BEST FOR BRITAIN'S
WEEKEND WIRE
Dear John,
In a week of sub-zero temperatures, the Government generously created a political bin fire for all of us to warm our hands over. They’ve actually had it going since the summer–remarkable foresight on their part!
Ukraine braces for winter
As Ukrainians stare down the first full winter since Putin’s full-scale invasion, fresh explosions were heard <[link removed]> in Kyiv on Wednesday for the first time in weeks amidst rumours of a major Russian offensive. Thursday and Friday saw mass airstrikes across Ukraine in an apparent attack <[link removed]> on the nation’s power grid.
Observers have said that these new offensives have a two-pronged objective. First, diverting Ukrainian attention away from the front lines and providing space for beleaguered Russian troops to reverse some of the last months’ Ukrainian progress. Second, Putin is said to be banking on making <[link removed]> conditions in Ukraine unbearable for civilians to force through a settlement.
However, Ukrainian defence forces managed to blunt the effectiveness of the first wave of these new attacks, shooting down <[link removed]> all 13 of the drones launched at Kyiv with no casualties and minimal damage.
Timelines? We don’t talk about those
On Wednesday, International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arrived <[link removed]> back from India after a fresh round of talks with Delhi over what has become the Government’s trade deal white whale <[link removed]>.
Responding to journalists’ questions over the details of the talks and whether, unlike the Australia deal, it will actually benefit <[link removed]> the UK (as others in her party have admitted the Australia deal does not), Badenoch was tight-lipped. On one hand, progress has apparently been made following the failure to get it done by the promised Diwali deadline. On the other hand, we’ve now arrived at “the difficult bits,” which presumably involve trying to reassure <[link removed]> the Indian negotiators that Suella Braverman won’t erect a forcefield at the cliffs of Dover. Luckily, we’re too skint for that.
Badenoch then refused to commit to any deadline, perhaps wisely considering how the Diwali strategy went, claiming that “timelines are not helpful.” Well, neither is an inability to trade beyond the UK border without getting buried under mountains of tariffs, but we digress.
Nurses say no more
On Thursday, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) staged <[link removed]> the largest walkout in their 106-year history, with 100,000 nurses across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland on the picket line.
The Government variously claim <[link removed]> that their demand for a pay rise of inflation plus five percent is “unrealistic” and “not affordable”, but with nurses quitting <[link removed]> in droves, 15-hour A&E waits, neonatal nurses speaking of being left alone with nearly 30 infants and 64% of the public <[link removed]> supporting the nurses, they’re now facing major pressure–including from many in their own party–to pony up.
With warnings of further industrial action in the new year, even Jake Berry, of ‘just get a better job <[link removed]>’ fame, has called <[link removed]> on the Prime Minister to turn up for real at the negotiating table and stop hiding behind the recommendations of the independent pay review board, which has been the party line as of late. Another strike is set for next Tuesday.
Check out this video <[link removed]> which focuses on nurses’ critical working conditions from Best for Britain’s Can’t Wait campaign: <[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Disaster in the Channel
On Wednesday, a small boat carrying over 40 people trying to reach the UK to claim asylum capsized <[link removed]> into freezing waters of the English Channel. Six people tragically lost their lives. The survivors were rescued by a fishing boat, with the crew earning praise from the RNLI.
Coming hours after the Prime Minister announced <[link removed]> a new 5 point plan to tackle small boat crossings, the tragedy highlighted his glaring and reprehensible omission.
These crossings have increased because there are no safe routes to claim asylum in the UK–not even the Home Secretary herself knows <[link removed]> of any, as was painfully exposed in a committee last month.
To learn more, you can read Best for Britain’s response <[link removed]> to this tragedy, which details the erosion of safe and legal routes to claim asylum in the UK, and our blog debunking <[link removed]> common myths about migration to the UK.
Worst £750k speech ever
If you’re taking business or leadership advice from Boris Johnson, first, maybe a trip to your friendly neighbourhood psychoanalyst is in order, but second, you’d better start saving your pennies. A new update <[link removed]> to the MPs’ register of interests has revealed that the former PM has now made over £1m in speaking engagements since he departed Downing Street in September.
Speeches to the investment firm Centerview Partners, the Hindustan Times, and the CNN Global summit netted <[link removed]> Johnson over £750k, meaning his post-premiership podium tour has a going rate of over £30k per hour. At that price, we can reasonably expect a new CNN exposé <[link removed]> on the joys of Peppa Pig World sometime soon.
If you’re a constituent in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, well, maybe he’ll get to you when he catches up to Theresa May’s haul. <[link removed]> Just as long as he can find time between his trips to Antigua <[link removed]> and Montana <[link removed]>.
Hancock and his mouthpiece vs reality and its facts
On Thursday, Layla Moran MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, for which Best for Britain act as secretariat, appeared <[link removed]> on BBC Politics Live alongside Conservative MP Bim Afolami, Tortoise Media’s Cat Neilan, and Isabel Oakeshott, Talk TV talking head and co-author of Matt Hancock’s “Pandemic Diaries.”
Highlights included Moran getting real with Oakeshott over Hancock’s failures <[link removed]> on addressing the pandemic and his attempts to rewrite history <[link removed]> on his conduct during the national emergency. Lowlights included Oakeshott dismissing the covid deaths of children and moralising to picketing healthcare workers while Afolami danced around questions about his party’s negotiations with nursing unions.
If you also enjoy seeing Matt Hancock uncomfortable, make sure you’re following the APPG on Coronavirus on Twitter <[link removed]> and checking its website <[link removed]> for updates.
Mogg gets a mugging off
If you missed BBC Question Time Thursday evening, be sure to hook this clip <[link removed]> to your veins straight away–it’s vital for your health.
A wine industry director eviscerated Jacob Rees-Mogg over the failures of Brexit. While fending off Mogg’s mucosal attempts to interrupt, the self-described lifelong Tory detailed <[link removed]>the wide range of new Brexit complications in importing and exporting wine, skewered Mogg’s offer of new imports of Australian and New Zealand wines, and called on leaders in all parties to end the code of silence around Brexit.
With his trademark ability to make voters feel heard and understood, Mogg waffled about tax policy and hid behind the antipodean trade deals. If he possessed the capacity for shame, we’d say he might go home and punch his personalised grandfather clock. <[link removed]>
Late-comers Christmas special
The chance to make it onto Santa Claus’s sleigh may have passed, but there’s still time to help him finish his rounds for the year. Best for Britain's Christmas merch collection <[link removed]> is still on sale, and items are fast selling out.
It’s a perfect opportunity to get your ‘Still European’ beach towel for any holidays you have planned for the new year. It also doubles as a pillow for long waits in the passport queue!
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With Christmas just days away, we’re thankful that, despite all the damage they’ve caused, we won’t have to listen to the Tories blathering on over the festive period. Our New Year’s resolution? Seeing them off into the electoral wilderness.
Best wishes,
Tommy Gillespie
Press Officer - Best for Britain
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Best For Britain - United Kingdom
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