National Liberal Club distances itself from Farage
Egad! Uproar in clubland. The reason? Nigel Farage. Yes, it seems that the veteran Brexiteer is still capable of causing a fuss among t'great and t'good – even when he is pledging to, er, lift the two child benefit cap. The Reform UK leader gave a big speech on Tuesday in Whitehall, talking about his party's plans for welfare reform. His choice of venue was the Royal Horseguards Hotel – the construction of which, in the 1880s, involved an elaborate pyramid scheme of fraud. Insert your own jokes here….
Unfortunately, the hotel's site also encompasses the National Liberal Club, the haunt of choice for that rarest of all breeds: senior Liberal Democrats. The likes of Nick Clegg and Tim Farron have made speeches here while Charles Kennedy's infamous Newsnight interview was filmed in the club smoking room. At least 25 MPs have snaffled free memberships since the last election too. And it seems that the right-on Lib Dems are not too happy at lengthy journalistic reports linking
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Daily Record
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Anas Sarwar should not expect to oust John Swinney yet, says polling guru
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Telegraph
6 hours ago
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Reform UK may be doomed if Nigel Farage can't keep talent in the party
SIR – First it was Ben Habib, then Rupert Lowe, and now Zia Yusuf ('Reform civil war over burka ban', report, June 6). Reform UK has lost big hitters who have all played crucial roles in its success. Will Nigel Farage be the last man standing? Henry Bateson Alnwick, Northumberland SIR – Any organisation that expands rapidly will experience growing pains, when disagreements test the leadership. Management students will recognise this as the 'storming' period of team-building. We are witnessing Reform UK's storming period. To move beyond it, the party needs to have a strategy behind which the entire leadership can unite, providing clarity of purpose. It cannot be defined only by what it is against. This is Reform's challenge. It is gaining at the moment because of the complete breakdown in trust in Labour and the Conservatives, yet has grown quickly, without an established policy platform. 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Dr Chris Staley Bredwardine, Herefordshire SIR – Suella Braverman MP is a prominent example of that peculiar 21st-century phenomenon, the authoritarian Tory ('Women should not be veiling their faces in Western society', Comment, June 5). Previous generations of Conservatives viewed banning things as a last resort, to be used very sparingly, and usually in response to political violence. Banning Sinn Fein from the airwaves during the Troubles is an example. Mrs Braverman's concern about our national cohesion is laudable. I happen to agree with her that face coverings are to be deprecated. However, she is quite wrong in seeking to ban them as a first resort. What is wrong with trying peaceful persuasion? If she has tried it, she did not mention it in her article. David McKee Borehamwood, Hertfordshire Leadership of the BBC SIR – The BBC's habitual missteps in coverage of Gaza ('BBC Israel-Gaza report 'fixed on words of Hamas spokesman'', report, June 6) and mishandling of the Gary Lineker saga speak not so much of poor journalism but more of weak populism at the very top of the corporation. It is for the Director-General and Chairman to defend the BBC's journalism, not to launch yet another internal inquiry. It is for those same leaders to act decisively to defend the BBC's independence and reputation above any single star, no matter how popular they might be. The BBC's golden years were in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher campaigned to weaken it. Then, the BBC was peerless – admired by the good and feared by the bad across the world. Its leaders were cut from different cloth. They were former Servicemen, warriors and statesmen, and won worldwide respect. They knew the corridors of Whitehall and Westminster and had learnt the delicate art of navigating them to the benefit of the BBC and the British public. The BBC desperately needs that type of leadership now. Stephen R W Francis BBC historian Droxford, Hampshire SIR – The refusal of Russell T Davies to make Doctor Who less woke is typical of someone who is paid by a public corporation where the laws of supply and demand no longer apply. Single-handedly, he is destroying a valuable British asset in order to promote his woke agenda. Kelvin Trott Heckington, Lincolnshire Squeezed by Labour SIR – The national debt costs us roughly £274 million a day in interest payments (Letters, June 6), and the Government is adding to this burden every month. Parliamentarians, civil servants and trade unions are protected from the pain experienced by the self-employed and workers in the private sector, who are being catastrophically squeezed. Meanwhile, our wealth creators are leaving by the plane-load. What can we do, when those in power are seemingly unaware that our once-proud, innovative and capable country has become a soft-touch non-entity, unable to do anything right, but still arrogantly claiming to the world that they know best? Malvern Harper Ripley, Derbyshire SIR – Never mind the energy bill burden (Letters, June 5), what about business rates? My rateable value went from £22,000 to £44,000 in April. The amount payable was £23,000, reduced to £13,000 with relief. That's a sum of more than £1,000 a month for a small business, in return for nothing. The impact on the Government's coffers will be negative when I have to make 12 people redundant. Reginald Chester-Sterne Blackfield, Hampshire SIR – Michael Miller (Letters, May 24) says that 'taxes are the membership fee to live in a civilised society'. Perhaps there lies the root of the problem: with increasing worklessness, and claims for sickness and other out-of-work benefits ballooning, not enough people are now paying that membership fee. Mike Hughes London SW10 Beckham's honour SIR – David Beckham is to receive a knighthood for being able to kick a football (report, June 6), while Kevin Sinfield, who led Leeds Rhinos to seven rugby league Grand Final victories and has raised more than £10 million for the fight against motor neurone disease, still awaits his. I'm afraid that this shows anti-Northern bias and reflects the country's obsession with football. Stanley Surr Leeds, West Yorkshire NHS walk-in centres SIR – Wes Streeting's 'raft of changes' to the existing model of healthcare provision, including a plan to keep all but the seriously ill or injured out of A&E, is most welcome (report, June 6). However, while the idea of introducing same-day treatment centres is wonderful, it is not new. 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I marvelled at what an incredibly diverse bunch of people we Liverpool fans are, with all ages and ethnic groups well represented. Over the three days I did not see anything except joy and kindness, and we non-scousers were made to feel very welcome. Great credit must also go to the blue side of the city, which did nothing to dampen the spirits. It was very sad that the event ended with the incident in Water Street, but even then the city and the club showed their character, pulling together to help those affected. Christine Oxland Wellingborough, Northamptonshire Tailored thanks SIR – My husband was the chief fundraiser for a development mission based abroad, and sought donations from all over the world. I became his thank-you-letter writer (Letters, June 6), and it was my intention to write a letter to each person or company who sent a contribution. They were not always posted, once emails came in, but at least an early response was assured. 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We farmers are criticised – at times fairly – but this Government seems intent on getting rid of us. What will the countryside look like in the future, and who will be its custodians, as we have been for hundreds of years? David Taylor Bicester, Oxfordshire SIR – When British consumers go food shopping, they want high-quality, affordable food, with a lower impact on the environment. Supermarkets and farmers work together to deliver this, producing some of the best British food on offer, from delicious strawberries to tasty cheddar. British food is renowned across the world, in part because of its high environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards. Yet these come with costs. Since Brexit, farmers in England no longer receive subsidies for producing food, only for delivering environmental improvements, helping the Government meet legally binding targets. This funding lets farmers invest in protecting rivers and wildlife, planting trees and hedges, and growing food in a more environmentally friendly way. All this is at risk if investment in sustainable farming is cut at the upcoming Spending Review. Much of this vital work would stop, putting farm businesses at risk. We therefore urge the Chancellor to protect the sustainable farming budget. Letters to the Editor We accept letters by email and post. Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers. ADDRESS: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT EMAIL: dtletters@ FOLLOW: Telegraph Letters @LettersDesk
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why the death of the Tory Party has been greatly exaggerated
Has the death of the Tory Party, like that of Mark Twain, been greatly exaggerated?There are good reasons to think that after nearly 200 years, it has breathed its last as a major force in British politics. The failure to properly address voters' concerns during a decade and a half in government led to a catastrophic collapse in public faith and electoral annihilation. With the Tory brand badly tarnished, the party languishes in the polls behind Labour and Reform UK. No wonder some have read it the last rites. And yet, under Kemi Badenoch there are encouraging signs the party is flickering back to life. She is a thoughtful leader who is determined to do the right thing – insofar as the Westminster circus will allow. She is also a politician of substance, rather than soundbite. It is understandable she wants to take time to put a coherent policy platform together, rather than indulging in knee-jerk politics. Her review into the European Convention on Human Rights, which enables activist judges to prevent the deportation from Britain of foreign criminals and Channel migrants, is a case in point. Like many, the Tory leader increasingly believes that you can faithfully adhere to the jurisdiction of the Strasbourg court, or have an elected Parliament that responds to the wishes of voters, but not both. But it's right she looks at all the issues involved in leaving. One reason for such huge disillusionment with the Conservatives is that in power they repeatedly promised one thing and then did another. This shabby habit has been taken to new heights by Labour. Does anyone seriously believe the Government, led by a die-hard human rights lawyer, will keep its word and legislate to restrict the abuse of the ECHR? With the comprehensive spending review due next week, another claim made by Sir Keir Starmer and his Chancellor will take a bashing: That Labour is fiscally responsible. Before the election, their mantra was never to 'play fast and loose' with the public finances. In fact, Rachel Reeves has made an unholy mess – awarding excessive public-sector pay rises to placate the unions, hiking taxes on businesses and letting borrowing go through the roof. She toyed with reining in the out-of-control welfare budget only to blink at the first signs of disgruntlement among Labour MPs. Then there is Nigel Farage. For all that he is a charismatic politician, with a gift for tapping into the concerns of ordinary Britons, his policies so far lack credibility. His plan to increase the tax-free allowance to £20,000 a year is a wonderful aspiration, but it would cost an eye-watering £80billion. And when one of the UK's biggest problems is the unsustainable rise of the welfare bill, his baffling pledge to end the popular two-child benefit cap would make things worse. Frequent damaging rows also erupt within Reform UK. Has the party the experience and temperament to run the country? As Sir Keir and Mr Farage try to outbid each other with extravagant promises, Mrs Badenoch has an opportunity. While re-energising the Tories, she must communicate vigorously that they represent common sense, law and order, fiscal restraint and controlled migration. She has an impressive team of shadow ministers. Could their talents be utilised more? It would be absurd to defenestrate Mrs Badenoch after just seven months. Anyone who thinks her party can suddenly jump to the top of the polls is delusional. But as Sir Keir's popularity sinks lower by the day, she is beginning to hit her stride.
