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Minister says accepting freebies is different in government
Britain should hold a referendum on its membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, Boris Johnson has said.
The ex-prime minister told The Daily Telegraph there was a strong case to give voters a say on the ECHR, which critics say prevents Britain from having full control of immigration.
Mr Johnson suggested the ECHR did not “provide people with protections that they wouldn’t otherwise have”.
The UK’s membership is a key Tory leadership issue with Robert Jenrick saying the party must back an exit to survive. Earlier this week he also said he was open to Mr Johnson being in his shadow cabinet.
Mr Johnson’s comments come ahead of the publication of his memoir, Unleashed, in which he brands Rishi Sunak’s ideas in government as “zany” and laid the blame for the drubbing suffered by the Tories at this year’s General election at his feet.
He also writes that he regrets not sacking then-political adviser Dominic Cummings over the Barnard Castle row, dismissing the furore as “lefty journalists angry over Brexit”.
Mr Johnson will be questioned about the revelations in his memoir during an appearance on ITV set to air on Friday evening.
The BBC was forced to cancel its interview with him after presenter Laura Kuenssberg accidentally sent the former prime minister her briefing notes.
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Britain should hold a referendum on its membership of the European Convention on Human Rights, Boris Johnson has said.
The former prime minister told The Daily Telegraph there is a “strong case” to give the public a say on the ECHR, which critics say prevents Britain from having full control of its immigration policy.
Mr Johnson suggested the ECHR did not “provide people with protections that they wouldn’t otherwise have”.
Tory leadership candidates Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat have both backed the idea of leaving the ECHR.
Jane Dalton3 October 2024 21:44
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The Tories’ science spokesman has slated the Chagos deal because it “puts at risk” one of the world’s largest marine protected areas.
Shadow science secretary Andrew Griffith said the area included the Great Chagos Bank, the world’s largest coral atoll, as well as deep-sea plains, limestone platforms and deep sea-knolls.
“Mauritius opposed this marine protection status, claiming their rights to fish it. They lack the navy to protect quarter of a million square miles of ocean… located over 1,000 miles away from Mauritius itself,” he said.
Filmmaker James Glancy said the move was a disaster for marine biodiversity.
Jane Dalton4 October 2024 06:15
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Jane Dalton4 October 2024 05:15
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Foreign secretary David Lammy has said he wanted the UK and Ireland to increase co-operation on “growth, climate and global issues” as he met the deputy prime minister.
Following the Chagos deal, some critics mocked him by asking whether he would be giving away Northern Ireland.
Jane Dalton4 October 2024 03:30
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Following on from their election defeat and Rishi Sunak departing, the Conservatives have been locked in a leadership campaign to pick the next party leader. Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are the final four vying to win the leadership and return a fractious party to power, wresting it away from Keir Starmer’s Labour. But who will win and who’s most likely to succeed? Kate Devlin and John Rentoul cast an eye over the field of candidates and pick who they think is next to face Kier Starmer at the dispatch box in Westminster.
Jane Dalton4 October 2024 02:15
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“Shameless, sour, predictable, self-exculpatory stuff”: Enjoy Sean O’Grady’s review of Boris Johnson’s memoir:
Jane Dalton4 October 2024 01:15
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Jane Dalton4 October 2024 00:35
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A new survey commissioned by a rightwing thinktank has suggested that 53 per cent of Conservative Party members would support a merger with Reform UK.
A huge 70 per cent said they would want a closer relationship with Nigel Farage’s party, the survey showed.
The poll, which was conducted between September 23 and 27, spoke to 470 Tory members by the rightwing Popular Conservatism (PopCon) organisation, which founded by disgraced former prime minister Liz Truss.
Read the full article here:
Jane Dalton3 October 2024 23:30
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Jane Dalton3 October 2024 22:20
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US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said of the Chacos deal: “It’s a win for a diplomacy to see a successful, successful outcome of this effort between two US partners after more than a dozen rounds of talks.
“The agreement will secure the future of our joint US-UK military facility on Diego Garcia, which plays a vital role in US efforts to establish regional and global security, respond to crises and counter some of the most challenging security threats of our time.”
Jane Dalton3 October 2024 21:15
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-echr-kuenssberg-interview-bbc-live-b2623560.html
Immigrants who see Israel as enemy ‘not welcome’ in UK says Kemi Badenoch
Liz Truss has told the Conservative Party conference that it is “pathetic” to claim she is to blame for the economic meltdown follwoing her mini-budget.
During a fringe event, the unrepentant former prime minister dismissed Theresa May’s claim that she destroyed the party’s reputation after her economic policies.
She also lashed out at the four Tory MPs vying to replace Rishi Sunak as the party’s leader, claiming she will not endorse any of the candidates.
But she agreed with Kemi Badenoch’s controversial comments about maternity pay being “excessive”, and revealed she would be “really happy” with Robert Jenrick‘s suggestion to have the Star of David at UK borders.
It comes after Mr Jenrick described illegal migrants as “terrorists on our streets terrorising our citizens” during a rally at the conference.
During his speech, the former minister said the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is a “leave or die” issue for the Tories and urged to exit the convention.
Mr Jenrick also called for the Star of David to be displayed at every point of entry to the UK to show “we stand with Israel” while wearing a “Hamas Are Terrorists” hoodie at a Conservative Friends of Israel fringe event.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
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Read the full article here:
Holly Evans1 October 2024 06:00
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I don’t know which would be worse: if it turned out that Liz Truss didn’t actually believe a word she says and was just trying to kowtow to the lowest common denominator – or if she really is just… like that.
While the event itself didn’t make any clearer the true depths of her political convictions, what it did make clear is that Truss is on a one-woman mission to “save the Western world” – although, based on the content of her answers, it seems like “the Western world” is just a fun nickname for “her own reputation”. Actually, maybe it wasn’t so clear after all.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans1 October 2024 05:00
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Holly Evans1 October 2024 04:00
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While the usual fare of pens, badges and stickers are all available, each one – Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly – has tried to beat the competition with eye-catching gimmicks.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans1 October 2024 03:00
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Read the full article here:
Holly Evans1 October 2024 02:00
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Kemi Badenoch has praised Israel’s defence tactics, saying that they did an “amazing thing with the pagers”.
Earlier this month, Hezbollah suffered an attack on its pagers and walkie-talkies that killed dozens of people and wounded around 3,000 – including many fighters but also many civilians.
Israel has appeared to deny involvement with the fatal incident, with its president Isaac Herzog saying he “rejects out of hand any connection” to the operation.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans1 October 2024 01:00
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Which Conservative candidate’s merchandise is most popular at Tory party conference?
Holly Evans1 October 2024 00:00
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Read the full article here:
Holly Evans30 September 2024 23:00
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I didn’t expect to feel grateful to Kemi Badenoch this morning.
After a bit more kip, however, I’ve decided I actually feel oddly thankful to Badenoch – for inadvertently highlighting an issue that’s the bane of many women’s lives: that statutory maternity leave is not just insufficient but insulting, too.
Read the full article here:
Holly Evans30 September 2024 22:00
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Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves “sees more black holes than Mr Spock”, a Conservative leadership hopeful has claimed.
Tom Tugendhat said October’s Budget could “destroy growth” in the UK and he branded VAT on private schools a “vindictive and nasty policy”.
The shadow security minister faces Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick in his party’s leadership contest, with Rishi Sunak’s successor due to be announced on November 2.
Taking questions on the Conservative Party conference main stage in Birmingham on Monday, Mr Tugendhat said: “This is going to be one of the most consequential budgets in our lifetime. This is going to be a Budget that takes us back to the 1970s not forward to the future.
“This is a Budget that is going to destroy growth, destroy opportunity and destroy hope for people, and don’t just take my word for it, look at what’s happening right now.”
Holly Evans30 September 2024 21:30
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-rishi-sunak-labour-starmer-tory-conference-latest-b2621716.html
Immigrants who see Israel as enemy ‘not welcome’ in UK says Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch has sparked controversy after describing maternity pay as “excessive” and calling for greater personal responsibility.
In an interview with Times Radio, the Tory leadership hopeful argued that government intervention on issues like the maternity benefit had gone “too far”, placing a burden on businesses.
Ms Badenoch’s remarks have drawn fierce criticism, with union bosses and campaigners condemning them as “out of touch” and “another example of dog-whistle politics”.
Reacting to the comments, rival candidate Tom Tugendhat said he did not know the context of Ms Badenoch’s claims but that it is important for women to have the ability to choose, while Robert Jenrick said the party should be “firmly on the side of parents and working mums”.
It comes after the shadow secretary defended her claim that there has been a recent rise in the number of migrants coming to the UK who “hate Israel”.
She said in a newspaper op-ed on Sunday that migrants’ “feet may be in the UK, but their heads and hearts are still back in their country of origin.” But when she was asked on Sky News if she was referring to Muslim immigrants, Ms Badenoch disagreed.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.
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After appearing to have descended into complete irrelevance with no protesters at all in Birmingham, Tory conference organisers may be relieved that the voice of anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray has put them back on the map.
Bray, a familiar figure in Westminster, turned up late on Sunday afternoon with his loudspeaker and started to blast the conference centre and few delegates in the building with funerial music.
Before that, the lack of protesters was matched only by the shortage of party members at a conference which is purely focused on the leadership election rather than the country.
Anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray (Yui Mok/PA). (PA Archive)
Jane Dalton29 September 2024 20:06
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Voters must see that the Conservative Party takes its 2024 election loss “seriously”, Lord Ben Houchen has said.
The Tees Valley mayor warned his party has a “huge job to do” with to regain support from its own voter base, along with the votes which he said “bled” to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats under Sir Ed Davey in July this year.
Lord Houchen was seen descending an escalator with leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat at his party’s Birmingham conference on Sunday, but warned he had not backed any of the four candidates.
“It’s been quite a slow start I think to the leadership race and I think the conference will see it come alive,” the mayor told the PA news agency.
“I’m meeting with all of the candidates while we’re here at conference and I’ve been speaking to Tom and the others already.
“So it’s just another catch-up.”
He added: “I’ve met with them all previously and they all want to have a conversation.
“I’ll listen to them, I want to hear what they want to stand for, I want to hear a bit more detail about some of their policy agenda as well and what they’re going to do to be able to bring the party back together and make it a fighting force in electoral terms again.”
(Getty Images)
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 06:00
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The previous Conservative government should hang its head in shame after it failed those “most in need”, a shadow education minister said.
Tory MP Gagan Mohindra accused his party of not doing enough for children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) during its time in power.
Mr Mohindra, who served in the party’s whips’ office between September 2023 and July 2024, made the comments at a Conservative Party conference fringe event on Sunday.
He added that he is frustrated that in some cases parents are “pushed from pillar to post” when trying to secure adequate provision for their children.
The MP for South West Hertfordshire said: “Hertfordshire (County Council) has invested into Send provision, but actually it’s awful.
“I hold my hand up as a Conservative member of Parliament saying my government didn’t do enough on this.
“Yes, we were fighting a global pandemic, and a cost-of-living crisis, and all the rest of it, but actually, the inability for politicians to step in when those most in need needed our support, I think is something we should hang our heads in shame and apologise for, and I’ll happily do that on stage today.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 05:30
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Conservative Party MPs and officials scored a victory in a closely fought football match to kick off their annual party conference in Birmingham, in their first victory against the journalists’ side for 12 years.
The winning team had only one serving MP in their ranks, shadow education minister Gagan Mohindra, but the side was bolstered by former MPs Brendan Clarke-Smith and Karl McCartney who turned out for the side.
Both lost their seats at the General election. From the peers, Lord Evans of Rainow completed the lineup.
The lobby side dominated the early stages of the first half at the Aston Villa Academy Centre in Birmingham. They took a well-deserved lead after 21 minutes. Good work on the right saw the ball cut back to an unmarked Richard Vaughan who finished with ease.
The Lobby continued to dominate, but could not turn their possession into clear chances on goal. Their wastefulness was then punished by the Conservative side, who scrambled the ball over the line to equalise 10 minutes after the opener. A corner came over from the left and was not dealt with before it was forced in at the far post.
The Tories then seized the initiative with a fine goal to take the lead just before half time. A incisive through ball saw staff member Jack Pollard race beyond the defence into the area, before cutting the ball back and curling a fine shot into the top corner.
The Lobby started the second half by trying to seize the initiative again, but struggled to make a break through and Mr Pollard continued to cause problems for their back line.
However, they managed to get back on level terms halfway through the second half. A cross from the right was met by MPs’ centre back Jack Doyle, who in straining to stop the ball diverted it past his own goalkeeper.
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 05:00
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Ahead of this week’s party conference, the race to become the next leader of the Conservatives is heating up, writes Andrew Grice – but given the state of the party’s popularity, how much does it actually matter?
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 04:30
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James Cleverly is the preferred candidate to win the Tory leadership race amongst the British public, a new poll has shown – but a majority of respondents said they don’t know who they would support.
Asked which candidate would make the best prime minister, new polling by Techne put the former home secretary narrowly ahead of his rival candidates at 13 per cent support.
You can read the full story below:
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 04:00
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Oliver Dowden was interviewed by police officers from the Gambling Commission as part of the official investigation into bets placed on the date of the investigation, sources told Sky News.
But sources close to the former deputy prime minister told The Independent that he is not and was never under investigation himself.
Sir Oliver spoke to the police to assist with their inquiries in an interview conducted in the early summer.
The inquiry, which was launched in June, is expected to continue for another three to six months.
As part of the probe, the Gambling Commission has reportedly seized “hundreds of documents” from Tory headquarters.
(PA Wire)
Millie Cooke 30 September 2024 03:30
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Rosie Duffield has claimed that she believes Keir Starmer “has a problem with women” after sensationally quitting the Labour Party over his “greed”. Just months after the general election, the elected MP for Canterbury says the gifts scandal and “sleaze” are causing MPs to be “laughed at”. “I’ve experienced it myself”, she responded when quizzed on whether there was a gender issue in his government. “Most backbenchers I’m friends with are women and most of us refer to the men who surround him as ‘the lads’…it’s very clear that ‘the lads’ are in charge.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 03:00
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Robert Jenrick has signalled he would give Conservative party members a bigger role in choosing future MPs if he is made party leader.
Attitudes among some Tory activists were soured during the run-up to the general election campaign when Conservative MPs at risk of losing their seats were parachuted into safer constituencies.
Among them was Richard Holden, the then-party chairman, who was selected as the candidate for Basildon and Billericay when his former North West Durham constituency was abolished.
Mr Holden, who won the Essex seat, faced strong opposition from local Tory activists when the move was carried out using a foreshortened selection process.
Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, former minister Mr Jenrick was applauded when he said it was “immensely disrespectful” to parachute candidates into safe seats.
He added: “It was disrespectful to anyone who aspires to be a Conservative candidate and member of Parliament. You have my solemn promise that will never happen if I am lucky enough to lead this party.
“You should be in the driving seat. You should choose who your parliamentary candidates are. That is how we inspire people of substance to stand as parliamentary candidates once again.”
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 02:30
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Ditch the non-dom tax, chancellor – and bring in a Robin Hood tax instead, writes John Rentoul:
Salma Ouaguira30 September 2024 02:00
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kemi-badenoch-robert-jenrick-labour-starmer-tory-conference-b2621039.html
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