Politics

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

Steerpike

Watch: Zack Polanski's bizarre migration remarks

To BBC Question Time, where the leader of the Green party made a rather interesting intervention on migration last night. Zack Polanski’s party preaches that billionaires, not Britain’s borders, are to blame for the country’s woes and their migration policy states that, if elected to government, they will ‘stop putting people in prison because of their immigration status’, ‘give all residents the right to vote’ and ‘treat all migrants as if they are citizens’. However Polanski’s comments about why Britain needs migrants have, er, rather raised eyebrows – to put it mildly. He remarked on the Beeb that: ‘One in five care workers are foreign nationals. Now, I don’t know

Gus Carter

Inside the world of Reform’s mystery money man

Nigel Farage keeps eclectic company. Reform is not a party of slick spin doctors or career politicians. Instead, it is staffed by people like George Cottrell, the minor aristocrat and former convict, who acts as Farage’s fixer. He is, according to Farage, ‘like a son to me’. I’m told that Cottrell is often seen in the Reform offices in Millbank helping the party, although he is still described by party staff as a simple ‘unpaid volunteer’. Cottrell, 31, has always had an air of dodginess about him. In 2016 he spent eight months in an American maximum security prison for wire fraud relating to an international money laundering conspiracy. He

Lucy Dunn

Keir Starmer says ending child poverty is Labour’s ‘moral mission’

Tackling child poverty is this government’s ‘moral mission’, Keir Starmer insisted today. The Prime Minister has unveiled plans that he claims will lift some 550,000 children out of poverty by the end of the decade. The headline announcement of the government’s child poverty strategy came in last week’s Budget when Rachel Reeves announced that, after months of dithering, Labour would scrap the two-child benefit cap. While a number of the measures in today’s policy bundle have already been announced, there are a few new elements. These include the provision of upfront childcare support for parents on universal credit who are going back to work, £8 million to stop families being

Steerpike

Farage: Corbyn and Sultana should ask me for tips

To Reform’s Nigel Farage, who managed to dominate headlines today after he took a pop at the Beeb on Thursday afternoon. But that wasn’t all he was there to discuss: he blasted the Labour government’s decision to delay mayoral contests until 2028, he made another barb about Sir Keir Starmer’s digital-ID scheme and insisted he was completely comfortable with accepting a £9 million sum from generous donor Christopher Harbone. And the Reform party leader also dished out some advice for his political opponents… When quizzed by Mr S why he had not yet appointed a leader for the Welsh and Scottish Reform parties ahead of the Senedd and Holyrood elections

Today

5 Dec 2025

Angela Epstein

Boycotting Israel could kill Eurovision

What exactly is the point of Eurovision? It can’t be about the music. Britain, the nation that gifted the world the Beatles, David Bowie and the Spice Girls, has been scraping the bottom of the scoreboard for years – thanks to a string of forgettable, frankly embarrassing entries that wouldn’t have looked out of place at a boozy holiday camp open-mic night. The UK hasn’t been alone in putting forward dire entries, but perhaps that then has always been the point. Much to the delight of the millions who watch and feast on Eurovision’s glorious banquet of kitsch and camp – a ding-a-dong smorgasbord where spectacle is compulsory and, for many countries,

Patrick Gibbons

Brexit's back – and so is Truss

16 min listen

There has been a flurry of UK-European activity across Britain this week, with the German state visit in London, the Norwegian Prime Minister signing a defence agreement in Scotland and the British-Irish council meeting in Wales today. Perhaps then it’s inevitable that speculation over closer ties between the UK and the EU has re-emerged. Could Labour seek to rejoin the Customs Union? Would this help or hinder Reform? And would the EU even stomach it? Plus – Liz Truss launches a new show today. Will she say anything new? James Heale and Charles Grant from the Centre for European Reform join Patrick Gibbons to discuss. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Mark Brolin

There’s nothing equal about Russia’s relationship with India

Vladimir Putin lands in Delhi, steps off the plane and instantly gets what he came for: the pictures. The handshake with Narendra Modi, the red carpet, the talk of a ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’. For the Kremlin, this week’s summit in India is mainly a PR exercise: proof to Russians that their country is still received as a great power, while the West tries isolation. But don’t be deceived if it appears that two equal giants are meeting. They are not. India, the land of the future, has surged to become the world’s fifth-largest economy and is on course to overtake Germany and Japan. Russia, the land of the

Gavin Mortimer

David Lammy is wrong about Brexit and the EU

David Lammy believes Britain should rejoin the EU customs union to boost economic growth. In an interview on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister argued that leaving the EU had ‘badly damaged’ Britain’s economy. A reversal of Brexit would be good for business he suggested. It was ‘self-evident’ that other countries had ‘seen growth’ after joining the customs union, Lammy told the News Agents podcast. The deputy PM avoided the question of whether Britain should rejoin the euro, as did Health Secretary Wes Streeting earlier in the week. Having declared that Britain was worse off out of the EU, Streeting was asked if the government was planning to take Britain back

Druin Burch

Why GPs are reluctant about online booking

‘Moaning Minnies’ is how the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described GPs opposing his rollout of online appointment booking. Originally, that moniker referred to German artillery pieces – and it’s pleasant for a doctor like myself to imagine we still possess that sort of firepower. But Streeting meant that the British Medical Association’s GP committee, which he has accused of undermining the attempt to make primary care more accessible, are a bunch of whining complainers, rather than us ordinary doctors. So, is Streeting right? General practice, as everyone is painfully aware, is in trouble. Except in a shrinking minority of places, the old model that made it so valuable is

Philip Patrick

Fifa's great World Cup rip-off has gone too far

Today’s World Cup draw in Washington, presided over by Fifa president Gianni Infantino with best buddie president Donald Trump at his side, is intended to whet appetites, set pulses racing and, most importantly, get fingers twitching on booking sites for tickets, flights, and hotels for next summer’s North American extravaganza. The World Cup 2026 is poised to be not just the biggest ever, but the biggest rip-off ever For those giddily contemplating the trip to North America next summer – not least we Scottish fans who have been denied a place at the party for so long – a cold, hard reality is about to bite. For the World Cup

Anastasia Piliavsky

Ukraine's war on the Russian language is a mistake

Kyiv has stripped the Russian language of its protection under Europe’s Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Culture warriors at home and abroad have hailed this as a victory; in truth, the move strikes out at millions of Russophone Ukrainians, divides the country and confirms some of Putin’s claims about Ukraine. In a war of survival, splitting Ukraine and feeding Putin’s propaganda is not a cultural sideshow. It is suicide. With his slight frame and warm, modest face, Pavel Viktor looks more like a parish priest than a political firebrand. In reality he is a physics teacher in Odessa, known to millions of Ukrainian schoolchildren for his experimental YouTube lessons. He remains in Odessa under bombardment and at 71 is

Robert Peal

Why can't Bridget Phillipson admit she's wrong about free schools?

Back when the free school policy was in its infancy, the general secretary of Britain’s largest headteacher union described them as ‘a reckless waste of public money…untried, untested and almost certainly unwanted’. Ten years later, West London Free School, the free school where I am joint headteacher, has been chosen as the Sunday Times‘s state comprehensive school of the year. In the English education system, longevity has often been an indicator of quality. Ancient public schools, grammar schools founded by Tudor monarchs, Victorian pioneers of female education – these have always dominated the league tables. Now they have free schools to contend with. The West London Free School was established in 2011,

Lara Prendergast

Benefits Britain, mental health & what’s the greatest artwork of the 21st Century?

23 min listen

‘Labour is now the party of welfare, not work’ argues Michael Simmons in the Spectator’s cover article this week. The question ‘why should I bother with work?’ is becoming harder to answer, following last week’s Budget which could come to define this Labour government. A smaller and smaller cohort of people are being asked to shoulder the burden – what do our Spectator contributors think of this? For this week’s Edition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by opinion editor Rupert Hawksley, arts editor Igor Toronyi-Lalic and columnist Matthew Parris. Rupert points out the perceived lack of fairness across the Budget, Matthew thinks we shouldn’t be surprised that a Labour government delivered a Labour

Michael Gove

Q&A: Lockdown ‘sins’ & where Conservatism went wrong

41 min listen

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to spectator.co.uk/quiteright. This week on Quite right! Q&A: was lockdown the right call – and what did Britain get catastrophically wrong? Michael and Maddie unravel the ‘sins’ of the Covid era, from criminalising everyday behaviour to the rise of snitch culture. Did Sweden show there was a better way? Then: is conservatism suffering from a crisis of confidence? Michael reflects on 14 years of Tory drift, why the party ‘talked right but governed left’, and how Blairism, wokery and cultural blindspots reshaped British politics. Plus: the odd new tone of modern political interviews – from mawkish breakfast-TV hectoring to the

Yesterday

4 Dec 2025

Madeline Grant

There is one impressive thing about Keir Starmer’s government

I am going to shock Spectator readers and say something in praise of the government. There is one area where they are genuinely, consistently impressive, precise even. Received wisdom states that an institution is generally either malign or incompetent. The Starmer ministry time and again hits the absolute sweet spot where it can reasonably be regarded as both by the maximum number of people possible. In the House today we turned to a classic of this genre of cock-up: the cancellation of mayoral elections. As everyone knows, cancelling elections is always a sign of a good and healthy government. If anything, Keir Starmer is too popular; I suspect he’s just

Steerpike

The Spectator's Christmas reception, in pictures

The festive season is well and truly upon us and The Spectator celebrated with a Christmas reception that took place on Wednesday evening. The great and the not-so-good of Westminster descended upon Old Queen Street. After a rather eventful few months in politics, parliamentarians, pundits and professionals were able to let off some steam and enjoy the festivities. Have a look at the photos here… Editor Michael Gove and Head of Spectator TV Natasha Feroze Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice and broadcaster Piers Morgan Labour MP Torcuil Crichton Food from the raclette bar Sir Paul Marshall and Konstantin Kisin Freddie Sayers and Francis Foster The Spectator’s agony aunt, Mary Killen Political editor

Jacob Heilbrunn

Trump is running out of tricks to prop up the American economy

President Donald Trump dozed off during his cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Who could blame him? Listening to Secretary of State Marco Rubio drone on about Russia would prompt souls less hardy than Trump to catch some shuteye. What should be keeping Trump awake, or at least uneasy, is the shaky state of the American economy. The federal government may not be releasing much data, but the payroll processing company ADP is reporting that private employers cut 32,000 jobs last month. The losses were heavily concentrated among small employers who have been slammed by Trump’s capricious tariff policy. The only positive sign has been in the data centre industry, where investments

Steerpike

Liz Truss launches 'The Liz Truss show'

Ping! An email lands in Mr Steerpike’s inbox. An exciting new project launches tomorrow. Liz Truss is starting her own programme on YouTube. Billed as ‘a bold new programme in a media landscape dominated by groupthink and timid consensus’, The Liz Truss Show, promises to bring ‘unapologetic debate, fierce defence of Western values, and straight-talking discussions about the future of Britain and the free world.’ Someone get the popcorn… It is the latest sally by Britain’s shortest-serving premier, 18 months after losing her seat. Truss is aiming to go Transatlantic by partnering with John Solomon’s Just the News network in the United State. Episodes will be released each week across

Oscar Edmondson

The murky world of political donations

15 min listen

Reform are in the money. This morning the Electoral Commission has dropped the latest figures on political donations, and Reform are streets ahead. Former Tory donor Christopher Harborne has handed Nigel Farage £9 million, what we believe to be a record amount from a single donor. How much impact will this have on Reform’s chances of electoral success? How much influence do political donors have over how their money is spent? Elsewhere, Reform are conducting a press conference later this afternoon where they will be sticking it to Labour over its decision to postpone more local elections. Without new mayoral elections in four more areas, where are Reform going to

Lisa Haseldine

Putin ‘morally responsible’ for Salisbury novichok poisoning

Vladimir Putin is ‘morally responsible’ for the death of Dawn Sturgess, a public inquiry today has concluded. The mother of three died in Salisbury in June 2018 after unknowingly spraying herself with the nerve agent novichok, which had been discarded three months earlier by two Kremlin agents sent to kill the former spy Sergei Skripal. The operation was so sensitive that it ‘must have been authorised at the highest level by President Putin’ as a ‘demonstration of Russian power’, the inquiry’s chair Lord Hughes said. Keir Starmer condemned the Kremlin’s ‘disregard for innocent lives’ Lord Hughes said that disguising the novichok in a perfume bottle ‘dramatically magnified’ the risk of

Robert Taylor

No tap water has left all of Tunbridge Wells disgusted

I’ve lived in Tunbridge Wells for 20 years, and have never met anyone disgusted. Until this week. Yup, we’re all disgusted now. As you would be if you couldn’t flush your loo for days on end, nor take a shower, nor wash your hands, nor drink a glass of water without schlepping to a communal bottle station and waiting in a long queue. The Royal bit in our town’s name has never felt more inappropriate. The Royal bit in our town’s name has never felt more inappropriate What on earth happened? Well, it all started on Saturday, when thousands of us noticed the water pressure in our taps was weak

Steerpike

Reform blasts Labour for delaying mayoral elections

Well, well, well. Labour’s decision to cancel four mayoral elections by two years is not going down well, to put it lightly. The government has pushed back elections due to take place in May – in Essex, Hampshire and the Solent, Sussex and Brighton, and Norfolk and Suffolk – until 2028. Sir Keir Starmer’s crowd has blamed the delay on local authorities needing more time to merge, in a bid to give regions more power. But the government’s opponents are rather unhappy about the palaver… Reform UK has called an emergency press conference today to discuss the changes, with leader Nigel Farage saying: ‘The whole local government reorganisation is a

Tom Slater

Does Paloma Faith know what 'far right' means?

The fash must be bricking it. Paloma Faith, Fontaines D.C. and Lenny Henry are among the musicians, comedians and celebs who have just launched a new alliance, Together Against The Far Right. They’ve got a statement. And a demonstration planned for March next year. Far-right thugs, meet your match. The luvvies are reclaiming the streets. You probably don’t need me to tell you that this new ‘alliance’ isn’t just railing against what anyone could reasonably call the ‘far right’. You know, the pathetic fringe of racist bottomfeeders who can usually be found crying in Zia Yusuf’s mentions or, much graver still, could be seen smashing windows and screaming slurs in minority areas during last year’s

Jonathan Sacerdoti

Marwan Barghouti isn't the 'Palestinian Mandela'

Some scoffed when Donald Trump thought to tap Tony Blair’s decades of involvement in the Middle East for his future plans in Gaza. Perhaps they were right to. But not to worry: the global search for strategic wisdom has now been resolved. The path to peace lies not through seasoned statesmen or regional experts, but through the collective judgment of Delia Smith, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, and naturally, Gary Lineker. They are joined by Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Simon Pegg and a list of figures known for their contributions to film, fiction, and light entertainment: people with no background or expertise in jihadist Islamic terror movements, counter-extremism, Middle Eastern politics,