The Spectator’s new editor Michael Gove spoke to the BBC’s Today Podcast this morning. Apart from saying he’d vote for Kamala Harris, Gove said one of Jenrick’s weaknesses is that “he looks like a typical Tory politician,” which is unhelpful given the “strength of feeling against Tory boys” across the country. He went on to praise mentee Badenoch’s “courage”…
Now a spokesman for Jenrick fires back:
“Michael Gove and his acolytes have been responsible for so much of the infighting and drama that has led our party to where it is. Rob’s going to end that drama and the excuses that followed and just deliver for our country.”
Rats in a sack. The Speccie will be a fun read if Jenrick wins the leadership…
David Lammy’s visit to China has been officialy confirmed. He will fly tomorrow for a two-day trip…
The Foreign Secretary has been busy warming up to China. Along with handing the Chagos Islands to China-ally Mauritius, he said earlier this year: “We have been very concerned that the government seems to have given up entirely on engagement with China. No one seems to have gone from our government to China, which is very, very bizarre.” Lammy is obsessed with attacking Tories for refusing to “engage” with China while sending his ministerial team for meetings with Xi Jinping’s strategic mastermind Wan Huning…
The government refuses to call China a threat because the “deep and complex” relationship can’t be “boiled down to one word.” Now Lammy visits China before Commonwealth allies Australia, Canada, or New Zealand. Eyebrows will be raised very high down under, where China is a major strategic enemy…
Before the election Labour promised “a full audit across Whitehall of our relationship with China so that we can set the direction and a course.” The government is refusing to explain what its status is, and today defends the visit as a “necessary pragmatic engagement.” Lammy is visiting before the “direction and course” are set – Where is the audit?
Senior Jenrick backer Chris Chope has told ITV Meridian that Badenoch is currently too “preoccupied with her children” and that “you can’t spend all your time with your family at the same time as being leader of the opposition.” A misstep…
In a drawn out argument with two female guests Chope says that Jenrick’s kids are older and therefore not a problem because he spends no time with them. Breaking the golden rule of leadership contests: Leave the kids out of it…
UPDATE: The inevitable comment comes: “Rob doesn’t agree with this. He’s raising three young daughters himself.”
It’s a rude awakening for French President Macron. He’s had to admit that the EU is “over-regulating and under-investing”. Coming round to the UK’s realisation 8 years later…
Speaking to Bloomberg TV, the ‘Macaron’ said:
“We are over-regulating and under-investing. So just if in the 2 to 3 years to come, if we follow our classical agenda, we will be out of the market, I have no doubt…I think the simplification agenda and the let’s say pause in terms of regulation, but even deregulation in some issues, it’s absolutely critical.”
Not the best advertisement for the Bloc coming from the EU’s Champion-in-Chief. Meanwhile, the UK – now free from the shackles of the EU’s red tape – is the top destination for investment in financial services and has the highest GDP growth in 2024 than any other European country in the G7. Condoléances, Monsieur President…
Paul Johnson has just announced he is stepping down as Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He’s been in post since 2011…
Johnson says “after 14 years at the helm, it feels like the right time to move on and start a new chapter in my life.” He will become Provost of Queen’s College, Oxford. The IFS says the search for his replacement will “take place over the next few months.” Plenty of tax fans circling around SW1 to choose from…
Labour’s favourite think tank The Resolution Foundation has hosted a panel event this morning on how to “fairly share the costs of decarbonising transport.” Translation: how to make taxpayers cough up for gratuitous green projects…
Senior Labour MP and recently elected chairman of the Transport Select Committee Ruth Cadbury praised the think tank’s new report on travel, which calls for tax hikes on car travel and a massive expansion of carbon pricing on flights. The former shadow minister managed to blame the aviation sector for her husband getting cheap business class tickets:
“The other thing I always thought about was loyalty schemes. It cost my husband £25 for a business class return to Lisbon a couple of weeks ago because he’d built up enough Avios points, and he’s not even what I would call a frequent flyer. There’s further private sector disincentives and of course if you get paid for your flight by your employer, you personally gain the loyalty points which you can then use for you and your family to go to an nice holiday down the Maldives while it’s still above water.”
God forbid an average family gets cheap flights for a holiday. The Resolution Foundation is clear that “prices will need to rise” on plane travel to “make sure flyers pay their way.” Easy for Labour to say when the entire Cabinet’s jetting around on the taxpayer’s dime…
Starmer loyalist and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that Starmer should not be replaced:
“We saw what the Tories did. They were in power for 14 years, and after 2016, I think we had nine education secretaries, seven chancellors, and five Prime Ministers. Doomscrolling through Prime Ministers doesn’t resolve the problem.”