Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
Will Boris Johnson ever trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol? The Prime Minister has been under increasing pressure to do so from the right flank of his MPs – particularly in the wake of partygate. Conservative MPs have been going into No. 10 with a list of demands in return for their continuing
11 min listen
Boris Johnson is travelling to the Middle East tonight, where he’ll be meeting Gulf leaders and trying to convince them to pump more oil. With Britain’s energy price cap likely to rise to £3,000 in October, how important is it for the Prime Minister to get what he wants? And will more supply alone fix
14 min listen
Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has caused the prices of oil and gas to skyrocket. One of the Prime Minster’s strategies to combat this appears to be a visit Saudi Arabia this week, where he’ll ask Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to release more oil. But what’s the chance of this working? Katy Balls is joined
11 min listen
While the world is hearing mummers that Vladimir Putin is considering using chemical weapons in Ukraine, the UK government has imposed sanctions on hundreds of Russian Parliamentarians. But will this latest move make the Kremlin pause or is it a largely symbolic gesture? Katy Balls talks with Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.
37 min listen
Suella Braverman is the Conservative MP for Fareham and became the first female elected Attorney General in 2020. Formerly known as one of the Brexit Spartans, she talks on the podcast, about growing up surrounded by politics where she first lay the foundations for a career as a Conservative politician. As a young woman, she
Following criticism in recent weeks that the UK government has lagged behind both the US and the EU when it comes to sanctioning oligarchs, this morning the Foreign Office announced fresh sanctions for seven businessmen with alleged links to Vladimir Putin. On that list is Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich. The billionaire Chelsea FC owner
When schools were closed during lockdown, it wasn’t only education that suffered. The classroom can offer an opportunity to identify children in danger of abuse, with tens of thousands of pupils on the at-risk register. Take away schools and this safety net vanishes. Now and again, stories emerged of just how badly things went wrong:
One night in December 1977, when Saddam Hussein was deputy leader of Iraq and already the strongman of the government, Nadhim Zahawi’s father was tipped off that Saddam’s secret police were after him. Zahawi, a Kurd working in Baghdad, decided to leave right away. He phoned the office to say that he was travelling to
14 min listen
While Europe opens its arms up to the Ukrainians fleeing war, the UK is taking a much slower approach. While people are allowed to come in relatively quickly if they have family here, that definition of family is extremely limited. Our response is causing confusion with the public but seemingly also within the Conservative party.
28 min listen
During the pandemic, we spent more time online than ever before and this has seen a boom in online fraud. It’s estimated that scam adverts have tricked 1 in 10 people on the biggest online platform into paying for fake products. In 2020, almost 150,000 fraud cases were recorded with losses reported of up to
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was greeted with applause and a standing ovation this evening when he appeared before the House of Commons. The Ukrainian president – who addressed MPs by video link – gave a short but impassioned speech. He said that he was addressing the UK parliament ‘as a citizen, as a president of
13 min listen
Former Speaker of the House, John Bercow has been banned from the Commons after the publishing of a review that reveals the extent of his bullying behaviour towards members of his staff. How will Labour react to this after welcoming him in with open arms? Also, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will today address a number
15 min listen
As the Russian invasion enters its twelfth day, fuel prices hit new records in the UK. Global leaders are preparing for the worst, is the UK braced for this too? Also on the podcast, what’s behind Boris Johnson’s six-point plan? ‘I would far rather Boris Johnson wasn’t turning away Ukrainian refugees at the border in
Boris Johnson is attempting to carve out a role for himself as the figure who can lead the West in its response to the invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, the Prime Minister penned an article for the New York Times – in which he set out his ‘six-point plan’ to defeat Putin. The points are
10 min listen
Though Britain has been sending weapons to Ukraine, and led Europe’s push to get Russia taken out of the Swift banking system, the government has been criticised for being slow in sanctioning Russian oligarchs. What more should we be doing? Max Jeffery talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
11 min listen
PMQs began with a rather unorthodox but touching round of applause to welcome the Ukrainian ambassador to the chamber. While the Commons was united in its support of Ukraine and condemnation of Putin’s actions, Labour leader Keir Starmer confronted Boris Johnson about certain Russian individuals who have been sanctioned by our allies but not by
10 min listen
During a press conference in Poland today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was confronted by Ukrainian journalist and campaigner Daria Kaleniuk, who took issue with the excuse for not imposing a no-fly zone because it may start World War Three, saying it had already begun. While it is completely understandable that on the streets of Ukrainian
What help will the government offer to Ukrainians seeking shelter in the UK? While the Prime Minister has been talking up his support for the Ukrainian people, government actions on offering refuge to those fleeing the country has so far been limited. After immigration minister Kevin Foster suggested on social media that those escaping Putin’s invasion
12 min listen
Over the weekend, the West unveiled further measures to punish Russia for invading Ukraine. The European Union said it would put limits on the Russian central bank’s ability to access its reserve of foreign currency, Finland blocked Russia from its airspace, and Germany pledged that it would increase its defence spending to 2 per cent.
11 min listen
Katy Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and Tony Danker, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), about the Chancellor’s Mais lecture on Thursday, where he reaffirmed his belief in ‘sustainably’ cutting taxes.
