Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Wednesday

21 Feb 2024

The failed Trident missile launch is a big embarrassment for Britain

With Keir Starmer having rid the Labour party of its Corbynite doctrines, Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent would not be expected to feature much in the coming general election campaign. But will that change after the failed test firing of a Trident missile, for the second time in a row? The missile, which was launched from HMS Vanguard off the east coast of the United States in January, was intended to travel to the edge of space before landing in the middle of the Atlantic. Instead, it plopped straight into the sea. We should know a bit more about the incident today when defence secretary Grant Shapps – who was on board

Daniel Thorpe

Is Orban’s family policy coming unstuck?

Hungary’s governing Fidesz party is in crisis over an issue it has staked its credibility on: the defence of the traditional family. One of the ministers who pioneered Viktor Orban’s family policy and served as president of Hungary, Katalin Novak, has been forced to resign over a paedophile scandal. Novak resigned on 10 February after a story revealed she had pardoned a man convicted of covering up sexual abuse cases of children at a state orphanage. Judit Varga, the former minister of justice, who signed off the pardon last April, was also forced out. Varga had been due to lead Fidesz’s list in the upcoming European parliament election. Fidesz pro-family

Steerpike

Tucker Carlson’s spat with Boris Johnson turns nasty

It’s fair to say today that Boris Johnson and Tucker Carlson don’t like each other much. After the invasion of Ukraine, Boris, the former journalist and Prime Minister, accused Carlson, the journalist often tipped to be a future president of the United States, of ‘intimidating’ Republicans who might otherwise help the West stand up to Russia. He’s called Carlson a ‘tool of the Kremlin.’ Carlson, for his part, has called Johnson a ‘terrified old woman.’ Carlson called Johnson a ‘terrified old woman’ Things have only got nastier. Earlier this month, Boris suggested Carlson’s now infamous interview with Vladimir Putin was straight out of ‘Hitler’s playbook’. Carlson, never one to shrink

Dan Storyev

Navalny gave Russians hope – they must hold on to it

In the wake of the news that Alexei Navalny died in the darkness and bitter cold of Russia’s remote Polar Wolf prison, a chill of despair has become palpable among some thinkers and activists. Some have even gone as far as to claim that any hope for a better Russia died with the opposition leader. But this is wrong: the dream of Navalny’s ‘beautiful Russia of the future’ will only die if the international community and Russian civil society let it. This would be the ultimate betrayal of Navalny’s legacy, which is why now is the time to focus our efforts on keeping that legacy alive. Western analysts have often thought of

Gavin Mortimer

Macron’s latest adversary might be his most dangerous yet

It’s been a terrible start to the year for Emmanuel Macron and his new government. Aside from the well-publicised farmers’ protest, there has also been industrial action by teachers, train workers and staff at the Eiffel Tower. Cases of violent crime are at a record high, and the drugs trade is flourishing as never before with an annual turnover of €3 billion (£2.6 billion). Sunday was arguably the worst day of the year so far for the president, who likes to convey an image of a man in complete control. The glum-faced Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, appeared on television to announce that he has revised the Republic’s

Eliot Wilson

How Britain helped Robert Mugabe rise to power

A century ago today, Robert Mugabe was born. The man who would come to rule over Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2017 was a brutal and autocratic tyrant. Mugabe shattered his country’s economy, oversaw vicious human rights abuses and left public services, especially healthcare, in ruins. But while Britain would ultimately see Mugabe as an adversary, it played a key role in his rise to power. Mugabe was, of course, not any western government’s ideal candidate to lead a newly independent African nation. He was a Marxist-Leninist who believed in command economics; in his guerrilla phase in the 1970s, Mugabe had been given unconditional support by the People’s Republic of China.

Tuesday

20 Feb 2024

Isabel Hardman

Why are the Tories, Labour and the SNP changing their tune on Gaza?

The government has now tabled its own amendment to the SNP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This change to the text calls for ‘negotiations to agree an immediate humanitarian pause as the best way to stop the fighting’, and then ‘moves towards a permanent sustainable ceasefire’. It also says that a ceasefire requires all hostages to be released, the formation of a new Palestinian government and – crucially – ‘Hamas to be unable to launch further attacks and no longer in charge of Gaza, and a credible pathway to a two-state solution’. It’s worth remembering that this is an Opposition Day debate, which is not binding on the

Steerpike

Labour election chief’s boast backfires

‘Change Labour, change Britain’ has been the internal mantra of the Starmer army since seizing the party leadership nearly four years ago. But while a 20-point lead suggests they’ve made considerable progress in that area, there are infrequent reminders of the not-so-distant Corbynite past. The Rochdale debacle proved to be an uncomfortable reminder of all that, with the Mail on Sunday reporting on 11 February the not-so-savoury views of Azhar Ali. Even more awkward perhaps was the fact that just five days earlier, Morgan McSweeney – Keir Starmer’s election overlord – was boasting to fellow Labourites about the progress they have made in the field of, er, candidate selection. He

James Heale

Home Office sacks immigration inspector after border claims

James Cleverly has tonight sacked the independent borders inspector after he voiced concerns about ‘high-risk’ aircraft landing in Britain without security checks. David Neal, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, was due to leave his post on 21 March but has now been forced out a month early after publicly criticising the department. In a statement, the Home Office said that Neal ‘breached the terms of appointment and lost the confidence of the Home Secretary.’ Neal had served in the role since March 2021. He reportedly had his reappointment blocked by Downing Street, in an unusual move given that his predecessors all served two full three-year terms in the

Euan McColm

The SNP’s North Sea hypocrisy

The Labour party has run into trouble in Scotland. It is planning to both raise and extend the windfall tax on the oil and gas sector, and industry chiefs aren’t happy. It’s an issue that is steadily gathering momentum and could prove damaging to the party’s chances north of the border. Last week, the Press and Journal depicted Keir Starmer, Anas Sarwar, Ed Miliband and Rachel Reeves as hooded bad guys from the BBC’s Traitors series, with one of its writers commenting that ‘Labour – the party of workers and unions – is happy to cast tens of thousands of hard-working men and women on the scrapheap, and place a world

Steerpike

Lord Mandelson slaps down Sue Gray

Turns out politics is harder than it looks. Having quit the civil service at the end of the last year, Sue Gray has received some glowing write-ups in her new capacity as chief of staff to Keir Starmer. But that appears to have been brought to a halt by her interview in yesterday’s Times in which she suggested that Labour could introduce citizens’ assemblies. Already the party has had to brief to newspapers that ‘the creation of citizens’ assemblies is not an official party policy and there are currently no plans related to their potential use’. And now Lord Mandelson – the master of the dark arts – has gone

James Heale

Starmer moves to quell ceasefire rebellion

10 min listen

Today Keir Starmer has moved his party’s position on a ceasefire in Gaza as he seeks to quell what could the biggest rebellion of his leadership. MPs will vote on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza with Labour set to add its own amendment to the SNP motion tomorrow. For the first time, Labour is calling for an ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’, but is this really such a big change in Labour’s position? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu and Oscar Edmondson.

Alexander Larman

Is it wise for Prince William to wade in on the Israel-Gaza war?

The Prince of Wales’s statement on the Israel-Gaza conflict raises more questions than answers. William has announced that he is ‘deeply concerned about the terrible human cost of conflict in the Middle East since the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October’, before saying explicitly: ‘Too many have been killed.’ He then declares that ‘I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible’, before calling for increased humanitarian support to Gaza, the influx of aid and the release of hostages. The statement then concludes with him stressing ‘the importance of permanent peace’ and by saying ‘Even in the darkest hour, we must not

Katy Balls

Starmer moves to quell ceasefire rebellion

Keir Starmer has moved his party’s position on a ceasefire as he seeks to quell what could the biggest rebellion of his leadership. Tomorrow MPs will vote on an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. When MPs voted on a similar motion in a similar vote three months ago, 56 Labour MPs rebelled, including eight frontbenchers. This time around, Starmer has been warned the rebellion could be even larger. In a bid to thwart the potential revolt, Starmer met with his shadow cabinet this lunchtime. Following that meeting, the party has announced plans to add its own amendment to the SNP motion tomorrow. For the first time,

Limor Simhony Philpott

Why the US is suddenly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza

In a surprising move, the United States has put forward a draft for a UN Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The draft also opposes Israel’s planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. US president Joe Biden has stood firmly by his support for Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of Hamas’s brutal attack on 7 October. America has provided Israel with considerable munitions, as well as sent forces to deter attacks by Iran and the Iranian-backed military organisation Hezbollah. They have also thwarted attacks against Israeli targets and and others by the Houthis in Yemen. The US senate also

Ross Clark

Andrew Bailey: Britain’s recession may already be over

We’re not cutting interest rates because we think the recession may already be over and we’re not even sure we are in recession anyway. That was the gist of Governor of the Bank of England’s evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee this morning. Bailey fell back on the traditional excuse of CEOs who get it wrong and send their businesses into a downwards spiral: the weather Andrew Bailey reminded the committee of what happened ten years ago when Britain seemed to be on the verge of a triple dip recession. In the end, revisions of the GDP figures revealed that we had never even entered a double

Dean Godson

Why does the Met prioritise Palestine marchers over Londoners?

If you want an illustration of one of the things that is wrong with the Metropolitan Police, you need only look at how some of the best known streets in central London were yet again handed over to protestors this past weekend – including allies and apologists of Hamas. This is the price which the Met’s leadership seems to be willing to pay to keep things quiet in the capital. Over recent months, these supposedly peaceful demonstrations have included a range of individuals throwing flares, shouting antisemitic chants ‘from the river to the sea’ and calling for there to be a ‘Jihad’. Despite these incidents, there’s a lot of satisfaction

Steerpike

Another by-election loss looms for Rishi

It never rains but it pours for our beleaguered Prime Minister. Less than a week after the Tories were defeated in both the Wellingborough and Kingswood by-elections, Rishi Sunak is now facing the loss of yet another Tory-held seat. Scott Benton this morning lost his appeal against his 35-day suspension from parliament, following a Times investigation in which he offered to lobby for gambling industry investors. Talk about a bad bet… Benton offered to table parliamentary questions, provide ‘behind the scenes’ information and ‘call in favours’ from colleagues to help the commercial interests of a fake company despite rules prohibiting MPs from acting as paid lobbyists. The standards committee ruled

Mark Galeotti

How the West can truly avenge Navalny’s death

With the Kremlin now claiming that it needs to hold on to the body of opposition leader Alexei Navalny for another fortnight for ‘tests’, there is little doubt in the West that Vladimir Putin’s regime was either directly or indirectly to blame. Inevitably, the talk is now of punishing it. Junior Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told the Commons yesterday that the government was considering further measures beyond the immediate diplomatic prospects, and that ‘it would be premature…to comment on the prospect of future sanctions,’ but that he could confirm ‘that we are working at pace and looking at all options in that regard.’ There are cheap and easy ways to

Niall Gooch

Say no to Labour’s citizens’ assembly

A spectre is haunting Westminster – the spectre of the citizens’ assembly. This unkillable bad idea is making the headlines again because of the suggestion that, when Labour comes to power, citizens’ assemblies could be used to develop new policy proposals to put before Parliament. Fittingly, given its essentially anti-political and anti-democratic nature, this idea has been mooted by Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s ‘chief of staff’, a woman who has wielded enormous power but who holds no elected office and has never offered herself for any public vote, rather than by Starmer or any of his frontbenchers. Creating such assemblies may not be official Labour policy. It appears that Gray