Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSir Jacob Rees-Mogg said Reform UK’s manifesto is a “whole load of nice-sounding pledges” that don’t add up – then joked the right-wing party had taken his “best policies”.The Brexiteer is facing a battle for his political future in North East Somerset and Hanham where regional mayor Dan Norris is projected to win the seat for Labour, according to the latest polls.Canvassing on Tuesday, Mr Rees-Mogg, who has held the seat since 2010, came across voters in the constituency who said they’d be voting for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. It comes after the party released its so-called “contract for the people” with policies set to appeal to right-wing voters, including pulling Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping net zero targets.Speaking to The Independent, Mr Rees-Mogg, who is a well-known admirer of Mr Farage, dismissed the party’s manifesto and described some of its representatives as “nutty candidates who like Hitler”.But when discussing some of the policies, including increased spending on defence and scrapping 20mph speed zones, he joked: “They are cribbing from me – they have stolen all my best policies.”He later added: “The broad Tory family shares a lot of things positions in common, and that’s why I’m keen the Tory family should be reunited. It’s obviously not going to happen before the election but try and do it after the election would be a good thing.”Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke of his admiration for Nigel Farage from within the North East Somerset and Hanham Conservative Association office More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRussian interference in the UK general election will likely “ramp up dramatically” over the next fortnight, the chair of the United States senate intelligence committee has warned.Washington has witnessed “egregious efforts” by Moscow to interfere in the democratic process across the globe, similar to those alleged in the 2016 US presidential election, said Mark Warner.The senior senator, who is regularly briefed on secret US intelligence, said he had been closely monitoring the situation in the UK, adding: “I think the next big test of the state of play will be the British elections in a few weeks.”Mark Warner chairs the US senate intelligence committee More

Rishi Sunak was confronted by the mother of a Manchester Arena bombing victim over delays to introducing a law in her son’s memory.Figen Murray has been campaigning for tougher security measures at public venues after her son Martyn Hett was among the 22 killed in the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.The prime minister told her, just hours before he called the general election, that he would bring in Martyn’s Law before the parliamentary summer break.But on Wednesday 19 June, Ms Murray told Mr Sunak that “there has been nothing” since he promised her 18 months ago that he would “hurry up” and pass the law.The PM, appearing on LBC, responded by stressing his commitment to enacting Martyn’s Law if the Tories defy opinion polls and hold on to power at the election. More

Rishi Sunak has said he wants young people to experience the same “very special feeling” that he did when buying his first home.The prime minister now boasts an impressive multi-million pound luxury property portfolio, which includes the first pad he brought back in 2001.According to the Evening Standard, Mr Sunak purchased his first home – in South Kensington – when he was working as an investment analyst for Goldman Sachs.Speaking to LBC on Wednesday 19 June, the prime minister said he wants “everyone” to have the opportunity to buy a home under a Conservative government. “That’s the thing that peoople speak to me most about. They want to own a home and experience what that is like,” Mr Sunak said. “I remember it, it’s a very special feeling and I want everyone to have that opportunity.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRachel Reeves has clarified Sir Keir Starmer’s definition of “working people” days after the party pledged not to raise taxes on workers if it got into power.The shadow chancellor backed up the promise in the party’s manifesto in a video message where she said she would not put up income tax, National Insurance or VAT.But after Sir Keir appeared to omit pensioners and savers when asked for his definition of “working people”, senior Tories claimed it indicated the party actually intended to raise taxes. Asked what he meant by “working people” in a radio interview on LBC on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “People who earn their living, rely on our [public] services and don’t really have the ability to write a cheque when they get into trouble” he said.“So the sort of people I’m meeting pretty well every day now. It’s quite a big group because these days there are many people obviously not so well off.”Rachel Reeves told Kay Burley that ‘working people’ didn’t mean people without savings More

Rishi Sunak was dubbed a “pound-shop Nigel Farage” during a bruising LBC radio phone-in on Wednesday morning (19 June).The prime minister was challenged by callers over a number of issues ahead of the general election, including his behaviour towards the trans community and being too rich to relate to food bank users.One man, who said he is gay and living with HIV, told Mr Sunak he has “become a pound-shop Nigel Farage” and accused him of being “obsessed with divisive culture wars”.“I’m very sorry to hear you feel that way,” the PM responded.“I don’t believe that at all. I care very much about making sure people, whatever their background, are respected.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak has endured a brutal hour-long radio phone in which he was accused of “lying through his teeth” and dubbed a “pound-shop Nigel Farage” over his record on LGBT rights.The prime minister faced a grilling from callers furious at the Conservatives’ 14-year record on the state of the NHS and housing – as well as the party’s decision to accept millions from controversial donor Frank Hester.In a sign of the electoral challenge facing Mr Sunak, he was given a markedly frostier reception than Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who faced LBC listeners 24 hours earlier.Rishi Sunak was accused of ‘lying through his teeth’ in the phone-in More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBoris Johnson is no longer set to join the Tory election campaign trail amid fears he will alienate Conservative voters in seats the party desperately needs to hold. Instead, the former prime minister is expected to take a second summer holiday – having just returned from Sardinia. Mr Johnson has been pulled into the fight to stave off an electoral wipeout and letters signed by the ex-PM exhorting thousands of voters to back the Conservatives are due to land on doorsteps within days. But he is not now thought to be joining his party’s ground war, as its tries to save ‘blue wall’ seats in the south of England. Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson More