Badenoch’s speech on welfare reform is targeting the Motability scheme:
“We are going to have to draw a line in the sand about which conditions the state gives out support for. Food intolerances are a medical fact, but they’re not something we should be handing out new cars for. This is not a joke. This actually happens… The Motability scheme is a perfect example of what’s going wrong with the current system. It was initially set up to help disabled people get around. Now 90% of its cars now have no adaptations whatsoever. That’s not what it was designed for. People are qualifying with conditions like drug misuse, ADHD, obesity. The assessment system surely can’t have been designed with that intention and we cannot allow it to continue for a moment longer.”
Kemi is following Guido’s reporting last week into the comical list of ailments for which PIP claimants get a free car according to official documents. Tennis elbow got a mention…
The Tory leader pointed to analysis from the Centre for Social Justice which shows restricting benefits to those with more severe mental health conditions could save £9 billion every year. One in five cars sold in the UK is now a Motability car. A sham scheme…
Kemi Badenoch is at the Centre for Social Justice to deliver a speech on welfare. She’ll talk about Britain “sitting on a ticking time bomb” of welfare dependency…
Wes Streeting’s pleas to junior doctors haven’t worked – they’re now striking from 25 to 30 July. Streeting has now taken to saying the strike is “unfair“, and Labour is “only one year in”:
“It’s entirely unreasonable and it’s unnecessary and it’s also unfair. Unfair on other NHS staff, many of whom are paid less and would would have liked that kind of pay rise and will now be left picking up the pieces if resident doctors go on strikes. It’s also unfair on patients. And it’s also really unfair on the taxpayer as well. We’re only a year in.”
Summer of discontent off to a flying start…
Former Tory party chairman Jake Berry’s defection to Reform last night has led to mixed reaction – and certainly no surprise. The Tories are responding in an unusually punchy fashion this time…
His local Rossendale and Darwen Conservative Association has this morning put out an atypically fiery statement:
“We are disappointed, though not surprised, by Jake’s decision to defect to Reform UK.
It marks the culmination of a long drift away from the values of the Conservative Party – values that helped Jake win the trust of constituents across Rossendale and Darwen over 14 years. His defection says far more about him than it does about the modern Conservative Party.
The truth is that Jake never truly recovered from the downfall of Liz Truss – a Prime Minister whose brief and chaotic tenure he enthusiastically supported. That period marked the beginning of his disengagement, both from the Parliamentary party and from the serious business of representing his constituents.
His decision to abandon the Party that gave him his platform, indeed his career, will be seen by many as a betrayal – not just of Conservative members, but of the voters who returned him under a Conservative banner.
We Conservatives remain committed to rebuilding trust and delivering for everyone across Rossendale and Darwen. Our focus is on the future, not the political grievances of the past.”
Reform councillor Darren Grimes told Times Radio this morning that another former Cabinet minister will defect to Reform shortly. Got to keep the momentum up, one to watch…
Starmer’s PMQs claim that business confidence has hit a “nine-year high” has been immediately punctured today by new figures showing it has significantly declined. Along with about 80 other surveys saying the same thing…
Today ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor – one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of business activity – shows that business confidence in Q2 dropped to a three-year low. It’s now at -4.2 on the index, down from -3.0 in Q1. 55% of businesses cited the tax burden as a growing challenge. Three times higher than the historic average of 18%…
ICAEW economics director Suren Thiru said:
“Our data signals a desperately difficult second quarter for the UK economy as ‘awful April’s’ surge in costs and deepening global turbulence triggered another striking slump in business sentiment. These findings suggest that companies are now reacting to April’s eye watering surge in costs by scaling back hiring plans and curtailing other employment related expenses, including pay rewards and staff training.”
Anyone paying attention to confidence trackers will know Starmer’s grand claim doesn’t stand up. The Lloyds Business Barometer survey he cited yesterday has always been widely regarded as eyebrow-raisingly optimistic. Doubt Starmer will reference this survey next PMQ’s…
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.”