Tory MPs have accused Jacob Rees-Mogg of crying “crocodile tears” over the National Insurance rise.
The Commons leader is understood to have spoken out against the 1.25 per cent rise in cabinet but some Tories have said it was now too late for a rebellion on the plan agreed in September.
Senior Tory MP Jake Berry, chair of the Northern Research Group told Times Radio: “It’s all very well to turn around with crocodile tears now and say, ‘Look what my policies have created’.
Meanwhile, small business minister Paul Scully has defended Boris Johnson over “cash for access” allegations, insisting that “nothing untoward” occurred in a WhatsApp exchange between the prime minister and the Tory donor who paid for the luxury revamp of his Downing Street flat.
In messages published on Thursday, the prime minister asked Lord Brownlow for support with the £112,000 upgrade, while also discussing the possibility of a “Great Exhibition 2.0”, an arts project backed by the peer. The donor later met Oliver Dowden, then culture secretary, to discuss the idea.
Labour said the government needed to explain Mr Johnson’s actions, with deputy leader Angela Rayner labelling it “corruption plain and simple”.
Javid warns cabinet that relaxation of travel rules could increase risk of lockdown
Sajid Javid reportedly warned his cabinet colleagues earlier this week that removing the need for travellers to take PCR tests would be a mistake.
The health secretary is thought to have said that relaxing international travel restrictions would increase the risk of another lockdown.
My colleague Ashley Cowburn has more details:
Voices: PM’s WhatsApp excuse is laughable
Yesterday, our political sketch writer Tom Peck turned his attention to an interesting claim from Boris Johnson…
That he had forgotten to tell his ethics adviser Lord Geidt about a string of WhatsApp messages between himself and Tory donor Lord Brownlow about his luxury Downing Street flat renovations.
By way of excuse, the prime minister said the messages were on an old phone and he no longer had access to them.
“It is so laughable, an analogy is hardly possible,” writes Tom Peck.
Helen Morgan MP: ‘PM has learned nothing from the North Shropshire by- election’
Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan achieved a memorable by-election win last month when she overturned a large Conservative majority in North Shropshire.
When she arrived in Westminster for her first week, the new MP thought Boris Johnson would have learned a lesson from her victory by paying closer attention to rural voters.
“I expected to find a prime minister and a government willing to listen to voters in North Shropshire. How wrong I was,” she writes.
“Just like northern towns and cities, rural English communities like mine have been taken for granted by the Conservative party,” she adds.
Read the full article here:
Lawyers respond to Braverman over Colston statue verdict
Attorney general Suella Braverman has been criticised by some of the country’s leading lawyers for saying she might refer the Colston statue verdict to the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn the result.
Ms Braverman claimed that a jury’s decision to acquit four people accused of criminal damage over the toppling of the slave owner was “causing confusion”.
“I can think of 100s of jury verdicts that I didn’t agree with, based on the evidence – but the jury system is the best we have,” Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for the North West, said.
“I think Govt ministers (current & former) & DPP (the director of public prosecutions) need to speak up to educate the citizen rather than feed ignorance or allow misinformation to flourish,” he added.
Elsewhere, the barrister Matthew Scott said: “Prosecutors cannot challenge the verdicts. The attorney general can ask the Court of Appeal to consider any points of law that arose, but any ruling would not affect the acquittals.”
Jacob Rees-Mogg accused by Tory MPs of ‘crocodile tears’ over tax rise
Senior cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has been accused of crying “crocodile tears” over the National Insurance rise, as Conservative MPs say it is too late for a rebellion over the looming tax hike, writes Adam Forrest.
The Commons leader is understood to have spoken out against April’s 1.25 per cent rise at cabinet this week – arguing that it could not be justified amid the mounting cost of living crisis.
Senior Tory MP Jake Berry, chair of the Northern Research Group said Mr Rees-Mogg could have opposed the measure when it was proposed last autumn.
No 10: Tory donor was treated same as a member of the public
Downing Street said Tory donor Lord Brownlow was treated the same as a member of the public would have been in having his idea for a “Great Exhibiton 2.0” referred to the culture secretary.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the Tory peer’s suggestion was “dealt with in the same way” as a member of the public’s would have been “in that a department will look at it and take a view on it”.
He said: “Ministers have a range of ideas and proposals put to them by various people – through MPs, through other parties.
“I think it is right and proper that it is passed onto the relevant department to take forward and, in this instance, it was decided not to take it any further.”
‘Quite usual’: Downing Street defends Tory donor access for ‘Great Exhibition 2.0’
Downing Street has defended granting the Tory donor who paid for Boris Johnson’s flat refurbishment access to the culture secretary to discuss “Great Exhibition 2.0”.
The prime minister faces “cash for access” allegations after passing on a proposal for the exhibition, which was put to him by Lord Brownlow, who was paying for the refurbishment of his official residence.
Lord Brownlow held a meeting with the then-culture secretary Oliver Dowden about the idea, which never came to fruition.
A spokesman for the prime minister told reporters: “As is quite usual, when any suggestions such as this are put forward, it is right that it is passed on to the relevant department to take forward.
“And as you’re aware, Oliver Dowden met with Lord Brownlow at the Royal Albert Hall on the joint proposal and you’ll have seen that was declared in the regular DCMS transparency returns.
“As I say, it is normal practice that when an idea or proposal is put to the prime minister, it is referred to the relevant departments to take forward, and in this case the decision was taken not to take this any further.”
Asked whether Boris Johnson had a role in setting up the meeting, the spokesman said it “would have been referred to DCMS through the usual official channels”.
DUP to hold ‘crunch meeting’ with Liz Truss next week
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, will hold a “crunch” meeting with British foreign secretary Liz Truss next week over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.
The talks come after Sir Jeffrey threatened to collapse the Stormont Executive over issues surrounding the Northern Ireland protocol.
“We’re now six months on from the UK government’s command paper where they said six months ago that conditions had been met to trigger Article 16,” he said.
“And six months later nothing has happened. That is not a sustainable position and if the UK Government isn’t prepared to act, I am.”
Braverman tweet on Colston statue verdict
Following on from my last post, here is Suella Braverman’s tweet about the Colston statue verdict in full:
BREAKING: Attorney General could refer Colston verdict to Court of Appeal
Conservative attorney general Suella Braverman has said she is considering referring the Colston statue verdict to the Court of Appeal because it is “causing confusion”.
Her comment comes after four defendants were cleared of criminal wrongdoing over the toppling of the statue in Bristol in the summer of 2020.
Although Ms Braverman acknowledged that trial by jury is “an important guardian of liberty and must not be undermined”, she said the jury’s decision in this case was confusing.
