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What is the purpose of Mel Stride? I don’t ask this to be personal I just genuinely don’t know. In some ways it’s a problem for all shadow chancellors: the Treasury is the most practical of departments, the opposition can only theorise about it. The economy ought to be the only trump card the Tories
Over many years as a journalist, writing for newspapers as well as authoring books, I’ve dealt with a sizeable number of celebs. And believe me, the majority are not exactly likeable. Well, no doubt their chums find them so, but their fame and money and ‘specialness’ tend to imbue them with haughtiness and self-importance, traits
Dame Jilly Cooper, who died today, finally achieved the acceptance that she’d always deserved. She wrote numerous volumes of witty, clear-sighted journalism, London-based romances like Prudence, Bella and Octavia – and, of course, her ‘Rutshire Chronicles’ series, set in the Cotswolds and featuring the wicked homme-fatale and aristo-sexbomb Rupert Campbell Black. They were books hoovered up
It’s not just Conservative politicians popping up at the Tory party conference this year: Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has appeared at some fringe events to wax lyrical about the successes of devolution, his hopes for a Manchester tourist tax and reform of council tax. But just a week after the Labour Party conference,
Just when you thought we could all stop talking about flags, Gary Neville has arrived with his size ten boots to keep the ball in play. The ex-Man Utd footballer, turned property developer, said he removed a union flag from one of his Manchester sites because it was being ‘used in a negative fashion’. He
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Tim Shipman and Michael Simmons join Lucy Dunn live at Manchester for Conservative party conference. It’s day two, and we’ve heard from shadow chancellor Mel Stride, who unveiled various pledges including business rates relief and spending cuts. The Tories are clearly trying to position themselves again as the party of ‘fiscal prudence’ – but are
One of Kemi Badenoch’s biggest announcements ahead of Conservative party conference was her pledge to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). On Sunday, she said that exiting the ECHR would be a manifesto commitment at the next general election. On the same day, a legal opinion by the shadow attorney general, Lord Wolfson KC,
The former prime minister may not be at Conservative party conference, but he’s still managing to create headlines. Boris Johnson has admitted he went ‘far too fast’ on net zero when he was PM, conceding he got ‘carried away’ about the idea that renewables could replace fossil fuels – in his most outspoken remarks on
To the Scottish Tory reception at Conservative Party conference, where leader Kemi Badenoch gave a rather punchy address before popping over to the Welsh Conservative event – her ‘second favourite devolved nation’, quipped Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay. Lauding Findlay, Badenoch expressed her admiration for how he has coped with the journalist crowd north of
It is doubtless apocryphal, but it’s said that when Ernest Bevin heard someone say that Aneurin Bevan was his own worst enemy, he replied, ‘Not while I’m alive ‘e ain’t.’ Sometimes Israel behaves as if it is its own, and the diaspora’s, worst enemy That came into my mind when it emerged that the Israeli
In a sensational development, Sébastien Lecornu has resigned as prime minister of France. His departure, after 27 days in office, makes the 39-year-old the shortest reigning premier of the Fifth Republic. Lecornu’s resignation is a humiliation for him, for France and for Emmanuel Macron. The president has now worked his way through seven prime ministers
The message the Tories want you to leave their conference with is that they are the party of prudence. The party of fiscal responsibility who will make the first ‘serious down payments’ on the size of the state, as shadow chancellor Mel Stride explained at a Spectator drinks reception last night. Today, he will set
Britain once prided itself on being different from France, Belgium and Germany, where Jewish blood was repeatedly spilled on European streets. Now the same contagion has arrived in your green-but-less-pleasant-land. Britain was never free of prejudice, but unlike Europe, its anti-Semitism never captured a major party or defined the state – until our times. The
The question has changed, as one Oxford don noted wanly on social media, from ‘What are you reading at university?’ to ‘Are you reading at university?’ Such is the state of undergraduates entering English literature courses these days, brains addled by scrolling on their mobile phones, that universities are now offering ‘reading resilience’ courses to help them tackle the unfamiliar task
Kemi Badenoch’s announcement that the Conservatives are now irrevocably committed to pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) surprised no-one. It was nevertheless nicely done, and showed that here at least the Tory leader is playing a bad hand rather well. The Tories have now stolen a march on Nigel Farage For
Believe it or not, some judges in this country are starting to show signs of having a connection with reality and in possession of an outlook based on common sense. It’s hard to credit it, given the roll call this year of judges delivering over-lenient verdicts in regard to asylum seekers wanting to remain in
For many, it is hard to overstate the appeal of Greggs, one of those rare high street chains that provides good-quality food at affordable prices. When it comes to such hero items as the steak bake or the sausage roll – whether with actual sausage or the vegan equivalent – it has inherited the Lyons
The Tory conference parties are in full flow and the political speeches are underway. At the TaxPayers’ Alliance reception, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick was the speaker of choice – and he didn’t disappoint. Crowning himself the ‘drug mule’ of the party, Jenrick laughed about the Ozempic trend that has taken over London: I’ve managed
Shabana Mahmood: Government must ‘stem the rising tide of anti-Semitism’ This week, two Jewish people were killed in a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester. On Sky News, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it was ‘devastating’ that some British Jews don’t feel safe in their country. She said the government had to ‘stem the
The voice of Keir Starmer echoed round the Conservative party’s conference hall. ‘Free of charge digital ID’ chanted the disembodied Dalek. If people had come hoping to escape the Grand Adenoid then hard luck. Kemi Badenoch’s welcome address to the Tory faithful began with a dystopian video compilation of some of the Labour government’s ‘greatest
To Manchester, where politicians, members and delegates are gathering for the Conservative’s annual party conference. A number of speeches have taken place on the main stage today, including that of shadow home secretary Chris Philp. The Tory MP focused on his party’s migration policy this afternoon – and surprised delegates with his announcement that, if
Japan is to have a female prime minister. Well, probably. Sanae Takaichi, the 64-year-old conservative veteran, has at the third attempt won the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) – which brings with it the bonus of being prime minister. Or at least it usually does. The LDP are currently in a coalition government,
The Conservative party conference kicks off today in Manchester. Dominating the headlines is the long-awaited announcement that the next Tory government would pull Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In a break with recent conferences, leader Kemi Badenoch will be making two speeches. The first this afternoon will set out what
Five years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, a ‘racial reckoning’ shook the West. For some it was a time for our part of the world to come to terms with the reality of racism and to address the legacy of white supremacy. For others the protests following Floyd’s death poured petrol on the
Last week, a 75-year-old Christian grandmother was bundled into the back of a police van outside a Glasgow hospital. Her alleged crime? Conversation. Rose Docherty wasn’t spray-painting walls or blocking doorways. She wasn’t shouting or shoving leaflets into anyone’s hands. She simply held a sign offering a listening ear: ‘Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, only if you want.’ In the eyes
Last week, a West End arts venue hosted ‘Indomitable Ukraine’, a war artefacts exhibition with everything from prosthetic legs to captured Russian battle plans. It was put on by the War Museum of Ukraine and had an added poignancy for British audiences. On a black memorial board was a list of nearly 40 names of
I would like to ask readers for help. My Italian wife and our six children, aged 10 to 22, believe that Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza and that Italy’s right-wing prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is complicit in this genocide. I do not. What should I tell them? Once again, I am forced to
It’s not easy for Germany to celebrate itself. But on Friday, the country tried. At the official celebration festivities for the Day of German Unity, the city of Saarbrucken near the French border hosted musicians, breakdancers, acrobats, magicians, and oddly, two actors dressed as a ‘talking sofa’ to entertain visitors. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the official head
The founding members of Led By Donkeys granted a public interview last Thursday at a theatre in Walthamstow. They were questioned by Guardian columnist Zoe Williams. Seated on squashy sofas, the four men looked like an ageing boyband who met at public school. James Sadri, suave and handsome, seems to be the boss. Ollie Knowles is the ebullient charmer.
The atrocious attack on a community of peaceful Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester yesterday shocked us all. But it was also the predictable outcome of converging trends that British society has either ignored or failed to stop. Since 7 October 2023, extremist organisations such as Isis and al Qaeda have repeatedly called for
Scottish Labour may be down but they’re not out. The polls have not been moving in their favour over the last few months and on the eve of Labour’s conference in Liverpool a Norstat survey for the Sunday Times brought more bad news: never mind losing out on first place at the 2026 Holyrood election,
The G-A-Y Bar in Soho’s Old Compton Street is to close for good this weekend. It opened in the mid-1990s, spinning off from the Saturday club night of the same name at the nearby Astoria (itself long gone, thanks to Crossrail). Entrepreneur Jeremy Joseph, who has run the ‘brand’ since its inception, posted the news
Like the new school year, ambassadors to Britain usually change each September. Among those leaving this summer are the German, Swiss and Canadian representatives; their successors will shortly begin limbering up on the cocktail circuit, eager to make their social mark. The man they will have to beat is the US ambassador, Warren Stephens. His