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Good afternoon.
THURSDAY CHEAT SHEET
— Kemi Badenoch managed to wind up Conservative Brexiteers even further about the government U-turn on scrapping EU laws.
— An astonishing spat has erupted between two senior China-sceptic MPs.
— Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the state pension age could hit 68 in about 2040.
— Opposition parties hammered the Tories after the Bank of England hiked interest rates again.
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TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
HAVING A BADENOCH DAY: Kemi Badenoch is under assault from Brexiteer MPs who feel she was rude to them in the Commons — potentially putting a dent in her not-so-well concealed leadership ambitions.
A little tense: The business and trade secretary defended herself in an ill-tempered urgent question this morning after her U-turn on scrapping thousands of EU laws before the end of 2023 angered European Research Group colleagues. The session saw the Speaker issue her with a stern rebuke and fellow Tories accuse her of dodging their questions.
ERG snowflakes? Badenoch’s claim she was pleased to be scrutinized in the Commons was deemed sarcastic, and her suggestions critics didn’t understand her plans didn’t go down well either. “This will not have helped her leadership aspirations,” one MP told Playbook PM. “Not because of the actions she’s taken regarding the legislation, but because of the way she handled herself in dealing with the Speaker and Conservative MPs, plus the suggestion she didn’t need to come to the Commons.”
It gets worse: Another MP complained that the performance was “condescending, patronizing and displaying no understanding of the issue.” On Badenoch’s leadership ambitions, the same person said: “They were always too ambitious. Now they are dead.” It’s the latest example of Brexit eating its own children.
But but but: The fiercest anger from the Commons session came from Lindsay Hoyle, when Badenoch appeared to snark back at his complaint the U-turn wasn’t announced in the Commons first but via a press release and a piece in the Telegraph. “I’m very sorry that the sequencing we chose was not to your satisfaction,” she said.
Cue outburst: “That is totally not acceptable,” the Speaker interjected. “Who do you think you’re speaking to, secretary of state? I’m the defender of this House and these benches on both sides. I’m not going to be spoken to by a secretary of state who is absolutely not accepting my ruling. Take it with good grace and accept it that members will hear it first. … These members have been elected by their constituents and they have the right to hear it first.” Watch it in full here.
However however however: Team Badenoch insists the proper process has been followed. A person with knowledge of the announcement plans noted that nothing was briefed out overnight, and information about the change in tack was sent to MPs and committees at the same time. The person noted that the U-turn takes the form of an amendment, which will see a full Commons debate when the bill comes back from the Lords.
Plus: Hoyle has little power to force the government to announce U-turns and other new policies in the Commons first — which continues to be second in line despite constant complaints from the chair. What he can do is make life for ministers hell by granting endless tricksy UQs.
About the actual U-turn: During the Commons session, ERG bigwigs complained that the government has scrapped its promise of shredding thousands of EU laws at breakneck speed. ERG chair Mark Francois lamented that the government had performed “a massive climbdown on its own bill despite having such strong support from its backbenchers,” adding to Badenoch: “What on earth are you playing at?”
Here’s the answer: “This new approach will provide the space for longer term and more ambitious reforms and the government intends to do just that,” Badenoch told the Commons. She said the move will provide more certainty for business, and insisted: “We will still fully take back control of our laws and end the supremacy and special status of retained EU law by the end of 2023.”
Anger at Rishi: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak didn’t emerge from the U-turn unscathed, either. “He accepted the deadline of 2023, and then he has broken his word,” former Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg (who initiated the bonfire of EU laws while serving in the Cabinet) told BBC Radio 4 this morning. “I’m afraid it’s no good being holier than thou if you then end up behaving like a Borgia,” he added, in reference to the corrupt and sinful Spanish-Italian Renaissance-era clan.
The line from Downing Street: Asked at the noon press briefing if Sunak was a man of his word, a spokesman for the PM said: “Yes.” And according to Adam Payne in this PolHome piece, those in government aren’t too fussed about winding up the ERG, since it’s become a rump of its former self that manages to summon a rebellion of only 22-odd, even when Boris Johnson is around and hoping to capitalize.
No laughing at the back: In the Express, David Maddox hears some ERG members fancy their chances at triggering a no confidence vote in Sunak. Which is … er … not going to happen. Top marks for enthusiasm though.
Now read this: My POLITICO colleagues Andrew McDonald and Stefan Boscia have a deeper look into the split among Conservative Brexiteers. Well worth a read.
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SIN’O’ THE TIMES
CHINA HAWKS AT WAR: An astonishing spat exploded between Liz Truss and foreign affairs committee chair Alicia Kearns over the jaunt the former PM is taking to Taiwan next week. “The trip is performative, not substantive. It is the worst kind of example of Instagram diplomacy,” Kearns said, warning that the move could make life harder for the Taiwanese people and adding: “Liz Truss doesn’t have any influence any more — this is more about keeping herself relevant.” Ouch.
Counter attack: “The former prime minister has been invited to visit by the Taiwan government,” a spokesperson for Truss said. “They are better placed to know what is in the interests of the Taiwanese people than the MP for Rutland. The future of Taiwan as a free democracy is at stake. Alicia Kearns should apologize for misusing her position as a select committee chair to engage in petty political attacks.” Double ouch. The Guardian has a writeup.
To be fair: The government of Taiwan has been tweeting about how it’s looking forward to Truss touching down.
Speaking of China: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told Nikkei Asia the G7 should club together and prepare to fight economic coercion from the Asian giant. “We have to prepare for all possibilities,” he said in the interview during his visit to Japan. “We must make sure that we don’t have economic dependencies that could put our economies at risk.”
ALL IN HIS STRIDE
LOOK AWAY, TRUSS: Rishi Sunak’s former campaign manager Mel Stride made more news than expected during a lunch for political hacks this afternoon, lunch-loving Playbook writer Dan Bloom writes in.
Lots of lines: The work and pensions secretary put a ballpark date on the state pension age rise … admitted the “managed migration” of tax credits claimants to Universal Credit (which was meant to end by March 2025) “might take just a little bit longer” … and confessed his party plans to “exploit” coalition chatter about Labour and the Lib Dems.
Save the date: After delaying a decision on when the state pension age should hit 68 (currently 2044-46), Stride told Dan “I suspect it’s in that range of 2040 or thereabouts” — and the earliest would probably be 2037. But “that will be a decision for somebody else” in the next parliament.
Striding to the grave: “The demographic changes and the cost of pensions is really weighing in the wrong direction,” he warned. “So there is a point in time at which the nettle will have to be grasped.”
Striding in with good news: Stride recalled the “emotional moment” he “scurried” to tell Sunak he’d won the leadership, after a visit to 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady’s office left the outcome obvious. “I said, ‘Rishi, you’re about to be our next prime minister,’ and, characteristically, he said: ‘don’t be so stupid, they haven’t announced it yet’.”
In his stride: The Cabinet minister admitted that “of course” he wanted to “land Rishi without a contest amongst the membership” in October.
Enough tedious Stride jokes: Stride recalled David Cameron being branded “ambitious but unlikely to go very far” in the whips’ black book (which is actually blue) … and did an impression of Ted Heath.
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
ZERO TOLERANCE LATEST: Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds suggested a Labour aide found to have sexually harassed a younger colleague should not be working for the party. He told Times Radio this morning: “I don’t think anyone who behaves that way should continue in employment in any circumstance.” POLITICO has a writeup here, after Esther Webber broke the original story.
To make matters worse: A female Labour MP reported a frontbench colleague to the Met Police claiming he sexually assaulted her after a summer party in 2021, Cat Neilan reveals on the Tortoise website. The woman didn’t make a formal complaint, but senior party figures, including at least one other shadow minister, were made aware of the claim.
UKRAINE UPDATE: The U.K. has delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the power to strike targets in Russian-occupied Crimea, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the Commons this afternoon. My POLITICO colleague Cristina Gallardo has a writeup.
WATCHING WITH INTEREST: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Bank of England interest rate rise from 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent will be “disappointing for families with mortgages.” But he said the pain was needed to reduce inflation. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Rishi Sunak should “take his fingers out of his ears and admit his personal responsibility for a Tory mortgage crisis leaving so many worse off” while the Lib Dems said Hunt was “failing at his job.”
Still to come … Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is on Channel 4 News tonight.
LATEST NUMBERS: Polling for Savanta in the wake of the local elections saw Labour up two points to 46 percent, meaning a 16-point lead over the Tories, who were down one point on 30 percent.
PENNY MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: My POLITICO colleague Matt Honeycombe-Foster has a writeup of all the love Penny Mordaunt got in the Commons this morning for her sword-wielding prowess at the coronation.
KINDER, GENTLER POLITICS: Boris Johnson mulled sending a video clip to Rishi Sunak branding him a “c*nt” when the former chancellor quit the Cabinet, according to ex-Downing Street aide Guto Harri in his podcast about the chaos of BoJo in office. Johnson also described the Whitehall probe into his lockdown parties as an “an orgy of pain, abuse and humiliation,” which is what the parties themselves sounded like too.
SMALL BOATS LATEST: Labour would tear out the provision in the small boats bill that forces the home secretary to deport migrants who arrive in the U.K. via small boats, the i’s Arj Singh reports. And Labour peer Alf Dubs will propose two amendments to the bill in a bid to expand its human rights provisions, according to PolHome’s Zoe Crowther.
STOPPING SERVICE: Labour said TransPennine Express had “totally failed the north” after the government brought it back under public ownership due to its dire service record and resulting lack of “express” credentials. “After months of needless damage, Conservative ministers have finally accepted they can no longer defend the indefensible,” Shadow Transport Sec Louise Haigh said in a statement. She reiterated that Labour would bring all train lines under public ownership as their contracts expire.
Not our plan: In a Commons statement this afternoon, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the government will put all rail contracts out for competitive tendering once the market allows. So no nationalization plans there, then.
WELL WORTH A READ: This tale from the i newspaper about a royalist who was arrested at the coronation just for being near some Just Stop Oil protesters and had her day ruined is bonkers. The good news is she’ll probably get an invite to the Palace out of it. She deserves one!
LLYR LLYR, PLAID ON FIRE: The Plaid Cymru Senedd Group nominated MS Llyr Gruffydd as acting leader after Adam Price stood down in the wake of a damning finding that the party harbored a toxic culture of misogyny, harassment and bullying. The nomination is subject to ratification from Plaid’s national council at the weekend, after which a full leadership election will be triggered.
Learn with Playbook PM: The pronunciation of Llyr Gruffydd for non-Welsh speakers is insane. It’s something like “Sheer Griffith,” where the S at the start is more of a lisp or hissing sound.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: The Department for Work and Pensions said the rate of Universal Credit overpayment fall from 4 percent in 2022 to 3.6 percent in 2023, amounting to £400 million.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT LESS: Labour criticized new NHS stats revealing ministers missed their target to end 18-month waits for routine procedures. The figures showed 10,737 had been waiting for a year and a half by the end of March, despite promises to eliminate 18-months waits by April. “This is just the latest broken promise that shows you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS,” said Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting. But Health Sec Steve Barclay tweeted that the number of 10-month waits have reduced by 91 percent from a peak of almost 125,000, “thanks to hardworking staff.”
LEARNED THE HARD WAY: The civil servants who accused Dominic Raab of bullyling wouldn’t go through the same “flawed” complaints process again because it’s too broken and one-sided, FDA union boss Dave Penman told PA’s Christopher McKeon at the FDA conferene. The Standard has a writeup.
AROUND THE WORLD
IN AMERICA: Joe Biden told a fundraiser in New York he traveled to Northern Ireland to “make sure the Brits didn’t screw around” with the Good Friday Agreement. My POLITICO colleague Shawn Pogatchnik has the reaction.
IN TURKEY: Turkish opposition candidate Muharrem İnce has withdrawn from the presidential election race three days before the election. My POLITICO colleague Nicolas Camut says his withdrawal is likely to benefit Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the main opposition leader who is currently neck and neck with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
IN PAKISTAN: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest on corruption charges was illegal, a ruling by Pakistan’s Supreme Court determined. The BBC reports the court has ordered his immediate release, with at least ten people killed in violent protests since his arrest.
IN RUSSIA: Bloomberg reports Russia’s budget gap surged in the first four months of 2023, exceeding its full-year target due to the war in Ukraine and pressures on energy supplies. It comes as my POLITICO colleague Veronika Melkozerova says the Ukrainian army is said to have pushed Russian forces back in Bakhmut.
IN TAIWAN: The U.S. will deliver a batch of 29 rocket launchers to Taiwan a year ahead of schedule, the island’s defense ministry said.
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TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) looks at the interest rate rise … BBC News at Six focuses on interest rates … Channel 4 News (7 p.m.) leads on interest rates, including an interview with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): Crossbench peer Karan Bilimoria (5.05 p.m.) … Former President of the Royal Society Paul Nurse (5.35 p.m.).
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Former British ambassador to Russia Laurie Bristow (6.30 p.m.).
Drive with Ayesha Hazarika (Times Radio, 5 p.m.): Transport committee Chair Iain Stewart and Tracy Brabin (5.05 p.m.) … Defense committee Chair Tobias Ellwood (5.20 p.m.) … Former Environment Secretary George Eustice (5.25 p.m.) … Iain Stewart MP 7.10p.m. … The Spectator’s Isabel Hardman and the Times’ Rachel Sylvester (both after 7 p.m.)
The News Agents (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham … Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden … The IFS’ Paul Johnson … Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis.
Farage (GB News, 7 p.m.): BCP Council Leader Philip Broadhead.
Jeremy Kyle Live (TalkTV, 7 p.m.): Tory peer Ed Vaizey … Former Labour Adviser Frankie Leach.
Beth Rigby Interviews (Sky News, 9 p.m.): Russian dissident Marina Ovsyannikova.
First Edition (TalkTV, 10 p.m.): Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch … Tory MP John Redwood.
Newsnight (BBC Two, 10.30 p.m.): Tony Blair’s former Director of Coms Alastair Campbell … Reform U.K.’s Alex Phillips.
Question Time (BBC One, 10.40 p.m.): Health Minister Helen Whately … Shadow Commons Leader Thangam Debbonaire … Writer Richard Coles … Novara Media’s Ash Sarkar … LBC’s Nick Ferrari.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: TalkTV (10 p.m.): The New Statesman’s Anoosh Chakelian and the Sun’s Natasha Clark … Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): ConHome’s Emily Carver and HuffPost U.K.’s Kevin Schofield … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Former Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale and former Tory and Change U.K. MP Anna Soubry.
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TOMORROW’S WORLD
PARTY IN DOWNING STREET: It’s Rishi Sunak’s birthday. The PM turns 43. No doubt someone will ambush him with cake. It’s also 13 years since the Conservatives took power.
WEALTH CHECK: GDP data for March and the first quarter of 2023 will be released at 7 a.m.
OVER IN JAPAN: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is at G7 meetings in Japan, as is Science Minister George Freeman, for the G7 science and tech ministerial.
ON THE GRID: The communities department is expected to announce details for the latest batch of funding for people to take ownership of local assets, and funding for trainee planners in local government.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
PACKED LUNCH OR PARL LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: Bellamy’s: Soup and sandwiches … The Debate: Paneer, spinach and pea curry; smoked paprika bream with cannellini beans, tomatoes and cracked wheat; spicy pork belly baguette … Terrace Cafeteria: Minute steak burger; Thai green veggie curry; fish and chips … River Restaurant: Eggplant, butternut squash and tomato stack with salad and chips; pork chop with potato wedges, baked beans and salad; fish and chips.
ORWELL THAT ENDS WELL: Shortlists for the Orwell Prizes have been announced, with 45 outstanding works of non-fiction, fiction and reporting nominated across five categories. Orwell Prize for Journalism finalists include the Atlantic’s Helen Lewis, the BBC’s Quentin Sommerville and the LRB’s Madeleine Schwartz. In the Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils, finalists include the Observer’s Mark Townsend and Shanti Das and the i’s Dean Kirby. The full line-up is here.
NEW GIG: Veteran judge Declan Morgan was appointed as Chief Commissioner of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. The commission will aim to provide information to families, victims, and survivors of Troubles-related deaths and serious injury, and promote reconciliation.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: In the latest edition of The Spectator, Lara Prendergast outlines the new swing voter — Millennial Millie — who can “see herself voting for Labour – and Keir, with his faintly Bridget Jones energy.”
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince, Playbook reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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