Katy Balls is The Spectator’s former political editor.
Ahead of the Commonwealth summit in Samoa, Keir Starmer told the travelling press pack that he wanted to look forward rather than have ‘very long endless discussions about reparations on the past.’ Rather than discuss the possibility of payments to Commonwealth countries to apologise for Britain’s historical role in the slave trade, Starmer wanted to
First, Keir Starmer struggled to define what a woman is. Now, he’s having difficulty explaining what counts as a working person. Ahead of next week’s Budget, the Prime Minister has been accused of tying himself in knots over who will be expected to carry the burden in the Budget. During the general election campaign, both
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Who exactly are ‘working people’? The Labour party’s use of this phrase during the election raised questions over who they will really be levying taxes upon. With less than a week to go until the Budget, Labour in government is now again struggling to give a clear definition of what they mean. James Heale talks
The end is finally in sight. In a week’s time, the winner of the Conservative leadership contest will be announced. Within the Tory party, most MPs are braced for a Kemi Badenoch victory. Could the result be closer than currently expected? On Thursday night, there were rumours that the final ConservativeHome survey of members would
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Daisy Cooper has been a stalwart of the Liberal Democrats for over a decade. From councillor to MP, she has served as the deputy leader of the party since 2020. First elected to parliament in 2019, she came to prominence when she represented the party in two of the general election debates earlier this year.
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After Nigel Farage’s overture to Tory councillors to ‘defect’, one already has. Farage has also been on manoeuvres, piling on the criticism against Labour for its volunteers campaigning for the Democrats in the US. James Heale talks to Katy Balls and Freddy Gray about the latest. Tickets are still available to join Freddy Gray and
Which party should be the most worried about next year’s local elections in May? Despite winning a large majority this year, they could prove tricky for Labour – with Keir Starmer seeing his personal ratings drop to -30 in his first 100 days. But Labour blues don’t necessarily translate into wins for the Conservatives. Instead,
On Monday evening, the Strangers’ Bar at Westminster was treated to a rare sight: Angela Rayner looking happy, smiling and holding court. As the newspapers went on the offensive over a new analysis of the Employment Rights Bill, which found it will cost business nearly £5 billion a year, the Deputy Prime Minister went to
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Donald Trump has made the extraordinary move to file an official complaint against the British Labour party for their volunteers campaigning for the Democrats. On this episode, James Heale talks to Katy Balls and the Financial Times’s Stephen Bush about what’s behind the Labour tradition of sending volunteers to other democracies, and why a second
Keir Starmer thought he was going to have to spend the flight to Samoa for the Commonwealth summit talking about repatriations and UK aid. Instead, the Prime Minister is attempting to hose down a diplomatic spat with Donald Trump. Team Trump have gone on the offensive over Labour staff flying to the US to campaign
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Another 1100 prisoners have been released today through the early-release scheme. How has this measure landed? With the news that former Conservative minister David Gauke will lead a review of prison sentencing, new Spectator editor Michael Gove joins Natasha Feroze and Katy Balls to discuss Labour’s long term strategy. Can Labour learn lessons from America? Produced by
Another month, another batch of prisoners released early. Today marks the release of the second tranch of offenders as part of the government’s plan to ease overcrowding in jails in England and Wales. The 1,100 prisoners released on licence today have sentences of five years or more but will have spent just 40 per cent
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This morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting launched the ‘biggest consultation in NHS history’ in a bid to get public input into how to save the UK’s flailing health service. The British public and clinicians are being asked to share their experiences and ideas to help ‘fix our NHS’. After years of discussion and reviews, how
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The House of Lords contains 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops who possess an automatic right to sit and vote in the House, as established by ancient usage and by statute. But for how much longer? Labour have big plans for the Lords and have been pushing ahead with their crackdown on hereditary peers.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, is touching down in Beijing for a two-day visit. The visit is the second by a foreign secretary in six years, with Lammy’s predecessor James Cleverly visiting last year after a five-year pause. However, Lammy’s visit is being met with intrigue, as it forms part of a wider shift on
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Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch, the final two candidates for the Tory leadership, went up against each other on a special GB News show last night. Kemi came out swinging in defence of her ‘culture warrior’ tag, but many wanted some more meat on the bones when it comes to her stance on policy. Meanwhile, Jenrick clearly
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A scoop from Bloomberg has revealed that a number of Cabinet ministers have written formally to the Prime Minister to complain about the budgetary decisions they are being asked to make in their respective departments. Rachel Reeves seems to have an impossible task ahead of the Budget – but was this a trap of Labour’s
How long will the next Tory leader last? As I write in this week’s issue of The Spectator, it’s the question being asked in the shadow cabinet after no candidate managed to muster more than a third of parliamentary support. ‘It would have been healthier had one of them bombed’, says a shadow minister of
The countdown to Labour’s first budget for 14 years continues. Unfortunately for Rachel Reeves, the mood music is not particularly promising. While the Chancellor was offered a ray of light on Wednesday with the news that inflation has fallen to 1.7 per cent (therefore leading to speculation of rate cuts sooner rather than later), Reeves’
James Cleverly found some unlikely support in parliament on Monday night. Having just been ousted from the Tory leadership contest, he won warm words from the Home Secretary. Yvette Cooper, speaking at a Westminster drinks reception, was sympathetic. She said she knew what it was like to come third in a leadership contest. For her,