Latest news with #Kemi
Spectator
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
‘It's Liz Truss territory': how bad are things for Kemi Badenoch?
Around 5 p.m. on Monday one of Kemi Badenoch's aides was having a drink with a friend in the Two Chairmen pub in Westminster. Over a pint of IPA he explained how the Conservative leader was planning to thrust herself more forcefully into the public conversation. 'We know the pace needs to quicken,' he admitted. 'Reform are sucking up the political oxygen.' Badenoch inherited a 'party on its knees', the basics of which needed overhauling. 'We'd love to be doing more fun viral social media stuff, but Kemi is sitting down and getting on with it.' That same afternoon, just over 100 yards away, outside the Westminster Arms, Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, who has impressed MPs with his energetic harrying of the government and a series of fun viral social media clips, was having a drink with Tom Skinner, a former star of The Apprentice (catchphrase: 'Bosh!') who wants to be the Tory candidate for London mayor. A video of the two was soon on Jenrick's social feeds. 'He looked like the leader interviewing a candidate,' a witness says. All this happened after an Ipsos poll put the Tories on 15 per cent, 19 points behind Reform, their worst showing since the firm began polling in the 1970s. MPs are no longer asking whether they could win the next general election but whether the party is facing extinction next year, when voters are expected to deliver another hammer blow in the local, Scottish and Welsh elections. Shadow cabinet members have seen private polling showing that the Conservatives could be wiped out in the 2029 general election. Badenoch's personal satisfaction rating of 49 with Ipsos makes her the most unpopular leader of the opposition ever after six months. At this stage William Hague was on 30, Ed Miliband on 10 and Keir Starmer himself just above zero. 'The polls are absolutely horrific,' says a shadow minister. 'Kemi's personal polling is in Liz Truss territory. There is now no precedent for it. People say 'Let Kemi be Kemi' but there are increasingly few don't-knows and they are moving against us. We are being frozen out of the national conversation.' Dozens of MPs believe that if she is still in charge next spring there might be very little left. In recent council by-elections in King's Lynn and West Norfolk – a seat still held in the Commons by the Tory James Wild – the Conservatives failed to even field a candidate. Reform won both. In Mansfield, they secured just 9.4 per cent of the vote in a council seat once held by Ben Bradley. Reform got 61.6 per cent. Another former Downing Street strategist says: 'The best plan at this point is probably to try to salvage what we can. Fight to retain 80 to 100 seats and hope to be relevant when the next government is forming.' Badenoch's team sees progress, after Starmer was forced to U-turn on holding a public inquiry into rape gangs and over the winter fuel allowance, issues she had championed. She plans to launch a new policy board every week until the summer recess, including a tax commission and one on 'social cohesion'. She will use the party conference in October to unveil her plans for whether and how to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. Party fund-raising has outpaced that of Reform and Labour in the past two quarters. Allies cling to the dictum of David Canzini, a No. 10 strategist under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who tells colleagues: 'It takes two years before the public starts to forget your record.' They hope that means Badenoch can make headway in the polls by the summer of 2026. But despite better performances at Prime Minister's Questions, many Tories think Badenoch is unable to channel her undoubted intellect into something that is palatable to the average voter. When Palestine Action vandalised aircraft at Brize Norton, she tweeted: 'The full force of the law must come down on those responsible.' Nigel Farage called for the group to be 'proscribed'. Jenrick demanded a 'ban'. 'That's what they would say in the pub,' an admirer notes. 'She talks in riddles.' A Conservative peer says: 'She'd be an amazing thinktank director.' A recent, more pithy summary of her vision for Britain, delivered at a dinner with 25 business leaders, needs to be worked on. One of those present says: 'She implied she wants the same, but less crap, which didn't exactly inspire.' Another senior Tory concluded: 'She seems to be auditioning to be a Spectator columnist' – a noble calling, but not her desired destination. The shadow chancellor Mel Stride is next in the firing line. 'The widespread view is that [Rachel] Reeves is one of the most unpopular politicians in Britain,' says one of those who want a change of leader, 'and he's barely landed a punch against her.' Insiders claim that after a recent flat Commons performance by Stride, Badenoch voiced her frustration to a staffer. Colleagues recall a time, during the last leadership contest, when Stride was privately of the view that Badenoch was 'unfit' to lead. These noises off are denied by Tory high command. Badenoch is 'enjoying working with Mel' and they agree on the need to be the party of fiscal responsibility. Two hours after The Spectator put questions to Badenoch's team about their relationship, they revealed that Stride would take on Angela Rayner at PMQs on Wednesday. The shadow chancellor, it is only fair to say, did achieve cut-through with his critique of Reeves's 'spend now, tax later' spending review. One Badenoch aide has even begun to use the phrase 'Unshell the Mel' as a homage to 'Uncork the Gauke' – George Osborne's instruction when a reassuringly dull figure needed to be dispatched to the TV studios. Nonetheless, shadow cabinet colleagues say both Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, and Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, are eyeing Stride's perch. 'Neither is right for it,' says a fellow frontbencher. 'Angling for positions in the shadow cabinet right now is like applying for a promotion on the Titanic.' While Badenoch is expected to reshuffle her top team before the end of the year, she is likely to wait until Starmer has redrawn his cabinet. The bigger question is whether she is removed. Party rules decree that only after 2 November, Badenoch's first anniversary in the job, could MPs force a vote of no-confidence, if 36 of the 120 current MPs write a letter to the chairman of the 1922 Committee. Those who plan to strike include young MPs who want a future and those in seats where their local councillors were wiped out in May. Ross Thomson, a former Aberdeen MP who briefly ran Badenoch's leadership campaign in Scotland, defected to Reform on Tuesday, saying Farage 'offers the real change we need'. Reform is now expecting such an influx of Tory defectors after next May's elections that they might impose a deadline. 'We should tell people there won't be a lifeboat if they wait too long,' a Reform official says. Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, whose husband has already joined Reform, is considering the jump. Jenrick is now getting unlikely support as Badenoch's replacement. On 10 June he dined in a Mayfair restaurant with David Cameron, Osborne and fellow Cameroon Lord Barker. 'Cameron now thinks Jenrick should take over when the time comes,' says a close ally of the former PM. Cameron's views are pertinent because he has twice been in to help Badenoch prepare for PMQs. Jenrick is also 'in touch' with Boris Johnson, the 'smash glass in case of emergency' option for the leadership, sparking speculation that Jenrick would secure a peerage for the former prime minister. Some of Johnson's old team, however, talk of him replacing Bob Blackman, the chairman of the '22, and returning to parliament. Johnson's friends say he has not decided whether he wants to return. Privately he refers to the prospect as 'a series of overlapping impossibilia' and has said: 'There is more chance of a baked bean winning Royal Ascot' than him becoming leader again. Scholars of the Johnson lexicon will note that such formulations were deployed as a smokescreen when he was previously plotting his ascent. Multiple sources say Johnson has thought about his offer to the party and the country. 'There is a five-point plan,' says a former minister. This would include a mea culpa for the 'Boriswave' which saw net migration soar past 900,000 a year. 'He would blame Priti [Patel],' his home secretary, a source says. But many younger MPs see immigration as a deal-breaker for Johnson, and believe that Jenrick, who resigned from Rishi Sunak's government over it, is the more credible replacement leader. What could he even do? One of those who is helping to bring critics together says: 'If we can get noticed and start to say the right things, we can make some progress in the polls. Once it starts to reverse, we will have the momentum – Farage knows that if he doesn't have a poll lead by year three he won't be able to get defectors. Farage may be untouchable but we need to attack the sketchy people around him.' However, most of Badenoch's critics believe there will have to be some sort of understanding with Reform, which will be difficult. Witnesses say that when Andrea Jenkyns, the Reform mayor of Lincolnshire, entered the NFU tent at the Lincolnshire show last week she greeted Robbie Moore, the shadow farming minister, with the words: 'Hello, arsehole.' If you thought the Tory civil wars were brutal, they might just have been the starter.
Western Telegraph
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Western Telegraph
Badenoch ‘looking at Danish ghetto laws' in push for ‘active integration'
Under Danish law, social housing areas with high levels of deprivation and a 'non-Western' population above 50% are declared 'parallel societies'. Such a declaration can trigger requirements to reduce the amount of social housing in an area, including through evicting residents and demolishing or turning their homes into private housing, and restrictions on who can move there. We've had so many, so many people, so high numbers, people from lots of different places, which is not what immigration used to look like, and I think we need to move from passive to active integration Kemi Badenoch Asked whether she would consider a similar policy for the UK, Mrs Badenoch told an audience at the Policy Exchange think tank on Monday she had 'looked at it' and would be talking about it more. She said: 'I think integration is not enough. I say assimilate, I think assimilation should be the target, and if people don't assimilate, then they integrate. 'But we've had so many, so many people, so high numbers, people from lots of different places, which is not what immigration used to look like, and I think we need to move from passive to active integration.' Saying this was 'along the lines' of the Danish policy, she added: 'We need to do what works for the UK, it's not exactly the same situation, we have a much bigger population, and so many other things that would require adjustments, but that sort of thing, yes.' The Danish law is currently being challenged at the European Court of Justice by human rights groups, who argue it discriminates against people based on their ethnicity. During her appearance at the Policy Exchange event, the Conservative leader went on to say she wanted to see the state doing less, saying she did not want to see an 'active state' in areas outside policing and defence. She also argued for society to do more to prevent 'unstable' families from being formed. Asked about the role of personal responsibility in family policy, she said: 'I think that we need to start looking more at the prevention side of it. 'How do we make sure people don't start families that are unstable in the first place? I don't think that government needs to get overly involved in that. 'Society, and there is such a thing as society, needs to have some form of supporting families as well.'
Wales Online
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Wales Online
MPs vote to change law on abortion in England and Wales
MPs vote to change law on abortion in England and Wales Kemi Badenoch and many members of the Conservative frontbench voted against it The rules around abortion will be changed MPs have voted in favour of measures to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancies. The Commons voted 379 to 137, majority 242, to back Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill. The Gower MP said it will remove the threat of 'investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment' of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy. Ms Antoniazzi told MPs she had been moved to advocate for a change in the law having seen women investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions. During the Bill's report stage, Ms Antoniazzi assured her colleagues the current 24-week limit would remain, abortions would still require the approval and signatures of two doctors, and that healthcare professionals 'acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or poisoning to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now'. She also told MPs: 'This is the right change at the right time. I implore colleagues who want to protect women and girls and abortion services to vote for new clause one. Let's ensure that not a single desperate woman ever again is subject to traumatic, criminal investigation at the worst moments in their lives.' On issues such as abortion, MPs usually have free votes, meaning they take their own view rather than deciding along party lines. Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones indicated the Government is neutral on decriminalisation and that it is an issue for Parliament to decide upon. But winding up for the Government after Tuesday's debate, Ms Davies-Jones suggested ministers would work to ensure the law change was workable if MPs voted for it. She told the Commons: 'If it is the will of Parliament that the law should change, the Government in fulfilling its duty to ensure that the legislation is legally robust and workable will work closely with my honourable friends to ensure that their amendments accurately reflect their intentions and the will of Parliament, and are coherent with the statute book.' Article continues below Though the Government took a neutral stance on the vote, several high-profile Cabinet ministers were among the MPs who backed the amendment. They included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, Wales Secretary Jo Stevens and Commons Leader Lucy Powell. Kemi Badenoch and many members of the Conservative frontbench voted against it, but shadow education secretary Laura Trott voted in favour. Abortion in England and Wales currently remains a criminal offence but is legal with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability. It is also legal to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is less than 10 weeks pregnant. Efforts to change the law to protect women from prosecution follow repeated calls to repeal sections of the 19th century law the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, after abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019. The changes being debated this week would not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands north of the border. The measures to decriminalise abortion still need to complete their legislative journey through both the Commons and the Lords before they can become law. The step was welcomed by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS). Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the charity, said: 'This is a landmark moment for women's rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed. 'There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.' The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said it was 'horrified' by the vote. Article continues below Alithea Williams, of SPUC, said: 'If this clause becomes law, a woman who aborts her baby at any point in pregnancy, even moments before birth, would not be committing a criminal offence.' She added: 'Our already liberal abortion law allows an estimated 300,000 babies a year to be killed. Now, even the very limited protection afforded by the law is being stripped away.' Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, had proposed an amendment with a more strident means of decriminalising abortion, but repealing laws from the 19th century and the inter-war period. She claimed on social media site X following the Commons debate that 'what passed knocked out our chance to decriminalise abortion', as her amendment fell as a result. Ms Antoniazzi, who tabled the rival amendment, said her fellow Labour MP had faced 'unforgivable abuse' outside Parliament on Tuesday from anti-abortion campaigners. A third amendment from Tory MP Dr Caroline Johnson, requiring those having an abortion to have an in-person consultation in a bid to strengthen protections, was rejected by the Commons.
The Irish Sun
15-06-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Millions will be able to sign up for ‘life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app
MILLIONS will be able to sign up for 'life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app. Health Secretary Advertisement 2 Health Secretary Wes Streeting is making medical research studies available to join via smartphone Credit: Getty The move could slash trial set-up times from 250 days to 150 or fewer by next year. Patients will receive push notifications from the app matching them to relevant studies based on their health data. NHS Trusts will be ranked on trial performance. Funding will be prioritised for the best. Advertisement READ MORE ON NHS The moves are part of He said: 'The app will become the digital front door to the NHS. "It will enable us to play our part in developing the medicines of the future.' Wes Streeting brutally slams Kemi AND Farage and demands Tories say sorry for how they ran the NHS in blistering attack 2 Millions will be able to sign up for 'life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app Credit: PA Advertisement
The Sun
15-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Millions will be able to sign up for ‘life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app
MILLIONS will be able to sign up for 'life-changing' clinical trials through the NHS app. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to speed up access to ground-breaking treatments by making medical research studies available to join via smartphone. 2 The move could slash trial set-up times from 250 days to 150 or fewer by next year. Patients will receive push notifications from the app matching them to relevant studies based on their health data. NHS Trusts will be ranked on trial performance. Funding will be prioritised for the best. The moves are part of Mr Streeting's Ten-Year Health Plan, due shortly. He said: 'The app will become the digital front door to the NHS. "It will enable us to play our part in developing the medicines of the future.' Wes Streeting brutally slams Kemi AND Farage and demands Tories say sorry for how they ran the NHS in blistering attack 2
