Category Archives: Conservative conference

Tories offer access to new chancellor for £3,000

Posted on by

Business day at party’s autumn conference will give lobbyists and CEOs access to senior ministers, raising ethics concerns

The Tories are selling access to the new chancellor and senior ministers ​at almost £3,000 a ticket for corporate leaders and lobbyists at their autumn conference, saying it will help firms “take your business to the next level”.

The party is advertising spaces for its “prestigious” annual business day at £2,990 a head, saying it will give attenders the chance to interact with “key decision makers in the party”.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson laughs off the Pandora papers as the super-rich’s cash rolls in

Posted on by

Western politicians seem complacent about or complicit in the iniquity of hidden wealth

It was a classic TV doorstep. After doing the morning media round, Boris Johnson emerged from a booth and set off with his minders across the main hall of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. What was his reaction to the Pandora papers?

And would the Tories be giving back the money they had taken from certain donors?

Continue reading...

‘Economically illiterate’: PM’s Tory conference speech gets frosty reception

Posted on by

Next boss, thinktanks and unions criticise Boris Johnson, saying ‘shortages cannot be blustered away’

Boris Johnson’s vision for the UK has had a frosty reception with business and union leaders, with one thinktank condemning the prime minister’s speech to Conservative conference as “economically illiterate”.

The Adam Smith Institute’s head of research, Matthew Lesh, also called Johnson’s address “bombastic but vacuous”, while the travel industry union chief, Manuel Cortes, said it was “nothing but hot air”.

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson: petrol crisis and pig cull part of necessary post-Brexit transition

Posted on by

PM’s remarks come as Liz Truss insists it’s the role of business, not ministers, to resolve such problems

Queues for petrol and mass culls of pigs at farms because of a lack of abattoir workers are part of a necessary transition for Britain to emerge from a broken economic model based on low wages, Boris Johnson has argued.

His comments, on the first day of the Conservative conference, came as Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, insisted it was the role of business, not ministers, to sort out such problems.

Continue reading...

Covid can change UK like ‘new Jerusalem’ of 1940s, Johnson claims

Posted on by

Prime minister tells virtual Tory conference that country must not return to status quo

Boris Johnson claimed the “ructions” of the Covid pandemic can pave the way for a transformation akin to the “new Jerusalem” pledged by the postwar cabinet as he sought to restore Tory morale with an upbeat party conference speech.

With Keir Starmer’s Labour party gaining in the polls, and mounting disquiet among colleagues over Johnson’s handling of the pandemic, the prime minister used his set-piece speech to set out an optimistic vision of change.

Continue reading...

No kicks, coughs or slip-ups as party conferences go online

Posted on by

Attendees of this year’s virtual gatherings may be spared any gaffes, but at what cost?

Utter the phrase “conference season” to a Westminster veteran and don’t be surprised if their initial reaction is a shudder. For regular attendees of the annual party gatherings, which kick off next weekend, they raise the prospect of lengthy policy sermons and curled cheese sandwiches by day, followed by sweaty bars and third-hand gossip by night.

Related: Keir Starmer's conference challenge is to avoid the shadow of past leaders | Zoe Williams

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson speech gives EU hope he will rethink Irish plan

Posted on by

Brussels takes heart from PM stopping short of ‘take it or leave it’ Brexit statement

The absence of a “take it or leave it” demand in Boris Johnson’s conference speech has offered some hope in Brussels of a prime ministerial U-turn on what EU officials have described as unworkable proposals for the Irish border.

Downing Street had briefed before the address in Manchester that Johnson would use his platform to make a “final offer” to Brussels, but the rhetoric appeared in the end far more conciliatory than billed.

Continue reading...

PM strikes secret deal with DUP as he draws up ‘final Brexit offer’

Posted on by

Boris Johnson agrees pact with Northern Irish party as details emerge of ‘two borders’ plan

Boris Johnson has struck a secret deal with the Democratic Unionist party involving radical proposals for a Belfast-Dublin “bilateral lock” on post-Brexit arrangements on the island of Ireland.

Details have emerged of the prime minister’s final Brexit offer that he will lay out on Wednesday, with Northern Ireland staying under EU single market regulations for agri-food and manufactured goods until at least 2025, at which point its assembly in Stormont will decide whether to continue alignment with EU or UK standards.

Continue reading...