“Rishi Sunak has said he has no intention to hand back the £10 million donated by a major Tory backer accused of making racist comments. The Prime Minister said Frank Hester rightly apologised for his comments and that “remorse should be accepted”. It comes amid a heated clash at Prime Minister’s Questions, where Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged the PM, questioning if he took pride in being “bankrolled” by Mr Hester. The millionaire Tory party donor is alleged to have said Diane Abbott, Britain’s longest-serving black MP, made him “want to hate all black women” and that she “should be shot”. Earlier this morning, Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake said returning the cash is not the “right thing to do” and suggested the Tories would accept further donations from the businessman.” – The Sun
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Editorial:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: Starmer thinks he is winning the battle for the moral high ground
“Ministers will name and shame extremist groups banned from having ties to the government because of their “unacceptable” conduct. Michael Gove, the communities secretary, has drawn up a new definition of extremism, as part of which ministers will publish a list of non-criminal groups barred from exerting any influence over government policy. Groups covered by the definition will be denied access to taxpayer funding and prevented from meeting ministers and officials or gaining a platform that could “legitimise” them through association with the government. While the new extremism definition has been announced, the list of banned groups will be published within the next few weeks after officials carry out a “robust process” of assessing which groups meet the new definition. Gove will then make a final decision.” – The Times
Editorial:
>Yesterday: Tom Jones in Comment: Immigration control is impossible without the right data
“Rishi Sunak has tried to block the takeover of the Telegraph by Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI by changing the law to stop a foreign state buying a British news organisation. The UK prime minister has proposed changes to legislation going through parliament to, in effect, prevent any foreign state from owning or having influence or control over a British newspaper. The plans were outlined on Wednesday by Lord Stephen Parkinson, culture minister, in the House of Lords. The proposals would “amend the media merger regime explicitly to rule out newspaper and periodical news magazine mergers involving ownership, influence or control by foreign states”, Parkinson said. Any deal involving a foreign state would be vetted by the Competition and Markets Authority…” – FT
“Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said it could take “many parliaments” to realise his ambition to get rid of national insurance contributions, as the government fends off accusations from Labour that the project amounts to an irresponsible unfunded tax reduction. Speaking to MPs on Wednesday, Hunt said the idea would amount to the “biggest tax simplification in our lifetimes”, but that the government was not putting a timeline on it. “It is a long-term ambition to make work pay in the British economy — it is the right thing for economic growth,” Hunt told the Treasury select committee. “It will be the work of many parliaments. We will make progress but only when it’s affordable to do so.” Hunt added that he would not pursue the measure if it undermined public services such as health or pensions or required higher borrowing. His ability to push it through would depend on future levels of economic growth, making it impossible to say when it would happen, he said.” – FT
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>Today:
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Who speaks for the Red Wall?
“Britain should spend billions more to save itself from World War Three, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has warned. Speaking in Poland where UK troops are in war games, he said he was “clearly in favour” of raising defence spending to three per cent of GDP. Current spend is 2.27 per cent, with the Government committed to 2.5 when conditions allow. Mr Shapps and Jeremy Hunt both pledged to raise defence spending to three per cent in the 2022 Tory leadership race. Amid threats from Russia and China, Mr Shapps said: “It is a more dangerous world now. Defence is the best way to protect ourselves. You have to show your adversaries, so I am clearly in favour.” He said the cost of beating Russia was “cheap at half the price”. Shapps said the world was now more dangerous which made the money more urgent.” – The Sun
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“Downing Street has declined to commit to holding a vote on whether to legalise assisted dying after Sir Keir Starmer promised one under a Labour government. Sir Keir said he would hold a free vote on the issue in the next parliament, opening the door to the law being changed before the end of the decade. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman was asked if Rishi Sunak would also allow MPs a vote before 2030 if the Conservatives win a historic fifth parliament. However, he told reporters that “we cannot speculate about future votes in a future parliament”. When asked which way the Prime Minister would personally vote, his spokesman replied that he “doesn’t feel it would be right as a party leader to pressure MPs one way or the other”.” – Daily Telegraph
“Top Tories have warned Rishi Sunak against holding a May election, as polling shows the party’s popularity is at a new low. In tense talks on Monday night, a number of senior MPs in the 1922 Committee told the Prime Minister that going to the polls in less than two months’ time would be ‘barking mad’. They reportedly urged him to focus on an autumn election, believing ‘seven months is a long time in politics’ – with hopes a successful summer of sport could change the ‘landscape’. But the party faces an uphill battle, with the latest polling by Savanta putting the Tory vote share at the lowest level since the end of Liz Truss’s premiership. The voting intention poll gave the Conservatives 25 per cent of the vote with Labour on 43 per cent.” – Daily Mail
Comment:
>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson was like the “absent” manager of a football team during the pandemic, the first minister of Wales has claimed. In a written statement to the Covid inquiry Mark Drakeford, the outgoing leader of Wales, said that Johnson, then prime minister, did not attend key meetings and instead Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, was more influential. Drakeford said Gove was a “skilful lead minister” who was “a centre forward without a team lined up behind him, and where the manager was largely absent”… Drakeford said it would have been preferable to meet the prime minister at certain points and wrote regularly to him during the pandemic asking for meetings between the heads of the four nations. He said it would have been “optically important” for people to see them working together, and would have improved decision making, understanding and trust.” – The Times
More Labour:
>Today: Nicholas Rogers in Local Government: Khan has failed London’s vital commercial shipping industry
“A judge has dismissed some of the charges against Donald Trump in his Georgia 2020 election interference case because of a “fatal” lack of detail. Judge Scott McAfee threw out six counts, including three against Mr Trump, in the sweeping racketeering indictment. But he left the central charge facing the former president, a racketeering conspiracy, in place. Mr Trump still faces 10 counts in the case. In his ruling, Judge McAfee criticised prosecutors for failing to provide enough detail about the alleged crime. “The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” he wrote… However, the judge said prosecutors could refile the charges with further detail or seek leave to appeal his ruling.” – Daily Telegraph
>Yesterday: James Johnson’s International column: Biden’s State of the Union speech showed why Americans shouldn’t count him out