Newslinks for Sunday 21st August 2022 | Conservative Home


“Kwarteng as Chancellor, Duncan Smith to Cabinet, Redwood to the Treasury.” Truss prepares for government…and Labour prepares for her

“This weekend Truss will take a team of her senior aides to Chevening, the grace and favour home in Kent which she enjoys as foreign secretary, with the aim of getting people and policies more firmly nailed down. In the past few days she has repeatedly told her team “no complacency”. As an ally puts it more prosaically: “No f***-ups, basically.” But they are now devoting more of their time to preparations for government. One said: “It would be irresponsible not to be thinking about day one. A small group of people have turned half an eye to what the first 30 days might look like.”In the new prime minister’s inbox are soaring inflation, a disintegrating ambulance service and widespread strike action on the transport network.” – Sunday Times

  • Labour poll lead grows in wake of new Starmer energy policy – Observer
  • Sunak and Truss’s plans to tackle rail strikes – Sunday Express
  • Shapps writes to RMT’s Lynch to demand pay offer is put to vote – Observer
  • Workers are rejecting Lynch’s class war – Grant Shapps, Sunday Express
  • Coffey for Chief Whip? – Sunday Times
  • Sunak plans to stop left-wing activists from clogging up the courts – Sun on Sunday
  • Truss promises small business revolution… – Sun on Sunday
  • …and says that she’ll halt GP exodus – Sunday Telegraph
  • “Sunak’s Treasury vetoed extra funds to target fraudulent “health tourism” – Sunday Telegraph
  • Team Truss furious with Gove after Sunak endorsement, Parris and The Times – Mail on Sunday
  • Sunak’s campaign woes – Sunday Times
  • Rees-Mogg surprised by claims he will be Levelling Up Secretary – Mail on Sunday
  • Union 1) Poll claims Union more at risk under Truss – Sunday Times
  • Union 2) Roll up for the Davidson and Foster Union tour – Sun on Sunday
  • The Union is safe with Truss – Arlene Foster, Sunday Telegraph

Kwarteng tells voters that “help is coming”

“Britain’s likely next Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has promised families that ‘help is coming’ on the cost of living. The Business Secretary said work was urgently under way on ‘the best package of measures’ so that the next Prime Minister would be able to ‘hit the ground running’ the moment they assume office. The Liz Truss supporter also appeared to rule out a future windfall tax on energy companies, saying he would prioritise domestic energy production. Team Truss is putting together an emergency Budget, which, if she becomes PM, would aim to help Britain weather the extraordinary economic storm that could ruin many households and businesses.” – Mail on Sunday

Kwasi Kwarteng: “Of course, Truss will look at what more can be done to help families”

“I want to reassure the British people that help is coming. Right now, work is happening across government to assess all the options at our disposal to mitigate the worst effects of the gas crisis. And in just over two weeks’ time, our next prime minister will walk into 10 Downing Street ready to hit the ground running and deliver. On day one, the new prime minister will have the full information and analysis before them, allowing them to work up the best package measures that will help deal with the issue. Liz Truss has said she will do all she can to help households across Britain. She has already announced she will reverse the National Insurance contribution rise and introduce a temporary moratorium on energy levies. Of course, she will look at what more can be done to help families, but it is entirely reasonable not to detail the exact shape of that support until she has all the information to hand.” – Mail on Sunday

Truss comment:

  • She has learned from failing early – Charlotte Ivers, Sunday Times
  • Her sums don’t add up but she is likely to recalculate – Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times
  • “Labour insiders believe the culture war still represents a point of peril for Starmer” – Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday
  • Will Truss have a Cabinet clearcut? – Tim Bale, Observer

Other comment:

Johnson “has secretly given the green light for a £30 billion Sizewell C”

“Boris Johnson has secretly given the green light for a £30 billion nuclear power station — sparking concerns within Liz Truss’s team that the cost will limit her ability to cut taxes and help the public with the cost of living. The outgoing prime minister had said that he would not make major decisions before leaving office but senior government sources say he and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi took a decision in principle to part-fund the proposed construction of the Sizewell C nuclear reactor in Suffolk several weeks ago — without telling other ministers. In a leaked letter, Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, warned Johnson and his boss Zahawi that acting now would tie the hands of the next government.”- Sunday Times

  • Johnson prepares to cement Ukraine legacy – Sun on Sunday
  • Peerage for Houchen? – Sun on Sunday
  • Stanley Johnson becomes “the first “honorary citizen” of the small Greek municipality of South Pelion” – Sunday Times
  • Johnson’s Greek farewell dinner – Mail on Sunday
  • Johnson takes legal advice over Standards Committee probe – Mail on Sunday
  • The Standards Committee Johnson investigation is a Stalinist show trial – Daniel Johnson, Mail on Sunday
  • “If the distinction between intentionally and inadvertently misleading the House is dispensed with, how can oral questions continue as before?”- Mail on Sunday Editorial

Labour plan to bump up minimum wage

“Brits on the minimum wage would be in line for hundreds of pounds of extra pay to cover the cost of living under Labour plans. Sir Keir Starmer has drawn up proposals to help the lowest earners get a pay bump. He wants to order the Low Pay Commission to factor in living costs when setting wages. The Labour chief would also scrap pay bands for workers under the age of 22 – so 18-year-olds currently on lower rates would be paid the same as older Brits. The minimum wage is set at £9.50 an hour for those aged 23 and above, £9.18 for 21- and 22-year-olds, and £6.83 for workers between the ages of 18 and 20.” – Sun on Sunday

  • Byrne and Sultana lead new Momentum threat to Labour – Mail on Sunday
  • LibDems form “Blue Wall” attack unit – Observer



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