Labour proposes to give millions of EU nationals the vote in General Elections
“Sir Keir Starmer will hand the vote to millions of EU citizens if Labour wins the next general election, the Telegraph can reveal. Under manifesto plans for the biggest expansion of the franchise in almost a century, Sir Keir will launch a “package of proposals” including votes for settled migrants and 16 and 17-year-olds. The move could force the Conservatives out of London altogether and unseat Boris Johnson if he stands again for Parliament in 2029.” – Sunday Telegraph
- Starmer accused of trying to “drag Britain back to the 1970s”, by handing unions more power – The Sun on Sunday
- Labour policies would cause never-ending industrial chaos, throttle productivity and stifle growth – Leader, The Sun on Sunday
- Citizenship matters – Leader, Sunday Telegraph
Patel blames Party leadership for local election losses…
“Former home secretary Priti Patel has blamed the Conservative Party’s leadership for heavy local election losses in a speech. Ms Patel said she was sorry that it was “errors and mistakes sometimes of us in Westminster and our actions that have cost our party dearly”. She was among several high-profile Tory MPs who spoke to the Conservative Democratic Organisation, a new grassroots pro-Boris Johnson group. The Tory Party said it had no comment.” – BBC
- Only a bold vision can save the Tories now – Leader, Sunday Telegraph
- Sunak warned he will lose the election without tax cuts – The Sun on Sunday
- Whatever you do, don’t call it the Bring Back Boris Conference – Charlotte Ivers, Sunday Times
- Government “has not covered itself in glory” – Mail on Sunday
- The Green Party is surging in the shires – Sunday Times
- “Tory anarchy breaks out” as revolt looms on Brexit laws – The Observer
- Johnson’s disciples gathered to sing the old hymns. But are they a real threat? – The Observer
- Rees-Mogg opposes leadership challenge _ Sunday Express
>Today: ToryDiary: Do the West Midlands point towards the future Conservative electoral coalition?
…but PM “urges patience”
“The Bournemouth rebels have also called for Mr Sunak to cut taxes from their historically high level – including the controversial tourist tax which has hit the economy by removing the VAT refund for overseas visitors – but Mr Sunak urges patience. ‘Of course, I want to bring down taxes, I’m a Conservative, I believe in lower taxes. I want people to work hard and to be able to keep more of what they earn. That is something that is incredibly important to me from a kind of values perspective and as soon as we can, I want to do that for people. So, we’re going to bring down inflation, grow the economy, get a reduced debt and as we’ve done all those things, then we are going to cut taxes.’ ” – Interview with Rishi Sunak, Mail on Sunday
- Sunak ‘forced Boris Johnson to impose windfall tax on firms’ – Sunday Telegraph
Braverman challenged over record immigration
“The cabinet is divided over immigration policy as ministers brace themselves for migration to reach a record. Forecasts have suggested that the net figure for last year, to be published this month, could be as high as a million. To see off a feared backlash from MPs and the wider party, ministers are drawing up plans to stop family members from joining overseas master’s students at British universities. The number coming under that provision has risen more than tenfold in four years, from 12,806 in 2018 to 135,788 in the year to December. However, some feel they need to go further and are arguing for a rise in the salary threshold for immigrants. Skilled workers are eligible for visas if the job pays £26,200 — 20 per cent below the median salary of £33,280.” – Sunday Times
- The Archbishop of Canterbury is fiercely militant about any efforts to curb mass immigration. But we can’t impoverish our own nation to help the poor of this world – Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday
- Welby slammed as hypocrite by MPs after it emerges the Church of England houses just 20 refugees – The Sun on Sunday
Johnson to “cut a deal” with the privileges committee to avoid a by-election
“Boris Johnson’s allies expect him to cut a deal with the privileges committee that will result in him being suspended from parliament for less than 10 days — below the threshold that would trigger a career-ending recall petition. Although the former prime minister has had no formal contact from the committee, it is understood that, to avoid a harsher penalty and the prospect of a damaging by-election, he will accept a finding that he misled the Commons.” – Sunday Times
- Gray “lobbied against Sunak’s policies while in secret talks to join Labour” – The Sun on Sunday
Truss wants UK ‘hard power’ to bolster Taiwan against China threat
“Britain must boost defence cooperation with Taiwan and use “hard power” to protect it from Chinese aggression, Liz Truss will say during a historic visit to the island this week. The former prime minister is expected to say that if the West wants to avoid a war erupting in the South China Sea it must “get real” about military cooperation, taking a “coordinated approach” on what arms are sent to Taiwan.” – Sunday Telegraph
- The menace of the back-seat prime ministers – Tim Shipman, Sunday Times
Nursing union leader increases pay demand
“The nursing union leader is demanding a double-digit pay rise for the profession in a U-turn on her previous position. Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), had called for her members to accept the government’s offer of 5 per cent. However, they rejected the deal by 54 per cent to 46 per cent and are preparing a ballot on whether to strike again. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Cullen has now called on Stephen Barclay, the health secretary, to reopen negotiations and said the talks need to “start off in double figures”. This weekend, she will tell her members she underestimated them.” – Sunday Times
Turks go to the polls
“Turks are voting in the most pivotal elections in their modern history, to decide if Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains president after 20 years in power. His main rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, promises to scrap many of the powers acquired by President Erdogan after he survived a failed coup in 2016. Buoyed by a broad opposition alliance, he has a real chance of winning. But this race has become so intense and the stakes so high that campaigning went up to the wire.” – BBC
- As 60 million cast their votes, the president’s opponents are placing lawyers at every polling station to prevent fraud – Sunday Times
Other political news
- Membership of anti-monarchy group Republic “almost doubles in wake of coronation arrests” – Observer
- Brexit not to blame for UK trade dip, study suggests – Sunday Telegraph
- Barclay backs G7 bid to find cure for dementia – Sunday Express
Cash: Badenoch’s proposals would betray Brexit – but there is still time to fix them
“There is still adequate time for a proper full review of all the EU legislation we inherited, especially if the present sunset provisions are extended for a few months. It is now clear that a significant proportion of the mere 600 EU laws in the schedule in the bill for revocation are not and never were of any legal or political national UK interest. They include fishing matters between the EU and the Cook Islands or Vietnam. The unelected Lords should not be used to radically change legislation already passed with a big majority in the elected House of Commons. Nor should the Commons’ own specialist committee be bypassed in this arrogant way.” – Bill Cash, Sunday Telegraph
- Scrapping retained EU laws too quickly could damage UK interests – David Davis, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom – Sunday Express
Duncan Smith: We must get thousands of people on long-term sickness back into work for the sake of the economy
“The fastest-growing category of claimants is now those with “No Work Requirements”, totalling some 3.5 million today. Almost two out of three of these are individuals out of work due to long-term sickness and disability, with the greatest increase coming in mental health conditions. Given their circumstances, they are exempt from welfare rules designed to help or encourage people into work. Yet health practitioners know work can be a strong health treatment, particularly for those suffering from depression or anxiety, which are treatable. While many may never be able to work, and should be treated with compassion and support, official survey data shows that at least 700,000 say that they would like to work with the right support.” – Iain Duncan Smith, The Sun on Sunday
Colvile: Investors are quietly slipping away
“It’s not just about EU laws. There is a far broader concern — forcefully expressed by Sir James Dyson in The Times yesterday — that when it comes to business and innovation, Britain is simply not at the races. In 2012 the economist Andy Haldane gave a speech highlighting the increased scale of financial regulation. He pointed out that the ratio of regulators to financial service workers had increased from 1:11,000 in 1980 to 1:300 in 2011. I don’t have access to his methodology, but from counting up the numbers in various annual reports, I put the figure today at roughly 1:75. In other words, the number of regulators may have quadrupled in just over a decade. Likewise, the average FTSE 350 company report is 64 per cent longer than it was five years ago, because of all the extra reporting requirements — which helps explain why so few companies are listing here.” – Robert Colvile, Sunday Times
Hannan: Falling birth rates are perhaps the most serious issue facing rich countries. Yet few politicians are willing to touch the subject.
“People want to feel secure before they start a family. When they can’t get on to the housing ladder, when producer-driven regulations make our childcare the most expensive in the developed world, when taxes are high, the birthrate falls. The lockdown, which exacerbated the sense of uncertainty, drove it down further, despite early predictions to the contrary…Simply returning to our default setting as a species – that is, wholeheartedly celebrating each new arrival – would change the political climate.” – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph
News in brief
- The Minister and the blob – John Redwood
- What if Sunak fails to deliver all five pledges? – Kate Andrews, The Spectator
- Gray was in contact with Harman during Partygate probe – Guido Fawkes
- Tories are torn between the NIMBY faithful and voters who are desperate for houses – Tom Scotson, Politics Home
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