Category Archives: conservative party

Tory MPs Have Warned The Party Could Cease To Exist If It Breaks This Manifesto Pledge

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Tory MPs have warned the party could cease to exist if it breaks its pledge to cut immigration before the next election.

Members of the New Conservatives group said the party faced a “do or die” moment after new figures showed net migration had trebled since 2019.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 672,000 more people entered the UK than left it in the 12 months to June.

The Tories’ 2019 general election manifesto pledged to bring it down to less than 229,000.

In a statement published on X (formerly Twitter), the New Conservatives said the party could not afford to break that “solemn promise”.

“The word existential has been used a lot in recent days, but this really is ‘do or die’ for our party,” they said.

“Each of us made a promise to the electorate. We don’t believe that such promises can be ignored.”

The group, which is largely made up of MPs in the Red Wall seats the Tories won from Labour at the last election, called on the government to produce “a comprehensive package of measures to meet the manifesto promise by the time of the next election”.

They added: “The prime minister, chancellor and new home secretary must show that they stand by the promises on which we were elected to parliament. We must act now.”

Miriam Cates, on of the members of the group, said: “Today’s UK migration figures are astounding: a million new people from abroad were added to our population last year. There is simply no democratic consent for this.

“Attempts to reduce NHS waiting times or solve the housing crisis are futile unless we drastically reduce numbers.”

The Times reported that the PM is looking to announce new plans to curb migration over the next week because of fury on the Tory backbenches over the issue.

Sky News reported that home secretary James Cleverly had promised the government was still “completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration, while also focusing relentlessly” on illegal migration.

From July 2019 to June 2023, the total estimated UK net migration stood at over 1.6 million.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has also estimated that an extra 150,000 migrants would arrive in the next five years – adding around 1.5 million people to the population by 2028-29.

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‘The Hunt Hoax’: Chancellor Accused Of Autumn Statement Con As Taxes To Hit Post-War High

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Jeremy Hunt has been accused of trying to “hoodwink” voters as his Autumn Statement unravelled within minutes of him delivering it.

The chancellor boasted that he had announced “the biggest package of tax cuts since the 1980s”.

He reduced the National Insurance rate paid by workers from 12% to 10%, while also unveiling cuts to business taxes.

But the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s own assessment of the chancellor’s plans revealed that while the overall tax burden will initially come down, it is soon set to soar.

That is because of income tax thresholds remain frozen, meaning millions of workers end up in a higher tax bracket as their wages rise – a process known as “fiscal drag”.

The OBR said: “Tax changes in this autumn statement reduce the tax burden by 0.7% of GDP, but it still rises in every year to a post-war high of 37.3% of GDP by 2028-29.

“Income tax increases explain most of the increase in this forecast … driven by threshold freezes and strong nominal earnings.”

As a result, the Treasury will rake in an extra £201 billion in tax over the next six years – four times more than the cost of Hunt’s cuts to National Insurance payments.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “This Autumn Statement was a Hunt hoax.

“Buried in the small print is a massive stealth tax raid that will drag millions into paying a higher rate in the coming years.

“The British people will rightly be furious at this deception, as they are forced to pay the price for Conservative chaos through years of unfair tax hikes.

“It is high time that this Conservative government came clean about just how much money they are taking out of hard-working families’ pockets.”

The OBR also downgraded its forecasts for economic growth over the next few years.

It also said that inflation will fall to 2.8% next year, well up on the 0.9% they forecast in March.

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “After 13 years of the Conservatives, the economy simply isn’t working. And, despite all the promises today, working people are still worse off.”

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Greg Hands Sacked As Conservative Party Chairman In Rishi Sunak’s Reshuffle

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Greg Hands has been sacked as chairman of the Conservative Party, as Rishi Sunak conducted a major cabinet reshuffle ahead of next year’s election.

He has finally paid the price for a succession of humiliating by-election defeats.

Richard Holden, who was only elected as an MP in 2019, has been given a big promotion to take over the job of running the Tory party machine.

Less than a month ago, Hands said he would not quit in the wake of two heavy by-election defeats in Mid Bedfordshire and Tamworth.

At the time, he said the losses were caused “by legacy issues” that predated Sunak’s time in No.10.

Hands remains in government, but has been demoted to a minister of state job at the department for business and trade.

Richard Holden leaves 10 Downing Street after he was made the new Conservative chairman (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)
Richard Holden leaves 10 Downing Street after he was made the new Conservative chairman (Photo by Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images)

Victoria Jones – PA Images via Getty Images

Holden snatched the red wall seat of North West Durham for the Tories in 2019, but the constituency is disappearing due to boundary changes and he is now on the lookout for somewhere else to stand at the next election.

Holden was appointed transport minister when Sunak became prime minister last October.

He now has the extremely difficult job of helping the prime minister overhaul a huge Labour poll lead over the next 12 months.

Leaving No.10 on Monday afternoon, Holden gave a thumbs-up when asked if the Tories could win the election.

As part of his reshuffle, Sunak also dramatically brought David Cameron back into government as foreign secretary.

Suella Braverman has been sacked as home secretary, replaced by James Cleverly.

Meanwhile, Therese Coffey has also been sacked as environment secretary, with Steve Barclay replacing her.

He has been replaced as health secretary by Victoria Atkins, with Laura Trott also being appointed chief secretary to the Treasury as the reshuffle continued.

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Labour On Course For Landslide Election Victory As Tories Face Wipeout, Mega-Poll Says

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Keir Starmer is on course to lead Labour to an even bigger victory than Tony Blair’s landslide in 1997, according to a major new poll.

The Survation survey of more than 12,000 people for the UK Spirits Alliance predicts the Tories will return just 156 MPs – around 200 less than they have now.

Labour, on the other hand, would see their number of MPs soar to 431, handing Starmer a 212-seat majority.

In 1997, Blair’s New Labour won a majority of 179 and ended up holding on to power for 13 years.

In recent days he has also been embroiled in a row with home secretary Suella Braverman over her article in The Times accusing the police of having a left-wing bias.

Sunak is now under intense pressure from many within his own party to sack the home secretary, but that could spark an angry backlash from right-wing Tory MPs.

Starmer, on the other hand, will be delighted at the poll’s findings, which come despite his own internal problems.

The Labour leader is facing a major rebellion by dozens of his own MPs – including many frontbenchers – over his refusal to support calls for a ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war.

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Suella Braverman Sparks Tory Civil War Over Plan To Stop Rough Sleepers Getting Tents

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Suella Braverman has triggered a Tory civil war over her plans to stop rough sleepers being given tents.

Moderate Conservatives accused the home secretary of “ill thought out policies that divide” after she confirmed the controversial move.

Braverman accused rough sleepers who use tents for shelter of “living on the streets as a lifestyle choice”.

She said: “Unless we step in now to stop this, British cities will go the way of places in the US like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where weak policies have led to an explosion of crime, drug taking, and squalor.”

But the Tory Reform Group – which includes senior party figures such as Damian Green, Ken Clarke, John Major and Robert Buckland – condemned the home secretary’s remarks.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) they said: “The UK’s streets are not being taken over by tents. We are not San Francisco.

“If this is a sign to come of the King’s Speech, it is a missed opportunity for the government to focus on those issues that really matter to voters – not ill thought out policies which divide.”

Braverman has also come under fire from opposition politicians, with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham describing her plans as “frankly abhorrent”.

Lib Dem Alistair Carmichael said: “It is a new low for Braverman to criminalise homeless charities for simply trying to keep vulnerable people warm and dry in winter.

“The British public raise millions of pounds for homeless people at this time of year, and the government’s response is to criminalise those charities trying to help.

“This policy will do nothing to stop rough sleeping and will leave vulnerable people to face the harsh weather conditions without any shelter whatsoever.”

On Sky News this morning, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden defended Braverman by claiming her comments – in a series of four posts on X – had been taken out of context.

He said: “If you look at what she said, she did talk about addressing push factors as well.

“And if we get to a position where those factors are removed, I do think the tents and other things that that we see on our streets are not acceptable if we’ve got somewhere else for these people to go.”

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Boris Johnson Believed Old People Should ‘Accept Their Fate’ And Catch Covid

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Boris Johnson wanted old people to “accept their fate” and catch Covid so that the young could get on with their lives, it has been revealed.

The former prime minister also suggested that he agreed with Tory MPs who believed the virus was “nature’s way of dealing with old people”.

The shocking revelations were contained in former chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance’s diaries, which have been made public by the Covid Inquiry.

It also emerged yesterday that a former aide to Johnson believed the former PM had asked “why are we destroying the economy for people who will die anyway soon” in the early days of the pandemic.

Writing in his diary on August 28 2020, Vallance said: ”[Johnson] is obsessed with old people accepting their fate and letting the young get on with life and the economy going. Quite a bonkers set of exchanges.”

In a further entry on December 12 that year, said: ”[Johnson] says his party ’thinks the whole thing is pathetic and Covid is just nature’s way of dealing with old people – and I am not entirely sure I disagree with them.”

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “This inquiry is painting a clear picture of a Conservative Party totally unfit to govern our country.

“Every shocking revelation is another devastating blow to the families who lost loved ones to Covid. It is hard to hear how badly Conservative ministers failed them, our NHS and our country.”

Natalie Grayson, national officer for care at the GMB union, said Johnson’s remarks “reveal the utter contempt his government showed to people living and working in care homes”.

“Care workers long suspected ministers were treating the lives of the elderly and vulnerable as less valuable than others,” she said.

“Emergency workers, care workers, residents and their families are the ones who have had to live with the trauma of the government’s failure. Boris Johnson is a disgrace.”

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‘Are You In Denial?’: Robert Jenrick Mocked Over His Response To Tory By-Election Defeats

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A Tory minister was asked if he was “in denial” after he tried to play down the significance of the party’s latest by-election disasters.

Robert Jenrick insisted “the public are undecided” about Labour, despite their seismic victories last Thursday.

The Conservatives lost in Tamworth despite having a majority of nearly 20,000, while Keir Starmer’s party managed to overturn a 25,000 majority in Nadine Dorries’ former seat of Mid Bedfordshire.

But appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, Jenrick, who is the immigration minister, insisted Rishi Sunak is “making good progress” on his promises to voters, which he said were in tune with people’s priorities.

Presenter Victoria Derbyshire replied: “It doesn’t seem to be having any effect though if you look at what happened in Tamworth and Mid Beds.

“In Tamworth Labour overturned a majority of almost 19,000, in Mid Beds a majority of 25,000.”

Jenrick said: “With all due respect I wouldn’t read too much into by-elections – governments tend to lose by-elections.”

But Derbyshire hit back: “They are massive majorities with double digit swings – are you in denial?”

The minister replied: “I think we all have to listen to what the voters are saying in those by-elections, but we also shouldn’t read too much into them.

“My sense is that the public are undecided, they’re certainly not sold on Keir Starmer.”

Derbyshire interrupted: “Labour just won those two by-elections.”

Jenrick said: “The key thing for us as a party right now is not to worry about party politics but to deliver on the public’s priorities.”

Derbyshire then asked Jenrick how worried he was about losing his own seat of Newark, where he has a majority of 21,816.

“It would be foolish to be complacent – we all need to work hard and be good constituency members of parliament every day,” he said.

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Exclusive: BBC Director General Tim Davie To Speak At Private Meeting Of Tory MPs

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BBC director general Tim Davie is to be grilled at a private meeting of Tory MPs, HuffPost UK can reveal.

In a highly unusual development, he will address the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers next Wednesday.

Committee chairman announcement Davie’s appearance in an email to Tory MPs which has been seen by HuffPost UK.

It comes amid the ongoing row over the corporation’s refusal to describe Palestinian militant group Hamas as terrorists.

However, it is understood Davie’s appearance at Committee Room 14 in the House of Commons was arranged in July, before the controversy.

Asked why he had been invited to attend the meeting, a 1922 Committee source said: “We thought it would be interesting.”

Labour shadow minister Justin Madders said: “If the Director General of the BBC wants to talk to MPs he should talk to all of them of all parties, not just some.”

High-profile figures, including tech billionaire Bill Gates, have spoken to the 1922 committee before.

But Davie’s appearance is controversial because he is a former Tory Party member and twice stood for election as a Conservative councillor in the 1990s.

Many Tory MPs are also highly critical of the BBC’s political coverage, which they believe has a left-wing bias.

BBC sources said Davie meets a range of people as part of his role and will be meeting Labour parliamentarians in the coming weeks.

But Labour sources said there were no plans for him to address a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Security minister Tom Tugenhadt criticised the corporation’s reporting of the Al-Ahli hospital blast in Gaza City during an interview on BBC Breakfast yesterday.

A post on X (formerly Twitter) by BBC World said: “Hundreds of people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.”

Israel has denied responsibility for the carnage, which it has blamed on a misfiring rocket by the Hamas militant group.

US president Joe Biden was due to meet with Arab leaders in the region, but those talks were cancelled in the wake of the blast.

Tugenhandt was asked by presenter Charlie Stayt who the UK government thought was responsible for the hospital deaths.

He said: “We’ve seen some pretty wild speculation and some rushing to headlines in recent days.

“This is first and foremost a human tragedy. We know that some people have been killed there and we also know that the Al-Ahli hospital was offering a service to Palestinian civilians that is incredibly needed at the moment.

“However, the reporting that we’ve seen in recent days has already had a major cost. President Biden was due to meet with Arab leaders, including probably Mahmood Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, and to begin the conversations that could have led to peace.

“Those talks have been stopped – perhaps only pushed back, we hope – and that in itself as a cost. But we’ve also seen the destruction of a synagogue in Tunisia and sadly we’ve seen raising tensions in the United Kingdom.

“This is one of those moments where wild speculation, fast and loose reporting, has real costs and consequences and I’m not going to engage in it.”

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Can The Tories Defy The Polls And Hold On In Today’s Crucial By-Elections?

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The world’s attention has understandably been focused on the Middle East in recent days, and is likely to remain so for some time to come.

But two by-elections on Thursday have the potential to be much more politically significant for Rishi Sunak.

The Tories are defending two nominally safe seats, in Mid Bedforshire and Tamworth.

It is no exaggeration to say that, were the Conservatives to lose both of them, the party could swiftly go into meltdown.

In Mid Beds, the Tories are defending a 25,000 majority, while in Tamworth, the party won the seat in 2019 by 20,000 votes. On paper at least, they should be unassailable.

But given the government’s unpopularity, and the circumstances which led to the by-elections, both Labour and the Lib Dems still hold out hopes of causing an upset.

The contest in Mid Bedfordshire has been caused by the resignation of Nadine Dorries after she was denied the peerage promised to her by Boris Johnson.

In Tamworth, meanwhile, sitting MP Chris Pincher quit amid allegations of sexual misconduct which saw him suspended from the Commons for eight weeks.

Tory hopes of hanging on in Mid Beds have been boosted by an extraordinary war of words between Labour and the Lib Dems.

Both parties insist they are best placed to win, leading to the very real possibility of the anti-Tory vote being split, thereby allowing Conservative candidate Festus Akinbusoye to get elected.

Tamworth is a straight shoot-out between the Tories and Labour, who are odds-on favourites with the bookies.

Nevertheless, Labour insiders insist the prospect of winning either seat is a “moonshot”.

One shadow cabinet member told HuffPost UK: “They’re two very safe Tory seats and it would take a miracle for Labour to win either. Mid Beds is a genuine three way split, but still a real long shot.”

Shadow science, innovation and technology secretary Peter Kyle, who is Labour’s campaign co-ordinator in the seat, said: “I think objectively anybody looking at all of the campaigns would rather be in our position than the others, but this is unlike anything I’ve experienced and uncertainties are constantly lurking.”

But another Labour MP said: “Mid Beds is the Tories for the keeping – no chance of that turning red.

“And to be quite honest, we don’t need it anyway. It’s not a target seat of ours and this isn’t a general election. If anything, it’s amusing that the Tories will frame it as a big win when all they’ve done is keep a seat that is already theirs.”

Labour sources insist winning in Tamworth – where Pincher received 68% of the vote at the last election – would be an even bigger achievement than the party’s stunning victory in Selby and Ainsty in July.

But a senior Tory MP told HuffPost: “I reckon our chances are poor in Tamworth because of how grim Chris Pincher’s reason for leaving was. I think people will punish the party for what he did and vote against us as a protest for all the sleaze we’ve seen in recent years.”

And a Labour MP said: “We do feel good about Tamworth. We know we have the power to overturn such huge majorities, as we’ve done it before.

“This seat in particular often reflects wider politics. It was Labour under Blair and Brown, Tory after that. And now, reflecting how well Labour are doing in the polls, I think that trend will continue.“

Defeat for the Tories would be as much of a psychological blow as an electoral one.

It’s the constituency of former Conservative prime minister Robert Peel, who in 1834 published the Tamworth Manifesto, which paved the way for the modern-day Tory Party.

One Labour MP dispensed with the usual pre-by-election caution and predicted a glory night for the party.

We’ve got both seats in the bag,” the MP said. “It doesn’t matter where the constituency is, or its history – the public want a change and are fed up of Tory lies.

“Their loyal voters are doubting them too, and we will see that on Thursday.”

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Inquiry Needed Into What Boris Johnson Knew About Peter Bone Allegations, Say Lib Dems

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Boris Johnson’s decision to make Tory MP Peter Bone a minister despite an ongoing inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct must be formally investigated, the country’s most powerful official has been told.

Bone faces a six-week suspension from the Commons and losing his seat in a by-election after a Westminster ethics watchdog found he bullied and sexually harassed a member of his staff.

The Lib Dems have demanded Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, access Johnson and Liz Truss’ emails and text messages about the Wellingborough MP to avoid a “Conservative Party cover up”.

In one incident, Bone “trapped” a young male employee in a Madrid hotel room and indecently exposed himself.

Bone was found by the independent expert panel inquiry to have “verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” the man, who was in his early 20s.

He has denied the allegations. In a statement Bone said: “None of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.”

A complaint was first raised about the behaviour in 2015 when David Cameron was prime minister and again in 2017 when Theresa May was in No.10. The Conservative Party opened an investigation in 2018.

Bone, who was first elected in 2005, has spent the majority of his career as a backbencher.

But in July 2022, Johnson appointed Bone to the job of deputy Commons leader. It involved handling how complaints of bullying in parliament are dealt with.

When Liz Truss’ became PM, she sacked Bone and abolished the role entirely.

Christine Jardine, the Lib Dem Cabinet Office spokesperson, said on Tuesday: “We need an urgent inquiry to understand what Conservative ministers knew about the allegations against Peter Bone when these complaints were made.

“Boris Johnson must also be held accountable for his decision to appoint Peter Bone as deputy leader of the Commons despite the complaints made against him.”

She added in a letter to Case: “There are serious questions to be answered about what Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and other Conservative ministers knew about these allegations including when Peter Bone was appointed to a ministerial position.

“It is therefore crucial that any inquiry has full access to communications sent by Johnson and other ministers at the time, including emails, text messages and other electronic and written correspondence.”

Asked if an inquiry would be launched into Bone’s appointment as a minister, Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said: “I am not aware of any plans for that, no.”

Bone has been one of most notorious backbenchers for many years, and often a thorn in the side to his own party leaders. An unashamed eurosceptic, he had described Ukip as a “good thing for British politics”. And also called the idea of introducing same-sex marriage “completely nuts”.

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