James Heale

James Heale

James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.

What are the Tories for if not lower taxes?

‘I didn’t come into politics to raise taxes on working people,’ said the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves in Liverpool this week. ‘Indeed I want them to be lower.’ That was a direct electoral attack on Reeves’s opposite number, Jeremy Hunt, who has increased the already huge fiscal burden on the British public. If the Tories

How’s the mood at Labour conference?

13 min listen

It’s the first day of Labour party conference and whilst the mood is buoyant the story that has dominated the weekend is of course the Hamas attack on Israel. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has refused to condemn the attack, will he be a thorn in Keir Starmer’s side this week? And will Starmer finally

What’s behind the PM’s plan to axe A-levels?

16 min listen

One of the announcements made in Rishi Sunak’s conference speech was to scrap A-levels in favour of a new qualification which includes compulsory English and Maths. With several problems in the education system, and years of disruption for students, what was behind the PM’s decision to radically overhaul the system? James Heale speaks to Fraser

What’s going on with HS2?

14 min listen

It’s day three at Tory conference and the story that won’t go away is HS2. Rishi Sunak insisted in his media round this morning that a decision has not been made, meanwhile Downing Street sources are reporting that a decision has been made. Standing outside the Midland hotel, Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street

James Heale

Liz Truss’s ‘growth’ rally upstages Jeremy Hunt

It says something about the standing of the current Tory leadership that, away from the party’s half-empty conference hall, some 250 Conservatives packed into a room to attend the ‘Great British Growth Rally’. Headlined by Liz Truss, the former PM was joined on stage by three former cabinet members: Ranil Jayawardena, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Priti

When conferences go wrong

13 min listen

The Conservative party conference begins in Manchester this weekend. Where have conferences gone wrong for previous Tory party leaders, and what will Rishi Sunak want to get out of this one?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Craig Oliver, dormer director of communications in No. 10 under David Cameron.

Is the UK doomed to be a high tax country?

10 min listen

Tax levels in the UK are at their highest since records began 70 years ago and are unlikely to come down, or so says the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) in their report today. How has the tax burden increased over the four years of this parliament? What’s driving up taxes? Also on the podcast,

What’s behind Labour’s private school U-turn?

14 min listen

Another day, another U-turn. But this time it’s Labour, who have changed tack on their plans to end charitable status for private schools. Labour leader Keir Starmer previously declared that the charitable status for private schools could not be justified, so what’s behind the move?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and John McTernan, former

Would Labour grant more oil licences?

12 min listen

The UK’s largest untapped oil and gas field has been given the green light in a move that has been criticised by Labour, although Keir Starmer has said he will honour the Tories’ approval of the controversial Rosebank site should Labour enter government next year. Has the language changed around net zero?  Also on the

The Lib Dems are learning lessons from 2019

Sir Ed Davey has just finished his speech at the end of a broadly successful four-day conference for the Liberal Democrats in sunny Bournemouth. The venue for Davey’s speech could not have been more apt: the International Centre, scene of Margaret Thatcher’s final conference address in 1990. The once true-blue Tory shires that voted for

James Heale

Is Suella after the Tory leadership?

11 min listen

Suella Braverman is in Washington today, giving a speech to a think tank on illegal migration in which she will argue that seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are two different things. It’s a punchy line she’s taking, should Rishi be taking note? Or is this a thinly veiled bid for the Conservative leadership? 

What’s next for the Murdoch empire?

19 min listen

Rupert Murdoch stepped down as chairman of News Corp and Fox News this week. But is this really the end of Murdoch’s career? ‘I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas’, he wrote in a statement. And what will the media tycoon’s legacy be? James Heale speaks

Why can’t Hunt cut taxes?

11 min listen

Jeremy Hunt said yesterday that it would be ‘virtually impossible’ to cut taxes in 2023. James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about why the government has decided to spent more, rather than cut levies, and about whether Hunt and Sunak’s economic plan will come under criticism from Tory MPs at the Conservative

Why Sunak wants to dilute net zero

13 min listen

Rishi Sunak is set to give a speech this week outlining changes to the government’s environmental policies. The plans to phase out new petrol and diesel cars, and gas boilers, will likely be delayed. What does the Prime Minister stand to gain? James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.

What Liz Truss’s big speech was really about

14 min listen

Liz Truss took the stage this morning for her first major intervention on the economy since leaving No. 10. Her speech at the Institute for Government comes almost a year to the day since her mini-Budget saw the markets panic and her premiership come to an abrupt end not long after. What did she have

Lords sink Sunak’s homebuilding plans

Tonight the House of Lords has blocked the government’s plan to relax restrictions on water pollution to encourage housebuilding. Ministers wanted to remove EU-era ‘nutrient neutrality rules’ so as to enable 100,000 new homes to be built by 2030. But the government was defeated by 203 votes to 156 over the issue. Three Conservative peers

Is Labour the party of the pensioner?

12 min listen

At PMQs, neither Labour nor the Tories wanted to commit to keeping the state pension triple lock. Have the two parties, awkwardly and unofficially, reached a consensus on dropping the promise? Max Jeffery speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Heale.

Will Rishi axe the pensions triple lock?

11 min listen

Rishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto. What’s behind his equivocation? And, if the triple lock is ditched, will Labour follow suit?  James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.

Accused parliamentary researcher denies spying for China

A former House of Commons researcher has this morning denied claims that he ever spied for China. The man in question said that he is ‘completely innocent’ and a victim of ‘misreporting’, saying in a statement released by his lawyers that ‘to do what has been claimed against me in extravagant news reporting would be