Conservatives to warn Labour’s “Net Zero” policies would mean higher energy bills
“Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will seek to make energy costs an electoral dividing line as household bills fall to their lowest in two years. On Friday the energy regulator reduced the energy price cap by £122 to £1,568 a year after a significant fall in global prices, which the Conservatives will try to seize on. The Tories will seek to make Labour’s net zero policies a key electoral distinction as Sunak accuses Labour of failing to be honest about the “significant costs” that its net zero policies will impose on households.” – The Times
- ‘Britain bashing brigade!’ Penny Mordaunt tears apart Labour in general election warning – Daily Express
>Today: Thomas Nurcombe on Comment: The Conservatives can’t just rely on being the ‘party of defence’. Boldness is required.
>Yesterday: John Stevenson on Comment: Houchen’s winning formula should focus minds in Westminster on the election
Bills on renting and banning smoking likely to be abandoned
“The Conservatives’ promise to abolish no-fault evictions before the election will not happen, sources have told the BBC. The Renters (Reform) Bill, which would ban landlords from evicting tenants without a reason, will not become law before parliament is prorogued on Friday. Rishi Sunak’s flagship bill to eventually ban smoking also looks set to be shelved. Legislation is being rushed through as Friday is the last day MPs will sit in Parliament before the election.” – BBC
Rwanda flights will not take place before the election
“Rishi Sunak has dropped flagship policies on deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda…The prime minister’s admission that people who crossed the Channel in small boats will not be flown to Rwanda before 4 July was met with despair from Tory rightwingers, with many of his MPs already unhappy about his early election date. Under the £500m scheme, which is the cornerstone of his government’s promise to “stop the boats”, flights would not start taking off for Kigali until after the election, the prime minister said. As Sunak set off on a whistle stop tour of the UK, heading for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland over 24 hours, he insisted the Rwanda plan would go ahead if he was elected as the flights were “booked for July, the airfields are on standby”. – The Guardian
>Today: ToryDiary: Rwanda? We hardly knew her!
Farage rules out standing for Reform UK this time…
“Reform UK founder and honorary president Nigel Farage has announced he will not stand in the general election. There was speculation he would be unveiled as a parliamentary candidate by Reform leader Richard Tice. But Mr Farage told the BBC six weeks was “not long enough” to fight a constituency while campaigning for the party around the country. Launching Reform’s campaign, Mr Tice said it would field candidates in all but 20 of the UK’s 650 constituencies.” – BBC
…but analysis suggests the Party could still take a big chunk of Conservative votes
“Reform UK poses a major threat to the Conservatives in 28 seats, analysis by The Telegraph shows. YouGov data indicates that Richard Tice’s party is expected to win more than 20 per cent of the vote in a series of constituencies across England’s North and Midlands. In these areas, Reform UK could deny the Conservatives a win by taking a slice of their support, challenging the party for victory, or leapfrogging the Tories and taking second place.” – Daily Telegraph
- Prospective voters should take a questioning look at what Reform UK is really offering – Leader, The Times
Sunak: Starmer is afraid to debate me
“There are big issues at stake in this election. Do we continue cutting taxes or raise taxes on working households as Labour would do? Do we prioritise energy security and your family’s finances in our approach to net zero or put environmental dogma first as Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband would. And, above all, how do we give this country the secure future it deserves? I want to debate these issues with Sir Keir Starmer. But he doesn’t want to because he doesn’t have a plan and doesn’t have the courage to say what he wants to do. Ultimately, this election is about who you trust, in these uncertain times, to chart a course to a secure future. We Conservatives have a clear plan and are prepared to take the bold action necessary to deliver that secure future for our United Kingdom.” – Rishi Sunak, Daily Telegraph
Redwood, Merriman and Laing standing down
“Rail Minister Huw Merriman became the latest Tory big-hitter to announce they are walking away at the general election amid fears over the part’s chances of winning. He confirmed he would not contest Bexhill and Battle, the East Sussex seat he has held since 2015. He is one of four Tories to step down today, meaning 69 have now said they will not seek re-election. Among them is also Dame Eleanor Laing, one of the Deputy Speakers of the House of Commons and a former shadow minister, who has been MP for Epping Forest in Essex since 1997….Suffolk MP Jo Churchill and Leigh’s James Grundy also quit. Mr Grundy became the first non-Labour MP for the seat in Greater Manchester in a century in 2019.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Parliament: Our list of Conservative MPs standing down at the next election. Ellis the latest to announce.
Rayner investigation set to end before Polling Day
“The police investigation into Angela Rayner is expected to be concluded before the election with Labour increasingly confident she will be cleared, The Times understands. An announcement on the fate of the Labour deputy leader, who has faced questions over where she lived in the 2010s and the sale of her former council house in Stockport, is expected within about a week.” – The Times
- Labour’s frontbench is the least impressive in history – Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph
Corbyn to stand as an independent
“Ex-Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn is set to confirm that he’ll stand as an independent at the general election. The 74-year-old socialist will battle head-to-head with his old party in a desperate bid to keep his leafy North London seat. Labour is still in the process of selecting its candidate for Islington North…Last night the Labour Party announced two final contenders for the seat – City Hall Assembly Member Sem Moema and Islington Borough Councillor Praful Nargund.” – The Sun
Nelson: Sunak running a presidential campaign is “bold”
“My own feeling is that, while Sunak may not be one of the best prime ministers, he’s one of the best people to have been prime minister. His ability, energy, sense of duty and basic decency are striking to those who know him. But admirers, like me, have to acknowledge that polls put us in a small, almost cultish minority. Johnson, Blair, Brown, Thatcher, Callaghan: none had such low job-satisfaction ratings. To fight a presidential-style campaign on such personal ratings is, as Cameron would say, bold.” – Fraser Nelson, Daily Telegraph
Maguire: Labour are well prepared. But there is bound to be a wobble.
“Labour, unlike the Tories, has selected candidates for all of its battleground seats. Its manifesto is written. And, as its fundraiser-in-chief Lord Alli told the shadow cabinet on Tuesday, it has amassed enough donations to meet the new election spending limit of £35 million, quietly doubled by the government last year. Labour’s ancien régime complained that electoral law was rigged against them. This one has chosen to level the playing field itself…Events, however, cannot be fixed like parliamentary selections. Six weeks is a long time to wait for the inevitable. Something will wobble: a leak, a policy, a candidate, a shadow cabinet minister going the full Prescott. Let’s be honest: the media will want something to wobble.” – Patrick Maguire, The Times
- Labour’s pitch is: ‘We can’t do any worse than the Tories’ – not quite Blair in 97, is it? – Julia Hartley-Brewer, The Sun
- Labour’s top brass know the election battle will be brutal, but they can hardly believe their luck – Polly Toynbee, The Guardian
- I don’t have the same enthusiasm for Starmer as I did for Blair back in 1997 – Ross Clark, Daily Express
Other political news
- Abortions rise 17% to highest level since legalisation – The Times
- Musk opposes US tariffs on Chinese electric cars – BBC
- Business seeks clear victor in UK general election – Financial Times
- Case admits Government failed to tell public about alternatives to lockdowns – Daily Telegraph
- Net migration cut by tenth last year – but still stands at 685,000 – The Sun
- Kremlin denies Trump’s claim he will reach deal to free detained US journalist – Daily Telegraph
- Millions of patients a month wait longer than a fortnight to see GP in England – The Guardian
- British retail sales fall more than expected as April showers deter shoppers – Financial Times
News in brief
- Has Sunak’s Farage gamble just paid off? – Katy Balls, The Spectator
- Winning Conservative votes requires Conservative policies – Harry Phibbs, CapX
- An early election could spell disaster for the SNP – Eddie Barnes, Unherd
- Boris Johnson is no lost Conservative hero. He did tremendous harm – Charlotte Gill, The Critic
- “I voted for policies that I would not now vote for”. Interview with Tory defector Dan Poulter – Phil Whitaker, New Statesman
- Thank you to Wokingham – John Redwood
