Politics Archives

Sunday

24 Mar 2024

Mark Nayler

Could corruption bring down Spain’s government again?

Just four months into its second term, Spain’s Socialist-led government is already mired in corruption allegations. The latest scandal emerged this week and focuses on the wife of prime minister Pedro Sanchez, Begoña Gómez. Gomez is alleged to have had secret meetings with the management of Air Europa, Spain’s third largest airline, in late 2020, just before it was bailed out with a €475 million aid package by her husband’s leftist government. The Conservative Popular party (PP) has wasted no time in capitalising on this. Eloy Suarez Lamata, a PP representative in Spain’s upper house, claimed that the allegations against Gomez ‘would have brought down’ any other president in Europe ‘because

Gavin Mortimer

Can Macron halt the ‘Mexicanisation’ of France?

Emmanuel Macron showed off his virility this week with the release of two photos in which he is seen giving a punchbag his best shots. Is Vladimir Putin scared? More to the point, will the drug cartels of Marseille be frightened into submission by the Elysee Palace’s very own Rocky? The day before the publication of the photos, Macron visited Marseille, his thirteenth visit to the Mediterranean city in seven years. As usual, the president swung by to talk tough about the deadly violence that has gripped the city for years. Last year, 49 people were shot dead in tit-for-tat killings among rival drug gangs, and 123 were wounded. ‘In

Jake Wallis Simons

Is London the ‘most anti-Semitic city in the West’?

The last time I saw Amichai Chikli, he was struggling to put on a suit jacket at the Israeli embassy in London. ‘Do I really have to wear one of these things just to make a speech?’ he muttered. He got it on by hoiking it over his shoulders like a rucksack. That was last September, when the Israeli diaspora affairs minister visited London to mark Rosh Hashanah. Chikli had sparked controversy with comments about Tel Aviv’s gay pride parade (‘vulgar’), the Palestinian Authority (‘neo-Nazis’) and George Soros (‘his actions and investments are feeding the flames of anti-Semitism’). But the hotheaded minister finds it as easy to restrain his rhetoric

Saturday

23 Mar 2024

Gavin Mortimer

Putin is as deluded about the Islamist threat as the West

From the outset it was obvious to seasoned observers who massacred more than 130 Russians at a concert hall Moscow on Friday evening. It wasn’t, as some in the Kremlin claimed, Ukraine. What would they stand to gain from such indiscriminate slaughter? The people who opened fire in the Crocus City Hall cleaved to the same ideology as those who have this century murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children in New York, Bali, Madrid, London, Brussels, Paris, Manchester and Nice. According to reports, the group that carried out the Moscow attack is known as Islamic State Khorasan (Isis-K) and it has a reputation for ‘extreme brutality’. Despite the fact that

Lisa Haseldine

Who will Putin blame for the terror attack?

A branch of the Islamic State terror group, Isis-K, has claimed responsibility for last night’s stadium terror attack in Moscow. US officials, who had warned of such an attack two weeks ago have said this sounded credible. But the Kremlin has not accepted the Isis-K claim and says it’s looking at all explanations – even (as some Russian journalists are advocating) that the attack was organised by the Ukrainians. Putin himself has hinted at this, saying the FSB had apprehended men on their way to the Ukrainian border. As I reported last night, western intelligence warned the Kremlin of a likely terrorist attack on Russian soil earlier this month. The

Stephen Daisley

Cameron is wrong to threaten Israel with an arms embargo

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron is threatening to suspend arms sales to Israel. The Telegraph reports that the former prime minister demanded Israeli officials grant the Red Cross access to captured Hamas fighters or face a suspension of the export licence for defence materiel. Israel has claimed a security exemption to the Geneva Convention as the reason for blocking such access. The Red Cross has not visited Israeli hostages being held by the Palestinians. The Brits were previously reported to be contemplating an arms embargo if Israel invaded the Hamas stronghold of Rafah. Cameron has also complained about the length of time it takes for aid convoys to be allowed

Freddy Gray

What is Labour’s economic plan?

30 min listen

In her Mais lecture in the City of London this week, Rachel Reeves set out her plan for Britain’s economy: securonomics. What does securonomics mean? Can it deliver wealth? Will it work in a high-immigration economy? Freddy Gray speaks to Kate Andrews and the author and journalist Paul Mason.

Richard Madeley

Richard Madeley, Kate Andrews, Lloyd Evans, Sam McPhail and Graeme Thomson

35 min listen

This week: Richard Madeley reads his diary (01:06), Kate Andrews describes how Kate-gate gripped America (06:18), Lloyd Evans warns against meddling with Shakespeare (11:38), Sam McPhail details how Cruyff changed modern football (18:17), and Graeme Thomson reads his interview with Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera (25:23). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

Damien Phillips

What happened to the post-Brexit free trade deals?

When people talk about the ways the Conservatives have squandered this parliament, and with it their first and best opportunity to demonstrate to voters the benefits of Brexit, they often focus on domestic concerns: the failure to tackle legacy EU red tape, or the lack of progress on levelling up. But one of the biggest disappointments of the past few years must be the United Kingdom’s dismal record on international trade. Time and again the UK has walked away from transformative deals over trivial domestic hang-ups Outside the bloc, Britain ought to have been in a good position to bolster our commercial relationships across the globe, losing the sheer mass

Laurie Wastell

Kemi Badenoch’s diversity crusade doesn’t go far enough

This week, the equalities minister and business secretary Kemi Badenoch took aim at Britain’s woke bureaucracy. The government’s Inclusion at Work panel, convened by Badenoch last year, has unveiled its new report into UK employers’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) practices. Composed of private and public-sector experts and advised by a Harvard professor, the panel noted that 10,000 EDI jobs in the public sector are estimated to cost the British taxpayer £557 million per year. It’s high time that the government got a grip on our spiralling EDI bureaucracy According to the report, many EDI initiatives have little evidence behind them, are often ‘polarising’ and in some cases ‘unlawful’.As Badenoch

Julie Burchill

In praise of bin men

I’ve always had a soft spot for bin men – or refuse collectors as we generally call them these days. It used to be dustmen, as I remember from the song by Lonnie Donegan in my infancy: ‘Oh, my old man’s a dust man/He wears a dust man’s hat/He wears “cor blimey” trousers/And he lives in a council flat!’ Donegan made it sound a jolly business, but being a bin man is no picnic. The first in this country were recorded in the 1350s as ‘rakers’ and their presence coincided with the plague. It’s one of the most hazardous jobs around, probably more so than being a policeman. But then,

Marcel Plichta

How Ukraine’s drone attacks can hit Russia where it hurts

On the morning of 16 March, Ukrainian drones struck multiple refineries in the Samara region of Russia, For more than a week, Ukrainian drones have targeted Russian oil infrastructure, particularly refineries. If the attacks become regular and continue indefinitely, they will impose significant costs on the Russian economy and military. Ukraine is presenting Russia with the same air defence dilemma that Kyiv currently faces. Russia uses missiles and Shahed drones to attack Ukrainian cities. Ukraine has to keep a massive amount of its air defence behind the frontlines. Doing so offers the Russian air force slightly more safety in the air and diverts international focus from providing Ukraine with offensive systems. A large amount

Friday

22 Mar 2024

Lisa Haseldine

Putin rejected US warning of terror attack

As Russia comes to terms with what seems to be the largest terrorist attack on its soil in recent times, Vladimir Putin has something difficult to explain. For some time, Western intelligence agencies have been picking up chat about potential strikes in Moscow – and the US took the unusual step of making a public warning. ‘The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,’ ran the advice. Just three days ago, as reported by the Russian state media agency TASS, Putin branded these warnings ‘outright

Alexander Larman

The enormous dignity of the Princess of Wales

The statement, when it came, was remarkably simple and delivered with enormous dignity. Dressed simply and sitting outside, the Princess of Wales began her short video by thanking those who had sent her supportive messages, before describing her ‘tough couple of months’ after having been diagnosed with a form of cancer, which has then led to a course of preventative chemotherapy. With remarkable sang-froid, albeit delivered in a voice freighted with understandable deep emotion, Kate then went on to talk about the impact that the diagnosis has had on both her and her family, saying: ‘It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my

Katy Balls

Princess of Wales asks for privacy after cancer diagnosis

After weeks of speculation over the Princess of Wales’s health since she underwent abdominal surgery in January, Kate Middleton has this evening issued a statement. In a video message, the Princess of Wales says she is in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy after cancer was found in tests. She said the news had come as a ‘huge shock’ but while it had been an ‘incredibly tough couple of months’. she is ‘well and getting stronger every day’. In the statement, the Princess says that it was after the operation in January that doctors found cancer present: ‘My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative

Coffee House

Kate reveals cancer diagnosis

The Princess of Wales this evening revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer, and that she is being treated with chemotherapy. Read her full video message here: I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery. It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I’ve had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful. In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was

Michael Simmons

Should the ‘Waspi women’ be compensated?

13 min listen

The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report on raising women’s state pension age in line with men’s has been published. It details that women born in the 1950s hit by the state pension age change are owed compensation and has advised that the government should ‘do the right thing’. Will the ‘Waspi women’ end up disappointed? Michael Simmons speaks to Isabel Hardman and Louise Perry, host of the Maiden Mother Matriarch podcast.

Steerpike

Kate Forbes isn’t ruling out another leadership bid

It’s the end of another rocky week for Scotland’s First Minister. Humza Yousaf has been dealing with national outrage over the hate crime bill and remains under pressure to sack one of his closest allies in the party over an £11,000 iPad scandal. So Kate Forbes’s latest intervention is the last thing he needs. On Thursday night, Yousaf’s onetime leadership rival admitted that the SNP lacks a ‘big vision’ and suggested that she hadn’t ruled out another leadership bid. Watch your back, Humza… At a Holyrood Sources podcast recording on Thursday night, Forbes told her audience that ‘people need to be inspired by leadership’, continuing: As much as I back

Freddy Gray

Trump vs luxury beliefs

29 min listen

Freddy speaks to Rob Henderson, author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class, in which he coins the term ‘luxury beliefs’. These are certain beliefs held by a section of the elite which confirm and elevate the status of those who hold them. As a consequence, they can cause harm to those lower down the social strata. Is Donald Trump the antidote to America’s ‘luxury beliefs’ complex?

Stephen Webb

How activism swept the civil service

The Scottish parliament’s decision to ban its staff wearing campaigning lanyards may seem like a small step. But could it set a precedent for rolling back a trend for tolerating staff activism that has spread throughout the civil service in recent years? In an email to staff, the move was justified ‘to minimise the risk of perceived bias and avoid any perception that wearing such items may be influencing our own decision-making.’ But the problem of staff activism goes further than this. The real change came since George Floyd and the rise of trans ideology I have recently left the civil service as a director after a 30-year career in four departments. Traditionally, civil