Someone was bound to bring it up. Anne-Marie Trevelyan absolutely loved it…
The chaos over last night’s Back Frack or Sack vote is, somehow, still ongoing. Now Anne-Marie Trevelyan has just claimed on the media round that it wasn’t a confidence vote, and there will be “strong constituency reasons why MPs did not vote” with the Government. This will surprise any MP who read this message from Downing Street at 1:33am last night:
“The prime minister has full confidence in the chief and deputy chief whip. Throughout the day, the whips had treated the vote as a confidence motion. The minister at the despatch box was told, mistakenly, by Downing Street to say that it was not.”
However, Conservative MPs were fully aware that the vote was subject to a three line whip. The whips will now be speaking to Conservative MPs who failed to support the government. Those without a reasonable excuse for failing to vote with the government can expect proportionate disciplinary action.”
For those struggling to keep up: Downing Street announced it was a confidence motion, then Graham Stuart claimed at the despatch box that it wasn’t, then the Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip briefly resigned and un-resigned, then Downing Street said Liz has “full confidence” in a whip who reportedly doesn’t “give a f*ck“, then MPs were told it was a confidence motion after all… only for the government line to then seemingly change again by the morning round.
For what it’s worth, Guido’s spoken to several rebellious MPs who, as of this morning, still have no idea if they’ve lost the whip or not. Strap in for another day…
Penny Mordaunt obviously isn’t planning on bowing out quietly. Standing at the despatch box just now, less than 24 hours after her elimination from the leadership race, Mordaunt gave an unsubtle nod to the negative press attention she’s received over the past week:
“I’m sort of amazed to find myself here this morning given my reported work ethic…”
All while Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who herself claimed Mordaunt “hasn’t been available” as a Minister in recent months, sat a few seats further down on the front bench. At least Penny had her campaign chief Andrea Leadsom in the room for moral support. A sign of the awkward leadership race fallout the Tories will have to deal with for months to come…
First it was Lord Frost, then it was Daniel Moylan, now a third Penny boss – her current at the Department for Trade, Anne Marie Trevelyan – has also criticised her work ethic. By any journalistic standards, a triple-sourced claim must be credible regardless of underlying motives…
Speaking on LBC this morning Trevelyan was asked by Nick Ferrari, “So she hasn’t been able to provide the sort of work that you’d have required in the department?”. Trevelyan elaborated:
“So there have been a number of times when she hasn’t been available, which would have been useful, and other ministers have picked up the pieces, yes.”
On Friday The Telegraph revealed Penny has gone on far fewer foreign trips between January and March 2022 than any of her ministerial counterparts at the department:
On the plus side, she’ll have the Mirror’s vote…
The international trade committee has taken the novel approach of empty chairing Secretary of State Anne-Marie Trevelyan over lack of attendance and the Aussie trade deal. Taking her team by surprise given last night the committee tweeted the session had been cancelled after she pulled out.
🚨 CANCELLED 🚨
— International Trade Committee (@CommonsIntTrade) June 28, 2022
Trade Secretary @annietrev has pulled out of our session due to be held tomorrow at 10am.
The only other time Guido can only think of this being done was with Damian Collins’s empty chairing of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s interesting Angus Brendan Macneil is taking such a strong line on the Australian trade deal – Guido thought he’d had a change of heart…
See also: SNP Discovers Joys of Free Trade
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan confessed to a harrowing personal experience of abuse in Westminster during her morning media round, when questioned about the ongoing spate of sex and behaviour scandals coming out of Parliament. Trevelyan claims to have been “at the sharp end” of misogyny from MPs multiple times:
“AMT: I have witnessed and been at the sharp end of misogyny from some colleagues many times over…
NF: Might I ask how that misogyny presented itself?
AMT: Well we might describe it as ‘wandering hands’, if you like, we might describe it as, you know, a number of years ago being pinned up against a wall by a male MP who is now no longer in the House I’m pleased to say, declaring that I ‘must want him because he’s a powerful man’.”
Just looking back over the last week, we’ve had Angie’s legs, the porn MP, a shadow cabinet member accused of sexist comments, Trans Tory MP Jamie Wallis charged over a car crash and Liam Byrne suspended for bullying. We’ve almost got enough for a complete re-write of ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’…
