Conservative leadership 1) Patel enters the race
“Priti Patel has stormed into the Tory leadership race, pledging to end the “soap opera” which has torn her once-great party apart. The former Home Secretary vowed to return to the bread-and-butter politics that matter to ordinary Britons – ending years of bitter infighting which has damaged the Conservative brand. She roared into the contest on a mission to turn the party of Thatcher and Churchill back into a “winning machine” in the wake of this month’s devastating election drubbing. Brexiteer Ms Patel is the only candidate with direct experience of the hard graft of Opposition, having worked for William Hague after the historic defeat of 1997.” – Sunday Express
- I can unite the Conservative Party and turn us back into a winning machine – Priti Patel, Sunday Telegraph
- Patel promises to give members more say in policy – Sunday Telegraph
- The former Home Secretary accuses rivals of waging ‘personal vendettas’ – The Observer
Conservative leadership 2) Ashcroft: Badenoch has an electric quality and an energy that most front-rank figures in Westminster do not possess
“Nor is she the smoothest pebble on the beach when it comes to the press. One senior media player says: ‘She can find it really annoying to have what she regards as untruths written about her, even if they are quite trivial points. ‘She’s not a great one for turning the other cheek. She’s more of an eye-for-an-eye kind of girl.’ In my opinion, Kemi Badenoch is one of the most interesting politicians of her generation. She has an electric quality and an energy that most front-rank figures in Westminster do not possess. There is a sense of fearlessness about her that many voters find attractive.” – Lord Ashcroft, Adapted from Blue Ambition – Mail on Sunday
- Badenoch to run for leader but Braverman may be a non-starter – Sunday Times
- Badenoch accuses rival campaign of dirty tricks – BBC
- Boris Johnson “will not back any Tory leadership contender” – Sunday Telegraph
- Final two Tory leadership hopefuls face £200,000 fee to run sparking fears of cash-for-favours row – The Sun on Sunday
- Dog-whistling on leaving the ECHR won’t save the Tories now – Martin Howe, Sunday Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: If Badenoch hopes she can cruise to victory on her frontrunner status alone, she could lose
Starmer “open” to youth free movement deal with Spain
“Sir Keir Starmer discussed a free movement deal for young people with the Spanish prime minister earlier this month, The Telegraph can reveal. Pedro Sánchez made the case for a UK-Spain agreement allowing Spanish young people to live in the UK in private talks with the Prime Minister at Blenheim Palace on July 18. Sir Keir is understood not to have rejected the proposal and said he would consider it, along with other discussion points. His private openness to the idea is in contrast with his public position in April, when Labour rejected an EU-wide youth mobility deal floated by Brussels.” – Sunday Telegraph
- The Government may make it all but impossible to unpick the web of agreements binding us to Europe – Leader, Sunday Telegraph
Tax 1) Reeves renews “black hole” claims
“In what is expected to be a spiky exchange with the shadow chancellor, Reeves will accuse him and Rishi Sunak of a “cover-up” of the “dire state” of public finances. In particular she will draw attention to Hunt’s admission last weekend that he would not have been able to cut taxes this autumn had the Tories won the general election, despite pitching themselves as the party which would lower taxes against a Labour Party that would raise them. Hunt will respond by accusing her of performing a politically motivated charade, claiming it is a “sleight of hand” to pretend Labour were unaware of the spending pressures facing the incoming government.” – Sunday Times
- Treasury draws up plans to bring CGT into line with income tax to fix ‘broken’ Britain – Sunday Telegraph
- Reeves to delay some of Tories’ ‘unfunded’ road and hospital projects – The Observer
- VAT on school fees could raise less than half the sum expected – Sunday Times
- Labour shows again it can’t be trusted with other people’s money – Leader, Mail on Sunday
- Combine prudence with practicality – Leader, Sunday Times
- Labour should make some spending cuts, rather than increase the size of the State even further – Leader, The Sun on Sunday
- Sticking to fiscal rule will imperil Labour’s future – Leader, The Observer
- Reeves’s pearl-clutching over a ‘£20bn black hole’ is just silly. But the Tories may still get the blame for the next ten years… – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
- Delivering real change will require tough decisions, and honesty about the state of public services – Pat McFadden, Sunday Telegraph
- Wealth taxes could raise £10bn to help plug Tory budget hole, say economists – The Observer
Tax 2) Colvile: The golden geese can fly away
“The top 1 per cent of earners pay an astonishing 28 per cent of income tax. That comes to £85 billion, or roughly three times the amount paid by the entire bottom half of the workforce. Indeed, for all the stereotypes about the Tories, in their 14 years they steadily took more of high earners’ salaries, and less from that bottom half, than Labour ever did. The problem with a tax regime built around golden geese, however, is that they can always fly away. And pretty much all of the rumoured tax rises are ones that might prompt them to do so. Capital gains. Inheritance tax. High-earners’ pensions. Making it harder to pass companies to the next generation.” – Robert Colvile, Sunday Times
- Labour will soon discover that you can’t squeeze more tax out of Britain without crushing the economy – Daniel Hannan, Sunday Telegraph
Starmer “plots rule change” to thwart Rayner
“Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of plotting to stop Angela Rayner and other ‘Left-wing rivals’ ever succeeding him as Labour leader. The Prime Minister last night faced claims of planning a controversial party rule change to ‘bury the Left for ever’ and prevent any repeat of a Jeremy Corbyn-style leadership. Critics say the move – to strip rank-and-file party members of their key role in picking the next Labour leader in favour of more power for MPs – would also mean Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner would never succeed Sir Keir.” – Mail on Sunday
- Labour’s radical housing plan will be smart, tailored and strategic – Angela Rayner, The Observer
Other political news
- Elections today in Venezuela – BBC
- Tommy Robinson “faces jail” after playing ‘libellous’ film to London protesters – Sunday Telegraph
- BBC bosses accused of lobbying for £1bn rise in licence fee funds – Mail on Sunday
- Trump seeks crypto vote with Bitcoin vow – Sunday Telegraph
- Christians slam Paris Olympics for woke parody of the Last Supper – Mail on Sunday
- Lib Dems admit discriminating against gender-critical candidate – Sunday Telegraph
- Labour backs spending £88 billion “to end river pollution scandal” – Mail on Sunday
- Assisted dying bill introduced in Parliament – BBC
- Tripled council tax on second homes in Tenby has had ‘disastrous’ unintended consequences – Sunday Times
- New Manchester Airport video shows police being punched moments before man was kicked by cop – The Sun on Sunday
- 14 members of Labour’s frontbench have together blocked the building of tens of thousands of homes in their constituencies – Mail on Sunday
- Esther McVey warns Labour will farm out future pandemic decisions to WHO – Sunday Telegraph
- Israel hits Hezbollah targets after football pitch attack kills 12 young people – BBC
- Civil servants must be allowed to work from home, say unions – Sunday Telegraph
Wallace: Politicians will resist the need to spend more on defence
“I ring-fenced £30billion to modernise the Army by 2030. Not long after I left office last year, that ring fence was removed, with £800million plundered from the budget. Our adversaries sense Britain’s lack of resolve, and recognise that for many years we have been raiding our defence budget to fund healthcare, roads and benefits. All these, as well as international aid, have left our forces hollowed out and ill-equipped. As Security Minister and Secretary of State for Defence from 2016 to 2023. Downing Street didn’t like me to talk about the growing threat. Today’s No10 will be no different – possibly worse. That’s because if the public knew the true level of danger, Cabinet might have to make uncomfortable decisions. They might have to cut domestic budgets. The Treasury hates defence. To it, defence of the realm means long-term commitments and tough choices. No other department in Whitehall has suffered like this – certainly not the NHS, which sometimes got twice yearly increases despite failing to boost productivity.” – Ben Wallace, Mail on Sunday
News in brief
- The Olympics can’t make Macron’s troubles disappear – Robert Tombs, The Spectator
- Blaming the regulator won’t fix the NHS – Henry Hill, CapX
- Israel off the leash – David Smith, The Critic
- The grizzly truth about the West. We have forgotten the basic principles of civilisation – Jacob Howland, Unherd
- Will the Greens be the Reform of the left? – John McTernan, The House magazine
