Nick Timothy: Conservative economic thinking has just taken a great leap forward
“Received wisdom says it should not be like this. France, with its strikes, crazy labour laws and taxes, is as rich per capita as Britain, with our restrictive union laws, flexible labour markets and – relatively speaking – lower taxes. So why are the French, who break every rule in our Treasury’s book, more productive than we are? Why, if they worked the hours we do, would they be richer than us? The explanation is given in a report just published…Ben Southwood, Samuel Hughes and Sam Bowman argue that France is prosperous because it succeeds where we fail: building housing, infrastructure and energy supply. It is not often that a document of this kind cuts through in Westminster, but after its launch a consensus grew…all agreed that Foundations was vital reading.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
Three in five think Labour will lose next election, poll shows…
“Three in five people already expect Labour to lose the next general election, according to a poll. Sixty per cent of voters believe Sir Keir Starmer’s party will not manage a second term in power, less than three months after its landslide election victory. The poll, by the More in Common think tank, also found more than half of respondents did not believe Sir Keir would lead Labour into the next election. Forty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they believed he would still be Prime Minister by the next election, with 52 per cent saying they did not. Labour has endured a difficult start in government amid a row over Lord Alli, the Labour peer and millionaire donor, donating thousands of pounds towards clothes for Sir Keir.” – The Daily Telegraph
- Labour wants to govern until 2049, says Cabinet minister – The Daily Telegraph
- All the policies announced at Labour Party conference so far – The I
- Was Starmer’s freebie wardrobe really worth the hassle? – The Times
- A government with no plan for ‘change’ – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- Sticking to the script isn’t helping Starmer this time – Jessica Elgot, The Guardian
- Labour is either shameless or stupid – close inspection at party conference suggests both – Madeline Grant, The Daily Telegraph
- A-level politics students would run the country better than this shower. If Labour carries on like this for four years, we really are doomed – Stephen Glover, The Daily Mail
- Labour’s handling of freebies scandal has been appalling – Harry Cole, The Sun
…as Number 10 braced for potential defeat in Labour conference winter fuel vote…
“No 10 is braced for a potential defeat in a Labour conference vote to condemn cuts to the winter fuel allowance, as major trade unions line up to back a motion to reverse Rachel Reeves’s decision. Led by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), trade unions are expected to force a debate and vote at conference later this week to condemn the decision to axe the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners. Unison and the GMB are understood to be likely to back a motion…The timing of the vote has not yet been agreed and allies of Starmer will hope to push it to the last day of conference. Though the vote will be non-binding, a show of dissent from unions and delegates would cast a difficult shadow on Labour’s first conference in government for 15 years.” – The Guardian
- Corbynites have Starmer firmly in their sights – Editorial, The Daily Mail
- Brace yourself for the revenge of the Cobynistas – Tim Stanley, The Daily Telegraph
- Labour’s winter fuel payment cuts are just the beginning – Tom Tugendhat, Daily Express
…as Gray to miss Labour Party conference
“Sue Gray is to miss the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Sir Keir Starmer’s influential chief of staff has found herself at the centre of a saga about her pay and Downing Street in-fighting. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Ms Gray is being paid more than the Prime Minister, with a salary of £170,000 compared with Sir Keir’s £167,000. A Downing Street source confirmed…that Ms Gray would not be attending the Labour conference…It means Sir Keir’s most senior political aide will not be by his side for the first Labour conference for 15 years with the party in government. During broadcast interviews on Sunday morning, as the conference began, Cabinet ministers defended Ms Gray and dismissed speculation she could soon leave No 10.” – The Daily Telegraph
- Rayner accuses critics of ‘demonising’ Gray – The Times
- Gray ‘sshot JFK’ and ‘is hiding Lord Lucan’, jokes Streeting – The Guardian
- She ‘personally organised Downing Street pass give to Alli’ – The Daily Telegraph
- Seeds of doubt over Gray sown in Stormont – Will Lloyd, The Times
>Today:
Ministers 1) Good times ahead if we seize them, insists Reeves
“Rachel Reeves will hail Britain’s “immense” potential on Monday but warn that the nation faces economic “ruin” unless it balances the books first. Writing in The Times, the chancellor attempts to shift the tone from the dire warnings that have dominated the start of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership to offer a more positive vision for the future. Reeves says she has “never been more optimistic about our country’s fortunes”, adding that Labour will govern “as a pro-business party”. However, in a speech to Labour’s conference in Liverpool on Monday, she will also warn of the need to make “tough choices” in the budget next month, with the prospect of further tax rises and spending cuts as she seeks to fill what she claims is a £22 billion black hole in the public finances.” – The Times
- She is to rule out a return to austerity after gloomy rhetoric draws criticism – The Financial Times
- UK must accept hard times or risk ruin, the Chancellor warns – The Daily Telegraph
- Challenge for Reeves is spinning out a positive – The Times
- She won’t scrap the single person council tax discount – The Daily Telegraph
- She ‘orders investigations’ into £600 million of Covid contracts – The Guardian
- We must have growth – and that means working with business – Rachel Reeves, The Times
- Politicians who think the public support tax rises do so at their peril – James Frayne, The Daily Telegraph
- How Reeves should reform her old employer: the Bank of England – Tony Yates, The Financial Times
- Labour is on the brink of a war with business – Lucy Burton, The Daily Telegraph
Ministers 2) Rayner ‘undermined Labour values’ by accepting gifts from Alli
“Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have been accused of undermining the values of Labour by accepting gifts from a wealthy peer at the centre of a donations scandal engulfing the government. The veteran MP Rachael Maskell…said that she had been “sickened by revelations of ‘donations’” after it emerged that senior Labour ministers had been given gifts of designer clothing and other donations. Maskell, the MP for York Central since 2015, said on X on Sunday: “It grates against the values of the Labour Party, created to fight for the needs of others, not self. Meanwhile pensioners are having their winter fuel payments taken, risking going cold.” Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, yesterday tried to draw a line under the row,” – The Times
- She attempts to deflect attention from Labour donations with Partygate reminder – The Daily Telegraph
- She hints at ‘major social housing announcement’ – The Guardian
- The Deputy Prime Minister faces investigation over New York apartment stay – The Daily Telegraph
- The 33-year love affair between Ali and Labour – The Times
- Cabinet has accepted more than £800,000 in donations and freebies this year – The Daily Telegraph
- Labour freebies row a ‘distraction’ from victory lap conference, insiders admit – The I
- Rayner’s overtransparency and the art of telling it how it is – Tom Peck, The Times
- Labour’s cries of Tory corruption worked better before the Alli scandal – Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail
>Yesterday:
Ministers 3) Government must be militant about human rights, says Hermer
“The Government must be “militant” about advancing the rule of law and human rights legislation, the Attorney General has said. Lord Hermer, a colleague of Sir Keir Starmer’s when the Labour leader was a barrister, said the rule of law would be central to all Government decisions, after the chaos of past Tory administrations. Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Lord Hermer also stressed the importance of human rights. He told the Society of Labour Lawyers that ministers…should not apologise for the landmark human rights legislation introduced by Sir Tory Blair during the last Labour government. Sir Tony’s Human Rights Act has been a target for successive Tory ministers who said it hampered their efforts to tackle illegal migration.” – The Daily Telegraph
Ministers 4) Lammy ‘hints at sanctions’ for Netanyahu ministers
“The foreign secretary has raised the possibility of sanctioning two members of Binyamin Netanyahu’s government as he condemned “escalatory behaviour”…David Lammy said the recent language used by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the security minister, and Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, was “entirely unacceptable”. He told a Labour Together fringe event at the party’s conference in Liverpool: “We are very worried about escalatory behaviour, about inflamed tensions. I’m absolutely clear, if we have to act, we will act. I’m in discussions with G7 partners, particularly European partners, on that. I’m not announcing further sanctions today but that is kept under close review.” The two extremist ministers…are known for their provocative statements about withholding aid to Gaza.” – The Times
- He urges ‘guts’ in ongoing US talks over Ukraine using missiles in Russia – The Guardian
>Today:
‘Time’s up for the SNP’, Sarwar to tell Labour conference
“Scotland needs to get rid of a second “incompetent government” and oust the SNP from power, Anas Sarwar is to argue. The Scottish Labour leader is to tell the UK party conference that his party’s political revival is only “half-written” after its landslide general election victory in July. Although the Tories have been kicked out of office at Westminster, he will argue that “another incompetent government remains in power” in Scotland. Mr Sarwar will state that “it’s time up for the SNP” at the 2026 Holyrood election, by which time the Nationalists will have been in power for almost 20 years. Under SNP rule, he will argue that Scots are being forced to watch “public services crumble before their eyes” despite being forced to pay higher taxes than in England.” – The Daily Telegraph
Ministers plan recruiting drive to plug train driver shortage, says union
“Ministers are planning a major “recruitment campaign” to attract younger people to operate trains in order to avert a demographic time-bomb that would cripple Britain’s rail service, the head of the drivers’ union said. A fifth of Aslef members are due to retire in the next five years, and not enough of a new generation were joining the profession, general secretary Mick Whelan told the Financial Times. “You need to recruit the number of people you need to run the service,” Whelan said, adding that the new government had indicated to him “they want to go on a massive recruitment campaign”… Separate data from the National Skills Academy for Rail found that the sector had a significant diversity problem; 90 per cent of drivers were men, and 90 per cent white.” – The Financial Times
- Haigh accused of ‘going rogue’ with 15 per cent pay hike offer to train drivers – The Sun
News in Brief:
- Starmer’s problems are of his own making – Patrick O’Flynn, The Spectator
- The Left is coming for Starmer – Aaron Bastani, UnHerd
- Why is Britain poor? – Ed West, Wrong Side of History
- Scrapping charity shop subsidies could save the high street – Ben Ramanauskas, CapX
- The world according to Reform – Nicholas Harris, The New Statesman
