Fraser Nelson

The Mail on Sunday today splashes on “the most biased BBC News bulletin in history” – a reference to the Radio 4 Today programme on the morning after the Budget. I was a guest on that programme, coming in at the end, so I should be pleased to have been a part of history. But was it really so biased? I’m not so sure. The furore is around the decision by R4 news to lead on a Resolution Foundation critique about the distributional effects of the tax cuts, saying that raising the personal allowances etc helps the richest the most. A left-wing story? Yes, but it was clearly identified as such by the 8am bulletin. The Tories simply lost the spin wars to one of the leading left-wing think tanks that morning, and seem upset now.

Theresa May has three faces that she shows to the world: the Brexit Boudicca, the dull technocrat (her default mode) and then what we saw today: the optimistic globalist. This act, that tends to come out only in set-piece speeches, portrays her as an open-hearted, funny and even (at times) inspiring Prime Minister. The speech today was perhaps the best she has given. Politics isn’t about governing. It’s about making and winning arguments, telling captivating stories, winning people over. And this afternoon, she told stories: of penniless migrants from the Punjab whose son went on to become (her) Home Secretary. Of a mother-to-be, soon to marry her girlfriend and still lead (her) party in Scotland.

It’s now six months since the Windrush debacle that ended Amber Rudd’s career – but does Theresa May recognise what went wrong? Andrew Marr sought to find out this morning, saying that a general apology was not enough: ‘There are apologies which say: “I’m sorry something bad happened”, and then there are apologies which say: “Do you know what? My policy – my policy – made these bad things happen, and my policy was wrong and I’m sorry for it.”’ So which was May’s? Here’s what she said:- ‘The point of the policy was to ensure that those people who were here in the United Kingdom illegally were identified, and that appropriate action was taken.

It’s no secret that quite a few Tory MPs think Boris Johnson is on manoeuvres and must be stopped. But none are as vocal as his former deputy in the Foreign Office, Alan Duncan. He recently tweeted that 'I’m sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isn’t now, I will make sure it is later.' I asked him why he had responded in such a way, and we had an interesting conversation that I suggested we put on the record. He agreed, and we met recently in his Westminster home. What follows is an edited transcript of the conversation.   FN: You attacked Boris in pretty forthright terms on Twitter. Why?   AD: We are at a very critical moment, where if we get this wrong, we have no Brexit, no government, Corbyn.

David Lidington is the most powerful minister you’ve never heard of. He is Theresa May’s de facto deputy, tasked with both supervising the domestic agenda and solving the trickiest Brexit conundrums. Much of government business is, nowadays, done through committees of cabinet members: he chairs seven such committees and sits on another 20. ‘I am the man who stands on the stage spinning plates on the top of poles,’ he says cheerfully. ‘Every now and then the PM gives me another plate and I have to keep that going as well.’ That’s hardly a metaphor that inspires much confidence in the running of the government, but everybody will know what he means. Lidington was Europe minister under David Cameron and a committed Remainer in the referendum.

When a politician writes a personal book, it’s normally coded audition for the party leadership. Ruth Davidson launched book, Yes She Can, with a declaration that she didn’t want to be Prime Minister and earlier on this evening she explained why to Andrew Neil. The idea of her as leader was started by David Cameron, she said. When visiting her in Scotland, he was asked who he’d like to succeed him and pointed to her. “I’ve been dogged by that ever since,” she said, “so I thought I’d lay that to rest.” While also laying out her own politics, and the direction she'd like wants the party to take. Why is she unfit for No10? To start with, she said, she's a former journalist.

The world's press was all geared up to write "Rabble-rousing Sweden Democrat breakthrough" but Sweden's voters have not obliged. The populists were aiming for first place, but remain in third place, behind the conservatives. The Christian Democrats (led by Ebba Busch Thor, pictured, above) and the Centre Party gained more seats between them (16) than the Sweden Democrats did (13 seats, to a total of 62). The governing Social Democrats had their worst result for decades, but have still ended up the largest party by far. Swedes woke up to find parliament looking like this:- V: LeftParty (ie, former Communists). S: Social Democrats. MP: Greens. SD: Sweden Democrats (in the middle because no one will enter an alliance with them). L: Liberals. C: Centre Party.

Sweden’s general election campaign ended with the Sweden Democrats in a huff and boycotting SVT, the state broadcaster, because it issued a statement distancing itself from comments made by Jimmie Åkesson in the leaders’ debate that it broadcast. Having a supposedly neutral state broadcaster pass judgement is the perfect gift for Åkesson, who said it demonstrates an establishment stitch-up and institutional bias. But actual debate itself offered a fascinating glimpse into how much the debate has shifted in Sweden - with leaders of all parties offering immigration-related facts that make a British listener gasp. We had seven party leaders, most of whom expressing views that they’d have denounced as racist not so long ago.

Every so often, usually on Twitter, you hear calls for a new centrist party. The Tories have gone Brexit bonkers, runs the argument, and Labour hard-left – surely most people are in the middle? And look at Emmanuel Macron: by sheer self-belief he won the presidency and leads a majority parliamentary party that did not exist three years ago. So don’t we need a new centrist force in Britain? I’m not sure that we do, and I explain why in my Daily Telegraph column today. Let’s look at Macron, and what he’s trying to do. Reject high taxes for the rich, on the pragmatic grounds that they don’t raise revenue.