“Liz Truss is increasingly confident that she will beat Penny Mordaunt in the race for the final two of the Conservative leadership contest today after surging to within touching distance of her rival. The foreign secretary and Mordaunt, a trade minister, are locked in a bidding war for the backing of Kemi Badenoch’s 59 supporters after she was eliminated from the contest. The former chancellor Rishi Sunak is also using his “gang of five” ex-chief whips to win Badenoch supporters and extend his lead among Tory MPs. A ballot of Tory MPs this afternoon will decide which two candidates are put to the Tory membership. Truss believes she has “natural supporters” among Badenoch’s backers from the right of the party. “We feel the momentum is with us,” a source close to Truss said.” – The Times
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“The Conservative Party is at its best when we are united. That is how we were able to defeat Jeremy Corbyn, turn the Red Wall blue and get Brexit done. But we face huge challenges amid a mounting economic crisis and growing threats to international security from Russia, China and more. Now is the time for boldness, not a business-as-usual approach. That is why I am putting myself forward to lead our party and our great country with a clear plan to get our economy moving – based around tax cuts, deregulation and tough reform – and a clear mission to unleash opportunity and help people achieve their dreams, no matter their background or where they live.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Rishi Sunak has claimed only he could stop Labour striking a post-election deal with the SNP that would give Nicola Sturgeon power in 10 Downing Street “via the back door”. The former chancellor promised to “confront this threat early” if he succeeded Boris Johnson as prime minister as he gave an unequivocal pledge to rule out holding another “divisive” independence referendum. In a charm offensive directed at Scottish Tory MPs and party members, Mr Sunak said the leadership contest would determine who would be “the custodian of our United Kingdom” and argued “nothing” was more important to the Tories than “our precious Union”. He said his administration would abandon the Westminster “devolve and forget” mentality and would instead become the most active UK-wide government in decades.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Fresh civil war erupted at the Department of Trade today over Penny Mordaunt’s plan to announce a new post-Brexit deal in the middle of the Tory leadership race…[I]nsiders say Ms Mordaunt is insisting that Wednesday’s announcement of a new minor trading accord with North Carolina goes ahead — despite concern raised by officials who say it should be delayed until after Conservative Party leadership votes…One official described the situation as “a complete systems failure” if the announcement is allowed to go ahead at the height of the political drama. They added: “Trying to take credit for the North Carolina deal in the middle of the race is totally inappropriate. Not least because she could not be a—-d to go sign the deal with Indiana in May.” – The Sun
“Boris Johnson faces a major cronyism row by pushing for TWO honours lists before departing No10 in September, The Sun can reveal. A list of new political appointments to the House of Lords was being prepared before BoJo was ousted in a Cabinet coup, with No10 still arguing for it to go ahead. But there is a fight over whether it should be up to the next PM to choose those new Peers. Alongside that list, Mr Johnson is also preparing the traditional Resignation Honours to reward those who have personally served him in office. On the first list were Brexit-backing historian Andrew Roberts and billionaire Tory donor Michael Hintze. Churchill’s grandson, the devout remainer Sir Nicholas Soames and ex-Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre are also under consideration.” – The Sun
“The government’s 5 per cent pay offer to public sector workers was an attempt to address a host of pressing problems — staff shortages, looming strike action, rising inflation and the squeeze on household budgets — while still leaving the next UK prime minister enough fiscal firepower to cut taxes. In the event, it has pleased no one. But the government’s partial concession to workers’ demands reflects the fact that market forces, as much as union activism, are now driving wage growth with inflation above 9 per cent and rising. A worsening economic outlook has not yet taken the heat out of the UK’s labour market, with Office for National Statistics figures showing unemployment still below pre-pandemic levels, redundancies at record lows and vacancies — while nearing a peak — at a new high of 1.3mn.” – The Financial Times
>Today:
>Yesterday:
“The Home Office pushed through its policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda despite repeated concerns from UK government officials, it has emerged from documents submitted to a high court hearing. The government disclosed the documents, which raise numerous concerns about the Rwanda plans, ahead of a full hearing later this year into the lawfulness of the policy. Claimants in the legal challenge include the charities Care4Calais and Detention Action and the PCS union, which represents many Home Office staff. They are working with several individual asylum seekers from countries including Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Albania who were threatened with removal to Rwanda on a flight on 14 June, which was grounded after legal action.” – The Guardian
“So-called Slapps aim to suffocate free speech and stop the Press exposing corruption. Used by the super-rich to cover up murky dealings, they effectively threaten to sue critics into silence. These baseless lawsuits pit ordinary people against the financial firepower of oligarchs and kleptocrats. They wear authors down by wasting their time and harassing them with eye-watering legal bills. It’s a growing problem. There were 14 Slapps last year – up from two in 2020. Even that is the tip of the iceberg. Most cases never make it to court because authors often back down under a barrage of aggressive legal letters…We won’t let those bankrolling Russian leader Vladimir Putin exploit the UK’s legal jurisdiction to muzzle free speech. So today I’m announcing action to stop Slapps in their tracks.” – The Daily Mail
“Ministers have vowed to tackle decades of “systemic” and “entrenched” gender health inequality in England with plans to introduce compulsory women’s health training for doctors, more cancer checks and “one-stop shop” hubs across the NHS. Access to contraception, IVF, maternity support and mental health services will also be improved, the government has pledged in its first women’s health strategy. Baby-loss certificates will be offered to those losing a child before 24 weeks and a national fitness programme will encourage older women to build muscle strength and keep active. Steve Barclay, the health secretary, said: “It is not right that 51% of our population are disadvantaged in accessing the care they need, simply because of their sex.” – The Guardian
“British troops have been banned from paying for prostitutes abroad as part of a crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the armed forces. The Ministry of Defence said any personnel found to have bought sex while deployed outside the UK would be thrown out of the military. However, the rules do not apply to troops paying for prostitutes while on operations in the UK. Under the new rules, senior personnel are now banned from having sexual relationships with junior ranks in situations where it would be considered an “imbalance of power”, the MoD added. Leo Docherty, the minister for defence people, said the rules sent “a clear message” that “predatory behaviour” would not be tolerated, adding that “the highest values and standards” were expected of all serving personnel.” – The Times
“Destructive infighting in Labour under Jeremy Corbyn meant antisemitism was often used as a “factional weapon” by his critics and denied by his supporters, a damning report into the party’s culture has found. The Forde report details “toxicity on both sides of the relationship” between Corbyn’s office and Labour headquarters, which seriously hampered the party’s ability to fight elections. It also lays bare how senior Labour staff displayed “deplorably factional and insensitive, and at times discriminatory, attitudes”. The 138-page report follows an independent inquiry by Martin Forde QC prompted by the leak in 2020 of a Labour document containing hundreds of derogatory WhatsApp messages. After long delays, the Forde report was passed to the party’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday.” – The Guardian