Conservative leadership 1) Badenoch officially declares
“Kemi Badenoch has promised a “renewal” of Conservative values as she forecast that the party faces a decade out of power without a return to its core principles of capitalism and the nation state. Launching her campaign to be the next party leader, Badenoch said the Tories deserved to lose the election, blaming the “incoherent” set of policies offered to voters. In an article for The Times, the shadow housing secretary accused successive Conservative prime ministers of allowing Britain to become “increasingly liberal” and tolerating “nasty identity politics”. “We talked right yet governed left,” she said.” – The Times
>Today:
>Yesterday: Video: “When you went canvassing under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s the blue rosette was a very strong brand” – Francois
Conservative leadership 2) Badenoch: We deserved to lose
“The electorate did not make a mistake. We deserved to lose because the past decade saw us twist and turn in the wind, unsure of who we were, what we were for and how we could build a new country. And so the first task for the next Conservative leader is renewal. Conservative values matter. They are more than platitudes. They matter because of their enduring power to transform lives.” – Kemi Badenoch, The Times
Conservative leadership 3) Braverman: I am not standing
“Although I’m grateful to the 10 MPs who wanted to nominate me for the leadership, getting onto the ballot is not enough. There is, for good or for ill, no point in someone like me running to lead the Tory Party when most of the MPs disagree with my diagnosis and prescription. The traumatised party does not want to hear these things said out loud. Instead, platitudes about “unity” are fashionable. That’s all fine but it’s not honest.” – Suella Braverman, Daily Telegraph
- Jenrick has got credibility on immigration – Mark Spencer, Daily Express
- Cleverly is the obvious choice – William Sitwell, Daily Telegraph
Reeves “to sell off empty buildings and cut spending on consultants”…
“Rachel Reeves will promise to sell off empty public buildings and slash government spending on consultants to balance the books, as she accuses the Conservatives of “running away” from difficult economic decisions and wrecking the nation’s finances. In her first major speech as chancellor, Reeves will identify a £20 billion black hole in government spending on Monday as she seeks to pin the blame for future tax rises on Tory profligacy.” – The Times
- Labour accuse Tories of ‘cover up’ over public services – BBC
- Birmingham council has to do accounts by hand after £38m software bungle – The Times
>Today:
>Yesterday: Video: “Unemployment was half what it was under Labour in 2010” – Kearns defends the Conservatives’ economic record
…and delay infrastructure projects
“Reeves is expected to announce delays to certain infrastructure projects, as well as measures to cut spending elsewhere in Whitehall. Labour insiders insist infrastructure remains a huge priority for the government, but it will face criticism that Britain’s long-term economic growth outcomes were dependent on such schemes.” – The Guardian
Lawson: The Chancellor must stand up to the unions to shrink the black hole
“There is just one big thing Labour has discovered that had not been known before the election. The public-sector pay review bodies are recommending increases of 5.5 per cent for millions of workers, across health, defence, the justice system and the teaching profession. The Treasury’s budgeting figures had allowed for little more than an inflation-linked increase in public sector pay (2 per cent). That difference accounts for a very large chunk of the alleged £20 billion ‘black hole’. But here’s the thing: Rachel Reeves has a choice about whether to meet that 5.5 per cent recommendation.” – Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail
Hunt: Reeves is being disingenuous
“Labour made all of their many spending commitments during the campaign in full knowledge of what they could and couldn’t afford to do. So it is beyond disingenuous for the Chancellor to now pretend to be blind to this reality and hope the public forgets what she said. But this is not the only thing Rachel Reeves will be hoping the public forget. Labour pledged 50 times during the election campaign not to raise taxes but are still trying to lay the foundations to do just that. Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax and even Pensions Relief, – these are all the measures that she has her eyes firmly set on for her first budget, and it is why she and her government are now so desperately trying to peddle this nonsense to justify this. But doing so, based on a foundation of mistruths and misconceptions, will be the ultimate betrayal of the public, and the mandate Labour were elected on, and the British people will not forget it.” – Jeremy Hunt, Daily Express
- Labour is telling the biggest lie in politics. It cannot get away with it – Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph
- Reeves is about to reignite the flames of the inflation crisis – Roger Bootle, Daily Telegraph
Rayner to “fast-track” changes to planning rules
“Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister, will this week announce a fast-track consultation to overhaul planning rules, as she seeks to deliver 1.5mn homes including “social and affordable houses at scale”. Rayner will set in train an eight-week consultation — most of it taking place over the summer holidays — before returning to Westminster in the autumn to confirm the big shake-up of planning rules in England. Central to the plan is the restoration of mandatory housing targets, which were scrapped by former housing secretary Michael Gove, and the relaxation of rules for building new homes in the greenbelt.” – Financial Times
- Rayner to raise mandatory housing targets by around 50 per cent – The Times
- Her workers’ rights changes risk bringing back the old boys’ network – Daily Telegraph
Labour under pressure to reveal names of anonymous donors
“Labour is under pressure to reveal the names of anonymous donors who are part of a secretive group that has given more than £100,000 through a secretive group. The West Midlands Breakfast Club donated £130,530 to the Labour Party earlier this year, but because it is an “unincorporated association” it is not required to disclose the names of members.” – Daily Telegraph
Concerns grow over free speech law being dropped
“The Government has faced another barrage of criticism over its move to shelve laws to protect free speech on university campuses. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced last week she would halt the implementation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act while the Government considered its future…Criminology professor Jo Phoenix said by removing the legislation the Government was ignoring universities’ failures to tackle bullying and harassment.” – Daily Mail
Hannan: We all need to learn to deal with ideas that we find obnoxious
“Provided you stop short of harassment or intimidation, and provided you do not incite violence, you should be allowed to be as insensitive, offensive and stupid as you like. In an open ideological market, true arguments drive out bad ones. As John Milton put it in 1644: ‘Let Truth and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?’ It used to be the job of universities to teach people this counter-intuitive notion, to bring students to understand that even someone they disliked might have useful things to say. But, in recent years, universities have stopped encouraging debate.” – Daniel Hannan, Daily Mail
- This new law is needed, and its repeal should be a decision for MPs – Leader, The Times
Disputed election result in Venezuela
“President Nicolás Maduro has won Venezuela’s presidential election, according to partial results announced by the electoral council. The head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso – who is a close ally of Mr Maduro – said that with 80% of ballots counted, President Maduro had 51.20% of the vote, compared to 44.02% for his main rival. The Venezuelan opposition dismissed the CNE’s announcement as fraudulent and promised to challenge the result. It said its candidate, Edmundo González, had won with 70% of the votes and insisted he was the rightful president-elect.” – BBC
- Opposition parties said that they had evidence from election machine printouts at polling stations that González was the rightful winner, by a landslide – The Times
Other political news
- GPs first walkout for 60 years threatens to bring NHS to ‘standstill’ – Daily Telegraph
- UK ‘desperately exposed’ to cyber-threats and pandemics, says minister – The Guardian
- Labour opens door to loan agreement with Greece for Elgin Marbles – The Times
- At least 12 Tory MPs set up consultancy firms as election defeat loomed – The Guardian
- Changes coming for anyone leaving UK in post-Brexit rules – Daily Express
- Israeli cabinet discusses retaliation for Golan rocket that killed 12 – The Times
- Italy PM Meloni vows to ‘relaunch’ ties with China – BBC
- Is pro-EU Polish government about to fall? – Daily Express
- Campaign groups call on Home Office to stop ‘steady erosion’ of protest rights – The Guardian
- Wales plants just 12% of woodland target – BBC
- Potential Scottish Tory leadership candidate calls for commission to look at loosening ties with UK party – Daily Telegraph
Phillips: Harris needs more than race and gender to win
“The more the Democrats stress Harris’s ethnicity and gender, the more they confirm the suspicion among crucial swing voters that her ascendancy would be, no matter who else is on the ticket, bad news for the white middle class. Gaining more votes in Democratic enclaves won’t get her through the electoral college…Don’t claim the mantle of identity politics. Be dull. Be practical. Be the candidate of anti-chaos. America needs to feel safe, not excited. And that’s the great virtue of most immigrants the world over — hard-working, head-down, unglamorous delivery.” – Trevor Phillips, The Times
News in brief
- Can anyone stop Kemi Badenoch? – Katy Balls, The Spectator
- Reeves makes her first major misstep – Steve Baker, CapX
- Manchester Airport video is a lesson for the BBC – Peter Franklin, Unherd
- Free speech on campus RIP – Matt Goodwin, Substack
- Macron and ‘Macronism’ aren’t finished yet – Patrick Maxwell, The Article
