“Rishi Sunak has conceded that “further investment” and more government action is needed to help the UK combat the challenge China poses to Britain’s security, prosperity and values. The prime minister’s admission came in a government response to a damning report published in July by parliament’s intelligence and security committee, which found Britain’s approach to China’s “increasingly sophisticated” spying operations in the UK was “completely inadequate”. The government acknowledged in the response there was more work to be done to tackle “Chinese recruitment schemes” that have tried to “headhunt” Britons with sensitive knowledge and experience in government, the military and industry.” – The Financial Times
“Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are weighing up plans to scrap or further delay the troubled HS2 railway line between Birmingham, Manchester and the northeast of England. The Treasury has drawn up options for potential cost savings that could be made by either ending the line in Birmingham or pushing back construction of HS2’s northern leg…A Whitehall source said that scrapping the line between Birmingham to Manchester…would free up funding for other transport infrastructure projects in the north and Midlands. The eastern leg of the project that would link HS2 to the East Coast mainline is also in jeopardy. “The question [the prime minister and chancellor are looking at] is whether the money for HS2 could be better spent,” they said.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak is expected to delay a promised ban on conversion therapy following disagreements over how the legislation should be worded. Ministers said in the summer that a draft Bill banning people from trying to change a child’s gender identity or sexuality would be published by the end of the parliamentary session in November. But on Thursday, Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House, declined to guarantee that it would be brought out by that time. One person familiar with Government thinking said the idea of a legislative ban appeared to be “dead in the water”. Another said different parts of Government were “stuck in a loop” and could not decide how to proceed.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Today:
“Rishi Sunak has admitted his key pledge to bring down NHS waiting lists is in doubt after latest figures show a record 7.68m people are waiting for routine hospital treatment. The Prime Minister said it was “very hard” to meet his targets due to strikes by NHS staff including junior doctors and consultants. In January, Mr Sunak pledged to bring down waiting lists before the next election as one of five key promises of his premiership. Since that target was set, the number of people on the list has risen every month. The 7.68m figure relates to people waiting for a routine operation in July, and is set to climb even higher… However, NHS waiting lists were already high in England before strikes by NHS workers began around a year ago, mainly due to the backlog caused by the Covid pandemic.” – The I
“History records what happened next, after Truss and Kwarteng went full-bore for tax cuts, having fired or sidelined civil servants who they thought would interfere. Their ideology collided with reality, sending mortgages surging and almost bankrupting the country. Having warned about “Reaganite” unfunded tax cuts, Rishi Sunak stood vindicated and was ushered into No 10 to clean up the mess he tried to warn about…Except this narrative is a fake, albeit a fake which suits supporters of both Sunak and Keir Starmer. Trussonomics was not tax-slashing but something else: a Corbynite spending splurge dressed up in free-market language. More Chávez than Reagan. Now that a year’s worth of dust has settled, the real history of those 49 days is far clearer to see.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday:
“Suella Braverman claimed that Sir Keir Starmer would “make Britain the dumping ground” for EU migrants as Labour accused her of “embarrassing nonsense”. Sir Keir has indicated a Labour government could be prepared to do a deal with Brussels that would involve the UK taking a quota of asylum seekers who arrive in the bloc in exchange for the ability to return migrants who illegally cross the Channel to England. The EU is proposing that countries should take at least 30,000 migrants a year under a burden-sharing agreement that could form the basis of a deal with Labour. On Thursday the Home Secretary claimed the potential deal would open the door to 100,000 migrants from the EU each year.” – The Daily Telegraph
Editorial:
Comment:
>Yesterday:
“In just one week, Sir Keir Starmer has made two blunders. Since becoming Labour leader, he has gradually tried to shift his party away from the unrepentant leftism of the Corbyn era towards something new and inscrutable. He has been achingly cautious on policy interventions, while rattling through slogans that sought to define his leadership but have each struggled to make their mark.That era of caution may be over…. What knits these two errors together? Starmer’s office is chock-full of pollsters and strategists who focus-group and test every message within an inch of their existence to ensure they are welcomed with the coalition of voters Labour needs to build. The housebuilding and migrants policies therefore must be no mistake.” – The I
>Today:
“Michael Gove’s flagship renters’ reform bill, which would end “no-fault” evictions in England, has again been put on ice, sparking a furious blame game in government over why it keeps being delayed. Some supporters of the bill claim that its crucial second reading in the House of Commons is being held up by vested interests in the government whips office, where five of 16 whips own rental property. “There are a number of landlords in the whips office who are amplifying the level of concern among Tory MPs and holding things up,” said one Whitehall official, speaking on terms of anonymity… The whips, who advise ministers on how Tory MPs will react to new legislation, strongly denied that they were letting their personal financial interests affect their judgment.” – The Financial Times
“It is good that the new defence secretary does not have a military background, the head of the Armed Forces has said. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of defence staff, said it was “positive” that Grant Shapps had not served in the military at any point in his career. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, appointed Mr Shapps as Defence Secretary in August, after his predecessor announced his intention to stand down having failed in his bid to become the next head of Nato. Mr Wallace served as a captain in the Scott’s Guards, something he made numerous references to during his tenure as defence secretary. However, Sir Tony dismissed claims that Mr Shapps’ lack of personal experience in the military might impede his ability to run the department.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Below-the-belt attacks are nothing unusual in Westminster, but rarely do they come as literal as this: Penny Mordaunt has suggested that Sir Keir Starmer has “zero balls”, comparing him with Ken from this summer’s blockbuster movie Barbie. In a week when Starmer sought to brand Rishi Sunak as “Inaction Man”, the Commons leader reached for an equally useless children’s figure in a spirited counterattack. Goaded by Lucy Powell…Mordaunt said she was “happy to focus” on Starmer’s “hilarious gag”… In Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, the main characters’ absence of genitalia is a running joke, in reference to the classic Barbie and Ken dolls of the 1960s. Ken…has an existential breakdown after realising his job is “just beach” and has no direction or purpose.” – The Times
“Rishi Sunak should include laws to abolish a house-blocking EU rule in the King’s Speech after Labour thwarted attempts to scrap it, a former Cabinet minister has said. Sir Simon Clarke, a former housing secretary, said the Prime Minister should redouble efforts to bin “nutrient neutrality” requirements which have “kiboshed” 100,000 new homes. It comes after Sir Keir Starmer torpedoed Tory proposals to turbocharge house building by ordering his peers to vote against a Government amendment on Wednesday night. Mr Sunak attacked the Labour leader as a “blocker not a builder” over the move with senior Tories saying he had wrecked the home-owning dreams of younger generations.” – The Daily Telegraph
“The Conservative London mayoral candidate liked tweets praising Enoch Powell and describing Sadiq Khan as “our nipple height mayor of Londonistan”. Susan Hall liked an image of Powell, infamous for his “rivers of blood” speech, on Twitter/X. Alongside the image are the words “it’s never too late to save your country”, a combination once used on the website of the far-right British National Party (BNP). Hall liked a tweet posting the photo with the message: “it’s never too late to get London back!” Hall…was selected as the party’s candidate for the mayoral race in July. In one post liked by Hall, Khan, the London mayor, is described as “our nipple height mayor of Londonistan”, the term Londonistan a sobriquet anti-racist campaigners say is often used pejoratively.” – The Times
“Humza Yousaf tried to cover up a misleading statement to the Scottish Parliament by getting a team of his civil servants to “engineer” statistics to justify it, it has been alleged. Mr Yousaf wrongly told First Minister’s Questions on June 22 that Scotland has the “majority of the renewables and natural resources” in the UK, when it only has around a quarter. Liam Kerr, a Scottish Tory MSP, immediately challenged this claim and Scottish Government documents released under the Freedom of Information Act disclosed that officials confirmed that afternoon the correct figure was 26 per cent. However, rather than him apologise and admit his error to parliament, Mr Yousaf’s civil servants then set about trying to find a different calculation that could be used to justify his claim.” – The Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: