“Tory MPs demanded that Rishi Sunak change course “urgently” on Monday after Lee Anderson defected to Reform UK and the party claimed it was discussing a similar move with at least 10 Conservatives. The leaders of the New Conservative group said the blame for the former Tory deputy chairman switching allegiance lay with the Tory party itself. “Our poll numbers show what the public think of our record since 2019,” said Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger, who represent MPs on the Right of the party. “We cannot pretend any longer that ‘the plan is working’. We need to change course urgently.” It came as a Reform UK source claimed that the number of Tory MPs in talks about possible defections was “low double figures”. – Daily Telegraph
>Today: ToryDiary: Anderson’s defection neatly embodies a right that is long on anger but short on answers
>Yesterday:
“Britain will build new gas power stations, Rishi Sunak has said, as he vows not to risk blackouts to achieve net zero. The country will need gas as a back-up when there is not enough wind or sun to create renewable energy, the Prime Minister says in an article for The Telegraph. Despite having pledged to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 to achieve net zero carbon emissions, Mr Sunak says new gas power stations will ensure energy security and therefore the safety of the nation.” – Daily Telegraph
“Boris Johnson is expected to campaign for the Conservatives in red wall seats before the general election after a thawing in relations with Rishi Sunak. The former prime minister is likely be deployed in the north of England and the Midlands as the Tories seek to win back the voters who helped Johnson to an 80-seat majority in 2019. Johnson accused Sunak of betrayal after he was forced out of Downing Street in 2022 and the two men fell out further last year over Johnson’s resignation honours list.” – The Times
“The Conservative party’s biggest donor told colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women” and said the MP “should be shot”, the Guardian can reveal. Frank Hester, who has given £10m to the Tories in the past year, said in the meeting that he did not hate all black women. But he said that seeing Abbott, who is Britain’s longest-serving black MP, on TV meant “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there”. – The Guardian
“Hundreds of criminals including violent offenders will be released from prison under new crisis plans. The emergency measures to free up space in overcrowded jails were announced by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk on Monday night. Inmates serving up to four years will be freed more than a month early – increasing to two months early in a planned expansion of the scheme. Without the drastic action, it is thought that jails would run out of space by the end of the month.” – Daily Mail
“Three Conservative ex-home secretaries have warned the government against using extremism to score political points in a general election year. Priti Patel, Sajid Javid and Amber Rudd said cross-party support is needed to defeat extremism, in an open letter published in the Guardian. It comes as the government prepares to set out a new definition of extremism. Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said the UK must “confront” a rise in Islamist and far-right extremism.” – BBC
“The Security Minister has piled fresh pressure on Rishi Sunak by calling for an immediate rise in defence spending. Tom Tugendhat said he wants 2.5 per cent of national income spent on defence “as soon as possible”. It comes after he wrote an opinion piece with Foreign Office Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan last week to urge the PM to “lead the way” in defence. The Government’s position is that defence spending would hit the 2.5 per cent target “as soon as economic conditions allow”. – The Sun
“Young people who turn down several jobs should be conscripted for two years, a senior Conservative MP has said. Richard Drax, a member of the Commons defence select committee, argued younger jobseekers in particular were “not prepared to contribute to our country” and that drafting them into the Armed Forces could ease the worklessness crisis. More than nine million people of working age have dropped out of the jobs market, with at least five million of those claiming benefits.” – Daily Telegraph
“Sir Keir Starmer has backed the banning of transgender women from women’s sport – after previously refusing to do so publicly. The Labour leader said he was “supportive” of moves to protect the female category of sporting competitions and that “common sense has to prevail in terms of safety and integrity of sport”. Starmer had previously refused to state whether trans women like Lia Thomas should be allowed to compete in women’s sport amid accusations from Harry Potter author JK Rowling that his party could “no longer be counted on to defend women’s rights”. – Daily Telegraph
“Portugal’s centre right has claimed a narrow election victory, but has little chance of forming a majority government. Democratic Alliance leader Luís Montenegro told supporters that the Portuguese had voted for change, although the margin of victory was less than convincing. Both main parties polled about 29% of the vote. Only the far-right Chega could claim a clear-cut success. Five years after it broke into Portuguese politics, the party led by former football pundit André Ventura has secured 18% of the vote and 48 seats in the 230-seat parliament.” – BBC
>Yesterday: Mark Wegierski on Comment: What can British Conservatives learn from the late Brian Mulroney?
“Take a look at our major cities. Even a few years ago you would see, on the London Tube, a high proportion of people reading the Evening Standard, cheek by jowl sharing the commentary on the fortunes of the capital. Today, they sit with headphones on in their fragmented worlds. In our second-largest city, the once-great Birmingham Post is now selling 844 copies a week to more than a million inhabitants. That’s not a misprint. Might this be the same Birmingham where a long sequence of staggeringly incompetent leadership has bankrupted the city council and now means massive cuts in local services? I’m afraid so. News websites about the city are busy but there is no doubt that scrutiny, accountability and public debate of such developments is weaker than it would have been in the past.” – William Hague, The Times
>Today: Simon Fawthrop and Bryn Harris on Local government: Simon Fawthrop and Bryn Harris: Why Bromley has become a free speech council