“It is only a matter of time before striking unions join forces, ministers were warned yesterday. Britain was told that it faced co-ordinated and escalating walkouts in the new year in an attempt to force the government to back down in public sector pay disputes. Border Force staff who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) began a three-day strike yesterday. Rishi Sunak refused to step in, repeating his assertion that below-inflation settlements could not be reopened. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the union, said the wider stand-off could lead to a wave of “co- ordinated, synchronised and escalating” industrial action.” – The Times
“Taxpayers’ money has been handed to groups promoting Islamist extremism, a landmark review of the Government’s flagship Prevent programme has found. Key figures in organisations funded by Prevent are alleged to have supported the Taliban, defended militant Islamist groups banned in the UK and hosted hate preachers, according to a leaked draft of the report seen by The Telegraph…on Wednesday, government sources denied there had been any “redactions” or that the report was delayed by a row between Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, over removing names. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The review will be published in due course. It remains right that we take the time to prepare and deliver a considered response.” – Daily Telegraph
“The ex-PM broke ranks with her party by backing the new legislation which passed last week, which makes it easier for people to change gender without a formal medical diagnosis. Similar proposals she put forward as PM were ditched by Boris Johnson.
And she told the BBC this week: “The very fact I put the proposal forward shows that that was something I thought was important.” But yesterday her former No10 adviser, Nick Timothy, hit out – saying she had a “completely ridiculous position”. Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out the UK government intervening to stop the Scottish Government changing the law and putting a spanner in their plans.” – The Sun
“A treasury review of the tax system has been quietly ditched, it emerged last night. The revelation raised fears among Tories that ministers are not serious about cutting what has ballooned into a record tax burden. The wide-ranging review, which was supposed to make Britain more competitive, was scrapped by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Treasury sources said. The tax analysis was ordered by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng as a follow-up to the ill-fated mini-Budget of September. Mr Kwarteng had pledged to ‘review the system to make it simpler, more dynamic, and fairer for families’.” – Daily Mail
“Ben Wallace has been voted Minister of the Year by a panel of Tory members over his leading role in supporting Ukraine. Mr Wallace, the Defence Secretary, has ranked as the most popular politician amongst the Conservative faithful since Russia launched its invasion in February. He has stayed in his job through two changes of prime minister, having become seen as indispensable at the Ministry of Defence. Conservative Home, a Tory grassroots website, asked a panel of members to choose which minister they felt had performed best.” Mr Wallace won 133 votes, with Kemi Badenoch, the International Trade Secretary, second on 72. Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, was third with 65 and Boris Johnson secured 45, ahead of Rishi Sunak on 40.” – Daily Telegraph
> Today – ToryDiary: Our final Cabinet League Table of the Year. Sunak calms it down (or brings stasis, if you prefer).
> Yesterday – ToryDiary: “Bit obvious this one isn’t it?” Our survey. Ben Wallace is Minister of the Year.
Rishi Sunak has expressed concern over the poor behaviour of MPs on foreign trips organised by cross-party groups in parliament…A spotlight has been shone on all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) after reports of MPs and peers engaging in “sex and heavy drinking” on foreign trips. The prime minister’s spokesperson said yesterday that while the regulation of APPGs was a matter for parliament, the behaviour reported was “clearly very concerning”. There are more than 700 APPGs which campaign on specific topics. About 130 of these focus on certain countries and often arrange all- expenses-paid group trips.” – The Times
“His offer, unlike Johnson’s, is not big-picture thinking and big wins but basic political competence – less Steve Jobs, more John J Ray III, the man installed as CEO of corporate catastrophes such as Enron and FTX to oversee their bankruptcy proceedings. But Ray answers only to the courts and the creditors, not the people who handpicked and cheered on the “visionary” leaders whose messes he has to clean up. The prime minister is not so fortunate.” – The Guardian
Other political news:
“The party will update Tony Blair’s “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” mantra with a series of policies aimed at seizing the initiative from the Conservatives. Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary, told The Times how the party would crack down on antisocial behaviour, which polls consistently show is one of the public’s top concerns. Figures released under freedom of information requests found that nearly two million reports of antisocial behaviour over the past three years had gone unattended.” – The Times