Sunak ‘suffers blow’ as his pollster quits
“Rishi Sunak has been dealt a fresh blow as one of his aides quit and warned of “at least a decade of Labour rule”. Will Dry, who was the Prime Minister’s pollster, walked out amid concern over the direction of the Government. He also claimed the Conservative Party “essentially won’t exist by Christmas” if Nigel Farage returns to frontline politics. Mr Dry is understood to have quit in November… Mr Dry, who was co-founder of Our Future Our Choice, a pro-EU group formed after the Brexit referendum, previously called for a second referendum. He also demanded Brexit should be halted during negotiations with Brussels.” – Daily Express
- Ex-cabinet minister who called for Rishi Sunak to quit insists ‘there is no plot’ – The Sun
- Clarke warns Tories are set for ‘shattering defeat’ – Daily Mail
- Critics warn Sunak has six weeks to turn premiership around – Daily Telegraph
- Top Tories turn on ‘reckless rebel’ – Daily Mail
- Anderson urges Tories to unite ‘as one’ behind Sunak – Daily Express
- Inside the Tory plot to oust the Prime Minister – The Times
- The air turned blue on Tory WhatsApp groups… – Daily Mail
- ‘PopCons’ prepare to step up policy pressure – FT
Sketches:
- Plotters didn’t have the belly for it – Kate Ferguson, The Sun
- With a flash of understated anger, Rishi unexpectedly triumphed – Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
- Parliament has a bad case of soundbite syndrome – Tom Peck, The Times
Comment:
- Spare us this charge of the Tory clown brigade – Juliet Samuel, The Times
- Clarke’s furious call to arms will show if Sunak’s critics have any fight left – Asa Bennett, Daily Express
Editorial:
- Fratricide will doom the Tories to electoral oblivion – The Times
>Yesterday:
Public Services 1) Tories consider giving British citizens priority for social housing
“Ministers have resurrected plans to give British citizens priority for council housing to address public concerns over migration. In an attempt to create dividing lines with Labour, the government is due to begin a consultation on proposals that would give UK citizens faster access to social housing than other groups. The move would require councils to push citizens and permanent residents higher up on waiting lists and stop others from “jumping the queue”. More than 1.2 million households are waiting for social housing and about one in ten of those given a home are non-UK citizens, with the figure considerably higher in areas with more migrants. The plan, reported by The Guardian, had been under consideration last summer for inclusion in the King’s Speech but was shelved.” – The Times
- Tory plan aims to prioritise ‘British homes for British workers’ – The Guardian
More immigration:
- No plans to tighten care worker English language rules after Somerset death – The Guardian
- Rwanda plan receives boost after Sumption says the Supreme Court’s main objection has been ‘addressed’ – Daily Mail
>Today: Colin Noble in Local Government: The answer to building more homes? Give councils more powers.
>Yesterday:
Public Services 2) Royal Mail ‘shake-up’ to three-day-a-week service is slammed Sunak
“Royal Mail’s six-day delivery service will remain as it is, Rishi Sunak has vowed amid proposals to ditch Saturday deliveries. The PM was asked to give a “commitment” that under his watch there will be no reduction in postal services provided by Royal Mail… It comes after in a long-awaited report, regulator Ofcom outlined options for reforming Britain’s universal postal service, warning that it risks becoming “unsustainable” without reform. The proposals include cutting Royal Mail’s letter delivery service from six days to five, or even three, a week. The regulator says this could save the courier firm £100 million to £200 million if the service was cut to five days and £400 million to £650 million if it was reduced to three.” – The Sun
- Royal Mail could save £650m by moving to three-day-a-week service, says Ofcom – The Guardian
- Post Office told Government it would oppose appeals by half of convicted sub-postmasters – FT
Comment:
- Royal Mail has failed to behave like a proper private company – Ross Clark, Daily Mail
Editorial:
- When letters arrive is a social, not market, decision – The Guardian
Public Services 3) Cash-strapped English councils to get extra £600m
“The UK government has pledged £600mn in extra funding for local government in the next financial year after a string of warnings about the financial pressures facing councils in England. Some £500mn of the additional funds will be earmarked for social care, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities announced on Wednesday, an increase that mostly benefits county and unitary councils. A further £100mn will be made available to boost the core spending power of all councils, the department said. The announcement comes after more than 40 Tory MPs this week threatened to vote against the local government financial settlement for 2024-25, warning of looming insolvencies, reduced services and higher taxes. The government had been resisting calls to improve its offer.” – FT
- Additional £500m for social care and £100m in grants – The Guardian
- Vast majority of the emergency cash will be used to fund care for the elderly – Daily Mail
More:
- Next government to endure the ‘bleakest financial backdrops since the 1950s’, warn economists – Daily Express
- Hunt’s tax cuts likely to be reversed after the election, warns IFS – The Times
>Today: Emily Carver’s column: Voters may prefer spending increases to tax cuts. But it doesn’t follow that they’re thankful for them.
Public Services 4) Government ‘needs 50,000 more staff to meet free childcare pledge’
“Up to 50,000 new nursery staff and childminders will have to be recruited this year if ministers are to meet their pledge to provide 15 free hours of childcare a week to working families, modelling using official government figures suggests. Ministers have insisted that they are on track to extend free childcare to all two-year-olds from April while nine-month-olds will be eligible for the scheme in September. But amid warnings from the sector that the pledge is “delusional”, the research suggests that many nurseries will be unable to recruit the staff necessary for the expansion within the timescale set by the government… modelling carried out by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition suggests that the sector will need to find staff to look after at least 90,000 children whose parents want to take up the new offer.” – The Times
- Ministers set to drop forced mediation plan for separating couples – FT
>Yesterday: Dr Patrick English’s column: What YouGov’s MRP poll really reveals about the electoral mountain the Conservatives must climb this year
Public Services 5) Minister vows to end water firms’ pollution self-monitoring in England
“The environment secretary has told water companies in England that they will no longer be able to monitor and report on pollution from their own treatment works. Steve Barclay told the privatised industry he would put an end to operator self-monitoring in a toughening of the regulatory approach. The system, which has been criticised for allowing water companies to “mark their own homework”, was introduced more than 10 years ago, ending the practice by which Environment Agency officials carried out all the testing of treatment works and sewage discharges. Water companies were allowed to do their own testing of treated effluent to make sure it met the legal requirements of their permits, as well as monitoring their releases of raw sewage via storm overflows.” – The Guardian
- Government updates water company insolvency laws amid fears over sector’s finances – FT
Editorial:
Sunak forced to rule out Army draft as Russia war threat rises…
“Downing Street has been forced to rule out conscription after the head of the Army warned that British civilians would need to fight Russia in a future war. Gen Sir Patrick Sanders said the UK needed a military that could not only expand rapidly but also “train and equip” a citizen army, in a speech first reported by this newspaper… Gen Sir Patrick stressed that the Army, which is predicted to have just 72,500 fully trained soldiers by 2025, would not be big enough to fight an all-out war with Russia even if it numbered 120,000. Defence sources previously told The Telegraph that Gen Sir Patrick wants there to be a shift in the mindset of British men and women, in which they think like troops and are mentally prepared for a possible war with Russia.” – Daily Telegraph
- Boosting military numbers will be a ‘whole-of-nation undertaking’ – Daily Mail
- Britain must train citizens for war with Russia, says army chief – The Times
- General says people of UK are ‘prewar generation’ – The Guardian
- Brits would have to be ‘dragged kicking and screaming’ if they were conscripted, says veteran – Daily Mail
More:
- Ministers told to cut taxes to boost defence spending amid recruitment crisis – Daily Express
- How would a ‘citizen army’ work in Britain? – The Times
- What would you be if you were called up? – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Will airstrikes on the Houthis continue indefinitely?
…and Shapps urges US and EU allies to ‘pony up’ in funding Ukraine
“Grant Shapps has risked a diplomatic spat by urging his US and European counterparts to “pony up” and dig into their pockets to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia. It is understood that the defence secretary wants to ensure that other like-minded nations realise how serious the situation is and the desperate need to back Ukraine immediately, in comments that are likely to irk allies. On Tuesday at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact group, which includes 54 countries including Nato member states, Shapps said: “As we say in London, it’s time for others to pony up.” Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, announced this month on a visit to Kyiv that the UK would increase its military funding to Ukraine to £2.5 billion in the next financial year.” – The Times
- Russia accuses Kyiv of downing plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war – The Guardian
Comment:
- Our Armed Forces are no longer fit to fight – Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
- Terrorists like the Houthis only understand strength – Angela Epstein, Daily Express
Editorial:
>Today: Dr John C Hulsman in Comment: I’ve said before, and say it again. Trump will be America’s next President.
Sunak offers to ‘sacrifice Brexit freedoms’ to re-establish government in Northern Ireland
“Rishi Sunak has offered to sacrifice some of Britain’s Brexit freedoms in a bid to re-establish devolved government in Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister has pledged to introduce a requirement that all new laws are screened to ensure they will not create extra trade barriers in the Irish Sea. Downing Street hopes the promise will persuade the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its two-year boycott of Stormont that has paralysed Northern Irish politics. But the offer angered Tory MPs, who warned that introducing such a policy would make it almost impossible for Great Britain to diverge from EU rules. Eurosceptic sources said the plan would mean any laws designed to take advantage of Brexit freedoms risked being blocked by Whitehall officials.” – Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: Europe is threatened by xenophobic parties of the far Right such as Alternative for Germany
RedBird IMI takeover of Telegraph faces fresh scrutiny over proposed structure
“Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI faces further regulatory scrutiny of its £600mn planned takeover of the Telegraph Media Group following UK government concerns about a proposal to overhaul its corporate structure for the business. RedBird IMI wants to create a holding company via a new English limited partnership to acquire the newspaper group, as part of a package of proposals designed to guarantee the independence of the editorial team of the right-leaning broadsheet. Lucy Frazer, culture secretary, on Thursday asked Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority to consider whether the new holding company in effect represented a materially different deal, and so needed a new probe from both regulators.” – FT
- If we allow UAE to buy the Telegraph, it will set a dangerous precedent – Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Daily Telegraph
Questions over £22bn in billpayer cash handed to wood-burning firms
“The government has handed energy companies £22bn in billpayer-backed subsidies to burn wood for electricity despite being unable to prove the industry meets sustainability standards, the government’s spending watchdog has said. The head of the National Audit Office (NAO) has called on the government to rethink how it monitors compliance with its biomass sustainability regime, which has handed about £1bn a year to generators, because the assurances do not provide confidence that the environmental requirements have been met. Last week, the government put forward controversial plans to offer Britain’s biggest biomass generator, the Drax plant in North Yorkshire, extra subsidies to burn trees for electricity until the end of the decade.” – The Guardian
- French government presses UK to help fill multibillion-pound hole in nuclear projects – FT
Sell NHS data to fund medical advances, urge Blair and Hague
“The NHS should sell access to anonymised medical records to help develop cutting-edge treatments including AI doctors offering personal monitoring of all patients, Sir Tony Blair and Lord Hague of Richmond have recommended. The former Labour prime minister and former Conservative leader say that harnessing the coming revolution in biotechnology and AI should become “a new national purpose” as it will be so central to future economic growth. Writing in The Times, the former political rivals say that “the best hope for the future of our country” is to capitalise on what they describe as “the fastest and most far-reaching [technological] revolution in the history of human civilisation”. Last year Blair and Hague united to recommend digital ID cards as a way of improving access to public services and making Whitehall more effective.” – The Times
- Britain must develop a biotech strategy to unlock prosperity – William Hague and Tony Blair, The Times
>Yesterday: Royston Smith MP in Comment: Ministers must not forget the millions of adults who need e-cigarettes to quit smoking
Starmer says he will end ‘apology letters’ that allow youths to dodge knife crime charge
“Unveiling a plan to tackle the country’s ‘epidemic’ of knife violence, the Labour leader said anyone using or carrying a blade will face ‘real consequences’. He vowed that if his party wins power, every offender would be given a ‘bespoke action plan’ to prevent reoffending – alongside parental interventions. The £100million ‘Sure Start’-style intervention, Young Futures, will involve the co-ordination of local services to identify those most at risk of knife crime. Labour’s pledge comes as the Government announced ‘zombie’ knives and machetes will be banned from September under a law designed to take the weapons off the streets. Sir Keir said he is concerned that too many young people found carrying knives can escape further sanctions under existing rules by writing a letter of apology.” – Daily Mail
- Curfews and ankle tags for those caught carrying knives – The Sun
More:
- Starmer accuses Tories of ‘trying to salt the ground’ – FT
- Labour to unveil plans for City at forthcoming business conference – The Guardian
- MP blasted for ‘scripted Gaza rant’ against Sunak – Daily Express
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Sunak at long last drops the panto act and gets angry
Sturgeon under pressure to release Covid emails sent to her private SNP account
“Nicola Sturgeon is facing mounting pressure to publish any emails sent to her private account… during the Covid pandemic. The former SNP leader is facing questions over her use of her party account for official government business after it was revealed by the official inquiry into the political handling of the crisis. In a message between Ms Sturgeon and public health expert Professor Devi Sridhar – shown to the inquiry – the former first minister provided an SNP email address where she said she could be contacted ‘privately’ alongside her official email where she could be reached ‘officially’, in a conversation about a briefing paper on the pandemic. The Scottish Tories have now urged Ms Sturgeon to publish any emails to or from her SNP account relating to Government business during her time in Bute House.” – Daily Mail
- First Minister was more cautious on Covid lockdowns ‘just to be different’ to England – Daily Telegraph
- Swearing fit over ‘cancel Christmas parties’ advice is revealed in WhatsApp messages – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Fast-dying myth of St Nicola, Covid saviour – Iain Martin, The Times
- SNP’s new strategy exposes nationalists’ desperation – Robert Shrimsley, FT
News in Brief:
- Clarke should be careful what he wishes for – William Atkinson, CapX
- Replacing Sunak won’t rescue the Tories – Stephen Daisley, The Spectator
- The Tory media wars – Andrew Marr, New Statesman
- Despair is the big winner of recent opinion polling – Derrick Berthelsen, The Critic
- Israel is still winning the political war – Edward Luttwak, UnHerd
Source link
#Newslinks #Thursday #25th #January #Conservative #Home