The cold reality facing Sajid Javid
The most difficult time for a new secretary of state is normally the first three months in the job. An…
Boris bids to reset Anglo-German relations
Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel have just held a joint press conference following their meeting at Chequers. The usual contrast…
Labour hold Batley and Spen
Labour have held on to Batley and Spen. In a result that will win some breathing space for Keir Starmer’s…
How Boris Johnson plans to reopen the country
Next week, the government will set out what the reopening will look like. I understand that the current plan is…
The sausage war ceasefire is a good sign for UK-EU relations
The sausage dispute between the UK and the EU may sound like something out of Yes Minister but it is…
Life is about to get harder for Boris Johnson
Covid restrictions are meant to end on 19 July. But parliament will not return to normal until September. The Commons…
The new leviathan: the big state is back
Boris and Biden have placed their faith in the power of big government
Does ‘Johnson’s law’ explain why people won’t work from home?
Even after the one metre rule and the limits on numbers are removed on July 19th, we will not be…
The lockdown delay has triggered a constitutional crisis
It is not the Battle of Marston Moor, but it strikes me that we are now in something of a…
Boris Johnson's Northern Ireland problem
In an at times grouchy press conference, Boris Johnson tried to calm the row over the Northern Ireland protocol. The…
Why this G7 summit matters more than most
It’s risky planning a trip to the British seaside at any time of year. But if the weather forecast is…
Macron is wrong. Nato must stand up to China
Joe Biden wants to use his visit to Europe for the G7 summit and the Nato meeting to rally democracies…
Have we hit peak graduate?
The Tory party has turned sharply against the idea of ever larger numbers going to university. The reasons for this…
China is not as strong as it appears
The theory that the pandemic began with a leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan is rapidly gaining currency. Since…
Prepare for China's nationalist turn
In recent days, it has been striking how many people in Westminster and Whitehall now think the lab leak theory…
Keir Starmer’s interview gamble pays off
One of the biggest challenges for any leader of the opposition is getting noticed. Doing that requires taking some risks…
How much damage to the government has Dom’s bomb done?
The more anticipated a parliamentary appearance, the less it tends to live up to its billing. But Dominic Cummings’s testimony…
Will Cummings’s accusations damage Boris Johnson?
One of Dominic Cummings’s strengths as a campaigner was his genius for a clear message – think ‘Take Back Control’…
Bloc buster: David Frost on Brexit, Barnier and the backstop
David Frost on Brexit, Barnier and the backstop
The future looks bleak for Tory free-marketeers
The free-market Tory right’s victory on the Australia trade deal obscures the fact that the economic direction of the party…
The Australian trade deal is about more than just trade
What happens with an Australia trade deal won’t just reveal how serious this country is about free trade but also…
Keir Starmer isn’t Labour’s biggest problem
Keir Starmer has turned a drama into a crisis. The local elections were always going to be difficult for Labour.…
Why the Tories mustn't give in to the Nimbys
A 15-point YouGov poll lead and last week’s election performance suggests that things look good for the Tories in England.…
Can Labour survive the next election?
Keir Starmer is having a torrid time. Today brings another poll showing his personal approval rating falling. The Labour leader…
Could the Tories lose the South?
The coming Batley and Spen by-election — triggered by the incumbent MP’s election as the first mayor of West Yorkshire — is currently attracting a…
