All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
‘I don’t want a Home Secretary who can’t pronounce a G at the end of a word,’ said Alastair Campbell earlier this month after listening to Priti Patel. Today it was the Home Secretary’s turn to hit back at Tony Blair’s former spin doctor. In her speech at Tory conference, Patel had a message for
Boris Johnson – People must behave ‘fearlessly but with common sense’ The Prime Minister joined Andrew Marr this morning, and inevitably the interview began with a focus on Covid-19 and the government’s efforts to suppress the virus. Johnson’s key message for the public was one of stoicism, saying that the virus would still be hovering
Cineworld is to close its 128 cinemas – saying that the Covid restrictions have made its business “unviable”. It’s terrible to see that word applied to the cinema industry – and even worse to think of the 5,500 jobs this will impact. But the truth is that many businesses can’t survive what will be a year’s worth of restrictions –
As Conservative party conference gets underway online, Boris Johnson used an appearance on the Andrew Marr show to warn of the difficult months ahead. With over ten million people currently under local lockdown restrictions, the Prime Minister said that while he is aware people are ‘furious’ with his government, things are not about to get better. Johnson
The recent warnings of exponential growth of Covid-19 cases, inevitably followed by a rise in hospital admissions, is one focus of the Government’s Covid messaging. Jeremy Hunt described this spike in admissions as a ‘wake-up call’ for the Government. But while this year the disease is newly identified, warnings of a winter crisis in the
A few weeks ago, Nigel Farage enjoyed a get together with a very senior Conservative party figure. Brexit was, naturally, at the heart of the conversation. As he departed from the convivial rendezvous he delivered a line that lowered the temperature in the room and is likely to concentrate Tory minds: ‘If you screw it
Nothing irks Tory party members like a big new development on their patch, so the interview with Robert Jenrick should be an interesting watch. Let’s hope someone asks him about the growing cladding scandal, covered by The Spectator here. Other sessions to look out for include Priti Patel’s keynote speech — expect more hardline rhetoric on
Douglas Ross’s speech to the Conservative and Unionist Party conference was uncanny for being both conservative and unionist. The Scottish Tory leader pitched up to his podium and launched into an awkward conversation with colleagues south of the border. His theme was ‘putting an end to defeatism and disinterest’ and both he blamed on the
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The SNP has had a torrid week as the inquiry into Alex Salmond’s trial came to a head, topped off with MP Margaret Ferrier’s Covid breach. But Nicola Sturgeon has not sustained damage – so is there still any hope for Unionism? Katy Balls talks to Fraser Nelson and Stephen Daisley, with a cameo appearance
Michel Barnier has very politely confirmed that the EU will be suing the UK in a respectful manner. That has all the validity of a child using his younger brother’s arm to hit his own face while stating, ‘why are you hitting yourself?’. Passive aggression is still aggression. Suing someone is an aggressive act. Now,
Donald Trump has confronted a long list of adversaries and weathered an even longer list of scandals in his nearly four years as President of the United States. In 2017, there was FBI director James Comey, special counsel Robert Mueller, and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. In 2018, there was the felony convictions of
This week in the Commons, the Government introduced the Social Security (Up-rating of Benefits) Bill. It’s a technical bit of legislation that will allow ministers to increase the state pension next year, keeping the ‘Triple Lock’ promise that pensions will rise in line with wages, inflation or 2.5 per cent, depending on which is highest.
Only after I signed the lease on my house for my final year at university was I told that, this year, all my seminars will be online. As well as all my lectures. Which when you throw in the new ‘Rule of Six’, puts a bit of a downer on clubs and societies and the
This year’s party conference won’t be quite the same. Gone is the warm white wine at ugly hotel bars, instead replaced by ministers desperately trying to unmute themselves on Zoom. That being said, Michael Gove’s ‘fireside chat’ will certainly be one to watch, as will Matt Hancock’s talk on the future of the NHS. Here are the
Hopes of agreeing a Brexit deal have increased among ministers in recent weeks, but today the UK’s chief negotiator Sir David Frost offered a reality check. In a statement following the latest round of talks, Frost said that while ‘progress has been possible’ there remained ‘familiar differences’ on level playing field clauses, state aid and – notably –
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Margaret Ferrier has admitted that she travelled across the country despite having tested positive for Covid. Given that the SNP has had some of the strictest rules on lockdown, has this threatened the party’s reputation? Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
An event where multiple generations gather indoors, exchange gifts and drink alcohol having travelled from far and wide sounds like a nightmare in coronavirus terms. On this basis, Christmas is one event that should definitely be cancelled. But, as I say in the Times today, regardless of whether they are hawks or doves when it comes
Britain’s Jewish community has been hit hard by Covid-19. Three more British Jews were laid to rest last week after dying from coronavirus, the highest number in a single week for several months. This brings the UK Jewish death toll from the disease to more than 500. It’s clear that our small community of 280,000 or so has suffered greatly during
You have probably never heard of MindGeek, the huge tech company that owns Pornhub: the world’s most popular porn site. Pornhub, which has 42 billion visits per year, is currently under fire for its apparent lack of safeguarding checks. Six million videos a year are posted on the site; some, according to anti-porn campaigners, depicting
Two days ago, the Prime Minister told us we are at a critical point in the Covid-19 crisis as a second wave threatened to engulf us. He warned of a second national lockdown. Yesterday, in spite of evidence from Imperial College of a declining R number, Matt Hancock introduced new restrictions in Liverpool and Teeside.
The first rule of Scottish politics is: the SNP always wins, even when it loses. If you’re wondering why the Nationalists were so swift to remove the whip from Margaret Ferrier — once the story that she had travelled on a train after testing positive for Covid became public, that is — be under no illusion that
Things have gone from bad to pretty much as grim as things can get for an MP — isolating back in Scotland, Margaret Ferrier has been told to resign from parliament by her (now former) party leader Nicola Sturgeon. The interjection comes following a torrid night for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP. Yesterday evening she
Thank God for comedians. We need them more than ever in these miserable times to cheer us up. But they also play a more vital role: in the fight for free speech. John Cleese is the latest comedian to join the battle. During a debate on the controversial Scottish hate crime bill, Cleese said it would be
Another day, another Zoom missive from the Duke and Duchess of Woke. Hot on the heels of their thinly-veiled intervention in the US election, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have called for an ‘end to structural racism’ in the UK, via a new initiative they’ve launched in collaboration with the Evening Standard. To mark the
Returning to university last week, my experience has been anything but fun. Despite living in one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, in a room overlooking the picturesque Christ Church Meadow, I can’t help but feel a horrifying sense of entrapment. Rigorous Covid-19 measures in place throughout the university, and no face-to-face tuition, means my narrow room
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Middlesborough’s mayor, Andy Preston, today refused to accept the government’s decision to place households in the town under a local lockdown. Accusing Westminster decision-makers of ‘ignorance’, the mayor said the new measures would ‘kill viable jobs’ and ‘damage mental health’. Is this the start of regional authorities fighting back? Cindy Yu speaks to Fraser Nelson
The SNP’s Margaret Ferrier has released a statement admitted that she travelled down to London after suffering from Covid symptoms. She then returned to Scotland by train after receiving a positive test result… The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West apologised for failing to follow the guidance, set down by her own party leader in Scotland
We are frequently reminded of polls that show the majority of Brits supporting lockdown measures. In fact, often the public wants the government to go further than it has done. Local officials tend to reflect this sentiment. Mayors of two of the UK’s largest cities — London’s Sadiq Khan and Manchester’s Andy Burnham — have repeatedly accused the government
In a non-Covid world, next week would be Tory conference in Birmingham. As I say in the magazine this week, it would have been a triumphalist conference with much talk of how the Tories had won a two-term victory. Covid has changed everything, though. Tory conference is now an online only event with short speeches.
This morning’s so-called ‘React study’ — an attempt by Imperial College to estimate the prevalence of current Covid-19 infection in Britain — has aroused much interest thanks to its suggestion of a sharp fall in the R number. Its central estimate for R is 1.06, but it applies a range of between 0.74 to 1.46,
Remember the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland? When it erupted in 2010, it caused unprecedented disruption. Millions of people were stranded in various corners of the world. Europe’s airspace was shut down. And airlines were left with an estimated £1.2bn bill. Needless to say this is all small beer by today’s standards of financial loss. But can the response to that