30 NOVEMBER 1923
Stanley Baldwin, speaking in Bradford, said that without an improvement in industrial relations there could be no peace in Europe.
Captain Craig, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Pensions, described as absolutely false the Socialist Party’s charge that the Government were betraying ex-servicemen.
STORY
Mark Drakeford has resigned as the Welsh First Minister, with a new party leader expected to be elected before Easter 2024. Drakeford said in a statement:
“When I stood for the leadership, I said that, if elected, I would serve for five years. Exactly five years have passed since I was confirmed as first minister in 2018.”
Drakeford has been a member of the Senedd for Cardiff West since 2011 and he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Finance before becoming the First Minister in December 2018.
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STORY
Robert Courts, the Conservative MP for Witney, has been appointed as the Solicitor General in succession to Michael Tomlinson. Courts said in a statement:
“It is a great privilege to have been appointed as Solicitor General for England and Wales. It is a fascinating time to join the department alongside new leaders at the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. I look forward to working with the Attorney General, Government lawyers and the Civil Service to play my part in making the law and politics work together at the heart of the UK constitution. I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor Michael Tomlinson KC MP, who was both a brilliant Solicitor General and my fellow pupil at 3 Paper Buildings.”
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STORY
The British Government has pledged to support Somali in being a freer and more secure country with a plan to support an end on the long standing arms embargo. Ambassador James Kariuki, speaking at the UN Security Council, said that:
“The United Kingdom is pleased to table today two resolutions which together impose strong sanctions, including an arms embargo, on Al-Shabaab and lift the legacy arms embargo on Somalia. The UK worked closely with Somalia in preparing these two texts, and is grateful for their constructive engagement throughout. The UK is also grateful to Council Members for their cooperation throughout the negotiation process and especially to African Members of the Council, and regional stakeholders, with whom we have consulted closely throughout.”
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STORY
Robert Jenrick has resigned as the Immigration Minister, saying that the emergency Rwanda legislation to deport immigrants doesn’t go far enough. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Jenrick wrote:
“In our discussions on the proposed emergency legislation you have moved towards my position, for which I am grateful. Nevertheless, I am unable to take the currently proposed legislation through the Commons as I do not believe it provides us with the best possible chance of success.”
He added:
“A Bill of the kind you are proposing is a triumph of hope over experience. The stakes for the country are too high for us not to pursue the stronger protections required to end the merry-go-round of legal challenges which risk paralysing the scheme and negating its intended deterrent.”
Pat McFadden, the Labour Party’s campaign spokesperson said:
“The British people deserve a government that will fix the issues that matter to working people, not a Tory circus of gimmicks and leadership posturing.”
STORY
Lee Anderson, the Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party, has said that the Government should break the law following the Supreme Court’s announcement that the policy is illegal. James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, confirmed in the House of Commons that Anderson was not speaking for the Conservative Party and that the Government would abide by the rule of law. Anderson has yet to comment or confirm if he had earlier believed that the Government had been intending to break the law by ignoring the court’s judgement.
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STORY
The Supreme Court has judged that the Government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful. The five judges said that asylum seekers sent to the African country were in danger of having their claims wrongly assessed or being placed in danger. Downing Street has yet to comment on the decision, with the policy having been delivered by Suella Braverman, who was sacked as Home Secretary earlier this week.
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STORY
David Cameron, the former Prime Minister, has been appointed as the new Foreign Secretary in succession to James Cleverly, who has been appointed as the new Home Secretary. David Cameron, speaking on their differences, said:
“Though I may have disagreed with some individual decisions, it is clear to me that Rishi Sunak is a strong and capable Prime Minister, who is showing exemplary leadership at a difficult time. I want to help him to deliver the security and prosperity our country needs and be part of the strongest possible team that serves the United Kingdom and that can be presented to the country when the General Election is held.”
David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, said:
“David Cameron was a disastrous PM. This is a last gasp act of desperation from a government devoid of talent and ideas. Amid international crisis, Sunak has chosen an unelected failure from the past who MPs cannot even hold to account.”
RESOURCES
NEWS STORY
A Downing Street spokesperson has confirmed that the Prime Minister’s Office had not cleared a controversial article which Suella Braverman wrote for The Times newspaper. The revelation may mean that Suella Braverman is in breach of the Ministerial Code which requires all major press releases to be agreed with the No. 10 press office. Braverman had resigned on 19 October 2022 during an earlier period as Home Secretary for a previous serious breach of the Ministerial Code, with Downing Street saying that there would be a further statement later today on the matter.
STORY
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, has launched an attack on the policing of rallies which has led to calls for his resignation from the Labour Party. Writing in the Times newspaper, Braverman said:
“During Covid, why was it that lockdown objectors were given no quarter by public order police yet Black Lives Matters demonstrators were enabled, allowed to break rules and even greeted with officers taking the knee? Rightwing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law? I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.
Football fans are even more vocal about the tough way they are policed as compared to politically connected minority groups who are favoured by the left. It may be that senior officers are more concerned with how much flak they are likely to get than whether this perceived unfairness alienates the majority. The government has a duty to take a broader view.”
Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary, posted on Twitter:
“Suella Braverman is out of control. Her article tonight is a highly irresponsible, dangerous attempt to undermine respect for police at a sensitive time, to rip up operational independence & to inflame community tensions. No other Home Secretary of any party would ever do this. She’s deliberately seeking to stir up political division around Remembrance Day, a moment when the whole country can come together to pay our respects for sacrifices of the past. And at same time she’s deliberately undermining police ability to deal with problems she whips up”
David Lammy, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, posted on Twitter:
“Suella Braverman seeking to exploit the sensitivities of this moment, and an ignorance of Northern Ireland’s history, to inflame community tensions for her own leadership campaign is an appalling new low. Rishi Sunak must sack her. But he’s too weak.”
The Home Secretary appeared without support in the House of Commons following Labour’s urgent question, with just two MPs backing her, Theresa Villiers and Michael Ellis.
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