BEST FOR BRITAIN'S
WEEKEND WIRE

Dear John

The weekend is here! Make sure you get well rested as not only does Parliament return on Monday, but we will also find out who will be the next Prime Minister. Anticipation is high, even though most expect Liz Truss will win fairly easily. 

The weekend is set to be a tense one - while the leadership contest hasn’t exactly been the speediest, what happens on Monday determines who will be steering the ship through some of the toughest months we have ever faced as a country. 

So, read up, try to relax and enjoy the relative calm before the storm.

Double double oil and trouble 

Yet another excellent idea from Liz Truss’s campaign team this week. If Truss becomes PM, she has resolved to issue up to 130 more licences to enable exploration for oil in the North Sea as part of a plan to ‘shore up’ the UK’s domestic energy security.

There’s just a few snags: it takes roughly 28 years for an exploration licence to lead to gas and oil production, so any promises of this helping our energy shortages in the immediate future are completely false. 

The other thing is that contrary to the UK’s net-zero promises, this means more fossil fuels, all the more upsetting when you think about how quickly and cheaply renewable alternatives could be introduced. 

World beating latest

UK households are now the worst hit in western Europe when it comes to the energy crisis. 

UK households are experiencing a bigger cut to their spending power than anywhere else in Western Europe as a result of the energy crisis - and to make matters worse, the hit to poorest UK households compared to the hit to the richest is the greatest among 25 European countries assessed as part of the study. 

One reason is that housing in the UK is very energy inefficient - losing three times the amount of heat over the same time compared to a German house. I wonder what happened to the insulation programme that was in full swing right before the Conservative Party took power? Completely unrelated graph below.

Pestminster again

Allegations emerged that a Cabinet Minister and a top Number 10 aide have both been implicated in instances of sexual assault but have remained in post.

Sadly, this news is just the latest addition to the very long list of inappropriate, discriminatory and potentially criminal behaviour from Westminster in recent years. This case highlights the widespread fear of junior staff from proceeding with formal action, in case it harms their career.

Whoever becomes the next PM must commit to rooting out this culture which allows abuse to flourish at the heart of Government. 

Gove on the move?

Speculation that Michael Gove might be leaving politics is growing. On Monday, the Lib Dems emailed their members, advertising the selection process for by-election candidates. It’s a little unusual considering there is no vacancy in the seat just yet, but it shows how intent the Lib Dems are on continuing to chip away at the ‘blue wall’. 

So will Gove go? On Thursday he insisted that he would be staying put as an MP. But it really doesn’t look like he has much chance of a Cabinet position under Truss after being hugely critical of her plans. If he does jump his bizarre vocalisations and frenetic dancing have a place in the cringe hall of fame. 

Brexit bonfire badness

One of the things both Tory leadership candidates love to promise is a drive to deregulation. 

Now, 40 organisations have signed a letter urging whoever becomes PM not to ditch the UK’s regulations around the environment, health and safety and workers’ rights as part of some ideological attempt to demonstrate a reduction in red tape. 

The organisations have highlighted the importance of regulations in protecting everyone in society. They have also conducted their own polling which shows that most voters are not in favour of deregulation. 

This is bad news for everyone and if you haven’t yet seen Sunak’s campaign video literally shredding EU legislation, you can put yourself through that ordeal here. 

Young, wild and…authoritarian?

A new report out this week from the think tank Onward has found a dramatic leaning towards authoritarianism among younger age groups, with support for democracy as a form of governance worryingly at just over 40% in the 18-24 age group, compared to around 80% in over 65s. 

It also appears that support for strongman leaders spiked among all age groups in 2017, before falling back sharply but the fall in support has only been slight among the 18-24, 25-34 and 35-44 age groups. 

The report makes for bleak reading, and indicates that the future of democracy is far from assured. 

Get back in your box

Heralded as a way to celebrate Britain and all it has to offer, Unboxed, a.k.a the ‘Festival of Brexit’ has been the most humongous flop. 

While organisers initially forecasted an attendance of 66 million across all events, just 238,000 visitors have attended the festival. 

And it all cost a whopping £120 million to stage - more than four times the cost of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. That works out at just over £500 per attendee!

Many of these failures have been attributed to the deliberate linking of the festival with Brexit. It even turns out that some of those taking part in festival events were so embarrassed that they insisted on contracts which would allow them to pull out if the festival’s links with Brexit were mentioned. 

Read the reaction from Best for Britain CEO Naomi Smith here.

Not so happily ever after

If you were hoping for a fairytale ending to escape from the mess we’re currently in, one option is now off the cards. 

Eurostar is set to axe direct trains from London to Disneyland Paris. Admittedly this is not the most drastic or pressing news considering everything else that’s going on but it does somewhat take the biscuit when you realise that the reason Eurostar is axing this service is….Brexit. 

The high-speed train operator says it will be taking time to monitor the situation with regards to EU entry and exit from the UK - and in the meantime, that means one less option for holidaymakers. Not ideal and not exactly a dream come true. Good thing there are plenty of Brexit unicorns in Blighty.

Have a good weekend and get ready for what will likely be a hectic week ahead!

Best wishes,

Maheen Behrana

Senior Campaigns and Policy Officer, Best for Britain

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