Katy Balls

Katy Balls

Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.

Thursday

Katy Balls

‘Those Jedi mind tricks don’t work on me’: Dominic Raab on Truss, Sunak and his own future

From our UK edition

If Liz Truss is named prime minister next week, her administration will look rather different to the government of the past few years. Rishi Sunak has suggested he won’t accept any job offer. Michael Gove, a Sunak supporter, has pre-emptively ruled himself out. Other prominent backers are expected to join the pair on the backbenches – such as the Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Dominic Raab. Truss’s allies say he deserves what’s coming his way for having likened her economic plans of immediate tax cuts to an ‘electoral suicide note’. Yet for a man on political death row, Raab is remarkably cheery when we meet at The Spectator’s offices.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Will Boris be back?

From our UK edition

14 min listen

Boris Johnson is on his farewell tour but is remaining coy about the possibility of a political comeback. What problems will this throw up for the next prime minister? Will Boris be friend or foe?  Also on the podcast, after Liz Truss pulled out of her BBC interview with Nick Robinson, is she trying to avoid scrutiny of her plan to tackle the cost of living?  Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.  Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.

Friday

Katy Balls

How high will energy prices go?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

Today Ofgem announced that household energy bills will climb to an average of £3,549 a year, starting in October. Have the government prepared Brits for how bad the crisis could get? How do Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak plan to reach those that need help the most urgently? Also on the podcast, there are reports that Liz Truss plans to trigger Article 16, suspending parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Is now a good time for a trade war? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews. Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

From the archives: Liz Truss

From our UK edition

33 min listen

Before the new Women With Balls series arrives in Autumn, we have prepared a special episode from our archives. Katy Balls interviewed Liz Truss four years ago when she was chief secretary to the Treasury. Back then she was a straight talker who was gaining a reputation for her speeches that would often turn into memes. She was a politician that was starting to find her own voice and speak her mind. Now Liz Truss is vying to be the next Prime Minister and the odds-on favourite to enter 10 Downing Street. But what has changed since 2018? Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss the pathway of Liz Truss's career that has led her to where she is now. Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Lockdown files: what we weren’t told

From our UK edition

42 min listen

In this week’s episode:What has Rishi Sunak revealed about the lockdown decisions made behind closed doors?Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews join the Edition podcast to discuss (1.14).Also this week:From aid to trade: when will the West start to deal with Africa on its own terms?Spectator columnist, Aidan Hartley is joined by Degan Ali, founder and principal of DA Global (16.24).And finally: are handsy yoga teachers pushing their pupils away?Rachel Johnson makes this case in the magazine this week. She's joined by Sasha Brown-Worsham who is a yoga teacher and author of the book Namaste the Hard Way (32.32).Hosted by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Katy Balls

Is Rishi heading for political Siberia?

From our UK edition

9 min listen

Rishi Sunak has today confirmed that he will stay on as an MP if he loses the leadership contest, and that he will also vote for a Liz Truss budget. Will this help the Tory party heal? Also, Rishi Sunak told The Spectator that scientists had too much power during lockdown. What has their response been? Max Jeffery speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews. Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

Who will Liz Truss forgive?

From our UK edition

Liz Truss has always been more popular with Tory party members than with Tory politicians. The moment of greatest peril for her in the Conservative leadership race was when MPs were whittling down the final two candidates. After being knocked out in the second round, Suella Braverman urged her Brexiteer backers to get behind the Foreign Secretary. Many refused to do so and instead supported Kemi Badenoch, which meant that Truss’s vote count only went up by seven MPs. The momentum could have moved to Badenoch, then behind by just 13. ‘It was the most stressful point of the contest,’ recalls a supporter of the Foreign Secretary. Eventually Truss made it to the final two and united the right of the party behind her. She now looks on course to enter No.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Is Truss’s social care pledge more borrowing in disguise?

From our UK edition

14 min listen

In the latest leadership hustings, Liz Truss promised to take money away from the NHS to put into social care. But as Kate Andrews points out in this episode, given that Truss is also planning on scrapping the National Insurance rise, Truss'll need to find more money in order to fund this latest pledge. On the episode, Kate talks with Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.'This is the second time in her campaign that she has done something which has made me really doubt whether she's serious about her economic mission. And the other time, of course, was when she announced that she'd do regional pay.' - Fraser Nelson.Produced by Natasha Feroze and Cindy Yu.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

Can only Corbyn fix the Tories?

From our UK edition

9 min listen

There are only three hustings left in the Tory leadership race, after six weeks which have seen the party tear itself apart. What will fix the party? Is Jeremy Corbyn the solution? Max Jeffery speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.Produced by Max Jeffery.'Liz Truss is going to have a short window to give the good news of a tax cut. After that, I suspect it'll be bad, after bad, after bad.

Monday

Katy Balls

Is Truss scared of the OBR?

From our UK edition

11 min listen

The focus is on Liz Truss's planned emergency budget. Over the weekend it was revealed that she wouldn't consult the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) before announcing her plans. Could this backfire? Also on the podcast, investment bank Citi have warned that inflation could hit 18 per cent come January. Were the Bank of England's projections too optimistic? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Katy Balls

Truss and Sunak reach crunch week on the energy crisis

From our UK edition

There's still two weeks of the Tory leadership contest to go but by Friday the scale of the energy crisis that awaits the next prime minister will be clear for all to see. This is when Ofgem is due to announce the new level at which energy bills will be capped. After the price cap hit £1,971 in April, the forecasts point to trouble ahead. Cornwall Insight predicts the October rise could see bills go up to £3,582 a year. This could go up to £4,266 by January with suggestions it could even reach £6,000 by April next year. After Friday, both candidates will come under greater pressure to spell out what relief they would offer struggling households It means the terms of the debate are once again on the economy.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Katy Balls, Toby Young and Mark Palmer

From our UK edition

15 min listen

On this episode of Spectator Out Loud, Katy Balls discusses the challenges facing prospective PM Liz Truss (00:52). Toby Young shares why he is defending a pro-Putin apologist (06:45) and Mark Palmer reads his notes on hand luggage (11:29). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

Friday

Katy Balls

Gove says Truss’s plans are a ‘holiday from reality’

From our UK edition

Is the Tory leadership race already over? That’s the narrative among Conservative MPs with two weeks of the leadership contest to go. The Sunak camp dispute this version of events – and tonight they have an endorsement which works in their favour. After several Tory MPs switched their allegiance from Rishi Sunak to Liz Truss, this evening Michael Gove has endorsed the former Chancellor. Writing for the Times, the former Minister for the Cabinet Office has argued Truss’s plans for immediate tax cuts are a 'holiday from reality' that would put 'the stock options of FTSE 100 executives' before the poorest. He says that Sunak is best placed to prioritise the most vulnerable. A pitch for a job? Unlikely.

Thursday

Katy Balls

Is the Labour party in trouble?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

It seems like Labour has a problem when it comes to the size of its membership. It lost 91,000 members last year and recorded a £4.8 million deficit. Is this the Keir Starmer effect on the Corbyn membership?Also on the podcast, Rishi Sunak has gone viral after sharing his McDonald's breakfast order on This Morning. Katy Balls tells us why it was such a controversial choice. Cindy Yu speaks to Isabel Hardman and Katy Balls. Produced by Cindy Yu & Natasha Feroze.

Katy Balls

Who will Liz Truss send to political Siberia?

From our UK edition

‘Whatever else you do, don’t step backwards,’ a man in the crowd shouts to Rishi Sunak as he stands on the edge of a swimming pool in the garden of a Tory councillor’s home in Bushey, Hertfordshire. About 100 party members have gathered to hear Sunak’s pitch. It’s the first of three stops he’s making before a hustings in Cheltenham. The leadership race will be decided by around 160,000 Tory members – and Sunak seems to be trying to meet as many of them as he can. On each visit he offers a version of his stump speech, including jokes about his height and how, unlike Boris Johnson, he looks as though his mother brushed his hair. Every address he gives has a common theme: the economy.

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Inflation hits double digits: what next?

From our UK edition

12 min listen

The UK inflation rate is now at 10.1 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics. Is there much that the government can do to relieve its effects? Also on the podcast, the leadership contenders are in Belfast for the next hustings: how will the audience respond to the candidate's position on The Northern Ireland Protocol? Katy Balls is joined by Kate Andrews and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

Tuesday

Katy Balls

When will the inflation rate fall?

From our UK edition

13 min listen

New figures released this week show that wages have fallen significantly behind the rising cost of living. Is there more trouble ahead? Also on the podcast, as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss attend hustings in Scotland: which candidate is favoured the most north of the border? Katy Balls is joined by Kate Andrews and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Max Jeffery and Oscar Edmondson.

Monday

Katy Balls

Would Starmer’s energy plan work?

From our UK edition

15 min listen

Keir Starmer has unveiled a £29 billion plan to freeze energy bills for six months. Under his proposals, the Labour leader said Brits would not face the enormous price hikes anticipated in October and January.But is his idea a serious one? Where would the money come from? And how have the Tories responded? Isabel Hardman speaks to Fraser Nelson and Katy Balls.Produced by Max Jeffery.

Katy Balls

Keir Starmer unveils his energy plan

From our UK edition

Keir Starmer is today attempting to get back on the front foot over the cost-of-living crisis. Over the past fortnight, the Labour leader has been keeping a low profile (including a holiday abroad) which has given space to former prime minister Gordon Brown and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey to fill the vacuum in his absence. The policy Starmer has unveiled this morning isn't so different to what both Brown and Davey talked about when it comes to helping consumers with rising energy bills: freezing the energy price cap. Starmer is proposing a £29 billion plan ahead of the scheduled energy price cap rise in October, which is currently forecast to hit £3,582 a year.

Saturday

Katy Balls

Is Labour missing in action?

From our UK edition

10 min listen

Katy Balls speaks to Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth about why Sir Keir Starmer and his frontbench have been seemingly missing in action during the Tory leadership race and the ongoing cost of living crisis.