Coffee House Shots

Apr 13 2025 500 ep. 14 mins 10.8k

Coffee House Shots Podcast artwork

Instant political analysis from the Spectator's top team of writers, including Michael Gove, Katy Balls, Isabel Hardman, James Heale, Cindy Yu and many others.

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'Nationalisation in all but name': the blame game over British Steel

Apr 13 2025 11 mins

Parliament was recalled from Easter recess for a rare Saturday sitting of Parliament yesterday, to debate the future of British Steel. Legislation was passed to allow the government to take control of the Chinese-owned company – Conservative MP David Davis called this 'nationalisation in all but name'. Though, with broad support across the House including from Reform leader Nigel

Tariff turmoil: the end of globalisation or a blip in history?

Apr 11 2025 16 mins

Globalisation's obituary has been written many times before but, with the turmoil caused over the past few weeks with Donald Trump's various announcements on tariffs, could this mark the beginning of the end for the economic order as we know it? Tej Parikh from the Financial Times and Kate Andrews, The Spectator's deputy US editor, join economics editor Michael Simmons to make the

The economy is growing!

Apr 11 2025 10 mins

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 National Statistics (ONS) estimates that GDP grew by 0.5 per cent in February. It also revised January’s figures upwards to give growth for the last quarter of 0.6 per cent, and annual growth of 1.4 per cent. It looks – for now –

'The art of the deal'?

Apr 10 2025 14 mins

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 President confirmed a 90-day pause on the higher tariff rates on all countries apart from China. There is some confusion about whether this was The Donald's plan from the start – although the safe assumption is that it wasn't, and th

What could a US-UK trade deal look like?

Apr 09 2025 13 mins

Trump’s levies have kicked in today: including an astonishing 102 per cent tariff on China – after it missed the deadline to withdraw its retaliatory tariffs – and 20 per cent on the European Union. The combination of these explosive tariffs has sent markets sliding once again. This follows a slight recovery in the markets yesterday after suggestions by some in the Trump admi

What happened at the Liaison Committee?

Apr 08 2025 14 mins

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 afternoon, where he was grilled on topics including tariffs, defence and welfare. This comes on the day when there has been a momentary reprieve in the markets, which experienced a modest bounce – most likely as a result of suggestio

Is Trump the new Truss?

Apr 07 2025 15 mins

The fallout from Trump’s tariffs continues. Last week, Donald Trump ended the free-trade era that has underpinned growth for decades (and potentially also heralded the end of globalisation). Markets around the world have taken a nosedive, prompting fears of a global recession. The only (brief) reprieve was when stock markets rallied because of a misunderstanding regarding comment

Marine Le Pen: justice or lawfare?

Apr 04 2025 14 mins

Marine Le Pen, president of Rassemblement National (National Rally) was found guilty this week of embezzling EU funds to boost her party’s finances. The guilty verdict was widely expected, however her sentence was far harsher than even her strongest critics expected – part of which saw her banned from standing for office for five years, with immediate effect. Le Pen had been th

Five years on, who is Keir Starmer?

Apr 04 2025 12 mins

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 wrestled the party back to the centre, winning a historic majority in 2024. But, five years on, the question remains: what does Keir Starmer stand for? He came in as the acceptable face of Corbynism but looks more and more like a Conserv

Trump's tariffs explained

Apr 03 2025 12 mins

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 White House rose garden, including a 10% levy on the UK which – before it comes into effect on 5th April – the government hope to negotiate down. Other countries have come off much worse. China, for example, will experience a 34 per