Isabel Hardman

Is the fall of Bashar al-Assad really cause for celebration in Syria and across the world? UK government politicians have been trying to separate the relief of the dictator’s departure from any sense of celebration about what comes after. This afternoon in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Assad was a ‘monster’,

Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch had quite an angry clash at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions. The Tory leader attacked on immigration, something Starmer had previously mocked her for avoiding. The questions and answers quickly descended into a bit of a grudge match about who actually cared about it. Badenoch’s first question was why immigration had

She's now a poor third to Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting

Sunday 15 December 2024 01:00 EST Comments W hat is Keir Starmer 's problem?

He says all the right things, but why listen when so little seems to be getting done? Isabel Hardman looks at the internal power struggle inside the government and why the certain type of person getting the PM’s ear means he’s struggling to connect with anyone else…

The threatened Commons drama of an MP using parliamentary privilege to name the alleged Chinese spy was dampened, rather after the High Court lifted the anonymity order on Yang Tengbo. It meant the urgent question in the Chamber this afternoon ended up being much more about the UK government's attitude towards China generally – which made it a much more useful session than if everyone had been craning their necks to see which maverick MP was going to stand up and name ‘H6'.

The threatened Commons drama of an MP using parliamentary privilege to name the alleged Chinese spy was dampened rather after the High Court lifted the anonymity order on Yang Tengbo.

As the Prime Minister stands accused of betraying Waspi women after using them to get elected, Isabel Hardman looks at the internal power struggle inside the government and asks if the PM’s problems are down to the fact he’s only listening to a technocratic white male worldview

Kemi Badenoch has become fixated on accusing Keir Starmer of not telling the truth at Prime Minister's Questions, to the extent that she is neglecting to push him on individual issues. The Tory leader merely used the winter fuel payment, the impact of national insurance hikes on charities and hospices, and Brexit as devices for her grand theme of the Prime Minister not answering the question and not telling the truth. It would have been better to hammer away at one topic to make Starmer uncomfortable, rather than allowing him to do the thing that Badenoch was complaining about: dodging the issue.

The situation facing violence against women and girls charities is of another order