Coffee House Shots

It has been a challenging week for Boris. Following the Peppa Pig speech, immediately after the Owen Paterson u-turn, the party may be starting to lose patience. This could have implications for the government's future, shown most recently by the rebellion on the social care bill. Many MPs did a ‘no show’ and the government’s majority fell from 77 to 26. ' When the majority looks under threat, the...

During the last general election campaign, Boris Johnson's persona as the improvisational, brash, comedian was endearing to many voters and those in his party. But with multiple weeks of own goals and bad press is this attitude beginning to look careless rather than amusing?  'People are now looking out for the next banana skin' - James Forsyth Isabel Hardman talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls...

Isabel Hardman presents the highlights from Sunday's political shows, with today's podcast featuring Sajid Javid, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Maroš Šefčovič and Professor Sir Andrew Pollard.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator....

Katy Balls talks to James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson about the latest lockdown in Austria, the prospect of Germany following suit, and Austria's plans for mandatory vaccination.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk H...

Priti Patel has blamed the European Union's freedom of movement for the 'mass migration crisis' that Britain is facing. In a visit to Washington, the Home Secretary said: 'the real problem on illegal migration flows is the EU has no border protections whatsoever — Schengen open borders'. Tories MPs are reportedly frustrated at the government's failure to stop the flow of migrants getting boats acr...

The announcement of the Integrated Rail Plan has left many, including a number of Conservative MPs, disappointed due to the proposed new routes and notable omissions. This comes at a bad time for Boris Johnson who is already in the dog house over his handling of the Owen Paterson affair.  'Boris Johnson is not in a good place with his party and it's not just over second jobs, it's over a number of...

Now entering its second week, the foray around members of parliament holding second jobs shows no sign of dying down. And, unfortunately, it seems whatever Boris Johnson tries to do to get himself out of this situation, he appears to just be digging himself and his party a deeper and deeper hole.  'Boris Johnson hadn't thought these proposals through, which has really upset Conservative MPs on bot...

The Prime Minister has written to the Commons Speaker to propose new lobbying rules for MPs. While some may welcome the measure, like former PM Theresa May, who gave a blistering critique of the way the Owen Paterson affair was handled, others in his party might not be so happy. ‘The challenge for him is that it is going to worsen relations with a bit of the Parliamentary party that he already fin...

COP26 is now over, but was it a flop? Even Alok Sharma, the President of COP26, apologised on the last day for 'the way this process has unfolded', as he teared up when announcing the final agreement to phase down, rather than phase out, coal. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Fraser Nelson and Isabel Hardman about the lasting legacy of COP26. For Fraser, the summit was a mixed bag: 'I don't thin...

Isabel Hardman brings you the highlights from Sunday's political shows. Clips today come from Alok Sharma, Ed Miliband, Angela Rayner and General Sir Nick Carter.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast...

Since the cabinet met on Thursday to map out their levelling up agenda, we take another look at what this ambiguous slogan really means and how important it is for a Tory majority in the next election. Can we compare the UK levelling up to other places? Gove recently referenced 15th century Florence. But what about German reunification?  As James Forsyth says in the episode ’I think on levelling u...

British troops have been deployed to the Polish border as part of a ‘reconnaissance’ mission, as Poland tries to stop migrants crossing from Belarus. Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, backed by Russia, is flying Syrian, Iraqi and Yemeni citizens into his country and encouraging them to cross the border into Poland. As the United States turns away from Europe and the Middle East and toward...

After the government abandoned plans to overhaul the Commons standards rules, Rishi Sunak has said the government needs to 'do better'. Will the PM show some contrition soon? Max Jeffery talks to James Forsyth and Katy Balls. On the podcast, James Forsyth says: 'He really doesn't like apologies, never has done. So when he doesn't apologise he gives the story legs.' Subscribe to The Spectator today...

Boris Johnson today has said that Britain is not a corrupt country, but what does it mean that he felt the need to say that? On today's Coffee House Shots, Fraser Nelson points out that there is no clear firebreak to the present string of sleaze stories; and James Forsyth estimates that around a quarter of MPs have some kind of external earnings. So what more will come out of the woodworks? Cindy...

The Owen Paterson affair has is shining a light on the extra cash  MPs earn on top of their £80,000 salary. One MP, Geoffrey Cox, earned nearly £1 million from outside legal work. But is there an argument to be made for allowing elected officials to receive a second income? Max Jeffery is joined by Katy Balls and James Forsyth. On the podcast, James says: 'On principle, I think MPs continuing to e...

Over the weekend most media tore into the Owen Paterson affair, with a lot of talk about MPs' second jobs like those of Geoffrey Cox... ‘I think if you go down this route of essentially banning all these outside interests, we’re going to end up with far more people of inherited wealth in the House of Commons, who don’t need to earn any other money, and I think you will lose some knowledge and expe...

Isabel Hardman takes you through the highlights from Sunday's interview shows, with Sir Keir Starmer, Thangam Debbonaire, George Eustice and Dr Susan Hopkins.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. Se...

Fraser Nelson talks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman about how MPs should clean up their act in the wake of Parliament's latest lobbying scandal.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.co...

Owen Paterson has resigned as an MP after being embroiled in a lobbying row. Allies of the Prime Minister have blamed the Chief Whip, Mark Spencer, for the fiasco, while other Tory MPs are fuming at the Prime Minister's miscalculation. How did Boris not realise the potential backlash? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman. On the podcast, James says: 'It was really obvious how the...

The Owen Paterson story continues today with the government u-turning quicker than expected. This came after realising that allowing Tory MPs to mark their own homework by scrapping the standards committee might cause more outrage than they first thought. Leaving them now in a situation described by James Forsyth as, 'an infinitely worse position for absolutely everyone involved.' James is joined...

The row over Owen Paterson has come to a head today as the amendment to lift his suspension - tabled by fellow Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom and backed by the government - has upset many sides. Labour and the SNP are going in hard on accusations of Tory sleaze, with a real possibility of this spreading further than the Westminster bubble; while some Tory MPs who were whipped to vote in favour of...

With the fishing war between the UK and France not necessarily over but at least at a ceasefire, today's Shots focuses on the Commons. Conservative MP Owen Paterson was found to have committed an 'egregious' breach of lobbying rules, but some in his party, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, have raised concerns about the investigation.  On the podcast, Isabel Hardman says: 'I think a lot of MPs on both si...

COP26 is officially underway with world leaders meeting this morning. But what can these presidents and prime ministers promise given their domestic political challenges and the seeming disinterest of other nations like China? Katy Balls is joined by Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth to discuss the opening of COP26 and the continuing rise in Anglo-French tensions.  Become a Spectator subscriber toda...

Isabel Hardman brings you the best of Sunday's political interviews, with Alok Sharma, Ed Miliband, Tina Stege, Owen Paterson and Kemi Badenoch. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Cindy Yu talks to James Forsyth and the Paris-based journalist John Lichfield about the nature of the dispute between France and the UK over fishing rights.  Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See...