Politics

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

Wednesday

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Sunak savages Starmer

What a first day. Just 24 hours after walking up Downing Street to enter that famous black door, Rishi Sunak was taking to the despatch box for his debut at Prime Ministers’ Questions. In an entertaining and highly-energetic exchange, the new leader signalled his willingness to make a break with the past, telling the Commons ‘mistakes were made, which is why I’m standing here today’. Finally, good old-fashioned Punch and Judy politics is back! But while Keir Starmer was gracious in praising Sunak for becoming the first British Asian premier, the Labour leader was not going to let his opposite counterpart off the hook that easily. Having gone for Sunak over

Steerpike Steerpike

Six of the worst reactions to Sunak as PM

The chorus of execration that met the appointment of Rishi Sunak as PM has been music to Steerpike’s ears. There are few things more delicious than the right-on indulging in yet another collective meltdown at the sheer audacity of a non-white politician who doesn’t conform to their views. After years of tedious games about identity politics, it is somewhat enjoyable to see some of our more hard-of-thinking commentators be bamboozled by their own logic. Below is a round-up of six of the best reactions to the appointment of Britain’s first Asian premier… Nadia Whittome Early out of the gates was Nadia Whittome, the 26-year-old vegan socialist Labour MP who sits for

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Delaying the fiscal statement is a wise move

The date of the fiscal statement has changed again. The Treasury has announced that the update – now being billed as an ‘Autumn Statement’ – will be pushed back from 31 October to 17 November, just six days earlier than the original date planned by Kwasi Kwarteng. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the delay means it will be based on the ‘most accurate possible’ economic forecasts. A hold-up was expected once it became clear that Rishi Sunak was going to emerge as the next Tory leader and Prime Minister. Penny Mordaunt was thought to have told chancellor Jeremy Hunt that his statement would go ahead as normal if she won the leadership race. But

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

A ‘workaholic and nerd’: What Russia makes of Rishi

‘Handsome, rich, lucky, traitor.’ That’s how the Russian broadsheet newspaper Kommersant chose to describe the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he launched his leadership bid. In a biographical article charting his rise to power, the paper covers his childhood attending Winchester College – the ‘most important event of his life’ apparently – moving through his time at university and marriage, and into his entry into politics. The moniker of ‘traitor’ refers to his resignation from Boris Johnson’s cabinet in July this year before his own first leadership bid. Noting how different both prime ministers are, the paper states that ‘the strange thing is not that Sunak turned against Johnson,

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Sunak faces backlash to Suella’s re-appointment

After Rishi Sunak completed his new look cabinet on Tuesday night, a Downing Street source declared that the shake-up of the front bench ‘brings the talents of the party together’. The hope in No. 10 is that by keeping supporters of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in senior roles, Sunak will stand a better chance of achieving party unity. In that vein, James Cleverly – who campaigned for Truss over the summer and Johnson this weekend – stays as Foreign Secretary. Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Therese Coffey – who is Truss’s closest political ally – stays in cabinet, moving to Defra. Having Braverman in the role of Home Secretary

Irena Skuba

Rishi Sunak spells trouble for the SNP

The recent chaos in the UK has both helped and hindered the SNP. It is easier to argue for separation if Britain is poorly led and in an economic crisis. But it’s also easy to see why even the most ardent Scottish nationalist might decide to wait for calmer times before deciding to put an international border down the middle of our shared island. While everyone’s attention was on Liz Truss no one’s focus was on Nicola Sturgeon. Which must have hurt especially while she was trying to advance the case for Scottish independence. But that too has good and bad aspects for the SNP as support for independence depends

Steven Fielding

What Stanley Baldwin can teach Rishi Sunak

Britons live, we are constantly told, in unprecedented times. Rishi Sunak has become the first person of Asian heritage to be appointed Prime Minister and the third occupant of No. 10 in as many months. Thanks to Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war, the economy is in turmoil while the trade unions are more assertive than they have been in decades. Sunak’s party is divided, perhaps fatally so, with many Conservative members hankering for Boris Johnson, a more charismatic figure than Sunak and one they consider more capable of rescuing them from likely electoral oblivion. Surely no incoming prime minister has faced a more daunting set of circumstances? You’d be

Tuesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What happened in Rishi’s reshuffle?

12 min listen

Rishi Sunak has spent his first day in office appointing his new Cabinet. As the Prime Minister vowed to fix the ‘mistakes’ of his predecessor’s administration – who’s in and who’s out? Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Liz Truss should have known better

In the coming weeks we’re going to learn a lot more about what went so badly wrong inside Liz Truss’s government. Indeed, my colleague James Heale is co-writing the book on it. As Rishi Sunak heads into No. 10 in a bid to undo some of the damage (‘mistakes were made…’ he said on the steps of Downing Street this morning, ‘…and I have been elected as leader of my party, and your Prime Minister, in part, to fix them’) we are bound to learn more about the miscalculations, bad advice, and hubris that ultimately led to the undoing of prime minister Truss in just a matter of weeks. It

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Is Putin preparing a nuclear strike?

Russia is peddling implausible tales of Ukrainian ‘dirty bombs’. Kyiv and the West are embarked on a campaign to counter this propaganda, and again the talk is of the risk of Moscow using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. And that’s the point. First of all, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu broke months of relative silence – with the West, at least – and called his British, American, French and Turkish counterparts. His main message was to assert, with no evidence in support of his claims, that Kyiv was preparing to use a dirty bomb. This is a conventional munition, around which is packed radioactive materials, which is dispersed when

The Spectator

Rishi’s reshuffle: the appointments

Rishi Sunak is Britain’s third prime minister this year. On Tuesday, Sunak assembled a new top team with the hope of unifying the fractured party. The cabinet departures included Jacob Rees-Mogg among those heading to the back benches. As for the arrivals, Suella Braverman is back in the role of Home Secretary just under a week after being forced to resign over a security breach. Here are the key developments: 8.45pm Andrew Mitchell returns James Forsyth writes… Andrew Mitchell, the former development secretary, is back in government, ten years after he left. The recall of Mitchell (he’ll attend cabinet as minister for development) gives the government some generational reach: he

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Rishi Sunak vows to fix things for Britain

Unlike Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak didn’t skirt around the circumstances of the changing of the guard in No 10. His address on arriving in Downing Street as the new Prime Minister was very to the point. He paid tribute to his predecessor’s ‘noble aim’ of wanting to improve growth and create change, but added:  ‘But some mistakes were made. Not borne of ill will, or bad in tensions – quite the opposite in fact – but mistakes nonetheless. And I have been elected as leader of my party and your Prime Minister, in part, to try to fix them.’ Fixing problems was the theme of this entire address Fixing problems

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Why are Europe’s gas prices falling?

Is Europe’s chilly winter destined to become another Millennium bug – a much-feared disaster that never transpires? Only a few weeks ago wholesale gas prices were surging, leading to predictions of blackouts, rationing and people unable to heat their homes. Throughout August, analysts produced forecasts (extrapolated from wholesale gas prices) which showed eye-watering energy prices throughout winter and spring. Governments reacted by hurriedly announcing extremely expensive schemes to cap prices for consumers. This, in part, contributed to the rapid fall of Liz Truss as markets panicked that her government would be unable to fund her £100 billion plus energy price guarantee. Yet, since then, wholesale gas prices have plummeted. Yesterday,

Rishi Sunak

Full text: Rishi Sunak’s first speech as PM

Good morning. I have just been to Buckingham Palace and accepted His Majesty The King’s invitation to form a government in his name. It is only right to explain why I am standing here as your new Prime Minister. Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis. The aftermath of Covid still lingers. Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilised energy markets and supply chains the world over.  I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Liz Truss. She was not wrong to want to improve growth in this country. It is a noble aim. And I admired her restlessness to create change. But some mistakes were made. Not borne of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Does Liz Truss have any regrets?

13 min listen

Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss from the rooftop of Parliament the key takeaways from Liz Truss’ departure speech. How does she reflect on her time in office? Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Liz Truss’s defiant farewell speech

Liz Truss’s final words as Prime Minister were not just an attempt to set out what she sees as being the ‘legacy’ from her 49 days in power. They were also the outgoing Conservative leader’s last chance to argue that what she had done was in the national interest, rather than the chaotic experiment that her opponents have characterised her economic policies as. And it was also her chance to warn Rishi Sunak that she and other Tory MPs would be on his case. She said:  Truss will be the third former prime minister looming on the backbenches ‘From my time as Prime Minister, I am more convinced than ever

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Biden butchers Sunak’s name

Joe Biden, the man whose diet seems to consist of ice cream and gaffes, has done it again. Having managed to irritate both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss with his European interventions, ‘sleepy Joe’ seems determined to make it a hattrick of Tory premiers. The septuagenarian president was addressing a Washington event on Monday evening to mark the beginning of Diwali, when he took the opportunity to congratulate Truss’s successor on his ‘groundbreaking achievement’ of becoming the first Asian premier. Unfortunately, it seems that honour must instead go to a Mr Rasheed Soonak, a hitherto unknown British politician, rather than Rishi Sunak. Biden – a man whose foot is never knowingly

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Are Macron and Sunak heading for a beautiful bromance?

A penny for the thoughts of Emmanuel Macron on Saturday when it seemed Boris Johnson might once more occupy No. 10. Hasta la Vista, baby. Oh Mon Dieu, non! Macron’s opinion of the former PM is on record, and the French in general were aghast at the prospect of Boris back in charge. One newspaper asked its readers in an online poll if they would welcome a second dose of Johnson: of the 240,000 people who responded, three-quarters said no. There was a time when BoJo was all the rage in France. In the summer of 2021 he was more popular than Macron – not hard, admittedly, given his unpopularity

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

What we’ll miss about Liz Truss

As Liz Truss prepares to leave Downing Street after 47 days in power, the PM’s reputation is in tatters. Seeing out the reigning monarch after seventy years, spooking the financial markets like a distant hyena terrifies a family of meerkats, and, incredibly, tanking the Tories’ poll rating to its lowest ever level at the same time as paying everybody’s gas bill. But listen, Liz. I wouldn’t worry. Because it doesn’t take very long before people start pining for and eulogising former prime ministers that drove them potty when they actually were in office. Just this weekend gone, singer Tanita Tikaram sent a much-liked tweet saying she would like Gordon Brown

Monday

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Can Rishi calm the markets?

On this morning’s Coffee House Shots, Fraser Nelson returned to the phrase he coined last Wednesday: ‘the muppet premium’. This premium, he said, summed up the additional borrowing costs markets were now demanding from the British government, having lost credibility for responsible and sustainable financing. Are there early signs that soon-to-be prime minister Rishi Sunak is already tackling this premium? While there hasn’t been significant movement in sterling today, the gilt markets already appear to be responding to the imminent change in leadership. 10-year gilt yields dropped under 4 per cent when the market opened at 8am, settling at around 3.8 per cent. Meanwhile, 30-year gilt yields fell over the