Last week, the long-awaited Home Office report into child grooming was finally published. Commissioned by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid, it was supposed to put the official spotlight on to one of the greatest scandals in British history – the systemic abuse of white working-class girls by Asian men. Instead, it was a whitewash. Literally. … Read more
Last week a dejected Tory MP was sitting in the House of Commons lobby when the Prime Minister appeared. ‘He saw me and said, ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be all right in the end,’ the former Minister recounted, ‘then just ambled off.’ Things are not going to be all right. It was left to Rishi … Read more
The Dom Cummings era is over,’ the Minister told me. ‘But if we’re going to replace it with the Carrie Symonds era, we’re f*****. The environment. Transgender rights. If that’s what we’re going to be about, our coalition is going to fall apart. It’s not what our voters want to hear. We’re going to lose … Read more
The fear in the Minister’s voice was palpable. ‘It’s not just going to be Covid. He’s going to focus on that. But then it will spiral off into all sorts of other issues. It’s really scary.’ Nigel Farage is back. Last week it was announced the Brexit Party would be rebranding as Reform UK. Its mission: … Read more
Mark Rosser is nervous. ‘You’re the second person to call me today. Why are you doing this? Are you checking up on me?’ I’m actually seeing if it’s possible to book a room at his Crown Lodge B&B in Harlech, Gwynedd. The answer, apparently, is no. ‘Are you mad? I’m not even allowed to leave … Read more
Rishi Sunak has finally been tripped up. ‘He got away with it for a while,’ says a Minister. ‘He’d set out a plan. Then go away. Then have to come back a couple of weeks later and set out another plan. ‘At first it looked like he was being flexible. But now people are starting … Read more
When is Sir Keir Starmer going to grow a pair? ‘The shine is starting to come off,’ a Shadow Minister complains. ‘It’s all very well showing you’re competent. But there are times when you need to roll up your sleeves and attack.’ Labour’s leader is not attacking, but pirouetting. On the Rule of Six. On … Read more
What you have to understand is there are four people who are running the country now,’ the Minister says. ‘But none of them is Boris. Dom [Cummings], Michael [Gove], Rishi [Sunak] and Carrie [Symonds, the PM’s partner]. That’s it.’ Last week, Tory MPs moved from despair to resignation. Many have given up waiting for the … Read more
Dishy Rishi is about to be put on furlough. ‘People have lost perspective,’ an ally of the Chancellor tells me. ‘We’ve spent £350billion protecting the economy, but we’ve now reached the point where this isn’t even registering. ‘Someone said to him last week, ‘Why aren’t you doing anything for the theatre?’ We’ve given the theatres … Read more
It’s basically the Nixon ‘Madman strategy,’ the Minister explained to me. ‘They want the EU to think they’re crazy enough to go for No Deal, and that will spook them into giving enough concessions that we can strike a deal.’ Perhaps it will. But there’s one major difference between Nixon’s threat to nuke the North … Read more