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Spectator
2 days ago
- Politics
- Spectator
The British right is embracing direct action
First, it was Robert Jenrick tackling fare dodgers. Then it was Gareth Davies pursuing a thief. You might be forgiven for thinking that copies of Marvel's Justice League were circulating in Portcullis House. But among elements of the British right there is a renewed appreciation of the benefits of direct action. Shut out of office until at least 2029, Tory and Reform politicians are finding ways to channel their frustrations into novel, low-cost, forms of protest. Nigel Farage's aides have embraced humorous stunts such as beaming their membership numbers onto CCHQ and handing out blank books to journalists titled Highlights from my first 100 days, by Kemi Badenoch. Others, like Jenrick, try to think of new ways to land messages. He is vox-popping voters and leading a rally against China's super-embassy. Badenoch has also sought to position herself as the leader of the family farm tax protests, speaking as the keynote speaker at the London rally in November. Lawrence Newport's 'Looking for Growth' group has meanwhile taken to filming themselves cleaning up graffiti on the London Underground. This tactic is not completely new. At the Margaret Thatcher conference in Buckingham in March, older attendees talked fondly of 'Operation Pony Express'. This was a reference to the 1976 Grunwick strike, in which postal workers refused to handle deliveries for a photographic laboratory at which there was a strike. Volunteers – such as members of the newly-formed Freedom Association – wanted to help the business survive the strike, to strike a blow against trade union power. They smuggled mail out of the Grunwick depot and transferred thousands of processed films to plain envelopes to prevent the unions from identifying them. The orders were then reposted in hundreds of post boxes across the country, to keep the mail-order business going. It served as a way of energising activists and giving heart to a cause. Good politicians recognise that the legislative process is just one route to achieve their ends. But in the internet age, there is an obvious incentive to produce moments or clips of the unusual or subversive, which are more likely to be shared by fans and critics. A right wing MP is unlikely to secure a legislative triumph in the current House of Commons; a viral clip online is a much more realistic goal. Elite media gatekeepers no longer serve as a block on ambition. The use of such tactics could be seen as an indictment of impotence. Yet, in a highly cynical age, there is a merit to the 'show, don't tell' approach to politics. It is not enough, now, for politicians to simply claim to care about crime; they need to demonstrate it too. Some stunts, like Farage's book, are purely humorous; others, such as LfG's graffiti clean, aim to shame Transport for London into stepping up their game. At a time when a powerful sense of hopelessness is gripping much of the right, such case studies offer a way of empowering individuals and cheering their supporters. Expect to see more non-violent direct action in future.
Telegraph
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Kemi has a point about the triple lock on pensions
Conscious that her party are heading for a drubbing at Thursday's local elections, Kemi Badenoch has been giving a series of radio and television interviews. Since the Tory leader's approval ratings suggest that the more voters see of her, the more they dislike her, this might not be as canny as CCHQ thinks. Nonetheless, this unusual surfacing from the habitually interview-averse Badenoch has forced her to do something she usually avoids: comment on policy. Last night, on Iain Dale's LBC show, she was asked if the Tories remain committed to the triple lock: the system that ensures the state pension rises each year be either the inflation rate, average earnings, or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest. Her response raised eyebrows. It has 'always been the Conservative policy to have the triple lock', she explained. She has 'not changed that', since when she changes policy she has ' a big speech'. No such oratorical delight is currently due. But the Tories are looking 'across the board at so many things' – taxes, pensions, their own navels – and once that is done she will 'say what the policy is going to be'. Studiously ambiguous, I would argue, with room for a future reckoning. Back in January, Badenoch suggested that she was looking at means-testing the triple lock and then backtracked when Labour suggested she was betraying pensioners (an area in which the Chancellor has proved herself an expert). Coming in local election week, Badenoch's political opponents have every incentive to suggest the Tory leader is shafting the grey vote. Over 65s were the only age group with which the Conservatives led at last year's election, and pensioners are far more likely to turn out. If they stay at home, furious about Badenoch's comments, an already bad night could be transformed into an epochal shellacking. Yet if the Conservatives' ongoing policy renewal results in a pledge to scrap the triple lock, it would be the bravest and most consequential choice of Badenoch's leadership so far. There will never be a right time to bite the bullet on the triple lock (even if the week of the local election might be the worst). But few politicians have reckoned with the reality that its ongoing funding will bankrupt Britain. The annual cost of the state pension was £124.3 billion in 2023 to 2024 – almost two and a half times what we spent in the same year on defence, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Without the triple lock, pensions would only have been upgraded with inflation and would cost £10 billion less. Compared to pensions only rising in line with average earnings, the Institute for Fiscal Studies projects the triple lock could cause the state pension to cost an additional £5 to £45 billion by 2050. Unless Angela Rayner's one-woman quest to carpet the countryside in new builds really does unleash a hitherto-unachievable growth bonanza, this pledge is unaffordable, and must be dropped. Britain is becoming older, fatter, and sicker. The welfare state's costs are rising inexorably. When the state pension was introduced in 1908, those 65 or older made up only five per cent of the population. By the 2040s, it will be five times that. Without radical action, those in control of the levers of the economy will mandate ever-higher taxes, ever-higher spending, and ever-higher immigration to make up for our shortage in productive young people. Badenoch might have a point – but for now, she'd do well to keep it to herself.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kemi has a point about the triple lock on pensions
Conscious that her party are heading for a drubbing at Thursday's local elections, Kemi Badenoch has been giving a series of radio and television interviews. Since the Tory leader's approval ratings suggest that the more voters see of her, the more they dislike her, this might not be as canny as CCHQ thinks. Nonetheless, this unusual surfacing from the habitually interview-averse Badenoch has forced her to do something she usually avoids: comment on policy. Last night, on Iain Dale's LBC show, she was asked if the Tories remain committed to the triple lock: the system that ensures the state pension rises each year be either the inflation rate, average earnings, or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest. Her response raised eyebrows. It has 'always been the Conservative policy to have the triple lock', she explained. She has 'not changed that', since when she changes policy she has ' a big speech'. No such oratorical delight is currently due. But the Tories are looking 'across the board at so many things' – taxes, pensions, their own navels – and once that is done she will 'say what the policy is going to be'. Studiously ambiguous, I would argue, with room for a future reckoning. Back in January, Badenoch suggested that she was looking at means-testing the triple lock and then backtracked when Labour suggested she was betraying pensioners (an area in which the Chancellor has proved herself an expert). Coming in local election week, Badenoch's political opponents have every incentive to suggest the Tory leader is shafting the grey vote. Over 65s were the only age group with which the Conservatives led at last year's election, and pensioners are far more likely to turn out. If they stay at home, furious about Badenoch's comments, an already bad night could be transformed into an epochal shellacking. Yet if the Conservatives' ongoing policy renewal results in a pledge to scrap the triple lock, it would be the bravest and most consequential choice of Badenoch's leadership so far. There will never be a right time to bite the bullet on the triple lock (even if the week of the local election might be the worst). But few politicians have reckoned with the reality that its ongoing funding will bankrupt Britain. The annual cost of the state pension was £124.3 billion in 2023 to 2024 – almost two and a half times what we spent in the same year on defence, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Without the triple lock, pensions would only have been upgraded with inflation and would cost £10 billion less. Compared to pensions only rising in line with average earnings, the Institute for Fiscal Studies projects the triple lock could cause the state pension to cost an additional £5 to £45 billion by 2050. Unless Angela Rayner's one-woman quest to carpet the countryside in new builds really does unleash a hitherto-unachievable growth bonanza, this pledge is unaffordable, and must be dropped. Britain is becoming older, fatter, and sicker. The welfare state's costs are rising inexorably. When the state pension was introduced in 1908, those 65 or older made up only five per cent of the population. By the 2040s, it will be five times that. Without radical action, those in control of the levers of the economy will mandate ever-higher taxes, ever-higher spending, and ever-higher immigration to make up for our shortage in productive young people. Badenoch might have a point – but for now, she'd do well to keep it to herself. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Nasty Jenrick has become everything Kemi was elected to be
Will the real leader of the opposition please stand up? Up pops Rob Jenrick, on his toes, hand waving, shouting, 'Me, me, me!' – while Kemi refuses to answer such a clichéd question from the gotcha media. There was a whiff of 'politics is beneath me' when Kemi sauntered into CCHQ at 11.30am to give a speech about 'LABOUR'S JOBS TAX', a slogan plastered across the side of what looked like an abandoned mattress (in fact a portable white stage turned on its side). This was the most depressing presser I've ever attended. It was conducted in a large corridor adjacent to a snack machine and the gent's loos – they call it the Eric Pickles Suite – with nary a coffee nor a croissant in sight. When Kemi said, 'there is a business I've visited in the election that says it has closed down', I wondered if this was it. Being in Opposition ain't easy; people ignore you. So, get their attention! Pledge to deport the Quakers. Slap a striking bin man. Instead, Team Kemi has tried to make a virtue out of silence, holding off on policy, rambling about philosophy – 'what would Durkheim say about VAT?' – and toning down the crazy lady qualities that members voted for. By contrast, Bobby J has become everything Kemi was elected to be. A nasty b----. He embarrassed the Government into opposing the Sentencing Council's racist anti-racist guidelines, and then took credit – shameless but deserved – for the council's last-minute about turn. Even Labour has realised the new guidelines are PC gone bananas, hence Shabana Mahmood delivered a statement to the Commons decrying activism-from-the-bench and promising 'equality before the law' (what has turned Keir Starmer into a judicial conservative? Are he and his family watching Rumpole of the Bailey on ITVX?!). What was striking about Jenrick's reply was how personal it was, accusing Mahmood of sitting 'on her hands' and displaying 'incompetence'. 'She's decided to be undecided; resolute to be irresolute; empowered to be impotent.' Jenrick read out evidence of the justice department's embrace of 'cultural relativism' and concluded: 'It's her department. It's black and white. It is two-tier justice.' The press gallery gasped. Of course, he meant 'it's IN black and white' – ie written down – but in a different age, MPs would jump on that slip as proof of bigotry, making comparisons to Enoch Powell. Ah, but nowadays the river runs red with Labour rosettes... Ignoring Jenrick's snafu, one lefty MP after another congratulated Mahmood on her decisive surrender to the Opposition. Graham Stringer even suggested the guilty parties on the council resign or be sacked. Diane Abbott alone – her hands trembling, which only gives her last stand for socialism more dignity – made the case for judicial independence, while Plaid Cymru revealed that black men are over-represented most in Welsh prisons. It's a curious feature of the nationalists that they love talking about how dreadful their nations are. Yes, Jenrick was the winner, having changed policy and made the Tories appear more relevant than Reform. He's a model employee to a psychotic degree – and a lesson for us all. If you ever apply for a job and don't get it, just show up to work the next day and pretend that you did.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Kemi Badenoch really doesn't want a pact with Nigel Farage. The problem is lots of Tories really do
Kemi Badenoch may only be four months into her leadership, but already Westminster is talking about her successor. Nigel Farage declared over the weekend that the Conservative party leader would be 'lucky to survive past June'. Of course, he would say that. The Reform UK leader has a personal interest in Tory misfortune. But more concerning for Badenoch is that some in her own party are starting to ask if she'll still be leader at the next election. Her problems are piling up. The Tories regularly come third in national polls behind Reform and Labour. There is little money to go around (despite a spurt in Tory donations late last year) and redundancies at Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) are seen as inevitable. Badenoch's performances at prime minister's questions are regularly criticised among Tory MPs for being too scatter-gun and missing open goals. The May local elections will be the first electoral test of her leadership – and CCHQ sources are attempting some serious expectation management as they warn of losses. But perhaps worst of all for Badenoch, there are simply plenty of figures on the right who never wanted her to be party leader and have even less time for her now. Alongside Farage, rarely a week passes without Dominic Cummings – the former leave campaign supremo – taking to social media or his Substack to criticise Badenoch, recently suggesting 'it's better for the country when she's playing iPad games all day than playing 'policy'.' The fact Cummings met Farage for dinner a few months ago has spurred excited chatter that a rightwing coup could soon be under way to push Badenoch aside. Her critics are a mix of those who find her too abrasive and those who think her shadow cabinet is too one-nation and lacks the bite to take on Reform. However, this talk has not yet caught on too widely within the party. 'I don't think she is doing that well but she's not going anywhere at the moment,' says a former cabinet minister. Others point to her performance last week – in which she announced net zero was 'impossible' by 2050 and launched a series of policy commissions – as evidence that things are improving. While Badenoch has been accused by the former Tory MP Chris Skidmore of going back on a pledge she made to a group of MPs in 2022 to back the net zero target, many of the current intake welcome the move as a way of taking the fight to Reform. 'Her position is much stronger than a few weeks ago,' says a member of the shadow cabinet. Even the Badenoch critics are keen to downplay talk of her imminent exit. 'Angela Rayner has saved Kemi,' says one Conservative source, pointing to the limited number of local council elections after local government changes. 'The most difficult votes have been postponed so May won't be the crunch point.' Yet while the Tory mood is far from regicidal, there are long-term questions being asked about Badenoch's leadership. 'There are things she should do to increase her survivability,' says one Tory MP. 'Net zero was one good thing in a desert of five months – and she needs the self-awareness to understand that and then the ability to respond.' But the first step is perhaps understanding the forces that will be working against her. As well as the odd explosion from Cummings or Farage, Badenoch has to contend with the likely launch of a campaign group in the next few weeks that will argue for an electoral pact between Reform and the Tories. For now, the campaign is loosely referred to as 'unite the right'. However, a different official title is expected – to be revealed at the launch. On paper, a mix of supporters of Reform and the Conservatives pointing at the polling and making the point that there could be an argument for the two parties working together isn't that sinister. However, the reason this poses a threat to Badenoch is that she has come out firmly against a pact and there is no love lost between her and Farage. 'If we have to work with Nigel – and the current polls suggest the Reform vote is too sticky to not – you can't have Kemi as leader,' says a former government adviser. They argue that Badenoch's leadership style is too abrasive, even if she did change tack. It's here that a game of fantasy leader tends to happen. Names being floated as Reform-friendly Tory leaders include Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick. Jenrick – who lost to Badenoch in the leadership contest – is these days seen as the most likely successor were Badenoch to go. While the shadow justice secretary has his critics – particularly among Badenoch loyalists – he is slowly but surely winning round some through his hard work. He is far and away the shadow minister making the biggest impact when it comes to social media, policy work and setting the news agenda. 'Some of the shadow cabinet are jealous of Rob [Jenrick] as he keeps making news but he is also working a lot harder,' argues a Tory MP. A Jenrick ally adds: 'Rob is willing to work all hours unlike some – and it shows.' Others pine for Boris Johnson – but for now this is yet to be a real movement. 'It's the same people as before talking up Boris and they will say, 'Oh, he stopped Farage,'' says one Tory MP. 'He also oversaw increased legal migration.' It's why, for now, Badenoch's inner-circle plan to ignore the noise and focus on showing MPs they have a plan through their actions. 'It's the same people mouthing off. They're like the Japanese soldiers who didn't know the second world war had ended and were trying to keep it going,' says a Badenoch ally. Instead, Badenoch hopes that the cracks appearing in the Reform party since Rupert Lowe's exit mean most of the drama will be coming from the other side. Yet there are small signs that the Tory leader recognises she will need all the friends she can get in the long term: she has recently started lunches with MPs after prime minister's questions. Given Badenoch takes issues with sandwiches (previously telling me they were not a real food), the food of choice is pizza. She ultimately knows that while she has breathing space for now, that will change if she can't point to progress in the coming year. If the Tories stay third in the polls, her critics won't find it too hard to win supporters for their cause. Katy Balls is the Spectator's political editor
