An effort is ramping up in government to defocus from the China spy trial collapse while publicising threats towards the UK from the Chinese state. The Chinese mega-embassy decision on 10 December is a focal point…
A government source tells Guido that “yesterday’s Security Minister statement in Parliament is part of a number of upcoming sequenced ‘events’ to balance out wider arguments and the debacle around the non-trial and to give the government as strong a national security public narrative as possible.“ These will be in advance of the decision on the mega-embassy and will have the effect of covering Labour if it goes through…
Insider sources say Whitehall officials are increasingly focussed on China through senior-level meetings. Jonathan Powell is still running China policy from No10…
The decision is upcoming. Broadly, FCDO is fretting about the quid pro quo for its embassy in Beijing, HMT is fretting about growth and the “consequences” threat issued weeks ago, the National Security Committee has provided assessments and mitigations for security implications the mega-embassy at the Royal Mint site, and MHCLG is angry that it was given the decision in the first place. No10 will not be able to pretend this is a decision they did not have some control over, not least because Starmer said it himself…
YouGov has just dropped a poll on Britons’ views on the economy ahead of the Winter Budget. Quite literally no one thinks it’s in a very good state under Labour…
A whopping 77% say the government is doing a bad job at managing the economy, while only 4% say the economy is in a fairly good state, and 0% say it’s in a ‘very good’ state. The vast majority (64%) blame Labour’s policies, including 24% of current Labour voters. Meanwhile, just 45% of Brits think freezing income tax thresholds is the “right thing to do”. Some grim reading for the Chancer of the Exchequer…
Lawyers acting for the Special Air Service Regimental Association have served a letter ahead of action to Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn over the Troubles Bill. David Davis said during PMQs today:
“The most acute damage is being felt by the Special Air Service; it is already affecting their recruitment, retention, morale, and operational effectiveness. As a result, lawyers acting for the SAS regimental association have sent a letter before action to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. I know of no precedent for this in the entire history of the army. It reflects just how serious the situation is.”
The Association warned that if the Bill is enacted in its current state they will put submissions to the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Trouble ahead for Starmer…
Read the letter in full below:
Labour’s inheritance tax raid on family-run businesses will derail any pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, according to construction chiefs. Can’t ‘build baby build’ if you’ve taxed builders out of existence…
A scathing survey from the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) highlights the looming threat from Labour’s changes to Business Property Relief. A survey of 2,000 members shows:
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80% fear BPR changes put passing their businesses onto the next generation at risk.
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66% expect cuts to staff and apprenticeships.
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76% said investment in equipment and plant would fall.
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47% warned of pressure to sell to bigger companies.
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46% flagged rising financial pressures and insolvency risk.
Steven Mulholland, CPA Chief Executive, said:
“The government’s BPR proposals are strangling family-run construction firms. If these measures continue, businesses will collapse, investment in skills and equipment will dry up, and the 1.5 million homes target will remain a pipe dream. Ministers must act now and reverse this disastrous policy before next week’s budget.”
CPA members contribute roughly £14 billion to the economy and support more than 190,000 jobs. Building trouble…
Tory MP Jack Rankin asked in PMQs whether Starmer would put on record the full amount David Kogan donated to his leadership campaign:
“The Prime Minister has expressed sincere regret for appointing David Kogan to the independent football regulator. Will he now put on record the full amount Mr. Kogan has donated to his leadership campaign and his party, any hospitality he’s received, and whether he declared these interests before appointing him? “
Starmer insisted:
“They were all declared properly.”
As Guido revealed, Starmer signed off on Kogan’s appointment as chair of the football regulator, despite recusing himself from all football-related decisions. A rule breach the PM ‘regrets’…
It’s not just Ian Dunt. Starmer has lost John McTernan now, too…
McTernan, former political secretary to Tony Blair, backed Starmer resolutely at the beginning of his premiership. Now Labour aides are passing around his excoriation of the PM which landed in the New Statesman yesterday…
There is some bemused reaction at his conclusion that Starmer is too weak to survive and has to go:
“However, if there is one lesson from the Tories, it is surely that changing your prime minister alone doesn’t change your electoral fate. Labour has lost its way, and the now necessary leadership election must be used carefully. The new leader needs to define a transformative political economy that meets the challenges of the moment, and articulate a vision of how the UK can prosper.
That’s a better way to build a new coalition of support for a progressive victory than to hang on and hope to be seen as the lesser of two evils in 2029.”
Learn from the Tories – quite some pill to swallow in Labour HQ…
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.”
