Partygate report 1) Cabinet secretary ‘expected to bear ultimate responsibility’ for scandal
“Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, is set to come under heavy pressure to resign this week as the Sue Gray report is expected to conclude that he bears “ultimate responsibility” for the Partygate scandal, The Telegraph understands. Case, the head of the civil service, is braced for the report to be “brutal” and contain “stinging criticism” of his leadership and conduct during his tenure in Downing Street. Ms Gray, who was appointed by Mr Case to investigate the various lockdown parties, was on Sunday night putting the finishing touches to her report after formally notifying officials and other Whitehall figures that they would be named. The report is expected to be published as soon as Tuesday. There is a growing row in Westminster over a meeting between Boris Johnson and Ms Gray to discuss the “handling of the report”, with ministers insisting that the Prime Minister was not seeking to influence its conclusions.” – Daily Telegraph
- Gray’s ‘brutal’ report will pile heavy pressure on Cabinet Secretary to resign – Daily Mail
Partygate report 2) Johnson’s allies turn on Gray and accuse her of ‘playing politics’
“The Prime Minister’s aides reacted with fury to allegations that the PM had tried to ‘nobble’ her official inquiry. A senior Whitehall source said it was ‘not true’ that Mr Johnson had sought a secret meeting with Miss Gray to discuss her report into lockdown-busting events in No 10. The Daily Mail has established that the ‘procedural’ meeting followed an emailed request from the ethics chief herself. The contents of her report were not discussed. Senior Tories were also alarmed by ‘toxic’ media briefings from Miss Gray’s team and the suggestion that she was ‘surprised’ Mr Johnson had received only one fine. ‘Sue Gray is supposed to be neutral but she’s been busy playing politics and enjoying the limelight a little too much,’ said one insider.” – Daily Mail
- How email trail leads to Gray – Daily Mail
- Riddle of Gray report press officer who was moved after leaks and lurid briefings – Daily Mail
>Yesterday:
Windfall tax 1) Minister says a windfall tax ‘would hit your pension pot’
“A windfall tax on energy companies risks harming people’s pension pots, a senior minister has said amid widening Cabinet splits over the policy. Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said a one-off levy on energy companies would likely result in dividends being slashed or axed altogether. He said: “If you apply a windfall tax, [companies] will probably have to reduce or take away their dividend. Who receives the dividend? Pensioners through their pension funds. “Investment has to be real, which is what I think Rishi (Sunak) will demand of all these companies and to see a roadmap towards that investment. We’re not taking any options off the table.” Opposition parties are pushing for a windfall tax to help families cope with a once-in-a-generation cost of living crisis.” – Daily Telegraph
- Lib Dems urge clarity on Johnson’s discussions with political adviser – FT
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- Britain’s economic model must be entirely redrawn before it’s too late – Nick Timothy, Daily Telegraph
Windfall tax 2) Johnson to stress work as the fix for cost of living crisis
“Boris Johnson hopes to blunt calls for urgent action on the cost of living crisis by stressing that work is the best route out of poverty, as an energy firm boss warned that 40% of households could soon be in fuel poverty. No 10 sources confirmed on Sunday that the prime minister will continue to throw the spotlight on the healthy state of the job market, in the face of the rising clamour to help families struggling with their bills. Ministers have as yet been unable to agree what more should be done amid continued wrangling over the merits of a windfall tax, with Downing Street keen to stress the £22bn that has already been spent on supporting households, and highlighting the need to grow the economy. Johnson told the Welsh Conservative conference on Friday: “I’m proud to say that you have to go all the way back to 1974 to find a time when the unemployment was as low in the UK as it is today”. – The Guardian
>Today:
- ToryDiary: Help hard-working people and go for more growth. The economic policy and message that Johnson needs.
Windfall tax 3) Energy boss warns 40% of customers could fall into fuel poverty
“E.On’s chief executive warned that more and more people are falling behind with their energy bills, and called the rise in energy prices “unprecedented.” Michael Lewis called on the government to “tax those with the broadest shoulders”, when asked about whether a windfall tax should be introduced to battle the energy crisis. He told BBC One’s Sunday Morning TV show: “Well, for us, the most important thing is that the government intervenes, it’s up to the government to decide how they fund that. “All I would say is that it’s important that, when they are taxing to address this challenge, that they tax those with the broadest shoulders.” Mr Lewis spoke about the growing number of customers who are falling into fuel poverty, which will only worsen later in the year.” – ITV News
Windfall tax 4) David Davis: Windfall taxes are a betrayal of Conservatism
“The commitment to low taxes is a fundamental tenet of Conservatism. It is a major part of our reputation for economic competence, and it gets us re-elected. I lost count of the number of working-class voters who told me in the 2019 that they would vote Tory because they feared Jeremy Corbyn would put their personal taxes up. Today that principle ought to be supercharged by the cost of living crisis and the financial wreckage created by the Covid pandemic. Yet we find ourselves with the highest tax burden of any Conservative government in history. Some in my party are now arguing about whether we should go further, with a windfall tax on energy companies to finance measures to mitigate the rising fuel costs of ordinary families. The answer is rather straightforward: we must not do it. A windfall tax would be unnecessary and unwise.” – Daily Telegraph
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- The Treasury is still to reap the rewards of Brexit – Editorial, Daily Telegraph
Australian election is a wake-up call, say Tories
“No 10 must learn the lessons from the Australian election results, senior Conservatives said after the head of the 2019 Conservative campaign failed to prevent the Labor Party from sweeping to power in Canberra. Isaac Levido, mastermind of the Tory victory at the general election that won Johnson his majority, was powerless to stop Scott Morrison from slumping to defeat, ending almost a decade of Liberal government. Morrison failed to win over lifelong Liberal voters in affluent suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, who turned their back on the party after several sleaze scandals. Environmentally focused independents were able to capitalise on public anger at Morrison’s response to the climate catastrophe and bushfires which raged across the country in 2020 to secure upsets in suburban seats long occupied by Liberal politicians.” – The Times
Comment
- Blunders Down Under that Tories must learn from – Daniel Johnson, Daily Mail
Gene-edited crops to be sped up to ease Ukraine food crisis
“The production of gene-edited crops is to be sped up to help guarantee British food supplies in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian blockades are preventing the export of key goods such as wheat from the country, leading to rising food prices and shortages globally. Amid concern over the UK’s food self-sufficiency, the Government will this week introduce a Bill which will allow farms to grow more crops by planting variants that have been edited to be more resistant to disease or need less water or fertiliser. Although plans for the Bill have been in place since Brexit, a government source said it had taken on added importance in the wake of Ukraine. Asked about the impact of the conflict on the plans, the source said: “It’s always been quite prominent as a big Brexit benefit. But also yes – it could be good news for food security in terms of developing crops that are more resistant to disease.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment
- Getting out the grain – Editorial, The Times
- A radical effort is needed to avert famine – Editorial, Daily Telegraph
- Feeding the world was made possible by genetic science – we cannot stop now – Matt Ridley, Daily Telegraph
Tory MP reignites row over convicted colleague
“A senior Conservative MP who apologised for claiming that a colleague convicted of molesting a 15-year-old boy had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice has repeated his claim. Crispin Blunt, 61, said that Imran Ahmad Khan, who resigned as MP for Wakefield after he was found guilty of sexual assault, “did not get a fair trial or anything remotely like that”. Last month a jury took five hours to convict Khan, who is gay, of groping the boy in 2008 after hearing how he had plied him with gin and tonic, led him upstairs, thrown him on a bed and asked him to watch pornography. Khan, 48, is appealing against his conviction and is due to be sentenced today.” – The Times
Cronyism row looms after Johnson’s top pick for crime chief gets second chance
“The government is to reopen its recruitment for the next head of the National Crime Agency after the prime minister’s top pick was overlooked. Boris Johnson is understood to have been unhappy that Lord Hogan-Howe, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner, who has supported him politically, did not reach the final round. Two highly qualified candidates, who made it through a five-month process for a final “fireside chat” with Priti Patel, the home secretary, were told last week that they had not got the job. Government sources confirmed that Neil Basu, a Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, and Graeme Biggar, the interim director-general of the NCA, had been informed that the recruitment process would be reopened.” – The Times
Comment
- Crooks must be laughing as PM eyes ex-Met chief to head crime agency – Editorial, The Sun
Simon Heffer: My plan for slimming down the bloated House of Lords
“As bonkers ideas go, shipping the House of Lords to Stoke-on-Trent while its chamber is being repaired is rather a classic. It would cost a fortune. It would require the relocation of countless support staff. Even in the age of Zoom it would make the conduct of effective business nearly impossible. And even my limited understanding of the constitution tells me it would be contrary to all parliamentary practice since the Civil War. It would, however, sort the wheat from the chaff. Stoke is a genial place – its most famous son, the great Arnold Bennett, was after all the man who coined the important phrase “the great cause of cheering us all up” – but only the most hard-core peer would ever work there. However, that surely is the route to avoiding the Potteries experience altogether. Around 800 people are now eligible to sit in the Lords. It is far too many. When reform was discussed in the 1920s it was thought 300 would be enough. In the 1960s a House of around 250 was proposed. There are now too many peers for proper debates or discussions to be fully accommodated.” – Daily Telegraph
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- Green radicals are ravaging mainstream parties – Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph
News in Brief
- Why is the NHS erasing women? – Debbie Hayton, The Spectator
- Why is the Right losing everywhere? – George Eaton, New Statesman
- Reforming the Protocol is essential – and it won’t make the UK a pariah state – Victoria Hewson, CapX
- The betrayal of Ireland’s borderlands – Jacob Furedi, UnHerd
- Boris Johnson is on a mission to sideline parliament, the courts—and the people – Martha Spurrier, Prospect