UK Politics

The Conservatives have spelled “Britain” wrong in one of their handouts in an embarrassing blunder at their party conference in Manchester. Party officials handed out chocolate bars with the quote, “When Labour negotiates, Britian loses”, emblazoned across it – a quote attributed to Kemi Badenoch. The quote has been repeatedly used by the Tory leader in response to Labour negotiations, including the deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, as well as in response to trade deals negotiated with the US, India and the European Union. A Tory source said the spelling mistake was a “printing error”. Amid devastating approval ratings and questions over Mrs Badenoch’s leadership, this year’s conference is notably much quieter than last. The corporate presence is significantly slimmed down, while attendance at the main stage for major speeches given by the shadow cabinet is generally sparse. Protesters, including anti-Brexit demonstrator Steve Bray, have stayed away, in what is thought to be a sign of the fading relevance of the Tories under Ms Badenoch.Many stalls, which would previously have been a key source of money for the party being taken up by businesses, are left empty with Conservative branding in place instead.It came as a new poll conducted by YouGov for Sky News found that half of all Conservative members think Mrs Badenoch should not lead the party into the next election. The poll of 652 Conservative members, taken between 26 September and 2 October, found 46 per cent think the current Tory leader should stay in place when the country next goes to the polls, while 50 per cent say she should not. Meanwhile, a seat-by-seat YouGov poll published earlier this month showed that the Tories would face a disaster scenario if an election were held today, being left with just 45 MPs – putting them behind Reform UK, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, which the poll put at 78 MPs.Responding to the spelling error, a Labour source said: “Yet another Tory Flake. They can’t proofread five words on a bar of chocolate. “This conference really isn’t proving to be the Boost Kemi needs”. More

The one question for supporters of Robert Jenrick in the Tory party is not if but when they should make a move to oust Kemi Badenoch.But luckily for them, they saw a trial run of one of their potential strategies at the Labour conference which led to a late change in their plans to use this conference in Manchester as a platform.And so the message to Mr Jenrick from his supporters going into this conference was “don’t do an Andy Burnham”.Labour’s mayor for Greater Manchester has actually been speaking at the Tory conference on housing and other matters in a fairly disobliging manner about prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.But his attempt to turn the Labour conference into a platform for a push to replace Starmer badly backfired, largely united the party around the PM (at least on the surface) and ended up with Mr Burnham slinking out before the leader’s speech.Andy Burnham made a move at the Labour conference More

Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet is deeply divided over economic policy, with senior ministers fearful further measures to target the rich in next month’s Budget could accelerate the wealth exodus from Britain.Cabinet ministers have told the The Independent they believe Rachel Reeves has already gone too far with measures targeting the wealthy and businesses, and have urged the chancellor to change course if she is to have any hope of achieving growth. They cited “anti-aspiration” measures such as the abolition of non-dom status and VAT on private school fees as key drivers of wealth away from the UK, saying they are “harming this country”. Further measures reportedly being considered include a property tax on high-value homes and a new bank profits tax.Ministers have instead urged the prime minister and Ms Reeves to consider “efficiency savings” and cuts to fill a Budget black hole estimated to be between £30bn and £40bn.Those on the left in Labour have noted that the recent reshuffle has “handed more power to the right of the party” while left-wingers who support wealth taxes have been demoted or pushed out.But a powerful group within cabinet on the right of the party believes the government is failing to rein in spending and needs to be more ready “to reform the state in a Labour way”.One minister said: “The trouble is we have crossed a line in trying to encourage aspiration. The non-dom change and the VAT on school fees have sent the opposite message.”The autumn statement is expected to be a make-or-break moment for the prime minister and chancellor Rachel Reeves More

Robert Jenrick launched a scathing attack on Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget, describing it as “careless” and “un-conservative” as the party attempts to rebuild public trust after its difficult recent past. Addressing a packed-out room at the Conservative Party conference, the shadow justice secretary said former prime minister Ms Truss had made “big mistakes” when her mini-Budget spooked the financial markets in 2022 and led to a spike in mortgage rates and her eventual resignation.Mr Jenrick also dismissed any speculation about his potential leadership ambitions, telling his audience Kemi Badenoch would lead the Tories into the next election.Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has launched a scathing attack on Liz Truss More

The governor of the Bank of England has said the UK needs a “supportive” investment environment if it is to realise the economic benefits of innovative new technologies.Speaking at an event in Edinburgh on Monday, Andrew Bailey said “general purpose technologies” (GPT) such as AI, green energy and the space sector could lead to “industry-wide growth” and a boost to productivity.However, he said achieving this required “the necessary investment”, which he said depended on “a lot of commitment”.“If we are on the cusp of seeing another advance in GPT, we need the conditions to support an environment where investment occurs across the economy,” he said.“From the official side, we need to provide a policy framework which sustains growth and innovation.”He went on: “We must do all we can to ensure the domestic investment environment – by which I mean the institutions and individuals who direct investment to where it is needed – is supportive.”He also said the investment environment had to allow for the slow pace of “technological shifts” such as AI and space technologies, which he said take time to feed through into economic improvements.“GPT innovation in history has benefited from, and needed, long development periods, so it is important that we have an investment environment that supports this type of patient progress,” he said.As part of this, Mr Bailey said it was necessary to take a “pragmatic and open-minded approach to the potential and risks of AI”.“We must understand what it can and cannot deliver, and where it can create broader issues that will need to be tackled,” he said.“But I would say to the alarmists that it is all of our responsibility to solve such issues rather than just broadcast them.”Mr Bailey sounded a positive note about the future of innovation in Scotland and the UK more widely, and praised some of the recent moves to support investment.He described himself as a “strong advocate” of the UK Government’s proposals to boost the level of investment by UK pension funds in British businesses, which he said demonstrated “a level of commitment to growth in the economy and to the British public”.He also said British Business Bank was increasing its commitment to “create growth capital in UK unlisted high-potential companies”, while the Scottish National Investment Bank was “seeking to support longer-term investment projects”.“These developments provide a real opportunity to generate external institutional capital into high-potential companies,” he said.Mr Bailey was delivering a keynote address at Scotland’s Global Investment Summit in the Scottish capital on Monday. More

The Conservative Party conference has historically been a magnet for protesters, from climate change activists to opponents of Partygate. But as Kemi Badenoch hosts its annual gathering in Manchester this week, the streets around the convention centre are eerily quiet. Protesters, even including the notorious anti-Brexit demonstrator Steve Bray, have not bothered to show up, in a sign of the fading relevance of the Tories under Ms Badenoch. Notorious anti-Brexit protester Steve Bray has not come to Tory conference More