Katy Balls is The Spectator’s political editor.
The turmoil in the SNP has taken a new turn this lunchtime with the sacking of Joanna Cherry QC as shadow spokesperson on justice and home affairs in the House of Commons. The party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford embarked on a reshuffle this morning — using a press release to welcome four MPs to the front bench. However, he
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The EU’s row with AstraZeneca came to a head on Friday, with the bloc publishing its contract with the pharmaceutical giant and introducing vaccine export controls. With the UK’s rollout continuing at pace, where will the vaccine debate go next? Isabel Hardman speaks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls.
The war of words between the EU and AstraZeneca over a shortfall in vaccine doses has just escalated rather dramatically. The EU have today confirmed they will introduce export controls on coronavirus vaccines made in the bloc. This means that as of Saturday, the EU will be able to keep track of all vaccines that are produced on the
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Novavax’s vaccine has shown 89 per cent efficacy in UK trials. The government has bought 60 million doses of the jab, and it’s expected that production will begin in Teesside later this year. But, as the EU’s rollout languishes and their row with AstraZeneca escalates, should Britain consider giving away its vaccines? Katy Balls speaks
As the blame game gets underway in Brussels over the EU’s sluggish vaccination programme, the UK government has fresh reason for cheer: a new coronavirus jab. The Novavax vaccine has successfully completed its phase three trials — finding it to be 89 per cent effective in large-scale UK trials. This data will now be passed to
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Boris Johnson visits Scotland today. To nobody’s surprise, Nicola Sturgeon has criticised the visit coming at this moment in the pandemic; while Keir Starmer has defended the PM’s right to do so as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Cindy Yu talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth about the visit and whether or
Teaching unions have spent much of the past year campaigning with the social media hashtag #CloseTheSchools. It’s a reminder of the imbalance in debate over education. Unions represent the adults, MPs represent their constituents, but who in Westminster speaks for children? In 2005 the Blair government sought to answer this question by creating a Children’s
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In his statement to the Commons today, Boris Johnson suggested March 8 as a date for schools to return. This is earlier than some predictions but certainly later than many were expecting when schools were shut earlier this month. Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about what this tells us about when
England’s national lockdown is set to run on until at least March. Speaking in the Commons chamber this afternoon, Boris Johnson confirmed that the return of pupils to the classroom would be the first thing to be eased – and this would not happen in February as he had previously hoped. Addressing the House, Johnson said
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In the last 24 hours, the EU has threatened to place export controls on vaccines manufactured in the EU; while a German paper has been corrected by Berlin for misreporting that the German government thought the Oxford-Astrazeneca jab was only eight per cent effective in over-65s. Isabel Hardman talks to Katy Balls and James Forsyth
As the government comes under pressure from Tory MPs to provide a timeline for pupils returning to school, the Health Secretary remained tight-lipped in the Monday government press conference on when lockdown will be eased. Asked whether any guidance could be offered on the issue, Matt Hancock cited the number of people admitted to hospital
The pandemic may still be in full swing but that hasn’t stopped the SNP opting to push the case for an independence referendum sooner rather than later. Nicola Sturgeon claimed over the weekend that should the SNP win a majority (as expected) in the Scottish parliament elections, she will hold an advisory referendum on independence, whether or
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The government’s Covid-O group will be making a decision on the UK’s border restrictions imminently. On the podcast, Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about what is being considered and why now.
With Boris Johnson reported to want to ease the lockdown slowly in the hope that doing so will prevent the need for another, he faces a growing backlash among the Tory MPs who make up the Covid Recovery Group. But what about voters? So far, polling has suggested that the public are generally supportive of social distancing
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In his upcoming book, the historian Robert Tombs writes that Brexit may not be the historically significant event we think it is. On the podcast, Katy Balls speaks to him and James Forsyth about just how history will remember Brexit, and what are the future events that can still change our memory of it.
Boris Johnson used today’s press conference to issue sobering news: warning that the new Covid strain may be more deadly. The better news? The vaccines that have been approved are likely to be as effective against the new strain as the original. There were also figures to suggest things are slowly improving: the R number
Those in the lookout for good Covid news will found precious little of it in Boris Johnson’s latest Covid press conference. Although the Prime Minister had cause for optimism in the form of the vaccine rollout – over 5.4 million people have now received their first dose of the vaccine, one in ten adults, – the overall message was
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The Guardian reported today that the Department of Health is considering offering a £500 isolation fee to encourage more people with symptoms to get tested. But the Treasury hit back fast saying that they had not seen these proposals and that the idea was ‘bonkers’. Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson about
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Claire Williams OBE is the former Deputy Team Principal of Williams, family-run the Formula One racing team set up by her father, Frank Williams. On the podcast, she talks about what it was like to be seen as ‘Frank’s daughter’, the struggles of trying to turn around an ailing F1 team and how none of
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No 10 refused to rule out the possibility today, and the Health Secretary has also refused to be drawn on whether or not the vaccinating the most vulnerable would provide the roadmap out of lockdown. Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls about the possibility that England’s lockdown will last into the summer.
