Sunak offers unity plea in farewell speech
“Rishi Sunak has urged the Conservative Party to unite behind whoever wins the contest to replace him as leader. In a speech at the party’s conference in Birmingham, Sunak said: “We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling. We mustn’t nurse old grudges but build new friendships.” In a break with tradition, Sunak will not be delivering a big end of conference speech to the party faithful on Wednesday. He said he did not want to be a “distraction” to the four MPs vying to replace him as leader, who will each give a 20 minute speech on Wednesday morning instead.” – BBC
- Let’s see real debate, not synthetic outrage, at the Tory conference – Leader, Daily Telegraph
- First steps on the long road to Conservative renewal – Leader, Daily Mail
- It’s vital warring Tory leader candidates don’t forget who the real enemy is – Harry Cole, The Sun
>Today: ToryDiary: A tale of two moods, four contenders and the ‘noises off’
>Yesterday: Andrew Gimson’s Conference sketch: Tories meet in unexpectedly high spirits as the leadership race hots up
Leadership rivals turn on Badenoch over maternity pay comments
“Tory leadership rivals turned on Kemi Badenoch on Sunday after she suggested maternity pay was “excessive”. On the first day of the Tory conference in Birmingham, Mrs Badenoch said regulations around the benefit have “gone too far” and were tying business in too much red tape. She said families needed to take more “personal responsibility” over their finances when they have children and suggested working people were paying too much in tax to fund statutory maternity pay…Later, Mrs Badenoch said her comments had been taken out of context, writing on X: “Of course maternity pay isn’t excessive: no mother of three kids thinks that.” – Daily Telegraph
Jenrick and Badenoch quizzed on immigration plans
“Immigrants who bring “foreign conflicts” with them should not be welcomed to the UK, Conservative leadership contender Kemi Badenoch has said. She told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg she believed in “western values, the principles which have made this country great, and I think that we need to make sure that we continue to abide by those principles, to keep the society that we have now”. As the Tories begin their party conference in Birmingham, leadership rival Robert Jenrick told the same programme immigration was at the top of his list of issues to fix. He said the UK needed to leave the European Convention on Human Rights to resolve the problem, a move Badenoch has not signed up to.” – BBC
- Tory party will die if it doesn’t plan to leave ECHR, Jenrick to claim – Daily Telegraph
- Leadership rivals are right to make immigration a key battleground and show they now have a plan – Leader, The Sun
- Farage lashed out – Daily Express
>Yesterday:
Cleverly tops poll rating among the public
“James Cleverly is the Tory leadership candidate voters believe would make the best prime minister, a new poll has found. A survey carried out for the shadow home secretary’s campaign put him marginally ahead of his three rivals in the race for public approval. But it also revealed that six in 10 people did not know which candidate they would prefer, suggesting all four hopefuls are little known to the wider public. Mr Cleverly used the first day of the Tory conference, on Sunday, to warn that public anger over internal “bickering” had caused the party’s downfall. The poll, by Techne UK, found that he came out on top when voters were asked which leadership candidate would make the best prime minister.” – Daily Telegraph
>Today: James Cleverly on Comment: How I will reform our party to get back to winning ways
Display the Star of David at UK border to show ‘we stand with Israel’, says Jenrick
“The Star of David should be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel”, Robert Jenrick has said. The Tory leadership frontrunner said he wanted Britain to be “the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and the Jewish community”. Speaking to a Conservative Friends of Israel reception at the Tory conference on Sunday night, he said he pushed as immigration minister for Israeli citizens travelling to the UK to be able to enter through the e-gates. This would mean that at “every airport and point of entry to our great country”, there was a Star of David, as a “symbol that we support Israel”, he said. Taking to the stage in a black hoodie emblazoned with the words “Hamas Are Terrorists”, he also pledged to move the British embassy to Jerusalem if he became Prime Minister.” – Daily Telegraph
- The United Nations has betrayed its founding principles – Natasha Hausdorff, Daily Telegraph
- BBC coverage ‘institutionally hostile’ to Israel, say Jewish groups – The Times
Company set up to raise funds for Tugendhat was established before the General Election
“A company funnelling cash to Conservative leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat was set up last November, in a sign that ministers and aides were already preparing for a contest to replace Rishi Sunak months before the general election was called. The company, Blue WV, was set up as a “professional membership organisation” by former special advisers Patrick Spencer and Guy Miscampbell on November 27 of last year. So far Blue WV has donated more than £45,000 to Tugendhat — who is widely seen as the most moderate candidate still in the running for the Tory leadership — first through £3,500 to his campaign for re-election as an MP and then £41,000 on August 6.” – Financial Times
>Today: Tom Tugendhat on Comment: My five steps to making our party an election winning machine again
Call Conservatives to counter Lib Dems “Gail’s strategy” to win back middle class voters
“An autopsy into how the Tory party’s “entire vote-winning machine collapsed” will be published by a group known as Conservatives Together. It is run by Grant Shapps, the former defence secretary who lost the seat of Welwyn Hatfield he has held since 2005, and Lord Kempsell, an ally of Boris Johnson. The group said that the Tories are in “the uncomfortable position of learning from the efficiency of the Liberal Democrats’ campaign machine” after Sir Ed Davey won 72 seats, most in the “blue wall” of former Tory southern seats. The report by Shapps and Kempsell, entitled What went wrong?, said: “Their famed ‘Gail’s strategy’, which targeted any constituency with a branch of the upmarket bakery Gail’s, effectively leveraged that company’s own market research data. It is a lesson in the value of data and highly efficient strategic targeting.” – The Times
- Reform picking up younger voters faster than us, new Tory MPs warn – The Times
Macron wanted “punishment beating” for Brexit, claims Johnson
“Although Macron was personally charming, and although we often agreed on important issues, he really meant it when he said that Brexit Britain must be punished. On some issues I am afraid I therefore suspected him of being a positive nuisance. Take the ‘small boats’ that cross the Channel to Britain from the beaches of France, risking the lives of tens of thousands of migrants. It seemed at least possible to me that he was weaponising the problem, Belarus-style, and discreetly allowing the migrants to come across in sufficient numbers to drive the British public nuts and undermine one of the most important facts of Brexit – that we had taken back control of our borders.” – Boris Johnson, Extract from his memoirs Unleashed, Daily Mail
- Cameron’s threat sounded serious. Did I want to be f***ed up? For ever? – Boris Johnson, Daily Mail
- I got my revenge on Macron at the G7 summit – Boris Johnson, Daily Mail
Duffield declares that Starmer has a “problem with women”
“Sir Keir Starmer is surrounded by “lads” and has a problem with women, Rosie Duffield claimed yesterday. The newly independent MP, who quit Labour on Saturday, accused the PM of operating a shadowy boys’ club inside No 10. Women’s rights champion Ms Duffield said it spilt dirt on female politicians who disagreed with them. She also attacked Sir Keir for accepting freebies and said she felt grubby asking for campaign donations to get re-elected.” – The Sun
- Mordaunt accuses Starmer of behaving like Imelda Marcos – Daily Mail
- Labour to tighten UK rules on ministers declaring ‘freebies’ – Financial Times
- JK Rowling defends Rosie Duffield against ‘self-satisfied numbskulls’ – The Times
>Yesterday: Video: “It’s more about greed and power than it is about making a difference” – Duffield
Cates calls for sex education to be scrapped
“Former Tory MP Miriam Cates has called for sex education to be scrapped as a subject at school to protect children from dangerous ideologies. She also accused the Conservatives of failing to resist the radicalisation of children when it comes to gender issues. When asked about safeguarding issues at schools, Ms Cates said: “I would scrap RSHE. The purpose of schools is to teach knowledge and skills that have been established … so that you are teaching things that have stood the test of time,” she said. “The problem with teaching anything that is actually values, rather than knowledge or skills, is that it is contested and that there is no knowledge.” – Daily Express
Reeves “unlikely to cut pension tax relief for higher earners”
“UK chancellor Rachel Reeves is unlikely to cut pension tax relief for higher earners in her Budget next month because it would hit teachers, doctors and other better paid public sector workers, according to a report released on Monday. Reeves had argued as an opposition MP for a flat rate of pension tax relief — a move which would significantly boost Treasury coffers — but a report by pensions consultancy LCP argues she will shy away from this move.” – Financial Times
- Labour plan to strip 10 million pensioners of winter fuel payment could only save half as much money as Reeves claimed – Daily Mail
- Reeves set to attend meeting of EU finance ministers – Financial Times
- Chancellor struggles to escape from self-imposed restraints – Martin Wolf, Financial Times
Freedom Party wins Austrian election
“The far right won the most votes in an Austrian election for the first time since the Nazi era on Sunday, as the Freedom party (FPÖ) rode a tide of public anger over migration and the cost of living to beat the centre-right People’s party (ÖVP). The pro-Kremlin, anti-Islam FPÖ won 29.2% of votes, beating the ruling ÖVP of the chancellor, Karl Nehammer, into second place on 26.5%, according to near-complete results. The opposition Social Democratic party scored its worst ever result – 21% – while the liberal NEOS drew about 9%.” – The Guardian
Israel “gearing up” for a ground invasion of Lebanon
“Israel appeared to be gearing up for a ground invasion of Lebanon as hundreds of tanks massed on the country’s northern border. Soldiers carrying wrenches made final preparations to their armoured vehicles as plumes of smoke rose from wildfires started by Hezbollah rockets. The United States issued a last-minute appeal to both sides for restraint, warning Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that war would not return 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.” – The Times
Other political news
- Dowden interviewed in election betting inquiry – BBC
- Taxes could go up if locals don’t accept new pylons in their communities, Starmer warns – The Sun
- UK universities urge government to restart flow of EU students after Brexit – The Guardian
- Push to get 70% of school leavers into higher education – The Times
- Port Talbot braces for shutdown of its last blast furnace – The Guardian
- Starmer ‘wants to solve’ row with Greece over Elgin Marbles – The Times
Goodman: The volatility of the electorate means the Conservatives have not been written off
“The Conservative managers say this is a members’ conference; that though corporate events may be down, activist attendance is well up. This is true as far as it goes. The wonder is not that the usual conference gallimaufry of lobbyists is smaller but that it has come to Birmingham at all. Only a few months ago the Tories were reduced to 121 MPs, the worst general election return in their history. Eaten away by Reform at one end, the Liberal Democrats at the other and Labour almost everywhere, the party that dominated Britain in the 20th century is on Desolation Street in the 21st. Why, then, the corporate presence, the media attention? Perhaps because of the dizzying volatility of the modern electorate. If the Conservatives were torched five years after winning 44 per cent of the vote, as they were in July, why shouldn’t Labour be in 2029, five years on from winning only 34 per cent? If Cameron could oust Brown, that inelastic but formidable prime minister, why shouldn’t the next Tory leader pitch out Sir Keir Starmer, equally vulnerable but less daunting?” – Paul Goodman, The Times
Timothy: Tax cuts should promote virtue
“We should target tax cuts at virtuous behaviour that benefits society. If the tax cuts we can offer must be targeted, we need to prioritise. So, while Labour likes to talk about “sin taxes” to justify its tax grabs, we should talk about tax cuts for those things we believe to be virtuous: tax cuts to promote investment, stimulate innovation, and help couples to form families and bring up children.” – Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph
News in brief
- Reform and Green members campaigned more online. But pounded the pavements less – Tim Bale, The Conversation
- What Kemi Badenoch should learn from her maternity pay row – Isabel Hardman, The Spectator
- He talks tough, but will Robert Jenrick be able to deliver? – Joseph Dinnage, CapX
- How schools are turning kids against their families – Joanna Williams, Spiked Online
- The death of conservatism? – Henry George, The Critic
