Coffee House Shots Live: Another winter of discontent?
75 min listen
Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss plans to stop spiralling inflation – and a spiralling government.
Katy Balls
Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
Wednesday
Braverman out. Has the great resignation begun?
10 min listen
Suella Braverman has resigned as Home Secretary over a row on immigration measures. Grant Shapps has been selected to replace her. Will more follow? Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth.
Suella Braverman out as Home Secretary
Just as it seemed a brief calm was emerging in the Tory party, the Prime Minister has lost her Home Secretary. Suella Braverman has left her role with Grant Shapps brought in to replace her. The circumstances of her departure are shrouded in mystery for now – but government sources suggest this is not a
The question Liz Truss needs to answer
Liz Truss will face the music this lunchtime when she speaks in the Chamber for the first time since she sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, hired Jeremy Hunt as his successor –then watched as he junked almost the entirety of the not-so-mini-Budget. When Labour summoned Truss for an Urgent Question on the issue on Monday,
Tuesday
Will there be resignations?
13 min listen
Another day, another u-turn. Liz Truss met with her Cabinet today and is reportedly considering u-turning on the pensions triple lock. Are ministers heading for more ‘lengthy discussions’ on public spending? Should we brace ourselves for resignations? Also on the podcast, as Hunt looks at which departments to cut, what could this mean for the
Monday
Mordaunt faces the music as Truss’s understudy
When the phrases ‘the Prime Minister is not under a desk’ and ‘I don’t think there has been a coup’ are put forward by a minister tasked with defending their boss, it’s a sign that the parliamentary session has not gone to plan. This was the case this afternoon when Penny Mordaunt was sent to
Trussonomics is dead
18 min listen
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gave a statement this morning in which he outlined plans to scrap ‘almost all’ the tax measures announced by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng just four weeks ago. In one of the largest U-turns in history, the markets have become the most important force in British politics. James Forsyth, Katy Balls, Kate Andrews
Will there be a revolt on the Tory right?
What is the point of Liz Truss’s government? Expect more MPs to ask that question today after Jeremy Hunt’s statement tearing up the not-so-mini Budget. The new chancellor has just announced in an address that he will be scrapping every tax cut in Truss and her then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal event bar the reversal of
Sunday
How long can Liz Truss hold on?
How much trouble is Liz Truss in? Just six weeks into her premiership, the Prime Minister’s economic plans are in tatters after she axed her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, reversed on her campaign pledge to scrap the scheduled corporation tax hike and brought in Jeremy Hunt as his successor. Now Hunt is calling the shots on
Saturday
Jeremy Hunt: there are ‘very difficult decisions’ ahead
Liz Truss made two big moves on Friday in a bid to calm the markets and save her premiership. The first was to announce that she was ditching plans to cancel the scheduled corporation tax rise. The second was that she had sacked her chancellor and long standing ally Kwasi Kwarteng – bringing Jeremy Hunt
Friday
Five ways the Liz Truss saga could end
How does this end? That’s the question being asked by Tory MPs as Liz Truss’s government finds itself in turmoil once again. The Prime Minister’s decision to axe her chancellor and U-turn on a plan to ditch the corporation tax has only added to nerves in the Conservative party as to how sustainable the current
Liz Truss’s painful press conference fails to calm Tory nerves
Liz Truss has just confirmed that she is U-turning on another part of her government’s not-so-mini Budget. After sacking her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng this morning, the Prime Minister used a Downing Street press conference to say that she will now keep the increase in corporation tax, despite promising to ditch it. This ought to raise
Truss sacks Kwarteng. What next?
13 min listen
Prime Minister Liz Truss has sacked her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt. By removing her closest ideological ally. Can she save herself? Kate Andrews speaks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Why Truss picked Hunt for Chancellor
A day is a long time in politics. Just this morning, a No. 10 source told the BBC the Prime Minister believed Kwasi Kwarteng was doing ‘an excellent job’ as chancellor and the pair were ‘in lockstep.’ Only just a few hours on, Liz Truss has sacked her close ally and friend in a bid
Thursday
Will Truss be gone by Christmas?
14 min listen
After a day of speculation, the rumours that Liz Truss was about to U-turn on more areas of the mini-budget proved untrue. Conservative MPs had a tense evening in the 1922 Committee meeting last night – are there any good options left for the Prime Minister? Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
The Fiona Hill Edition
40 min listen
Fiona Hill is a seasoned political advisor, consultant and strategist. Born in Glasgow, she began her career as the first-ever female football reporter in Scotland. Then after moving into politics, she later became the first female chief of staff in No.10 under Theresa May. In her first interview since leaving Downing Street five years ago,
Wednesday
‘Election campaigns are like voodoo’: Fiona Hill breaks her silence
Not so long ago, Fiona Hill was the most powerful woman in Whitehall. She ran Downing Street with an iron grip for the first year of Theresa May’s premiership alongside her co-chief of staff Nick Timothy. Ministers bowed to their authority, civil servants feared them, Tory MPs complained of a power grab by a duo
Backbench Tories turn on Truss
Liz Truss’s appearance before MPs at the 1922 committee was meant to be part of a wider charm offensive as she tries to get MPs back on side after a tricky start. With Labour enjoying a large poll lead and market turmoil dominating the news, Truss needs to keep her party behind her. Yet that
Is Truss ruling out spending cuts?
9 min listen
Did Liz Truss misspeak or did she mean it when she said that she wouldn’t go ahead with spending cuts, as promised in her leadership campaign? On the episode, Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about what the Prime Minister could have meant, given the need to balance the books to pay
Tuesday
What is the way out for Kwasi?
14 min listen
Parliament is back today and Kwasi Kwarteng is facing questions from the opposition as well as from those within his party. How much pressure is he under? Also on the podcast, looking ahead to another fiscal event at the end of the month, are we heading for a series of departmental spending cuts? What would
