BEST FOR BRITAIN'S 



WEEKEND WIRE



Dear John,



Happy Bank Holiday/Coronation/The Tories Just Got Routed In The Local Elections weekend! No matter which occasion you choose to observe, the news cycle has given us all something to celebrate this week.



Embarrassed globally, voting locally



Voters across England hit the polls for the first electoral test of Rishi Sunak’s premiership, and they appear to have given the PM’s party the proverbial stinky boot.



As of 3pm on Friday <[link removed]>, the Tories had lost 456 seats, while Labour had gained 252, the Lib Dems 145, and the Greens 95. Notable flips include Labour seizing control of the councils in Plymouth, Medway, and Stoke-on-Trent, while the Lib Dems gained the royal heartland of Windsor and Maidenhead.



The dismal results have set off scenes of infighting among our governing party that nobody (read: everybody) likes to see. John Redwood said <[link removed]> Sunak’s adoption of opposition policies was turning off 2019 Con voters who are “on the side of greater freedom”, while Johnny Mercer said <[link removed]> the result was “terrible” and the ousted leader of Medway Council called on <[link removed]> the Government to “get their act together”. They needn't worry–we’re confident that more raving about trans people and clampdowns on the right will bring the public back into the Tory fold. Keep it up, lads!







Voter ID fiasco <[link removed]>



Yesterday’s elections were the first in which photo ID was required in England, and, as predicted, ugly scenes of people barred from the polls resulted.



Beyond the blatantly calculated measures which have already been reported–accepting over-60 bus passes but not young people’s bus passes or student IDs, the Voter ID rules in action led to a host of other people being prevented from voting due to other technicalities.



One woman who could not remove her face mask because she was immunocompromised was barred <[link removed]> from the polls despite having a video of her face next to her ID and her physical ID with her, while one NHS nurse was told <[link removed]> her health service ID was not permissible. A full report of the amount of voters turned away is expected next month, but scenes at polling stations indicated that elderly voters were most affected.



You can use Best for Britain’s online tool <[link removed]> to write to the Government and tell them what you think about their strict new voting procedures.



Coronation! No protesting allowed







Whether you plan to celebrate the King or ignore the whole thing, this Saturday will see the first coronation of a British monarch since 1953. 



In a series of downright Orwellian announcements this week, the Metropolitan Police, emboldened by the Government’s anti-protest legislation, said <[link removed]> that its “tolerance for disruption…will be low” during the celebrations and that they will “deal robustly with anyone undermining this celebration”. Their Westminster branch went even further, threatening <[link removed]> that they would be using facial recognition technology and drawing up a watch list of would-be protestors.



Commenters pointed out that facial recognition of anyone wanted for offences could immediately land a hefty portion of the Met on the wrong side of a police cordon.



Double tragedy in Serbia



A shocking act of violence unfolded <[link removed]> Wednesday morning in a school near the centre of Serbia’s capital, as a juvenile assailant opened fire and killed nine people. 



Reportedly, the boy had a ‘kill list’ of targets, and he was taken into custody. Seven others were injured.



The following day saw yet another mass shooting in Serbia, where a similar incident had not been seen since 2013. A 21 year-old gunman committed <[link removed]> a series of drive-by shootings south of Belgrade, killing eight people. He was arrested after a short manhunt.



Serbia’s government declared three days of national mourning in response to the tragedies and urged citizens to secure weapons. They also announced plans to tighten <[link removed]> the country’s gun restrictions.



Best for Britain expresses its deepest condolences for those affected.



Operation Quantity Over Quality takes effect



The Government’s rush to complete as many trade deals as possible before the worst effects of Brexit hit has now reached the “read back over your work and spot all the typos” phase, because this week it was announced that the much-derided Australia and New Zealand trade agreements would come into force on the 31st of this month.



In a statement, Rishi Sunak said <[link removed]> that the agreements would “squarely deliver” on his economic agenda, despite his claim during last summer’s leadership race that they would undercut UK farmers. Former Environment Secretary George Eustice, who in the autumn said <[link removed]> it was “not actually a very good deal” for the UK, declined to chime in.







Layla Moran MP, member of the UK Trade and Business Commission, said <[link removed]> the deals coming into effect was “not something to celebrate”.



What Sue said, when



Keir Starmer created a storm in Westminster when he hired Partygate report author Sue Gray as his next Chief of Staff, and now some of the top dogs in the Civil Service have started a war of investigations.



After reports that ACOBA could delay the start of Gray’s tenure by up to two years, a separate Government investigation is believed <[link removed]> to say she breached rules by not informing officials of her conversations with LOTO about the job. However, Sky News Wednesday reported <[link removed]> that Starmer’s first overtures toward Gray came in October 2022, rubbishing Tory claims that her Partygate report was ginned up with the promise of a cushy Labour job at the finish line.



The Government, not to be outdone by the facts not fitting their self-victimisation, and not inclined to let their own faltering local election prospects distract from their score-settling, claimed <[link removed]> Tuesday that Gray was not cooperating with their investigation into her departure from the civil service.



That’s all we’ve got! Have a great long weekend, enjoy your coronation chicken, and the ever so lovely British weather. Bye for now!



Best wishes,



Tommy Gillespie

Press Officer, Best for Britain







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