UK Politics

Bookings of UK musicians at the EU’s biggest festivals have crashed by 45 per cent, in the starkest evidence yet of the damage from the Brexit trade deal.The agreement – which inflicted punishing costs and red tape by removing visa-free touring – is being blamed for the huge slump in appearances at the events in Spain, Hungary and Germany.At last week’s Benicassim alternative music festival, near Valencia, just 14 UK artists played – down from an average of 24 between 2017 and 2019, the figures show.Likewise, at next month’s Sziget Festival in Budapest, only 18 UK acts are booked to appear, compared with an average of 25 in the three years before Brexit.And only four British artists are scheduled to play at the Lollapalooza festival in Berlin in September – down from 11 across the period between 2017 and 2019.RecommendedBest for Britain, the internationalist campaign group which researched the statistics, said they were evidence of the “dud Brexit deal”, now festivals are recovering from the Covid pandemic.“The Beatles famously made their name in Europe and it’s on tour that many musicians gain the formative experiences and audiences they need to take off, said Naomi Smith, its chief executive.“Our government has not only robbed emerging British talent of these opportunities abroad, but has also made international acts think twice before including Glasgow or London in their European tours.”Deborah Annetts, head of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, said the figures underlined how, for festival organisers, British bands are “at the bottom of your list due to new barriers created”.She added: “Whoever ends up replacing Boris Johnson must commit to removing this needless bureaucracy which is stifling the prosperity and creativity of the next generation of British musicians.”The loss of bookings at the major festivals will fuel ongoing fears about the plight of musicians losing the chance to further their careers, after the Brexit deal broke a promise to save visa-free touring.The Independent revealed how the UK rejected an EU offer of a “mobility” agreement, leaving artists mired in red tape. No effort has been made to begin fresh talks with Brussels.Instead, ministers have made “misleading” claims about the costs and paperwork involved – despite Mr Johnson’s public vow to “fix” the crisis, made more than a year ago.It was revealed that a production of Phantom of the Opera was brought in from China to tour the EU, because Brexit red tape made it too “expensive” to use a British one.RecommendedElton John has led criticism of the betrayal of musicians, while the rock band White Lies attacked the “appalling” Brexit customs rules which saw them forced to cancel a performance in Paris after equipment was seized.David Frost, who negotiated the agreement, admitted it had been a mistake not to compromise with the EU and called for a rethink – but ministers have failed to budge. More

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss will battle it out over the next six weeks to be the UK’s next prime minister after making it to the final stage of the Conservative leadership contest.The former chancellor and the foreign secretary finished in the top two places after five rounds of voting by Tory MPs, with Penny Mordaunt eliminated after a bitterly fought contest.So what happens next? The final two now switch their focus away from Westminster and begin charming Tory members, who have the final say on who replaces Boris Johnson at No 10 in early September.The first chance for Sunak and Truss to make their pitch to Tory members – and the wider public – comes on Monday evening at 9pm when they face each other on a BBC debate.The two contenders will then face each other at 12 Tory hustings debates around the country, viewable on the party website, starting on 28 July in Leeds and finishing on 31 August in London.RecommendedBoth candidates have also agreed to feature in a Sky News debate on 4 August, with the possibility of more TV hustings events in the weeks ahead.Although the whole process doesn’t come to an end until early September, many of the estimated 160,000 Tory members who get to decide on the next PM could make their minds up soon.Ballot papers will begin landing on Tory members’ doorsteps as soon as 1 August, with the party telling paid-up supporters to expect them between 1 and 5 August.And members who wish to vote online will receive an email on 2 August containing the two unique security codes allowing them to cast their ballot digitally.Intriguingly, members will be able to change their mind during the contest. They can send both a physical ballot and an online ballot, with the most recent one being counted.Tory members then have until 5pm on 2 September to send their ballot to the party, with the final result announced on 5 September.Boris Johnson would be expected to head to Buckingham Palace for formalities with the Queen on 6 September, before either Sunak or Truss takes over the same day. Both have ruled out an early general election.The battle is set to expose a clear rift between Truss’s right-wing agenda of immediate tax cuts and confrontation with the EU, and Sunak’s more cautious approach avoiding “fairytale” tax giveaways.Sunak, the frontrunner throughout the parliamentary leg of the contest, received 137 votes in the final round of voting. Truss won 113 votes, narrowly pushing Mordaunt into third place on 105.Bookmakers have made Truss the favourite to win the contest in the country, after polling of Tory members pointed to her being favoured over Sunak.The most recent ConservativeHome online survey of the Tory grassroots also suggested that Truss would beat Sunak in a head-to-contest decided by members.RecommendedHowever, Sunak set out his pitch to members in a brief video clip after Wednesday’s results. He claimed that he is “the only candidate” who can beat Keir Starmer at the next general election.Team Sunak has pointed to polling which suggest he is more popular with the wider public and has the best chance of beating a resurgent Labour Party.All Tory hustings events:28 July: Leeds1 August: Exeter3 August: Cardiff5 August: Eastbourne9 August: Darlington11 August: Cheltenham16 August: Perth17 August: Northern Ireland19 August: Manchester23 August: Birmingham25 August: Norwich31 August: London More

The Conservative party is facing a brutal summer of vicious infighting, as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss slug it out for the keys to 10 Downing Street in what is expected to be the most tightly-fought leadership contest in decades.There were appeals for the two contenders to succeed Boris Johnson to avoid “blue on blue” attacks on one another, amid Tory fears that a bloody battle will undermine efforts to restore public trust in the party. The new prime minister will be chosen by an estimated 160,000 Conservative members, prompting calls for an immediate election after the new Tory leader is installed on 5 September to give all voters a say on who runs Britain.Labour’s Conor McGinn said Tory members were being offered “two continuity candidates… both stooges of the Johnson administration whose fingerprints are all over the state the country finds itself in today”.Mr Sunak emerged as Tory MPs’ choice after five rounds of voting at Westminster, scooping 137 votes – 38 per cent of the parliamentary party. RecommendedBut Ms Truss was firm bookies’ favourite after coming from behind to pip Penny Mordaunt at the post on Wednesday. Polls have suggested she holds a comfortable lead over the former chancellor among grassroots Tories, and William Hill quoted odds of 4/7 on her victory, making Mr Sunak the 6/4 outsider.Ms Mordaunt, who had held onto second place behind Mr Sunak through all the previous rounds, slipped behind with 105 votes (29 per cent) to 113 (32 per cent) for Ms Truss, who scooped almost half of the 59 supporters of fellow right-winger Kemi Badenoch, eliminated in the previous round.In a video message following his victory, Mr Sunak said he was the only candidate who can beat Sir Keir Starmer and Labour at the next general election.Declaring himself “humbled” to reach the final two, he said he would offer “a positive message” to “restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite our country”.Ms Truss said: “As prime minister, I would hit the ground running from day one, unite the party and govern in line with Conservative values. I am excited to now take to the country to make the case to the Conservative Party about my bold new economic plan that will cut taxes, grow our economy and unleash the potential of everyone in our United Kingdom.”The party released a schedule of 12 hustings across the UK, starting on 28 July in Leeds and concluding with a 31 August clash in London just three days before voting closes on 3 September.With ballot packs arriving on doorsteps from 1 August, Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will have just days to make an impression on the thousands of Tories who are expected to vote immediately online.But in a quirk of the rules, members who change their minds before the deadline of 3 September can amend their vote by casting another ballot – with only the latest one counting.Mr Sunak and Ms Truss have already kicked chunks out of one another in TV debates, with the foreign secretary accusing the former chancellor of putting the UK on the path to recession and him asking whether she was more embarrassed to be a former Remainer or a former Liberal Democrat. The divisiveness of their contest is likely to be amplified by signals from Mr Johnson that he wants Mr Truss, who remained loyally in his cabinet as dozens of other ministers walked out, to vanquish Mr Sunak, whose resignation triggered the process leading to his removal.In his last Commons appearance to say “hasta la vista, baby” to MPs, the outgoing PM made little secret of his preference, lashing out at Treasury resistance to his investment plans while lauding the foreign policy successes of his administration.The contenders’ next televised encounter will be an hour-long BBC debate on Monday, followed by a Sky News face-off on 4 August. The battle will expose a clear rift within the Tory party between Ms Truss’s right-wing agenda of immediate tax cuts and confrontation with Brussels over the post-Brexit settlement and Mr Sunak’s more cautious approach focusing on sound money and avoiding “fairytale” tax giveaways.As she congratulated her two rivals on their success, Ms Mordaunt made clear that she hopes for a senior role in the administration of whichever of them wins the premiership, saying: “Our mission is not only to deliver on what we promised but to win the fight against Labour at the next general election. I hope to play my part in both.”One Mr Sunak supporter said he was confident party members will recognise the former chancellor as the candidate who appeals to both Leavers and Remainers, and to people living in the south and north.“I’m very confident that the Conservative party will decide that defeating inflation, fiscal responsibility and sound money have to come before tax cuts,” the MP added. “You can’t have tax cuts without defeating inflation.”Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis, who came out for Ms Truss earlier on Wednesday, said he did so because “despite being a Remainer, she talks toughest on Brexit”.He said voters “want someone who is going to stand up for the country and make the most of Brexit opportunities”, adding: “I have not heard enough of that from Rishi.”Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey demanded an early general election to allow all voters a chance to pass their verdicts on the eventual winner of the Tory contest.“Everyone knows Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are two sides of the same coin,” said Sir Ed. “Both propped up Boris Johnson whilst he lied to the British people and failed to deal with the healthcare crisis and cost of living emergency.”RecommendedUniversity of Sussex politics professor Paul Webb said that the Tory members who are about to pick the next PM are “older, whiter, more male, more affluent, more in favour of low taxes and spending, more socially conservative and more in favour of Brexit” than the electorate as a whole.“The latest opinion polls of Tory members suggest that Truss is likely to prevail against Sunak because she best embodies these attitudes, even though she appears to be less popular with voters,” said Prof Webb. “The Conservative Party has a long track record of successfully doing what it takes to win and retain power, but it might be about to take a big electoral risk.” More

Liz Truss is the favourite to become the next prime minister, ahead of Rishi Sunak, according to bookmakers, after Penny Mordaunt was forced out of the contest.Betfair has put the foreign secretary odds-on at 4/6 to be the next Tory party leader, even though Conservative MPs gave Mr Sunak more support in the ballot to select the final two contenders.The former chancellor is the 6/4 underdog with Betfair.Irish bookmaker Paddy Power priced Ms Truss at 8/15 to be the next leader, marginally ahead of Mr Sunak, on 5/4.William Hill had Ms Truss at 4/7 and Mr Sunak at 6/4.RecommendedA Sunak supporter described the outcome of the final MPs’ ballot as “a really strong result with a clear mandate from MPs” for the former chancellor, whose tally amounted to 38 per cent of the parliamentary party, against 32 per cent for Ms Truss and 29 for Ms Mordaunt.Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will now fight for votes among party members across the UK.Ballot papers will be sent out from 1 August to 160,000 activists, who will choose their new leader – and the prime minister – in a secret ballot, before the result is announced on 5 September.Tory leadership – live: Truss or Sunak to become next PMA poll of 493 Conservative Party members carried out earlier this month for Channel 4 News put Mr Sunak ahead by a narrow margin.But a  YouGov poll earlier this week, before the fourth ballot of MPs, showed he would be less popular than Ms Mordaunt, Ms Truss and Kemi Badenoch.The final two contenders will face each other in a televised BBC debate on Monday at 9pm.They will then do battle at hustings debates twice a week around the UK until September.Ms Mordaunt congratulated her two rivals, saying: “I pay tribute to anyone who puts themselves forward for such a demanding role.”Politics isn’t easy. It can be a divisive and difficult place.Recommended”We must all now work together to unify our party and focus on the job that needs to be done.” More

Dominic Cummings has mocked hardline Conservative Brexiteers for backing “truly useless Remainer” Liz Truss after she made into the final leadership run-off with Rishi Sunak.The foreign secretary is now the bookies’ favourite to be Britain’s next prime minister after rival Penny Mordaunt was eliminated in the final round of voting by the party’s MPs.The former No 10 strategist, who masterminded the Leave campaign, scoffed at the European Research Group (ERG) for getting behind Truss in her surge past Mordaunt.“Totally on-brand for ERG to back a truly useless Remainer who did nothing in govt except gabble with hacks cos she’s reassuringly mad behind the eyes,” Cummings tweeted.Boris Johnson’s ex-adviser turned nemisis also claimed the PM quietly supported Truss’ campaign because he “knows she’s mad and thinks she’ll blow and he can make a comeback”.Cummings said his former boss’s immediate priority was stopping Sunak. But he added: “He knows Truss is mad as a box of snakes and is thinking, ‘There’s a chance she blows, there’s another contest and I can return’.”RecommendedCummings said he had given the foreign secretary the nickname “human handgrenade” because she “caused chaos rather instead of getting things done”.He also mocked Truss’ celebratory tweet after the final round of parliamentary results when she said: “I’m ready to hit the ground from day one.”Cummings responded: “Sure would ‘hit the ground’ and she wouldn’t bounce much. Splat, for Tories and UK.”The foreign secretary later deleted the tweet and replaced it with the message: “I’m ready to hit the ground running from day one.”After leading the race to succeed from the start, Rishi Sunak held onto his first place with 137 MPs’ votes when the final round was announced on Wednesday afternoon.But Ms Mordaunt, second in the four previous rounds of voting, was dramatically overtaken at the last minute by Ms Truss, who took 113 votes to the trade minister’s 105.The group of 40 to 50 MPs in the ERG had been split on which Tory candidate to back. But many are believed to have gone to the foreign secretary after ardent Brexiteer Suella Braverman was defeated at an earlier round in the race.Stoke MP Jonathan Gullis, who came out for Truss earlier on Wednesday, said he did so because “despite being a Remainer, she talks toughest on Brexit”. The most recent ConservativeHome online survey of the Tory grassroots suggested that Truss would beat Sunak in a head-to-contest contest decided by members.However, Sunak set out his pitch to members in a brief video clip claiming that he is “the only candidate” who can beat Keir Starmer and Labour at the next general election.Meanwhile, the former chancellor’s allies have rejected the idea that his camp “lent” or reallocated votes other candidates.There have been claims by Mordant’s allies that votes were lent to Truss because Sunak preferred the idea of facing her in the run-off.“We’ve been trying to maximise the vote for Rishi Sunak,” Tory MP John Glen told the BBC. And Tory MP Gavin Williamson – asked by reporters if he had helped “lend” votes to others – said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”RecommendedA source in the Sunak camp said accusations that his team had encouraged supporters to vote tactically to ensure a run-off with Ms Truss were “absolutely not true”.“It’s a very strong lead over the second-placed candidate, Liz. I think we’re content with that. Everybody who wanted to see Rishi through voted for him, there was a significant rise in our vote compared with yesterday.” More

Fans of Liz Truss think she is the new Iron Lady.Britain’s foreign secretary is one of the two final contenders to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. Some 180,000 party members will be asked to choose either Truss or former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, with the winner set to be announced Sept. 5.If Truss wins, she would become Britain’s third female prime minister. She has forged her image in homage to the first, Margaret Thatcher. Truss has posed in a British Army tank in Eastern Europe, evoking an image of Thatcher during the Cold War. In a televised leadership debate this week, Britain’s top diplomat sported a pussy-bow blouse eerily similar to one the late prime minister used to wear.Truss, 46, is a favorite among many Conservatives, who revere Thatcher above all other leaders. Critics say it’s an empty homage and believe Truss lacks the gravitas to lead the country amid economic turbulence and a European war.RecommendedAs foreign secretary, Truss has been front and center in Britain’s support for Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia over the invasion of its neighbor. She also has figured prominently in the U.K.’s feud with the European Union over post-Brexit trade arrangements. Her pugnacious approach — along with her promises to slash taxes and boost defense spending — have made her the favorite of the party’s strongly euroskeptic right wing.Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Truss said she was “the only person who can deliver the change we need on the economy — in line with true Conservative principles — and the only person capable of stepping up and leading the response to Ukraine and the increased security threat that the free world faces.”But opponents criticize her as a dogmatist and a wooden public speaker, and note that she has not always been a true-blue Tory. Born in Oxford in 1975, Truss is the daughter of a math professor and a nurse who took her on anti-nuclear and anti-Thatcher protests as a child, where she recalled shouting: “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie — out, out out!” Truss attended a public high school in Leeds, northern England, and then studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University, where she briefly belonged to the centrist Liberal Democrats and called for the abolition of the monarchy.She worked as an economist for energy giant Shell and telecommunications firm Cable and Wireless, and for a right-of-center think tank while becoming involved in Conservative politics and espousing free-market Thatcherite views. She ran unsuccessfully for Parliament twice before being elected to represent the eastern England seat of Southwest Norfolk in 2010.Truss is married to Hugh O’Leary, with whom she has two teenage daughters.In Britain’s 2016 referendum on whether to leave the European Union, Truss backed the losing “remain” side. But she has served in Johnson’s staunchly pro-Brexit government as trade secretary and then foreign secretary, and has won the support of the Conservative Party’s most fervent Brexiteers.Her record as foreign secretary has drawn mixed reviews. Many praise her firm response to the invasion of Ukraine, and she secured the release of two British nationals jailed in Iran where her predecessors had failed. But EU leaders and officials hoping she would bring a softer tone to the U.K.’s relations with the bloc have been disappointed.Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, says the fact that euroskeptics adore Truss, while suspecting Sunak of pro-EU views — despite that fact that he backed “leave” in the referendum — shows the importance of image over substance in politics. “His image doesn’t fit that of a Brexiteer whereas hers does,” Bale said. “There’s a kind of presumption that if you’re a bit of a smoothiechops who moves easily in international circles you must be a remainer, and if you’re someone who tells it like it is to Johnny Foreigner then you’re obviously a (true) Brexiteer.”Recommended___Follow all of AP’s coverage of British politics at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson More

Conservative MPs have voted in the fifth round of their leadership contest, eliminating Penny Mordaunt from the race and setting the stage for a head-to-head showdown between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss. Former chancellor Rishi Sunak topped the ballot again with the backing of 118 MPs, while Liz Truss leapfrogged her rival, apparently benefiting from transfers from a previously eliminated candidat, right-winger Kemi Badenoch.The table after the fifth round looks like this:Rishi Sunak – 137Liz Truss – 113RecommendedThe eliminated candidate is:Penny Mordaunt – 105Ms Mordaunt picked up a further 13 votes after the elimination of Ms Badenoch, but it was not enough to maintain her fourth-round lead over Ms Truss, who picked up an extra 27 votes. Many of the votes went to Mr Sunak, who picked up an extra 19 MP supporters. This was the last round in which only MPs will take part: now there are just two candidates, they will spend the summer campaigning, and will be put to the rank-and-file Tory membership.Whoever wins that contest, the winner of which will be announced in September, will become the new leader of the Conservative party, and will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister. More