Dear John,
With the official state opening of Parliament, continued controversy from the Covid Inquiry, and a lot more baloney from Braverman, it’s been a chaotic week. So let’s get stuck in.
A Royal Game of Charades
This week started with the first King’s Speech in more than 70 years, and with it, the official state opening of Parliament.
For those who don’t know, while the tradition-steeped speech is delivered by the monarch, it is actually drafted by the Prime Minister. Which was all a bit awkward for eco-warrior Charles, who was forced to announce his Government’s plans to expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.
Maybe we were projecting, or maybe he just has a questionable poker face, but back at B4B HQ we could’ve sworn we noticed a few looks of scorn as the King made the announcement.
Beyond the roll-back of green policies, Sunak’s legislative program also included <[link removed].> various bills on rental reform, the phasing out of tobacco and - to no one’s surprise - a lot on law and order.
All in all, the public, the media and ministers alike all seemed pretty underwhelmed by the thin contents of Sunak’s speech, with The Times aptly comparing <[link removed]> the whole affair to “last orders at the bar.”
All this points to the obvious conclusion, summed up <[link removed]>by our CEO Naomi Smith, that “this government is out of touch, out of ideas and out of time”.
An arsonist dressed in patriot’s clothing
What was noticeably missing from the speech, was Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s cruel proposal to restrict the use of tents by homeless people. Calling rough sleeping a “lifestyle choice <[link removed]>”, she argued that the government should crack down on tents that cause a nuisance in urban areas.
And unfortunately, this wasn’t the only rhetorical firebomb the Home Secretary threw this week.
On Wednesday she published a fiercely criticised opinion piece in The Times <[link removed]>, in which she accused the Met police of having a “double standard” on protests and “playing favourites”.
Getting her in a lot of trouble, it has since come to light <[link removed]> that No.10 did not authorise the controversial article. This has led to speculation over her future as Home Secretary, with both Labour and the Lib Dems urging Sunak to sack her. Currently it is not clear how the Prime Minister will respond.
But what is clear, however, is that no one is safe from Suella de-ville’s cruel and divisive rhetorical spew. First it was the “hurricane <[link removed]'hurricane'%20of%20mass%20migration%20coming%20to%20UK,-This%20article%20is&text=Suella%20Braverman%20has%20warned%20of,bearer%20of%20the%20Conservative%20right.>” of migrants, then “an activist blob of leftwing lawyers <[link removed]>”, the homeless who made the “lifestyle choice <[link removed]>” to live on the streets and now the police. It seems there is no low to which she will not go.
Cracks across the board
The Conservatives are not the only party having a particularly tricky week.
Indeed, on Wednesday a member of Labour’s frontbench, Imran Hussain, MP for Bradford East, became the first Labour frontbencher to resign over the party’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
He announced <[link removed]> that it was “with a heavy heart” that he had chosen to resign as Shadow Minister for the New Deal, explaining that he wanted to be a “strong advocate for the humanitarian ceasefire” but could not do so from Labour's frontbench.
The Guardian reported <[link removed]> that four other, un-named, Shadow Ministers are prepared to quit in the coming days and up to 10 others are on “resignation watch”.
Brexit Corner
Trade Secretary celebrates a fall in UK trade?
Those attending International Trade Week were treated to the Business Secretary Kemi Badnoch arguing <[link removed]> that we should “talk ourselves up” as “UK trade with EU countries has broadly moved in line with UK trade with non-EU countries.”
Her comments were informed by a new IEA report, which found that when adjusted for inflation, the value of UK exports had not only fallen significantly to the EU, but also to the rest of the world.
Not sure about you, but an overall fall in UK exports doesn’t seem like something she, or we, should be celebrating.
A lot about alignment
Much needed medicines: A new report <[link removed]> released this week, warns that NHS patients face a “very worrying” risk due to “severe delays” in drug supplies caused by Brexit red tape. Among those in desperately short supply are vital antibiotics, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and ADHD drugs.
To phase down or phase out, that is the question: Energy Minister Graham Stuart, who will lead the UK delegation to the COP28 summit told <[link removed]> MPs that he was not fixated on whether countries agree to “phasing down” or “phasing out” fossil fuels as long as the COP agreement “translates into real action”. His comments mark a significant departure from the EU, who have already committed to campaigning for the phrasing “phasing out” to be in the final negotiated text. This has led to further accusations by green groups that the U.K. risks sacrificing its status as a climate leader on the global stage.
Workers rights: The Government has announced <[link removed]> plans to reinstate EU equality laws before they expire at the end of this year to avoid a clear gap in protections for workers. But more interesting will be which ones are not being reinstated. We’ll keep you updated as this develops.
Safety first: Melanie Daws, Chief Executive of Ofcom, has this week highlighted <[link removed]> the importance of aligning the UK Online Safety Act with the EU’s Digital Services Act.
Small reminder: The UK Trade and Business Commission, set up by Best for Britain, has, and continues to, campaign <[link removed]> for regulatory alignment with the EU where beneficial to help prevent these kinds of critical issues.
Covid Inquiry chaos
I wish I was finishing on a high, but unfortunately it's the Covid Inquiry instead. In case you haven’t been keeping up to date, here’s what we learnt <[link removed]'s%20actions%20also%20concerned,%E2%80%9Cblindsided%E2%80%9D%20by%20the%20Treasury.> this week - it really brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘If we don’t laugh we’ll cry’:
- Boris Johnson referred to Sunak’s Treasury as the “Pro-death squad”.
- As Chancellor, Sunak launched “Eat out to help out” without consulting the Government’s Covid taskforce, leaving officials “blindsided”.
- Johnson asked to be injected with Covid on live TV to show it didn’t pose a threat.
- Mark Sedwell, Cabinet Secretary, urged Johnson to fire Hancock to “save lives and protect the NHS”.
- It was confirmed that Johnson did say “Let the bodies pile high” despite repeatedly denying so at the time.
- Simon Case, Cabinet Secretary after Sedwell, said he had “never seen a bunch of people less well-equipped to run a country”.
And with that, I’m off to enjoy my weekend and I hope you all do the same! Watch out for next week’s instalment of Weekend Wire from our Director of Communications Niall.
Until next time.
P.S Don’t forget to sign-up <[link removed]> for alerts for the launch of our tactical voting campaign, Get Voting.
Martha Harrison
Press Manager (print/online)
Best for Britain
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