Jenrick says he would welcome Johnson back into Parliament
“Robert Jenrick has said he would include Boris Johnson in his Cabinet if he became Tory leader and returned the party to power. Mr Johnson, the former prime minister, left Downing Street in September 2022 and quit as an MP last June, claiming that a Commons inquiry was determined to find him guilty over partygate. In an interview with The Telegraph’s Politics Newsletter, Mr Jenrick said: “With respect to Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party right now needs all of its talent involved. And so if Boris wanted to return to Parliament, I would be pleased to welcome him.” … Mr Jenrick, who resigned as Mr Sunak’s immigration minister at the end of last year, also said multiculturalism was not working, amid record levels of net migration and concerns around the rise of sectarian politics.” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday:
Tax breaks for young could help Tories avoid electoral extinction, says leadership hopeful
“The Conservatives must give young people tax breaks to help them buy a home if the party is to avoid electoral extinction, Mel Stride has said. Writing for The Telegraph, the Tory leadership candidate said the lack of young Conservative voters was now an “existential threat” for the party. The shadow work and pensions secretary has put forward a proposal for a “Headstart” scheme under which a person in their first job would see their first £5,000 of National Insurance paid not to HMRC but into a personal savings pot. This could be invested in an ISA account and used towards a deposit on a first home. Mr Stride said far fewer younger people were being drawn to the Tories than they were during Margaret Thatcher’s heyday.” – Daily Telegraph
- Tugendhat is top in poll of Tory environmentalists – Daily Express
>Yesterday: Joanna Reeves in Comment: We deserved a contest – so I’m standing for the chairmanship of the National Conservative Convention
Mel Stride: The Tories cannot survive without the youth vote
“It could be a way of illustrating to young workers the value of lower taxes and property ownership. We will never rebuild the broad-based support we need to win the next election without a compelling offer to all generations. And we need a big bold offer to younger generations covering a number of policy areas. I’d like to bring the average age of a Tory voter right down to 41, the UK average age, so we are truly representing the nation we seek to serve. The decline of Conservative support among the young is not an inevitability – just look at what Pierre Poilievre has achieved in Canada. But if we fail to address it, our Party will struggle to recover.” – Daily Telegraph
- Tugendhat looks the part but would he be ready? – Stephen Bush, FT
- Starmer’s errors mean Tories must gear up – Iain Martin, The Times
>Today:
Hunt attacks Reeves’ economic ‘con’ that she will use to hike taxes
“Rachel Reeves has “no reason or excuse to raise taxes” and is presiding over an “economic con”, Jeremy Hunt has declared. The Chancellor is set to hike inheritance tax and capital gains tax in the October Budget after fuelling Government borrowing costs with her public sector pay bonanza. Ms Reeves is expected to ignore better-than-expected growth figures, improving retail sales and low inflation and inflict more pain on cash-strapped families… Labour’s economic credibility has been heavily questioned since the Chancellor claimed there was a £22bn black hole in the public finances – only to then hand out inflation-busting pay rises to millions of workers.” – Daily Express
- Labour tax rises will be complete and total betrayal of the British public – Jeremy Hunt MP, Daily Express
Editorial:
- The Government should not place political appointees in the permanent Civil Service – The Times
>Yesterday:
Unions push for public sector ‘pay restoration’ in challenge to Labour
“The Trades Union Congress is expected to press Britain’s new Labour government for “pay restoration” to make up for a decade of public sector real-terms salary cuts. The demand adds to strains between Labour and its union backers after a series of pay deals between Sir Keir Starmer’s administration and striking workers in sectors ranging from healthcare to rail. Matt Wrack, head of the Fire Brigades Union — who currently holds the revolving presidency of the TUC – told the FT he expected delegates at next month’s annual meeting of the umbrella group to back a demand for broader above-inflation pay rises. The motion, championed by the PCS union, which represents nearly 200,000 public sector workers, says pay levels have fallen by an average of 1.5 per cent per year since 2011.” – FT
- New wave of strikes looms as pay deals spur unions to bargain harder – FT
Comment:
- Labour’s trade union summer of love will soon sour – Robert Shrimsley, FT
- Rayner’s ambition has left Starmer facing nightmare with pensioners while unions believe they run Britain – Dan Hodges, Daily Mail
Reeves ‘faces hard choices’ as borrowing higher than expected
“Rachel Reeves has been warned that she faces tough choices in October’s budget, as borrowing reached £3 billion more than expected last month due to the previous government’s public sector pay rises. New data released on Wednesday morning showed public sector net borrowing stood at £3.1 billion last month – £1.8 billion more than a year ago and the highest July borrowing since 2021. While day-to-day spending by central government on goods and services between April and July was £140 billion, up by 5 per cent on the same months in 2023. It is also some £6 billion above the forecast for those months in the March budget. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) linked the higher levels of borrowing to “strong growth in public sector pay”.” – The Times
- Jobs tax looms after £5bn borrowing surge – Daily Telegraph
- Chancellor sets her sights on levy hikes in October – Daily Mail
- Income tax receipts hit highest July figure in 16 years – The Times
- State pensioners’ tax bills to be written off by HMRC – Daily Telegraph
More:
- Welsh Labour minister finally admits that Winter Fuel change risks pensioner poverty hike – Daily Express
- Private school leaders demand more time from Treasury over VAT… – The Times
- …as they warn of a ‘bow wave’ of pupils surging into the state sector – Daily Mail
- Taxman pockets record £3bn from NHS backlog – Daily Telegraph
- Ports group warns of ‘regulatory drag’ on new green infrastructure – FT
Analysis:
- Budget blame game or reassurance? The dilemma facing Reeves – The Times
- What personal tax rises might the Chancellor introduce to ease the deficit? – The Guardian
Editorial:
Police fear further action to tackle prison overcrowding will leave them ‘unable to make arrests’
“Police have warned the Government may need to introduce further emergency measures to tackle the UK’s prison overcrowding crisis which could leave forces ‘unable to make arrests’. Senior officers believe there is a risk that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) may have to go beyond the current measures – known as Operation Early Dawn – and bring in the contingency plan Operation Brinker. Operation Brinker would mean bringing in a ‘one-in, one-out system’ whereby the prison service would have to report on how many places it had available each day. Defendants would be held in police cells for longer than 24 hours and they could not be summoned to a magistrates’ court until a space in prison becomes available, if they are remanded into custody. As a result, suspects could be driven around the country in secure fans to find a free cell.” – Daily Mail
- UK aims to ease prison pressure by hiring former convicts – FT
More:
- Rape suspects left to roam streets as investigators sent to football matches instead – Daily Express
- Almost three in four Britons worried about far right after riots – The Guardian
>Yesterday:
Immigration: Home Office wants to tackle criminal networks ‘at source’…
“British officers could be based in Iraq to snare Channel migrant smuggling gangs, the Daily Express understands. The Home Office wants to “go after” the criminal networks “at source” and lead international operations. Iraqi Kurdish smuggling gangs control most of the beaches and camps in Northern France, it is understood, meaning officials want to ramp up National Crime Agency operations in the smugglers’ home towns. Iraqi Kurdish gangs control migrant smuggling operations from Calais to Dunkirk, this newspaper understands, with areas split up according to where the criminals are from, such as Erbil, Sulaimaniya, Ranya and Sharazoor. Criminals from Ranya are said to control a large part of the territory between Calais and Dunkirk.” – Daily Express
- Ex-Border Force chief says Labour needs a replacement for Rwanda scheme – The Times
- Home Secretary’s benchmark for removals is the lowest annual total in almost two decades… – Daily Telegraph
- ..but department’s spending on consultants rose tenfold during last parliament – FT
Comment:
- If we want to smash those international gangs, we have to go after them at source – Angela Eage MP, Daily Express
- Cooper’s new migrant plan makes me fear the worst – Zoe Williams, The Guardian
…as free movement curbs could be relaxed under EU reset
“Ministers are prepared to allow young Europeans to come and live and work in Britain as part of a wider reset of relations with Brussels after Brexit. Labour has repeatedly insisted that it has “no plans” to agree a youth mobility scheme that could give young citizens of EU members states the right to work in the UK for the first time since Brexit. But government sources have told The Times that ministers privately recognised that they would have to “give ground” on the issue as their opposition would be a stumbling block to a broader reset of relations. The move could see EU nationals under the age of 30 being allowed to live and work in the UK for up to three years with a reciprocal arrangement for UK citizens.” – The Times
More teens should think about becoming brickies or electricians, says Education Secretary
“More teens should think about becoming brickies or sparkies, says the Education Secretary on GCSE results day. Bridget Phillipson ripped into the Tories for turning kids into “Zoom guinea pigs” during the pandemic with little support. She also blamed her predecessors for the crumbling concrete crisis – which forced students into makeshift classrooms in portacabins. Writing in The Sun, she praised pupils for their hard work in tough times and vowed to turn things around. Backing The Sun’s Builder Better Britain campaign, she stressed the urgent need for “good, well-paid trades” that keep the country moving.” – The Sun
- Bosses must play a part in making T-levels work – Tim Campbell, The Times
- Stop sneering at kids who don’t want to go to uni; learning a trade is as good if not better – Bridget Phillipson, The Sun
>Yesterday: Andrew Griffith MP in Comment: Technology will save us – but only if Labour lets it
Labour gives the green light to new 20mph zones
“Ministers are to reverse Tory plans to clamp down on councils that want to create further 20mph speed limit zones and low traffic neighbourhoods. Louise Haigh, the transport secretary, said local authorities would have her “absolute support” to introduce the schemes in towns and cities. They have often prompted local opposition. She pledged to scrap plans by the previous government that would have restricted councils’ ability to introduce new 20mph zones and make it harder to bring in new low traffic neighbourhoods. She also accused the Conservatives of stoking “really horrific culture wars” with their clampdown on anti-motorist measures, saying that decisions were best taken locally.” – The Times
- UK needs Europe-style private funding for transport projects, review says – FT
Editorial:
- Haigh must do her duty and put her foot down on 20mph zones – The Sun
Farage tightens grip on Reform UK as chief executive forced out
“Nigel Farage has tightened his grip on Reform UK with the departure of the party’s long-serving chief executive. Paul Oakden, who had served as chief executive since Reform was known as the Brexit Party, is said to have been asked to step aside, with Farage taking on Oakden’s shares. Richard Tice, the former party leader and MP for Boston and Skegness, owns 33 per cent of the shares in Reform, which is a private limited company. Companies House shows that Oakden ceased his role on August 12. A Reform spokesman said that the party had decided to “sunset” the chief executive role as part of a shake-up in the party’s structure. Ben Habib, who was removed as one of the party’s deputy leaders in the restructuring, told Times Radio that he feared for the future of Reform if Farage continued to hold control.” – The Times
- Sacked deputy leader says party is ‘not democratic’ – Daily Express
More:
- Farage set to make third visit to US in two months since elected as an MP – The Guardian
News in Brief:
- The Conservative Party needs a hero – David Lee Evans, UnHerd
- Government faces a winter of discontent over fuel payment cuts – George Eaton, New Statesman
- Farage’s next move in his plan to destroy the Tories – James Heale, The Spectator
- ‘Social justice’ is damaging education – John Armstrong, The Critic
- Have we seen the last of the Ulster Unionists? – Owen Polley, CapX
