Eventually Cleverly just ushered Badenoch onstage. Maybe next time…
“We’ve lost all the drama queens…”
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Guido hears Robert Jenrick and Mark Francois had a blazing row as the pair crossed paths in the GB News studios yesterday. Francois had just appeared on Martin Daubney’s show, in which he gave a chest-beating defence of the Tory record on supporting Northern Ireland veterans. Reform had that morning attacked both the government and the Conservatives for “[refusing] to stand up for the rights of veterans”. Jenrick happened to be walking in as Francois was leaving…
It was quite the shouting match. Francois told Guido:
“For context, some months ago, I helped Rob by setting up an interview with a Chelsea Pensioner – who had previously been pursued by Sinn Fein – and Rob subsequently made a video about it. I challenged him on why, having helped set that up for him (he was VERY keen to it) he could say that the Conservatives had “done nothing” about NI Veterans – for years. He didn’t really have an answer…”
Moments later, Jenrick said on-air that the likes of Francois and Iain Duncan-Smith had been ‘lone voices’ within the party who had stood up for veterans. Still, no love lost…
The Tories have withdrawn their “mental health” jibe at Suella Braverman following her defection to Reform this morning. They blame a “draft version” of the release having been “sent out in error earlier.” Right…
Compare and contrast. Before…
“It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect. The Conservatives did all we could to look after Suella’s mental health, but she was clearly very unhappy. She says she feels that she has ‘come home’, which will come as a surprise to the people who chose not to elect a Reform MP in her constituency in 2024.”
After…
“It was always a matter of when, not if, Suella would defect. She says she feels that she has ‘come home’, which will come as a surprise to the people who chose not to elect a Reform MP in her constituency in 2024.”
It took around 3 hours to correct that “error”…
Welsh Tory Leader Darren Millar said:
“This morning, I took the decision to remove James Evans from the Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet and withdraw the Conservative whip.
I did so after being informed by James that he was continuing to engage with Reform representatives about the possibility of defecting to the party, in spite of his personal assurances on Friday that he had rejected an approach they initiated last week.
Understandably, I expect all Welsh Conservative MSs and candidates to be 100% committed to our party and our plan to fix Wales. Regrettably, James was unable to give me that commitment.”
107 days until Transfer Deadline Day…
UPDATE: This comes two days after Evans – Welsh Shadow Health Secretary – said:
“I will be honest with people, I think Britain is broken. We have to take some level of responsibility for the mess this country is in.”
He said “I’m not getting into what conversations I’ve had” with Reform. Enough for CCHQ to drop the guillotine…
Kemi Badenoch is set to address a joint meeting of the right-wing 92 Group and the Common Sense Group (CSG) of Tory MPs tonight at 6.30pm. Badenoch warned in a letter sent to all Tory MPs this afternoon that those who have one leg out the door “will be dealt with firmly and fairly”, and blamed certain parliamentary bag-carriers for leaking inconvenient material to journalists:
“The vast majority of staff working for Conservative MPs are hardworking, professional and loyal. It is clear however that a small number of individuals were actively briefing against the party while presenting themselves as Conservative sources.”
John Hayes will be chairing tonight’s meeting on behalf of the CSG, which represents the right of the parliamentary rank-and-file. This is LOTO’s pitch (or warning) to keep those most likely to jump ship on-side…
There is a separate 1922 Committee meeting on Wednesday. A bit later than usual…
MPs are already upset with the tone of the letter. One backbencher said “frankly it’s worth doing an all party meeting but you should use it as a rallying call for taking the fight to Reform not bashing those of us who are trying to do just that“. The usual meeting of the 1922 Committee will also take place on Wednesday. Read the full letter below:
Speaking at an IPPR think tank event in London, the Health Secretary compared striking junior doctors to mutinous sailors.
“I feel like we’ve turned the ship, the boat’s going in the right direction, except some of the crew are trying to row in one direction while the rest of us are going in the other. You can’t make progress that way. We are seeing an improving NHS, and we’ve seen improvement despite resident doctors’ strikes, but the fact is, performance would have been better and there would have been more money to invest in staff and services if the BMA hadn’t been undertaking the strike action.”