UK Politics Live: Boris Johnson’s ‘nuts’ Plan To Invade The Netherlands To Raid Warehouse For Covid Vaccines

Keir Starmer refuses to apologise to pensioners over winter fuel payment cuts

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Boris Johnson has claimed he considered launching an “aquatic raid” on a warehouse in the Netherlands to retrieve Covid vaccine doses amid a row with Europe.

The former prime minister wrote in his new book that he considered sending the British Army on a daring raid to snatch the vaccines from an EU warehouse, although he rejected the idea, saying: “The whole thing was nuts.”

He demanded of senior military leaders whether he could launch the mission to retrieve five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with global supplies dwindling in the height of lockdown.

He also described his 56th birthday celebration at Downing Street as the “feeblest event in the history of human festivity”, and shared his surprise at the furore caused by the Partygate scandal.

He denied seeing or eating any cake at an event on 19 June 2020, and said it “never occurred” to him or then-chancellor Rishi Sunak that the gathering was “in some way against the rules”.

Mr Johnson’s book, Unleashed, is being serialised in the Daily Mail and as well as defending his actions during “Partygate” and writing about his experiences in hospital with Covid, he discusses his wranglings with the EU after his post-Brexit deal was put in place.

1727515745Boris Johnson says he ‘struggled’ to keep straight face during trans debate In his new memoir, Boris Johnson has recalled his amusement during Penny Mordaunt’s speech that gender recognition for trans people was the “most important issue of our times”.

In an excerpt published in the Daily Mail, he said: “I didn’t catch all the details, but it seemed fairly harrowing stuff, and at one point I heard Penny claim: ‘This is the most ­important issue of our times.’

“I didn’t always agree with Phil Hammond, but I happened at that moment to catch his eye and to see that he – like me – was ­struggling to contain his amusement.

“I mean: I could see that this was an issue of huge importance to some people (though surely not that many?) and I could see that it needed to be handled with tact and sensitivity.

“But ‘the most important issue of our times’? Really?”

In his book Unleashed, he wrote that Theresa May had announced “in breathy vicar’s-daughter tones” that Ms Mordaunt had “something very important to talk about”, which led him to question whether Lady May was really Right-wing.

Holly Evans28 September 2024 10:29

1727513805Starmer’s pragmatic approach to government is proving to be what’s best for the countryAlmost three months into his administration, Sir Keir Starmer’s self-styled “British pragmatism” has made a refreshing – indeed invigorating – change from the ideological obsession and grinding search for new culture wars that disfigured politics under the Conservatives.

Such controversies as there have been – notably about the cuts to the winter fuel allowance and policy in the Middle East – have been fact-based and verging on the empirical. The same is true about his efforts to build a personal rapport with Donald Trump, and the apparent willingness to rethink taxing the super-rich non-doms, given reports that the Treasury fears little if any new revenue may be raised by attacking these extremely mobile people.

There is nothing to be gained from taxation that yields no return, and there is even less to be said for failing to get on terms with a man who has a roughly even chance of being the president of the United States of America in about six weeks. The prime minister, in both cases, is placing country firmly before party, even if it means dining on some of his own words as well as Mr Trump’s no doubt excellent banquet.

Read the full article here:

Holly Evans28 September 2024 09:56

1727512000Starmer responds after Musk tells people to avoid UK following summit snubSir Keir Starmer has responded to Elon Musk after the tech tycoon said people should not go to the UK.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss lashed out at the UK after it was reported he had not been invited to a major investment summit because of his social media posts during the summer riots.

Mr Musk said: “I don’t think anyone should go to the UK when they’re releasing convicted paedophiles in order to imprison people for social media posts.”

Sir Keir, who held a gathering for US business chiefs set to attend the summit while he was in New York, told reporters that Mr Musk’s views were in “stark contrast” to those of the executives he had met.

Elon Musk lashed out after it was reported he had not been invited to a major investment summit (REUTERS)“There’s a really strong window of opportunity now with the UK, given the changes we’ve brought about, our number one mission on economic growth, and to talk them through the wealth fund, the industrial strategy, what we’re doing in terms of planning, grids, etc,” Sir Keir said.

“So I’m listening good and hard to what they have to say, because they will be attending the summit, and many of them are already investing in the UK.

“On Tesla. Obviously, I encourage investment from anywhere, and so I don’t want to be misunderstood on this. So good investment into the UK is what I’m very, very keen to promote.”

It is understood SpaceX has been invited to send a representative to the summit in October.

Holly Evans28 September 2024 09:26

1727510502The Tories are adrift in the political wilderness – can they ever recover?When the Conservatives begin their annual conference tomorrow (Sunday), it might be tempting for them to savour the woes engulfing Keir Starmer’s government so early in its life. Labour’s freebies will certainly provide plenty of ammunition – and jokes at Starmer’s expense.

True, it’s good news for the Tories if voters think the parties are “all the same” – one likely result of the recent controversy. It will be harder for Labour to play the sleaze card against the Tories at the next election.

All politicians struggle to resist schadenfreude. Yet the biggest mistake the Tories could make would be to assume Labour is doomed to be a one-term government. I recall such Tory complacency in 1997 after Labour’s previous landslide; the Tories lost the following two elections.

Read the full analysis here:

Holly Evans28 September 2024 09:01

1727509377Boris Johnson considered ‘nuts’ plan to raid Dutch warehouse over vaccines rowFormer prime minister Boris Johnson considered launching an “aquatic raid” on a warehouse in the Netherlands to retrieve Covid vaccine doses amid a row with Europe, according to an extract from his memoir.

Mr Johnson convened a meeting of senior military officials in March 2021 to discuss the plans, which he admitted were “nuts”, according to an extract from his Unleashed book published in the Daily Mail.

At the time, the AstraZeneca vaccine was at the heart of a cross-Channel row over exports, with the EU lagging behind the pace of the rollout in the UK.

The extract says the deputy chief of the defence staff (military strategy and operations), Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers, told the prime minister the plan was “certainly feasible”, using rigid inflatable boats to navigate Dutch canals.

But the senior officer said it would not be possible to do this undetected, with lockdowns meaning the authorities might observe the raid, meaning the UK would “have to explain why we are effectively invading a long-standing Nato ally”.

The former PM admitted: “Of course, I knew he was right, and I secretly agreed with what they all thought but did not want to say aloud: that the whole thing was nuts.”

Holly Evans28 September 2024 08:42

1727508566SNP calls for investigation into donations from Labour peer The SNP has asked for an investigation into donations to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Labour MPs by Lord Waheed Alli.

In a letter to the standards commissioners in the House of Commons and House of Lords, SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said the revelations have “become Sir Keir Starmer’s version of the expenses scandal”, and he also wants Lord Alli’s Downing Street pass – that he held for a time after the election – looked into.

Donations from Lord Alli, such as money that was spent on clothing, have been under scrutiny.

Mr O’Hara said that unless the matter is “comprehensively investigated” then it is “inevitable that the damaging drip, drip of revelations will continue to erode public trust”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said all rules had been complied with (Leon Neal/PA) (PA Wire)He later added: “I believe there now exists a clear and immediate public interest in launching a full and independent investigation into all of Lord Alli’s donations and gifts to the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and Labour Party MPs.

“There must also be an investigation into the decision to give Lord Alli a security pass to Downing Street, and into how – and why – it was used.”

On Friday evening The Guardian reported there were further clothing donations worth a total of £16,000 to Sir Keir by Lord Alli in October 2023 and February 2024. According to the paper, the donations were described as “for the private office of the leader of the opposition”.

Holly Evans28 September 2024 08:29

1727506800What to expect from Tory conferenceThe 2024 Conservative Party Conference will be a drastically different affair from last year’s gathering in Manchester, when Rishi Sunak’s government was in its dying days.

Back then, ministers announced a slew of eye-catching policies that would reshape the future of the country in a desperate last few roles of the dice – Alex Chalk promising to offshore prisoners, Jeremy Hunt planning to slash the number of civil servants and Rishi Sunak scrapping HS2.

This year, Mr Sunak is a lame duck Tory leader and all eyes will be far from the diminished former prime minister. Instead it will be a four-day battle for the future leadership of the party, with the four remaining contenders thrashing it out to try to win over Tory members.

James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat will be put to the test in a series of hustings and speeches, as well as taking part in intense lobbying and networking behind the scenes in Birmingham with MPs and the party rank and file.

On offer elsewhere will be former Tory MPs, ousted by the public in July’s general election, setting out where they think the party went wrong and what it needs to do next.

High profile names expected to appear are ex-PM Liz Truss, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and incoming Spectator Editor Michael Gove.

The Independent will be bringing the latest updates and analysis from the conference.

Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent28 September 2024 08:00

1727506085Boris Johnson Unleashed: No Narcissus ever stared more intently into the limpid waters of self-loveSome have said that these were the nation’s worst years since the Napoleonic wars, and there is one politician who has blazed a meteoric trail across almost every page of this teeming history: Boris Johnson. But only now is he telling his story, for no less than a reported half a million pounds and counting.

At that price, never mind setting the record straight, he’ll have to deliver. But what is in the offing from such a maverick pen? As he might put it, a macédoine of regret, maybe mortification, and dismay? As the first parts of Unleashed are serialised, we finally get a hint of what might be to come.

Read the full review here:

Holly Evans28 September 2024 07:48

1727504625Boris Johnson recalls Partygate scandal: ‘I ate no blooming cake’ Boris Johnson has denied eating cake at the “feeblest event in the history of human festivity” held on his 56th birthday.

The former prime minister said he did not see or eat any cake at an event on 19 June 2020, according to an extract from his memoir published in the Daily Mail.

Of the occasion, he wrote: “Here is what actually happened that day. I stood briefly at my place in the Cabinet Room, where I have meetings throughout the day, while the Chancellor and assorted members of staff said happy birthday.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak pictured at an event on 19 June 2020 at Downing Street (Downing Street handout/PA) (PA Media)“I saw no cake. I ate no blooming cake. If this was a party, it was the feeblest event in the history of human festivity.

“I had only just got over Covid. I did not sing. I did not dance.”

Downing Street previously admitted staff “gathered briefly” in the Cabinet Room for what was reportedly a surprise get-together for Mr Johnson organised by his now-wife Carrie.

An ally of the former prime minister, Conor Burns, said Mr Johnson was “ambushed with a cake” at the event.

Holly Evans28 September 2024 07:23

1727501400Boris Johnson was ‘surprised’ partygate would be a line of attack for LabourBoris Johnson has written of the moment he was confronted with the partygate story dismissing it initially as “old cobblers”.

Writing in Unleashed which isbeing serialised in the Mail +

“[Former Downing Street Director of Communications] Jack explained that the Daily Mirror had a story about a breach of ­lockdown rules in No 10 during the pandemic. They were accusing the press department of having a party on December 18, 2020 – almost exactly a year previously.

“Jack said the story was nonsense, because it was traditional for the press department to have a glass of wine at their desks on a Friday evening. I looked at him blankly. ‘So no rules were broken?’

“‘No, PM,’ he said firmly, ‘no rules were broken.’

“‘Fine,’ I said, and carried on.

“It sounded like a load of old cobblers – probably some desperate nonsense being peddled by embittered former advisers – and I forgot about it. I was most surprised when it was raised at PMQs the next day – as Labour’s main line of attack.”

Labour called on both the PM and then chancellor Rishi Sunak to go, saying they were “unfit to govern”.

Barney Davis28 September 2024 06:30