“Michael Gove has told Cabinet ministers he is prepared to delay Brexit until late 2020 rather than leave without a deal on October 31, The Telegraph has learned. The Environment Secretary has told colleagues that a no-deal Brexit in October risks triggering a General Election that will put Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street. His position puts him directly at odds with other Brexiteer leadership candidates including Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, who have committed to leaving on time with or without a deal. It comes as ministers are braced for Donald Trump, the US President, to say during his State Visit this week that Britain must be prepared to walk away from the EU without a deal.” – Sunday Telegraph
>Today: MPs Etc.: Leadership election candidate MP support numbers: Gove 29, Hunt 29, Johnson 29, Raab 23, Javid 17, Hancock 11
>Yesterday:
“Matt Hancock has unveiled a five-point plan to deliver Brexit by the end of October. But, unlike many of his Tory leadership rivals, the health secretary is not threatening to leave without a deal. In an attempt to reset the leadership debate, Hancock would see the UK demand both a time limit on the proposed Irish border backstop and a new free-trade deal. In exchange, he would offer the EU a say over Britain’s border controls between Northern Ireland and the republic and give people on both sides of the border £1bn. Hancock, in an interview with The Sunday Times, fired a shot at no-dealers such as Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Sajid Javid, saying they are not being straight with MPs and grassroots supporters.” – Sunday Times
>Yesterday:
“Boris Johnson will unveil his masterplan for a high-speed Brexit and warn EU chiefs: It’s Bo deal or no deal. The Tory leadership favourite has been working for months on details for a “sensible” and “responsible” new withdrawal agreement. It includes a ideas from a series of “listening” workshops with other MPs. BoJo will step up his drive for the top job this week by revealing a list of top MPs endorsing him… But Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd won’t be his running mate because he insists on leaving the EU by October 31.” – Sun on Sunday
Comment:
Editorial:
>Today: ToryDiary: D-Day and T-Day
>Yesterday: Royston Smith MP in Comment: Why I am voting for Malthouse
“Candidates are answering the wrong question. They are being asked: do they want no deal and, if not, then what? Their answers have been all over the place. Some have chosen the ridiculous position of saying no deal would be a disaster but that we must keep it on the table, while others have said they are prepared to leave without a deal. Yet to cut through the guff and understand their actual position, the real question is far simpler. What we need to know is: are they prepared to rule out now a further extension of Article 50 beyond October 31? For that is what will define this debate. Our only chance of rebuilding our prospects depends on our delivering Brexit at the latest by October 31.” – Sunday Telegraph
Editorial:
“Sajid Javid today says he is prepared to scrap the top rate of income tax as he argues he has the “broadest reach” of any of the candidates for the Tory leadership contest. In his first interview since announcing his leadership bid, the Home Secretary today tells The Telegraph that he believes Britain is ready for its first ethnic minority Prime Minister. He positions himself as “tomorrow’s leader”, capable of winning over traditional Tory voters while being able to “connect in a very special way with the vast, vast majority of the electorate”. Mr Javid indicates that he is willing to scrap the 45p rate of income tax entirely in a bid to inject more “dynamism” into the economy.” – Sunday Telegraph
“Tory leadership hopeful Dominic Raab has hailed himself as the man who can seal a great deal for Britain — and not just from the EU. The former Brexit Secretary believes he can save Brits up to £4billion a year by tackling big firms which rip off customers on energy bills, insurance cover or mobile phone contracts. Mr Raab, a 7-2 shot to be next PM, said “the consumer will be king”… In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, he revealed his first mission after leading Britain out of the EU will be to take on the firms that keep prices artificially high. If he becomes PM, he will lead a “relentless drive” to break the grip of corporate giants and free up small firms to challenge the big players so they can offer customers more choice and cheaper deals.” – Sun on Sunday
Comment:
“A Remainer Tory former minister has become the second Conservative MP to suffer a vote of no confidence by his local association. Phillip Lee, who quit the Government last year over its Brexit policy, said he “may or may not” decide to continue serving as a Tory MP for Bracknell. He is the second Conservative to lose such a vote, following former attorney general Dominic Grieve earlier this year.The Bracknell Conservative Association said in a statement on its website on Saturday: “Bracknell Conservative Association today held a special general meeting to discuss and vote on a motion of no confidence in Dr Phillip Lee, MP for Bracknell.” – Sunday Express
>Yesterday: MPs Etc.: Motion of no confidence passed in Lee
“A fresh anti-semitism row overshadowed the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s trip yesterday to Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire, to campaign for Thursday’s by-election. Lisa Forbes, the Labour candidate, had liked an anti-semitic post on Facebook in April that claimed Theresa May has a “Zionist Slave Masters agenda”. Forbes also commented under a post whose author claimed that Islamic extremists were the creation of the CIA and Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service… Approached by The Sunday Times, Forbes apologised “wholeheartedly for not calling out these posts”. She said that she had liked the video attached to the post, “not the views expressed in the accompanying text”.” – Sunday Times
More antisemitism:
Comment:
“Jeremy Corbyn was plunged into a new crisis last night after it emerged that his office had blocked the suspension of a senior aide accused of sexual harassment by a female Labour MP. Leaked emails reveal that Corbyn’s team surprised the party’s governance chiefs by rejecting a formal request to suspend the Labour membership of David Prescott, 49, the leader’s trusted aide and son of former deputy prime minister John Prescott. The disclosures will reignite claims that Corbyn’s inner circle delays or waters down investigations into his allies on issues such as anti-semitism and harassment. The Sunday Times can disclose that in November 2017 a young female MP secretly met Corbyn and Karie Murphy, his chief of staff, to share her experience of David Prescott’s “unwarranted sexual advances”.” – Sunday Times
More:
“John Bercow is being warned to stick to his ‘original’ plan to quit by the summer or face a fresh row over allegations he bullied staff. The Speaker sparked fury last week by announcing that he would stay in the post to oversee the Brexit drama despite repeated claims he is ‘biased against Brexit’. But last night, Tory MPs vowed to fast-track new anti-bullying procedures which would make it easier to investigate so-called ‘historic’ allegations of bullying. They say the new system will allow a proper investigation into claims that Mr Bercow bullied his staff – claims he has repeatedly denied.” – Mail on Sunday
“Sir Ed Davey has called for an end to internal flights in the UK as he set out his pitch to make the Liberal Democrats “outgreen the Greens”. The leadership candidate, who was energy and climate change minister in the coalition government, said that the single action any individual should take for the environment was to stop flying — and that making this possible would require greater funding for rail… His leadership rival, Jo Swinson, sometimes flies when travelling from Westminster to her constituency of East Dunbartonshire in Scotland. She said after the hustings that she could not promise to stop taking planes.” – Sunday Times
Comment: