Coffee House Shots
Episodes
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 13/07/2025
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander faces questions over the shrinking econ...
Amanda Spielman on the SEND row and Labour’s Ofsted blind spot
12 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Labour looks to get a grip on public spending, one rebellion gives way to another with the changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilitie...
Sacré bleu! We have a migration deal with France
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s podcast: sacré bleu – we have a one-in, one-out migration deal with France. In a press conference yesterday, Keir Starmer and Presiden...
The unstoppable Angela Rayner
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is the small matter of the Macron–Starmer press conference today, at which the Prime Minister will hope to announce a new migration deal with ...
Wes Streeting takes on the doctors
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The public won’t forgive and nor will I, said Health Secretary Wes Streeting of plans by junior doctors to strike over his refusal to cave to demand...
Can Keir defrost the 'entente glaciale'?
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zut alors! The French are in town. Emmanuel Macron is on his state visit this week, spending time today with the King and tomorrow with the Prime Mini...
Keir can't catch a break
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer will have been hoping for a more relaxed week – but he certainly won’t be getting one. He is facing a fresh rebellion over support fo...
Labour’s first year (in review) with Tim Shipman & Quentin Letts
05 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cast your mind back a year. Labour had just won a storming majority, promising ‘change’ to a stale Tory party that was struggling to govern. But h...
Corbyn is back! ... or is he?
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Some sore heads on Coffee House Shots this morning, after last night’s Spectator summer party. But while we were having fun, a drama was brewing in ...
NHS reforms: Labour puts on a brave face
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today Wes Streeting – with the help of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves – announced his 10 year plan for curing the NHS. It’s all about creating a...
Chancellor in tears during PMQs
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were extraordinary scenes in PMQs today. Rachel Reeves appeared distraught as the Prime Minister failed to guarantee her security when asked by ...
Welfare vote: how many will rebel?
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s D-Day for Labour’s welfare reforms. MPs will vote tonight on the party’s watered-down benefits cuts. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendal...
Does Starmer still want to be PM?
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There have been a number of navel-gazing interviews with the Prime Minister over the weekend. Across thousands and thousands of words, he seems to be ...
Steve Baker on how to organise a successful rebellion
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Labour rebels appear to have forced concessions from Keir Starmer over welfare this week, former Conservative MP Steve Baker joins James Heale to r...
Welfare U-turn: is Keir in control?
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has performed a screeching about-turn on his flagship welfare reforms, all in the hope of quelling the rebellion from more than 120 MPs w...
Who’s having a worse week: Keir or Kemi?
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s bad news all round for Labour and the Tories. An MRP poll out today forecasts that if an election were held tomorrow, Labour would not only los...
Welfare rebellion: why Starmer – and Reeves – should be worried
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer is facing war on both fronts. He is in the Netherlands to talk about defence and announce a major change in the UK's nuclear posture in r...
Iran: 'what the f***' is going on?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is rare to see the President so visibly frustrated (see The Apprentice, circa 2004), but after Iran and Israel seemingly ignored his ceasefire anno...
Does the government support Trump’s Iran strikes?
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The weekend saw the US launch airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, with Tehran warning of ‘everlasting consequences’. Despite an emergency C...
Jeremy Hunt on Trump, Budgets and Welsh whisky
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, James Heale sits down with Jeremy Hunt to discuss his new book, Can We Be Great Again...
MPs back assisted dying: what next?
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
MPs have voted – by a narrow 23-vote margin – in favour of legalising assisted dying. Bizarrely, the 51.9 to 48.1 per cent breakdown is the exact ...
What you need to know ahead of the assisted dying vote
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a historic day in Westminster, where MPs will vote on the assisted dying bill – the outcome of which could have huge repercussions for health...
The inside story of how Labour is dealing with Iran
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, our new political editor Tim Shipman takes the helm and, in his cover piece, gives us the inside track on how Labour is dealing with Iran, ...
Westminster waits for Donald’s decision
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Westminster waits with bated breath to discover whether Donald Trump will ally with Israel in striking Iranian nuclear sites. The President called for...
Can you 'take the politics out' of the grooming gangs scandal?
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday Yvette Cooper announced a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal after the Casey Review found that a disproportionate number of As...
Grooming gangs: will this inquiry be different?
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Following Keir Starmer's decision to call for a national inquiry into grooming gangs, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke in the Commons today abou...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 15/06/2025
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's politics shows.The conflict in the Middle-East has entered a dangerous new phase, with Israel...
Why is Britain's economy so unhealthy?
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons is joined by the outgoing boss of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Johnson and the CEO of the ...
Israel strikes Iran – how will Iran retaliate?
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Israel struck military and nuclear targets in Iran overnight in a major escalation of hostilities in the Middle East has begun further strikes on Frid...
Is Rachel Reeves’s headroom shrinking?
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were clear winners and losers in Rachel Reeves’s spending review yesterday but some of her announcements around capital spending and investmen...
Spending review: smoke, mirrors and no strategy
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There were few surprises in Rachel Reeves’s spending review today. Health was the big winner, with a £29bn increase in day-to-day spending and £39...
Labour goes nuclear while Reform turns to coal
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Reeves has pledged a ‘new era of nuclear power’ as the government confirms a £14.2 billion investment in the Sizewell C nuclear plant in S...
Labour try to silence ‘austerity-lite’ accusations
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Nation, formerly a special adviser to Rishi Sunak and now an MD at Forefront Advisers, joins the Spectator’s deputy political editor James Hea...
Rupert Lowe on Reform turmoil, Chagos 'treason' and taking the Tory whip
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove and assistant editor Madeline Grant interview Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and notorious Westminster provo...
Surprise Labour victory as Reform’s fallout continues
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scottish Labour have a new MSP today as Davy Russell won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, taking the seat from the SNP. Labour won w...
Zia Yusuf resigns from Reform
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zia Yusuf resigned this evening from his position as chairman of Reform UK, saying: ‘I no longer believe working to get a Reform government elected ...
From Thatcher to Truss, who's haunting Mel Stride?
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride delivered a speech today where he attempted to banish the ghost of Liz Truss and improve the Conservatives' reputation ov...
To spend or not to spend
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Reeves unveiled billions of pounds of investment today for transport and infrastructure projects, as Labour attempts to demonstrate that next w...
Is the public ready for difficult decisions on defence?
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Commander of Joint Forces Command – and one of the authors of the Strategic Defence Review – General Sir Richard Barrons joins Lucy Dunn an...
Is Britain 'battle-ready'?
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today the government has published the long-awaited strategic defence review. The brief was to take a new look at some of the challenges to the UK in ...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 01/06/2025
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s political shows.Defence Secretary John Healey says the nature of war is changing, and admit...
Should cannabis be decriminalised?
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has called for possession of small amounts of cannabis to be decriminalised following a report by the London Drugs Commiss...
What will save the Tories? The economy, or Robert Jenrick?
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots to discuss today: Robert Jenrick takes on TfL, a Nazi jibe from the attorney general and allegations of shoplifting made against our own Michael ...
Can Reform conquer Scotland?
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dissatisfaction with the established political parties is driving a ‘tartan bounce’ in Scotland for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. Far from being an ...
How to do a spending review
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Labour’s spending review is expected on the 11th of June, when we will find out which government departments face cuts and which costs have bee...
Is the welfare state about to expand?
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick Gibbons to discuss the speculation that Labour could scrap the two-child benefit cap. Is this just red me...
Why is antisemitism so pervasive? Irving v Lipstadt 25 years on
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This spring marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark judgment in the infamous Irving v Lipstadt Holocaust denial case. David Irving sued American ac...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 25/05/2025
25 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Michael Simmons presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.Rayner defends Labour's winter fuel payments U-turn, and fends of...
Michael Gove on Starmer vs the workers: why Labour needs to learn to love Brexit
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Spectator editor Michael Gove joins Natasha Feroze to talk about his cover article this week: 'Starmer vs the workers', the real Brexit betrayal. Mich...
David Gauke on prisons, probation & the political reaction to his review
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor David Gauke joins James Heale to talk about his review into prison sentencing. The former Tory minister w...
Live by the rule of law, die by the rule of law
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Independent Sentencing Review chaired by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke has today announced its suggested reforms which sees a major shift fro...
Winter fuel U-turn and a rift at the heart of government
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After sustained speculation and a local elections drubbing, Keir Starmer announced today at PMQs that the government will be softening their policy on...
What has reaction been to the UK-EU deal?
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fallout continues from yesterday's summit and the announcement of a deal between the UK and EU – or is it fair to call it 'fallout' as, despite crit...
UK-EU reset: ‘brexit betrayal’?
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As EU leaders arrive in London for a summit hosted by Keir Starmer, there has been an announcement that the UK and EU have reached a deal. The UK has ...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 18/05/2025
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning’s politics shows.As the government wraps up negotiations with the EU, some believe the deal w...
Debate: should Kemi Badenoch go?
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kemi Badenoch has come in for criticism since becoming leader of the opposition – for her energy, her performances at PMQs and her inability to galv...
Can the assisted dying bill survive?
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill is back in the Commons for the report stage today – returning to parliament for the first time sinc...
Mixed signals for Labour as GDP rises but the rich leave
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister is in Albania today to focus on immigration: the government has announced that the UK is in talks to set up 'return hubs' with othe...
Is Badenoch getting better, or is Starmer getting worse?
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister’s Questions today, and there was lots on the agenda. It is often a fool’s game to guess what the leader of the opposition will lead...
Are Labour 'pandering' to Nigel Farage?
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has succeeded in keeping immigration at the top of the news agenda for another day – although he may not be happy with the headlines.Af...
Have Labour out-Reformed Reform on immigration?
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Keir Starmer has kicked off what may be one of his most significant weeks in the job with a white paper on immigration. In it, the government details ...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 11/05/2025
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows.The home secretary announces new measures to curb immigration numbers, and St...
Coffee House Shots Live with Zia Yusuf and Jacob Rees-Mogg
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The post-mortem has begun on a historic set of local elections – but where does each party go from here? Is Reform unstoppable? Is Kemi the one to l...
US trade deal: ‘a political win, not an economic win’
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Thursday afternoon Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech about closing the long-awaited UK-US trade deal. Not that his announcement went withou...
White smoke on a US trade deal
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a massive day for the Labour government and for Keir Starmer, as the UK becomes the first country to sign a trade deal with the US following th...
Do the Tories hate free trade? Plus, Reform hits new polling high
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lots to talk about today, including new polling which puts Reform on 29 points compared to the Tories on just 17. We’ve also just had the first PMQs...
Why Reform’s rise isn't a surprise
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s day five of recriminations after the local elections, with politicians, pollsters and journalists alike still trying to make sense of what just...
Ash Regan on the rise of Reform in Scotland, what is a woman and why ‘no-one resigns anymore’
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special edition of Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn speaks to the Holyrood leader of the pro-independence Alba party, Ash Regan. Regan was former...
Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 04/05/2025
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The two main parties are reeling after local elections in which Reform surged to huge wins. Wes Streeting has admitted that Reform could be Labour’s...
Does Keir Starmer 'get it'?
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the parties regroup following the local elections, both Labour and the Conservatives have to face a miserable result. Lucy Dunn speaks to Isabel Ha...
Local elections live: is Reform unstoppable?
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The word ‘unprecedented’ is often overused in politics, but these local elections have proved to be just that. The headline is: sweeping success f...
Local elections: Reform seizes Runcorn in teal tsunami
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Votes are being counted across England, but there is a clear early winner from these local elections: Nigel Farage. His party triumphed in the Runcorn...
Michael Gove on how to spin a bad election
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Voters have gone to the polls today for a historic set of local elections. The polling indicates a rough night for the two main parties and a good sho...
What is Tony Blair up to?
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Blair is making waves in Westminster today after his institute published a report on net zero that appears to undermine Ed Miliband and Labour’...
Revenge of the centrists: Carney wins in Canada
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Carney has won the Canadian election, leading the Liberal Party to a fourth term. Having only been Prime Minister for 6 weeks, succeeding Justin ...
'The spring of discontent'
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are we looking at a spring of discontent? It’s the final push ahead of this week’s local elections, and what Keir Starmer wants to talk about is e...
‘An era of five-party politics’: John Curtice on the significance of the local elections
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary pollster Prof Sir John Curtice joins the Spectator’s deputy political editor James Heale to look ahead to next week’s local elections. T...
Is Robert Jenrick on manoeuvres?
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Despite this being the week that Kemi Badenoch finally showed some steel in PMQs, it’s Robert Jenrick who has been stealing the headlines. That’s ...
Who do voters trust most on the economy?
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been in Washington D.C. this week at the IMF’s spring meetings, and will meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tomor...
St George’s Day: who is the most patriotic leader?
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happy St George’s Day! To celebrate, we thought we would discuss who is the most patriotic political leader — and why some struggle to communicate...
Does Starmer know what a woman is?
22 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parliament is back after the Easter holiday and the Supreme Court ruling over 'what is a woman' continues to dominate talk in Westminster. The Prime M...
How the Liberal Democrats conquered Middle England
21 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller, elected as the new MP for Bicester and Woodstock last year, joins James Heale to t...
10 years of politics as Balls bows out
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Katy Balls joins Coffee House Shots for the last time as the Spectator’s political editor. Having joined the magazine ten years ago – or six prime...
Labour Together? Party morale & the threat of Reform
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth and Patrick Maguire from The Times join Katy Balls for her penultimate Coffee House Shots podcast as The Spectator'...
How Wes Streeting will make or break Starmer
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Gove and Katy Balls join James Heale to discuss their interview with the Health Secretary Wes Streeting included in this week’s special East...
How will the parties judge success at the local elections?
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With just over two weeks to go until the May elections, the latest national polling suggests an almost three-way split between Reform, Labour and the ...
Has a US-UK trade deal inched closer?
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs keep shifting, leaving countries scrambling to react, there has been some good news for Keir Starmer and the L...
Scunthorpe's steel and Birmingham's bins: a tale of two Labours
14 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Panic has subsided over the British Steel crisis as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, while visiting the site in Scunthorpe, confirmed that the raw...
'Nationalisation in all but name': the blame game over British Steel
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parliament was recalled from Easter recess for a rare Saturday sitting of Parliament yesterday, to debate the future of British Steel. Legislation was...
Tariff turmoil: the end of globalisation or a blip in history?
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Globalisation's obituary has been written many times before but, with the turmoil caused over the past few weeks with Donald Trump's various announcem...
The economy is growing!
11 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Finally, some good news for your Friday: the economy is growing! Just when everyone seems to be revising down expectations of growth, the Office for N...
'The art of the deal'?
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two days ago, talk of a 90-day pause on Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ was branded ‘fake news’ by the White House. But yesterday, the P...
What could a US-UK trade deal look like?
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trump’s levies have kicked in today: including an astonishing 102 per cent tariff on China – after it missed the deadline to withdraw its retaliat...
What happened at the Liaison Committee?
08 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parliament is about to go into recess for the Easter holiday and so – as is customary – Keir Starmer sat in front of the Liaison Committee this af...
Is Trump the new Truss?
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The fallout from Trump’s tariffs continues. Last week, Donald Trump ended the free-trade era that has underpinned growth for decades (and potentiall...
Marine Le Pen: justice or lawfare?
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Marine Le Pen, president of Rassemblement National (National Rally) was found guilty this week of embezzling EU funds to boost her party’s finances....
Five years on, who is Keir Starmer?
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today marks five years since Keir Starmer became leader of the Labour party. In that time, he has gradually purged Labour of its leftist wing and wres...
Trump's tariffs explained
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's the day after America 'reclaimed it's destiny', or so Donald Trump says. The President announced a raft of 'reciprocal' new tariffs from the Whit...
Should Starmer impose retaliatory tariffs? Plus local elections lookahead
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s World Tariff Day – or Liberation Day, depending on what you prefer to call it – but we won’t know for certain what levies Donald Trump wi...
Welcome to Terrible Tuesday
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Britain’s real economic pain starts today. Overnight, the cost of living has jumped once again: energy, water, broadband, public transport, TV licen...