“The Tory leader of Kensington and Chelsea council is to step down along with his deputy after weeks of criticism over the response to the Grenfell Tower fire, culminating in a bungled attempt to hold a meeting about the blaze in private. Nicholas Paget-Brown, who became the focus of protests over the Conservative-run authority’s actions before and after the deadly inferno, said he was departing to accept some responsibility for “perceived failings” by the council. It follows condemnation from both Downing Street and the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, after Paget-Brown’s decision to call off the first post-fire council cabinet meeting when the high court ruled he could not stop journalists from attending it after a legal challenge led by the Guardian.” – The Guardian
>Today: ToryDiary: Paget-Brown was right to resign
“London’s mayor has urged Theresa May to appoint commissioners to run Kensington and Chelsea council after its leader resigned over the Grenfell Tower fire. Sadiq Khan welcomed Nicholas Paget-Brown’s decision to stand down, but said public trust could not be restored by other members of the council. He said residents “quite rightly feel desperately neglected”.” – BBC
“The wage bill at the foreign aid department has soared by 40 per cent in seven years. It now stands at £133 million – £38 million up on 2010 when David Cameron took power. His target of diverting 0.7 per cent of national income abroad saw spending reach £13.3 billion last year. The huge sums were revealed as a Tory former minister said part of the aid budget should instead go on pay rises for police and nurses…..Robert Halfon, who was sacked from his frontbench role by Theresa May after the election, said the 1 per cent pay cap should be scrapped.” – Daily Mail
>Today: Richard Short on Comment: There is a way to lift the pay cap – without caving in to Labour’s plan and putting jobs at risk
“Theresa May risks crippling the economy unless the City of London is prioritised immediately in Brexit talks, senior City sources warned on Friday. There are concerns that a weakened Prime Minister will shy away from putting financial services, the backbone of the economy, at the forefront of the agenda as the UK starts its negotiations with Brussels. Instead, they believe the Government is prioritising sectors such as car-making or fisheries, which the public regard as more important than banking or financial services but that employ fewer people and generate less tax.” – Daily Telegraph
“Theresa May has made David Davis’s job more difficult by setting “red lines” for him in Brexit talks, his ex-chief of staff has told the BBC. James Chapman said the Brexit secretary had been “hamstrung” by the prime minister’s stance on the European Court of Justice (ECJ), among other things. He said Mrs May would not get a Brexit deal through Parliament unless she showed more “flexibility”. Downing Street and the Department for Exiting the EU declined to comment. Mrs May has insisted the ECJ will have no jurisdiction over the UK.” – BBC
Tories need a distinctive message for the young says Green
“The Conservatives must “change hard” to win over young voters who backed Labour in June’s general election, Theresa May’s most senior minister is to warn. Damian Green will tell Tories they must modernise after losing their majority in an election where they trailed Labour by 30% among voters aged 18-35. The First Secretary of State will tell Conservatives to create a “distinctive” message for “excluded voters”….Speaking at the Bright Blue liberal conservative think-tank’s conference, Mr Green will discuss a new “city Conservatism” to woo young, metropolitan voters.” – BBC
>Yesterday: Nick de Bois on Comment: A bold offer on housing will show voters whose side the Conservatives are on
“The absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland “cannot continue for much longer,” Secretary of State James Brokenshire has said. He spoke after another day of talks between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin ended with no deal. Theresa May phoned DUP leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin’s northern leader, Michelle O’Neill on Friday evening. The PM told them her government was committed to doing all it could to help parties reach a successful conclusion.” – BBC
“Boris Johnson has urged action against the Syrian regime after a watchdog ruled an attack that killed more than 90 people used sarin nerve gas. The foreign secretary said he had “no doubt” President’s Bashar al-Assad’s government was behind April’s atrocity. Russia blocked a UK-backed move at the United Nations to condemn the attack. Mr Johnson is now appealing to world leaders to “unite behind the need to hold those responsible to account” by imposing further sanctions.” – BBC
“That Patrick McLoughlin, the party chairman, is still in place doesn’t make things easier. I understand that McLoughlin did the honourable thing after the election and offered to go but Theresa May talked him into staying. This was a mistake. McLoughlin’s presence makes it harder for both staff and any internal reviews to be brutally honest about what went wrong. The first thing the Tories need to address is why their campaigns are like oil tankers, taking far too long to change course. Those who came to CCHQ from Vote Leave were shocked by how lumbering the Tory effort was.” – James Forsyth, The Sun
“During the last general election campaign Tory MP Sheryll Murray was subjected to an unparalleled outpouring of sheer vitriol and exceptionally vile personal abuse….Still, she says, other MPs have it worse. Indeed, Dr Sarah Wollaston, a friend and fellow West Country Conservative MP (for Totnes, Devon), was subjected to similar vilification and threats.” – Daily Mail
“Ruth Davidson has publicly challenged the Democratic Unionist Party to drop its opposition to gay marriage, revealing that she has personally lobbied the party’s leader Arlene Foster over the issue. The Scottish Conservative leader’s intervention will increase the pressure on Theresa May to press for a change in the law in Northern Ireland, which is the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage is still illegal.” – The Scotsman
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Davidson puts more clear blue water between the Tories and DUP on gay marriage
“Conservative MPs should boycott Channel 4 News because of the allegedly anti-Tory bias of its presenter Jon Snow, a former minister has said. David Jones, who until the election was a Brexit minister, said he could see “no reason for any Conservative MP to have any professional dealings with him”. Tory MPs are incensed after Mr Snow, 69, was accused of joining in a chant of “f— the Tories” whilst he was at the Glastonbury music festival.” – Daily Telegraph
“Labour MPs who back staying in the EU single market have vowed to keep the pressure up on the government and their own leadership in the Brexit process. Fifty Labour MPs defied Jeremy Corbyn’s orders and backed single market membership in a vote on Thursday. Three of them were subsequently sacked as frontbenchers. The BBC understands the rebels think up to 90 Labour MPs back their cause and they could work with Tory MPs who also want a “soft Brexit” in future votes.” – BBC
>Yesterday: LeftWatch: Slaughter slaughtered. Corbyn sacks him – and two other frontbenchers for joining a 50 Labour MP-strong anti-Brexit revolt
“Jeremy Corbyn is facing a growing mutiny over Brexit as his allies plot to tighten their grip on Labour in the wake of the party’s election advance. The leader has been emboldened after he defied expectations by gaining seats on June 8, with left-wingers hoping to exploit the momentum to push through key changes to the party’s rules. This is set to include Mr Corbyn handing more seats on the party’s ruling National Executive Committee to his left-wing allies.” – Daily Mail
“Amid concerns that Labour support was boosted by illegal double voting by students and abuse of postal voting, Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom told MPs there was a need to “investigate” abuse of the democratic process. Ms Leadsom was responding to a concern raised by Wellingborough Tory MP Peter Bone who said that boasts by Leftwing students of voting where they went to university and in their home constituencies had been posted online.” – Daily Express
“US President Donald Trump says that years of “strategic patience” with North Korea have failed and it is now time for a “determined response”. “Together we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime,” Mr Trump said at a press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Mr Trump called on North Korea to “choose a better path… quickly”. Separately, Mr Moon said that it was necessary to continue to engage in dialogue with North Korean leaders.” – BBC
“The amazing success of Theresa May when she became Prime Minister last year was that she grasped the message from the referendum result that the Conservatives should cease to be the party of the status quo. The bitter failure of the election campaign was that she seemed to forget this and make herself the “no change” candidate against batty, bearded Jezza. Somewhere inside the Conservative psyche, there is an element that confuses the electorate with the mob. If it is really the way you feel, you should indeed try to stay inside the EU, because its entire structure is designed to favour a “wise” elite and keep the grubby crowds at bay. If you believe in parliamentary democracy, however, you will believe that voters will listen to reason, if only you bestir yourself to trust them. Then Jeremy Corbyn will lose.” – Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph
“Borrowing has continued to increase. George Osborne played secret soft cop to his own public hard cop. Philip Hammond needs to do it the other way round. Austerity is now a dirty word yet the need to keep a firm grip on the public finances has never been greater. Mr Hammond therefore needs to play public soft cop to his own secret hard cop. The talk should be of a Tory change of heart. The headlines should be of loosened belts, of angry but isolated fiscal hawks on the backbenches, and of a listening chancellor.” – Matthew Parris, The Times(£)
“George Osborne’s son campaigned for Lib Dem Vince Cable during the election campaign, the party leadership favourite has revealed. Sir Vince regained his Twickenham seat which he lost to Conservative Tania Mathias at the 2015 election, with the assistance of sixteen year old Luke Osborne. “He came and helped us once or twice and it was a nice thing,” Sir Vince said in an interview with Politics Home. “It reflects very well on George Osborne that he saw the whole thing in good spirits.” – Independent