Ramaswamy withdraws from US Presidential race after Trump’s landslide victory in Iowa
“Vivek Ramaswamy has quit the battle to become the Republican party’s presidential candidate and endorsed Donald Trump after the former president swept to victory in the Iowa caucuses. Mr Trump is firmly on course to fight for re-election to the presidency later this year after receiving the support of more than 50 per cent of Iowa Republicans on Monday night. Mr Ramaswamy, who finished fourth on just under eight per cent, said Mr Trump was the only other “America First patriot” in the race. “Tonight I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything I can to make sure he is the next US President,” he said. Ron DeSantis finished a distant second in the caucuses on 21 per cent after seeing off a late surge from Nikki Haley, who won 19 per cent of the vote.” – Daily Telegraph
- Our special relationship with the UK must endure – Jane D Hartley, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom – The Times
- Farage makes surprise appearance at Trump’s victory party – Daily Telegraph
Rwanda 1) Sunak promises to fast-track migrant appeals against deportation but “won’t agree to amendments”
“Rishi Sunak will fast-track migrant appeals against deportation to Rwanda by drafting in 150 judges and freeing up courtrooms under plans to stave off a revolt by Tory MPs. The prime minister faces a rebellion of nearly 60 Tory MPs today over concerns that his Rwanda policy will be scuppered because it will continue to allow migrants to lodge individual legal challenges against their deportation…Sunak is expected to defy threats from Tory rebels to vote down the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill by refusing to accept any concessions.” – The Times
- Strengthening the Rwanda Bill is the only path to victory – Robert Jenrick, Daily Telegraph
- Tories cannot afford immigration failures – Leader, Daily Telegraph
>Today:
>Yesterday: James Blagden on Comment: Our new polling shows that cutting immigration is vital to reviving the Conservatives’ electoral fortunes
Rwanda 2) Tory Deputy Chairmen “to join rebellion”
“Rishi Sunak’s authority was challenged on Monday as two deputy chairmen of the Conservative Party announced they would rebel over the Rwanda Bill. Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith revealed that they had signed rebel amendments to toughen up the legislation, effectively challenging the Prime Minister to sack them from their party posts. On Tuesday, MPs will begin two days of debate discussing amendments to the Bill, which Mr Sunak wants passed as soon as possible to get deportation flights off to Rwanda in the spring.” – Daily Telegraph
- Jane Stevenson, a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Business and Trade, “told a New Conservatives meeting she would back amendments” – The Guardian
Rwanda 3) Prime Minster declares he is prepared to overrule European judges
“Rishi Sunak last night declared for the first time he was ready to overrule European judges on Rwanda. The Prime Minister, who faces a rebellion by dozens of Tory MPs today, said he was determined to end the ‘legal merry-go-round’ that has prevented any migrants being sent to the east African state. But MPs on the Right of the party continued to warn he would fail unless he strengthened his flagship legislation –with some even saying they could help Labour vote it down if he refused, plunging the Government into crisis.” – Daily Mail
Home Office to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir as terror group
“One of the most controversial Islamist groups in the UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir, is to be banned as a terrorist organisation, accused of praising the Hamas attacks. Home Secretary James Cleverly said the group was “antisemitic” and “actively promotes and encourages terrorism”. The ban under UK terrorism laws comes after followers were accused of chanting “jihad” at a pro-Gaza rally.” – BBC
- The Government will not let extremist groups abuse our freedom of speech to radicalise in Britain – James Cleverly, Daily Telegraph
- King’s College counterterrorism course, on contract to MoD, dangerously downplays extremism – Melanie Phillips, The Times
Prime Minister says strikes Houthis “limited” but further action possible
“Joint US-UK strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen were intended as a “limited, single action”, Rishi Sunak has said. Following reports of more attacks by the rebel group on ships in the Red Sea on Monday, the prime minister refused to speculate whether he would take further military action in response. But he said the UK “will not hesitate to protect our security, our people and our interests where required”. Labour said it backed the “targeted action.” – BBC
- Labour MPs have sparked outrage after describing defensive targeted strikes on Houthi terrorists as “deplorable” – The Sun
- UK doubles spending on overseas cyber security projects – Interview with Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Financial Times
- Starmer urged to oust Labour MPs with links to radical pro-Palestinian mob – Daily Express
- We’d be sunk without US backing in Red Sea – William Hague, The Times
>Yesterday:
Labour would need record swing for election victory…
“The Labour Party would need a record swing in votes at the next general election to win a majority in the House of Commons, according to analysis of the new electoral map. The next election will be fought on new constituency boundaries, redrawn to reflect population changes and to try to even out voter numbers in each area. An analysis of these changes for BBC News, ITV News, Sky News and the Press Association suggests Labour needs a national swing of 12.7% to win with just a small majority. That’s considerably higher than the 10.2% achieved by Tony Blair in 1997 and higher even than the 12% achieved by Clement Attlee in 1945.” – BBC
- The prospect of a Conservative wipeout means Labour must spell out more clearly its intentions for government – Leader, The Times
- Labour is now the party of wealth creation – Rachel Reeves, The Times
…while Levido tells Tory MPs they can still win
“Rishi Sunak’s campaign director has told fractious Conservative MPs to unite or face losing this year’s election in a blunt message designed to rally the backbenches before a long and gruelling campaign. Isaac Levido, the Australian political strategist, told MPs at the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservatives on Monday night they could still win the election, but only if they “get serious” and end party infighting…Levido told MPs on Monday to ignore the poll, which showed the party slumping to just 169 seats while Labour sweeps to power with 385. And he accused those behind it, including the Boris Johnson ally Lord Frost, of trying to undermine the government. “The people who organised this poll and analysed and timed the release of it seem to be intent on undermining this government and our party, and therefore the re-election prospects of every single one of you in this room,” he said.” – The Guardian
- Tories have lost more than half of their 2019 support, poll suggests – Daily Telegraph
- The real problem for the Tories is a flight from reality – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
- Talk of replacing Rishi ahead of the election is madness. If the Tories unite, they can win against all odds just as we did in 1992 – Michael Howard, Daily Mail
>Yesterday:
Heaton-Harris says “some decisions to make” if Stormont not restored by Friday
“Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said if a Stormont executive is not restored by Friday, he will have some decisions to make. There has been no devolved government since February 2022. On Monday, Mr Heaton-Harris held more talks with the parties. He said he would set out his next steps “in due course”, which could involve laying out primary legislation at Westminster, but he did not give further details.” – BBC
Jacobs: The Tories need to fix the potholes, litter, petty crime and homelessness
“There is an argument that, having been unable to fix Britain’s major problems it should spend its final months focusing on solvable second-order issues, from homelessness and litter to potholes. True, this hardly sounds like a thrilling plan. But it would arguably be the best thing the Tories could do for the country right now. And who knows maybe it could even help them save a couple of seats. There are many places the Tories can learn from on this. Helsinki and Vienna are tantalisingly close to eradicating homelessness. Our grasp of how to crush petty and violent crime is evermore sophisticated. Chicago’s Cure Violence initiative has sought to stop the spread of violence by using methods associated with disease control, complementing 1980s insights like broken windows theory…Switzerland and Germany respectively are experts in litter free-streets and well kept roads.” – Sherelle Jacobs, Daily Telegraph
Other political news
- Wage growth slows again as job market stalls – BBC
- Khan’s beach parties among £123m ‘wasted on pointless schemes’ – Daily Telegraph
- The European boss of Fujitsu, Paul Patterson, will face MPs on the Business and Trade select committee today – BBC
- NHS across UK spends a ‘staggering’ £10bn on temporary staff – The Guardian
- McVey calls for more public nominations for everyday heroes – The Sun
- Tory big beasts urge support for Dyson’s £6m school donation – The Times
- Call for Welby to quit – Daily Telegraph
- Covid inquiry turns spotlight on Scottish decisions – BBC
- UK fuel retailers to be forced to share prices within half hour of any changes – The Guardian
- Campaigners urge Hunt to scrap “Taxi Tax” – Daily Express
- Ministers try to placate angry farmers as 6,000 tractors converge on Berlin – The Times
- Train drivers in England to hold fresh week of strikes from late January – The Guardian
- The nine universities where gender-critical academics are labelled ‘transphobic’ – Daily Telegraph
- Senior Tories and Labour figures head to Switzerland for global finance meeting this week – The Sun
- UK could save £20bn a year with better governance, says head of spending watchdog – Financial Times
- Police failure to investigate Rochdale grooming gangs – Daily Mail
News in brief
- Isaac Levido’s warning to the Tory party – Katy Balls, The Spectator
- The myth of JK Rowling’s ‘heart of darkness’ – Josephine Bartosch, Unherd
- The whole country is paying for London’s failing transport system – Harry Phibbs, CapX
- Labour is lying through its teeth about children’s health – Christopher Snowdon, Spiked Online
- The nanny state is not the solution for the problem of irresponsible parenting – Sam Bidwell, The Critic
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