“Conservative rebels are working on a 100-day roadmap to turn around the party’s fortunes after a Tory MP defected to the Labour Party. A group of Conservative MPs has crafted a “100 days to save Britain” plan including “quick wins” to convince colleagues to oust the Prime Minister and unite around Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the Commons. It comes as Dr Dan Poulter, a former Tory minister, crossed the floor on Saturday to join the Labour Party just days before the local elections, cutting Rishi Sunak’s majority to 49. Dr Poulter is the second person to defect to a rival party under Mr Sunak’s leadership, claiming that only the Labour Party could “cure” the NHS. Sam Murray, a Suffolk County councillor, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Good riddance. So glad I no longer have to apologise for his failure to turn up in North Ipswich regularly.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Robert Jenrick has called for a cap on net migration of less than 100,000 a year, arguing that it is the only way to restore voters’ trust. In an exclusive article for The Telegraph, the former immigration minister called for the Government to commit to reducing net migration from its record high of 745,000 in 2022 to “tens of thousands” enforced by an annual cap set by votes in Parliament. Mr Jenrick, who will detail his proposals in a report this week with fellow former minister Neil O’Brien, accused the post-Brexit Tory Government of sticking “two fingers” up to the British public by liberalising the immigration system and breaking their promises on leaving the EU to take control of Britain’s borders.” – Sunday Telegraph
“In the past ten days we have taken decisive action to make sure work always pays, to control our borders and to make us more secure at home and stronger abroad. No one can be in any doubt what my values are. This is a Conservative Government that is delivering for Britain. I want to stop the boats because it is not right or fair that people can simply arrive on our coast illegally and then get to stay. And I want us to have security in an increasingly dangerous world, so I will back our military so we can stand up for our interests, defend our values and deter our enemies.” – Mail on Sunday
“Eight years of Sadiq Khan’s London and what do we have to show for it? Tragically, not much. In fact, I’d challenge anyone to think of a positive legacy from his mayoralty. We mustn’t forget how he’s renamed the train lines, of course, or expanded his punitive Ulez car tax, or created a fake beach, or let a Donald Trump blimp float over the city, or allowed a Jewish minority to become terrified of going into the city centre almost every week. All at the same time as achieving the ignominious accolade of London being declared the “knife crime capital”. – Sunday Telegraph
“Alex Salmond has told Humza Yousaf that to continue as Scottish first minister he must agree an electoral pact that would mean the Scottish National Party stepping aside in some Holyrood seats. Yousaf is facing a no-confidence motion this week and support is on a knife edge. It could come down to a single vote — that of Ash Regan, the only MSP from Salmond’s Alba Party. It means the former first minister and SNP leader once again wields huge power over the future of Scottish politics, a decade after he came close to securing his dream of independence. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he made clear the price he would seek to extract from Yousaf to allow the beleaguered first minister to stay in power.” – Sunday Times
“Labour’s proposal to fix the railways will lead to more strikes, warns the Transport Secretary. Mark Harper tore into Sir Keir Starmer’s promise to renationalise the entire network within five years He said: “Labour would take us back to square one and the bad old days of beer and sandwiches between government and union barons — handing them more power and resulting in worse services for passengers.” Labour governments often invited union bosses round for cosy chats at No10 in the 1970s. The era was renowned for its crippling strikes, including 1978-9’s Winter of Discontent. Unions were so powerful that they would grind the whole country to a halt.” – Sun on Sunday
“The Foreign Secretary has completed a historic tour of all five former Soviet central Asian states and Mongolia to drum up support for the West along Russia’s southern border. During his five-day mission, Lord Cameron became the first British foreign minister to visit Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, and the first to visit Uzbekistan since 1997. “We’re here because we believe you should be able to make a choice, to partner with us in a way that is good for both our security and our prosperity,” he told Kazakh reporters after meeting Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the president of Kazahstan, in Astana, the country’s futuristic capital.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak is under pressure to rethink a radical crackdown on smartphone and social media use by children after a backlash from the technology industry. Senior telecoms executives have hit out at plans to block under-16s from buying smartphones, which they claim are “not practical or logical in any way”. Technology companies have already engaged in preliminary talks with Government officials about their plans, which revolve around restrictions on mobile use. This is in response to concerns that they are distracting children in schools and fuelling a mental health crisis.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the protests against him at Cardiff University were “legitimate and peaceful, if noisy” after he was chased off campus on Friday, as the incident received cross-party condemnation from elsewhere. Footage showed the Conservative MP being followed by a small number of shouting demonstrators as he was escorted into a waiting car by eight security guards after speaking at the university’s Conservative society. Protesters could be seen waving Palestine and Revolutionary Communist party flags and shouting at the MP in the video, while security staff encircled the former business secretary and held them back.” – Observer
“It is one of the highest honours bestowed by a sovereign – but the role of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is currently vacant. Now, friends of Boris Johnson have suggested that he would be the perfect candidate for the role. “He defended the realm from the invasion of eurocrats,” one ally of Mr Johnson said. “In recognition of his defence of the national interest, it is hard to think of anyone more suitable to be the Lord Warden.” With its origins in the thirteenth century, the Lord Warden has traditionally been in charge of a series of port towns on the southeast coast of England that supplied ships and men to the Crown each year. Although the role is largely ceremonial these days, it has often been held by members of the royal family or those who have defended Britain at times of war.” – Sunday Telegraph