Robert Jenrick alleged on GB News last night that his proposal to divert aid money to defence got him into so much trouble with the Tory whips that he was told there was a ‘special place in hell’ for him. Jenrick is spilling the beans…
“I remember writing an article about taking the foreign aid budget or part of it and spending on defence because we needed to back up our troops and our armed forces. And one of the whips, now the chief whip of the Conservative Party, messaged me to say, ‘You’re totally out of order. There’s a special place in hell for you’…
I published an article, very reasonable article, which incidentally is now the policy of Keir Starmer as well as the Conservative Party that we should take some of the international aid budget and spend it on defence. And the person who’s now the chief whip, the enforcer of discipline around the Shadow Cabinet table and in the Conservative Party messaged me with a litany of insults saying that I should never say that again and that there was a special place in hell for anyone who acted like that.”
Expect more of this to come…
UPDATE: Kemi Badenoch says Jenrick is “lying“. It’s war…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”