Trump survives assassination attempt
“Former US President Donald Trump has survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania. The alleged shooter has been killed, along with at least one bystander, according to the Butler county district attorney. Two others are critically injured. Trump was bundled off stage by Secret Service agents five minutes into his speech. He raised his fist defiantly as he was led away to a waiting car, with blood dripping down his face. The former president later said he had been shot in the ear. The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspected shooter in a statement. The man named as the suspected shooter was a registered Republican, according to Pennsylvania voter records.” – Sunday Times
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Sunak ‘held secret talks about Farage Red Wall deal’
“Rishi Sunak held secret talks about striking a deal with Nigel Farage that would have seen Red Wall election candidates running on a joint Tory-Reform UK ticket, The Telegraph can reveal. In the weeks before the election was called, the then prime minister had a phone call and a face-to-face meeting with Dame Andrea Jenkyns to discuss the proposals. They were followed by a number of more detailed meetings between Craig Williams, an aide of Mr Sunak, and Andy Wigmore, one of the so-called “bad boys of Brexit”, in an attempt to hammer out a solution. Throughout the election campaign, Mr Sunak argued that voting for Reform, Nigel Farage’s party, would hand Labour the keys to Downing Street. But the conversations behind closed doors up to a few days before Mr Sunak surprised the nation by calling an early election, tell a different story.” – Sunday Telegraph
- Farage fired me, but Reform can’t be a one-man band – Sunday Times
- Why was the election turnout so low? – Sunday Times
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ConservativeHome poll makes Badenoch clear favourite in Tory leadership contest
“Kemi Badenoch has almost twice as much support among Conservative members to become the next party leader as her closest rival, according to a new poll. The new shadow housing secretary is the runaway favourite to succeed Rishi Sunak, with the backing of 25.83 per cent of those polled. According to the first Tory membership poll of the leadership contest by the independent Tory news organisation Conservative Home, Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is trailing in second place on 13.47 per cent. Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, comes a narrow third on 12.96 per cent, followed by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, on 9.75 per cent, and James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, on 9.15 per cent.” – Sunday Times
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>Today:
Ministers ‘told to dig up proof of Tory failure’
“Referring to the infamous “no money” note left by the last Labour government, Darren Jones, the new Treasury minister, joked that the state of the country’s finances was now so bad the Conservatives “can’t afford the notepaper”. Although his comments were intended to be light-hearted, the message that Labour will push to the public is serious: Britain is broken, not just in terms of the public finances but also in how the government is functioning. The 2010 note from Liam Byrne, who had been chief secretary to the Treasury, was used by the Tories — and George Osborne, the chancellor, in particular — to suggest that Labour could not be trusted with public finances. Although no physical note has been left this time, Sir Keir Starmer and his cabinet will use high-profile interventions to expose the “mountain of mess” left by the last government and pin the blame firmly on the Conservatives.” – Sunday Times
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Truss: We lost because Tory governments failed to roll back Blair’s Leftist agenda
“Ten days on from the general election and the result doesn’t get any less devastating for the Conservative Party. Hundreds of us were ejected by an electorate angry at too many years of successive administrations failing to implement Conservative policies. In South West Norfolk, I was repeatedly told on the doorstep by former Conservative voters that we didn’t deserve to be re-elected, and that they were now looking at voting for Reform instead. That’s what nearly a quarter of those voting in my former constituency opted to do, enabling the election of my Labour opponent on less than 27 per cent of the vote.” – Sunday Telegraph
- Truss blames Sunak ‘trashing my record’ for Tory election wipeout – Sunday Telegraph
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Labour 1) Cleverly: Labour might as well paint, ‘Welcome, people smugglers’, on white cliffs of Dover
“Labour’s first week in government in 14 years is a sign of things to come, and it should worry the British people. The steps they have taken in the Home Office alone are proof of what is ahead – chaos, obfuscation and open borders. During the election, Labour talked tough but lacked substance – making just enough noises to get over the line and then deal with the problem later. But their “Ming vase” migration strategy will smash into smithereens across this Parliament, with the first cracks already showing in office. Week one of Labour in the Home Office was chaos. Labour ministers disagreed in public about visa liberalisation, rejoining the EU and free movement.” – Sunday Telegraph
Labour 2) Rayner is already being frozen out, allies fear
“To the unsuspecting onlooker, it would appear that Sir Keir Starmer is running a rather slick operation. With his Cabinet appointed and his Downing Street team in place, a steady drumbeat of Government announcements has dominated the news agenda this week. But just over a week into the new regime, tensions are bubbling under the surface. Allies of Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, fear she is being “frozen out”, and believe she is already being unfairly stripped of responsibilities. Ms Rayner, directly elected by Labour members as Deputy PM and therefore unsackable, has already been identified as the biggest potential threat to Sir Keir’s authority.” – Sunday Telegraph
- Starmer promises Britain will be at centre of Europe – Sunday Telegraph
- Corbyn and other independent MPs form loose coalition to pressure Labour – FT
Labour 3) Labour launches cyber security crackdown on Russia and China after NHS hack
“New measures to stop Russian and Chinese cyber attacks are expected to be introduced by the Government following last month’s devastating NHS hack. Whitehall sources suggested that the King’s Speech on Wednesday will include a commitment to strengthening the rules to prevent rogue actors harming public services. Providers of central services, such as the NHS and transport networks, are already subject to a safety regime to reduce the risk of digital attacks. However, the rules for third-party contractors are currently less strict. Last month, two NHS hospital trusts in London were hacked, causing the postponement of more than 800 planned operations and 700 outpatient appointments. The patients disrupted included those in need of cancer treatment and organ transplants.” – Sunday Telegraph
Labour 4) And Labour looks to hire 100,000 rail workers as staffing crisis looms
“Labour is considering the recruitment of 100,000 new rail and transport workers to address a “retirement cliff-edge” that risks leaving the sector without enough staff to run services. Draft summary findings of a Labour-commissioned external review, seen by The Sunday Times, propose that “an ambitious target for the number of jobs created in our rail and transport industry, to be increased by as much as 100,000 over the next decade, should be set”. The Rail and Urban Transport Review is being conducted by former Siemens UK chief executive Juergen Maier on behalf of Labour. Although not an official government review, the findings are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping future transport policy.” – Sunday Times
