The biggest powerbase outside No 10 is, as always, the Treasury. Start your day with all the latest Conservative news, insight and analysis. Baker’s Lockdown Sceptics are also not to be ignored.
One is Justice committee chair Bob Neill who led the revolt against the Internal Markets Bill. By Paul Goodman | Covid-19 has vastly accelerated the inevitable entropy of the centre.
Commissioner for Public Appointments – and more. “I cannot support this policy”…”huge concerns”…”levelling over green fields with concrete”. Some groups exist for just one purpose, such as opposing the new planning laws that are infuriating Conservative members. Email. One MP says: “They are tough and well-drilled MPs, including a lot of Spartans. Address id. Claire Coutinho on Facebook. Northern Research Group’s ambition is clear from the cheeky wordplay of its name, a deliberate echo of the European Research Group (ERG), which called the shots from 2017 to 2019 after Mrs May squandered her majority. In Cabinet, a clear dividing line over coronavirus curbs repeatedly emerges between the ministers who oppose heavy restrictions for the sake of the economy - the Chancellor, Business Secretary Alok Sharma, Treasury Chief Secretary Steve Barclay, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps – and the two quad members who are seen as most keen for early action to save lives, Mr Hancock and Mr Gove. The victim claims she needed hospital treatment after one of the alleged attacks. Published 3 September.
Jeremy Hunt, the Health chair is another who commands instant attention when he calls No 10. 13 December 2019. 9 October 2020 | 50 comments. The difficulties were highlighted when the secret “Quad” meeting that agreed lockdown, of Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, was comprehensively leaked, possibly to prevent the Prime Minister from changing his mind. Claire Coutinho on Twitter. Led by Tom Tugandhat, the clever and ambitious chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, it boasts big beasts such as David Davis, IDS and Damian Green. On Saturday last weekend, as Boris Johnson prepared to announce the lockdown he had desperately tried to avoid, a vaguely familiar figure slipped into 10 Downing Street to scrutinise the scientific data for himself. For more stories like this, check our news page. ©2020 Conservative Home, All rights reserved. It backed free school meals and will defend the aid budget if Johnson takes aim. Others range from the “anti-woke” Common Sense Group, that will hold the Prime Minister’s feet to the fire on issues from the BBC licence to immigration, and its antithesis, the progressive One Nation Caucus.
Chaired by Damian Green, the former de-facto DPM, it meets weekly, gets ministerial briefings and will soon have outside speakers. The north is where the next election is being fought.”. Members include Ben Bradley of Mansfield, Jack Brereton of Stoke on Trent South, and at least one Scottish Tory, John Lamont, who represents Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk. PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition: which should you buy? Many have small majorities but see themselves as having very distinct political priorities from southern MPs in marginal seats. An MP explains: “There’s a world of difference between London marginals, where the demographics are moving against Conservative incumbents, and northern seats where the demographics are changing in our favour. Message. Stephen Booth: Brexit-related concerns about a Biden presidency are overblown. In Chingford, IDS’s majority has shrunk from 18,000 to 1,200.”. Rob Davies @ByRobDavies Slim Patches: Do They Help You Lose Weight. The alleged offences are said to have occurred in London between July 2019 and January this year, and were reported to the police in July. With him were three scientists and a data analyst, all allowed to “robustly scrutinise” the graphs that the Prime Minister would present to the nation that evening. Wife of Tory MP Johnny Mercer says her husband and fellow parliamentarians have to "literally take bullet after bullet for their flipping useless government". “The Treasury team are very good at listening to backbenchers.”, Video: 2020 election results (The Independent), Boris Johnson refers to Donald Trump as 'previous president', University students to be allowed to travel home in December in Christmas boost.mp4, Jason Manford discusses mental healths struggle for first time, Coronavirus update live: Latest UK news on plan to get students home for Christmas, Joe Biden: 'I'm telling world leaders that America is back', Video shows how closely Rami Malek mirrored Freddie Mercury's movements, Piers Morgan interrupts Dr Hilary Jones during coronavirus debate, Awkward moment senators hurry past reporter asking them if Biden won the election, Daily Show compiles clips of Republicans mocking allegations of voter fraud from Democrats in 2018, Joe Biden laughs at thought of Mike Pompeo, Biden dismisses Trump’s refusal to concede as an 'embarrassment', Biden blasts Trump’s ‘needlessly divisive’ attempt to overturn Obamacare.mp4, MSNBC cuts off Ken Dilanian as he replies 'oh s***' and 'f***' to anchor question about transition, Trump's election fraud claims 'no reason for alarm’, says McConnell, Fox New's Tucker Carlson warns Joe Biden will 'make you drink Starbucks', The Chancellor showed his steel when allies of Gavin Williamson sought to blame him for the free school dinners fiasco. But the Prime Minister will need to be more sure-footed than he has seemed in recent weeks to survive to the next election in 2024.
Nineteen Conservative backbenchers spoke against the policy. As a historian he will certainly be aware of what happened to the last Tory leader to enjoy victory on such a scale. It’s doubtful whether a top-down targets system will pass the Commons. NRG is led by Jake Berry, the former Northern Powerhouse Minister and previously a close ally of Mr Johnson. Some are monitored closely by the Tory whips, others operate in a secretive twilight world of their own, where encrypted mobile phone messages co-ordinate rebellions beyond No 10’s antennae. If I was Boris I would be wary of them.”, The Common Sense Group, led by John Hayes, promotes old school right wing views. Then there is the 2019 Intake group, the 107 MPs who took their seats last year and who aim to copy the “golden” 2010 intake whose promotions and influence made older MPs jealous. Mr Baker was prominent during the Brexit battles as whip and strategist of the Spartans, the toughest and most drilled of the European Research Group of hardline Brexiteers. And as Covid-19 has emptied the Tea Room and traditional dining groups at Westminster, skirmishing in the pandemic age has migrated online, in burgeoning WhatsApp groups. In Sedgefield, Tony Blair used to have a 20k majority, now the Tory MP there has a 3,500 majority. Published. “So much for an 80 seat majority,” one Conservative groaned at the sight. Covid has made him influential in a new way. Although Rishi Sunak avoids publicly disagreeing with the PM, ministers detect differences between them, including over lockdown and spending.
A rival teases: “It’s basically Cornerstone which had to be renamed after Keith Simpson dubbed them Tombstone.”, More novel is The Blue Barricade, a WhatsApp Group just for Tory MPs elected in the former “Red Wall” band of seats across the Midlands and North. MPs note that Mr Sunak is putting real effort into meeting backbenchers. As a classics buff, Boris Johnson might just appreciate the irony that his 80-seat triumph planted the seeds of the rebellions he now faces, by creating a glut of unruly tribes with time on their hands and small majorities to defend. From other local news sites.
Tory MP Chloe Smith rejects husband's Covid 'mental illness' claim.
Instead of the stability of a big majority, myriad factions rise up in a swirling landscape. The former minister had previously agreed with the Conservative Party that he would not attend Parliament while inquiries continue.