James Heale is The Spectator’s deputy political editor.
Boris Johnson has just finished a mammoth three hour evidence session in front of the Privileges Committee inquiry into whether he misled the House about Covid guidance being broken in No. 10. It was a combative affair at times with Johnson displaying flashes of anger and irritation – understandable given it was twice as long
Boris Johnson has today published his long-awaited ‘partygate’ defence, ahead of his appearance before the Privileges Committee tomorrow afternoon. In the 52-page submission, Johnson accepts that he did mislead the House of Commons when he said that ‘the rules and guidance had been followed at all times’ during Covid. But he insists he made his
Today Louise Casey has published her report into the Metropolitan police – and it makes for damning reading. The review was commissioned in the aftermath of the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met PC Wayne Couzens in March 2021. Baroness Casey was appointed by the Met to lead an independent probe
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Ahead of the vote on Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP has said he will not back the key parts of the Windsor Framework. How much could this become a problem for Rishi Sunak? Also on Wednesday, what are the possible outcomes of Boris Johnson’s probe into Partygate? Natasha Feroze,
There was bad news for Rishi Sunak this lunchtime as Sir Jeffrey Donaldson confirmed that he and the seven other DUP MPs will vote on Wednesday against the Windsor Framework. Few in government were expecting the party to vote for the deal but some harboured hopes that the party might abstain or register a more
It’s the day after Jeremy Hunt’s first Budget and so far the Chancellor has managed to avoid disaster. Reaction has been muted, with the Daily Mail asking the question on the mind of many Tories: ‘Is it enough to turn the tide?’ The Guardian and Mirror have, predictably, focused on criticism of Hunt’s proposal to
The House of Commons will next week debate a motion on the Stormont brake, a month after it was unveiled by Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen. The measure was the centrepiece of Sunak’s ‘Windsor Framework’ and is intended to resolve long-running issues in Northern Ireland by alleviating the worst aspects of the Protocol
In the Budget we heard plenty about welfare reform and how Conservatives believe in hard work. But in the small print, the OBR reveals it expects just 10,000 to go back to employment because of tighter conditionality on benefits: a tiny sliver of the 5.2 million on out-of-work benefits. A greater number – 75,000 –
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MPs voted through the second reading of the Illegal Migration bill last night with a 62-vote majority. There was a handful of Tory MPs that abstained from voting but importantly, despite threats of a rebellion, no Conservative MPs voted against it. Seen as an election-winning issue, is this a rare sign of unity from the
Rishi Sunak has announced in California the details of the UK-US pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. Aukus was first-unveiled in September 2021: in the 18 months since, the three nations have agreed that the new fleet will be built in Britain and Australia to British designs. It’s only the second time ever that
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Boris Johnson is reportedly cutting the number of names on his honours list from 100 to 60 (still much higher than the average honours list for former prime ministers). This is a Tory sleaze scandal in the making, so should Rishi Sunak think about blocking it? Or could the reminder of Johnson’s flaws actually help
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This week: James Heale asks whether the cabinet secretary Simon Case can carry on (01:00), Cosmo Landesman tells the story of when a man – and his axe – came to visit his home in London (05:03), and Miranda Morrison warns against the damaging obsession with STEM in secondary schools (11:10). Produced and presented by
Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron held a press conference together at the Élysée Palace today to mark their new deal on stopping the Channel crossings. It is part of the first Franco-British summit for five years and a chance for Sunak to demonstrate his commitment to breaking with the factitious post-Brexit era in UK-France relations.
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It’s been reported that more damaging messages sent by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case during the pandemic will surface in the Daily Telegraph’s Lockdown Files, leading to speculation over whether he will still be in position by the time of the King’s coronation. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Heale about whether the Cabinet
When Simon Case was named as cabinet secretary in September 2020 he became, at the age of 41, the youngest appointee in more than 100 years. He will probably earn another distinction soon: the youngest ex-cabinet secretary in history. In Westminster, some say his departure is a question of when not if. Should he go
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Suella Braverman unveiled the Illegal Migration Bill today in the Commons. The Home Secretary said that Britain had been ‘taken for a ride’, as she revealed the government’s plan to detain asylum seekers for up to 28 days ‘without bail or judicial review until they can be removed’. Will this contravene the European Convention on
Today the privileges committee has published its initial report into whether Boris Johnson lied to the House of Commons about Partygate. This inquiry does not look at whether gatherings in lockdown happened or not – we know they did. Rather, it is going to investigate whether Johnson was aware such gatherings were taking place and,
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The Daily Telegraph has splashed on over 100,000 WhatsApp messages to and from Matt Hancock during his time as Health Secretary. Altogether they show the internal workings of the government and how key lockdown decisions were made during that time. On the podcast, James Heale talks to Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson, who has been working with
The reaction to Rishi Sunak’s Protocol changes has so far been at the upper end of expectations in No. 10. It gets a thumbs up from the Fleet Street papers – including the still-influential Daily Mail which has tended to splash positive stories about Boris Johnson. It has received warm words from a raft of
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James Heale speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls about some of the key points in the Windsor Framework. Having reached an agreement with the EU, can Rishi Sunak do the same with both the Tories and the DUP?