All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
For the past few weeks, Labour MPs have been ratcheting up their plotting against Jeremy Corbyn. As I explained here, they have detailed planning sessions for a potential coup in the summer, and have broken their parliamentary party down into groups so that they can develop strategies for persuading each group to accept that the
The Trump train will not be stopped. Last night, Donald Trump won in Michigan and Mississippi, again proving the breath of his extraordinary coalition. The Republican Party’s attempts to bring him down look increasingly pathetic. Last week, Mitt Romney and other grandees came out to denounce Trump. But the public just watched the videos of Mitt Romney
Today’s Sun claims on its front page that the Queen backs Brexit. The paper reports that the Queen clashed with Nick Clegg, who was then Deputy Prime Minister, over Europe at a lunch in 2011. During a heated discussion on the EU, Her Majesty is reported to have declared that the EU was ‘heading in the
The London Stock Exchange is no longer the red-hot crucible it once was, given the multifarious ways by which shares, bonds and derivatives now change hands. But the prospect of the LSE passing into the control of Deutsche Börse — in what was announced as a ‘merger of equals’, but with the Germans holding the
As the country wakes up to a grey, drizzly morning, news from Moneyfacts paint a gloomy picture for savers. According to the financial analysts, low interest rates and changes to savings taxation are resulting in ‘perhaps the worst Isa season on record’. In the run-up to the end of the tax year, banks and building
On International Women’s Day, Priti Patel managed to divide members of the fairer sex after she claimed that the suffragettes fought for the same cause as those who back Brexit. Speaking at the Women for Britain launch, Patel said it was the duty of Out-ers to protect the ‘democratic freedom’ the women had fought for: ‘As
This week Yvette Cooper was taken to task by Nick Ferrari on LBC over her refugee pledge. Although the former Labour MP had declared that she would be happy to house refugees in her own property, it turns out that she hasn’t actually done so: NF: Have you taken yours yet Yvette? YC: No that’s what
Today’s lobby lunch was the cause of much amusement among hacks. John Whittingdale used his speech to cast a light on Labour spinner Seumas Milne’s school days. The Culture Secretary recounted his time at Winchester College with Milne. He said that during this time, Milne co-authored a manifesto supporting Chinese communist dictator Chairman Mao. What’s more he even
The toughest causes to campaign for are those which are not fashionable. To fight racism in the 1950s or stand up for gay rights in the 1980s took guts – and the progress made today is largely down to those who took up the cause before it became a form of virtue signalling. International Women’s Day should be a chance to
When Lexie Hill appeared on Question Time last month, she left Cabinet minister Liz Truss speechless when she offered up her argument for leaving the EU. The Brexit youth dismissed the Environment Secretary’s claim that the Prime Minister’s EU negotiation deal will reduce the ‘pull factors’ attracting migrants — arguing that a rise in the
Last year a host of celebrities and politicians alike slammed the government for their handling of the refugee crisis. As part of this, several figures including Sir Bob Geldof, Stan Collymore, Nicola Sturgeon and Yvette Cooper volunteered to take refugees into their home. Alas, when Mr S checked last year both Geldof and Collymore were
International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate the vast achievements of women worldwide, while acknowledging the real struggles and oppression millions of women and girls continue to face, including violence, inequality under the law and limited access to education. It is not a time to push faulty pay gap statistics. Yet that is exactly
One of the striking things about the European Union referendum debate so far – apart from how cross everyone is with each other – is how blokey the whole thing has been. There are high-profile women on either side of the debate – Theresa May (who has been rather quiet since her announcement that she
I haven’t taken much notice of International Women’s Day since I flirted with radical feminism as a student, ahem, quite a while ago. But my inner Germaine Greer has been springing into life again due to a survey by recruitment consultants Robert Half marking IWD today. It found men are likely to earn £300,000 more than
I accept it may take an effort to imagine Charles Moore dressed in a recyclable hemp skirt and organic cotton kimono, his body adorned with the bangles, tattoos and piercings of a genderqueer National Union of Students diversity officer. But you should try. No, really, you should. Students are not the only ones who lock
There is no small irony in the fact that Labour MPs were this evening reminded by their colleagues not to brief details of tonight’s parliamentary Labour party meeting before a spokesman for Corbyn went out into the Committee Corridor to, er, brief journalists about what happened at the meeting. The official account is that there
The self-important slayers of ‘cultural appropriation’ have gone too far this time. Clearly they didn’t get a big-enough moral kick from chastising white people who do yoga (on the basis that yoga has ‘roots in Indian culture’), moaning about Beyonce donning a sari (‘how is this different from white folks wearing cornrows?’, the racial police demanded), and fuming
Education Questions in the Commons is a chance for MPs to ask questions about Education – or at least to suck up to ministers by asking them questions about what a good job they are doing. But today Nicky Morgan seemed to be talking about something that wasn’t so much tenuously related to her department as
Of all the frankly riveting stuff in the Daily Mail’s serial of what it calls ‘The Unknown Queen’ — nicely timed for the Queen’s 90th birthday — is there anything less surprising than the revelation she was/is opposed to gay marriage? Is the head of the Church of England a Christian? Well, it seems so. ‘There is,’
When Tony Gallagher left the Daily Mail to become editor-in-chief of the Sun in September, the appointment took many by surprise. On top of Gallagher previously denying the rumours, many thought that the paper’s showbiz supremo Gordon Smart would be handed the reins. Gallagher’s appointment was seen as Rupert Murdoch’s way of ‘sticking two fingers up
Guardian journalist in self-awareness shock. A very good piece by Hadley Freeman about the utter ubiquity of public school-educated monkeys at the top of every desirable profession (and, of course, trade). Here’s the crucial bit: Life is unfair, and I benefit from this unfairness every day. Even besides being born in the era of modern
What’s different about Donald Trump? Forget about the hair for a while, if you can. What sets him apart is his defiant disregard for the ideological consensus that other American politicians sign up to. That consensus can be summed up as ‘hopeful humanism’. Of course ‘humanism’ doesn’t mean non-religion here: this hopeful humanism is always
Conservative eurosceptics are trying to hammer Number 10 on the suspension and resignation of British Chambers of Commerce Director General John Longworth over his comments about the EU referendum. David Davis has announced that he is putting in FOI requests to Number 10, Number 11 and the Business Department for details of conversations between ministers,
For those uninspired by the current London mayoral race, there is still hope that things will get more interesting. Morrissey, the Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now singer, is said to be pondering entering the running. The Animal Welfare Party have asked The Smiths frontman to consider standing as their candidate in the election, while his fan website claims
After a few weeks of banging on about Europe, Downing Street hopes that there will be more of a domestic focus in Westminster for a little while at least. The Budget is approaching, and George Osborne is already coming to terms with what he can and can’t do. It turns out that now is not
Some have compared it to a farce worthy of Alan Ayckbourn, others have condemned it as a missed opportunity. Whatever your opinion, the Chancellor’s U-turn on pensions reform is a blow for low income workers and a boost for middle-class savers. Under proposals mooted by the government (and let’s not forget that they were no
During a weekend when two stories dominated the financial news, the papers were awash with comment, opinion and analysis on pensions reform and Brexit. In a climbdown on a radical pensions shake-up which, er, had yet to happen, the Chancellor dropped a plan to scrap up-front tax relief on pension contributions after coming under pressure
A friend of mine, another journalist, is getting terrifically worked up about the Department for Education’s persecution of exclamation marks. He’s busy writing a defence of free punctuation and because he’s a better stylist than the people laying down the law on this one, this will sting. Apparently, exam bureaucrats told teachers and moderators at
Boris Johnson’s admission to Andrew Marr that Brexit ‘might’ cost people their jobs has quite inevitably been seized upon by the ‘In’ campaign as a sign that a vote to leave would put people’s livelihoods at risk. The Mayor of London came on the show to make the positive case for Britain leaving the European
This week Nigel Farage revealed that he had been left ‘worried’ about Boris Johnson’s ability to campaign for Brexit after his ‘slightly shambolic’ North London press conference. While the Ukip leader insists he has since come round to Johnson’s involvement, Mr S wonders what he will make of the Mayor of London’s turn on The Andrew
Among the treats the mothers of Britain can look forward to on Mothering Sunday there are some rum offerings. A company called Nosh Detox is offering a hamper including something called a Nux Vom drink, and the Guardian has helpfully drawn up a list of mother-related films you only take your mother to if you
When Vice News journalist Mohammed Ismael Rasool was detained by Turkish authorities last August, I wrote to a friend in Turkey to ask for his help. I remarked in passing on the worsening situation for press freedom in the country: ‘Yes, getting much worse,’ he replied. ‘At some stage they will come after us, too. Then
Sometimes trivial matters are actually less trivial than they seem. They can be revealing. Thus Bill Clinton’s habit of cheerfully cheating while playing golf was more significant than you might at first think. It told you something – even if only a little something – about him. The great thing about non-trivial, trivial indicators is
The Chancellor has today declared a ceasefire on Middle Britain: he will not go ahead with his planned pensions raid, where he was intending to erode the relief due to upper-rate taxpayers. The Times splashes on the news, and says that “pressing ahead with the plans may well have dented his popularity within the party
