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| Wednesday April 24 2019 |
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By Matt Chorley
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Good morning,
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The 1922 Committee meets again today after they spent two hours last night debating Theresa May’s leadership but came to no conclusion about what to do next.
She knows how they feel.
LISTEN: Catch me every weekday morning giving a sneak preview of what's coming up in Red Box at 7.30am with Julia Hartley-Brewer at breakfast on TalkRadio. Listen here
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Listen and subscribe to the Red Box podcast
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The briefing
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- It’s Wednesday, which means PMQs, which serves little purpose these days other than telling us how well the cross-party talks are going. If Jeremy Corbyn plays nicely, they are still a thing, though The Times reveals that Theresa May is preparing to challenge Labour to support the legislation needed to achieve Brexit if compromise talks break down.
- Isis admitted responsibility for the Easter Day bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 359 people, including 45 children and eight Britons. In the Commons Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, said the attack was “complex, tightly co-ordinated and designed to cause maximum chaos, damage and heartbreak”.
- Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, rejected an apology last night from the paramilitaries who killed Lyra McKee. The journalist’s funeral takes place in Belfast today.
- Nicola Sturgeon makes a big statement later on “Brexit and Scotland’s Future”, which everyone assumes will be a fresh push for Scottish independence, though No 10 has already said that the UK government “has bigger things to deal with just now".
- Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is up before the Treasury committee when he will launch the search to replace Mark Carney as governor of the Bank of England. Fancy it for £480,000?
- Today's trivia: Which constituency has had three successive MPs ultimately reach cabinet, but for two different parties? Answer at the bottom of today's email.
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What's your name again?
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It took a while with Starburst, and Snickers, and Cif. But eventually everyone got used to the new names.
I’m just not sure that a political party which has only been in existence for two months should be on its third identity. They’ve already had as many names as Prince and he seems to have been off his nut on drugs most of the time.
Let’s go back to the beginning. It turns out the country was crying out for a new political party. It just wasn’t the one we thought.
For months, years even, there has been talk of a big space in the centre of British politics opening up as the Tories rushed right and Labour lurched left. (Lib Dem cries of “yoo-hop! Over here!” went unheeded).
The centrists just had to choose their moment. And then sit back as support poured in like balsamic into virgin olive oil.
There is one small problem: they can’t seem to decide what they’re called. When seven Labour MPs broke away in February they formed the Independent Group, later joined by three Tories and another Labour MP.
Then last month the self-styled Tiggers became Change UK. Before apparently settling on Change UK the Independent Group. And then yesterday also announcing they were “the home of the Remain alliance”.
Who is in charge here? Even that is not clear. Initially Gavin Shuker was the “convener” while Chuka Umunna was the chief spokesman. Then Heidi Allen became the interim leader. They’ve got more leaders than The Times editorial page.
There was also some criticism of their new logo with four black lines which make it look like a much juicer name has been redacted. With most of the rainbow already nabbed by other parties, I can understand why they settled on a monochrome identity rather than opt for a funny tinge.
In fact at their European election campaign launch in Bristol yesterday there were at least five different coloured versions of the logo, prompting questions about the confusion.
“It's not relevant, Umunna told Business Insider. “That is Westminster bubble speak ... Oh my god! We've dared to use three or four different colours! Listen to yourself. That's the same old Westminster way.”
This is their defence for everything. Why can't you decide what you’re called? “Westminster bubble speak.” Why does anyone searching for Change UK online not find your website? “Westminster bubble speak.” Why have you made some strange choices in your candidate selection? “Westminster bubble speak.”
So to the candidates: there were some genuine surprises, notably Rachel Johnson, sister of Boris and Jo, who left the Tories to join the Lib Dems and is now pinning on a Change UK The Independent Group Remain Alliance rosette, which will need a sturdy lapel.
Gavin Esler, the former Newsnight presenter and BBC newsreader, who gave one of the best speeches yesterday, declaring: “Our political system is a joke. It is a worldwide joke. They are laughing at us, not with us, at us.” He said he was sick of Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg “selling the same old snake oil”, adding: “They stole our patriotism and I want it back.”
One of the most interesting choices was Jan Vincent-Rostowski, who grew up in London but became deputy prime minister in Poland under Donald Tusk, now president of the European Council. Also on the regional lists are Stephen Dorrell, the former Conservative health secretary under John Major, Neil Carmichael, a former Conservative MP, and Roger Casale, a former Labour MP.
Less successful was Ali Sadjady, who it turned out tweeted in 2017: “When I hear that 70 per cent of pickpockets caught on the [London Underground] are Romanian it kind [of] makes me want #Brexit”. The tweet was uncovered by The Independent, prompting the former Conservative supporter, who was running in London, to say that he would stand down “so as not to tarnish” Change UK’s reputation. Which feels quite old politics, but there we go.
Remainers are tying themselves in knots about what to do in next month’s European parliament elections. Who should someone who wants to stop Brexit vote for? The Lib Dems? The Greens? SNP or Plaid Cymru? Change UK the Independent Group?
This is why Change UK have started trying talking about a Remain alliance, while ruling out actually forming an alliance with anyone else.
Oh and yesterday we also got news of the UK EU Party, or "UKEUP", which claims to be even more anti-Brexit than anyone.
All of which is very frustrating for those people who consider themselves centrists and were delighted with the idea of a new political force emerging from the wreckage of the established parties. Those MPs who made the leap are smart, savvy people with interesting things to say. The risk is they are quickly burning through the goodwill by making this new politics lark look quite hard after all.
Contrast this soup of confusion with the clarity of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage’s latest effort to prove it is possible to build an entire political movement on one man’s ego.
Now admittedly there was the problem with the party being registered to a bed and breakfast which had its Tripadvisor reviews trashed by Remainers. And the founder Catherine Blaiklock had to resign for being racist.
Yes its logo might look like a house that has fallen over which is pointing to the far right, but it has the sort of colour scheme you might expect of a nice gift shop at an upmarket seaside town.
But it’s got a clear message: “We want Brexit.” And a clear messenger: Nigel Farage.
And today it is boasting a new recruit: Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister, has stunned her former colleagues by announcing she is to stand for the Brexit Party next month.
Last week’s YouGov poll for The Times put the Brexit Party in the lead for the European elections, on 23 per cent which together with Ukip put the pro-Brexit parties on 29 points. Put all the pro-Remain parties together and you get 32 per cent. But with the vote being split at least four ways, the message on May 23 will be less clear.
In an era of identity politics, it helps if your politics has a clear identity.
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Chart of the day
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Yesterday I asked when Theresa May should stand down and 39 per cent said now. Full result here
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Have your say
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Yesterday I asked which non-politicians you'd like to see stand in the European elections.
Shabir Mamdani said: "I would like to see Gary Lineker stand for European elections – he is so pumped up about Brexit that I worry something might happen to him if he is unable to vent his frustration with the political classes."
Chez said: "I would love to see Dr Brian May elected as an independent MEP. He holds high values for life on our planet; he would care for human, animal, fish and bird life alike and would ensure action is taken on pollution and climate change."
Livia Catt said: “Easy one. Matt Chorley of the Common Sense Party.” Red Box does not endorse this message.
TODAY: Can you design a better logo for Change UK? Email redbox@thetimes.co.uk and we'll use some of the best tomorrow.
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The cartoon
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Today's cartoon from The Times by Peter Brookes
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Picture of the day
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Michael Gove, Layla Moran and Ed Miliband look on as Greta Thunberg, 16, berates politicians for failing to act on climate change
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Michael Gove has promised tougher action on climate change after telling Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old green activist, that she had made him feel guilty about his generation’s failure to address the problem.
Urging action not warm words, Thunberg told MPs: “We have not taken to the streets for you to take selfies with us, and tell us that you really admire what we do. We children are doing this to wake the adults up.”
She did though pose for a selfie with Jeremy Corbyn after meeting the leaders of all the main political parties. Well, all except one. For reasons which are not clear Theresa May chose to stay away.
Which is odd because the Conservatives insist they have a strong record to defend, including the news yesterday that over the Easter weekend Britain broke its record for the longest continuous period without generating electricity from coal.
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Read the full story
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The Sketch
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The icy teen queen hit by oil slick
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Quentin Letts
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Pigtailed Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, whose solo climate vigil led to international environmental protests, sat sphinx-like in the Commons public gallery yesterday. With her entourage of handlers and press fixers keeping a respectful distance, as for a young Buddhist lama, she cut a tiny, solitary figure. She looked about five years younger than her actual 16.
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Read the full sketch
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Need to know
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TRUMP TRIP: There is a stand-off between the Commons Speaker and Lords Speaker over whether President Trump should address parliament during his state visit in early June. Although it is not clear whether Trump (not a renowned reader of speeches) actually wants to speak in Westminster anyway. (The Times)
FAKING IT: A Tory MP faces losing his seat after he was sentenced to community service yesterday for faking two invoices to claim his expenses. (The Times)
MORE UNITED: More than 50 MPs from seven different political parties have formed a group to tackle issues “ignored” because of Brexit. (The Times)
LABOUR ISN’T WORKING: Labour bosses are facing the prospect of a staff walkout after they rejected their latest pay offer. (PoliticsHome)
VISA SCANDAL: Sajid Javid, the home secretary, is under mounting pressure to head off an immigration visa scandal that MPs have warned could be “bigger than Windrush”. (The Guardian)
CHINESE TAKEAWAY: Theresa May has given the green light to a Chinese telecoms giant to help build Britain's new 5G network despite warnings from the US and some of her most senior ministers that it poses a risk to national security. (The Daily Telegraph)
PERIOD PRODUCTS: Police forces will be required to offer women period products and access to a woman member of custody staff under changes to the law due to be laid before parliament. (BuzzFeed News)
BAD BOND: A company that marketed a failed bond scheme that lost savers £236 million has been funding an MP's private salary. Johnny Mercer receives £85,000 from Crucial Academy, a company ultimately funded by Surge Financial Limited. (BBC News)
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Poster of the day
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Another cracker in our election poster mini-series: thanks to Danny Buck for sending this in. If you come across any other amusing posters or leaflets email redbox@thetimes.co.uk
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Now read this
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Quite the life retold in today’s Times obituary of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the hereditary monarch who as a soldier once guarded Buckingham Palace, helped liberate his own country in 1944 and then transformed it into one of the wealthiest countries in Europe.
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Read the full story
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The agenda
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Today
- 9.30am Philip Hammond, the chancellor, gives evidence to the Treasury committee on the spring statement.
- 9.30am The work and pensions committee takes evidence on discrimination against benefit claimants in the housing sector. Witnesses include landlords and tenants, as well as charity representatives.
- 9.45am Jesse Norman, transport minister, gives evidence to the transport committee on local roads funding and governance.
- 10am Matt Hancock, the health secretary, speaks at the launch of a TaxPayers' Alliance report on the potential impact of technology in health and social care.
- 10am Claire Perry, energy minister, gives evidence to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee on energy efficiency.
- 10am Senior officials from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube give evidence to the home affairs committee on hate crime.
- 1pm Funeral takes place in Belfast for the journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot and killed during a riot in Londonderry on April 18.
- 2.30pm Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, and others give evidence to the public accounts committee on NHS waiting times for elective and cancer care.
- 2.30pm Representatives of the gaming community give evidence to the digital, culture, media and sport committee on immersive and addictive technologies.
- 2.45pm Witnesses from the UN Refugee Agency UK, University of Oxford and the EU Institute for Security Studies give evidence to the foreign affairs committee on European responses to irregular migration.
- 3.15pm Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Commons deputy speaker with responsibility for parliamentary security, gives evidence to the joint committee on human rights as part of an inquiry into threats and abuse to MPs.
- 7pm Sara Khan, the government's lead commissioner for countering extremism, gives a lecture on the role of the media in challenging extremism.
House of Commons
- 11.30am Cabinet Office questions.
- Midday Prime minister's questions.
- Ten-minute rule bill on a gambling industry levy review and protections for vulnerable people.
- Opposition day debate.
- Adjournment debate on the closure of GKN Aerospace, Kings Norton.
House of Lords
- 3pm Questions on universal credit and child tax credit payments; flexible lifelong learning; parks and gardens receiving National Lottery Heritage Fund grants, and the European parliamentary elections.
- Consideration of Commons amendments to the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill.
- Regulation relating to sex and relationships education.
- Debate on the residential construction sector.
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Today's trivia answer
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Witney, the seat of Tory minister Douglas Hurd, his successor Shaun Woodward (who was Labour MP for St Helens South by the time he made Northern Ireland Secretary in 2007) and David Cameron.
Thanks to Robert McIlveen for that one. Send your best political trivia to redbox@thetimes.co.uk
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@MattChorley
