The Tory right’s revolt against Rishi’s cabinet reshuffle has gained momentum, as the New Conservatives have written a damning letter to the PM blasting him for “abandon[ing] voters who switched to us last time”. The group contains 24 Tory MPs elected in 2019, with Co-Chairs Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger vowing to instigate a fundraising campaign to bolster financial support for the re-election of right-wing Tories. Clearly Esther McVey’s appointment wasn’t enough of an olive branch…
Miriam Cates tells Guido:
“We must not turn our backs on the new coalition of voters in constituencies like mine who gave us our largest majority in 40 years. If we do not speak for them then we are giving up on any chance of success at the next election.”
The New Conservatives claim 20 MPs met last night to discuss their fury over the new Cabinet, particularly Braverman’s sacking. They’ll be waiting for Braverman’s promised “dossier of failure” in stopping illegal Channel crossings to further their campaign to stop the boats.
Read the full letter below:
A raucous debut celebration at the New Conservatives party in Manchester’s Impossible Bar* last night, with Red Wall Rottweiler Lee Anderson delivering a 20-minute speech to a packed and well-oiled crowd. As the likes of Suella Braverman and Miriam Cates watched on, Anderson explained his political evolution, why he left Labour, and even gave an emotional account of a World War 2 veteran’s refugee journey to Britain. He also cracked jokes about Prince Andrew, the Guardian, and Diane Abbott…
*A bar which features gender-neutral toilets – an irony which wasn’t lost on the crowd…
The New Conservatives group of MPs have finally launched their well-briefed 12-point manifesto this morning, demanding the PM cuts net migration by roughly 400,000 before the general election. The 25-strong group of 2017 and 2019 intake MPs insist they’re not rebels, although designing a logo, hosting a manifesto launch, and warning Rishi should follow their plans or risk “eroding public trust” suggests they’re not planning on staying quiet over the next year…
The manifesto was written by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, and is backed by the likes of Lee Anderson* – who missed the launch today due to an “illness” – Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger. It insists Rishi needs to “honour [the] trust” of the 2019 manifesto by reducing migration to around 200,000 a year by implementing strict measures, including a higher £38,000 salary threshold for skilled workers and reduce visas grants by 117,000. They warn the current system “just [isn’t] working”. Given migration is now at roughly 600,000 a year, and now the Rwanda plan is being pushed further down the road, that’s an understatement…
Unless the indigenous economically inactive can be brought back into the workplace, cutting immigrant workers will mean shortages in critical sectors – health and social care. Britain can’t realistically afford to raise wages in the public sector so it is difficult to square without immigration. Despite the fanfare, Downing Street have already poured cold water on the proposals. His spokesperson said today the current measures “strike the right balance currently“. 93% of the country appears to disagree…
* Anderson supports the group, though his name did not appear on its list of supporters this morning because, as Tory Deputy Chairman, he can’t officially endorse outsider policy proposals…
Read the full 12-point plan, and the list of MPs publicly backing the group, below:
Miriam Cates has added her name to the list of those criticising the Chancellor’s £4 billion childcare handouts which, as Guido pointed out yesterday, restrict choice. Speaking to an approving Jacob Rees-Mogg on GB News, Cates joined a growing list of Conservatives, including Ranil Jayawardena and Kit Malthouse, speaking out against the policy. She got to the heart of the matter:
“It doesn’t provide choice… many mothers do want to go back to work, but many mothers don’t. And they want to look after their own children, particularly babies under two and I very much question if this is the right policy for children and families”
At least some in the Conservatives are intent on playing happy families…
Tory MP Paul Bristow just made a point of order in the Commons rightly condemning the behaviour of Lloyd Russell-Moyle on the green benches last week. While Russell-Moyle has already apologised for failing to control his “passion” during his screed at Miriam Cates last week, his decision to then sit directly next to her on the Tory benches has also sparked outrage. Surely just a coincidence…
I’m so glad this creepy weird behaviour has been called out today. Not content with screaming abuse at my friend Miriam Cates after her speech on Wednesday, @lloyd_rm plonked himself onto the Conservative benches to intimidate her pic.twitter.com/cI7kFCRhI1
— Laura Farris MP (@Laura__Farris) January 20, 2023
Deputy Speaker Dame Rosie Winterton also responded, although hedged her bets a bit by claiming “it is very difficult for me to know what was in the honourable gentleman’s [Russell-Moyle’s] mind” when he sat a yard away from the woman he’d just screamed at. Doesn’t seem that difficult to Guido…
This morning, Lloyd tweeted:
It is not uncommon at the end of a debate for people to sit at different seats while waiting to enter the chamber or the lobbies.
I had no concept that this was making any member feel awkward and would never do anything to deliberately intimidate anyone in or out of the chamber.
Guido will let observers decide whether Russell-Moyle’s seating decision was a mere coincidence…
Guido’s just caught up with the debate on reforming the Gender Recognition Act in Westminster Hall yesterday, which saw SNP MP Mhairi Black conflate the prevelance of gingers with that of intersex people. Clashing over the issue, Tory MP Miriam Cates – who has a Cambridge degree in genetics – claimed human beings cannot change sex. Black intervened:
“People often think that we have male and female, but the truth is that 1-2% of the global population is born intersex, which means they present characteristics of both sexes. To put that into perspective, 1-2% of the population are ginger – so is she telling me she doesn’t believe in ginger people”
Oddly, Cates didn’t really dismiss the point. Looking into the figures, 6% of Scots self-identify as ginger. The figure for intersex people in Scotland doesn’t seem to be available, however the 1-2% figure cited by Black has been widely criticised and can be revised to around 0.018%. Not quite the mic drop moment Mhairi was hoping for…
