Kemi Badenoch claims reaction to ‘mild gag’ about 10% of civil servants worthy of imprisonment shows it can ‘scare the left’
You might expect a minister who served under Boris Johnson or Liz Truss to think twice about criticizing “unserious politicians”. However, Conservative Party leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch began writing about the Sue Gray scandal in the Daily Mail. she says:
It’s time to get serious. We are ruled by unscrupulous politicians and Sue Gray’s resignation yesterday is part of that pattern.
In the article, Mr Badenoch said he would prevent Mr Gray, a former civil servant when he was equalities minister, from using powers never before used under Scottish law to block the Scottish Government’s gender recognition reform bill. He says he tried. she says:
When I was working with Sue Gray (whom I really like, by the way), she tried to pressure me to stop opposing the SNP’s crazy gender recognition bill. This was the very bill that, unless blocked by Westminster, would allow 16-year-olds to “self-identify” as the opposite sex without the need for a medical diagnosis.
Many ministers may have succumbed to such pressure from senior bureaucrats. However, I remained resolute. For me, this was a matter of principle, not politics.
Mr Badenoch’s candidacy for the Conservative Party leadership began this week after Tory MPs voted on Wednesday and Thursday to eliminate two candidates, leaving only two candidates on the parliamentary ballot paper. Since it is about oneself, there is a high possibility that it will be settled. , and her leadership credentials are not grey.
She said her comment at last week’s Conservative party conference that up to 10% of civil servants “should be in jail” was just a “light joke” and the fact it wasn’t taken that way frightens her. He claimed that it shows that. left.
At a Conservative party conference, I made a light-hearted joke about how some civil servants are so bad at their jobs that they should be jailed, but of course some humorless headlines didn’t get the joke. Ta.
But this kind of false reporting always happens to people who hold beliefs that scare leftists. That is why we need an outspoken leader who is calm under pressure and has a clear vision and direction for the party and the country.
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John Healy points to Liz Truss’ experience and defends decision not to ‘rush’ the budget
In an interview with the Today programme, Defense Secretary John Healy rejected claims by Alastair Campbell and John McTernan that the budget delay was a mistake. (See 9:21am.) When I asked him this, he replied:
We sat down with Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng to see what happens when you rush your budget. So you need to do this properly.
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Budget delays were a ‘miscalculation’, say Brightrights, as Starmer begins reset following Sue Gray’s departure
good morning. Opposition parties love to blame prime ministers who are struggling to make a fresh start, and you can hear that argument every time a big speech is given after a bad week. But what we are seeing from Keir Starmer this week is a real fresh start, sparked by the realization that things are not going well. This is a big moment for the government, but it won’t be clear for some time how much of a difference it will make.
This is the story of our night.
And here is Pippa Crellard’s analysis.
Secretary of Defense John Healey, the cabinet member in charge of the morning briefing, tried to downplay the significance of Sue Gray overtaking Liz Truss as the 10th most powerful woman at the time, but said the gap was not that big. It wasn’t. Asked on LBC if the government was in crisis, Mr Healy said: “I would describe this as the new government getting to work.”
Thankfully, other veterans of the New Labor era had far more frank, honest and interesting responses when asked for their opinions in interviews this morning. They argue that while the crisis is not apocalyptic, Starmer needs to do a better job of communicating what the government stands for and is doing.
(One of yesterday’s appointments was former Daily Mirror reporter James Lyons as head of strategic communications, which could make a difference. As a lobby journalist, he excels at writing strong copy. (It’s hard to imagine that the giveaway story would last this long without a firm rebuttal, although it has been reported 10 times this summer if he had been in office.)
But two of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s key advisers also said one of Starmer’s big mistakes was waiting so long for a budget. Alastair Campbell, No. 10, Prime Minister Blair’s communications director and now co-host of the podcast Rest is Politics, told the Today programme:
The most important thing to understand is that in today’s world, when it comes to strategy and strategic communication, you need to formulate, execute, and explain your strategy all at once.
And I think the budget point is very important.
When Margaret Thatcher won in 1979, Geoffrey Howe tabled the Budget five weeks after the election. Gordon Brown introduced his budget in 1997 eight weeks after the election. David Cameron and (George) Osborne in 2010 – 6 weeks.
We have to wait almost 16 weeks after the election. I think that creates a feeling among people that they don’t really understand what the government is saying.
There are important strategic pillars when a new government is formed, the King’s speech, the party conference… and then there is the budget. And budget is probably the most important of them.
Mr Campbell said there was definitely a “mistake” that led to yesterday’s events. However, in response to a question from presenter Mishal Hussain, he said: “You say we’ve come to this as if everything was a complete and irreparable shambles, but I don’t think that’s the case.” Better communication is essential, he said:
The government is more difficult than the opposition. And government is not just about providing policy and change technically. It’s about having a constant, endless, never-ending conversation with the country about what we’re going to do for the country. And I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that most of that part is missing.
In a separate interview with Times Radio, John McTernan, Blair’s 10th-ranking political secretary, said in a separate interview with Times Radio that the long budget delay was a “terrible miscalculation”. As a result, he said, it was defined in the minds of the people that the government had decided to reduce winter fuel costs. The government did not control the press, he said.
The government has completely lost control, control over its operations, control over the media network, and no longer has control over communications.
And that’s because they lacked the political narrative, the political drive and momentum that would lead them to big electoral victories. After a few weeks of sitting in July and going on vacation in August, it seemed to run out.
From a country demanding change, it has simply become a government that brings about a flow.
Another New Labor veteran, Stewart Wood, who was an adviser to No. 10 leader Gordon Brown, told the Today program he hoped to get the government back on track. he said:
I believe Congress has been in session for less than 20 days in the first 100 days of the administration. Therefore, there is limited scope for taking up new policy issues.
But hopefully (with the restructuring of No. 10) we can focus on the policy agenda, GB Energy, GB Rail, the reform plan, everything the government wanted to put out, the workers’ rights package. Dew.
I think this must be the moment to put an end to the internal talk that has come to replace the policy-centered talk.
There will be more comments on this as the days go by. Here is the topic.
11am: Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Reform Party, and four of his party’s other MPs make a special announcement about the two-tiered police crackdown in the UK, which will take place at Manchester Airport on 23 July 2024. A press conference will be held to focus on the crackdown incident that occurred.
11.30am: Lobby briefing held in Downing Street.
2.30pm: Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall takes questions in the House of Commons.
After 3.30pm: Keir Starmer is scheduled to make a Commons statement on his visit to the UN General Assembly. Then there may also be a statement from Foreign Minister David Lamy regarding the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
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Updated to EDT04.40
