Labour are trying their best to capitalise on Tory grumblings over Braverman’s late-night Times op-ed in which she hit out at the police over the weekend’s march. Yvette Cooper has sprung to the Commons with urgent question to “ask the Home Secretary to make a statement on the operational independence of the Metropolitan Police“. Cooper got to attack Braverman for running “an endless Tory leadership campaign“, ask if Number 10 approved the op-ed and attack Rishi for being “too weak to sack her“. Policing minister Chris Philp said he didn’t have “any visibility” on whether Sunak approved the piece…
It’s nice to see Cooper taking such an interest in “respect for police at a sensitive time“. Guido doesn’t remember her having such scruples over their conduct at Sarah Everard’s vigil…
Hat-Tip: Christian Calgie
Knowing what’s really happening with HS2 is near impossible with Downing Street’s current comms strategy. Especially when Grant Shapps and Jeremy Hunt were allowed to drop hints in recent days essentially confirming the Northern leg of HS2 is about to be derailed. All before the Tories head off to conference in… Manchester.
Number 10 are spinning the constant umming and ahhing over HS2 as a consequence of Rishi’s “alarm” at the cost surpassing £100 billion. Guido has taken a look back at the confusion in just the last few months:
Are we derailing HS2 or not?
Whilst Sunak’s off tripping in Tokyo, Crispin Blunt has been making a powerful case for the government to deregulate psilocybin for use as mental health treatment. Crispin used a passionate Commons speech to attack the government’s approach to drugs – first charging at the fact the minister responsible for drugs, Chris Philp, had “so little regard” for the debate that he couldn’t appear in the chamber to respond. Crispin broadened his criticisms to drug policy more generally:
“It should be the minister for medicine that is replying to this debate. But the Health Department doesn’t own this policy. The Home Office does. And that’s part of the reason our drugs policy is in such an unforgivable mess”.
It’s no truffling matter…
Crispin’s scathing attacks didn’t end there. He pointed to the fact that 125 people kill themselves every week, and said “knowing what they know [about psilocybin treatments], that now makes the government guilty of joint enterprise in those decisions”. Crispin’s powerful argument doesn’t leave mush-room to disagree…
Chris Philp speaking on Question Time about Matt Hancock’s escapades:
“Going on this programme appears to involve doing embarrassing things on CCTV, so I can’t imagine why they chose him…”
While Liz hammered away at the same talking points across a dozen local radio stations, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp was busy on LBC trying to explain to Nick Ferrari what happened to his now-infamous tweet; the one in which he celebrated “sterling strengthening on the back of the new UK Growth plan“… only to then see it nosedive hours later. Anyone hoping to go back and find it will struggle, because he deleted it over the weekend. Apparently the new line is he “[won’t] comment on every tweet” he’s ever sent. Although Nick Ferrari was really only asking him to comment on one…
Guido asks you to suspend your scepticism and believe that the Benny Hill theme was not added to this Chris Philp interview in post-production. Steve Bray actually managed to succeed in making Guido laugh this morning by turning up to College Green and blasting the music as broadcasters try conducting serious interviews about the future of Boris, the Tory Party and the country. Good luck to all the broadcasters trying to do their job…