‘Theresa May set out her vision for post-Brexit Britain today, pledging a country run for ‘ordinary working families’ instead of the ‘international elite’. Delivering her keynote speech to Tory conference in Birmingham, the Prime Minister insisted the historic result in June was a ‘quiet revolution’ and offered a ‘once in a generation chance to change the direction of our country for good’. Using the platform to make a bold pitch for the political centre ground nearly three months after taking charge of Downing Street, Mrs May made no bones about her disdain for snobbishness among the ruling class.’ – Daily Mail
Editorials
>Today:
>Yesterday:
‘Mrs May’s speech suggested that savers and those unable to get on the housing ladder will receive help. The “emergency medicine” of low interest rates and quantitative easing (QE) had bad side-effects, she said. “People with assets have got richer. People without them have suffered. People with mortgages have found their debts cheaper. People with savings have found themselves poorer.” Appealing to a “new centre ground”, she paid tribute to David Cameron and George Osborne but said that it was time the Tories “changed again” and criticised loose monetary policy. The prime minister’s spokeswoman denied that she was putting pressure on the Bank of England, which recently announced another £50 billion round of QE, to end the programme.’ – The Times (£)
Comment
>Yesterday:
‘Philip Hammond will use his Autumn Statement to increase spending on infrastructure, signalling a shift in emphasis from a reliance on ultra-cheap money to boost the economy, according to a senior ally of Prime Minister Theresa May. George Freeman, head of Mrs May’s policy board, repeated Mrs May’s concerns about the “bad side effects” of the BoE’s policy of low interest rates and quantitative easing, and said the government was ready to borrow cheaply to pay for infrastructure…He said infrastructure projects were set to be boosted by Mr Hammond in his Autumn Statement on November 23 because the government could borrow money cheaply.’ – FT
‘Amber Rudd denied that she was racist after a backlash over plans to force companies to disclose how many foreign workers they employ. The home secretary was accused of xenophobia by politicians, business leaders and a ballerina, among others, but insisted that she would press ahead with consulting industry on the proposal. Challenged over whether she was “sanctioning a form of racism”, Ms Rudd said: “Isn’t that disgraceful, really? The fact is, we should be able to have a conversation about immigration. “We should be able to have a conversation about what skills we want to have in the UK, where we need to go out of the UK in order to recruit them, in order to help businesses, in order to boost our economy.”’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s Conference Diary: This lamentable rhetoric will in time produce a reaction
‘European nationals will “absolutely 100 per cent” be allowed to stay after Britain leaves the EU, the Brexit secretary has said. David Davis told a fringe event on Tuesday that the government had “no intention of deporting people or treating people who, through no fault of their own, are here during the middle of a transition”. “What we have to do is also keep in mind the rights of British citizens abroad and so we’ll fix the whole thing together and I’m absolutely 100 per cent sure we’ll be able to do that and there will be no difficulty for anybody,” he said.’ – The Times (£)
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: The Conservative Party, the practiced political survivor, adapts again
‘On the “hard Brexit” fringe of the Cabinet, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is pushing for a clean break from the customs union to give the UK the maximum ability to strike trade deals elsewhere in the world. But he is pitted against Chancellor Philip Hammond and, increasingly, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, The Sun has been told. Both Tory heavyweights have serious fears over the extra costs that delays and tariffs will inflict on British businesses and jobs. One Cabinet minister told The Sun: “In my view, there is no way Liam and Philip can ever agree on this. “They are ideologically too far apart, and one of them will end up walking.” The senior minister added: “Who will it be? Liam in my view, because Prime Ministers can’t lose their Chancellors.”’ – The Sun (£)
‘Which country has the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe decided to accuse of ‘anti-foreigner sentiment’? You guessed it. The European Commission on Racism and Intolerance, which reports to the Council, says it is alarmed at the ‘intolerant political discourse in the UK, particularly focusing on immigration’. Seriously? Political discourse in the UK? Let’s compare how politicians talk here with what passes unremarked in other EU states. Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka says: ‘To be honest, we don’t want a large Muslim population here.’ His Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, is just as blunt: ‘Islam has no place in Slovakia.’ In France, Nicolas Sarkozy calls Islamic dress ‘a provocation’, and promises laws against it. (And, of course, a ban on the wearing of burkas on French beaches sparked huge rows over the summer.)’ – Daniel Hannan, Daily Mail
‘Mr Fallon cut a steel plate to mark the start of work on four Successor boats which are part of the £41billion renewal of Trident. He said the state-of-the-art subs, being built by BAE Systems, were “as sophisticated as a space shuttle”. Each one is the size of three Olympic swimming pools and takes up to 11 years to build. Sir Michael said the subs – which are replacing the ageing Vanguard vessels – were vital to defend Britain as the world becomes “a darker and more dangerous place”.’ – The Sun (£)
‘Education Secretary Justine Greening has refused to rule out resigning if Heathrow airport is given the green light to expand. Miss Greening’s Putney constituency, in south-west London, is near the airport and she has vowed to oppose a third runway. The Cabinet minister told BBC 5 live’s Emma Barnett that she would continue to fight against Heathrow being the designated site for expansion in the South East…When asked by the BBC if her position in Cabinet would be ‘untenable’ if the decision went against her, the minister simply said the scenario was ‘hypothetical’.’ – Daily Mail
‘Jeremy Corbyn toyed with progressive patriotism in his leader’s speech; he should persist with that and he must be positive. For as Labour thinker Jon Cruddas has pointed out, the party wins when it presents an optimistic vision of national reconstruction. There is anti-establishment fury. It underpinned the Brexit result and Labour must tap into it. But unlike the Tories, it must direct this towards the correct targets, the vested interests who are really holding Britain back. Labour was born of class politics, whose re-emergence is an opportunity. But if Labour fails to grasp it, be sure that the populist right will.’ – Owen Jones, The Guardian
‘A party spokesman said that the national executive committee would meet on October 17 to agree the rules of the contest. The aim was to have a new leader by the beginning of December. Last night Steven Woolfe, Ukip’s migration spokesman, and Raheem Kassam, Mr Farage’s former chief adviser, became the first contenders to throw their hats into the ring. Mr Woolfe, an ally of Mr Farage who has the support of the party donor Arron Banks, was installed as the bookmakers’ favourite after saying that he would run. It also emerged that the MEP for the North West had “considered very carefully” defecting to the Tories.’ – The Times (£)