Category Archives: POLITICS

Ron DeSantis Praises Kemi Badenoch For Her War On ‘Woke Ideology’

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Hardline US presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has praised Kemi Badenoch for her fight against so-called “woke ideology”.

The Florida governor met the business secretary on a trip to Britain ahead of a potential run against Donald Trump to be the next Republican candidate.

He singled out Badenoch for her views on Britain’s cultural debates, during an interview with The Sunday Telegraph.

The paper claimed his allies hope that Badenoch could be the next Margaret Thatcher to their new Ronald Reagan.

DeSantis praised the senior Tory, who is also minister for women and equalities, for her outspoken views.

He described “woke ideology” as “a war on the truth”, telling the paper: “When institutions get infected by woke ideology, it really corrupts the institutions.

“We look at woke infiltrating schools as a problem, woke infiltrating bureaucracies as a problem and woke infiltrating corporate America as a problem. We say that Florida is where woke goes to die.”

DeSantis said Badenoch “complimented what we are doing in Florida” and added: “I commend her and her efforts to make sure that this is not corrupting British society.”

In a post on Twitter following the meeting, DeSantis said she is such a “strong, outspoken leader in the United Kingdom”.

“We share the same goal of spurring economic growth for our people and I look forward to continuing our relationship,” he added.

DeSantis has not announced his intention to run for the Republican nomination but is widely expected to do so.

In his interview, he also addressed speculation over his potential run at the White House, telling the paper: “I’m going to go through our legislative session, get the people’s business done. I’m still in the midst of that.

“I’ve got about another week or so of that, and then I have the Budget and everything. I’m not going to make any decision before then.

“But the end of that time is coming, it’s closer now than it was six months ago. So just stay tuned.”

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‘Not Very Humble’: Minister Grilled Over Broken Relationship With Striking Workers

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A cabinet minister has refused to state a single thing the government has done wrong in its negotiations with striking workers.

Mark Harper said it would not be helpful to “go back over the history” when grilled by Sky’s Sophy Ridge on the wave of strikes rocking Britain.

The presenter told him his response was “not very humble” when many of the workers are in low paid jobs.

It comes as tens of thousands of nurses are preparing to stage a 28-hour strike over pay from 8pm on Sunday.

Rail workers at 14 train operators are also set to strike on the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday, May 13.

Ridge asked the senior Tory if the government took some responsibility for the strikes.

She told him: “Effectively the relationship between the government and the people who keep this country running has broken down.

“Some are the people who care for our sick in hospital, the people who teach our children, the people who drive the trains – do you not take some responsibility for that as well?”

Harper told the presenter that when he got the job under Rishi Sunak he tried to reset the relationship and meet with all the unions.

But Ridge hit back: “Well it hasn’t worked, has it?”

Harper insisted it had and hit out at the RMT rail union’s executive for “refusing” to put the latest offer to their members.

Ridge pressed him: “In this long running dispute – talking about the railways, the schools, the hospitals – is there something that you think in retrospect the government should have done differently?”

Harper said that looking at the “overall position” the government had made “fair and reasonable” pay offers that had been accepted by some of the biggest unions.

“So you can’t name a single thing the government’s done wrong?” Ridge hit back: “Don’t you think that’s part of the problem?

“It’s not very humble is it? When these are people who are on low paid jobs, many of them, working really hard and you can’t say a single thing that government’s done wrong?”

Harper hit back: “I don’t think it’s very helpful to just go back over the history and think what could we could have done differently.

“I’m focused on what we’re doing going forward. I think, by the way, on train drivers, they’re actually pretty well paid. The average salary of a train driver is £60,000…”

Ridge interrupted saying she was talking about lower paid workers including nurses and ambulance drivers.

Harper insisted that a “fair and reasonable” pay offer had been accepted by the largest health unions and the health secretary would receive their formal feedback on Tuesday.

The general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said they are going back on strike because staffing shortages are putting patients’ lives at risk.

Pat Cullen said they had worked “tirelessly” with NHS England to make sure their strike is as safe as possible for patients.

She added: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute urgent services.

“We have put national exemptions in place, we’ve worked tirelessly with NHS England.

“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing who contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so that we make sure that the strike was safe for our patients.”

The RCN will hold industrial action from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday night after voting to reject the latest government offer.

Health workers across the NHS have gone on strike several times in past months in disputes over pay and conditions.

Unions including Unison and the GMB have voted in favour of a government pay offer to end the strikes, while Unite and the RCN have voted against.

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The Public Laughs At The Government Again – This Time Over Voter ID

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A second government minister has faced public ridicule in as many days after a radio audience laughed at the suggestion the Conservatives do not want to see new voter ID laws deter people from voting.

Robert Jenrick’s comments on BBC Radio 4 came around 24 hours after Rachel Maclean suggested on the broadcaster’s Question Time that British people being poorer had “nothing to do” with Brexit.

The government has introduced new compulsory ID rules for those voting in person during England’s local elections next week. The move has sparked criticism that more marginalised communities will face fresh challenges to vote.

The government has said the move will prevent voter fraud and protect democracy. But opposition parties and campaigners claim the plan is based on a false premise that actually amounts to “voter suppression” – locking out millions of voters without ID out of the democratic process.

On Any Questions on Friday, Jenrick argued the move was about “protecting the integrity of our democracy”, and said asking to see ID was not a “very unusual thing to do”.

He added: “The truth is it was an anachronism that we didn’t have to show ID going to vote. We all show ID when we go and collect a parcel at the petrol station, we show verification for all manner of things in life.”

He continued that “it is obviously very important that we get this right because we don’t want to see anybody disenfranchised”, which prompted laughter from the audience.

Jenrick argued the pilot schemes showed 99% of “those people who sought to vote did so successfully”, adding: “I don’t think it will be a major issue. I think it is an important step in defending our democracy and I think we should take that seriously.”

At two trials of voter ID in the 2018 and 2019 local elections, more than 1,000 would-be voters were turned away from polling stations and did not return.

The UK has very low levels of proven electoral fraud – during last year’s local and mayoral elections, there was not a single proven case of in-person voter fraud.

Critics have also argued there is a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise young people. Bus and travel passes for older and disabled people are being accepted as photo IDs – but the young people’s travel cards is not being permitted.

When this was put to Jenrick, he dismissed a “confected” issue as he argued: “The evidence is that of the set of ID we’ve created, you are more likely to have that ID if you’re a young person than if you’re an older person.”

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Laurence Fox Has His Backside Handed To Him By Doctor: ‘I Sometimes Wonder Why You Exist’

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GB News pundit Laurence Fox has been accused of “spewing out biased views” by a respected doctor who came onto his show to discuss Covid vaccines.

Dr Bharat Pankhania, a senior clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter’s medical school, took the sometime actor to task over his Covid disinformation.

Fox introduced Dr Pankhania and asked him for his thoughts on a new report seen by GB News that the channel says criticises the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) roll out of the vaccines.

He was given short shrift. “I sometimes wonder why you exist, to be honest with you,” Dr Pankhania began.

“A lot of these things that you spew out, just send things that are worrisome to people, are not verified, not factual.

“You just have your own agenda, that’s what I think. You are just spewing out your biased views. That’s how I feel about you.”

The clip went viral.

Dr Pankhania said he hadn’t read the report and hadn’t been told he was coming on GB News to discuss it. He accused Fox, a self-styled “anti-woke” campaigner, of an “ambush”.

The medic defended the MHRA, saying: “With respect to the many, many millions of doses of the vaccines that have been administered, we’ve had a few unfortunate side effects … but overall on the balance of good versus harm, the good outweighs the harm. By a large, large margin,”

It’s the second very shareable moment from GB News in the last week.

On Tuesday, a clip of Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has his own GB News show, locking horns with anti-Brexit commentator Marina Purkiss also went viral.

She accused the Tories of using culture wars as a “distraction technique” to prevent people from focusing on the “real grievances in their lives which are caused by your government”.

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Question Time Laughter As Tory Minister Dismisses Brexit Having Any Impact On Economic Woes

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A Conservative minister has faced ridicule after stating Brexit has “nothing to do” with the UK’s economic troubles.

Appearing on BBC’s Question Time, the audience laughed at Rachel Maclean as she attempted blame other factors as the UK teeters on the brink of a recession and is expected to grow more slowly than Western counterparts.

Her comments came as panellists on the programme debated remarks by chief economist of the Bank of England, Huw Pill, who faced a backlash for saying Brits need to accept that they are poorer to get inflation under control.

Maclean said: “Look, the government recognises that times are tough. We’ve had a global pandemic. We’ve had Putin’s illegal and brutal war in Ukraine and these factors have impacted our economy.”

At this pointed, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran shouted “Brexit”.

“No, it’s nothing to do with Brexit,“ said Maclean dismissively.

“Nothing to do with Brexit?,” inquired Moran, as the audience laughed and one member shouted: “Yes it is.”

Maclean continued: “Well, I don’t really think it’s the right time to be re-running a referendum that we had many years ago where the country voted to leave the European Union.”

She added that Liberal Democrats want to “overturn a democratic referendum” – which is not what Moran had argued on the show.

Pill told a podcast this week that households and companies were playing “pass the parcel” and trying to pass on their higher costs, which he said adds to inflation, pushing up prices even further across the economy.

UK inflation – the measure of the rising cost of goods and services – hit 10.1% in the year to March. It was a fall from 10.4% in February, but still remains stubbornly high – and above the 9.8% that experts had predicted.

On Monday, the benefits of Brexit were written off as “pure fantasy” as MPs debated the consequences of leaving the European Union amid growing concern over the decision.

Brexit has been cited repeatedly as the UK’s economy is expected to perform the worst out of any G20 economies apart from Russia this year and next, an IMF analysis has suggested.

On the same day as the debate, Gerry Murphy, the chairman of Burberry, said leaving the EU had been a “drag on growth” as he hit out at the “spectacular own goal” of a post-Brexit VAT change during a Q&A with Rishi Sunak.

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‘EU Is Better For Business’: Microsoft Boss Slams UK After Blocked Takeover

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A furious boss at Microsoft has the claimed the European Union is better for business than Britain after a UK regulator blocked the purchase of the maker of Call of Duty.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, warned the “English Channel has never seemed wider” as the the software company’s £55 billion takeover of gaming firm Activision Blizzard stalled.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the move was “probably the darkest day” in its 40-year history in the UK and “had shaken confidence” in Britain.

“There’s a clear message here. The European Union is a more attractive place to start a business if you want some day to sell it than the United Kingdom,” he said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) defended its decision to block Microsoft’s deal for Activision and said the UK was “absolutely open for business”.

The spat comes after the regulator on Wednesday prevented the mammoth buyout over concerns in the cloud gaming sector.

Xbox owner Microsoft struck a deal to buy the maker of Candy Crush and Call Of Duty in January 2022.

The CMA said the tie-up would make Microsoft stronger in cloud gaming – where video games are played using remote servers and have no need for downloads – “stifling competition in this growing market”.

It claimed that Microsoft already accounted for between 60% and 70% of cloud gaming services.

Microsoft submitted a proposal in an effort to address concerns but the watchdog said this contained a “number of significant shortcomings”.

Microsoft and Activision have both said they will appeal the decision.

Smith told the Today programme: “I think the impact on the UK, unfortunately, is to shake the confidence among the business community in the UK, and the CMA as a regulatory agency.”

He added: “This decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain. It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we’ve ever confronted before.”

Downing Street dismissed criticism of the UK’s position as a place for tech firms to invest.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “Those sorts of claims are not borne out by the facts.”

He added that the UK’s games market had doubled in size to £7 billion over the past decade.

CMA head Sarah Cardell insisted the regulator wanted “to create an environment where a whole host of different companies can compete effectively, can grow and innovate”, claiming this was the “best thing for consumers and businesses”.

She told BBC’s Today programme that after a “long and careful investigation” into the Microsoft deal, “combining those two businesses would really reinforce Microsoft’s strong position in cloud gaming”.

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Exclusive: Anger As Nadine Dorries Dismisses Steve Barclay Bullying Claims As ‘Politically Motivated’

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Nadine Dorries has been condemned after she claimed bullying allegations against Steve Barclay were “politically-motivated”.

The former culture secretary made the accusation on her Talk TV chat show.

Barclay, the health secretary, is facing allegations about his treatment of staff just days after the resignation of Dominic Raab following a report into bullying claims against him.

The Guardian reported that civil servants informally complained to the Department of Health’s top mandarin about how they were treated by Barclay, while senior officials privately spoke of “bullying” and other “bad behaviour”.

A source close to the minister told HuffPost UK: “No complaint has been made and the allegations are untrue.”

Dorries, who is standing down as a Tory MP at the next election, said: “I have known Steve Barclay for 18 years and I would defend him with my dying breath. Professional, respectful, courteous, kind, compassionate are the words which jump to mind to describe him if I were ever to be asked.”

On the bullying claims, she said: “It is without doubt politically-motivated by the unions and they have shot themselves in the foot and exposed their true intentions trying to claim the scalp of another cabinet minister who so many respect – but they have chosen the wrong man. This accusation is beyond absurd.”

She added: “If anyone brings forward a genuine bullying claim in the future they are going to find it difficult to be believed because those lefties who are trying to bring down the government by any false means possible will have cried wolf once too often.”

Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, told HuffPost UK: “Nadine Dorries actively demonstrates two key factors.

“Firstly, she doesn’t understand what bullying is – it’s an abuse of power. The relationship she would have had with a fellow minister has a very different power dynamic to that between a minister and their civil servants.

“Secondly, her entire world view is based on political conspiracies and imagined enemies. She cannot fathom that civil servants might simply be complaining about how they are treated in the workplace.”

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Braverman Under Fire For Claim Channel Migrants ‘At Odds’ With British Values

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Suella Braverman has been accused of striking up a “xenophobic and racist fire” after saying people arriving in the UK in small boats have values which are “at odds with our country”.

The home secretary was facing a backlash to her remarks as government’s controversial immigration legislation cleared the Commons.

She also failed to offer statistical evidence to back her claim that migrants crossing the English Channel are linked to “heightened levels of criminality”.

Braverman said: “I think that the people coming here illegally do possess values which are at odds with our country.”

Asked later whether she had figures to support the crime statement, she said it was based on information she had gathered from police chiefs.

At an event later in Westminster, she added: “Not in all cases, but it is becoming a notable feature of everyday crime-fighting in England and Wales.

“Many people are coming here illegally and they’re getting very quickly involved in the drugs trade, in other forms of exploitation.”

Asked whether that claim was based on empirical evidence, she said: “I consider police chiefs experts in their field and authoritative sources of information.”

Even an outspoken right-wing Tory MP criticised the comments on values.

Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North Jonathan Gullis told LBC they were not “appropriate” or “reasonable”.

He said: “I don’t feel comfortable with the mentioning of the values. I don’t think that was appropriate, nor was it right.”

Labour condemned Braverman’s comments about migrants’ values, with a spokesman calling it the “sort of invective” that signals that the policies being promoted “have failed”.

Campaigners accused her of “pouring petrol on a xenophobic and racist fire they (the government) themselves have lit”.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “Suella Braverman’s dog-whistle remarks about the ‘values’ of migrants being ‘at odds’ with British ‘norms’ are appallingly divisive and shamelessly intended to stoke fear and hatred of people seeking refuge in this country.

“No-one should suffer such blatant exposure to prejudice and hostility, especially not in the form of highly insensitive remarks from the Home Secretary.

“The government’s draconian asylum legislation is already set to tear apart legal protections in this country for refugees, victims of human trafficking and many other people, while Suella Braverman continues pouring petrol on a xenophobic and racist fire they themselves have lit.”

It came as senior backbench Tories, including former prime minister Theresa May and ex-party leader Iain Duncan Smith, voiced concerns inpParliament about the impact the government’s flagship immigration reforms could have on modern slavery protections.

But the bill cleared the House of Commons without any drama in the votes after MPs gave it a third reading by 289 votes to 230, majority 59.

The illegal migration bill will change the law so people who arrive in the UK illegally will be detained and then promptly removed, either to their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda.

Critics of the Bill have dismissed the proposed legislation as unworkable, while right-wing Tory MPs believe it does not go far enough.

Other Tories want greater protections for minors and victims of human trafficking.

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Theresa May Torches Government’s Migration Crackdown

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Theresa May has warned the government’s crackdown on migration will create more victims of modern slavery as ministers attempt to deter people from crossing the English Channel.

The former prime minister been joined by former leader Iain Duncan Smith in objecting to the illegal migration bill based on its potential to fuel human trafficking.

May, a long-serving home secretary who had a reputation for her hardline approach to immigration, said the controversial proposed legislation will give “the traffickers another weapon to hold people in that slavery and exploitation”.

The MP described an amendment tabled by ministers as a “slap in the face”.

Temporary protection against removal from the UK is currently given to suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking while their case is considered.

But the bill removes this protection for those judged to have entered the UK illegally.

It contains an exception for people co-operating with a criminal investigation, but the government amendment adds it is not necessary for a person to be present in the UK to co-operate with such proceedings unless there are judged to be “compelling circumstances”.

May and Duncan Smith are behind a separate amendment seeking to protect victims of modern slavery in the UK from removal and being barred from returning.

May said the change also suggests those dealing with the bill “simply do not understand the nature of these crimes or the position of victims”.

The MP for Maidenhead said the government amendment will make it “much harder” to investigate and prosecute traffickers and slavedrivers given victims need to feel safe and have confidence in the authorities.

She said: “Sending victims back to their own country or a third country like Rwanda will simply, at best, make them feel less secure, and therefore less able or willing to give the evidence needed, and at worst will drive them back into the arms of the traffickers and slavedrivers.”

She added: “Modern slavery is the greatest human rights issue of our time. The approach in this bill, I believe, will have several ramifications. I believe it will consign victims to remain in slavery.

“The government will be ensuring that more people will stay enslaved and in exploitation as a result of this bill because it will give the slavedrivers, it will give the traffickers, another weapon to hold people in that slavery and exploitation, because it’ll be very easy to say to them, ‘Don’t even think about trying to escape from the misery of your life, from the suffering we’re subjecting you to because all the UK government will do is send you away and probably send you to Rwanda’.

“The modern slavery act gave hope to victims, this bill removes that hope. I genuinely believe that, if enacted as it is currently proposed, this bill will leave more people, more men, women and children, in slavery in the UK.”

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Tory Deputy Chairman Lee Anderson Gets Schooled On The Law By Top Police Officer

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Lee Anderson was left embarrassed after his attempt to criticise a top police officer spectacularly backfired.

The Tory deputy chairman accused Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley of failing to crack down on protesters outside parliament.

“We have seen protesters once again in Parliament Square setting up some sort of Glastonbury-on-Thames gazebo,” Anderson said.

“Don’t you think it’s time you left your ivory tower, got out there on Whitehall and sorted the people out? You’re just letting it happen. You’ve got the powers now to do this.”

But Rowley told him this was wrong, as the controversial Public Order Bill – which gives police greater powers to stop demonstrations – is not yet law.

“Those powers haven’t come in yet,” Rowley explained. “You’re making selective comments based on a partial understanding of the law.”

Rowley, the UK’s most senior police officer, added: “The law is very clear that protest is disruptive and to a certain extent that is allowed.

“That is why the law says at the moment you might not like that but I have to work to the law rather than whim.”

He told Anderson: “You might want to believe the law says that no disruption is allowed whatsoever through protest, but that is not case.”

Anderson told Rowley: “You might want to believe you are doing your job correctly, I don’t think you are. I feel like I’m wasting my time with you.

“Do you think you’ve got confidence of the public?” he asked.

But Rowley hit back: “If people want to be personally offensive, then write it in newspapers, I’m not going to answer those questions.”

Rowley took over as Met commissioner in September 2022, replacing Cressida Dick.

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