BEST FOR BRITAIN'S 



WEEKEND WIRE



Dear John,



The Deputy PM is an incorrigible bully, the PM is under investigation for potential financial impropriety, and the Levelling Up Secretary is peering down on Westminster like the world’s worst Batman cosplayer but let’s start with some big news from B4B



Trade Unlocked <[link removed]>







Businesses of the UK Assemble! 



Specifically, assemble at the Birmingham NEC on 20th June, because Best for Britain is teaming up with the International Chamber of Commerce, the British Chambers of Commerce, and a wide spectrum of trade bodies to hostTrade Unlocked <[link removed]>, a one-day conference that will gather together hundreds of businesses of all sizes, from all sectors of the economy and all parts of the UK



The interactive conference will draw on the expertise and experience of all delegates to find solutions to the challenges of the current trading environment (including the Government’s Brexit deal) and opportunities for the decade ahead with the evidence used to influence manifestos ahead of the next General Election.



Speakerswill include <[link removed]> business leaders, trade experts, and decisions makers with both Government and Opposition invited to address delegates. The Trade Unlocked organising committeeincludes <[link removed]> former Siemens UK CEO Jürgen Maier, British Chambers of Commerce Director General Shevaun Haviland, International Chambers of Commerce Chair Paul Drechsler, and more.



Registration for the event is now open <[link removed]> and free for all business owners and representatives. Make sure you’re following Trade Unlocked onTwitter <[link removed]>andLinkedIn <[link removed]> to stay posted as we announce the full slate of speakers and event updates.



UK gets Raabed, citizens rejoice







Yesterday, we bid a not-so-fond farewell to Dominic Raab. After eight ministerial titles, five months under investigation, and dozens of formal complaints of bullying, the Deputy PM/Whitehall sensei has been shown the door.



For those counting, that’s Sunak’s third ministerial departure in his first 6 months (3.6 Liz Trusses) and the second accused of bullying.



We thought Raab’s departure was a perfect time to recount some of the many, many WTF moments, gaffes, and fails from his time in Government. Read our latest blog here <[link removed]>. 



Rishi ‘Disclosure is my middle name’ Sunak



But it wasn’t just Raab putting the Prime Minister’s promise of “Integrity, professionalism, and accountability” to bed this week.  Rishi Sunak himself was referred <[link removed]> to the parliamentary standards watchdog over a failure to promptly disclose that his wife held a stake in a childcare company which stands to benefit from the childcare overhaul announced in the Spring Budget.



On Wednesday, 4 years after theinitial investment <[link removed]> in Koru Kids, hebelatedly published <[link removed]> , a list of his financial interests which revealed a number of previously-unreported holdings.



Among the gaggle of excuses offered for why he seemingly failed to properly report his family’s shares in Koru Kids, our favourite was that they have fingers in so many financial pies that theycouldn’t possibly keep track <[link removed]>. 



It makes us think that if you can’t introduce a policy without benefiting from it financially, maybe you shouldn't be Prime Minister.  



Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smithsaid <[link removed]> the investigation was just “standard operating procedure” after 13 years of Tory sleaze at the top of Government.



Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday…



This week, Bill and Hillary Clintonlanded <[link removed]> in Northern Ireland as commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement reached its conclusion with a three-day conference at Queen’s University Belfast. Also in attendance were the Prime Minister, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and US pols Richard Neal and Joe Kennedy.



In a speech, former President Clinton hailed the willingness of the Good Friday Agreement’s authors to privilege peace and the greater good above their own political interests, while the Prime Minister more pointedlywarned <[link removed]> the DUP that blocking the return of Stormont power-sharing could spell the end of the union.



In anop-ed <[link removed]> in the New European over the weekend, Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smith highlights that Biden's floating US investment in Northern Ireland underscores how working constructively with the EU can help improve the UK/US relationship as well.



Gove lights up



Following a reported public haranguing on a questionably-deserved cigarette break, Michael Gove has had aspecial smoking hut <[link removed]> built on the roof of the levelling-up department where he can have a few drags in peace. The bill? Potentially as much as £5,000!



We’ll add it to the tracker <[link removed]>



ESA blasts off



Proving once again that European cooperation is better than Elon Musk, <[link removed]> the European Space Agency this week successfullyembarked <[link removed]> on one of its longest-awaited missions to search for signs of life on the moons of Jupiter this week.



After lightning forced a cancellation of the launch on Thursday, the rocket took to the sky on Friday afternoon as planned. The spacecraftwill reach <[link removed]> Jupiter in 2031, where it will orbit the largest planet in the solar system. 



On Jupiter’s icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, the spacecraftwill look <[link removed]> beneath the frozen surface to see if there could be life deep in the depths, as there is at the bottom of Earth’s oceans.



Sadly, no members of the UK Cabinet have volunteered to be blasted into space.



Home Sec rebuke







Suella Braverman’s gutter-scraping rhetorichas finally met <[link removed]> significant pushback within the Tory Party–all it took was her smearing an entire nationality and thenpublicly defending <[link removed]>racist dolls.



Former Party Chair Sayeeda Warsi lambasted Braverman’s series of provocative statements in anop-ed <[link removed]> on Wednesday, calling out the Home Secretary as “not fit to hold high office” and putting the onus on the Prime Minister to address the dangerous nativism brewing in his Cabinet.



This opened the floodgates for more criticism, although in typical Tory fashion much of it came anonymously. One Conservative former minister branded Braverman a “real racist bigot” while Defence Select Committee Chair Tobias Ellwood was more tepid on the record, saying her Enoch Powell-esque ranting doesn’t “sit well” with the Prime Minister’s supposed grown-up approach to government.



Have a wonderful weekend safe in the knowledge that it is likely to be better than that of the disgraced former-deputy PM.



Best wishes,



Tommy Gillespie

Press Officer, Best for Britain







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Best For Britain - United Kingdom

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