Newslinks for Monday 28th August 2023 | Conservative Home

Home Office 1: Braverman: Police must investigate every theft

“Police must investigate every theft, the Home Secretary has said as she warns that ignoring shoplifting and stolen cars, bikes or phones is “completely unacceptable”. Writing exclusively in The Telegraph, Suella Braverman outlines new guidelines for all forces which compel officers to pursue every offence where there is a “reasonable line of enquiry”. Saying no crime is too trivial to investigate, she urges forces to improve their performance dramatically in dealing with theft, shoplifting and criminal damage. The success rates for solving burglaries and theft have fallen so low in large parts of the country that the offences have effectively been decriminalised, investigations by The Telegraph have shown.” – The Daily Telegraph

• She urges officers to probe tracking data from stolen phones and bikes – The Sun
• Police say Notting Hill carnival passed off ‘without major incident’, despite making 85 arrests – The Daily Mail
• Number of criminals caught with knives or dangerous weapons at highest level since the start of the decade – The Sun
• Criminals must never feel that they are free to break the law – Suella Braverman, The Daily Telegraph

Home Office 2: Electronic and GPS ‘tagging plan’ to ‘stop migrants fleeing’

“Migrants arriving illegally in Britain may be fitted with GPS tags to prevent them absconding under Home Office plans to deal with a lack of detention spaces. The government has a new legal duty to detain and remove migrants who come to the UK illegally. However, the immigration detention estate can hold only 2,500 people. Officials have been asked to find alternative ways of ensuring that thousands of migrants who arrive illegally but cannot be detained do not abscond. The asylum backlog has hit a record high, with more than 175,000 people waiting for a decision, at a cost to taxpayers of nearly £4 billion a year. This figure has risen by 44 per cent, from 122,213 in the year ending June 2022 to 175,457 in the year ending this June, despite efforts to reduce the backlog.” – The Times

• Braverman’s plan to house UK asylum seekers on ‘deathtrap’ barge faces legal hurdle – The Guardian

India ‘offers Badenoch’ tariff cuts on whisky and cars – but ‘only if Britain concedes on workers’

“Brexit Britain stands to receive a major trade deal win as India moves to slash tariffs on Scotch whisky and British cars by at least a third. The move would provide a major boost for Rishi Sunak and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who arrived in India last week to launch the 13th round of trade talks. Negotiators have now entered what is being described as the ‘most intense and politically fraught’ stage of the talks, with concessions on services and labour being thrashed out. The trade deal stands to be India’s first ever comprehensive trade pact with a developed nation, with both PMs – Narendra Modi and Rishi Sunak – hoping to get it over the line before each country’s 2024 General Elections. Reports this morning suggest India is offering to cut tariffs on whisky…” – Daily Express

• A successful trade deal could herald a new dawn in Anglo-Indian relations – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph

Nick Timothy: We are becoming a selfish society. It is government’s job to tackle that.

“Charities report a drop-off in volunteering not just to pre-Covid levels but even lower. In the face of inflation, labour relations in the sectors that received most public support during the pandemic – the railways and public services – have grown bitter and rancorous. There are explanations. Covid undoubtedly sapped our social energy. Its economic aftermath leaves us poorer, and many fell out of the social habits that bring civic confidence and mutual trust. Urban communities feel edgier than before, with crime and anti-social behaviour more visible. And with prices rising, it is little surprise that those who are in a position to flex their labour market muscle… The problem is not, as many often assume, limited to council estates and the poorest families…” – The Daily Telegraph

Shapps and Mordaunt ‘among Cabinet ministers on course to lose seat at the next election

“At least five Cabinet ministers and multiple other well-known Conservatives MPs are on course to lose their seats at the next election unless the polls dramatically improve, i can reveal. A BMG survey puts Labour 15 percentage points ahead of the Tories, putting Sir Keir Starmer in line for a landslide similar to that won by Tony Blair in 1997. If that swing between the two main parties were replicated across the country, top Conservatives including Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Mark Harper would all be ejected from the House of Commons. Tory MPs warned that the “sobering” findings emphasised the need for Rishi Sunak to set out a positive vision to voters and get on with a reshuffle of his top team as soon as possible.” – The I

• Starmer’s knighthood puts off red wall voters – The Times

Parents must send their kids to school even if they have a cold, schools minister warns

“Parents must force absent Covid kids back to class — or they face a lifetime of being left behind, the schools minister warned today. Nick Gibb urged families to send their children in to school for the new term, even if they have a cough or a cold. He told The Sun that if they continue to skip school, they face a serious impact on their education and social skills. Urging parents to “take a stand on absenteeism”, he says the Government can only help so much to encourage those who abandoned school during lockdowns to return. Mr Gibb rallied mums and dads, saying: “We all have to do our bit to make sure children are where they should be.”… Nearly one in four (22.3 per cent) of children are persistently absent from school…since the pandemic, government figures reveal.” – The Sun

• Bright pupils ‘get better GCSEs at comprehensive schools’ – The Times
• Send your kids to school even if they a cough or cold or they’ll get left behind – Nick Gibb, The Sun

Dorries: ‘The Prime Minister faces worst by-election defeat in history on his year anniversary’

“Nadine Dorries has said her former Tory MP colleagues should blame No. 10 if they’re upset by the timing of the Mid Bedfordshire by-election. Speaking to TalkTV this afternoon, Ms Dorries set out that Rishi Sunak now faces the “worst by-election defeat in living history”, which will also overshadow both the Conservative Party Conference and Mr Sunak’s one year anniversary of coming to power. Ms Dorries said she’d had desperate texts from Tory MPs begging her not to stand down, but said it was the Prime Minister’s fault for opening the flood gates of abuse during an LBC interview before the Summer Recess, in which he said she should stand down… The former Cabinet Minister also refused to comment on whether she would defect to Reform UK…” – Daily Express

• The former Culture Secretary ‘refuses to say’ whether she’ll vote Tory at the next election – The Daily Telegraph
• Tories ‘urge Sunak’ to listen to Dorries ‘on true blue policies’ – The Daily Mail
• ‘No-one gives a f**k anymore’: Tories celebrate Dorries’s exit despite by-election threat – The I
• Dorries is a Johnson loyalist – but she’s no Tory titan – Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun
• The art of resigning, Dorries style – Tim Stanley, The Daily Telegraph

>Today:

>Yesterday:

Tory councillor arrested for ‘hate crime’ after sharing video criticising police

“A Conservative councillor was arrested for an alleged hate crime after re-tweeting a video criticising how the police treated a Christian street preacher. Cllr Anthony Stevens, 50, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, told The Telegraph he was arrested at his home this month and escorted to a police station for questioning about tweets from his personal account, which has 76 followers. One tweet involved a video showing how police had treated the arrest of Christian preacher Oluwole Ilisanmi in Southgate, London, in 2019. A police officer snatched Mr Ilisanmi’s Bible after the preacher was accused of being Islamophobic. Mr Ilisanmi was later awarded £2,500 for wrongful arrest.” – The Daily Telegraph

• At least 26 English councils ‘at risk of bankruptcy in next two years’ – The Guardian

Labour will pay GPs more if patients can see doctor of choice, Streeting says…

“GPs will be paid extra if they let patients see the doctor of their choice, under plans unveiled by Labour. Vowing to end a “like it or lump it” approach to the NHS, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting pledged to give patients more control over how they receive care. Two-thirds of patients now rarely or never get to see their preferred doctor, Labour warned – up from half in 2018. One in six patients did not get an appointment at all the last time they tried, the analysis of official figures shows. Mr Streeting said a Labour administration would give people the right to see the family doctor of their choice, with GPs paid more for respecting the wishes of their patients. Patients would also be able to choose whether their appointment was face-to-face or…over the phone…” – The Daily Telegraph

• His party would ‘kick out’ NHS managers guilty of misconduct – The Times
• Labour ‘blames postcode lottery’ in cancer care in England for delays – The Guardian
• If there had been CCTV in the ward, would Letby have killed those babies? – Dominic Lawson, The Daily Mail

…as Khan ‘denies plan’ for London pay-per-mile road scheme

“Sadiq Khan has been criticised for claiming that pay-per-mile road charging is “not on his agenda” despite it appearing in his own transport strategy as a proposal for consideration. The mayor of London described as “nonsense” claims that the Labour Party has secret plans to charge motorists for every journey following the extension of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez). He tweeted: “Let me be crystal clear – a pay-per-mile scheme is not on the table and not on my agenda.” However, the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, published in 2018, states that just such a scheme is being considered… TfL has already recruited “significant” numbers of software engineers and other technical specialists to examine this option, although they will also be working to replace outside contractors…” – The Times

• Heavy-handed ULEZ rollout will be disastrous, small businesses say – The Daily Telegraph
• Tax offset on ULEZ clean air levy set to be ‘shot in arm’ for London white van man – The Financial Times
• He backs project to build LGBT housing ‘free from oppression’ – The Daily Telegraph
• Starmer has utterly failed to condemn Khan’s unpopular war on motorists – Editorial, The Sun
• Khan’s ULEZ expansion is a disaster for democracy – Julian Jessop, The Daily Telegraph

SNP ‘revolts against plans to hang the King’s portrait in schools’

“SNP ministers have launched a revolt against plans to offer Scottish schools a portrait of the King, claiming the £8 million scheme is a waste of public money. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has requested an “exhaustive” list from the Scottish Government of public buildings that would qualify for a free framed picture of the monarch, under a UK-wide initiative designed to celebrate the nation’s “ultimate public servant”. However, in a move branded “remarkably petty” by opponents, the devolved administration is set to snub the request, claiming compiling the details would be a poor use of officials’ time. SNP sources said they would “not have any part of” the plan to distribute images of the King…” – The Daily Telegraph

News in Brief:

• The real origins of Putin’s war – Mark Hollingsworth, The Spectator 
• Why you should let your teen read smut – Nine De Gramont, UnHerd 
• The epistle of St Dorries to the Sunakians – Rob Hutton, The Critic 
• The method of Unpopular Populism – Tim Chapman, J’Accuse 
• The myths of libertarian health policy – Michael Lind, Compact 
• Waugh is laughing at you – Will Lloyd, The New Statesman