For the first time in 14 years as an MP I voted against the Conservative Party whip. That whip has now been withdrawn.
If tonight’s motion had been lost, a no deal Brexit would have been almost inevitable. Probably not a good career move but the right choice.
Just received a text to say that my Association Chairman has been told that I am no longer a member of the Conservative Party. First I’d heard of that.
Not even a member of the Conservative Party?
I finally have something in common with Dominic Cummings.
The people who dismissed the risks of Truss's fiscal policy causing a market meltdown were largely the same people who dismissed the economic risks of a No Deal Brexit. Not a coincidence.
It is currently very fashionable to say that Boris Johnson’s performance as Prime Minister is well below what was expected of him. Personally speaking, I disagree.
We urgently need to let in Spanish telecommunication engineers to roll out broadband to help with growth, says Nadine Dorries. One day the penny will drop.
Elon Musk and Neuralink top manager Shivon Zilis have a third child – Bloomberg
The businessman, who considers low birth rate "one of the greatest risks of civilization," is now the father of 12 children.
As the Met appears to be issuing fixed penalty notices on an event-by-event basis, will Cabinet members tweet their support for the PM every time he is fined? Or just retweet the original declaration of loyalty?
On Monday, Boris Johnson accused Sir Keir Starmer of "failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile". But there’s no evidence Sir Keir was involved in the decision not to charge Savile. 2 mins on what’s happened since the allegation was made. Produced by Michael Cox.
If Boris Johnson became PM again, given the views of many Tory MPs, this is what I'd be tempted to say if I was Keir Starmer or Ed Davey: "The PM is not fit for office. Nor is the Tory Party. We know that many honourable Tory MPs feel the same way. Now is the time for...' 1/
The implications of the PM’s remarks are that those who voted Remain don’t value freedom & those who support Labour favour ‘raising the white flag’. Not just divisive & an insult to millions of Brits, it’s a terrible (& misleading) message to send to Putin about our resolve.
Imagine being a serious, decent Conservative MP and having to go out and defend the Prime Minister’s Ukraine/Brexit remarks? No wonder Rishi Sunak looks uncomfortable.
Let me reiterate what I said yesterday about Brexit. My preference was for the country to come together behind a soft Brexit. But that’s not going to happen - it’s no longer an option. The best option now is a confirmatory referendum on the PM’s deal. I would campaign to remain.
How twisted must your world view be that your first response to an unprovoked invasion is to condemn those institutions which seek to offer peace & security to those trying to escape tyranny, rather than condemn the invading tyrant?
Well, I was wrong. Putin has gone much further than I thought he would.
A consequence of EU and NATO expansion, which came to a head in 2014. It made no sense to poke the Russian bear with a stick.
These are dark days for Europe.
Voting against breaching international law and in favour of upholding a treaty agreed by the Prime Minister is characterised as ‘siding with the EU’.
Decent Conservatives should feel immensely uncomfortable about the policy and the rhetoric.
BREAKING: Labour just voted to side with the EU in Parliament once again.
We're the party that's standing up for the integrity of the entire UK.
Our Internal Market Bill protects our Union, preserves peace in Northern Ireland & ensures unfettered trade across the whole country.
A year ago today, I was very proud to have nominated
@RoryStewartUK
to be Leader of The Conservative Party. I think he would have made a very fine Prime Minister, especially in the current circumstances.
When I first became a Conservative activist, Michael Heseltine, Ken Clarke and Chris Patten were senior Cabinet Ministers. John Major was Leader of the Party.
Some years later, I am running as an Independent. All four have endorsed me. Shows how much the Party has changed.
Put to one side your views of a no deal Brexit.
Imagine that Jeremy Corbyn is PM, pursuing a policy that is unpopular in Parliament & in the country. At a crucial moment he finds a way to evade Parliamentary scrutiny for several weeks.
This is a dangerous precedent.
‘EU reneges on deal’ turns out to mean ‘EU maintains its longstanding position to which the UK agreed in the Political Declaration’. Not quite the same thing.
If he didn’t think he broke the COVID rules, why did he pay the fine? He was entitled to refuse to do so and, if charged, could have set out his defence in court. Paying the fine whilst denying the offence is just more cakeism.
Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood says government should mitigate the cost of living by rejoining the single market (Norway model)
Brexit isn't what "most people imagined" & "sector after sector" is "strangled by the red tape we were supposed to escape from"
Voting against breaking international law is not the same as voting ‘to side with the EU’.
Since when has the test for patriotism been the willingness to break international law? (It’s a test Mrs Thatcher would’ve failed.)
🚨 BREAKING: Labour just voted to side with the EU once again.
🥀 By voting against the UK Internal Market Bill – which will guarantee seamless trade between the home nations of the UK - they've shown they won’t stand up to Brussels or protect the United Kingdom from the SNP.
Starting to think that the political choices the Conservative Party made in 2019 weren’t necessarily all that wise and may cause some problems for them and the country over the medium term.
Julian Lewis has been chucked out of the Tory Parliamentary Party for working with Labour MPs to get himself elected as chair of the Intelligence Committee, beating Chris Grayling
Just received an urgent clarification. Membership still valid but barred from being re-selected. I don’t have anything in common with Dominic Cummings after all.
A happy note on which to end the day.
Somewhere in Scotland is a small boy - let us call him 'Michael' - blaming Brexit for his father's fish processing company going out of business and promising himself that one day he will lead the campaign for the UK to rejoin the EU.
Tonight, I argued that:
We should not allow the Party to be taken over by entryists.
We should be a broad church.
No deal would be immensely damaging to the UK.
I defeated a motion of no confidence 123 to 61. I am grateful to the members of my association for their support.
Are Ministers suggesting that the Prime Minister agreed to a Treaty that put the Northern Ireland peace process at risk? And then fought a General Election promising to implement such a Treaty?
This is badly misjudged. People should maintain social distancing, which is what these people are doing. We need to maintain public support for fundamental behaviour change which requires the authorities to focus on genuinely bad behaviour.
Despite posts yesterday highlighting issues of people still visiting the
#PeakDistrict
despite government guidance, the message is still not getting through.
@DerPolDroneUnit
have been out at beauty spots across the county, and this footage was captured at
#CurbarEdge
last night.
How long until we read the following sentence? ‘Conservative MPs are only holding back from submitting letters of No Confidence in Liz Truss to the Chair of the 1922 because they fear Boris Johnson would win any subsequent leadership election.’
Probably the right decision from his perspective for Boris Johnson to refuse to be interviewed by
@afneil
. He’s the toughest interviewer around (as I know from experience) and I think the Prime Minister would be out of his depth (as I know from experience).
“It is not too late. We have an interview prepared. Oven-ready, as Mr Johnson likes to say”
Andrew Neil issues a challenge for Boris Johnson to commit to an interview with him, to face questions on why people have “deemed him to be untrustworthy”
What happened to Keir Starmer tonight outside parliament is appalling. It is really important for our democracy & for his security that the false Savile slurs made against him are withdrawn in full.
If we were in the EU, the French would not need to do individual passport checks.
If no individual passport checks, the process at Dover would be quicker.
The Dover queues are, therefore, partly caused by Brexit.
Not a contentious point, surely?
When Vote Leave say that the public knew what they were voting for in 2016 and 2019, it turned out that even their frontman didn't know what he was voting for.
So much for Brexit being about 'free trade' as the PM loses his Ethics Adviser because of a desire to break WTO rules in order to put illegal tariffs on steel.
This means that the Prime Minister - the man who made these decisions - should have an in-depth understanding of the restrictions he had decided to impose. He shouldn't need someone else to tell him that a drinks party in his garden was against the rules. /END
Lord Frost says the government will hire an external adviser to identify post-Brexit opportunities. ``We have high hopes of outside input into this process,'' he says.
To fellow longstanding Conservative voters in South West Herts.
The fact that John Major, Michael Heseltine, Ken Clarke, Chris Patten, George Osborne, Amber Rudd and Rory Stewart have all endorsed me suggests that the Party we’ve all supported in the past no longer exists.
A Conservative majority at the next General Election will pursue a very hard Brexit. Given the refusal to extend the Implementation Period beyond 2020 and the obvious lack of time to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement before then, this means we will be on WTO terms by January 2021.
I didn’t go to a private school. My children don’t go to private schools. But Labour’s new policy on abolishing private schools and seizing private property is chilling.
How many of the Conservative MPs calling for the Government to publish cost benefit analyses of COVID restrictions will welcome the OBR’s cost benefit analysis of a no deal Brexit?
A question for Conservative MPs and Conservative Party members who voted for Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership election and are now worried about his honesty. What did you expect?
This is not on. A clear attempt to undermine respect for the judiciary, questioning the motives of the judges, encouraging others to pile in. Not how a Government should behave.
The finale of a TV series often sees the separate strands of the story brought together for the denouement. And now we have Downing Street parties, Lulu Lytle and cakeism all in the same scene.
I know this is spitting in the wind but, given where we are with Covid both here and in most of the EU, ending the Brexit transition period on 31 December is ludicrous (deal or no deal).
Rishi Sunak refuses to condemn Lee Anderson for saying the government should break the law by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda despite the Supreme Court ruling.
"I thought Lee's comments reflect the strength of feeling on this issue," he says.
For no particular reason, I am retweeting a speech I delivered as Lord Chancellor in July 2019. On the rule of law, the importance of institutions like the judiciary and the civil service, and the dangers of populism.
A Minister can expect to have to go out and defend an unpopular line and that can be uncomfortable. But a Minister is entitled to expect that they won’t be lied to by No 10.
The Govt position is that it’s intolerable to enter into an agreement where there’s a possibility that, at some point in future, tariffs & quotas on EU trade will apply. So we’ll leave on WTO terms & tariffs & quotas on EU trade will apply immediately. And we’ll prosper mightily.
Conversation in our household this evening:
“What shall we watch on TV tonight?”
Teenage son: “Can we watch that parish council meeting?”
Phrases I never expected to hear.
Boris Johnson promises to “fix” his government but says it’s not his top priority
Full interview - hear the PM accuse me of “breaking the golden rule” - answers on a postcard….
The PM will plough on despite two terrible by-election defeats and the resignation of his Party chairman. But a move by other senior Ministers today might bring matters quickly to a head.
Tomorrow we claim our first Cabinet scalp as
@DavidGauke
is up for deselection in South West Herts.
With a new leader and potential election, now is the time to make the Conservative party conservative again. If we fail? The Brexit Party wipes the floor with them. Win win! 👍
"Seeing no evidence" is a less convincing claim from someone who turned up at a drinks party and claims that he didn't see any evidence of a breach of his own lockdown regulations.
Boris Johnson hits back at William Wragg’s explosive claims that Tory rebels have been intimidated and blackmailed by No10.
“I see no evidence and have heard no evidence to support any of those allegations”
Ugh, the U.K. auto industry is imploding right in front of us because of Brexit. U.K. has dropped out of the top 15 countries in the world and is losing all the crucial high tech battery investment. It’s disastrous.
I know it’s much harder when governing, let alone in a campaign, but a bit more of the tone represented by Rishi Sunak’s and Jeremy Hunt’s speeches today and maybe the Conservatives would be a little less hated.
If you want to understand one of the reasons for the transformation of the Conservative Party, today’s abandonment by some of a rebellion in exchange for a meaningless concession tells a tale.
great work tory mps leaving this crippled joke of a pm spending next 7 days bunkered down with lawyers trying to remember all his different lies while another major global crisis unfolds