Rishi Sunak’s speech on green policies has received plenty of criticism but he began by making a very fair point. He is right to argue that if the public are hit with unexpected costs as a consequence of the net zero policy, there is a risk they will turn against it. Too often, politicians have set ambitious targets but have shied away from explaining what this would involve, leaving the difficult stuff to their successors  (As a member of the cabinet that signed up to the 2050 net zero target, I cannot exempt myself from this criticism.)  Yes, the public like ambitious targets while they are abstract; but that support may not hold when the costs become specific. Politicians who ...

Net zero is a project which is about the next 30 years. If the polls are to be believed, Rishi Sunak won’t last another 30 months as prime minister. That is the context in which his speech today (20 September) has to be seen. A prime minister whose premiership was predicated on political recovery seems close to lifeless. The Conservatives are polling close to the nadir reached under Liz Truss (one Deltapoll survey puts them 24 points behind Labour). Sunak’s personal ratings are at their lowest ever. Time is running out. In a political environment as poor as this, the thinking goes that Sunak must do something different to shift his fortunes. One of the few glimmers of hope was the Tories’ ...

Rishi Sunak has announced he is watering down key measures to help Britain meet its legally binding target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Delivering a hastily arranged speech in the press room at Downing Street after the plans were leaked to the BBC last night (19 September), the Prime Minister attempted to reassert his authority. The slogan on the podium read “Long-term decisions for a brighter future” as Sunak confirmed U-turns on a series of policies.  The ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be delayed from 2030 to 2035. So will the ban on new gas boilers, from which some households will be entirely exempt. A number of measures which were not government policy ...

I was discussing the Russell Brand allegations with a friend this week when she said something that took me aback. “If my daughter was raped, I don’t know if I’d want her to go to the police.” Perhaps I shouldn’t have been shocked. We’re all aware of the horrors that victims of rape and sexual assault can be put through by the criminal justice system, and that the chances of conviction are small. And just look at the venom with which Brand’s high-profile and not so high-profile defenders are responding – sadly, they’re hardly the first to behave so abominably in such a situation. But still. My friend is a formidable woman, the kind who could be described as morally upstanding and ...

The view at Westminster is switching: a general election in the spring is now regarded as plausible, even likely, by senior figures across the political spectrum. Until recently an October 2024 election was thought the safest bet. But last week Keir Starmer warned the shadow cabinet of the likelihood of an early summer poll and told them to prepare for one. My conversations with senior Conservatives confirm that it’s a sensible precaution. At first sight, with the Tories still 20 points behind Labour in the polls, this might seem self-destructive. Rishi Sunak, who hasn’t in any way abandoned hope of winning, has based his entire strategy on delivery. From the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland to public sector pay settlements with teachers ...

When the Prime Minister announced a ban on American XL Bully dogs last week, it appeared to be an immediate reaction to the death of a man in Staffordshire who was savaged by two of the dogs. But it was also the result of a broader campaign, which reveals something interesting about how policy is made in the UK. The Staffordshire incident was by no means the first XL Bully attack. Since 2017 the breed has been responsible for at least 14 other deaths and many other injuries. In the last few months, however, the risk posed by the dogs has leapt up the political agenda, largely through prominent policy wonks raising the issue on Twitter. It’s an example of the ...

After the revolution comes the restoration. First Boris Johnson’s complacent boosterism crashed and burned amid chaos and contradiction. Then Liz Truss’s libertarian rocket imploded upon contact with reality. One year on, a new consensus has restored the old orthodoxy, which had ruled for two decades prior to Brexit – Westminster’s managerial technocracy at the service of the City of London.  Both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer propose variations on technocratic pragmatism that amount to little more than managing decline. Neither have so far offered a bold political vision or a transformative policy programme that might manage national renewal. Competence and caution override other factors - and undermine political courage and imagination.  But technocrats are not alone in being bereft of ideas: populists ...

Keir Starmer has broken his silence on Brexit and pledged a better trading deal with the EU should Labour win the next general election. Boris Johnson's agreement with the bloc, the implementation of which is due to be reviewed in 2025, was “too thin” and could be moulded into a “much better” deal, the opposition leader has told the Financial Times. Starmer has previously ruled out the UK rejoining the single market or customs union, and that position remains unchanged, but he has hinted at a closer trading relationship and emphasised the need to repair Britain’s relationship with Europe for the sake of younger generations. There is speculation that Labour would take steps such as loosening visa rules for young people, align ...