James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
The UK has made a strategic choice to get ‘off the trajectory of ever-increasing dependence’ on China, I reveal in the magazine this week. This is important as the UK was about to go over the precipice in terms of dependence on China with the decision to allow Huawei to construct a lasting part of
How will the world be different after coronavirus? Will everything return to the way it was or will there be lasting change? For this country, there is one thing that will clearly be different: the government’s approach to China. I understand that while Boris Johnson’s grand, integrated foreign policy review has been put on hold
17 min listen
The Prime Minister appeared for the first time in his premiership in front of the Liaison Committee today. The group, formed of select committee chairs, grilled him on a range of issues from Dominic Cummings to pandemic support, and more.
This morning, some allies of Boris Johnson were very worried about the Dominic Cummings section of the PM’s appearance before the liaison committee. They were concerned it’d produce some news line that would keep this story, which has been so damaging for the government, in lights for another day. But in the end, that section
13 min listen
The latest polling shows a drastic change in the Prime Minister’s popularity because of the Cummings affair. Though the government is still sticking behind the adviser, will the sheer force of public opinion change things?
12 min listen
In an unprecedented press conference today, Dominic Cummings explained the circumstances in which he took his family to Durham, and the exact timeline. He struck a sincere tone, but stopped short of apologising. Has he said enough to stem the backlash?
11 min listen
Boris Johnson gave an unambiguous defence of Dominic Cummings at today’s press conference. In so doing, the government is gambling that this is a storm they can weather. On the podcast, Kate Andrews discusses their thinking with Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
15 min listen
Keir Starmer is off to a good start in his first 50 days as Labour leader. But has he done enough to start bringing back former Labour voters?
15 min listen
New figures from the ONS today show the extent of damage done to the economy. Is this recoverable?
When coronavirus first struck, the assumption was that it would lead to an extension to the Brexit transition. After all, negotiating rounds had to be cancelled as it wasn’t feasible to have large numbers of people travelling back and forth between London and Brussels and crowding into meeting rooms. But the negotiations are now taking
36 min listen
Brexit is back on the agenda, but this time, talks are even more difficult than the last phase (00:45). Plus, what do we understand about immunity, and how should that inform the lockdown policy (16:45)? And for a nation that bangs on about fish, do we eat enough of it (28:00)?
13 min listen
Within 24 hours of refusing to scrap the NHS surcharge for migrant healthworkers, the government has U-turned. We discuss why; as well as Scotland’s lockdown easing and the new civil servant at No 10, Simon Case.
I understand that Simon Case, who was private secretary to Prince William, is now the No. 10 permanent secretary. This is a newly created role and Case will have specific responsibility for Covid. Case knows his way around Whitehall, he was Theresa May’s principal private secretary. The thinking behind the appointment is that Case will
We will know in the next few weeks if Britain is to leave the European Union without a trade deal. The ‘high-level’ meeting in June has been earmarked by the UK and the EU as the moment when they decide whether to take the negotiations to the next stage or not. If there is to
Today is the last day of the hybrid parliament. When MPs return after recess on 2 June, it will be to a traditional House of Commons – albeit with social distancing and limits on how many people can enter the Chamber. This is being seen as a victory for the Tory whips. But the whips
13 min listen
Boris Johnson pledges to get track and trace up by June 1, but is it possible? Plus, how is the government handling the new Opposition Leader, Keir Starmer, and how is the UK going to implement its Northern Ireland agreement with the EU?
15 min listen
There are three areas where government policy now implicitly accepts that they made mistakes in their earlier handling of the pandemic. The first is the desire to increase testing to 200,000 tests a day. This suggests that the earlier decision to pull back from a test and trace strategy because the infection was being spread
17 min listen
The government is aiming to reopen schools on June 1, but with teachers’ unions putting up opposition to the move, this timeline is unlikely to be met. Latest research shows that, meanwhile, the education gap between the poorest children and the wealthier is widening all the time. So in its support for the teachers unions,
25 min listen
On this week’s Audio Reads, Swedish economist Fredrik Erixon reads his cover piece explaining how European nations are all flying blind in the pandemic. James Forsyth advocates a complete rewiring of the British state. And Leaf Arbuthnot, whose novel Looking For Eliza is released this week, extolls the joys of Zoom raves.
