James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The most striking thing about the lockdown easing that Boris Johnson just announced is how limited it is. Single parents and those who live alone will be able to form a support bubble with one other household; churches and other places of worship will re-open for individual prayer, and zoos will be able to admit
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Prime Minister’s Questions is becoming an increasingly heated affair. This week, Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson clashed over school closures, as well as the government’s response to the Black Lives Matter protests. John Connolly talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
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The government has shelved its aim of reopening primary schools before the end of term amid growing pressure from parents and unions. But how will that affect the poorest students? Katy Balls talks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
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Thousands of protesters took to the streets this weekend as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. In Bristol, a statue of the slaver Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into the city’s docks. But are we now seeing a change in the government’s response? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
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Some decision-makers have already made timelines of their actions since the start of the pandemic, James Forsyth reveals in his political column for this week’s Spectator. How does the knowledge that an inquiry is coming change the way the pandemic is dealt with?
To no one’s great surprise, Michel Barnier has made a very downbeat statement following the latest round of UK-EU trade negotiations. He has declared that ‘there’s been no significant progress since the start of these talks’, accused the UK of backsliding on the political declaration and warned that he doesn’t think the talks ‘can go
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With an NHS tracing app not fully up and running until autumn, contact tracing seems like the latest in a series of events where the government has over-promised and under-delivered. Is it time for the government to admit the mistakes it has made in dealing with the pandemic?
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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced that face masks will be compulsory on public transport from mid-June. Until recently, that was explicitly not the government advice. What’s changed?
It is inevitable that there will be a public inquiry into the government’s handling of coronavirus at the end of all this – the death toll demands it. There is, as I say in the magazine this week, an interesting question about what kind of person should chair the inquiry. Leveson was a judge, Chilcot
During the pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has developed a reputation for announcing things just before the UK government does. But there has been no Downing Street follow-up yet to her announcement last week at First Minister’s Questions that there will be a full public inquiry into Scotland’s handling of the crisis. This silence should not, however,
The clashes between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer are becoming increasingly bad-tempered. Starmer’s strategy is to ask Boris Johnson a series of questions to which there are no good answers. Boris Johnson, informed by focus group research showing that voters don’t want to see a return to partisan politics, responds by accusing Starmer of not
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The time for constructive opposition is over, as Keir Starmer picks up a new tone in his interview to the Guardian, which he continued in PMQs. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about this strategy; and other issues of proxy voting, Scottish care homes, the BAME impact, and a new testing target.
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MPs are back in the House of Commons this week, and Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg wants them to vote physically, but socially distanced. This means a meandering queue through the Palace of Westminster for MPs to file through the lobbies. Will it work?
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From the speed of easing lockdown, to quarantine for international travellers, to the return of MPs to parliament – the government is fighting battles on many fronts. Has it made things more difficult for itself?
The government’s most unpopular policy on its own benches is its plan to make almost everyone arriving in this country quarantine for 14 days. Among backbenchers and the outer cabinet this policy is disliked with an increasing intensity. ‘Colleagues absolutely hate it’, one cabinet minister tells me. Some backbenchers dislike it because it will hit
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MPs are returning to parliament next week, marking an end of the hybrid model that saw most MPs Zooming into parliamentary debates. On the podcast, John Connolly talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the challenges in a socially distanced House of Commons. Get a month’s free trial of The Spectator and a free
The last week has shown that Boris Johnson’s majority of 80 isn’t as big as it first appeared, I say in the Times on Saturday. Despite Boris Johnson throwing his full political weight behind Dominic Cummings, forty plus Tories still called for the PM’s senior adviser to go. The problem for No. 10 is that
One of the striking things about the government’s further easing of the lockdown is that it has focused on socialising rather than further attempts to get economic activity going again. At first blush, this is a surprising move. The blow that the public finances have taken from coronavirus means that it is imperative economic activity
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It’s not just coronavirus, but the government is keen to have a new approach to China. We discuss what this entails and whether or not it’s a good idea (00:50). Plus, what will be the lasting impact of the Cummings affair on the government? (17:16) And last, the way to deal with noisy neighbours now
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Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance refused to give their opinions on the Dominic Cummings affair at today’s press conference; while Durham police indicated that they will not be investigating the Barnard Castle trip any further, after announcing that it might have been a minor breach. Downing Street says it’s ‘case closed’ – is it really?