Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
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?
Dominic Cummings spent the sunny Bank Holiday Monday answering questions from journalists in the Downing Street rose garden. After days of negative headlines and a growing backlash from Tory MPs over allegations that the Prime Minister’s senior aide broke lockdown rules, Cummings took the unusual step in order to try to explain the rationale behind his movements. The senior No.
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.
Despite calls from a growing number of Tory MPs for Dominic Cummings to go over allegations that he breached lockdown guidance, Boris Johnson used today’s press conference to give his senior aide his full backing. In unambiguous terms, the Prime Minister began proceedings by telling the public he had held lengthy discussions with Cummings over the
15 min listen
The government has come out in defence of Dominic Cummings’s decision to travel to Durham during lockdown. On the podcast, two Spectator writers give their opposing views on whether or not he made the right decision.
Grant Shapps had hoped to spend today’s government press conference discussing extra funding for public transport as a result of coronavirus adjustments. Instead, the Transport Secretary spent it fielding questions about Dominic Cummings. After the Guardian and Mirror reported that the senior No. 10 aide travelled 260 miles to be near relatives so his family had childcare support
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?
37 min listen
Kate Forbes is an SNP MP and the Scottish Finance Secretary. She stepped in at the last minute when her predecessor, Derek MacKay, was suspended from the party on the day of the Budget. On the podcast, she talks about her international upbringing and how that relates to her nationalism, what it was like to
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.
A little over 24 hours after Boris Johnson stood in the Commons Chamber and defended the NHS surcharge remaining in place for overseas NHS and social care workers, the Prime Minister performed a U-turn. A No. 10 spokesperson has confirmed this afternoon that Johnson has asked the Home Office and Department for Health to exempt healthcare workers from
At PMQs this week, Keir Starmer went on the attack over the NHS surcharge which means workers coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area have to pay a fee to use the health service. The current fee, of £400 a year, is due to rise to £624 from October. The Labour leader called on
A sign that Downing Street is having to adapt to a new opponent in Sir Keir Starmer could be found in today’s Prime Minister’s Questions. After two successive PMQs in which Boris Johnson was accused of being out of his depth by critics and even some supporters, there was a concerted effort to try and show
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?
With ministers and officials involved with the country’s coronavirus strategy braced for an eventual public inquiry, this week we’re being given a glimpse of how it might play out. During a morning broadcast round on Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey set the cat among the pigeons when she was asked about mistakes the
15 min listen
This Wednesday, MPs will head home from the virtual parliament and go into recess. When they come back to work, the government is pushing for a return to normal. Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg wants MPs to return to parliament rather than work from home. There are no current plans to renew measures that had allowed MPs to
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,
19 min listen
With Alex Massie, the Spectator’s Scotland Editor, and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Katy Balls.
One of the consequences of the virtual parliament is fewer opportunities for MPs to lobby No. 10. However, this afternoon MPs were given a rare audience with the Prime Minister as Boris Johnson appeared via video link for a meeting of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers. With a growing number of MPs anxious over
