Politics

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

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Hartlepool meltdown: best of the left round-up

Oh dear. Labour’s loss of Hartlepool on a 16 point swing to the Tories has not gone down well with Keir Starmer’s most vocal critics. Lloyd Russell-Moyle was first out of the blocks this morning, tweeting shortly after midnight that ‘Good to see valueless flag waving and suit wearing working so well… or not?’ Fellow members of the Socialist Campaign Group have piled in too, with Corbyn-era frontbenchers quick to offer their expert analysis as to why Labour lost a seat they had held since its creation.  Onetime shadow Lord Chancellor Richard Burgon declared ‘We are going backwards in areas we need to be winning. Labour’s leadership needs to urgently change direction’ while his

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Brexit Britain: the opportunities and pitfalls for British healthcare

31 min listen

If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, the past year would have likely been dominated by a familiar topic – Brexit. The decision to leave, we’re told, presents the UK with endless opportunity in a variety of sectors, including healthcare and life sciences. But it hasn’t been the easiest year, with supply chains and the Northern Ireland Protocol already under strain. So what are the opportunities to boost Britain’s healthcare now that it has left the EU, and where are the pitfalls? Kate Andrews is joined by Antonis Papasolomontos, Director of External Affairs at Abbvie, Sarah Neville, Global Health Editor at the FT, and Jeremy Hunt, Chair of the Health

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

What the Hartlepool loss means for Starmer

14 min listen

The local election results are coming in over the weekend, but the bombshell came early with Hartlepool going to the tories in a massive 16-point swing. Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about how much the red wall has left to give.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Boris shouldn’t take the red wall vote for granted

There are two popular reactions to the Hartlepool by-election, which one you favour depending largely on your political tribe. The first holds that the white working class has reacted against a woke, metropolitan Labour party and its knee-taking leader, Keir Starmer. The second holds that the town’s racist and xenophobic population are still fearful that their beloved Brexit might yet be undone, and were desperate to vote against a Labour candidate who had backed Remain. Both of these narratives in fact boil down to pretty much the same thing: that the people of Hartlepool are a sad and angry bunch who tend to vote against things rather than vote for

Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O'Flynn

Labour is doomed whether Starmer stays or goes

So the Conservatives have won the ‘pools, as we used to say of jackpot winners before the advent of the National Lottery. The Hartlepool constituency, known before 1974 as ‘the Hartlepools’ in recognition of the distinct settlements of old Hartlepool and West Hartlepool, has just secured its place in British political folk lore. It isn’t just the fact of a red wall brick turning blue at a by-election some 11 years into Tory-led governments that is remarkable, but also the crushing extent of the Conservative victory. While by-elections are often remembered as flashes in the pan – with shock results reversed at subsequent general elections – that is because they are

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Can Starmer reverse the horror of Hartlepool?

The Tory victory in Hartlepool, with a swing of 16 per cent and the biggest increase in a governing party’s vote in any by-election since 1945, is a terrible blow to Labour hopes that the choice of Sir Keir Starmer would soon stem their rot. What happened in what was a safe Labour seat — it was Peter Mandelson’s in New Labour’s heyday — is that voters who backed the Brexit party in 2019 switched to the Tories. According to the election analyst Matt Singh, if that sort of shift were repeated in other seats where the Brexit party made an impact then more than 20 Labour MPs would lose

Katy Balls Katy Balls

How much trouble is Starmer in?

Keir Starmer is facing a rocky few days as the party’s results from the local elections start to come in. Labour has lost Hartlepool with the Tories taking the seat with a majority of 6,940. While many Labour campaigners were braced for defeat, the margin by which the Conservatives have won has taken both pollsters and those on the ground by surprise. The problem for Starmer is that although it will be a few days before we have the whole picture, it appears to be a sign of things to come.  The party is losing votes on both sides. As well as Tory gains from Labour in Northumberland, Labour has also

Steerpike Steerpike

Corbynite MP lashes out at Starmer

This morning Labour are in damage limitation mode after the party’s candidate in the Hartlepool by election conceded defeat. However, not everyone has got the memo. Step forward Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the onetime shadow minister for natural environment and air quality who quit Starmer’s frontbench in July last year. The Brighton left-winger did not even wait for the official result to be announced, tweeting shortly after midnight: ‘Good to see valueless flag waving and suit wearing work so well… or not?’ in a dig at Starmer’s efforts to detoxify Labour’s brand and pitch to patriotic voters. Steerpike wonders how many other Campaign Group MPs will be able to resist the temptation today

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Tories win Hartlepool, throwing Starmer’s leadership into crisis

The Tories have taken Hartlepool on a remarkable 16 per cent swing from Labour. The Tories saw the biggest increase — 23 per cent — in a governing party’s share of the vote in a by-election in the post-war era. Labour has been trounced in a seat that has been theirs since its creation in 1974. Labour’s defeat shows that Keir Starmer is nowhere near stopping the party’s bleeding in the red wall. It suggests that the 2019 election was not a freak result driven by voters’ desire to get Brexit done and their fear of Jeremy Corbyn but rather part of a realignment of English politics — and that

Thursday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour is bracing itself for a set of bad results

Labour has started bracing itself for a very unpleasant few days of results in elections across the country. As polls close in local, mayoral, devolved assembly and police and crime commissioner elections, as well as the Hartlepool by-election, a party source has said: These were always going to be tough elections for Labour. Keir has always been honest about the mountain we must climb to rebuild trust to win the next general election. Labour is listening and we will continue to change in order to win back the trust of working people in Britain and their communities. Meanwhile, on the BBC’s Question Time, the party’s shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

The China model: why is the West imitating Beijing?

26 min listen

In this week’s podcast, we talk to the author of our cover story, eminent author, historian and broadcaster Niall Ferguson, who advances the theory that the West and China are in the throes of a new cold war which the Unites States is on course to lose, should the Biden administration continue to following Beijing’s lead on apparently everything from lockdown to digital currencies. Joining the debate is Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, from Chatham House. (01:05) ‘All of the features of Cold War I are here today which is why I have been speaking for a couple of years about Cold War II’ – Niall Ferguson. Next up, Laura Freeman writes

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Will Britain’s economic recovery break records?

It’s been a good week for seeing the vaccine factor at work. We’ve had multiple real-world updates on the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness against new variants of Covid-19 (this bodes well for the UK, which was the first country in the world to use the vaccine to protect its most vulnerable residents). And today we’ve had a revised economic forecast from the Bank of England, suggesting the UK’s impressive vaccine rollout could translate into the strongest growth since records began in 1949. The Bank of England now predicts that the economy will expand by more than 7 per cent in 2021, up from its forecast of 5 per cent in February. Its

Steerpike Steerpike

Michel Barnier’s Brexit blockbuster

Last month Steerpike revealed which politicians are set to release books after putting their respective lockdowns to good use. But it appeared Mr S missed one looming literary attraction – the release of Michel Barnier’s forthcoming memoirs about the Brexit talks. Barnier, who held the role of the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator between 2016 and 2021, is releasing his ‘secret journal’ tomorrow in which he focuses on the role of Conservative infighting shaped Britain’s departure from the EU. Thus far, the main revelations trailed in today’s newspapers include the bombshells that (shock) the Frenchman was repelled by Johnson’s ‘baroque personality’ and that the former mayor of London was ‘not serious’ in

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What are the Royal Navy doing in Jersey’s waters?

11 min listen

Once again it’s all about the fish – following protests from French fisherman over their rights in the waters surrounding Jersey, Boris Johnson has despatched Royal Navy boats to the Channel. Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about why tensions escalated so quickly.

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

Why are the Lib Dems siding with France in the Jersey crisis?

The situation in Jersey is rapidly spiralling out of control and dominating the headlines. But once again, the Lib Dems have surpassed themselves in responding terribly to a crisis that offered them a chance to win over voters. After a predictable post-Brexit mix-up on fishing rights in the Channel, France’s maritime minister Annick Girardin hit back. Girardin threatened to pull the plug on Jersey’s energy supply – a worrying threat given the island gets 95 per cent of its power from the continent. This was a ridiculous, over-the-top response to what has been happening as the new fishing regime takes effect. Brexit was a situation that was always going to require a measure of diplomacy

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Why Boris could benefit from the Jersey fishing dispute

It’s polling day for the local elections but the focus of the government is on Jersey, where a row has broken out over post-Brexit fishing rights. After 80 French boats gathered at St Helier in protest over new licences required for fishing there, the UK hit back by sending two British naval patrol vessels as a precautionary measure. Now the French government has sent naval ships of its own and a war of words is underway between the two sides. The European Commission has called for calm but the situation remains unstable to say the least France’s Sea Minister Annick Girardin was the first to up the ante – suggesting

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Britain’s golden diplomatic opportunity

‘The world’s changed quite a bit,’ was Domic Raab’s fitting, if somewhat understated, opening remark at the G7 meeting of foreign secretaries this week. The first in-person meeting of the alliance in two years saw masked dignitaries, elbow bumps and distanced discussions behind plexiglass screens. But two members of the Indian delegation still ended up testing positive for Covid. Beyond the immediate challenges of the current crisis, Raab’s words seemed prescient. Quite a bit has changed since the G7 last met in France in 2019. Britain has left the EU and is no longer paralysed by parliamentary deadlock. President Biden has replaced Donald Trump in the White House. German and

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Who regulates the regulators?

This isn’t about David Cameron and Greensillgate; it isn’t about Boris Johnson and wallpapergate or Jennifer-Arcurigate. It isn’t about Westferrygate and the illegal planning approval (later reversed) given to a big Tory donor by the responsible minister (Robert Jenrick) for that grotesque development. Nor about Mr Jenrick’s department’s awards under the Towns Fund, which the public accounts select committee found had ‘every appearance of being politically motivated’. Nor is it about (Lord) Edward Lister and the late Sir Jeremy Heywood and twohatsgate, nor about Len McCluskey, Joe Anderson, Paul Flanagan and Flanagangate in Liverpool. Some of these men (the last two) have been the subject of police inquiries and one

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What’s next for the Union?

The Union faces two simultaneous challenges in Northern Ireland and Scotland that both look set to worsen in the coming years. In Northern Ireland, the immediate problem is that Brexit has disturbed the fragile balance there. (A more persistent problem is the fact that after the Good Friday agreement, the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Fein replaced the more moderate Ulster Unionists and the Social Democratic and Labour party as the main Unionist and Nationalist parties.) The debate over where various borders should go has turned into a question of identity. Unionists argue that the UK government’s agreement to create half a border in the Irish Sea threatens Northern Ireland’s

The Spectator

Data, not dates: there is no reason to delay a return to normal life

A slogan can come back to haunt you. For Boris Johnson, the words ‘data not dates’ sounded powerful at a time when Covid cases were high and hospitals full. The idea was that the government would be guided by scientific reason, would respond to the figures and would not let rigid targets dictate policy. Since the Prime Minister announced his roadmap at the end of February, however, ‘dates’ seem to have become far more important than ‘data’. How can he claim to be following the data when he will not budge from a timeline which now looks like it was designed for a different phase of the pandemic? Why were