best outcomes for patients. While I disagree with my colleagues who have come out in support of this bill, I do not doubt for a second that they do so in accordance with their genuinely held beliefs. I sincerely

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Musical chairs at Mar-a-Lago

Welcome to the United States of Disruption. From his ‘Winter White House’ in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Donald Trump has been busy lobbing hand-grenade cabinet appointments in the direction of Washington and watching on happily as each one blows up in a variety of stunning ways. Explosiveness is the point. ‘Personnel is policy,’ Trump’s transition team like to tell reporters with a wink. What they mean is that the second administration is setting itself up to be even more radical and incendiary than the first. The outsiders are in, the insiders are out, and the old world is driving itself mad trying to figure out what’s going on. It’s a mistake to

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Rising inflation, electric car targets and a tax on flatulent livestock

Home Thousands of farmers protested in Westminster against inheritance tax on farms. Tesco, Amazon, Greggs and 76 other chains belonging to the British Retail Consortium said that costs introduced by October’s Budget ‘will make job losses inevitable and higher prices a certainty’. The annual rate of inflation rose to 2.3 per cent from 1.7 a month earlier. The British economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, but shrank during September; in the second quarter it had grown by 0.5 per cent. Beth, the Queen’s Jack Russell, died. An additional 50,000 pensioners will live in relative poverty next year as a result of cuts to the winter fuel

Yesterday

Steerpike Steerpike

Jon Sopel’s Twitter U-turn

Dear oh dear. The left-wing Twitter scourge hasn’t gone quite as well as users may have hoped. Following Donald Trump’s victory at the start of the month and the resultant appointment of Twitter CEO Elon Musk as co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, a number of ‘right on’ tweeters decided to jump ship to new social media platform Bluesky. Yet it hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as they’d hoped… Prominent Twitter commentators including Owen Jones, James O’Brien and Jess Phillips MP have all declared their intention to start using the alternative Bluesky platform in favour of Musk’s machine. It’s not been quite as easy a transition for some as

Eliot Wilson

Labour’s cuts are going to hurt our armed forces

Defence Secretary John Healey has announced more changes to the armed forces, detailing several capabilities to be cut to achieve savings of £500 million over the next five years. The Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault ships, HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion, will be retired at the end of the year, while HMS Northumberland, a Type 23 frigate, will be decommissioned because her structural damage is ‘uneconomical to repair’. The retirement of the amphibious assault ships has profound implications for the future role of the Royal Marines The Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s two Wave-class fast fleet tankers, RFA Wave Knight and RFA Wave Ruler, will also be retired. They have been in ‘extended readiness’ – that is, maintained but uncrewed and not

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Angela Rayner has lost her edge

It was deputies’ day at PMQs. Sir Keir Starmer is busy flying around the world yet again. This time he’s trying to charm the unlucky leaders of the G20. Angela Rayner took his place at PMQs opposite Alex Burghart for the Tories. His opener was terse and effective.  ‘What is the government doing to bring down inflation?’  Rayner was prepared. She reminded him that he was the ‘growth minister’ under Liz Truss when inflation soared to 11 per cent. Fair point. Burghart quoted the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that Rachel Reeve’s smash-and-grab budget will lift inflation to three per cent. Rayner drawled out an identical reply and suggested that

James Heale James Heale

Is Rachel Reeves running out of luck?

11 min listen

An unexpected rise in inflation today takes the rate to higher than the Bank of England’s target, and adds to Rachel Reeves’s worries. James Heale talks to Katy Balls and The Spectator’s data editor Michael Simmons about the latest figures, and they also discuss the shadow minister Alex Burghart’s performance at Prime Minister’s Questions. Produced by Cindy Yu.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Badenoch’s substitute fails to land on Rayner at PMQs

Angela Rayner was so keen to get out of the traps with her criticism of the last Conservative government at today’s deputy prime minister’s questions that she almost forgot to welcome her new sparring partner. Alex Burghart is not yet a household name: in fact, he isn’t even Rayner’s direct counterpart, as Kemi Badenoch hasn’t yet named a deputy. He had a reasonable session, and even made a stab at doing something no-one else has yet managed, which is to define ‘Starmerism’. Rayner enjoyed herself, as ever, while Rachel Reeves, sitting next to her on the government benches, had the most uncomfortable session. Perhaps Burghart’s attack might have been more

Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

The EU is heading for fresh financial doom

If it came from Nigel Farage no one would be very surprised. Or from one of the band of German professors who launched the far-right AfD party. But the latest warning of a fresh crisis in the eurozone comes from a far more unexpected source: the European Central Bank (ECB). In its financial stability review published today, the ECB warns that the single currency could soon be plunged into a replay of the trauma of 2011 and 2012. Unfortunately, it is almost certainly right.  The review, published twice a year, is intended to warn the markets of impending risks to the system. Today’s update explores a familiar cocktail of risks,

Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Jeremy Clarkson’s time has come

It’s a reasonable bet that if Jeremy Clarkson stood for prime minister tomorrow, he’d win by a country mile. Some might even crown him the next sovereign. At the farmers’ protest in Westminster yesterday, Clarkson dominated the coverage, overshadowing even the other luminaries in attendance. Like Trump, Clarkson has name recognition, independence, and a flair for media Several high-profile Conservatives were present, including Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, and Robert Jenrick, alongside Nigel Farage in bespoke country-gent attire and Richard Tice from Reform. Yet they were all eclipsed by a shambling, frail figure in a moth-eaten pea coat, faded jeans, and a beanie hat: Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson, looking every inch as

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The truth about ‘workshy’ Britain

Is ‘workshy Britain’ a mirage caused by dodgy statistics? That is what the left-leaning think tank the Resolution Foundation is claiming in a report published this morning. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), it says, has missed 930,000 people who are actually in work. The missing numbers, it asserts, are enough to raise Britain’s employment rate from 75 percent to 76 percent, with a corresponding fall in the combined total of people classified as unemployed or economically inactive. Until the 1990s, the concept on unemployment in Britain was pretty straightforward: it was the total number of people who were claiming unemployment benefit. Since then, however, the unemployment total has instead

Steerpike Steerpike

Why is the BBC staying silent on Reeves’s CV claims?

Rachel Reeves remains in the spotlight after weeks of scrutiny over her rather curious CV claims. Mr S documented the full timeline of events on Tuesday and it is really quite something – with the Chancellor’s former role at Halifax Bank of Scotland first coming under scrutiny before attention was drawn to previous assertions she’d made about how long she spent at the Bank of England. The whole matter has caused such a stir that shadow paymaster general Richard Holden has now written to Reeves with a warning that ‘the allegations that your CV might not be accurate…would raise significant concerns about your ability to be honest with the British

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Inflation surge hits Britain’s ailing economy

Inflation rose to 2.3 per cent in the year to October, up from 1.7 per cent in September – its lowest level since the early weeks of the first lockdown in 2021. This surge above the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target was higher than economists and markets had expected. Worryingly, core inflation (which excludes more volatile goods like food and energy) has also increased slightly to 3.3 per cent – up from 3.2 per cent in September. The largest contributors to the rise in inflation were from the effects electricity and gas prices are having on household costs. The Office for National Statistics’ Chief Economist Grant Fiztner blamed

James Snell

Could Ukraine go nuclear?

Should Ukraine have nuclear weapons? This is a question that was raised, a little insincerely, by President Zelensky recently as he discussed Nato membership and its alternatives. If Ukraine was not in Nato, Zelensky mused, the only alternative would be to look for protection of another kind: nuclear arms. A recent story in the Times said that Ukraine could make a ‘rudimentary’ nuclear bomb ‘within months’ if Donald Trump withdrew Ukraine’s military assistance. Russia has not used its nuclear weapons, but they have been the major reason no western power has directly intervened on Ukraine’s side. Ukraine had its own nuclear arsenal after the fall of the Soviet Union left it

Tuesday

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

The farmers’ revolt makes me proud to be British

My first thought upon seeing today’s revolt of the farmers was just how gloriously normal it looked. For more than a year London has been besieged by wild-eyed plummy leftists and fuming Gen X’ers screaming blue murder about the Jewish State. Now, for sweet relief, we get men and women in waxed jackets and sensible winter headwear taking to the streets, not to rage against a faraway land but to defend their own land from the grubby taxing of the Labour government. Now that’s proper protesting. It made me want a warm beer. A malady has infected the influential classes – we might call it farmerphobia What happened today was

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Why the farmers’ protest probably won’t work

Cold drizzle falling on tweed. That was the abiding image of today’s protest in Westminster which filled Whitehall with tens of thousands of indignant farmers. Just two tractors were admitted. One was parked outside Downing Street and the other stood by the women’s war memorial. Groups of farmers clambered onto the metal flanks and took snaps of themselves. Many held home-made placards denouncing ‘farmer harmer’ Starmer and ‘Rachel Thieves’, the chancellor. Some of the more paranoid demonstrators saw Labour as a historic threat to the working class. Everyone seemed obdurately upbeat despite the freezing rain ‘First the miners, then the farmers, next it’s you.’ The simplest signs appealed to common

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Clarkson blasts BBC in farmers’ protest interview

Thousands of farmers descended on Westminster this morning to protest the Labour government’s new inheritance tax plans. As protesters brandished placards and called for the Chancellor to row back on her proposals, some rather famous faces were seen in the crowds – with former Top Gear presenter and now Clarkson’s Farm host Jeremy Clarkson amongst those spotted. The BBC was quick to grab the TV icon for an interview on the issue – but the broadcaster may have got a little more than it bargained for… Refusing to play ball with the Beeb, Clarkson was fast to blast Victoria Derbyshire over her line of questioning. When the Newsnight host quizzed

Michael Gove

Farmers won’t be quick to forgive Labour

12 min listen

Thousands of farmers descended on Westminster today to protest the inheritance tax changes proposed in Labour’s Budget. Amidst a sea of tweed and wellington boots, speeches and support came from the likes of Kemi Badenoch, Ed Davey, Nigel Farage and Jeremy Clarkson. To what extent is this just a fringe issue that the government will be able to brush off? Or has the issue exposed a rural blind spot for Labour? And how lasting could the damage be? Katy Balls and Spectator editor Michael Gove discuss with James Heale.  But first, William Moore has been out and about getting the views of farmers directly from the protest… Produced by Patrick