The Tories have been updating their merchandise selection recently. Now that the iconic Keir Starmer Flip Flops have been discontinued…
There’s some brass neck on display as the Party quietly adds the 2024 manifesto, dubbed “The Onward Manifesto,” to its shop. For £10.99 the policies that dispatched 11 cabinet ministers (the most in history) and secured the worst Tory defeat in their parliamentary history could be yours. Please allow up to five days for delivery… or maybe fourteen years…
The Good Law Project’s soul-searching post-election period looks like it’s coming along. It now says it “has decided to revert to the model operated by other legal non-profits of procuring legal services through an in-house legal team and is closing its wholly owned law firm Good Law Practice.“ Curious that the practice designed to litigate against the government has closed swiftly after… the change of government…
So long to likely the worst-performing judicial review practice the UK legal system has ever seen. Last week Jolyon’s outfit sent a survey to its supporters asking whether they should attack the government any more now that the election is finished. Looks like they’ve settled on an answer…
Guido has long documented the travails of notorious legal loser Maugham. Jolyon declared seven weeks ago that he was leaving for “the mountains” and would be back in two weeks. Jolyon’s project will continue, though now with less enthusiasm and capacity to challenge the government. Surprise, surprise…
The British Heart Foundation is crowing today over “a lost decade of progress” when it comes to heart conditions. They decry “inequalities” and claim it is “unacceptable that too many people see worse outcomes from heart disease linked to their economic status, gender or ethnicity.” And right on cue they suggest the usual socialist solutions:
- A new tax on salt and sugar. Thanks to the Tories’ soft drink sugar tax the BHF now says making food more expensive is required…
- Immediate implementation on TV and online advertising ban for “less healthy products.“
- The expansion of the proposed advertising ban to “outdoor and radio advertising, sports sponsorship.“
- Cigarette-style packaging on less healthy food. Cheery…
- An extra tax on tobacco producers the BHF calls a “Smokefree Fund.”
- Making air targets set by the 2022 Environment Act even stricter.
The DHSC isn’t commenting on the BHF’s proposals but rest assured the government is interested. Campaigners have met with Treasury officials to directly discuss a salt and sugar tax. Wes Streeting is a big fan:
“From my point of view, I think we can see the soft drinks industry levy as a successful intervention and a model to follow. And if industry doesn’t like that, well, they’d better pull their finger out and come forward with a very persuasive argument about what they will do without the heavy hand of state regulation.”
More on Starmer’s “politics that treads lightly on people’s lives” as Guido gets it…
Entries in the comments…
The Tory Party Chairman Richard Fuller has fired off a grovelling email to party members, promising to “listen” to their “frustrations” after the party’s wipeout at the polls. More of ‘we must recognise where we went wrong’…
The email dutifully lays out a plan for “member-focused feedback sessions” in the run-up to party conference. These sessions are a chance for members to air their grievances – and there’ll be plenty – so the party can begin the long slog to rebuild “trust with the public.” Sessions will include riveting discussions on how the party can make members feel “heard” and how to learn from their opponents. Members are reassured that if they can’t make the calls, they can accost the Chairman at conference instead…
Read the full email below:
Continue reading “Tory Chair Offering Disgruntled Members Sessions to Air Their “Frustrations””
The latest register of members’ interests sheds some light on the financial support of Tory leader hopefuls. By the end of last month, candidates raked in the cash from top Tory donors, with Jenrick outgunning his rivals raising £250,000. Notably, the firm owned by Nadhim Zahawi’s wife was one of his top donors. Meanwhile, Badenoch’s team comes in second, raising just under £200,000, and Patel garnered £180,000, though sadly for her donors, the result hasn’t been Priti. It’s worth remembering these are just the donations published so far. There’s still another two months to go…
The final four on Tuesday next week will have to hand £50,000 to the Tory party, with the last two having to fork out a further £150,000 cheque to the “broke” CCHQ under the ‘pay-to-play’ rules. Money talks…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”
