A cabinet minister has been condemned after he said people need to “move on” from a race row engulfing the Tory Party’s biggest donor.
Frank Hester, who gave the Conservatives £10 million last year, reportedly saidDiane Abbott made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”.
But work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said that while the remarks were “inappropriate”, it was not “a gender-based or a race-based comment”.wes
He added: “He has apologised and I think we need to move on from that.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said Stride’s response showed the Tory Party was “rotten to its core and unfit for office”.
Former Tory adviser Sam Freedman said: “This line is so appalling that it can only be in use because Hester is demanding that they stick to his line.
“Mel Stride is not a stupid person. There is no way he thinks this is a good or reasonable line.”
Asked if the Tories should hand back the money Hester gave them, he said: “We can’t cancel anybody from participation in public life, or indeed donating to parties because they said something intemperate and wrong in their past.
“It’s not my decision, but I do welcome those who support the Conservative Party to ensure that we have Rishi Sunak – our first Hindu prime minister.”
Government officials accidentally sent top secret plans to boost NHS dental care to every MP in the Commons.
The ‘Dental Recovery Plan’, which will see dentists offered a £20,000 “bonus” to encourage them to take on more NHS patients, was not supposed to be unveiled until tomorrow.
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But the blueprint, seen by HuffPost UK, landed in MPs’ email inboxes at lunchtime today.
Under the plans, ministers will spend an extra £200 million “to ensure everyone has fast and fair access to a dentist when they need one”.
Up to 240 dentists will receive the £20,000 payment to treat NHS payments for at least three years in so-called “dental deserts” areas where recruitment and retention is difficult.
A new “smile for life” scheme will see children in the first year of primary school will be given lessons on oral hygiene.
The move echoes a Labour plan for supervised toothbrushing for all 3 to 5 year-olds – which has been criticised by some Tory MPs.
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Mobile dental teams will also be sent into schools in areas with fewer dentists to provide advice and fluoride treatment to 165,000 children.
The scale of the dental crisis in England has been highlighted this week by images of huge queues of people trying to sign up for an NHS dentist in Bristol.
Yesterday, hundreds of people desperate for an NHS dentist appointment queued for hours when a new practice opened in Bristol.
After 14 years of Tory decline, this is the Britain we live in today.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “After 14 years of Conservative neglect, patients are desperately queuing around the block to see a dentist, literally pulling their own teeth out, and tooth decay is the number one reason for 6–10 year-olds being admitted to hospital.
“The Conservatives are only promising to do something about it now there’s an election coming. By adopting Labour’s proposals for recruitment and supervised toothbrushing, they are finally admitting that they are out of ideas of their own.
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“It will be left to the next Labour government to rescue NHS dentistry and get patients seen on time once again.”
Dentists have also condemned the government plan.
Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association’s general dental practice committee, said: “This ‘Recovery Plan’ is not worthy of the title.
“It won’t halt the exodus from the workforce or offer hope to millions struggling to access care. Nothing here meets government’s stated ambitions, or makes this service fit for the future.
“Ministers wanted to stop dentistry becoming an election issue. By rearranging the deckchairs they’ve achieved the exact opposite.”
The Metropolitan Police Service has faced criticism after more than 50 people were arrested for alleged affray, public nuisance and breach-of-the-peace offences.
The arrests were described by human rights organisations as a “dangerous precedent” for a democratic nation.
In a statement following his release, Smith said: “Yesterday, as we prepared for a peaceful and lawful protest, a number of Republic’s team were arrested and detained for the rest of the day.
“These arrests are a direct attack on our democracy and the fundamental rights of every person in the country.
A policeman is seen carrying a banner taken away from protesters during an Anti-monarchist protest during King Charles III’s Coronation.
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“Each and every police officer involved on the ground should hang their heads in shame. They showed no judgement, no common sense and no basic decency.
“This was a heavy handed action which had the appearance of a pre-determined arrest that would have occurred regardless of the evidence or our actions.
“The right to protest peacefully in the UK no longer exists. Instead we have a freedom to protest that is contingent on political decisions made by ministers and senior police officers.”
Smith said the arrests had “destroyed” whatever trust might have existed between peaceful protesters and the Met Police.
He questioned what was the point in the protesters being “open and candid with the police, working with their liaison officers and meeting senior commanders” if this is what happens.
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A protester holds a placard which states ‘This country is ours’ during the demonstration.
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The campaigner insisted they would not be deterred from further protest, adding: “We will continue to protest with one simple message: Charles is not our king, it is time to abolish the monarchy.”
However, culture secretary Lucy Frazer insisted the police got the “balance right” and denied that officers had gone too far.
She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge: “I think, overall, they managed to get that balance right.”
Home secretary Suella Braverman also praised the police for their actions, tweeting: “I’m incredibly grateful to the police for all their hard work at today’s coronation celebration to ensure it was safe and passed without incident.”
Met Police commander Karen Findlay acknowledged concerns about the arrest of protesters but defended Scotland Yard’s actions, saying: “Our duty is to do so in a proportionate manner”.
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Protestors from the group Republic gather in their hundreds in Trafalgar square to say ‘Not My King’ in central London.
Andrew Aitchison via Getty Images
She said: “We absolutely understand public concern following the arrests we made [on Saturday morning].
“Protest is lawful and it can be disruptive. We have policed numerous protests without intervention in the build-up to the coronation, and during it.
“Our duty is to do so in a proportionate manner in line with relevant legislation. We also have a duty to intervene when protest becomes criminal and may cause serious disruption.
“This depends on the context. The coronation is a once in a generation event and that is a key consideration in our assessment.
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“A protest involving large numbers has gone ahead today with police knowledge and no intervention.”
The Met said it received information that protesters were “determined to disrupt” the coronation – including defacing public monuments with paint, breaching barriers and disrupting official movements.
They confirmed 52 people were arrested for affray, public order offences, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance around the coronation.
Under the controversial new Public Order Act, protesters who have an object with the intention of using it to “lock on” are liable to a fine, with those who block roads facing 12 months in prison.
Labour’s Wes Streeting has insisted they are “not entertaining” the prospect of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
The shadow health secretary said he did not think it is the “scenario” the country will be in at the next general election.
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However, he did not rule out a coalition with the Lib Dems when repeatedly pressed on the possibility in an interview with Sky’s Sophy Ridge.
In separate interview Lib Dem leader Ed Davey explicitly ruled out working with the Tories but did not rule out a coalition with Labour.
Last week’s council results point to a hung parliament at the next general election. They suggest Labour would be the largest party, but short of a majority.
Former prime minister David Cameron and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg outside 10 Downing Street in London, on May 12, 2010.
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It could be similar to the situation the Tories found themselves in in 2010 when they formed a coalition government with the Lib Dems.
Asked whether Labour would be prepared to go into coalition with the Lib Dems, Streeting said: “We’re not even entertaining that prospect…
“I just don’t think that is the scenario that we are going to be in after the next general election.”
Asked a third time about local election results pointing towards a hung parliament, he said: “This is a process, not an event. We’re not at the final destination yet in terms of the general election.”
Put to him that he was not ruling it out, he gave examples of why “we shouldn’t read the local elections right across”.
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He said: “Take Hull, where I saw through gritted teeth the Liberal Democrats did rather well.
“I heard the Lib Dem leader of Hull council the other night saying ‘well, look, locally, people have voted Lib Dem but at the general election people in this city vote Labour’.”
He added: “We’re not complacent about this and there’s so much more still to come.”
When leader Lib Dem leader Davey was asked on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show about a coalition with Labour, he said: “That is a hypothetical question because we don’t know what’s going to happen after the next election.”
Put to him that he was ruling out working with the Tories but not Labour, said: “The focus is on getting rid of Conservative MPs. I make no apology for that.”
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His deputy leader Daisy Cooper similarly did not rule out a coalition with Labour when challenged.
She told Sky they had “ruled out” working with the Conservatives because of the “damage they are doing to the country”.
But pressed on a coalition with Labour, she replied: “Everything we do between now and the general election will be about focusing on getting Liberal Democrat MPs elected.”
Thursday’s results were disastrous for the Tories who lost some 1,050 seats and control of nearly 50 councils.
It means Labour is now the largest party of local government – overtaking the Conservatives for the first time since 2002.
Tory Party chairman Greg Hands has been savaged after claiming Britain’s public services are “in great shape”.
He made the extraordinary comments despite NHS waiting lists being at a record high and teachers, nurses, doctors and civil servants planning another wave of public sector strikes.
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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “What planet is he on?”
Hands made his astonishing claim while being interviewed on LBC.
He said: “I think public services are getting better. “We’re seeing far more nurses, far more doctors – 38,000 more doctors in the NHS since the Conservatives took over, there’ll be 50,000 nurses by the end of next year.
“Teaching standards are getting better, I think public services are improving.”
Hands added: “We’re dealing with the strikes at the moment but overall our public services are in great shape.”
Presenter Andrew Castle responded: “I find it absolutely extraordinary that you’ve said that. “I don’t feel that myself and I don’t think my listeners would either.
Responding to the comments, shadow health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “He’s living on a different planet, isn’t he?
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“That’s not what people who use public services are experiencing.
“We’ve got objectively the worst crisis in the history of the NHS, school budgets are on their knees.”
Labour’s Wes Streeting has said he is “sick and tired” of being asked whether he wants to succeed Keir Starmer as the party’s next leader.
The shadow health secretary, a rising star within Labour, has long been tipped as a potential future leader.
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But dismissing the speculation, Streeting said he would be “too old” to take on the job by the time Starmer had finished being prime minister if Labour wins the next election.
Speaking to reporters at a lunch in Westminster, Streeting said: “I really thought that when we got to a point where we were 30 points ahead in the polls these questions would just stop.
“I’m sick and tired of them. I’ll be far too old by the time Keir is finishing being prime minister. They’ll be looking to new fresh faces and a new generation.
“I already have a leadership role with the Labour Party — I have a big job to do, a serious job to do.
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“And if I look back on my career in politics, as the secretary of state of health and social care, who gripped the worst crisis in the history of the NHS, and put it on a footing that makes it fit for the future so people look back on that in the way people that back on Bevan, I will have more than achieved my ambitions in politics and be very happy with the career I’ve had.”
Streeting was speaking as Labour continues to enjoy a near 30-point lead in the polls following the chaos sparked by the mini budget and Liz Truss’s downfall as prime minister.
However, the election of Rishi Sunak as party leader has given the Conservatives a small bounce in the polls, with support for the Tories up for points to 23%, while Labour has dropped five points to 51%.
There are some fears within Labour that Sunak’s serious approach to fixing the economy could persuade voters to stick with the party.
But the shadow health secretary said Sunak was “one of many Conservative chancellors that have saddled our country with more than a decade of failed economic policies”.
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He painted a stark contrast between the Tories and Labour, saying that while his party had “changed substantially at every level”, the Tories had made some “very questionable choices in leadership elections”.
“In the Labour Party, the cranks have been kicked out or have left. In the Conservative Party, the cranks are sat around the Cabinet table,” he said.
And in a swipe at Sunak’s controversial decision to reappoint Suella Braverman as home secretary just days after she was sacked by Truss for a serious security breach, Streeting said: “He [Starmer] seeks unity, but unlike Rishi Sunak he prizes unity with and for the interests of the country, above appeasing factions within his own party.”
Streeting welcomed the fact that Sunak is the UK’s first Asian prime minister, calling it a “cause for celebration”, but said Labour was “ready to take him on”.
Sunak cannot tackle the cost of living crisis “because he has fuelled the cost of living crisis,” Streeting went on.
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“I don’t care that Rishi Sunak was privately educated, or that he’s hugely wealthy.
“I do care that he’s dangerously out of touch, making decisions about people whose lives he has never lived and whose lives he will never understand — decisions that are making them poorer, not richer.
“Ideological dogma may have crashed the economy with the mini budget, but more than a decade of failed Conservative economic policies have left working people paying the price.”
