Catherine Neilan
Political Editor
-
Thursday 27 October 2022
18:30-19:30 BST
A Nightmare on Downing Street: will anyone survive?
The real life fears our government face today from the cost of living crisis and the crash of the economy, to the changes in our society.
-
Thursday 27 October 2022
18:15-21:30 BST
Tortoise Lates: Fear
An evening of real and imaginary horrors in the Tortoise Studio. With terrifying ghost stories, the scariest movies and an exploration of the frightening things happening at the top of government
-
Friday 29 September 2023
Not for EU
-
Friday 29 September 2023
Feathered fiends
-
Friday 29 September 2023
Pygmalion
-
Thursday 28 September 2023
The six party managers who choose Britain’s MPs
Hundreds of British MPs are effectively chosen not by voters but by six influential party managers and handfuls of local party activists. Meet the selectorate.
-
Monday 25 September 2023
Labour and Europe are having to create a whole new language
-
Thursday 21 September 2023
Revealed: The Tory letter that tipped Rishi Sunak’s hand on net zero
-
Tuesday 5 September 2023
Williamson forced to apologise for bullying
-
Wednesday 26 July 2023
Dan Wootton lawyers up
-
Wednesday 26 July 2023
Why Uxbridge makes a nasty, early UK election campaign more likely
-
Friday 21 July 2023
A swing and a miss
Conservatives lose two by-elections – but keep Uxbridge
-
Thursday 20 July 2023
Dan Wootton and the right-wing press
-
Friday 14 July 2023
New report finds China has successfully accessed every sector of UK economy
-
Wednesday 12 July 2023
Pressure mounts on BBC to name presenter accused of sharing explicit images
The BBC presenter saga bringing everyone down with it
-
Friday 7 July 2023
Whatsapp, docs
Government ordered to hand over Covid Whatsapp messages
-
Tuesday 4 July 2023
UK government accused of double standards over Sue Gray probe
-
Thursday 29 June 2023
Labour could fail to take any seats from three Tory by-elections
-
Thursday 22 June 2023
Labour and EU
More alignment with the single market?
-
Wednesday 21 June 2023
Charlotte Owen’s claim to have worked in George Osborne’s Tatton office in tatters
Charlotte Owen is as hard to pin down as her CV
-
Tuesday 20 June 2023
Lib Dems take aim at Johnson’s entire honours list
MPs are hoping to harness anger expressed in crushing vote against the former PM
-
Tuesday 20 June 2023
Third individual on Boris Johnson’s honours list given inflated job title
Another massaged CV gets a gong
-
Friday 16 June 2023
The Crucible
-
Thursday 15 June 2023
Johnson in contempt
He lied and disrespected parliament, committee finds
-
Thursday 15 June 2023
What did Charlotte Owen do to deserve a peerage?
-
Wednesday 14 June 2023
Johnson’s aide nominated for peerage appears to have exaggerated time spent at Number 10
Charlotte Owens’ LinkedIn profile is contradicted by Number 10’s own records
-
Friday 9 June 2023
MPs claim victory for free speech as Tory donor’s libel case thrown out
Tory donor Mohamed Amersi loses legal action against former MP
-
Wednesday 7 June 2023
New rules for sex pests in parliament don’t go far enough, MPs warn
Westminster should be an exemplary place to work but it’s teeming with bullies and pests and new rules to control them don’t look adequate.
-
Tuesday 6 June 2023
The problem with Johnson’s honours list
Britain’s House of Lords is becoming a joke institution
-
Monday 5 June 2023
Former PM’s honours list calls system into question
-
Wednesday 31 May 2023
Simon Case under pressure over claims Cabinet Office “handed out” names of bullying whistleblowers
The UK’s cabinet secretary is in trouble again
-
Thursday 18 May 2023
The American alt-right wants to set up shop in the UK
-
Friday 12 May 2023
Braverman backlash
The UK’s home secretary is turning her own party against her
-
Thursday 11 May 2023
Labour MP claims shadow minister sexually assaulted her
-
Wednesday 3 May 2023
Sunak under fire on standards
Rishi Sunak has invited a backbench MP to frequent meetings in Number 10 without giving him a formal role
-
Wednesday 3 May 2023
Dark Arts
What just happened
-
Thursday 27 April 2023
Muddled asses
What just happened
-
Friday 21 April 2023
Scottish dream fades
What just happened
-
Thursday 20 April 2023
Sunak’s blindspot
What just happened
-
Monday 17 April 2023
Brexiteers’ last stand
What just happened
-
Wednesday 29 March 2023
Sensemaker: Serious Sunak
What just happened
-
Thursday 23 March 2023
Sensemaker: Expensive friend
What just happened
-
Thursday 16 March 2023
Sensemaker: Six million pound man
What just happened
-
Thursday 26 January 2023
Sensemaker: SLAPPed down
What just happened
-
Tuesday 24 January 2023
Sensemaker: Cabinet shaker
What just happened
-
Tuesday 17 January 2023
Sensemaker: Tehran’s terror
What just happened
-
Monday 16 January 2023
Firm that supports aspiring politicians helped launch three APPGs chaired by new Tory MPs
College Green offers to help would-be MPs on their “journey” to Westminster – including setting up parliamentary groups
-
Friday 13 January 2023
Boris Johnson tops MP donations after receiving £1 million donation
Although his predecessor, Theresa May, still tops the leaderboard for total outside earnings declared by MPs
-
Thursday 12 January 2023
Sensemaker: Join the dots
What just happened
-
Wednesday 11 January 2023
Former MEP offered paying subscribers access to a meeting of vaccine sceptics in parliament
The event was also attended by anti-vaxx campaigner Dr Aseem Malhotra, as well as Conservative MPs Desmond Swayne and Andrew Bridgen
-
Wednesday 11 January 2023
High stakes
The gambling industry has placed expensive bets on its political connections
-
Tuesday 10 January 2023
Hancock’s crypto hankering
The former health secretary is institutionally into digital currencies
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Sensemaker: Big spenders, little footprints
What just happened
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Tory MPs accepted donations worth thousands from mystery donors
Northern MPs were told to accept money from a company they’d never heard of
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Labour’s mystery money
A house in Hertfordshire and a curious six-figure sum
-
Sunday 8 January 2023
Lucky Lammy
Labour has a ban on second jobs, except when it doesn’t
-
Sunday 8 January 2023
In praise of Qatar
A well-funded charm offensive is yielding results in Westminster
-
Sunday 8 January 2023
May’s millions
How the former PM became the highest earning MP
-
Sunday 8 January 2023
Sensemaker: Westminster money trail
What just happened
-
Thursday 15 December 2022
Sensemaker: Cashtar
What just happened
-
Thursday 8 December 2022
Sensemaker: Mute mandarins
What just happened
-
Thursday 1 December 2022
Sensemaker: Wind baggers
What just happened
-
Friday 18 November 2022
Sensemaker: Budget blues
What just happened
-
Friday 11 November 2022
Sensemaker: Strikes, everywhere
What just happened
-
Friday 4 November 2022
Gavin Williamson accused of sending “threatening” messages to former chief whip
A formal complaint has been submitted to the Conservative party about the former chief whip who helped Sunak into Downing Street
-
Friday 4 November 2022
Gavin Williamson accused of sending “threatening” messages to former chief whip
Tortoise has learned that a formal complaint has been submitted to the Conservative party regarding “threatening” behaviour by cabinet minister Gavin Williamson
-
Thursday 3 November 2022
Sensemaker: Immigration in Britain
What just happened
-
Tuesday 1 November 2022
Project Suella
Rishi Sunak wanted to keep the hard right of his party happy by naming the fiercely anti-immigrant Suella Braverman home secretary. She’ll be lucky to last until Christmas
-
Tuesday 1 November 2022
Sensemaker: Project Suella
What just happened
-
Tuesday 25 October 2022
Sensemaker: Unite or die
What just happened
-
Friday 21 October 2022
Sensemaker: Here we go again
What just happened
-
Thursday 20 October 2022
Sensemaker: A shambles and a disgrace
What just happened
-
Monday 17 October 2022
Sensemaker: The quiet coup
What just happened
-
Friday 14 October 2022
Sensemaker: What Truss does next
What just happened
-
Thursday 13 October 2022
How long can Truss last?
The one-year grace period prohibiting challenges to Liz Truss’ leadership is “entirely academic”, says one MP – but Tories need to find a unifying alternative
-
Wednesday 5 October 2022
Sensemaker: Fizzling Liz
What just happened
-
Tuesday 4 October 2022
Sensemaker: A morgue with booze
What just happened
-
Tuesday 26 September 2023
Why is Keir Starmer talking about a new EU deal?
Opponents have accused Labour of wanting to “unpick Brexit” and preparing the case for the UK to rejoin the EU. But is that fair? And what does Starmer’s stance in the past tell us about his likely approach in the future?
-
Friday 22 September 2023
Hero to Net Zero: why is Rishi Sunak scrapping green policies?
Rishi Sunak has announced a major U-turn on net zero policies including delaying the ban on new petrol and diesel cars by five years. But what has caused this change of heart – and will voters back it at the polls?
-
Friday 15 September 2023
Keir Starmer on the offensive and is the UK in a recession?
Andy Haldane, former Bank of England chief economist, offers his assessment of the UK economy. Plus Keir Starmer begins to set out his stall in two Murdoch-owned papers and Bernard Looney’s resignation from BP.
-
Monday 11 September 2023
Boris’s Baroness: The mysterious rise of Charlotte Owen
From intern to baroness in seven years, Charlotte Owen’s entry to the House of Lords has left even friends scratching their heads in wonder. Her elevation might be hard to explain, but it tells us volumes about the way British democracy works.
-
Monday 21 August 2023
Women’s football requires changes – some of them controversial
Plus: Donald Trump’s refusal to attend the Republican primary debate, and why wasn’t Lucy Letby stopped sooner?
-
Friday 18 August 2023
Why is the US failing Afghan refugees?
Plus: the ongoing impact of the PSNI data breach and what makes Elon Musk a “space dictator”
-
Friday 18 August 2023
Missing MP: where is Nadine Dorries?
It has been more than two months since Nadine Dorries announced that she was resigning with “immediate effect” as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire. Since then she’s behaved like she’s no longer an MP, but she hasn’t actually quit.
-
Monday 24 July 2023
Odesa cathedral, green policies reconsidered and Cookham Wood
In this episode Liz Moseley is in the editor’s chair. The team discusses the Russian attack that damaged Odesa cathedral, the fallout from last week’s by-elections and shocking failures at a young offender institution.
-
Monday 17 July 2023
European heat storm, inheritance tax, and Hollywood strikes
The team discusses the record-breaking heatwave in southern Europe, potential plans to scrap inheritance tax, and why Hollywood’s actors and writers are going on strike. James also reflects on The Sun’s coverage of the Huw Edwards allegations.
-
Tuesday 20 June 2023
Boris Johnson’s endgame
Today, Boris Johnson’s political endgame. From his dishonourable honours list to attacking the committee of MPs that concluded he lied to the Commons over Partygate – what damage has he done to his party and Britain’s institutions?
-
Thursday 15 June 2023
Jailed for abortion, Pacific warming and peerages
James Harding is joined by Tortoise editors Basia Cummings, Cat Neilan and Giles Whittell. In this episode they discuss a British woman jailed for using abortion pills, the El Niño effect in the Panama Canal and Boris Johnson’s honour’s list.
-
Monday 5 June 2023
The Dishonours List
Boris Johnson is not a man who has much care for institutions or conventions. So what does his forthcoming resignations honours list mean for the future of the House of Lords?
-
Monday 15 May 2023
The case of Simon Case
The country’s most senior civil servant has a habit of attracting the wrong kind of headlines. Could his time as Cabinet Secretary be drawing to a close?
-
Friday 5 May 2023
Artificial intelligence, house building and the TV writers strike
Liz Moseley is joined by Tortoise’s political editor Cat Neilan, investigations editor Alexi Mostrous and head of live events Mark St Andrew. In this episode they discuss the American writers strike, the Conservative Party’s problem with housing and dire warnings about the future of artificial intelligence.
-
Friday 28 April 2023
Sudan, the resignation of Dominic Raab and Joe Biden
James Harding is joined by Tortoise news editor Jess Winch, political editor Cat Neilan and audio editor Basia Cummings. In this episode they discuss the escalating situation in Sudan, the resignation of Dominic Raab and US President Joe Biden running for reelection.
-
Monday 17 April 2023
Yesterday’s Men: The Brexit hardliners’ last stand
The European Research Group was once the most consequential faction in the Conservative party, playing a central role in bringing down former prime minister Theresa May and installing Boris Johnson in Number 10. And yet, in a recent test of strength, the Brexit hardliners stumbled. This is the story of what happened to the ERG.
-
Monday 27 March 2023
Boris the brand
Boris Johnson seems incapable of living within his means – but talented beyond measure at finding people to help him live beyond them. So just who is funding the ex PM? In the fourth and final episode, Boris: the brand
-
Friday 24 March 2023
Boris Johnson, Met Police report and life expectancy
In this episode Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding is joined by political editor Cat Neilan, editor Dave Taylor and head of investigations Alexi Mostrous. They discuss Boris Johnson’s future, Baroness Casey’s scathing review of the Metropolitan Police and the life expectancy gap between the wealthiest and poorest areas.
-
Monday 20 March 2023
Who is funding Boris Johnson?
Out of Downing Street, and unleashed from restrictions on second jobs, Boris Johnson is now earning more than any former UK prime minister in history. But where is that money coming from?
-
Monday 20 March 2023
R&R
Boris Johnson seems incapable of living within his means – but talented beyond measure at finding people to help him live beyond them. So just who is funding the ex PM? And how does he get to all his exotic holidays?
-
Friday 17 March 2023
Cladding crackdown, the collapse of SVB and Xi Jinping
Former Sky News political editor Adam Boulton is this week’s guest host. He’s joined by Tortoise journalists Mark St Andrew, Patricia Clarke and Cat Neilan who pitch the story they think mattered most this week.
-
Monday 13 March 2023
The enablers
Boris Johnson seems incapable of living within his means – but talented beyond measure at finding people to help him live beyond them. So just who is funding the ex PM? This is the story of the enablers
-
Monday 6 March 2023
Family money
This is the story of a politician incapable of living within his means but talented beyond measure at finding people to help him live beyond them. It’s the story of how that dependence on others sullied him and them. All of which leads to one simple question: just who is funding Boris Johnson?
-
Friday 3 March 2023
Hancock’s WhatsApps, Fox News and bird flu
Three journalists pitch their top story of the week to Tortoise’s editor-in-chief James Harding. In this episode James is joined by Tortoise editors Liz Mosely, Mark St Andrew and Cat Neilan.
-
Wednesday 1 March 2023
Is Brexit now done?
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has done a deal with the European Union on post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland. But has he done enough to get it over the line?
-
Friday 13 January 2023
Prince Harry, Brazil and the Westminster Accounts
Tortoise Editor James Harding is joined by Alexi Mostrous, Cat Neilan and Keith Blackmore to discuss the stories they think mattered most this week
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Pay
How former PM Theresa May became the highest earning MP
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Qatar
The Gulf state with all the gas and football stadiums has also been generous with donations to British MPs
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Lobbying
How £300,000 was funnelled into a parliamentary group by medical device makers anxious to protect their interests in the UK
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Perks
Meet the MP who’s taken 13 expenses-paid overseas trips with his wife – who’s also his assistant – as a member of 16 all-party parliamentary groups
-
Monday 9 January 2023
Donors
Tory MPs accepted donations worth thousands in donations from a company they’d never heard of
-
Monday 9 January 2023
The Westminster Accounts
Over £183 million of outside funds has flowed into this parliament alone, with no way of fully understanding who’s getting what, from whom, and why. Until now. This is the story of the money flowing into our politics, hidden in plain sight
-
Thursday 29 December 2022
The ghost of Boris Johnson
Rishi Sunak has spent his first Christmas as prime minister. It’s been a tumultuous year which saw not one but two of his predecessors removed from office. But with some in the Conservative Party still viewing him as a pretender, there’s still a very real prospect of him being visited by the ghost of Boris Johnson.
-
Friday 16 December 2022
Fusion breakthrough, FTX boss arrested, corruption scandal
In the last episode of 2022 James Harding is joined by Liz Moseley, Dave Taylor and Tortoise political editor Cat Neilan to discuss the stories they think mattered most this week.
-
Friday 25 November 2022
Brexit is back
Reports that “senior government figures” are considering a Swiss-style trade deal with the European Union caused an instant backlash. Why are we talking about Brexit again?
-
Friday 25 November 2022
World Cup, winter of discontent, Disney hero?
In the first episode James Harding is joined by Tortoise editors Cat Neilan, Dave Taylor and Liz Moseley to discuss the stories they think mattered most this week
-
Monday 31 October 2022
Mutiny: The undoing of Liz Truss
The inside story of how the shortest premiership in British history came to an end
-
Tuesday 18 October 2022
“There hasn’t been a coup”
A cabinet minister insisted that “there hasn’t been a coup” and that Liz Truss “is not under a desk”. But you wouldn’t have blamed the prime minister if she was after her new chancellor dismantled the mini budget and with it, her political project.
-
Tuesday 11 October 2022
Little fires everywhere
Michael Gove ignited the first rebellion against Liz Truss last week, and fanned the flames of others. Now, as MPs return to Parliament, the prime minister must win back a fractious and conflicted party if she is to retain power.