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…
At the same time as yet another Starmer reset tomorrow Rayner will launch her new Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. The PM has summoned the Cabinet for another away day…
They usually take place at Lancaster House, about half a mile away from Downing Street. The upcoming October Omnishambles budget is on the table this time round…
Also in the diary: Rayner will publicly launch her revived ODPM office – a power expansion Guido revealed at the beginning of the month. There is no new budget for the office and staff are coming from the housing department. Some of Rayner’s MHCLG staff have are in the process of having their emails swapped to the @odpm.gov.uk handle. A flashy logo is with No10 for final approval. Cabinet ministers can admire it at the reset meetings…
The DPM has come out of backbench rebellions and Downing Street turmoil unscathed and increasingly popular. She’s got the summer to bed in over at her new Cabinet Office HQ…
UPDATE: The away day is at Chequers.
UPDATE II: It was postponed. Coming up…
Leaving the ECHR is the only way to stop judges making political decisions, according to a blistering new report from former Cabinet minister Lord Lilley for the Centre for Policy Studies. The “vague” rights enshrined in the Convention mean courts are free to interpret them however they like, which “unavoidably politicises judicial decisions and undermines the rule of law.” Lord Hermer, are you listening?
Lilley takes about the usual scare stories about quitting the ECHR. He argues it wouldn’t breach the Good Friday Agreement – which requires ECHR rights to be in Northern Ireland law, not UK-wide law – wouldn’t violate our EU trade deal, and wouldn’t endanger human rights. If countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand can function just fine outside the ECHR, so can we…
Meanwhile, Home Office figures show the proportion of asylum claims granted at first instance has jumped from 25% in 2010 to 67% in 2023. A staggering 42,000 asylum seekers are still awaiting appeal outcomes – and around 40% of those appeals cite human rights. That’s tens of thousands of cases tangled up in lefty lawyer games, with judges using the ECHR as a weapon to push political agendas. Time to leave…
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.”