Weekend Wire

Dear John,

Welcome to your new look Weekend Wire. The inimitableTommy Gillespie has left huge shoes to fill and it’s going to take more than one person to meet the challenge. That’s why going forward your weekly news roundup will be brought to you by a different member of the Best for Britain team. 

We hope this gives you greater insight into the organisation you generously support, introduces you to the people who make all our work possible, all while giving our now reduced comms team more time to direct media attention to the many failings of this government.

To the news!

Orange is the new orange

It wouldn’t be Weekend Wire without a fresh indictment of Donald Trump but we’re reliably informed that this is the big one.

After hush money to adult film stars and hoarding state secrets in a toilet, the 45th President of the USA was served four new federal indictments on Tuesday relating to the events of 6th January 2021 when he incited a riot at the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory which cost seven lives.

The summary of the charges and evidence by special counsel Jack Smith reveals how terrifyingly coordinated the attempted coup actually was and also includes a possible smoking gun clearly demonstrating that Trump knew his claims of election fraud were bogus.

It brings the total number of indictments he faces to 78, one for every stinkin’ year he’s been on this earth. If found guilty he may spend the rest of his life in prison but the question now is if this trial can be wrapped up before the 2024 election process gets into full swing and for Trump, the stakes could not be higher. As the clear front runner for the Republican nomination, he could either spend 2025-2029 in a prison cell or the oval office. 

Worryingly for the man in the tangerine mask, unlike the case of the missing documents which is being presided over by one of his own appointed judges, this time Trump will face Obama-appointee Tanya Chutkan, who seems to be taking this timeframe as a personal challenge. He arrived in Washington on Thursday evening to plead not guilty.

Dig this

In a slap in the face to children everywhere and specifically his own, Rishi Sunak revealed that the Government would grant new licences for fossil fuel drilling in the North Sea on Monday.

Despite Government claims that the move would increase UK energy security and help bring down electricity bills, Energy Secretary and former get-rich-kwik shyster Grant Shapps was left stuttering when challenged on how this was possible when any gas or oil extracted would enter the global market and be sold back to the UK full price! Even if you want to ignore the financial and environmental concerns, these licences are also exploratory - meaning it’ll be around a decade before any fuel is extracted if ever.

The announcement has been widely read as an opening salvo on the Tories’ new election strategy of using the future habitability of our planet as fertile ground for a new culture war with Labour after seeing results of environmental disinformation in Uxbridge and South Ruislip two weeks ago.

Yesterday, Greenpeace protesters were arrested for climbing onto the roof of the Prime Minister’s North Yorkshire manor and draping it in oil-black material.

Brexit Corner

Safety mark screw-up

On Tuesday the Government appeared to be infected by a rare case of common sense when it announced that it would be dropping its plans to introduce a separate and superfluous UK-specific safety marking for products made in Blighty. 

The climbdown was roundly welcomed by manufacturers who had warned it had already increased costs and red-tape as any products destined for the UK’s largest market (the EU) would still require the bloc’s CE marking which has been in use for decades.

However, the Government soon reverted to type when later the same day it emerged that the announcement was made in error and that the u-turn applied only to the 18 regulations under the auspices of Kemi Badenoch’s Department of Business and Trade with producers for the construction and medical industries among many others still required to use the new marking.

Hilary Benn MP of the UK Trade and Business Commission, which recommended this policy be dropped back in June, branded it a “total mess” and called on the Prime Minister to straighten it out. Read his statement here. 

Foreign Aid saves lives

A report by the civil service on Wednesday confirmed that the reduction in foreign aid from the UK will cost thousands of lives from the resulting increase in unsafe abortions alone.

The document outlined that cuts to the Overseas Development Assistance budget totaled almost £1bn this year as the Government spent more than a quarter of the aid budget housing refugees in Britain rather than allowing them to work and rebuild their lives here. 

Best for Britain campaigned against the reduction in the Foreign Aid budget and continues to campaign for the government to restore it, which is not only the right and humanitarian thing to do, but also the smart thing to do. Foreign Aid increases global stability and reduces extreme poverty and famine, meaning fewer people are forced to leave their home countries to seek safety elsewhere.

Game on in Glasgow

On Wednesday it was confirmed that the UK would have its fifth by-election of the year with a successful recall petition in the Greater Glasgow seat of Rutherglen and Hamilton West following the egregious breach of Covid restriction breach of SNP MP Margaret Ferrier.

Labour lost the seat by around 5,000 votes in 2019 and are keen to win it back for the first time since 2010 to help demonstrate that Scotland is a credible route to power for them at the next general election.

Humza Yousaf won’t go quietly but after the year he’s had, the seat really is a must win for Starmer if he is to build the narrative that the Labour party can credibly challenge the SNP hegemony north of the border - a view shared by Patrick Maguire in the Times

That’s your lot for this week. Our Head of Comms Grace Pritchard will be with you next week but until then have a fantastic weekend! 

All the best,

Niall McGourty

Director of Communications,

Best for Britain