Politics

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

Saturday

Robin Ashenden

When the Ceausescus came to tea

Anyone still in any doubt about the lengths to which Queen Elizabeth II was prepared to go in the line of duty might consider the hideous company the role at times foisted on her. In 1991, she had to clink glasses with Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, and 20 years earlier had dined with Ugandan despot Idi Amin (though she later privately vowed to hit Amin with a sword if he dared to gatecrash her Silver Jubilee). But perhaps none of these grisly encounters was as gruelling as having to host Romanian tyrant Nicolae Ceaușescu and wife Elena on a three-day state-visit, complete with Palace quarters, in 1978. Though a domestic

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Mark Field muses on Liz Truss’s fortunes

Since becoming the Tory leadership favourite early last month, Liz Truss is used to all sorts of people coming out of the woodwork. Old friends, former allies and even the odd foe have been very keen to share their opinions on Truss, the onetime Lib Dem radical turned Brexit-backing cabinet mainstay. But one person who we haven’t heard much from is Mark Field, her fellow former Conservative MP, with whom Truss had a headline-grabbing affair in the mid-2000s. But now the Camden New Journal have set tongues wagging with a cheeky little piece in this week’s edition about what Field has been up to since leaving parliament in late 2019.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Is a weak pound bad for Britain?

Should we despair that the pound has slumped again today, falling below $1.14 for the first time since 1985? Or should we rejoice? It was, after all, a collapse in the pound following Black Wednesday in 1992 – along with dramatically lowered interest rates — which precipitated a lasting economic recovery. It is all too easy to see the value of the pound as a national virility symbol, and think that the stronger it is, the better. In reality, a weak pound – or let’s say a pound set at a realistic level, which properly reflects the costs of wages, goods and services in Britain – can help stimulate the

Max Jeffery Max Jeffery

Can the Met fix London’s spiralling crime problem?

10 min listen

Two police officers were stabbed this morning near Leicester Square in central London. What can new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley do to fix the capital’s crime epidemic? And the pound today fell to a 37-year low against the dollar. What can the government do to give the markets confidence? Max Jeffery speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Produced by Max Jeffery.

Ian Williams Ian Williams

Even Xi is unimpressed with Putin’s bungling autocracy

To say that Vladimir Putin is giving autocracy a bad name is rather to state the obvious. But it now appears to have dawned even on his ‘old friend’ Xi Jinping that Russian incompetence and cruelty in Ukraine is undermining their joint ambition to re-write the international order. Putin’s admission that Beijing might have ‘concerns’ about his bungled war was cryptic but striking. ‘We highly value the balanced position of our Chinese friends when it comes to the Ukraine crisis,’ Putin said in remarks ahead of their meeting in Uzbekistan. ‘We understand your questions and concerns about this. During today’s meeting, we will of course explain our position.’ Xi was

Steerpike Steerpike

Truss dismantles the eco ‘axis of evil’

Politics is a cruel business. One minute the gods are shining brightly on you, the next, you’re consigned to the barren wilderness. And few know that better than Liz Truss, our northern Premier with a Sicilian bent. For Truss, The Godfather appears to be less a film than an instruction manual, judging by the nature of her first reshuffle. Her old enemies were purged with Michael Ellis the sole surviving Sunak supporter. Truss knows better than most the fickle nature of the political game. Just two years ago, she was in the fight of her life at the DIT when she was battling to push through post Brexit trade deals.

Francis Pike

The morality of the EU’s gas grab in Azerbaijan

My enemy’s enemy is my friend. This ancient proverb partly describes the EU’s fast developing relationship with Muslim Azerbaijan, a Turkic country whose forever enemy is neighbouring Christian Armenia which is militarily supported by Russia. And natural gas is the crux of this unnatural alignment. On 18 July the EU gleefully announced that by 2027 the Azerbaijan government had agreed to increase its gas supply from its Caspian Sea fields to Europe from 8 bcm (billion cubic metres) to 20 bcm per annum. Although this would still only represent 12 per cent of Europe’s gas imports last year, President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, nevertheless described Azerbaijan

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

It’s wrong to ban China from the lying-in-state

Unlike some Americans, China’s communists have no problem getting their heads around hereditary monarchy. Last week, President Xi sent his condolences to the United Kingdom. Now, he’s sending one of his most trusted deputies to pay respects at the Queen’s funeral. China has called off its wolf warriors, its diplomatic ideologues known for berating the West. Beijing is on best behaviour. Instead, the bellicose rhetoric is coming from a few British MPs, indignant that Chinese officials have been invited to the funeral. Vice-president Wang Qishan, the man tasked with representing China, is one of Xi’s most reliable lieutenants, having led the President’s flagship anti-corruption drive. But the two men go even further back,

William Nattrass William Nattrass

Viktor Orban is facing pressure from the right on abortion

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has become a towering figure in European politics over the past 12 years thanks to his promotion of ‘Christian democracy’ as an alternative to western liberalism, which he claims has lost its way. But a change to abortion laws introduced by the Hungarian government this week may indicate an alarming shift in his methods. The new regulation, brought in with little warning or debate, requires pregnant women to listen to their foetus’s heartbeat before they can access abortion services. Coming into force on Thursday, it strengthens abortion laws which have remained liberal throughout Orbán’s leadership. In Hungary, abortions are legal up to the twelfth week

Thursday

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

Queen Elizabeth II: 1926-2022

33 min listen

On this week’s podcast: We reflect on the life and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. For The Spectator, A.N. Wilson writes that Queen Elizabeth was a constant in a country that has changed so much, and he is joined on the Edition podcast by Graham Viney author of Last Hurrah: The 1947 Tour of Southern Africa and the End of Empire (00:59). Also this week:  Michael Hall takes us inside the Royal Collection and discusses the Queen’s relationship with art. He is joined by Susan Ryder, who was commissioned to paint her portrait in 1997 (13:28). And finally: Scott Methven recalls his time as piper to the sovereign with Anne Denholm, a former

Christopher Snowdon

Liz Truss should scrap the sugar tax

In public health circles, it is considered terribly gauche to expect policies to work. You might think, for example, that a trailblazing intervention designed to reduce obesity would be considered a failure if obesity rates rise to record highs after it has been implemented. Not so with the sugar tax. Obesity among both children and adults has gone up since it was introduced in 2018, but the health lobby does not consider it to be a failure. Contrary to the evidence of your eyes, they say, it has actually been a success. The only failure is the failure of the government to do lots of other things in addition. This

Gabriel Gavin Gabriel Gavin

On the front lines of Europe’s newest war

Sotk, Armenia A group of Armenian soldiers stand guard on the road towards the village. ‘It’s not safe to go ahead,’ one says, slinging his Kalashnikov across his shoulder and motioning for our van to pull over. ‘They were shelling the highway just 15 minutes ago.’ In the distance, there’s the unmistakable thunder of artillery and smoke rising from the side of the mountains. Beyond them is the border with Azerbaijan from where, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, a massive barrage was unleashed on towns and cities across Armenia. The offensive is the most dramatic escalation since the two former Soviet republics fought a brutal and bloody war

Steerpike Steerpike

The New York Times’ royal derangement syndrome

First it was Brexit, now it’s the Queen. That the New York Times has a near-pathological loathing for Britain is nothing new at this point; but it seems that the motivating factor for the ‘Gray Lady’s’ Anglophobia has switched in recent days from the 2016 referendum result to the passing of our beloved monarch. Barely had the Queen’s death been announced then the NYT was furiously publishing opinion pieces denouncing the woman as a symbol of British imperialism. This was just hours after her death and ignored the salient facts that Elizabeth’s reign coincided with the end of the British Empire and that she loved the multi-racial Commonwealth. Even Cyclops

Andrew McQuillan

Has Sinn Féin really changed its spots?

In a week of solemn intonation and symbolic meaning, the sight of Sinn Féin’s leader Michelle O’Neill shaking hands with the King at Hillsborough Castle was yet another event to be dissected and extrapolated. Hushed tones providing narration from London fell over themselves to stress the meaning of this and repeated the article of faith: ‘How far we’ve come’. From the BBC to Sky, and even GB News, broadcasters were united on that front in their commentary. Others, especially those outriders for the so-called ‘New Ireland’ which would appear following any border poll, pointed triumphantly. This gesture showed that unionists had nothing to fear and that their traditions would be

Cindy Yu Cindy Yu

Who will be at the Queen’s funeral?

15 min listen

Preparations are well under way for the Queen’s funeral next week, but which world leaders will be in attendance? Will they all be able to behave themselves?  Also on the podcast, as the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng works quietly in the background, is his idea to scrap caps on banker’s bonuses a risk worth taking?  Cindy Yu speaks with James Forsyth and Katy Balls.  Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: rehearsals held for the Queen’s funeral

Preparations in Whitehall continue at pace ahead of Her Majesty’s funeral on Monday. And for a handful of hardy souls queuing overnight, they had the privilege of witnessing the rehearsals ahead of the great event. One organiser told Steerpike’s man on the spot that the run-through was meant to be conducted without a public audience but the lengthy queues to Westminster Hall meant such a crowd was unavoidable. Only a handful saw the practice ceremony, which involved all the Queen’s ceremonial bodyguards and equerries who will be surrounding her on Monday. They included the Guards of Honour and the Household Cavalry, with their arms reversed to pay respect. Let’s hope

Matthew Lynn

It’s time to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses

Critics say that scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonus will encourage a return to excessive risk taking. It will provoke retaliation from the European Union, they warn. And perhaps, worst of all, it could prove fatal politically, rewarding a few rich Tory friends while the rest of the country struggles with the cost-of-living crisis. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will get lots of criticism if, as predicted, he does decide to bin the cap in his upcoming financial statement. Even so, he should ignore the naysayers. It will certainly be a controversial move. The controls on City bonuses were imposed right across the EU in the wake of the crash of 2008/2009. These

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Why is the BBC using Paddington to remember Her Majesty?

Here comes Paddington – again. Earlier this year, to celebrate her platinum jubilee, the Queen agreed to be filmed taking tea with Paddington in a sketch whose final punchline was a joke about marmalade sandwiches. Her Majesty told the bear she always carries one in her handbag, just in case.  On film she was excellent, unshowy, watchable but not predictable, with an obvious knack for comedy. The short film was doubtless inspired by the Queen’s acclaimed performance alongside Daniel Craig, as James Bond, during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics. But there’s a big difference between a British spy and a Peruvian bear. The BBC has succumbed to bear-mania

Owen Matthews

More mad than Vlad: Russia’s ultra-nationalist threat

‘Russia without Putin!’ was the cry of Muscovites who turned out to protest against Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency for a third term in December 2011. Crowds 100,000 strong chanted their opposition on Moscow’s Academician Sakharov Prospect – as symbolically named a venue as you could wish for – as riot police stood calmly by. There was anger in the crowd. But there was hope, too, not least because the massive protest was officially sanctioned. One after another, prominent opposition politicians such as Ilya Yashin, Boris Nemtsov and Alexei Navalny denounced Putin from a stage provided by the city authorities. Today the memory of those protests seems to belong