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

Posted on 22/10/2023 by Boris Clair

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.

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

Posted on 20/10/2023 by Boris Clair

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.

SCOOP: BBC director general Tim Davie will address the next meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers.

To say this is highly unusual would be an understatement. pic.twitter.com/hcJd8pgeOu

— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield) October 20, 2023

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.”

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

Posted on 19/10/2023 by Boris Clair

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.”

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

Posted on 17/10/2023 by Boris Clair

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”.

HS2 U-Turn: Rishi Sunak Confirms Manchester Line Is Scrapped

Posted on 04/10/2023 by Boris Clair

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that he is scrapping HS2 to Manchester.

The prime minister made the long-awaited announcement at the Tory conference being held in the city.

He also revealed that phase one of the multi-billion pound line will start at Euston station in central London.

And he said the £36 billion saved on scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester stretch would be used to fund major new transport projects in the north of England.

The decision is likely to spark a furious backlash from opposition politicians, business leaders and senior Tories including West Midlands mayor Andy Street, who this week appealed to the PM not to axe to next phase of the HS2 project.

Sunak said: “I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.

“And so I am ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place we will re-invest every single penny – £36bn in hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the Midlands across the country.”

The PM said a new “network north” project would boost transport links and slash travel times to towns and cities across the country.

He said: “You will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes, Sheffield in 42 minutes and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully, electrified line.

“We’ll protect the £12bn pounds to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned and we will engage with local leaders on how best to deliver the scheme.

“We’ll build the Midlands Rail Hub, connecting 50 stations. We’ll help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro, build the Leeds tram, electrify the North Wales main line, upgrade the A1, the A2, the A5, the M6 and we’ll connect our Union with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“We’ll fund the Shipley bypass, the Blyth relief road and deliver 70 other road schemes. We’ll resurface roads across the country. We’ll bring back the Don Valley line. We’ll upgrade the energy coast line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow, build hundreds of other schemes and keep the £2 bus fare across the whole country.”

‘Rich. Money. Wealth.’ Rishi Sunak Shown What Voters Think Of Him During Toe-Curling Interview

Posted on 01/10/2023 by Boris Clair

Voters associate Rishi Sunak with wealth, money and greed, according to a survey carried out for the BBC.

The multi-millionaire prime minister was presented with the public’s brutal verdict during a live interview as the Tory Party conference kicks off in Manchester.

Appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the PM was shown a so-called “word cloud” outlining the answers voters gave to the More in Common think-tank when asked their opinion of him.

It showed the most common was “rich people”, followed by “money” and “himself”.

Other answers included “greed”, “elite” “wealth”, “upper class” and “prosperity”.

However, some people answered “fairness”, “equality”, “stability” and “leader”.

The word cloud setting out how people view the prime minister.

During the ill-tempered interview, Kuenssberg told him: “You can see there, rightly or wrongly, what many people associate with you is your personal wealth.

“What does that make you think? Does that worry you if people might think you’re out of touch?

“Or perhaps, you are very wealthy, you could be living on a beach not working at all. A lot of people might think you’ve got all this wealth, you could be living on a beach, not working at all.

“A lot of people might think you’ve got all this wealth, you could do anything at all, good on you for being in public service. What goes through your mind when you see that?”

A clearly-annoyed Sunak said : “My job is to deliver for people. We’ve been talking a lot about this net zero decision …”

Kuenssberg replied : “Hold on, I think people would like to know what your response is.”

But the PM said: “But this is a great example of it. That was a decision motivated by me wanting to ease the burden on families.”

Andy Burnham Says Ministers Are Treating People In The North ‘Like Second Class Citizens’

Posted on 24/09/2023 by Boris Clair

Andy Burnham has accused ministers of treating people in the north of England “like second class citizens” amid mounting speculation that the next phase of HS2 will be scrapped.

The Manchester mayor launched a furious attack on the government as Rishi Sunak ponders whether to axe the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the rail project.

His comments came after former transport secretary Grant Shapps repeatedly refused to confirm that the high-speed line will be completed in full.

Speaking on Sky News, Burnham furiously said: “Why is it that people in the north are always forced to choose – you can have this or you can have that, but you can’t have everything?

“London never has to choose between a north-south line or an east-west line and good public transport within the city.

“Why are we always treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transport?

“This is the parliament who said they would level us up. If they leave a situation where the southern half of the country is connected by modern high speed lines and the north of England is left with Victorian infrastructure, that is a recipe for the north-south divide to become a north-south chasm.”

Burnham said the abandonment of the HS2 leg would be the “desperate act of a dying government”.

Around £20 billion of taxpayers money has already been spent on the project, which was meant to cost £33 billion in total.

However, repeated delays and soaring inflation mean there are fears the final bill could be more than £100 billion.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned that the cost of the project is at risk of getting “totally out of control”, fuelling speculation that plans to extend it to Manchester will be scrapped.

However, Boris Johnson has said that would leave a “mutilated” rail line and has urged the government to commit to the project.

Andy Street, the Tory mayor of the West Midlands, has also called on Sunak to complete the project, while business leaders have insisted scrapping it would be disastrous for the economy.

Rishi Sunak Says He Is ‘Entirely Confident’ The Tories Can Win Next Election

Posted on 09/09/2023 by Boris Clair

The prime minister said he was “fired up” to prove the doubters wrong and deliver a historic fifth consecutive Conservative win.

Speaking to journalists at the G20 summit in India, Sunak said the Tories’ surprise by-election win in Uxbridge in the summer showed that all is not lost for the party.

He said: “I am entirely confident that we can win the next election, you had a sense of that just a couple of months ago in Uxbridge.

“In that by-election, when voters were confronted with an actual choice between us and the Labour Party on an issue of substance, what did they do? They voted for us.”

Pointing to a recent shake-up of personnel in Downing Street, he added: “These are very high quality people that are joining the team because they believe that we will win — they are hungry to win, I am hungry to win, and they are fired up to deliver it.”

Sunak has until January 2025 to call the election, but speculation is mounting at Westminster that he could go to the country next spring in an attempt to limit the Tories’ losses.

Fresh By-Election Nightmare For Rishi Sunak As Chris Pincher To Resign As MP

Posted on 07/09/2023 by Boris Clair

Chris Pincher has said he will resign as an MP, triggering yet another by-election headache for Rishi Sunak.

The move came after he lost his appeal against an eight-week parliamentary suspension for allegedly groping two men.

Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, resigned as Conservative deputy chief whip last June after the allegations first emerged. He was also stripped of the Tory whip.

The scandal ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister.

In a statement on Thursday, Pincher said: “I have said already that I will not stand at the next General Election.

“However, following the Independent Expert Panel’s decision I wanted to talk to my office team and family.

“I do not want my constituents to be put to further uncertainty, and so in consequence I have made arrangements to resign and leave the Commons.

“Tamworth is a wonderful place and it has been an honour to represent its people. I shall make no further comment at this time.”

Pincher has been an MP since 2010 and retained his seat at the 2019 election with a majority of 19,634.

However, given their commanding lead in the opinion polls, Labour will will fancy their chances of seizing the seat and delivering yet another blow to the prime minister.

Sunak is already facing an embarrassing by-election defeat in Mid Bedfordshire in October, after Nadine Dorries finally stepped down as an MP.

‘No Way To Run A Whelk Stall’: Jeremy Hunt Savaged Over Shambolic Tory Record

Posted on 03/09/2023 by Boris Clair

Jeremy Hunt was left squirming on live TV as he was savaged over the Tories’ chaotic record in government.

The chancellor was shown a list of the astonishing number of cabinet jobs given to senior Conservative MPs since the last general election in 2019.

Nadhim Zahawi tops the lost with an incredible nine positions, while Oliver Dowden and Lucy Frazer have seven each, followed by Dominic Raab and Steve Barclay on six.

Appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Hunt was told: “One cabinet minister who’s not even in the cabinet any more [Zahawi] had nine jobs.

“This is a higher turnover of even a Premier League manager. You and I support the same team, Chelsea. A Chelsea manager feels safer than a cabinet minister.

“This is no way to run a whelk stall, is it, let alone a government?”

Hunt was shown a graphic detailing the astonishing number of ministers since 2019.

Hunt replied: “We have had turbulence caused by things like the pandemic [and] big changes in our economic model.

“What I would say is that since Rishi Sunak has become prime minister that has changed, and he has made only the most limited changes.

“The most recent change, the defence secretary, was caused by a personal decision by Ben Wallace to step down.

“What Rishi Sunak is interested in is not the personalities, but who is going to get the job done and when people get the job done, he backs them.”

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