“Theresa May has the support of the majority of the Conservative party if she chooses to sack ministers and enforce discipline on her feuding cabinet, after a weekend of leadership manoeuvres and poisonous leaks. A message has been sent to the prime minister by the executive of the 1922 committee, which represents the parliamentary party, saying she has its support to stay on and deliver Brexit in March 2019. “The PM has the strong support of Tory MPs – she can enforce cabinet discipline however she thinks is appropriate,” said one senior Conservative. “We will be cheering her on.”” – FT
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“Philip Hammond has been accused of trying to ‘frustrate’ Brexit by a Cabinet rival amid a major feud at the heart of the Tory party, according to reports. Theresa May has been urged to sack feuding ministers in a bid to instil discipline as civil war breaks out among top-tier Conservatives. Hammond yesterday accused rival ministers of leaking details of conversations about public sector pay, in a plot against him. But a fellow Cabinet member told The Telegraph that the Chancellor was treating pro-Leave ministers like ‘pirates who have taken him prisoner’.” – Daily Mail
>Today: ToryDiary: If more Cabinet members had won their seats from Labour, perhaps it would leak just a little bit less
>Yesterday:
“David Davis will warn European Union chiefs today that they “cannot pick the referee” to decide legal disputes after Brexit. As the second round of negotiations start, the Brexit Secretary will make it clear that trying to force Britain to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice is unacceptable. Prime Minister Theresa May made getting rid of Brussels rule via the Court a “red line issue” in a speech in January. But figures in Brussels including European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have refused to accept Britain’s desire to take back control.” – Daily Express
Gibraltar:
Labour:
>Yesterday: Video: WATCH: Blair on Brexit – “it’s absolutely necessary that it doesn’t happen”
“As it turns out, Cabinet ministers aren’t so different from dogs. With Theresa May humbled by the general election, the Cabinet is now in an open war with itself. It’s not a pretty sight. Ministers are sending out “friends” to brief against one another and accusing their colleagues of skulduggery on Sunday chat shows. The conflict supposedly revolves around enormous policy differences between great and powerful rivals. The truth, though, is that the Government’s warring factions are not as far apart as they look. Their power struggle is about personalities, not policies, and it is threatening to turn Brexit into a disaster.” – Daily Telegraph
Editorial:
>Today: Andrew Green in Comment: A soft Brexit would mean mass immigration – of over 100,000 people a year net until the late 2030s
“Philip Hammond was challenged over whether he could live on a hospital cleaner’s wage today as he faced a backlash over claims he said public sector workers were ‘overpaid’. The Chancellor refused to say whether he had made the incendiary comment at a Cabinet meeting last week. But he defiantly stuck to his guns by pointing to the comparatively generous pensions and benefits enjoyed by state employees. He also insisted the government would stick to its task of tackling the deficit, warning that splurging on big salary rises would risk jobs. However, he was confronted with a £297-a-week pay slip from a hospital cleaner during the appearance on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show.” – Daily Mail
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“Acid is to be classified as a dangerous weapon following a spate of attacks. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said those convicted of throwing it at people would ‘feel the full force of the law’ and could be given life sentences. Her announcement follows a huge increase in the number of attacks. Five delivery riders on mopeds were targeted during one rampage in London on Thursday, leaving two with life-changing injuries.” – Daily Mail
“Conservatives are calling for their own version of Momentum to take on the resurgent left. Robert Halfon, the MP for Harlow and a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said the Tories faced “potential annihilation” in the next general election unless they “radically change our party and build a younger right-of-centre support base”. He said many Conservatives believed that the solution was a Tory version of Momentum, the hard-left activist group that grew out of Jeremy Corbyn’s 2015 Labour leadership campaign. It campaigned in marginal seats across the UK during the general election and is now thought to have about 25,000 members.” – The Times (£)
>Today: Binita Mehta-Parmar and Gillian Keegan in Local Government: How can Conservatives get more women as councillors?
>Yesterday: Bernard Jenkin MP in Comment: Our Party must define its mission with a Statement of Values
“John McDonnell today insisted Labour has a ‘real ambition’ to write off £100 billion of student debt as well as abolishing fees. The shadow chancellor admitted it would cost a ‘lot of money’ to cancel the debts already run up by students. But he insisted the party stood by the seemingly off-the-cuff pledge made by Jeremy Corbyn during the election campaign. As Labour courted young voters in the run-up to the vote, Mr Corbyn doubled down on his promise to spend more than £10 billion a year scrapping fees.” – Daily Mail
>Yesterday: Daniel Downes in Comment: The Conservatives must share the blame for losing the youth vote
“Jeremy Corbyn has accused Tory MPs of ‘crying crocodile tears’ after the Grenfell Tower disaster and recent terror attacks while paying tribute to the Tolpuddle Martyrs. He also blasted the Tories for voting against a Labour amendment which proposed ending the public sector pay freeze at the beginning of this Parliament. Speaking today at a ceremony to commemorate the Martyrs – who in the 19th century were punished for forming what is thought to be the first trade union – a furious Mr Corbyn said: ‘The DUP and the Tories got together and voted down our proposal – so they wish to continue that public sector pay cap.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
“A self-confessed IRA bomber should be extradited to Britain to face justice, MPs urged yesterday. They spoke out after republican terrorist Michael Christopher Hayes, 69, broke decades of silence to admit being part of the cell that killed 21 people in 1974 by planting bombs in two Birmingham pubs. The atrocity was compounded when six men were wrongly convicted for the crime and imprisoned for almost two decades. Bombmaker Hayes last week told the BBC he accepted ‘collective responsibility’ for all IRA attacks in Britain, and said he was sorry innocent people were killed.” – Daily Mail
“A wave of intimidation and abuse directed at parliamentary candidates has taken British politics to a ‘tipping point’, the chairman of the standards watchdog has warned. Lord Bew said a rise in personal attacks and threats against politicians during the election campaign risked driving candidates out of public life. MPs debated the growing issue last week – with many sharing horrifying personal experiences of abuse. An all-party parliamentary inquiry highlighted complaints from Tory former minister Andrew Percy, a convert to Judaism, that he had been called ‘Zionist scum’. It found racism and bigotry have been ‘on the rise’ at times since the 2015 general election – with hard-left factions often to blame.” – Daily Mail
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