Negotiating Scottish independence gives Unionists a winning chance
If the SNP win a majority at next year’s Holyrood elections, the UK government should be prepared to start independence…
The looming planning battle
The government will pass the test it has set itself: schools in England will return next week. Pupils may well…
Boris Johnson’s culture war strategy
Boris Johnson’s approach to the culture war is to wait for the other side to overreach – talk of taking down…
The government’s new concern: winter is coming
It is remarkable to think that just 15 days ago, Boris Johnson was setting out a plan to end all…
Can Johnson save the Union?
‘UK Prime Minister visits Scotland’ shouldn’t really be a news story. But so infrequent have prime ministerial visits been in…
Boris Johnson’s post-Covid agenda
Boris Johnson’s end of term address to Tory MPs offered a preview of what the government wants its agenda to…
The state of the Union
The greatest single danger to this government is the state of the Union. Prime ministers can survive many things, but…
Will making face masks compulsory help us get back to normal?
The government will announce today that from 24 July face coverings will be mandatory in shops and supermarkets. Those who…
Can the young avoid the Covid crash?
Coronavirus is deadlier for the old than the young. But for the young, it is economically devastating. A third of…
Is Boris brave enough to stand up to the Nimbys?
In the next few weeks, the government will publish planning reforms designed to simplify the system and free up land…
Target for half of kids to go to university dropped
In a sign of how worried the government is about youth unemployment, it will – quiet literally – pay firms…
Rishi Sunak’s two big fears for the future
The summer economic statement made clear the government’s two big coming worries. First, the whole emphasis on jobs highlighted how…
Rewiring the state
Covid has revealed what is wrong with Whitehall
The looming Tory trade debate
Post-Brexit, the UK needs to find allies on trade liberalisation. One obvious place to look is the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership.…
Will Boris’s Whitehall shake-up really work?
There is a paradox at the heart of Boris Johnson’s political project, I say in the magazine this week. He is…
Brits want a tougher line on China
The scenes in Hong Kong are hugely depressing. The authorities are already using the new Beijing-imposed national security law to…
What happens if the Leicester lockdown fails?
The government’s decision to lock Leicester down, closing all non-essential retail from today and schools from Thursday for all but…
Why Biden might be better for Brexit Britain
At the best of times, US presidential elections require the British government to walk a tightrope. In 1992, a Tory…
Why Biden might be better for Brexit Britain
At the best of times, US presidential elections require the British government to walk a tightrope. In 1992, a Tory…
Is the Brexit deadlock about to be broken?
Trade talks between the UK and the EU are in a better place than they have been at any point…
Is this the deal that could break the Brexit deadlock?
Trade talks between the UK and the EU are in a better place than they have been at any point…
Normality won’t return until schools do
From Monday, you will be required by law to wear a face covering on public transport. Paradoxically, this is a…
There can be no return to the Whitehall status quo
During the pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has developed a reputation for announcing things just before the UK government does. But there…
The growing rebellion against quarantine for UK arrivals
The government’s most unpopular policy on its own benches is its plan to make almost everyone arriving in this country…
Boris Johnson’s majority is not as big as it first appeared
The last week has shown that Boris Johnson’s majority of 80 isn’t as big as it first appeared, I say…
