By election results live: Tories ‘doomed to lose power’ without change of course, warns Lord Frost
Rishi Sunak should ditch green policies, says Tory peer
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox
Get our free View from Westminster email
Rishi Sunak is “doomed to lose power” if he does not change course ahead of the next general election, a Conservative peer has said.
Lord David Frost, the former Brexit negotiator, pointed to Labour’s defeat in Uxbridge and South Ruislip as evidence green policies are not popular as he called on the prime minister to ditch net zero goals.
In a direct rebuke of Mr Sunak’s five priorities for government, Lord Frost argued that the Tories’ two by-election defeats showed that “sticking to the plan” was not working.
The peer, who supported Liz Truss’s leadership campaign and has announced he will stand as an MP, said Mr Sunak needed to give the public “something to vote for” as he called for tax cuts.
“Getting inflation down is important but won’t be enough,” he wrote in The Daily Telegraph. “There is still time to change course, but it is running out.”
Elsewhere, Keir Starmer is delivering a speech to his party’s national policy forum this morning following, with Ulez and the controversial U-turn on child benefits police are likely to be discussed over the weekend.
Treasury eyes inherited pension pots
Tax breaks for people who inherit a pension could be taken away, according to a report in The Times.
Pensions are typically exempt from inheritance tax and a beneficiary can inherit one, keep it invested, and continue to withdraw an income without paying tax on it. This stops if the pension belongs to someone over 75, with income tax paid on withdrawals.
However the government are considering a plan to apply income tax to withdrawals no matter what the age, the paper reports.
New Selby MP has wanted to be PM since age six, grandmother says
The grandparents of new ‘Baby of the House’ Keir Mather have said that he has wanted to be prime minister since the age of six.
Mr Mather, who is just 25-years-old, won a historic victory in Selby and Ainsty in the recent by-election.
His grandmother told Channel 4: “I’ll tell you why he won - there’s no bull. He’s just an honest kid and that’s what people want. He was going to be prime minister, he told me when he was six or seven.”
His grandfather told the broadcaster: “We’re not surprised that he’s become an MP, just suprised that he’s won the victory that he did here today. We thought it was probably insurmountable. But he’s worked very hard and he deserves it.
“He’s one of six grandsons and he’s always been a leader and a mouthpiece for all of them.”
ICYMI: Starmer labels Johnny Mercer ‘sill sod’ who will ‘soon be history'
Sir Keir Starmer has labelled a Government minister a “silly sod” who will “soon be history”, after Johnny Mercer compared the party’s new 25-year-old MP to a character from cult Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners.
The minister for Veterans’ Affairs said Keir Mather had been “dropped into” the Selby and Ainsty constituency and “spouted identikit Keir Starmer lines”, after earlier stating: “We don’t want Parliament to become like The Inbetweeners.”
The Labour leader hit back at Mr Mercer in Selby on Friday, as he celebrated the by-election victory alongside Mr Mather and deputy leader Angela Rayner.
Strolling along the pitch at Selby Town Football Club and surrounded by media, Sir Keir told the new MP: “There was some silly sod on the radio, on the television last night saying you were only 25.
The comments were picked up by an ITV camera crew and Sir Keir can be heard saying: “But the answer is, you’re 25 and you’ve made history and he’s whatever age he is and he’ll soon be history.”
Mr Mather will become the youngest MP in the Commons - the Baby of the House - after overturning a 20,137 Conservative majority to win the North Yorkshire seat for Labour.
The Inbetweeners, which aired in the late 2000s, follows four friends at school who end up in awkward and embarrassing situations as they try to enter adulthood.
Explaining his comments to Sky News on Friday, Mr Mercer said: “I think this synthetic outrage, identikit Labour politician is the opposite of what people like me came into politics for.
“He’s been at Oxford University more than he’s had a job, right? So if you can really apply that to the empathy required to understand what it’s really like in this country at the moment, in terms of the cost of living and all these experiences of these people he’s trying to represent.
“Personally, I don’t think that is conducive to good electoral representation and I’m more than entitled to have that view.”
Boris Johnson says Natwest chief must quit if she leaked information about Nigel Farage’s account
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has called on the chief executive of Natwest to resign if it is found that she leaked details of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account to the BBC.
Mr Johnson said he did not know whether Dame Alison Rose had briefed the story to the BBC’s business editor.
But he called on banking minister Andrew Griffith to “establish all the facts about how a false impression of Farage’s financial circumstances was given to the media”.
He added: “And I am afraid that if Dame Alison was in any way responsible then she really needs to go. And Farage - if that is what he wants - should have all his accounts restored forthwith. This is about far more than the bank account of one person.”
Desperate Tories warn Sunak they are headed for disaster after ‘appalling’ by-elections
Rishi Sunak has been warned by his party that the Conservatives are heading for a disastrous general election defeat - as “desperate” Tory MPs called for urgent changes to halt Sir Keir Starmer’s path to No 10.
As Labour overturned a 20,000 majority in a historic by-election victory while the Lib Dems took another safe Tory seat, a former Conservative cabinet minister told The Independent: “The party’s over.”
Sir Keir seized on the victory to declare Labour was on course for power, as Rishi Sunak was forced to insist that the next election was “not a done deal”.
One long-serving Tory MP admitted the results showed voters were “p***ed off with us” over the spiralling interest rates crisis, and Labour would “easily” win an imminent general election.
Another, Nigel Mills, warned the Tories were “going to lose a hell of a lot of seats”, while ex-justice secretary David Gauke said most Conservative MPs would be “terrified” by the “appalling” result.
Read the full story here:
Desperate Tories warn Sunak they are headed for disaster after ‘appalling’ elections
Conservatives ‘going to lose a hell of a lot of seats’, admits one MP – despite Rishi Sunak’s claim Labour general election victory is ‘not a done deal’
Labour to prepare election pitch after by-election boost
Labour is set to host its annual policy forum this weekend, the day after overturning the largest Tory majority at a by-election in history and, alongside the Liberal Democrats, dealing two huge blows to Rishi Sunak’s party.
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to address members and affiliated groups in Nottingham on Saturday as they consider what ideas Labour should put forward in its manifesto at the next general election, likely to be next year.
Read more about what’s on the table here:
Labour to debate election pitch after delivering by-election blow to Tories
The Conservatives clinging on to Boris Johnson’s former Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat has opened up a debate about green policies.
Sunak to launch more aggressive political campaign over the summer - report
Rishi Sunak will launch a more aggressive and divisive political campaign over the summer as he tries to prevent a Labour landslide at the next general election, it has been reported.
The prime minister and his team will seek to draw dividing lines with the opposition on crime, migrants and transgender rights following the Tories’ double by-election drubbing, according to The Times.
“He will explain his vision for the country he wants to create,” an ally said. “It will mean tough fights, it will mean more political edge,” an ally of Sunak told the paper.
Tories looking for new jobs - senior MP
Some Tory MPs are looking for new jobs following Thursday’s by-election results, with fears the party could lose as many as 150 seats at the next general election, it has been reported.
“Colleagues are worried. I know many have been looking at other job opportunities for a while now” a senior MP told the i. “They’ve got families and mortgages.”
“I think Rishi can still win the election, but the odds are getting longer.”
Fall out over Labour Uxbridge loss rumbles on
The fall out out over Labour’s failure to win in Uxbridge and South Ruislip rumbles on as London mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ulez is blamed for the defeat.
Keir Starmer will still campaign for Mr Khan next year as he seeks a third term in City Hall but the Labour leader has told the mayor he needs to reflect on why the party lost in Boris Johnson’s old seat.
And senior Labour sources refused to back the expansion of Ulez, which proved to be a divisive issue in the west London seat.
“As Angela said, when the voters send you a message, then you should listen to it. We need to reflect on what the voters have said in Uxbridge,” a source told the i.
ICYMI: For Rishi Sunak, two out of three ain’t bad – it’s a disaster
By-elections are a funny old business, writes Tom Peck. On the face of it, these results say Sunak will be trounced by Starmer next year. But beware the pernicious pong of Ulez and the lurking ghost of ‘long Boris’...
Read Tom’s full piece here:
For Rishi Sunak, two out of three ain’t bad – it’s terrible | Tom Peck
By-elections are a funny old business, writes Tom Peck. On the face of it, these results say Sunak will be trounced by Starmer next year. But beware the pernicious pong of Ulez and the lurking ghost of ‘long Boris’...
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies