UK Politics

Tory national service policy like a ‘teenage Dad’s Army’, Starmer saysSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLord Zak Goldsmith, who resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government last year, has hit out at the “complicity” of most Tory MPs in allowing the party to descend in complete chaos less than a week into a general election.The Tory peer, who is a friend and ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, warned that most Conservative MPs will lose their seats but saying “it is hard to feel sorry for them”.It came as ministers were furiously briefing about their anger over the prime minister calling a snap election without consulting his cabinet first.Elsewhere, Sir Keir Starmer has said he was “shocked” by horrific scenes from Rafah overnight and that the Israeli offensive must stop.At least 50 people have been killed and dozens more injured by an Israeli airstrike on tents for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Gaza health authorities.Asked what he would tell Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu if he were prime minister, the Labour leader said: “Stop.“Those scenes, those reports, are horrifying and what makes it worse was this was a safe zone with women and children and families that have already fled a number of times.”Show latest update 1716820904Boris Johnson ally warns Tory MPs only have themselves to blame for Sunak’s ‘predictable’ election chaosLord Zak Goldsmith, who resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government last year, has hit out at the “complicity” of most Tory MPs in allowing the party to descend in complete chaos less than a week into a general election.The Tory peer, who is a friend and ally of former prime minister Boris Johnson, posted a comment on X (formerly Twitter) warning that most Conservative MPs will lose their seats but saying “it is hard to feel sorry for them”.Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2024 15:411716820054Minister warned Sunak it was not common sense to have a snap electionRishi Sunak asked King Charles to dissolve Parliament before telling his cabinet that he had called a snap election.But that final 4pm cabinet meeting on Wednesday before the prime minister made his rain sodden announcement to the nation outside Downing Street, saw very little response,Maryam Zakir-Hussain27 May 2024 15:271716818641PM distances himself from Tory attacks on Sir Keir over his ageRishi Sunak has distanced himself from Tory attacks on Sir Keir Starmer over his age.The 44-year-old Prime Minister said “the substance is what matters” following the comments about his 61-year-old rival.Mr Sunak told reporters: “I’m interested in getting out and about across the country.“We’re a few days into this, we’ve been in the East Midlands, the West Midlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, here in the South East today, talking to people – parents – about the future.“The substance is what matters at this election, it’s a choice about the future.”He added: “When it comes to Keir Starmer, that’s the choice that’s on offer – no ideas, no plan and you don’t deliver a better future, you don’t deliver any change, without those things.”Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer makes his first keynote speech during his visit to Lancing in West Sussex, while on the General Election campaign trail on Monday More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Conservatives’ launch on TikTok has been branded “pretty pathetic” by an expert who praised Labour’s “savvier” social media team.Social media has been touted as a key battleground in general elections for many years, but having launched in the UK in August 2018 TikTok was only in its infancy during the last poll in December 2019.Likely to play a bigger role than ever this election, the Chinese app was banned from Government phones in March 2023 due to data security concerns but both parties launched profiles in recent days.Despite the Prime Minister announcing the General Election last Wednesday, Labour launched on TikTok three days before the Conservatives – posting an 11-second video on Thursday evening of leader Sir Keir Starmer declaring: “Change. That is what this election is about.”Since then, the feed has been a mixture of clips from the party’s campaign trail, brief explainers and, most successfully, memes mocking the Tories and the Prime Minister.The Conservative Party shared their first TikTok on Sunday morning – a 50-second clip of Rishi Sunak in a white shirt announcing he plans to introduce mandatory national service for 18-year-olds if he returns to Number 10.Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom: The Inside Story of the World’s Favourite App, believes the Opposition have come out on top on the platform so far – describing Tory efforts as “soulless and lifeless”.“The fact that both major parties have taken to TikTok to spread the word about their campaigns is interesting, not least because of the fears that have been stoked about TikTok being a national security threat – concerns that haven’t, to date, been backed up by any evidence,” Mr Stokel-Walker told the PA news agency.“It’s pretty clear that Labour have a savvier social media team who have pretty effectively managed to minimise the Tories’ claims, not least their clever way of adopting memes to try and rubbish Rishi Sunak’s policy of national service.“Meanwhile, for someone meant to be tech-savvy, Sunak’s TikTok presence has been pretty pathetic: not only are the videos pretty soulless and lifeless, but they seem to ignore the fact you have to grab viewers’ attention right from the off, instead going ponderously through the Tories’ lines to take on various policies.”Mr Sunak’s national service pledge has become fodder for memes on Labour’s page.A post with over two million views and more than 316,000 likes, captioned “Rishi Sunak announcing national service”, sees Lord Farquaad, the diminutive chief antagonist of the 2001 children’s film Shrek, announce: “Some of you may die, but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make.”Another similarly popular clip depicts “Rishi Sunak turning up on your 18th birthday to send you to war”, with a viral video of late TV host Cilla Black singing her 1980s track “Surprise Surprise” on the show of the same name.While the Conservatives’ first post received over 1.2 million views, it received 85,000 likes and over 10,000 comments as Mr Sunak asked for questions about the national service policy.Those questions included “what if I wanted to go to university” and “who is paying me to do it?”In response to that second question, a follow-up video on Monday saw Mr Sunak explain the Government would “provide a stipend to help with living costs” for those joining the military and provide “funding for training and administration” for community work.Although it is early days – the Conservatives had shared just four TikToks by Monday afternoon to Labour’s 25 – the approach by Sir Keir Starmer’s party has been more successful.Labour has more than 43,000 TikTok followers to the Convervatives’ 13,000 and they have received over 10 times more likes on the platform – with more than 930,000 to 87,000 for the Tories.“It’s clear that for younger users the Labour campaign’s use of TikTok is more likely to be a more natural fit but, actually, I think you’ll find that it cuts through to older voters, too,” said Mr Stokel-Walker.“A lot of the memes that Labour have used so far, particularly around the national service policy, are ones that people who spend any time on Facebook, X or even a family WhatsApp group will recognise – and probably laugh at.“We’ve heard for more than a decade now that every general election is the ‘first social media election’, but there’s no doubt that online campaigning will be important to get the message out to voters – particularly younger ones.”TikTok was banned from Government devices over fears about how information such as contacts, user content and geolocation data could be used by the company’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance.In the announcement of the ban in March 2023, then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden described the decision as a “prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts”. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak asked King Charles to dissolve Parliament before telling his cabinet that he had called a snap election.But that final 4pm cabinet meeting on Wednesday before the prime minister made his rain sodden announcement to the nation outside Downing Street, saw very little response,The Independent understands that only two ministers piped up to tell him he had made a mistake.The first was Esther McVey, his Cabinet Office minister for common sense, who was a surprise call up in his reshuffle late last year after he had sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary.Ms McVey is understood to have told the prime minister to his face in front of the cabinet that it was wrong to go early.Esther McVey was unhappy with an early election (PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email British opposition leader Keir Starmer made his first major speech of the U.K. election campaign Monday, telling undecided voters that they can trust his Labour Party to safeguard the country’s economy, borders and security.Starmer is the favorite to win the July 4 election, with polls giving Labour a double-digit lead over the governing Conservatives under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.But many electors remain undecided, and Starmer sought to address a perception that the left-of-center Labour Party is weaker on defense and security than the center-right Conservatives.“The very foundation of any good government is economic security, border security, national security,” Starmer said during a speech in the seaside town of Lancing on England’s south coast. “This is the foundation, the bedrock that our manifesto and our first steps, will be built upon.”Starmer accused the Conservatives of presiding over “desperate chaos.” Britain’s first election since 2019 follows several turbulent years that saw a global pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those international crises were exacerbated by problems of the Conservatives’ own making: a slew of ethics scandals that topped Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022, and the disastrous economic policies of his successor Liz Truss, who lasted only 49 days in office.Sunak had until December to call an election and took most people – including those in his own party — by surprise when he announced last week that the vote would be held on July 4. Voters will elect lawmakers to fill all 650 seats in the House of Commons. The leader of the party that can command a Commons majority — either alone or in coalition — will become prime minister.The Conservatives, who have been in office for 14 years, are trying to overcome a widespread sense that voters want change, and Sunak’s campaign got off to a faltering start. His announcement outside 10 Downing Street saw him drenched with rain and drowned out by protesters blasting a Labour campaign song.Sunak grabbed weekend headlines with an announcement that all 18-year-olds in Britain will have to perform a year of mandatory military or civilian national service if the Conservatives are reelected. The prime minister said the program would help “create a shared sense of purpose among our young people and a renewed sense of pride in our country.”The party faced questions about how the program would work and whether it could be made compulsory. Starmer said the announcement reflected the Conservatives’ “desperation” to shore up its vote.Labour has lost four consecutive elections, in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, and party leaders are wary of taking their poll lead for granted.Starmer, a lawyer and former chief prosecutor for England and Wales, remains an unknown quantity to many voters. In his speech he stressed his working-class roots as the son of a toolmaker and a nurse who was the first in his family to go to university.He said he had transformed Labour, moving it to the center ground after taking over as leader in 2020 from staunch socialist Jeremy Corbyn.“Whatever the polls say, I know there are countless people who haven’t decided how they’ll vote in this election,” Starmer said. “They’re fed up with the failure, chaos and division of the Tories, but they still have questions about us: has Labour changed enough? Do I trust them with my money, our borders, our security?“My answer is yes you can, because I have changed this party, permanently,” he added. “This is my vision: a Britain once more in the service of working people. Country first, party second.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s pledge to enforce national service for 18-year-olds has been described as “bonkers” by a former British military chief.The policy proposal, announced on Sunday by the prime minister, would see young people would be given a choice between a full-time placement in the armed forces for 12 months or spending one weekend a month for a year volunteering in their community.It is the Conservatives’ first major policy proposal since Mr Sunak hastily announced the general election in the pouring rain last week, with his party now scrambling to find some 190 candidates amid a post-war record exodus of Tory MPs.The prime minister insisted on that his plans for mandatory national service would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”. However, the policy has been met with broadly negative and confused reaction.Rishi Sunak speaks with British troops in April (PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSupport for Rishi Sunak’s plans to force school leavers to do military or voluntary national service has divided his party.An election address to his constituents in Wycombe, senior minister Steve Baker, whose seat is under threat from Labour, has appeared to criticise the philosophy behind the prime minister’s announcement and distanced himself from it.Mr Sunak wants 18-year-olds to either join the military for a year or do community service every weekend in a new compulsory scheme.The prime minister said the policy would help unite society in an “increasingly uncertain world” and give young people a “shared sense of purpose”.Steve Baker does not appear to agree with compulsory National Service (Liam McBurney/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak’s pledge to reintroduce National Service will not help him close the gap on Labour, leading pollsters have warned.The Conservatives announced the policy over the weekend in the hope it would move the dial on terrible polling returns which have them trailing by more than 20 points behind Labour.But while the announcement helped distract from a much criticised start to the election campaign by the prime minister and his inner circle, there are serious question marks over whether it will provide the Tories the poll boost they need.Professor Sir John Curtice admitted to being sceptical about the effect.Asked if it would shift the polls, he replied: “No. It was designed to appeal to their [the Tories’] base which is older.”Rishi Sunak proposed the introduction of National Service for 18-year-olds (Jeff J Mitchell/PA) More