Category: Week in UK Politics
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Plaid Cymru’s romped home in Caerphilly The Caerphilly by-election confirmed that political gravity is running away from the traditional Westminster parties. Plaid Cymru stormed to victory with 47% of the vote, Reform UK came second on 36% while Labour collapsed to just 11%. This is the first time since 1918 that Labour has failed to…
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FROM SPIES TO SPENDING CUTS As Keir Starmer wrestles with a security scandal and Rachel Reeves preaches fiscal restraint, the government’s “steady hands” narrative shows early wobbles. It has been another week when Westminster felt less like the sober seat of governance, but more like a failing test of nerve. The China case collapse: Starmer’s…
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SHRINKING SPACE FOR DIALOGUE, REDUCING PERSONAL LIBERTIES, NO MONEY ANYWHERE. “Repeat protest” curbs really do start to threaten freedom of expression Newish Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood extemporised new plans to curb “repeat protests” after nearly 500 arrests at more pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The idea: if you protest too often, the Home Office can decide you are…
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LABOUR PULLS THE EMERGENCY CORD In their Immigration White Paper “Restoring Control over the Immigration System” published in May 2025, the Labour government proposed extending the qualifying period for “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (ILR) from 5 years to 10 under its “earned settlement” reforms. The proposal did not stir massive controversy at the time. The…
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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BAREFACED Nigel Farage waved his calculator around promising billions in “savings” from ripping up the UK’s “Right to Remain” while Keir Starmer tried to look statesmanlike by recognising Palestine. Meanwhile, HMG quietly admitted that its big anti-harassment law is still gathering dust. Add in grim inflation figures, a giant…
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SITCOM WITHOUT LAUGHTER REEL Another week in British politics, another episode of a long-running tragicomedy known as “Government.” The show that nobody asked for, with the scripts that just keep getting worse, and yet, like all truly wretched TV soaps, we just don’t seem to be able to switch off or choose something more enlightening…
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RAYNER’S DECKCHAIRS The first week back at Westminster turned out to be eventful. Writing three days after Angela Rayner’s resignation on Friday and 48 hours after the closing (and rather wobbly) rendition of the National Anthem at REFORM’s Birmingham conference has allowed some time for at least a little reflection on “Whither Labour?”Quick answer: down…
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Immigration and asylum is significantly less important to younger UK voters than their elders. It does not even feature amongst younger peoples’ “Top 5” issues (I discussed this in a previous post on UK Youth Issues in June, sorry.) However, when conflated with the “Small Boats” crisis, immigration has become the most incendiary issue in…
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MERITOCRACY VS POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION – The tension between meritocracy and positive discrimination has shaped numerous debates in British politics since the mid-20th century, focusing on how to ensure fair access and optimal outcomes in education, employment and the conduct of public offices. Recent policy shifts, such as the government’s proposal to reserve civil service internships…
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SOFT LAUNCH It is traditional for governments to slip out news of their most depressing failures in the dying moments of Parliamentary “term” in the hope that MPs and journos alike are keener to hit the fleshpots of the Mediterranean or more exotic holiday destinations than to pursue the latest delay to HS2, or estimated…
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END OF TERM ENNUI The spigot of daily UK “news” wound down this week as Parliament headed towards recess (Commons – 22nd July, Lords – 24th July.) “The Grid” is, it seems, an effective news management system: about 75% of what we think of as news turns out to be just propaganda. The British Malaise…
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16/17 YEAR OLDS WILL BE ABLE TO VOTE at the next General Election. This will be implemented by the introduction of a new Elections and Democracy Bill which will be piloted by Angela Rayner and Rushanara Ali. Secondary legislation will also set out the necessary digital ID solutions for implementation (which makes one wonder if…
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STORMCLOUDS GATHER Hot on the heels of last week’s Welfare Reform climb-down and the forewarning of incipient rebellion gathering amongst Labour backbenchers over Education policy changes involving SEND, comes an underwhelmed reaction to the announcement of the Anglo-French “One In, One Out” illegal arrivals pilot scheme. Then a spat between the Deputy Prime Minister and…
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U-TURN IF YOU WANT TO… It turns out that watching slow-motion car crashes is not so much fun. Following the reinstatement of pensioners’ winter fuel payment just a month ago, “justified” by HMG’s sudden discovery that the economic catastrophe that they thought they had inherited from the Conservatives had miraculously cured itself, comes the inevitably…
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NEWS VS POLITICS Harold Macmillan was a wise old bird. His reply to a question about what he feared most: “Events, dear boy, events” neatly encapsulates how easy it is for politics to be knocked off course by news. Some days you set out to explain proposed NHS structural changes, you can instead get sandbagged…
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ISRAEL AND IRAN GO TO WAR Israel’s sudden commencement of war against Iran on Thursday night dwarfed the significance of the winter fuel allowance reinstatement and the spending review in the UK. Israel launched Operation Rising Lion in an attempt to prevent Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, bombing nuclear facilities, missile and drone launch capabilities…
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REFORM SHENANIGANS Zia Yusuf stepped down as Chairman of Reform on Thursday evening and then seems to have had a bit of a moment and announced on Saturday that he would instead take up a new role heading the DOGE-lite team that is going to nip around Reform-controlled County Councils to suggest ways of reducing…
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Younger UK voters aged 18-24 report their five biggest political issues as: – Economy – Crime – Housing – Environment – Education according to the YouGov weekly tracker survey that has been running since 2011. Although younger UK citizens share the general population’s identification of the economy as the most significant political issue facing the…
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O CANADA! King Charles popped over to one of his other gaffs for a whirlwind 48-hour tour. He met First Nation representatives and heard some impressive drums, inspected various groups of Mounties, went to a community festival, laid a wreath at a war memorial, dropped a hockey puck, chatted in the sunshine. So far, so…
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POST-BREXIT “RESET” On 19th May Keir Starmer hosted Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa (he’s the EU Council President) for a “Reset Summit” at Lancaster House in London. Negotiations were reported to have gone down to the wire, but they announced a post-Brexit agreement encompassing defence and security cooperation, fisheries, agrifood barriers, carbon border…