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Stephen Bush

Columnist and Associate Editor

Stephen Bush is an associate editor and columnist at the Financial Times. He writes a daily newsletter, Inside Politics, charting the course of politics and policy in the United Kingdom, and a wide-ranging weekly column. You can subscribe to Inside Politics here.

Email Stephen Bush @stephenkb  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

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  • Monday, 30 January, 2023
    Parenting and families
    It would pay for us all to be more honest about family advantage

    Hand-wringing about ‘nepo babies’ obscures some uncomfortable truths around class privilege

  • Monday, 30 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Zahawi saga exposes weak links in UK legal and tax systems

    Sacking puts Sunak’s political judgment under scrutiny, amid consistently bleak opinion polls for him and Tories

  • Friday, 27 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Hunt talks up post-Brexit Britain as he sets scene for Budget

    Global race to lead green transition hinders UK growth plans, as the US and EU step up investment

  • Thursday, 26 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Why Trussonomics was doomed: Tories cannot stomach spending cuts

    Sunak presides over a Conservative party incapable of uniting over fiscal policy, but his fear of arguments has not helped

  • Wednesday, 25 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Levelling up: Sunak flounders in giving substance to Johnson’s slogan

    New fiscal powers for mayors in England being considered by the Treasury would be a better approach

  • Tuesday, 24 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Sunak is the political equivalent of a painkiller

    Tory party chair hangs on to post as one of the government’s few remaining proven and competent administrators

  • Monday, 23 January, 2023
    US politics & policy
    Politicians are unhealthily obsessed with getting to zero

    The key to making sensible policy is to be honest about the trade-offs involved

  • Monday, 23 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Zahawi may not only be embarrassing for Sunak, but damaging

    Tory party chair’s exit surely can’t be avoided, and risks exposing the prime minister to Labour’s favoured attack lines

  • Friday, 20 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Why doesn’t Sunak tell it straight on tax rises?

    Both the Conservative and Labour leaders are keen to drain attention away from the uncomfortable trade-offs of public spending

  • Thursday, 19 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Sunak dare not be seen at Davos

    Also in today’s newsletter, Starmer tries to reassure the global elite on a Labour Britain, and make himself out to be prime minister in waiting

  • Wednesday, 18 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Political interests drive the retained EU bill, not policy

    If government is lucky, the plan to scrap thousands of Brussels-derived laws will eventually die or be dismembered in the Lords

  • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    UK ‘nuclear option’ over Scotland’s gender bill is not a party-political bid for war

    Move by Sunak’s government is less about trying to pick a fight with the SNP than a legal dispute

  • Tuesday, 17 January, 2023
    Film
    Forget digital resurrection: let the dead stay dead

    Our obsession with recreating people on screen and in reality is doomed to failure

  • Monday, 16 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Constitutional showdown looms over Scotland’s transgender bill

    Holyrood law to ease the process of changing legal gender need not conflict with workings of UK-wide equalities law

  • Friday, 13 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Misunderstanding of online safety bill muddies the debate

    Also in this newsletter, will a Conservative campaign over ‘small boats’ draw Sunak an advantageous battle line with Labour?

  • Friday, 13 January, 2023
    ReviewFT Books Essay
    Questions of privilege

    Is the term ‘white privilege’ doing more harm than good? Three insightful books look at anti-Semitism, migration and class amid the battle to end racism

  • Thursday, 12 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Sunak and Starmer are scarred from their defeats by populists

    History shows voters will not tolerate cuts past a point — but neither politician wants to admit solutions involve trade-offs

  • Wednesday, 11 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Setting NHS minimum service rules poses a risk for Tories

    Anti-strike legislation may not visibly remedy the crisis in health service as reports highlight record levels of excess deaths

  • Tuesday, 10 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    How worried should Sunak be?

    Complaints on Tory right will grow louder and more agitated in the next few months as a deal over Northern Ireland is struck

  • Monday, 9 January, 2023
    Technology
    Why everyone should be able to understand code

    Technical literacy is crucial for creating an informed citizenry

  • Monday, 9 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Spectre of Reform UK will shape direction of Tory party

    Also in today’s newsletter, why opinion polls might not be reflected in election results

  • Friday, 6 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Labour’s row over tuition fees kicks off its year of internal battles

    Starmer tackles controversies within party ahead of unveiling big policy pledges closer to time of election

  • Thursday, 5 January, 2023
    FT MagazineLife & Arts
    What does it mean to ‘make’ something nowadays?

    While trades like painting and sculpting face a crisis of demand, carpentry and plumbing face a crisis of supply

  • Thursday, 5 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Sunak’s achievable pledges may not be enough to turn the tide by 2024

    With limited time in office, he should highlight his help for households rather than nebulous visions of innovation

  • Wednesday, 4 January, 2023
    Inside Politics
    Cash is not the only answer to our crumbling NHS

    Reforming the health service must target the UK’s insufficient bed capacity and capital spending

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