Stephen Bush

Friday, 3 February, 2023

Thursday, 2 February, 2023

Inside Politics

Raab affair: Labour’s stick to dent Sunak’s ratings further

Bullying investigation into a trusted ally is especially painful for prime minister who cannot easily replace him

Wednesday, 1 February, 2023

Inside Politics

Chain of problems cramps Tories’ bid to win back younger voters

Since 2019 the party’s once sizeable support from the young has tailed off, sparking internal fears about its fate

Tuesday, 31 January, 2023

Inside Politics

How to make the BBC a fair arena for UK election fight

Hiding economic trade-offs risks breaching corporation’s aims on broad impartiality, finds a new review

Monday, 30 January, 2023

Parenting and families

It would pay for us all to be more honest about family advantage

Hand-wringing about ‘nepo babies’ obscures some uncomfortable truths around class privilege

Monday, 30 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Zahawi saga exposes weak links in UK legal and tax systems

Sacking puts Sunak’s political judgment under scrutiny, amid consistently bleak opinion polls for him and Tories

Friday, 27 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Hunt talks up post-Brexit Britain as he sets scene for Budget

Global race to lead green transition hinders UK growth plans, as the US and EU step up investment

Thursday, 26 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Why Trussonomics was doomed: Tories cannot stomach spending cuts

Sunak presides over a Conservative party incapable of uniting over fiscal policy, but his fear of arguments has not helped

Wednesday, 25 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Levelling up: Sunak flounders in giving substance to Johnson’s slogan

New fiscal powers for mayors in England being considered by the Treasury would be a better approach

Tuesday, 24 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Sunak is the political equivalent of a painkiller

Tory party chair hangs on to post as one of the government’s few remaining proven and competent administrators

Monday, 23 January, 2023

US politics & policy

Politicians are unhealthily obsessed with getting to zero

The key to making sensible policy is to be honest about the trade-offs involved

Monday, 23 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Zahawi may not only be embarrassing for Sunak, but damaging

Tory party chair’s exit surely can’t be avoided, and risks exposing the prime minister to Labour’s favoured attack lines

Friday, 20 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Why doesn’t Sunak tell it straight on tax rises?

Both the Conservative and Labour leaders are keen to drain attention away from the uncomfortable trade-offs of public spending

Thursday, 19 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Sunak dare not be seen at Davos

Also in today’s newsletter, Starmer tries to reassure the global elite on a Labour Britain, and make himself out to be prime minister in waiting

Wednesday, 18 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Political interests drive the retained EU bill, not policy

If government is lucky, the plan to scrap thousands of Brussels-derived laws will eventually die or be dismembered in the Lords

Tuesday, 17 January, 2023

Inside Politics

UK ‘nuclear option’ over Scotland’s gender bill is not a party-political bid for war

Move by Sunak’s government is less about trying to pick a fight with the SNP than a legal dispute

Tuesday, 17 January, 2023

Film

Forget digital resurrection: let the dead stay dead

Our obsession with recreating people on screen and in reality is doomed to failure

Monday, 16 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Constitutional showdown looms over Scotland’s transgender bill

Holyrood law to ease the process of changing legal gender need not conflict with workings of UK-wide equalities law

Friday, 13 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Misunderstanding of online safety bill muddies the debate

Also in this newsletter, will a Conservative campaign over ‘small boats’ draw Sunak an advantageous battle line with Labour?

Friday, 13 January, 2023

ReviewFT Books Essay

Questions of privilege

Is the term ‘white privilege’ doing more harm than good? Three insightful books look at anti-Semitism, migration and class amid the battle to end racism

Thursday, 12 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Sunak and Starmer are scarred from their defeats by populists

History shows voters will not tolerate cuts past a point — but neither politician wants to admit solutions involve trade-offs

Wednesday, 11 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Setting NHS minimum service rules poses a risk for Tories

Anti-strike legislation may not visibly remedy the crisis in health service as reports highlight record levels of excess deaths

Tuesday, 10 January, 2023

Inside Politics

How worried should Sunak be?

Complaints on Tory right will grow louder and more agitated in the next few months as a deal over Northern Ireland is struck

Monday, 9 January, 2023

Technology

Why everyone should be able to understand code

Technical literacy is crucial for creating an informed citizenry

Monday, 9 January, 2023

Inside Politics

Spectre of Reform UK will shape direction of Tory party

Also in today’s newsletter, why opinion polls might not be reflected in election results

Columnist and Associate Editor

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