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Friday February 2 2018 |
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By Matt Chorley
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Good morning,
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Cuts at the BBC have claimed a new victim: party conferences.
A leaked memo reveals that Newsnight and the Daily Politics will no longer have their own sets at the annual gatherings, and far fewer staff will be sent.
Lucky them.
- Red Box is a must-read in No 10, and across Westminster. Know someone who is missing out? Get them signed up today thetimes.co.uk/redbox
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Must reads
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- Carmakers who cheat emissions tests were threatened with unlimited fines yesterday under anti-pollution rules being drawn up in Westminster.
- Insurers have been accused of ripping off motorists by allowing large excesses on car insurance without offering any savings on the premium.
- Professor Robert Winston, the peer and IVF pioneer, has provoked a debate on train travel telephone etiquette: what should you do if a fellow passenger just will not hang up?
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Too many tweets makes a...
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... Matt Hancock
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Forget Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or Bebo, there is a new social media app in town.
Matt Hancock, far from being the shyest man in politics, has launched an app about Matt Hancock. It is called Matt Hancock.
It is designed to showcase everything you want to know (and, I suspect, quite a bit more) about Matt Hancock.
Users can Matt Hancock each other about Matt Hancock, post Matt Hancocks for Matt Hancock and stream Matt Hancocks live. The evidence so far is that Matt Hancockers are friendlier than other social media users.
He is Mr Digital. Technically he is secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport. But he has taken his commitment to tech very, very seriously indeed.
It is easy to mock. Like, really easy. But at least he is trying. Together with the Times data journalist Louis Goddard, I've been crunching the numbers and Hancock is by far the most prolific tweeter in the cabinet.
Since the election he has tweeted more than 1,800 times, compared to fewer than 300 from Theresa May's political account. Every week he routinely posts five times more often than the cabinet average. Only Brandon Lewis, the new Tory party chairman, gets close.
Other ministers have thrown themselves into Instagram. Forget the woeful Conservative party behind-the-scenes snaps at conference (Michael Gove with his arms folded. Philip May with his arms folded. Damian Green with his hand in his pocket). This is senior Tories doing Instagram properly.
Liz Truss, the chief secretary to the treasury, has been on fire online. If by "on fire" you mean using every filter and sticker available on photos of a speech about "unleashing the potential of blockchain".
Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, posts photos of herself chopping vegetables after big political moments. Yesterday she posted a photo of two of her staff with the message: "Stop talking and get back to work."
Gavin Williamson rarely appears without an animal: the defence secretary's digital menagerie has included an owl, a falcon, two lemurs, dogs, cats, cows, a reindeer, and his pet tarantula, Cronus.
Last week dozens of Tory MPs were given lessons in Instagram, with a growing feeling that, like Matt Hancock, the platform is nicer and less prone to political outrage than Twitter or Facebook. It is also where the voters are.
What is the point of all this? Well, one problem the Tories have is that voters are much, much less likely to share their messages online than for Labour. So-called "organic reach" is achieved when a video or graphic produced by Labour is spread widely by their supporters (often via union networks too).
People will happily go online and post details (and pictures) of their weight gain, vomiting bug, angry rash or marital woes, but are seemingly too embarrassed to share a Conservative party graphic about income tax cuts. Encouraging ministers and MPs to freestyle online, build an audience, and share messages in an authentically (albeit esoteric) way is seen as key to engaging voters who will then spread the word, and possibly even become paid up members.
The Tories have come up with one top secret new way of getting people to join: ask them. In a radical departure from previous efforts, people who have engaged with the party online are being asked if they'd like to join. Many of those contacted have said yes.
That this is seen as progress tells you how far behind the Conservatives are.
But soon we'll all be Matt Hancocking each other morning, noon and night and there will be no stopping them.
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Read the full story
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Chart of the day
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Times analysis of the cabinet's tweeting reveals Matt Hancock and Brandon Lewis are by far the most prolific.
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Today's cartoon from The Times by Peter Brookes
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‘Essentially correct’
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Another bravuro performance from "Steve Baker", the rising star apparently determined to upstage the titan of the avante-garde, "David Davis".
Where "David Davis" often explores existential questions (do his impact assessments exist etc) "Steve Baker" specialises in bending the concepts of truth and honour in all manner of ways.
Already this week he has received mixed reviews for appearing as a government minister at the government despatch box and shredding the government's analysis of the impact of various Brexit deals.
Yesterday he went one further: he was joined on stage by the Dali-esque surrealist "Jacob Rees-Mogg", who asked "Steve Baker" to confirm that Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform, had told him that Treasury officials had cooked up a wheeze to show "that all options other than staying in the customs union are bad" in a pro-Remain plot.
"Steve Baker" replied that this was "essentially correct", when what he meant was "that is total balls". You know that the concept of truth might have been stretched too far when even "David Davis" winces.
Downing Street at first stood by "Steve Baker", but when audio of Grant was released, "Steve Baker" later backed down and promised to "clarify my remarks to the House". That should be a performance worth watching.
- It goes without saying that the prime minister is not going to sack "Steve Baker". Asked if she would relieve him of his job, May told Channel 5 News: “No. The ministerial code says that the minister should take the earliest opportunity to amend the record that he has given to parliament and apologise to parliament. He will do that."
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Tweet of the day |
Steve Baker’s having a bit of a week isn’t he.
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@owenjbennett
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Try to square this lot
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The UK must not form any kind of customs union with the EU after Brexit, Liam Fox has warned in comments which will further complicate Theresa May’s attempt to broker a truce amongst warring Conservative MPs. Read the full story
Sanctions are being threatened by the European Union to prevent Britain undermining the bloc’s economy after Brexit. Read the full story
A Brussels demand for full, automatic and permanent residency rights for all European Union nationals coming to Britain for almost two years after Brexit is “not negotiable”, Guy Verhofstadt said yesterday. Read the full story
Fears that Unilever will pick Rotterdam over London as its main base were growing last night after the Anglo-Dutch company said that it expected to complete a review of its structure by the end of March. Read the full story
The Financial Times reports that May’s Brexit advisers are secretly considering whether Britain could strike a customs union deal covering trade in goods with the EU, a move that would severely limit the UK’s ability to strike out on its own. The Daily Telegraph reveals details of a leak impact assessment which suggests that ministers are drawing up plans for a post-Brexit immigration policy in which just 40,000 fewer EU migrants a year would come to the UK.
The Guardian reports that the main groups opposed to a hard Brexit are joining forces under the leadership of Chuka Umunna to push for the public’s voice to be heard on Theresa May’s final deal to leave the EU.
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The Sketch
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A Captain Mainwaring glare for his dogsbody
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Patrick Kidd
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There is a rumour doing the rounds that Steve Baker is a capable minister. I haven’t seen any evidence of this myself but a bloke in the Red Lion told me he is the other day, so it’s probably true. Although if Mr Baker is upset by the suggestion of competence then I will be happy to set the record straight.
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Read the full sketch
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Counting the costs
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Two tales from the bizarre world of public sector spending:
The owner of the high street chemist Boots charged the NHS as much as £1,500 for single pots of moisturiser that others have sold for less than £2, a Times investigation found. Read the full story
Meanwhile, a Scotland Yard detective is refusing to disclose evidence in a drugs case retrial because he claims that the force cannot afford a £14 computer memory stick. Read the full story
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PM finds tea and sympathy
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She is scorned by many of her MPs, knocked back by the voters and isolated in Europe.
But Theresa May has finally won affection — from young Chinese social media users. The prime minister has been dubbed “Auntie May”, a reporter from the Chinese broadcaster CCTV told her, adding: “You’re one of the members of the family. Do you like that?”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you very much indeed. I’m honoured by that,” May replied, perhaps wondering whether to extend her stay indefinitely. Read the full story
May is now flying home. As she left she had the dubious honour of receiving lavish praise from the Chinese regime for “sidestepping” human rights despite the “mudslinging” of the western media.
An editorial in the Global Times, a state-backed Communist newspaper, said the “pragmatic” prime minister had refused to “appease the British media” in order to secure warm relations. Read the full story
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‘Shut the f*** up’
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Walking through parliament yesterday James Cleverly, the Conservative party deputy chairman, stopped me to show a genuine Tory MP asking him for the public feuding to stop. The mood, he insists, is not one of insurrection, but a desire for the PM to get on with the job.
He has used rather stronger words for some of those causing headaches for No10.
Asked about Nick Timothy, the PM's former chief of staff, claiming there was "strategic confusion" in Downing Street, Cleverly said: “Yes . . . sometimes the best thing you should do in politics is shut the f*** up.”
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Read the full story
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Who next for leader?
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The latest ConservativeHome survey reveals who Tory members might want to be their next leader. Jacob Rees-Mogg leads on 21 per cent, with Other in second and Michael Gove third.
Gove's rush to turn green has won new supporters, though this week he has been criticised for his plans to enshrine animal sentience in law.
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Trump vs FBI
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President Trump’s strained relations with the FBI sank to a new low as they clashed over the expected release of a classified memo that accuses a rogue cabal of agents of plotting against him.
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Read the full story
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Still in the dark
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Remember Charlie Elphicke, the Tory MP suspended at the height of the Westminster sleaze scandal without being told why?
Well three months on, he still doesn't know why.
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Read the full story
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Baby leave for MPs
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MPs yesterday backed the idea of giving politicians baby leave, allowing them to nominate a colleague to vote on their behalf when they become parents.
Not everyone has arrived in the 21st century. The Mirror reports that Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested he had to get permission from his nanny to hold his own toddler.
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How do you solve a problem like housing?
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All this week The Times has been examining the housing crisis in this country. Today Rachel Sylvester and Alice Thomson set out some ideas for how to solve it.
They include home sharing, co-living schemes, more prefab homes, smaller houses and getting the state into the housebuilding business.
Perhaps spooked by some of the ideas floated by Sajid Javid, the housing secretary, in the paper this week, Labour have rushed to tell The Guardian that they are considering forcing landowners to give up sites for a fraction of their current price.
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Around the world
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FRANCE: President Macron has been accused of orchestrating the dismissal of a radio executive after becoming exasperated by rumours that they had a gay affair. Read the full story
POLAND: Israel has led widespread criticism of the Polish parliament after it approved a bill criminalising anyone who suggested that Poland had been complicit in the Holocaust. Read the full story
RUSSIA: President Putin has infuriated politicians in Estonia by naming a Russian air force regiment after Tallinn, the capital, which was bombed by Soviet forces in March 1944. Read the full story
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Also in the news
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- LABOUR EXODUS: Harlow leader becomes second Labour council head to quit amid hard-left abuse claim Read the full story
- RELIGIOUS ROW: Ofsted attacks Church of England for blocking extremism efforts Read the full story
- WHAT A STATE: Cambridge and Oxford among worst universities for state school intake Read the full story
- COMPENSATION CULTURE: Negligence payouts ‘could bankrupt NHS’ Read the full story
- NORTHERN POWERLOSS: Pupils in the north are being failed, says George Osborne Read the full story
- BRANCHING OUT: Fears for farmers amid landowner plans to reforest Scotland Read the full story
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TMS |
From the diary |
By Patrick Kidd
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Ukip man off to a new crisis
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Westminster is losing one of its great characters. After 13 years in the Ukip press office, the tweed-wearing, pipe-smoking Gawain Towler has decided to give his liver a chance and is off to run a crisis-management consultancy. He’s certainly got the CV. One of his many tasks was to rescue a Ukip candidate from the sea at Margate after he failed to realise that tides go in as well as out. Then there was the candidate who was a porn star, the one who said a gay donkey raped his horse, Godfrey “bongo bongo” Bloom and the many personas of Paul Nuttall. Not forgetting Henry Bolton’s racist girlfriend. Nigel Farage was almost a breeze. How did he survive? “I just had a drink and carriedon,” Towler told the BBC. “I was going to leave after the referendum, but felt that stability was required with a new leader. Then a new leader. And then a new leader. And then a general election. And then a new leader . . .”
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Read more from the TMS diary
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What the papers say
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The Times "The prime minister may believe that in standing her ground on residency rights she is storing up leverage for future negotiations. She may be right, but is more likely to be setting herself up for a climbdown and wasting precious time." Read the full article
The Guardian "Parliament will return to a restored Westminster in the end. In the interim, this overcentralised country should think local. Go north. Go west. Be ambitious. Use the imagination. Embrace this richly varied country – and the country may return the favour." Read the full article
The Sun “Which senior Tory could replace Theresa May right now and make a better fist of Brexit? No one, in our view. The public seems to agree.” Read the full article Daily Mail “It's time Whitehall officials remembered they are impartial servants of the British people. As such they should be helping the Prime Minister secure the best deal for our country. We're leaving the EU next year and, as Theresa May has said, that means leaving the customs union and single market. If civil servants want to change that, they should stand for election.”
Daily Mirror “The overwhelming support for higher spending on the NHS obliterates the last tired argument against increasing investment in our most precious public service. Our poll proves people will pay extra tax if they are confident it will go to medical care.” Daily Express “A prophet is without honour in their own country and nowhere does that apply more than to our Prime Minister. Theresa May has had to endure an almost unbearable level of attack both from within her own party and elsewhere and yet - while in the UK there is more interminable talk of a leadership challenge - her true star is shining elsewhere.”
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Agenda
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Today
- Theresa May continues her visit to China.
- Penny Mordaunt, international development secretary, attends the Global Partnership for Education Financing conference in Senegal.
- The government is flogging discounted social housing in a ‘fire sale’, according to a report by the Local Government Association.
- Carwyn Jones, first minister of Wales, launches the Welsh government’s vision for trade post-Brexit.
- The NHS has a 162,000 list of items of clinical correspondence, according to an investigation of the NAO.
- The Work and Pensions Committee and the Business, Energy and Industrial strategy committee write to the Big Four accountancy firms to request ‘detailed accounts’ of any services offered to Carillion.
- Sir Michael Wilshaw, former Ofsted Inspector, speaks at a Northern Powerhouse conference on education and skills in Leeds.
House of Commons
- Private Members Bills: Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill - second reading (Tim Loughton)
- Parking (Code of Practice) Bill - second reading (Sir Greg Knight)
- Licensing of Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill - second reading (Daniel Zeichner)
- Healthcare (Local Accountability) Bill - 2nd reading (Sir Christopher Chope)
- Food Insecurity Bill - 2nd reading (Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck)
- Terms of Withdrawal from EU (Referendum) Bill - 2nd reading (Geraint Davies)
House of Lords
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