Satirist Konstantin Kisin provided some perspective on the Tories’ chances last night on Question Time. “You could dig up the corpse of Winston Churchill and reanimate it – it still wouldn’t save the Conservative Party” purely because “they have failed to deliver the things they promised to the British people“. Implementation minister Alex Burghart looked sheepish as Kisin went on – “We currently spend £8 million a day on hotels for illegal immigrants – how many of you voted for that?” Meanwhile “they’ve kicked out all the people in the party or removed them from office who were actually prepared to be honest about the problems they faced, like Suella“. The Tories Kisin goodbye to their voter base…
Following Guido pointing out that Emily Thornberry has spent over £50,000 of taxpayers’ cash asking ministers 350 questions about their spending, it seems the government has wised up to Labour’s ruse. The latest answer to one of Lady Nugee’s questions, courtesy of the Cabinet Office, cites Labour’s historic government spending on civil service refreshment. Thornberry asked:
“what items were purchased from Majestic Wine on 14 August 2019; and for what purpose were they required?”
Here’s Alex Burghart’s reply…
“As has been the case under successive Administrations, refreshments are allowed to be purchased for use at official government functions held for external guests. Due to the passage of almost four years since the transactions were made, the itemised information requested is not held.
Given the Rt Hon Member’s personal interest in Majestic Wine, I would also point her to examples of such routine spending from the last Labour Government, as evident from the £2,430 bills of 19 January 2009, Official Report, Col. 1089W; the £8,286 bill of 24 February 2009, Official Report, Col. 707W; and the £6,614 bills revealed at 13 September 2011, Official Report, Col. 1093W.”
It turns out that trailing a big exclusive investigation four days before publication opens you up to this sort of counterattack…
Speaking to Paul Goodman on ConservativeHome’s Moggcast podcast, Jacob denies the rumour, first reported in the Sunday Times, that he was the one who encouraged Boris to accuse Sir Keir of failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile. Now Rees-Mogg accuses a Tory colleague of being responsible:
“What was going on at the time was a very noisy chamber and people were shouting things out, I think it came from behind us”.
Guido’s had a quick look to see who was behind the front bench and therefore who Rees-Mogg could be pointing the finger at:
Immediately behind the two we saw Alex Burghart, Shailesh Vara, Suzanne Webb, Conor Burns, Andrew Griffith, Sarah Dines and Sara Britcliffe. We have tried enhancing the video audio, with no success…
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has just announced he is pulling out of the upcoming “Davos in the Desert” conference in Saudi Arabia next week after revelations that the country was behind the torture and killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This morning Guido revealed Tory Vice Chairman Rehman Chishti had received £46,000 from the Saudis, further research by Guido reveals that since 2017, 11 other Conservative MPs have declared all-expenses-paid trips to Saudi Arabia, funded by the Saudi government. These junckets are worth more than £85,000. Liam Fox will not be taking his planned trip to Saudi Arabia next week, but look at all the Tories who did…
- Richard Bacon
- Trip to Saudi Arabia to understand the “strategic importance of the Coalition operations in Yemen.” 11-15 January 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Defence. Value: £8,257.
- Alex Burghart
- Visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. 24-29 September 2017. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,800.
- Leo Docherty
- Visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. 24-29 September 2017. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,800.
- Trip to Saudi Arabia to understand the “strategic importance of the Coalition operations in Yemen.” 11-15 January 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Defence. Value: £8,257.
- Mark Garnier
- “Fact finding” trip to Saudi Arabia. 11-15 February 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,802
- James Heappey
- “Fact finding” trip to Saudi Arabia. 11-15 February 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,802
- Simon Hoare
- Visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. 24-29 September 2017. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,800.
- Philip Hollobone
- Trip to Saudi Arabia to understand the “strategic importance of the Coalition operations in Yemen.” 11-15 January 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Defence. Value: £8,257.
- Mark Menzies
- Visit to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Salman Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. 24-29 September 2017. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,800.
- Stephen Metcalfe
- “Fact finding” trip to Saudi Arabia. 11-15 February 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,802
- Andrew Mitchell
- Meetings with the Government of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. Paid for by the Saudi Government. 13-15 January 2018. Value: £6,629.67
- Keith Simpson
- “Fact finding” trip to Saudi Arabia. 11-15 February 2018. Paid for by the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Value: £7,802
Following their visits Mark Menzies warned Ministers to not be “put off by siren voices that want us to disengage” with Saudi export markets, and Leo Docherty called for further trade engagement with Saudi Arabia “the right thing to do not only commercially, but strategically and morally.”
U.S. intelligence is now reportedly “convinced” the Saudi state is responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It’s worth keeping an eye on which MPs have been very quiet on this issue…
UPDATE: Bravo to Mark Menzies who has written a letter to the Foreign Secretary supporting a “thorough investigation”.
