|
| Thursday May 2 2019 |
|
|
|
By Matt Chorley
|
|
Good morning,
|
Well, there is only one thing to talk about this morning: local elections!
If you live in England outside London (as most people do) you’re probably going to the polls today. Or should be.
There is also the small matter of Theresa May now being on the ninth version of her cabinet in only three years.
We must thank the news gods for this: until 6pm last night I was going to have to write about the customs union...
LISTEN: Catch me every weekday morning giving a sneak preview of what's coming up in Red Box to Julia Hartley-Brewer at breakfast on TalkRadio at 7.30am. Listen here
|
|
|
|
The briefing
|
- Sacking #1: Gavin Williamson was fired as defence secretary for leaking about Huawei. He was replaced by Penny Mordaunt, the first woman in the role. Her old job as international development secretary goes to Rory Stewart, who had promised to quit as prisons minister if violence in jails had not fallen (a promise he was in danger of breaking).
- Sacking #2: Fiona Onasanya, the former Labour MP jailed for perverting the course of justice, becomes the first MP to be fired by their constituents after more than 25 per cent of her constituents called for a by-election. The petition only needed 10 per cent to oust her.
- Nigel Farage ruled out standing himself in Peterborough for his new Brexit Party. Also not standing is Stewart Jackson, the former Tory MP for the city, who insists that he is not defecting, telling Red Box this morning: "I won't be standing and will remain a Conservative. There have to be a few of us left to help clear up the disaster which May and her cohorts will leave when she quits as PM."
- Theresa May is preparing to accept that Britain will remain in lockstep with EU customs rules for years after Brexit in a deal with Labour.
- A really interesting project has been launched by the data analyst Anna Powell-Smith called Missing Numbers, focusing on the data that the government should collect and measure in the UK but doesn’t. She warns that "the power to not collect data is one of the most important and little-understood sources of power that governments have". One example is that complaints against each hospital are compiled but not those against each jobcentre. "So it is impossible for it to know if some jobcentres are being seriously mismanaged," Powell-Smith says, with a promise to dive into this topic more.
- Esther Webber's trivia question: On this day in 1997 Tony Blair led Labour to a landslide victory over the Conservatives. Apart from Blair, Brown and Prescott, who was the only person to hold the same job from 1997 to 2007? Answer at the bottom of today's email
|
|
So THAT’S what will get you the sack
|
|
The letter was brutal. “It is therefore with great sadness that I have concluded that I can no longer have full confidence in you.”
That’s Theresa May saying those words to someone else. She must have savoured that.
That she was saying it to the man who helped her to become prime minister, who boasted that he had made her so could break her, made it all the more extraordinary.
So Gavin Williamson is told to go away and shut up, fired as defence secretary for leaking from the National Security Council details of top-secret discussions about allowing the Chinese firm Huawei a role in providing 5G technology in Britain.
Williamson is the first cabinet minister to be sacked for leaking in 30 years. Which is not to say that nobody has leaked anything for 30 years but that the leakers tend to get away with it. Normally.
It is fair to say that there was not a huge amount of sympathy from Williamson’s former colleagues in government over his sacking, with few expressing surprise at his familiarity with journalists.
One cabinet minister said within minutes of the news breaking: “It didn’t take Miss Marple did it?”
Another cabinet minister said: “Who would have thought it was him? Apart from everyone who knows him.”
“He has form for this,” said a third. “He has made a complete prat of himself.”
There was also the suspicion that Williamson valued his relationship with journalists more than that with his fellow ministers.
Another minister texts: “Gavin will be a huge loss to the lobby... I mean cabinet.”
Williamson totally disproved the theory that he had a habit of shooting his mouth off to journalists by getting on the phone to almost every lobby and defence correspondent in the land to declare variously that he swore “on his children’s lives” he was not responsible for the leak, that there had been “a witch-hunt from the start”, “a kangaroo court with a summary execution”, that he would have been “absolutely exonerated” by a police inquiry but that he had been “hung for a crime I didn’t do”.
The PM’s letter described “compelling evidence” against him, though Downing Street won’t say what that is. And presumably hope it won’t leak. Williamson admits speaking to Steven Swinford, the Telegraph journalist who got the leak, but not telling him about Huawei.
Some in government were still shocked by the sacking, mainly because they didn’t think May had it in her.
But allies of the PM say that colleagues underestimated her anger over the NSC leak. This is not the cabinet, which is leakier than a sieve, but a meeting of the most senior government ministers as well as the heads of the spy agencies, where the most sensitive discussions happen. Attendees cannot even discuss much of what is said with their own aides unless they too have the highest levels of security clearance.
Another cabinet minister tells me: “Do not underestimate how genuinely appalled to her core the PM was about this. She is instinctively a securocrat, and the sanctity of the NSC needed protecting.”
Team Williamson are blaming the securocracy for forcing him out, in particular Mark Sedwill, who was permanent secretary of the Home Office when May was home secretary, and was then chosen by her to take on the dual roles of cabinet secretary and national security adviser.
In recent days Williamson had apparently sought to blame Sedwill for the leak. “It’s the old phrase ‘whoever smelt it dealt it’,” said a government aide last night. “So stupid pointing finger at the cabinet secretary.”
However support for Williamson came from an unlikely quarter. Damian McBride, a former spin doctor to Gordon Brown who now advises Emily Thornberry, suggested that it was wrong for an inquiry to be launched to expose journalists’ contacts. He tweeted: “This is what happens when you've not got a 'Treasury type' as cabinet secretary. Sedwill's out of control.”
As Henry Zeffman writes this morning: “Williamson’s rise was so sharp that it takes some doing for his fall to have been even more sudden.” His short cabinet career has also not been without incident.
It is worth remembering that only three years ago he was David Cameron’s bag-carrying PPS, who was lent to the May leadership campaign to stop Boris Johnson becoming leader. He was rewarded with a job as chief whip, where he defied the convention that holders of the role kept out of the headlines.
When Sir Michael Fallon was forced to quit as defence secretary at the height of the MeToo storm, Williamson was a surprise choice for his replacement. He soon made an impact for all the wrong reasons.
There was telling Russia to “go away and shut up”. There was fitting guns to tractors, using Coca-Cola lorries to disguise missile defence systems and converting old commercial ferries into beach assault craft. There was the plan to fire paintballs at Spanish ships to protect Gibraltar.
There was the time he was heckled by his own phone in the Commons because the way he said Syria kept setting off Siri. And there was the time when Richard Madeley cut short an interview because Williamson wouldn’t answer his questions. While standing in a field of elephants.
There was the budget row with Philip Hammond that earned him the nickname Private Pike. There was the revelation of an affair when he was a fireplace salesman that earned him the nickname Poker. And there was his habit of offering to send in the army for almost everything.
At this difficult time one should also think of those closest to a sacked minister who now find themselves out of office too. I of course mean Cronus, Williamson’s tarantula, which he kept on his desk as chief whip.
If you’re watching all of this slightly baffled, you’re not alone. There are rather a lot of questions.
Why would anyone leak something from a meeting whose very existence is supposed to be a secret, and whose conclusions would be known by barely a dozen people?
If intent on leaking something, why would anyone do it within hours of the meeting breaking up?
Is the leak in the public interest, or is it only people who oppose Huawei’s involvement who think that?
Should it be the business of the civil service to weed out journalists' sources, and should the opposition be calling for journalists’ sources to go to jail, as Tom Watson has done? Watson told the Today programme: "He is denying it and he has the right to clear his name – the way to do that is a criminal inquiry if confidential information has leaked."
Is it now all over for Williamson? Don’t bet on it. Last night he was still telling journalists: “I reckon I still have a bit of life in me yet.”
But at least we now know the answer to one question: we now know what you have to do to get sacked from this government.
It’s not holding a series of secret unsanctioned meetings with a foreign government. Nor facing accusations of sexual harassment. Nor lying about porn on your computer. Nor getting a British citizen extra time in an Iranian jail. Nor even losing track of deportation targets, not knowing how close France is, nor being a bit surprised that Northern Ireland is a bit religious.
Nor costing the taxpayer £83 million for signing a series of no-deal contracts with ferry firms, including with a ferry firm that owned no ferries and copied its T&Cs from a takeaway website, while also failing to find the drone that shut major airports, failing to properly organise a fake traffic jam, nor being banned from Calais.
Whatever you think of Gavin Williamson and what he did or didn’t do, he not only faces the indignity of being told by Theresa May that she has lost confidence in him.
He also wakes this morning to the realisation that he has been sacked from this sorry excuse for a government. And Chris Grayling hasn’t.
|
|
The Sketch
|
|
Glumbucket suffers poor reception over Huawei
|
|
Quentin Letts
|
|
May Day, cruelly, meant a double dose of Theresa May: first at PMQs, then the liaison committee, where 13 waxworks croaked questions at Madam Glumbucket for what seemed like half an ice age. Prolonged exposure to our premier, as Gavin Williamson would discover later, does you in.
|
Read the full sketch
|
|
| |
|
What the papers say
|
|
The Times: “A decent enough man, Mr Williamson was promoted beyond his capability by a prime minister with suspect judgment. This government now has a feeling of terminal decay.”
The Daily Telegraph: “We do not countenance leaks calculated to damage national security; but this concerned a decision crucial to the UK’s future relations with its allies. We were right to report it.”
Daily Mirror: “If he is unfit to sit in cabinet then you have to question whether he is fit to sit as an MP. Not only was he happy to play fast and loose with state secrets, the PM concluded he lied when asked if he was responsible for the leak.”
The Guardian: “Perhaps nobody else has behaved quite so badly. But this sorry episode reminds the nation that many Conservatives are losing their grip on reality when they ought to be grappling with the most complex piece of statecraft in a generation.”
The Sun: “The only upside is the highly capable Penny Mordaunt being our first female defence secretary. And Rory Stewart knows a thing or two about foreign aid. But Williamson’s hasty sacking is yet another misstep by a PM under siege.”
Daily Express: “In sacking Mr Williamson, the PM has shown that despite the trials and tribulations of Brexit she is determined to ensure the process of government is protected. In these uncertain times that has to be for the good of us all.”
Daily Mail: “With disastrous timing, the hapless Tories have managed (once again) to blast themselves in both feet.”
|
|
|
Yesterday I asked how worried you were about the environment. It turns out quite a lot. Full results here
|
|
Have your say
|
Yesterday I asked what we should be doing to tackle climate change.
James London said: "To ban everything now is both ridiculous and implausible. Whatever the UK actually undertakes will not change the use of coal in Poland, Germany and others in Europe and well beyond our region. "
Jeremy White suggested: "A pan-European reforestation policy, plus using tax breaks/subsidies to encourage cultivation of biomass that is particularly effective at absorbing CO2 via photosynthesis. This ‘natural carbon sequestration’ buys time to develop clean technologies and phase them in."
John Norfolk said: "Replace car tax with fuel tax. Improve public transport so there is less car use. Encourage more use of buses by giving a bus pass to more people. Monitor abuse of bus lanes strictly. Or, controversially, give everybody a bicycle (British-made of course)."
James Harbord said: "Subsidise the wool industry. We will need more woolly jumpers when electricity prices soar and gas boilers become extinct..
And Nick Mansley was the first of many to say: "Harvest the hot air coming out of Westminster and use it to heat houses. Should keep us going for a few decades."
TODAY: What should Gavin Williamson do now? Email redbox@thetimes.co.uk and we'll use some of the best tomorrow.
|
|
The cartoon
|
|
|
Today's cartoon from The Times by Morten Morland
|
|
Need to know
|
THIS. IS. NOT. NORMAL: There were more antisemitic incidents in Britain last year than in any other recent year, with 148 of those attributed to the Labour Party, according to an annual survey published yesterday. (The Times)
THIS. IS. ALSO. NOT. NORMAL: Jeremy Corbyn noticed racist language in a seminal anti-imperialist text but it was “reasonable” not to mention it in his foreword to a new edition, his spokesman has said. (The Times)
DINNER DATE: The Russian donor who paid £135,000 for a private dinner with Theresa May and six female cabinet ministers was described as an unreliable witness by a senior judge, The Times can disclose. (The Times)
SPENDING REVIEW: The government could abandon plans for a three-year spending review in favour of a one-year programme because of Brexit turmoil and uncertainty over Theresa May’s future. (The Guardian)
STANDING DOWN: John Bercow suggested that he would not be staying on for much longer as Speaker, saying: "If Theresa May can take a few weeks to change her mind about holding an election I can be forgiven for taking a few years to change my mind about staying on." (Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser)
|
|
Poll of the day
|
|
Are things turning for ChangeUK? The latest YouGov poll for The Times on voting for the European Parliament elections show that the Lib Dems have overtaken the new Remain party on the block. Just. Lib Dems are on 10 per cent, with ChangeUK and the Greens tied on 9 per cent.
The Brexit Party has extended its lead, up to 30 per cent, with Labour down slightly to 21 per cent and the Tories unchanged on 13 per cent.
|
|
Picture of the day
|
|
|
Esther Webber
|
David Gauke, the justice secretary, revealed yesterday he is wearing a GPS tag as part of the Ministry of Justice's relaunch of the controversial monitoring tool.
He will be wearing the tag for two days, but told a Lords committee he wouldn't be letting on to the party whips.
Rory Stewart, until yesterday prisons minister, was also fitted with the tag, so we can only assume it will be following him to the Department for International Development.
So that's two cabinet ministers Theresa May will be able to keep track of – at least until the end of today.
|
|
Green growth
|
Today was supposed to be all about the environment. The committee on climate change publishes its 275-page report recommending that Britain cease to contribute to global warming by 2050, and setting out how.
It includes a call for almost three billion trees to be planted by 2050, while our habits will have to change drastically, with a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 and domestic gas boilers to be replaced with green alternatives.
Claire Perry, the climate change minister, writes for Red Box: “We’re taking ambitious action; we’ve asked what more we can do; and now we have clear evidence-based advice on how to end our role in catastrophic climate change for good.”
However John Suaven, executive director of Greenpeace, writes for Red Box that the easy stuff has already been done. “Meeting the international goal of limiting warming to 1.5C means meeting challenges like decarbonising our cars, our homes, our industries and the food and clothes we buy — complicated stuff that’s integrated with every aspect of our lives.”
|
|
Now read this
|
|
Barack and Michelle Obama have revealed details of seven projects their new company is developing with Netflix. Bill Clinton, another former Democratic president, also appears about to embark on a media venture.
|
|
Read the full story
|
|
The agenda
|
Today
- Local elections take place in England and Northern Ireland. Direct mayoral elections also take place in Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and North Tyne.
- Theresa May meets Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Icelandic prime minister.
- Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, continues week-long visit to Africa with a speech on press freedom during a stop in Ethiopia.
- Sajid Javid, the home secretary, responds to the police pursuit consultation.
- The committee on climate change publishes advice on the UK’s long-term emissions targets in response to a request from the government.
- The UK and Scottish governments hold a summit on the economic benefits of offshore wind, chaired by Claire Perry, UK energy minister, and Derek Mackay, Scottish finance secretary.
- Launch of Plaid Cymru's European election campaign in Cardiff.
- A "bad" Brexit deal would risk tariffs of 41 per cent on London's exports and 48 per cent of Manchester's exports, according to a report by the Centre for Cities.
- A week-long online auction by Christie's of personal items that belonged to Margaret Thatcher begins.
- Midday Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish first minister, faces her weekly round of questions from MSPs.
- Midday The Bank of England's monetary policy committee announces its latest decision on interest rates.
- 3.30pm Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, updates the London Assembly on the Crossrail project, which could be delayed beyond its 2021 target resulting in a £1billion loss for TfL.
House of Commons
- 9.30am Transport questions.
- Business questions to the leader of the House.
- Debate on World Immunisation Week.
- Adjournment debate on the case for building a new town in Essex.
House of Lords
- 11am Questions on amputees, meetings with the Scottish government, rural crime, and the decrease in council spending on homelessness.
- Debate on the government's legal responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Debate on tackling antimicrobial resistance.
|
|
Today's trivia answer
|
Tommy McAvoy, who was the government pairing whip, now Lord McAvoy, Labour chief whip in the Lords.
Many readers wrote in yesterday to point out that W and Y are vowels in Welsh, after I said Ann Clwyd was the only MP with one vowel in her name. I've been told that Ann Clwyd herself likes to cite this, so the jury's out on this one.
Send your trivia to redbox@thetimes.co.uk
|
| |
|
This email is from a member of the News UK group. News Corp UK & Ireland Limited, with its registered office at 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF, United Kingdom is the holding company for the News UK Group and is registered in England No. 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
To see our privacy policy, click
here.
|
|
|
@MattChorley
