Category Archives: Conservatives

Tories ‘at risk from rightwing insurgency’ warns donor Lord Cruddas

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Peer says Conservatives no longer party of centre right and are threatened by Reform UK, Brexit party successor, if Nigel Farage takes leadership

The Conservative party is under threat from a rightwing insurgency after a “drag to the left” under Rishi Sunak, one of its biggest recent donors has warned, amid growing tensions on the Tory right.

Peter Cruddas, the peer who has given the party more than £3.5m, said the Conservatives were “no longer a centre-right party” under Sunak, adding that he refused to back it financially until it changed course.

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Pressure on ministers to avert NHS strikes ahead of ‘very challenging’ week

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NHS Providers boss says nurses’ strike had ‘significant impact’ as senior Tories urge government to negotiate

Planned strikes next week will be “very challenging” for the health service, hospital bosses have warned, after they conceded that Thursday’s nurses strikes had had a “significant impact”.

The comments from NHS Providers came amid mounting pressure on the government from senior backbenchers and usually supportive newspapers to try to resolve the dispute.

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Rishi Sunak says not to expect imminent breakthrough in talks to resolve Northern Ireland protocol issues – UK politics live

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Prime minister says he is ‘committed’ to fixing issues but says there is no deadline on talks

In his latest column, Simon Jenkins argues that instead of fighting for the centre ground, Keir Starmer should look to the radical changes pushed through under Harold Wilson.

Wes Streeting has declined to say whether a Labour government would agree to a pay rise for nurses.

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Traces of suspected cocaine found after parties in Liz Truss’s grace-and-favour house, say staff

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Exclusive: White powder residue found after events held at Chevening and Downing Street, say sources

Traces of a suspected class A drug were found at a government grace-and-favour home after parties attended by political allies of Liz Truss, the Guardian has been told.

The white powder was discovered at the Chevening estate last summer in the days before Truss won the Tory leadership contest and became prime minister, according to sources.

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MoD to revive Belfast shipbuilding with contract for three naval vessels

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Rishi Sunak announces £1.6bn contract led by shipyard Harland and Wolff that will create 900 jobs in Belfast

Shipbuilding is to be revived in Belfast after 20 years as part of a £1.6bn Ministry of Defence contract for three new naval vessels, Rishi Sunak has announced.

A consortium led by the shipyard Harland and Wolff has secured the preferred bidder status which will create 1,200 jobs across three companies, 900 of which will be in Belfast.

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Third of staff allege bullying in Raab’s private office team

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Exclusive: Leaked annual survey shows fourfold rise in harassment claims in justice ministers’ office

A third of the staff in Dominic Raab’s private office at the Ministry of Justice have claimed to have been bullied or harassed while working in their current team in the past year, according to an internal Whitehall survey.

The results of the civil service survey from this week, which have been leaked to the Guardian, show that 10 of the 33 people who worked most closely with the justice secretary said they had been a victim of bad behaviour.

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PMQs live: Rishi Sunak quizzed by Keir Starmer over nurses’ strikes

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Latest updates: prime minister faces Labour leader ahead of industrial action by nurses on Thursday

Yesterday Mark Harper, the transport secretary, claimed that public support for the rail strikes was declining. Today Ipsos has published some polling that backs up this claim, although support for the RMT has not collapsed, and public opinion is still divided. It puts support for the strikes at 30%, down from 43% in September. And opposition to the strikes is at 36%, up from 31%.

Yesterday Savanta published polling showing a similar trend. It said that net support for the rail workers on strike was +21 in October (those supporting them, minus those not supporting them), and that now it was down to +13.

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Partygate: ministers accused of writing ‘blank cheque’ for Boris Johnson legal bills

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Exclusive: Cabinet Office to extend contract with law firm to defend claims ex-PM misled parliament, sources say

• UK politics live – latest news updates

Ministers have been accused of writing a “blank cheque” for Boris Johnson’s legal bills, as it emerged taxpayer-funded support was being extended to help defend him against claims he misled parliament over Partygate.

With just days left until a contract expires with the law firm Peters and Peters, which Johnson and the government have relied on to disparage an investigation by the privileges committee, the Guardian has learned the Cabinet Office intends to renew it.

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Kwarteng had ‘all the advice’ but disregarded warnings on mini-budget, MPs told

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Treasury officials tell select committee they set out impacts of £45bn plan for former chancellor

Kwasi Kwarteng disregarded warnings that his £45bn mini-budget could trigger a backlash on the financial markets, Treasury officials told MPs today.

The department’s permanent secretary, James Bowler, said he was “absolutely confident Treasury officials set out the right advice” to the then chancellor.

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NHS operations cancelled in England due to staff shortages double in three years

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Labour highlights issue to back up pledge to invest heavily in addressing shortages

The number of operations cancelled by the NHS in England because of staff shortages may have doubled in three years, with an estimated 30,000 not proceeding because no staff were available to perform them.

At least a third of cancelled operations were those that were deemed urgent, according to the analysis by Labour. It suggested at least 2,500 cancelled operations for cancer patients and 8,000 on children.

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Watchdog reprimands Tories over £800bn post-Brexit trade deals claim

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Figure includes agreements rolled over from before leaving EU, and description of ‘new trade’ is misleading says UKSA chief

The official statistics watchdog has reprimanded the Conservatives for claiming the UK had secured £800bn in “new free trade deals” since leaving the EU, saying the figure includes deals rolled over from before Brexit.

The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said it had written to the Tories about the infographic, shared last month by Michael Gove among others, also warning that the party should provide sources for such figures in the future.

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Council leaders urge ministers to delay plans for photo ID at May elections

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Voters risk being turned away and organisers need more time to prepare, argue critics of the new measures

Plans to force voters to present photo ID at polling stations for the first time in May risk damaging access to democracy and must be delayed, senior local government figures have warned ministers.

Amid concerns about voters being turned away and polling station workers being confronted, the body representing councils told the Observer there was simply not enough time to deal with all the risks that will be created by the new system.

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Liz Truss and I ‘got carried away’ writing mini-budget, admits Kwasi Kwarteng

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Sacked chancellor says he and ex-PM failed to consider political and economic consequences

Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted he and Liz Truss “got carried away” when they wrote the disastrous mini-budget that led to both of them leaving their jobs just weeks after they entered Downing Street.

Kwarteng announced a raft of tax cuts without any reduction in spending in September, which led to the pound crashing against the dollar, pension funds nearly collapsing, a £65bn Bank of England bailout, soaring mortgage costs, and the cost of government borrowing increasing. He also said he would remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses.

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Lord Young, former Conservative minister and businessman, dies aged 90

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Minister exalted by Margaret Thatcher also advised David Cameron and ran businesses including Cable & Wireless

Lord Young of Graffham, a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher and a successful businessman, has died aged 90.

A Conservative party spokesperson confirmed the death of the peer, who became secretary of state for employment in 1985 and was appointed secretary of state for trade and industry after the 1987 election.

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Government to weaken water pollution goals in ‘attack on nature’

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Exclusive: Despite demands from water campaigners, there will be no overall target for river health

Water pollution goals are to be weakened by the government next week, the Guardian can reveal, as Environment Act targets will give farmers three extra years to reduce their waste dumping into waterways.

River campaigners have said the news is proof the government has not dropped its “attack on nature”.

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Tory MP plans legislation to strip Harry and Meghan of royal titles

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Bob Seely says he was considering proposing private member’s bill even before recent controversy over Netflix documentary

A Conservative MP has said he is planning to bring forward legislation in an attempt to strip the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of their royal titles. Bob Seely told the PA news agency he could propose the short private member’s bill early next year in an attempt to amend the 1917 Titles Deprivation Act.

If passed, it would see MPs vote on a resolution that could give the privy council the power to downgrade Harry and Meghan’s royal status.

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Watchdog criticises UK ministers’ ‘antagonism’ towards human rights

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Council of Europe report finds government’s attitude is weakening protections for the public

The UK government has “an increasingly antagonistic attitude” towards human rights that is weakening instead of strengthening protections for the public, a European inquiry has found.

Inflammatory language used by MPs and officials to describe lawyers could put their safety at risk, according to the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović.

Provisions in the PCSC Act that de facto criminalise Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities leading a nomadic lifestyle must be rescinded.

There is “a high level of anxiety among stakeholders” about human rights protection in the UK, in view of the significant impact of recent and proposed legislation.

The UK’s policies towards refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are eroding their rights. Proposals criticised in the report include newly introduced inadmissibility rules for asylum claims, the possibility of removing persons to Rwanda, and the criminalisation of asylum seekers arriving irregularly.

The emergence of a harsh political and public discourse against trans people in the UK has a negative impact on their rights.

The UK government should consider withdrawing the legacy bill, which offers a conditional amnesty to people accused of killings and other Troubles-related crimes.

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Jeremy Hunt to outline plans for shake-up of City regulation

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Chancellor expected to target senior managers’ regime and ringfencing rules in 30-point package

Jeremy Hunt is due to unveil a 30-point package of City policy changes on Friday that will involve rowing back on regulations in order to boost competition and growth.

The chancellor’s announcement, referred to as the “Edinburgh reforms”, will outline how the government intends to “review, repeal and replace” a host of rules that were introduced to protect savers and the taxpayer after the 2008 financial crisis, but which ministers now believe risk hindering the success of London’s banks and insurers compared with their overseas peers.

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Rishi Sunak ‘absolutely shocked’ by Michelle Mone allegations

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PM responds to question from Keir Starmer about Tory peer who appears to have received millions from PPE firm awarded government contracts

Rishi Sunak has said he was “shocked” to read allegations surrounding the Conservative peer Michelle Mone, after Keir Starmer used prime minister’s questions to ask him how she appeared to have received millions from the profits of a PPE company.

“How did his colleague, Baroness Mone, end up with nearly £30m of taxpayers’ money in her bank account?” the Labour leader asked, citing information revealed by the Guardian.

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Keir Starmer says Labour’s decentralisation plans will address concerns that led to people backing Brexit – UK politics live

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Labour leader says, though he argued for remain, he could not argue against leave voters calling for more control over their lives

Starmer is now taking questions.

Q: [Beth Rigby from Sky] When people are struggling with the cost of living, you are talking about constitutional issues. This might look to people as if you are out of touch. Are you talking to Westminster about stuff that won’t happen. What in this will improve people’s lives from day one of a Labour government?

When you come to the next election, it may be that the Scottish National party will have a one-line manifesto and want a one-issue general election.

But we have done a huge amount of research on Scottish public opinion and people want a better health service immediately, people want living standards improved immediately, people want jobs for young people immediately, people want better housing immediately and people of course want change in the way that we are suggesting immediately.

People up and down this country are crying out for a new approach. During the Brexit referendum I argued for remain. But I couldn’t disagree with the basic case that many leave voters made to me.

They wanted democratic control over their lives so they could provide opportunities for the next generation, build communities they felt proud of, and public services they could rely on.

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