Was that Starmer’s best PMQ’s so far?
8 min listen
Katy Balls and James Forsyth dissect the back and forth from today’s session in the House of Commons. Does Boris really think he can sell his ‘I fired Matt Hancock’ story?
James Forsyth
James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
Wednesday
PMQs: Starmer charges Boris with hypocrisy
Keir Starmer turned in his most effective parliamentary performance since becoming Labour leader at PMQs today. Normally, Starmer is quite monotone. But today he varied his style, and to good effect. Starmer started off with a bit of swagger, something which he often lacks, asking why Boris Johnson had failed to sack Matt Hancock. Starmer
The sausage war ceasefire is a good sign for UK-EU relations
The sausage dispute between the UK and the EU may sound like something out of Yes Minister but it is the canary in the coal mine of UK-EU relations. In a sign of some progress, Maroš Šefčovič, the Commission vice-president, will announce this afternoon that the EU will agree to a UK request to extend
Tuesday
What’s happening in Batley and Spen?
17 min listen
A bizarre flourish of tactics are on display in the run up to the Batley and Spen by-election. And are we already feeling the new Health Secretary’s influence? To discuss, Fraser Nelson is joined by James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
Monday
Will Javid handle Covid differently?
11 min listen
It’s Sajid Javid’s first day in the office as health secretary. The former chancellor’s comments last year that he would ‘run the economy hot’ have led some to think he will try to end restrictions as soon and as extensively as possible, but might he have changed his mind? Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and
Sunday
The NHS needs Simon Stevens to stay
This morning, Boris Johnson should be calling Simon Stevens, his old Oxford Union rival, and urging him to stay on as head of the NHS for another year. The decision on the new head of the NHS is one of the most consequential decisions that Sajid Javid will make as Health Secretary and asking a
Friday
Is Hancock’s position under threat?
14 min listen
The Sun broke the news this morning that Health Secretary Matt Hancock has seemingly been up to some extra-marital exploits with his aide Gina Coladangelo, possibly breaking many of the Covid restrictions that he himself put in place. What will be the consequences of his hypocrisy? ‘This simply demonstrates that we’ve been through a period where
Thursday
A home counties rebellion is brewing
With the polls regularly showing double-digit Tory leads and the Covid restrictions on course to go on the 19 July, you might expect Tory MPs to be in a fairly relaxed mood. But, as I say in the new edition of the magazine, last week’s by-election, which saw the Liberal Democrats replace a 16,000 Conservative majority with
Will Brits be welcomed abroad this summer?
10 min listen
Daily new cases are just under 17,000 today, and Angela Merkel has advised other EU leaders to make British tourists quarantine upon entry to the bloc. So even if the British government allows a more liberal green list, would British tourists be welcomed abroad? Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Katy points
Life is about to get harder for Boris Johnson
Covid restrictions are meant to end on 19 July. But parliament will not return to normal until September. The Commons goes into recess on 22 July and there’s no desire in government to end proxy voting for the dregs of the session. The chief whip has told colleagues that he might struggle to get MPs
Wednesday
Five years later will we ever truly move on from Brexit?
13 min listen
It’s the five year anniversary of when the UK decided to leave the European Union and while the opposition are looking to try and put the referendum behind them, the government still seems keen to put any UK success squarely on the shoulders of Brexit. ‘There is an asymmetry in British politics now between about
Tuesday
Who’s being hurt by ‘white privilege’?
14 min listen
While Labour are shuffling people round yet again.. ‘There needs to be a change in messaging from the leader’s office, because otherwise it just looks like he’s rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.’ – Isabel Hardman And the DUP are getting ready to welcome in their third leader in less than a month… ‘Donaldson is actually in
Monday
What’s the plan for planning reform?
13 min listen
With the Conservatives still taking stock after their loss in the recent by-election, it seems the governments ambitions for planning reform are now firmly under the microscope. ‘When you speak to these MPs… they are absolutely convinced that planning reform is dead’ – Katy Balls And on what would have been ‘freedom day’, there are
Saturday
Will Boris Johnson face more southern rebels?
18 min listen
The surprise result of Friday’s Chesham and Amersham by-election has led to questions over why the Conservative lost just so badly – and why no one saw it coming. On today’s Coffee House Shots, Conservative Home’s Paul Goodman warns against over-reading the situation: ‘When it comes to by-elections, the golden rule should be, why not presume that
Friday
How do you explain the Lib Dems’ stunning victory?
11 min listen
In a political upset the Liberal Democrats have won the by-election in Chesham and Amersham in a massive poll swing from the Tories. ‘What they’ve done is overturned a majority of 16,000 and then they’ve had quite a few votes to boot!’ – Katy Balls And in other political the new DUP leader Edwin Poots
Does ‘Johnson’s law’ explain why people won’t work from home?
Even after the one metre rule and the limits on numbers are removed on July 19th, we will not be back to anything approaching normal life. From self-isolation to travel we will not be returning to the status quo ante. Another way in which life will be different, as I say in the Times today,
Can the Tory electoral coalition hold after Chesham and Amersham?
Tory MPs in prosperous southern seats will be feeling rather nervous this morning. The Lib Dem victory in Chesham and Amersham, see Katy’s blog here, is another illustration of how the decline in tribal voting means there are far fewer safe seats than before. One immediate consequence of this result is that it will harden
Thursday
Edwin Poots’s departure is a sign of the chaos engulfing the DUP
Only 20 days after winning the party leadership by one vote, Edwin Poots has resigned as DUP leader. The immediate trigger for his departure is him nominating a First Minister today in spite of the opposition of a majority of both DUP MLAs and MPs. (They were unhappy about the late night Irish Language Act
The new leviathan: the big state is back
48 min listen
It seems we are in a new President/Prime Minister alliance of big government spending, should we be excited or concerned? (00:44) Also on the podcast: Are the UK tabloids going woke? (15:00)? And in the wake of the pandemic are we ready to have a grown up conversation about death?(31:11) With Spectator Political Editor James
How much trouble is the DUP in?
13 min listen
New DUP leader Edwin Poots faces his first challenge today as he tries to push through a controversial candidate for First Minister. There are now rumours that the party may launch a vote of no-confidence in him, only a month after he became leader. How much trouble is the party in? Katy Balls points out that