Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservative Party has deleted a bizarre social media post that was widely derided after claiming that Britain is the second most powerful country in the world.In a post on X/Twitter on Thursday, the Tories said “don’t let the doomsters and naysayers trick you into talking down our country”, with an accompanying montage featuring prime minister Rishi Sunak, the England football team, King Charles III, a fighter jet, a cargo ship and an Aston Martin.Emblazoned over the graphic is the dubious assertion that “Britain is the second most powerful country in the world”, which combined with the poor quality montage, sparked ridicule online.The claim is based off the Brand Finance’s 2024 Global Soft Power Index, which ranks Britain second in the world after the United States for “soft power.”However, this didn’t stop people from mercilessly mocking the social media post, which was swiftly deleted by the Tory party after the backlash.One X user made reference to difficulties people face getting a GP appointment in the UK, he said: “God I would hate to know how long it takes to get a doctor’s appointment in the third most powerful country in the world.”And John Nicolson, SNP Shadow Culture Secretary, said: Oh no. The Tories have deleted their propaganda post. Was the King annoyed being used in this way?“Did the Tories notice they’d forgotten to put any women in it? Or did everyone just laugh at the absurd notion that the UK is the second most powerful country in the world?”The British Dental Association responded with their own edited montage of a man pulling out his own teeth with pliers.The post said: “Fixed that for you… If Britain really is the second most powerful country on Earth then why are its citizens resorting to ‘DIY’ dentistry for want of access to basic healthcare?” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email A rising challenger to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in Hungary’s capital on Saturday, outlining a plan to unite the country and bring an end to the populist leader’s 14-year hold on power. At the center of the demonstration, the latest in a recent series of protests against Orbán’s right-wing nationalist government, was political newcomer Peter Magyar, a former insider within Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party who has shot to prominence in recent weeks through his allegations of entrenched corruption and cronyism among the country’s leaders. Magyar addressed a crowd that filled the sprawling square near the parliament building in Budapest, announcing his creation of a new political community aimed at uniting both conservative and liberal Hungarians disillusioned by Orbán’s governance and the fragmented, ineffectual political opposition. “Step by step, brick by brick, we are taking back our homeland and building a new country, a sovereign, modern, European Hungary,” Magyar said, adding that the protest was “the biggest political demonstration in years.” Magyar, 43, was once a member of Orbán’s political circle and is the ex-husband of former justice minister and Orbán ally Judit Varga. But he broke ranks in February in the wake of a political scandal that led to the resignation of his ex-wife and the president, and has amassed a large following with frequent media appearances where he portrays Hungary’s political life as having been taken over by a privileged group of oligarchs and anti-democratic elites. He has argued that Orbán’s government operates as a “mafia,” and advocated for a moral, political and economic transformation of the country that would rein in corruption and create a more pluralistic political system.“More than twenty years have passed as our elected leaders have incited the Hungarian people against each other. Whether the fate of our country went well or we were close to bankruptcy, we were pitted against each other instead of allowing us to band together,” Magyar said. “We will put an end to this now.”Hungary’s government has dismissed Magyar as an opportunist seeking to forge a new career after his divorce with Varga and his loss of positions in several state companies. But his rise has compounded political headaches for Orbán that have included the resignation of members of his government and a painful economic crisis.Last month, Magyar released an audio recording of a conversation between him and his ex-wife Varga that he said proved that top officials had conspired to manipulate court records in order to cover up their involvement in a corruption case. He has called on Orbán’s government to resign and for a restoration of fair elections. Orbán’s critics at home and in the European Union have long accused him of eroding Hungary’s democratic institutions, taking over large swaths of the media and altering the country’s election system to give his party an advantage. The EU has withheld billions in funding to Budapest over alleged democratic backsliding, misuse of EU funds and failure to guarantee minority rights. One demonstrator on Saturday, Zoltan Koszler, said he wanted a “complete change in the system, which is now completely unacceptable to me.”“I want to live in a normal rule-of-law state where the principles of the rule of law are really adhered to, not only on paper, but in reality,” he said. Magyar has said he will found a new party which will run in EU and municipal elections this summer. More

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UKSign up to our Brexit email for the latest insightRishi Sunak has been accused of purging high-quality, Brexit-backing Conservative candidates from the party ahead of a general election.Those on the Tory right believe Downing Street is blocking “true blue” candidates who support low-tax, small-state conservatism from standing in the election so that the party will instead be dominated by centrists.Therefore, if the Conservatives were to lose, with Mr Sunak subsequently resigning, the prime minister would still have prevented the party from moving to the right by packing it with One Nation Tories who would not favour right-wing leadership candidates.Rishi Sunak has been accused of purging high-quality, Brexit-backing Conservative candidates from the party ahead of a general election More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailChina could use the UK’s genetic data to create targeted bioweapons, a Conservative former minister has claimed.Sir Iain Duncan Smith urged the Government to follow moves by the US and act against Chinese bioscience companies, as he drew comparisons with action against telecoms firm Huawei.The Tory former minister’s warning was echoed by Labour’s Fabian Hamilton, who separately warned of the risks of opening UK genomic data to global rivals.Yet again, the UK’s position in this debate is a mess. Last year, the Government admitted BGI was a ‘danger point’ in the UK’s science and technology ecosystem, yet it continues to allow BGI access to our genomics sectorSir Iain Duncan Smith Genomics, the study of DNA as a whole set of data, is a burgeoning area of medical technology, and is being used to predict, diagnose and treat diseases in new ways.Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Iain warned that it could have more sinister uses.“Like other advanced technologies, genomics, when used legitimately, can help create new drugs to fight diseases like cancer,” he wrote, adding: “However, its dual-use potential means it can also be used to create targeted bioweapons or pathogens.”Sir Iain pointed to reports the Chinese state may have used genomic technology to collect data on the country’s ethnic minority groups, such as the Uighur Muslims.MPs including Sir Iain have previously warned that Chinese genomics giant BGI Group could be a danger to the UK’s interests, and the company has been blacklisted in the US due to security concerns.US legislators are currently attempting to restrict access to American genomic data by companies they believe have links to hostile foreign states.BGI, which won Covid-related contracts from the UK Government during the pandemic, denies it has links to the Beijing government.Sir Iain said: “Yet again, the UK’s position in this debate is a mess. Last year, the Government admitted BGI was a ‘danger point’ in the UK’s science and technology ecosystem, yet it continues to allow BGI access to our genomics sector.”He claimed this echoes the “weakness it showed over Huawei and Hikvision, risks repeating previous mistakes if we fail to appreciate the severity of the challenge”.Writing in the i newspaper, Mr Hamilton likened genomics’ progress to artificial intelligence, and claimed it will “very likely form the backbone of medical treatments in the future”.In this light, China’s quest for genomic data is part of an attempt to dominate the world’s life sciences industryFabian Hamilton, Labour MPThe Leeds North East MP, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, praised his own party’s life sciences strategy which aims to support genomics in healthcare.But he added: “The strength of our life sciences sector will depend upon the amount of data available, and how exposed public and private sector organisations – from the NHS to major companies such as Bupa and Oxford Nanopore – are to state and non-state actors.“In this light, China’s quest for genomic data is part of an attempt to dominate the world’s life sciences industry.”Mr Hamilton claimed the Government was “failing to respond to security challenges that are well understood”, and said there were “serious national security implications for a lack of action”.A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have invested more than £338 million to boost cyber resilience across health and social care.“Our cyber security specialists monitor for new threats 24 hours a day and we continually allocate resources to ensure risks are minimised and patient data is protected.“Building on our cyber security strategy which prioritises patient safety, we are working on a new programme to enhance protection and reduce the risk of an attack across the sector.”BGI was contacted for comment. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailBritain must ramp up its defence and aid spending and bolster its diplomatic and intelligence networks amid “the most dangerous period” since the Cold War, the UK’s formerly top civil servant has warned. Writing in The Independent, former cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill urged the government to nearly double Britain’s defence spending to reach 4 per cent of GDP, and to restore the international aid budget to 0.7 per cent of national income, which was slashed by Boris Johnson in 2021.And warning of the threat should Vladimir Putin prevail in his war on Ukraine, he called for Kyiv’s allies “to “upgrade defence industrial capacity to wartime levels”, “run our own factories 24/7” and buy weaponry and munitions for Ukraine, whether or not Congress funds the US to do so.The former national security adviser also suggested that European militaries should be “modernised and integrated” through the Nato military alliance, and for the formation of a similar economic alliance “to respond collectively to crises or coercion”.“As autocrats advance, delay is a luxury we cannot afford,” the crossbench peer wrote following the 75th anniversary of the founding of Nato – as he urged European governments to “tackle the fraying of the western alliance”, and for Britain to “lead by example” in this effort.Contrasting the “vigour” of US president John F Kennedy’s inaugural 1961 pledge to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe”, with “the weariness of his modern successors”, Sir Mark pointed to America’s “disorderly” retreat from post-9/11 wars, the “uncertain” response to previous Russian aggressions in Georgia and Ukraine, “creeping protectionism” against allies, and the dilution of Nato’s guarantee of collective defence.In the face of “the most dangerous period since the end of the Cold War”, Sir Mark questioned whether – 75 years after its foundation – Nato can meet the test rediscovering “Kennedy’s confidence, commitment and courage when he positively welcomed ‘the responsibility to defend freedom in its hour of maximum danger’”.Urging Britain and European nations to increase their defence budgets, he wrote: “When Kennedy spoke, most Nato allies made considerable sacrifices to invest in collective security. Trump puts it crudely, but, today, even the most Atlanticist Americans warn that their taxpayers cannot be expected to subsidise a European social model they do not enjoy themselves.”The price of ramping up European military industrial capability is ‘a fraction of the cost we will face if Putin prevails’, said Sir Mark More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA senior Conservative MP who admitted his role in a honeytrap sexting scandal will escape immediate punishment as senior colleague Jeremy Hunt moved to publicly back him.William Wragg is unlikely to lose his seat or be forced to sit as an independent MP, sources say, at least while the party investigates his role. On Friday night, the Metropolitan police confirmed they had launched a probe into a “number” of unsolicited messages sent to MPs.Mr Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, admitted he had leaked the personal phone numbers of his colleagues to an individual he met on Grindr, after sending them intimate pictures of himself and becoming concerned about the power the recipient had over him as a result. He told The Times: “They had compromising things on me.”Mr Hunt, the chancellor, has now backed Mr Wragg, praising him for his “courageous and fulsome” apology after the MP also told The Times he was sorry for the “hurt” that he had caused. Treasury minister Gareth Davies said that Mr Wragg had “rightly apologised” and that he would maintain the party whip.William Wragg has apologised for his ‘weakness’ after admitting leaking his colleagues’ phone numbers More