Stephen Bush

Thursday, 15 January, 2026

Instant InsightUK politics

Jenrick’s sacking is both threat and opportunity for Badenoch

The surprise departure deprives Farage of some Westminster theatre and gives the Tories a chance to reclaim ground

Thursday, 15 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Labour’s muddled thinking on police reform

New policy devised in response to latest scandal shows insufficient planning by party while in opposition

Wednesday, 14 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Digital ID should aim to win public support, not force it

Keir Starmer irked his MPs last year by framing move as means to tackle illegal working

Tuesday, 13 January, 2026

Artificial intelligence

AI cannot take responsibility for human faults

As Grok shows, decisions have consequences and someone needs to be able to answer for them

Tuesday, 13 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Nadhim Zahawi joining Reform shrinks the Farage ‘fear’ factor

Defection helps rightwing party by making it less scary and more viable in era of bloc-based politics

Monday, 12 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Labour’s electoral strategy debates are a distraction from governing

More useful discussions right now might be the UK’s defence commitments and what that means for taxes

Friday, 9 January, 2026

Inside Politics

No, Reform hasn’t peaked

Still, the Conservative Party could recover some support by leveraging its pro-business instincts and intellectual offer

Thursday, 8 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Kemi Badenoch’s illusory comeback

Decent performances at PMQs will help her survive as leader, but she has failed to increase Tories’ appeal where it matters

Wednesday, 7 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Starmer should level with voters about foreign policy priorities

Some in government would rather the PM focus on domestic challenges

Tuesday, 6 January, 2026

Inside Politics

The short-term politics of Labour’s war on inflation

Offering households some relief from price pressures has trade-offs for investment

Tuesday, 6 January, 2026

UK politics

Threatening to strip someone of their citizenship is no joke

That this Labour government seems to find Alaa Abdel Fattah’s predicament a laughing matter is unconscionable

Monday, 5 January, 2026

Inside Politics

Moment of truth for Britain’s Trump diplomacy

Keir Starmer hopes for closeness over confrontation with US in the hope it won’t hand Russia a victory in Ukraine

Wednesday, 31 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Labour and Tories are wrecking an election rule of thumb

Time may be up for the assumption in UK politics that incumbent governments get re-elected

Tuesday, 30 December, 2025

Film

Creativity thrives with constraints

Even the most successful of directors benefit from strong editors and margin-cutting suits

Tuesday, 30 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Why I misread Labour on immigration

Government’s measures were far tougher than the Conservatives’, plus my top films of 2025

Monday, 29 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Winter fuel was Labour’s defining mistake

Damaging climbdown on cutting benefit taught me pensioner spending can be changed, but only with great care

Friday, 26 December, 2025

Swamp Notes podcast51 min listen

Political Fix: Quizmas special

George Parker puts the FT panel to the test

Monday, 22 December, 2025

Social affairs

Social media is taking us back to the Salem witch trials

It is none of our business if strangers choose to display their private affairs at a Coldplay concert

Monday, 22 December, 2025

Global migration

Year in a Word: Remigration

The idea that ethnic diversity is a threat has begun to seep into the mainstream

Saturday, 20 December, 2025

ReviewMusic

FT writers on their most thrilling musical discoveries of 2025

Beethoven through new eyes, a jazz saxophonist with a rock bent, restless Rosalía and more

Friday, 19 December, 2025

Political Fix podcast50 min listen

Quizmas special: Political Fix’s 2025 nerd-out!

George Parker puts our panel to the test

Friday, 19 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski have both had good years thanks to disastrous strategy from the two main parties

Thursday, 18 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Expect more militant industrial relations under new Unison leader

Leftwing victor Andrea Egan will change how the union deals with the prime minister and health secretary

Wednesday, 17 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Interest rates explain UK’s high turnover of prime ministers

End of era of loose monetary policy exposed how poor Britain had become after the financial crisis

Tuesday, 16 December, 2025

Inside Politics

Starmer premiership will not survive this parliament

Lack of a standout replacement and difficulty removing Labour PMs mean he might remain in post for another year