Best of the Spectator

Andy Burnham has promised to turn the whips’ office into an ‘HR department’ – but the former chief whip Simon Hart warns that the approach is ‘naive’ and could leave the new prime minister unable to control his party.Hart explains why large majorities can be harder to manage than small ones, what Keir Starmer got wrong and why Burnham will begin making enemies as soon as he appoints his first cabinet. He also defends Kemi Badenoch’s crackdown on Tory dissenters, arguing that there must be consequences when private disagreement becomes public disloyalty.Plus: does Parliament take MPs’ safety seriously enough? Hart argues that security has improved significantly in recent years, and that the idea MPs are routinely left unprotected is a ‘myth’.Noa Hoffman speaks to Simon Hart, the former government chief whip and author of Ungovernable: The Political Diaries of a Chief Whip.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

For this week’s Edition, William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s political editor, Tim Shipman, commissioning editor and writer at large Tali Fraser, and the historian Antony Beevor.This week: what will Andy Burnham actually do in Downing Street? Tim reveals what to expect from the incoming prime minister’s first ten days, from a blitz of policies and a ‘Number 10 North’ to higher borrowing and wealth taxes.Also: has Britain expanded the definition of disability too far? The panel discusses Michael Simmons’s argument that compassion should not mean turning every difficulty into a disorder – and asks how the government can encourage resilience and work while protecting those who genuinely need support.Plus: Tali investigates the Welsh government’s plan to make Wales ‘anti-racist’ by 2030. From hate-crime training for landlords to decolonising museums – and even Welsh cakes – has the Welsh government gone mad?Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Tim Whitmarsh, Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge and author of Rome’s Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire and the Making of Christianity. He tells me why, contrary to what we may have learnt at Sunday school, early Christianity flourished not despite the Roman empire, but because of it.

Louis Mosley is the UK head of Palantir, one of the world’s most powerful – and controversial – technology companies. Its work with the NHS, the US government and western militaries has made it a lightning rod for criticism, with opponents accusing it of threatening privacy, enabling mass deportations and supporting military operations in Gaza. Louis therefore occupies an unusual position at the intersection of technology, politics and the British state.On the podcast, he explains what Palantir actually does, why fears over NHS data are misplaced and why scrapping its contract would be a ‘terrible mistake’. He tells Michael why technology companies should not overrule democratically elected governments, why Palantir is ‘ideological, not political’ and why it believes in strengthening liberal democracies.They also discuss the coming AI revolution: why Britain is unusually well placed to benefit, how artificial intelligence could transform failing public services and why the ‘lanyard class’ may have more to fear than frontline workers.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Both Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe have been in the America, telling the political elite all about Britain's demise. Freddy Gray is joined by The Times Washington editor Katy Balls to discuss how the right-wing insurgence in British politics translates to an American, the difference between how the online right, versus a typical Republican may see Farage vs Lowe, and how significant Trump has been to British politics.

This week: Tali Fraser gives the definitive answer to what Andy Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ actually is; Damian Thompson asks if there is any route back for the Society of St Pius X; Matthew Wilson discusses whether Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey can live up to the 2,700-year history of artworks depicting Homer’s epic; and Christa d’Souza reads her Notes on … Tans. 

From idolising players to faithfully following a club, football is often described as the world’s secular religion. But religion has long been woven into the fabric of the game itself. From the sectarian roots of Glasgow’s Old Firm rivalry between Catholic Celtic and Protestant Rangers to Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986, faith has repeatedly shaped football’s biggest moments.This year’s World Cup has offered plenty more examples. Players have prayed openly during matches; images of Lionel Messi as a saint have appeared at Argentina games; and Muslim footballers have performed the sujood on the pitch after victory. Meanwhile, following Brazil’s earlier-than-expected exit, some distraught supporters blamed the country’s rapid growth of Protestantism, lamenting: ‘If we pray like a gringo, we play like a gringo.’So how has religion shaped the world’s most popular sport? And why is Christianity becoming increasingly visible in modern football?Produced by Patrick Gibbons & Oscar Edmondson.

The Tories will not stand a candidate against Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-election – and on today’s podcast Conservative party chairman Kevin Hollinrake explains why.Hollinrake also reveals what is behind the turnaround in the Conservatives’ fortunes and their bump in the polls, as well as how the party plans to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past: namely, talking right but governing left. Can Kemi really hold back the Tory wets? And how exactly do the Conservatives plan to take the fight to Reform?Noa Hoffman speaks to Kevin Hollinrake.Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

For this week’s Edition, Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s political editor Tim Shipman, deputy editor of the US edition Gus Carter and the Mail on Sunday’s restaurant critic Tom Parker Bowles.This week: Nigel Farage’s greatest gamble. After resigning as MP for Clacton to trigger a by-election, Farage has tried to turn questions over his finances into a referendum on the establishment. Tim explains why the move may already have backfired, with the main parties refusing to stand against him and leaving him to spend the summer ‘arguing with a bin’. But he also argues that Farage is returning to what he does best: insurgency, grievance and campaigning against the political class. Has he reclaimed the narrative – or retreated from the idea of becoming prime minister?Also: can Andy Burnham export the Manchester model to the rest of Britain? As the incoming prime minister prepares for Downing Street, Gus looks at the property developers behind Manchester’s rise.Plus: Tom Parker Bowles on the crisis in British hospitality, why pubs matter and what the government keeps getting wrong about restaurants.Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.