“,”elementId”:”5777a5d4-5492-456e-aee6-25b70aec776c”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement”,”prefix”:”Related: “,”text”:”Leeds Green party councillor says sorry for comments about Gaza conflict”,”elementId”:”8a9d3d02-0f62-417e-b628-f4cc1e346758″,”role”:”thumbnail”,”url”:”https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/07/leeds-green-party-councillor-says-sorry-for-comments-about-gaza-conflict”}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1715158620000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”04.57 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1715158675000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”: “04.57 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1715158675000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”04.57 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”04.57″,”title”:”Leeds Greens councilor apologizes for comments on Gaza conflict”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Wednesday May 8, 2024 05.03 EDT”,”SecondaryDateLine”:”First published Wednesday May 8, 2024 04.42 EDT”},{“id”:”663b24448f08a6dfd8347525″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Good morning. We’re a few days on from the local elections, and the party has got a new leader. But that’s the SNP, not the Conservative party, where the much-anticipated, post-locals leadership challenge aimed at Rishi Sunak never materialised. Today he will take PMQs for the first time since the plotters called off the dogs, and accepted that Sunak will lead the party into the next election.
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But that does not mean the feuding has stopped, and this morning Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is launching a bid to push Sunak to the right on immigration policy. He has written a report with Neil O’Brien, another former minister, and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, with more than 30 recommendations that would slam the brakes on mass immigration into the UK. Jenrick is clearly gearing up to run for the leadership after the general election and, as Sam Blewett argues in his London Playbook briefing for Politico, today’s intervention “has the whiff of something planned a while back by the rebel faction”, when it was assumed that this week Sunak would be facing a no confidence vote.
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The proposals in Jenrick’s report include: raising the salary threshold for people getting health and social care visas, limiting the number of health and social care visas issued to 30,000 a year (last year 146,000 were issued), abolishing graduate visas for students, setting an annual cap on the number of visas issued a year, and recommitting to reducing net migration to below 100,000 a year.
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In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Jenrick says Sunak could implement many of his recommendations before the election. He says the PM should make this a priority, “instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs”, to see off the threat from Reform UK. He says:
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Instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs, the government could use the time left in the parliamentary session to deliver the post-Brexit immigration system voters were promised. We shouldn’t wait to save conservative policies for our manifesto when we are 20 points behind in the polls in an election year – that would be government by posturing and an abdication of duty. The Government has a solid majority and could deliver these today.
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The local election results reaffirmed two clear trends, obvious to those of us who spend time on the doorsteps listening to voters. First, Conservative voters feel badly let down and are struggling to find reasons to back us. Second, we are haemorrhaging support to the Reform Party. This is primarily because of mass migration and the allied and growing problem of extremism, although clearly other factors are also at play.
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In the precious time we have left before the election, reducing net migration to the 10,000s and delivering the highly-selective immigration system we call for in our report would be the single biggest thing the Government could do to win over these wavering voters.
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It would be surprising if none of this comes up at PMQs.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.30am: John Swinney is sworn in in Edinburgh as Scotland’s new first minister. Later in the day he will appoint his cabinet.
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9.30am: Former ministers Robert Jenrick and Neil O’Brien launch their report, Taking Back Control, calling for tighter immigration controls at an event organised by the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, which is publishing the paper.
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11am: More in Commons holds a briefing with its assessment of the local elections.
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Noon: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.
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2pm: Sunak is hosting a meeting at No 10 for Tory MPs to discuss the results of the local elections.
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If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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important events
john swinney The BBC said it was a “huge surprise” to be the first Scottish minister to arrive at the opening court for the oath of office. david wallace lockhart I will report it.
John Swinney opened the court and will soon be sworn in as the first minister.
He said it all came as a “huge surprise” but that it was a “huge privilege” to be in this position. pic.twitter.com/vdYHXazjxl
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) May 8, 2024
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John Swinney opened the court and will soon be sworn in as the first minister.
He said it all came as a “huge surprise” but that it was a “huge privilege” to be in this position. pic.twitter.com/vdYHXazjxl
— David Wallace Lockhart (@BBCDavidWL) May 8, 2024
John Swinney opened the court and will soon be sworn in as the first minister.
He said it all came as a “huge surprise” but that it was a “huge privilege” to be in this position.
Leeds Green Party councilor apologizes for comments on Gaza conflict
The Green Party MP at the center of the anti-Semitism scandal has apologized for the “disturbance caused” by his comments, but hit back at “Islamophobic” attacks against him. Eleni Coulaire I will report it.
Rishi Sunak takes charge of PMQs as Robert Jenrick calls for net immigration cuts before general election
good morning. A few days have passed since the local elections and the party has a new leader. But it was the SNP, not the Conservatives, and the much-anticipated challenge to post-local leader Rishi Sunak never materialized. Today he is due to face his first PMQs since the conspirators called off the dogs and allowed Mr Sunak to lead the party into the next election.
But that doesn’t mean the fight is over, and this morning robert jenrickFormer immigration minister Sunak is moving to the right on immigration policy.he wrote report Along with fellow former minister Neil O’Brien and Carl Williams, director of research at the Center for Policy Research think tank, he submitted more than 30 recommendations aimed at halting mass immigration to the UK. Mr Jenrick is clearly preparing to stand for leadership after the general election, with Sam Blewett claiming: London Playbook briefing on Politicowhen Mr Sunak was expected to face a no-confidence vote this week, today’s intervention “smells like something planned by the opposition some time ago”.
Proposals in Mr Jenrick’s report include raising salary thresholds for health and social security visa holders and limiting the number of health and social security visas issued to 30,000 a year (up from 146,000 last year). ), the abolition of graduate school visas for students, and the following provisions: Recommit to setting an annual cap on the number of visas issued each year and reducing net immigration to less than 100,000 per year.
in Daily Telegraph article, Mr Jenrick said Mr Sunak could implement many of his recommendations before the election. He argues that to avoid the threat of Reform Britain, the Prime Minister should prioritize this “rather than banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs”. he says:
Instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs, the government could use the remaining time in parliament to deliver the post-Brexit immigration system promised by voters. We shouldn’t wait to keep conservative policies in our manifesto when we’re trailing by 20 points in the polls in an election year. That would be government by posturing and abdication of duty. The government maintains a solid majority and could submit these as early as today.
The local election results reaffirmed two clear trends that are clear to those of us listening to the voices of voters on our doorsteps. First, conservative voters are deeply disappointed and are struggling to find a reason to support us. Second, we are bleeding support for the Reform Party. This is primarily due to large-scale immigration and the associated growing problem of extremism, but other factors are clearly at play.
In the precious time remaining before the election, reducing net immigration to 10,000 people and realizing the highly selective immigration system called for in the report is the key to winning the hearts of these wavering voters. This is probably the single biggest thing the government can do.
It would be surprising if this topic never came up in PMQs.
The agenda for the day is:
9:30am: John Swinney is sworn in as Scotland’s new First Minister in Edinburgh. He is expected to appoint his cabinet members later that day.
9:30am: Launched by former ministers Robert Jenrick and Neil O’Brien their reportAt an event hosted by the Center for Policy Research, the think tank that published this paper, he advocated take-back control and called for stronger immigration controls.
11am: More in Commons held an information session on the evaluation of local elections.
noon: Rishi Sunak will take on Keir Starmer at PMQs.
2 pm: Mr Sunak is hosting a meeting at No. 10 for Tory MPs to discuss local election results.
If you would like to contact me, please use the “Send Message” feature. If you are reading on your laptop or desktop, it will appear just below the signature line, on the left side of your screen. This is for those who want to send messages directly. I find it very helpful to have people point out mistakes (including typos) in messages. No mistake is too small to be fixed. I often find your questions very interesting as well. I can’t promise to reply to everything, but I’ll do my best to reply in the comments section below that line. Privately (if you feel it is appropriate to leave your email address). Or on your main blog if you think it’s a topic of widespread interest.
