Category Archives: Simon Clarke

‘This is getting silly’: senior Tories criticise Simon Clarke after he calls for Sunak’s resignation – UK politics live

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Clarke, a Truss ally, says Tory party should ditch PM ahead of general election

In posts on X, Beth Rigby, the Sky News political editor, says that even though Tory MPs are not supporting Simon Clarke in public, in private the mood is febrile.

We reported ‘several’ no confidence letters in after Rwanda vote @SimonClarkeMP 2nd MP to publicly call for PM to go in order to ‘avoid election massacre’ He’s been rebuked by Fox, Patel, Davis. But Tory source tells me Clarke only saying “what everyone knows but won’t say out loud” & says scores of MPs privately agree 1/

But no sense to this picking up momentum. Sources say Clarke took decision alone cos he wants “to be honest & open about talks which been in private for months”. Another MP tells me says this being driven by handful of MPs in ‘five families grouping’ and it’s an “operation like one of those farmyard vehicles, which just spends time spreading muck everywhere…” 2/

But amongst MPs in marginal seats, am told there’s lots of ‘chatter’ & circulation of Franklin piece on @ConHome

Senior MP on right tells me 2 by-elex Feb 15 could be a ‘watershed moment’: “If we get slaughtered, the herd might well panic” > it’s very febrile

To insist that Sunak remains in place means assuming one of two things: firstly, that his basic political strategy is commensurate with the challenges facing us a party; or, secondly, that he can successfully execute a change of direction. If, in either respect, that is what you do believe then I’d love to see your evidence; but if you don’t, then what possible reason could there be for sticking with Sunak?

Well, there is one justification. It rests upon the fatalistic assumption that it’s too late to avoid defeat: changing strategies won’t work, nor will changing leaders. We’re therefore better off having the next leadership contest — and a fundamental rethink — in opposition.

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Simon Clarke advised to lie down by Tory MP after calling for Sunak to quit

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Senior Conservatives dismiss former cabinet minister’s intervention as ‘isolated’ and ‘dangerous, reckless, selfish’

Simon Clarke has been told it would be “good advice” to head to a dark room, lie down and sort himself out, after he called on Rishi Sunak to quit as Conservative leader or risk a Tory “massacre” at the general election.

The postal affairs minister, Kevin Hollinrake, said Clarke’s intervention on Tuesday night was a sign of the “panic” that is brewing in some factions, but said it was not a view held by the wider parliamentary party.

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Sunak rejects Braverman’s claim he does not have proper plan for making Rwanda deportations happen – UK politics live

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Prime minister says he ‘will do whatever it takes’ as senior Tory criticises former home secretary’s hardline proposals

Downing Street has not ruled out asking MPs to spend some of what is meant to be their Christmas break dealing with the PM’s “emergency legislation” on Rwanda.

This is one proposal made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, in her Telegraph article this morning. (See 10.01am.)

I think we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we can get this in place and get flights off the ground.

I wouldn’t speculate on parliamentary process but I cannot impress [enough] the importance that the prime minister places on this necessary legislation to deliver for the public on the important priority of stopping the boats.

Sunak suggested he would blame Labour if the Lords refuses to pass his “emergency legislation” on Rwanda (see 11.40am) quickly. Asked if he would call an early election if the Lords block the law, he replied:

It doesn’t have to take a long time to get legislation through – and that is a question for the Labour party.

We’re determined to get this through as quickly as possible. So the real question is: is the Labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, or are they going to work with us and support this bill so we can get it through as quickly as possible?

Sunak declined to say whether favoured holding an early election on the issue of Rwanda deportations if his bill got held up. Earlier today Sir Simon Clarke suggested this. (See 10.56am.) But, for obvious reasons, the prospect might not appeal.

Sunak claimed he was making “real progress” on stopping small boats. He said:

I think people just want the problem fixed. That’s what I’m here to do, and this year, we’ve already got the numbers down by a third.

That’s because I’ve got new deals with the French, a new deal with Albania. We’re working with Turkey and Bulgaria, multiple other countries. We’re tackling the criminal gangs, we’re cutting through the backlog.

Sunak said he would “take on” people trying to stop Rwanda flights taking over, whether it was Labour or the House of Lords. He said:

We can pass these laws in parliament that will give us the powers and the tools we need. Then we can get the flights off and whether it’s the House of Lords or the Labour party standing in our way I will take them on because I want to get this thing done and I want to stop the boats.

He said his patience was “wearing thin” with this issue. He said:

People are sick of this merry-go-round. I want to end it – my patience is wearing thin like everyone else’s.

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Rishi Sunak delays some green targets and scraps others as he reveals net zero policy shift – as it happened

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PM says people to be given more time to switch gas boilers to heat pumps, and ban on sale of new petrol and diesel cars delayed

Climate scientists have expressed dismay at reports that Rishi Sunak is to row back on net zero commitments, arguing that this would be harmful not just environmentally, but economically too.

Prof Myles Allen, professor of geosystem sciences at Oxford University, said:

We haven’t heard the actual speech yet, but we all have to hope the PM is true to his word that he is looking for better ways to deliver net zero, not just slower ways. As we have found time and again in Britain, dithering costs money. The USA is seeing other countries’ faltering as an opportunity to get ahead. It will be sad indeed if we just see it as an opportunity to join the laggards.

It’s not pragmatic, it’s pathetic. This rolling back on emissions cuts for short-term political gain will undermine the transition to net zero and with it the future opportunities, prosperity and safety of the entire country.

Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide which causes global warming which amplifies the consequences of extreme weather events, as we have so clearly seen this summer. Climate change will continue until we reach net zero globally, and we will then have to suffer the consequences of that warmer world for decades or more. It also matters how we reach net zero, not just when – delaying action means more emissions which means more severe consequences.

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Rishi Sunak reshuffle: Braverman named home secretary, Gove returns as levelling up secretary, Mordaunt not promoted – as it happened

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Braverman reappointed to post after resigning days ago; James Cleverly retained as foreign secretary; Oliver Dowden becomes Cabinet Office minister

The BBC’s political correspondent, Nick Eardley, has just summed things up on BBC Radio 4 like this: “Liz Truss faced one of the most daunting entries of modern times, Mr Sunak faces an even more daunting one – plus he has to pick a cabinet that will unite the party.”

When he becomes PM, Rishi Sunak will be doing many things for the first time in modern politics – he will be the first PM of colour, the first Hindu, the youngest since William Pitt the Younger.

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Rishi Sunak to meet King Charles on Tuesday morning before taking over as PM and says UK faces ‘profound economic challenge’ – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak to meet monarch after Liz Truss chairs her final cabinet meeting at 9am

I’m Helen Sullivan, with for the next while. If you have questions or see news we may have missed, you can get in touch on Twitter here.

We’re expected to hear from Nadhim Zahawi, who made a dizzying U-turn from supporting Johnson to supporting Sunak yesterday, on Sky News at 07.05 this morning.

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‘Arghhhhhhhhh’: the 10 angriest Tories at Conservative conference

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Never have so many angry things been said by so many Tories about each other in a single day as on Monday. We rank the 10 most irate MPs

This piece is extracted from our First Edition newsletter. To sign up, click here.


The Tories assembled in Birmingham are fighting over lots of things. They’re fighting over the 45p tax U-turn, and the prospect of a swingeing benefit cut, and whether or not it’s OK for the Home Secretary to accuse backbenchers of mounting a coup. But above all, deep down, they’re mostly fighting about whether Liz Truss has got what it takes. There may never have been so many angry things said by so many Tories about each other in a single day as there were on Monday. It’s not the ideal introduction for the most important speech of Liz Truss’ life.

Some of them are angrily making headlines by saying exactly what they bloody well think; others are angrily making headlines by telling the first lot to put a sock in it. The mood is a little delirious. An amazing video appeared on Tuesday of at least three people appearing to sleep soundly through health secretary Thérèse Coffey’s speech in the main hall, but on Wednesday morning I find myself wondering if they weren’t obscure backbenchers who somebody had poisoned.

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