STORY
Lee Anderson, the former Labour councillor and Conservative MP, has defected to Reform UK after losing the Conservative whip. Anderson said “all I want is my country back. This may sound offensive to the liberal elite, but it’s not offensive to my friends, my family, my constituents and some of my donors”. Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK, said that he expected further defections to the party before the General Election.
STORY
Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield, has been suspended from the Conservative Party for comments that he made about Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, “giving away our capital”. The controversial MP has been condemned from across the political spectrum for his comments. A spokesperson for the Conservative Party said in a statement:
“Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP”.
RESOURCES
STORY
Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has apologised after chaos in the House today over the voting on an amendment on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Hoyle went against protocol and selected both the labour and Government amendments, causing controversy amongst Conservative MPs.
Hoyle apologised for the confusion, saying:
“I wanted to do the best by every member of the house. “I regret how it’s ended up. It was not my intention. I wanted all to ensure they could express their views. As it was, in particularly the SNP, were unable to vote on their own proposition. It is with my sadness that it ended in this position. It was never my intention. I recognise the strength of feeling of this House and its members. I thought I was doing the right thing. I do take responsibility for my actions.”
The Labour amendment was passed in the Commons following the withdrawal from the Chamber of Conservative and SNP MPs.
STORY
The Guardian newspaper has alleged that Paula Vennells, the former Chief Executive of the Post Office, personally authorised a contract being given to Fujitsu despite being warned internally it could lead to the potential data destruction of those involved in Project Horizon disputes. The newspaper wrote:
“It is understood Vennells agreed to “migrate” the archive to the Fujitsu system, known as Eternus, despite warnings from at least two senior executives in the Post Office that this would make it virtually impossible to investigate branch transactions should a forensic audit be needed into Horizon’s records.”
The Guardian added:
“The latest development raises questions about whether the move to the in-house Fujitsu storage system was purely a cost-cutting exercise or also an act of sabotage.”
Vennells refused to comment to the Guardian.
STORY
The Guardian newspaper has published a serious allegation that “Michelle Mone assured the government that she was not entitled to “any financial benefit whatsoever” from a PPE company, five months before £29m of its profits were transferred into a trust for her benefit”. The disgraced Mone, who has admitted to lying and threatening journalists, is alleged to have e-mailed the Cabinet Office stating:
“In relation to PPE Medpro Limited, I can confirm that I have no conflicts whatsoever in helping the company to achieve orders through the NHS.
I am neither a shareholder of the company nor am I entitled to any financial remuneration or financial benefit whatsoever. You can put this on the record.
My role is to help the NHS deliver on its PPE targets and to ultimately save lives of patients, medical workers and carers.”
Mone is yet to comment on the latest allegations. The Government has said that due to ongoing legal action it can’t comment on the latest allegations.
EXTERNAL NEWS LINKS
STORY
Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has today met with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Parliament Buildings at Stormont.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said:
“The Prime Minister turned to the day’s events and thanked the Taoiseach for the Irish Government’s support for the UK Government efforts to see restoration of devolution in Northern Ireland. This had been a challenging time, but patience had proved key to a deal. Now that the institutions were up and running again, he wanted to see all three strands functioning equally well. The sense of relief and optimism from people in Northern Ireland had been very striking and made it all worthwhile.”
RESOURCES
NEWS STORY
The Guardian newspaper has reported that David Mundell, the former Scottish Secretary, has said that David Cameron failed to notify the Scottish Office before the appointment of now disgraced Peer Michelle Mone to the House of Lords. Mone, who admitted in a BBC interview to lying to journalists, has been involved in a series of scandals and allegations about her personal conduct.
Mone responded on Twitter with a personal attack on a Guardian journalist, stating:
“David Conn is another journalist who has been totally obsessed with me for years. Today he wrote yet another spiteful attack about me & my life. He calls me the ‘Lucky Baroness’. Well, at least I’m lucky enough not to have to work for the Guardian for a living! I’d put it to him that I’ve achieved a lot more than he ever has – and probably ever will.”
Mone is yet to comment on the National Crime Agency freezing £75 million of her assets as a series of investigations are taking place into her conduct.
EXTERNAL NEWS LINKS
STORY
Tahir Ali, the Labour MP for Birmingham Hall Green, has apologised for his choice of words during Prime Minister’s Question Time. Ali said:
“Is it not now time for the Prime Minister to admit that he has the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands, and time for him to commit to demanding an immediate ceasefire and an ending of the UK’s arms trade with Israel?”
Sunak didn’t respond directly to the question, replying:
“That is the face of the changed Labour party.”
Posting later on Twitter, Ali apologised, saying:
“Earlier at PMQs I asked the Prime Minister about the actions of Israel in Gaza. This is obviously a deeply emotive issue. While I do not resile from my strongly held views on the situation in the Middle East I would like to apologise for the way in which I described the Prime Minister in my question. We all have a responsibility to be respectful in the language that we use, even when discussing difficult and, at times, sensitive issues.”
STORY
Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have resigned as deputy chairs of the Conservative Party over the Rwanda Bill. Both politicians said that they still supported Rishi Sunak, but they opposed the Government’s plans on Rwanda. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said:
“This is the toughest legislation ever brought before Parliament to tackle illegal migration. This Bill will make it clear that if you come here illegally you will not be able to stay. We must pass this Bill to deliver what all Conservatives want – a credible plan to stop the boats.”
STORY
Kevin Hollinrake, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business who is responsible for the Post Office, has called for prison sentences for those involved with the Post Office Horizon scandal. Speaking on BBC’s Any Questions, the Minister said:
“If it’s individuals, those people can be criminally prosecuted, potentially, and potentially can go to jail. I think we’d all like to see that kind of route taken. People must be held to account.”
Separately, a series of revelations have been made where senior figures in the Post Office lied to the media and the Government has said that these will be investigated.
The BBC revealed that Mark Davies, representing the Post Office’s PR, said:
“There is overwhelming evidence that the losses complained of were caused by user actions, including deliberate dishonest conduct.”
A spokesperson for Davies denied blame and said that “he was doing his job” when he tried to block a BBC Panorama report into the scandal from being broadcast. Davies, who now works for the Refugee Council, refused to comment when PR Week contacted him. There is no evidence that Davies deliberately lied, but questions about being asked about which Post Office managers were aware of the scandal and were part of the cover-up.