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Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
If Kemi and Nigel want to stop clueless Keir destroying Britain, they need to do a deal
'Tories won't work with Reform despite election drubbing', read The Telegraph headline, in a predictably Conservative reaction to yet another electoral bloodbath. Asked about the prospect of local or national co-operation between the Tories and Reform following their disastrous local election results, which saw Nigel Farage's party make huge gains, Nigel Huddleston, the Tory co-chairman, declared: 'I can't see why we'd do that ... Reform's golden strategy is the destruction of the Conservative Party and they don't share many of the values and principles that we hold.' He added: 'We've done deals in the past on a council level where it's to implement Conservative policies and Conservative principles. 'We are under new leadership now. We're using our time in opposition wisely, we're developing a whole new set of principles and policies because we need to present ourselves as an alternative government. 'Not a protest party, not a populist party that will go around saying that we've got simple, straight answers to really complex questions. That's not a credible long-term proposition.' It might not be a 'credible long term position' but it's working for Reform, and the Conservative Party pretending otherwise is an insult to its own electorate. A 17.4 point swing to Reform in Runcorn and Helsby, one of the safest Labour seats, isn't a protest. It's a revolution. Moreover, who are the Tories kidding when they say Reform 'don't share many of the core principles and values that we hold'? They're a low-tax, low-immigration, anti-woke party that wants to slash government waste. If those aren't Conservative values then the Tories truly are finished. Quite a few Conservatives would rather nationalise steel than import it from China, too. Similarly, Farage calling the idea of a pact with the Tories 'revolting' also lacks credibility, for precisely the same reason: he is a former Conservative being propelled to power largely by former Conservatives. I can think of far more revolting things: a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition with a side order of Greens being chief among them. Both parties can pretend they have nothing in common until the cows come home – but voters on the Right will never forgive them if they allow their differences to bring about more of the same come 2029. Yes, Reform are more Right-wing than the Tories, as evidenced by the socialists protesting outside polling stations on Thursday shouting 'racists' and accusing the party of 'demonising' migrants. Yet the reason for Reform's success also threatens to be its failure. This is why a pact has to happen, if not before the next election, then immediately afterwards. Yes, the Tories may be on their knees right now. Voters certainly haven't woken up to the party being 'under new leadership'; according to YouGov, one in five British adults have never even heard of Kemi Badenoch. But the local election results, while horrific, are not the extinction level event Reform claims them to be. They've lost a great many seats from the high watermark of 2021, and they've been pushed into second place by Reform even in places like leafy Goffs Oak in Hertfordshire. But they've not been wiped out completely. They've even won the mayoralty in Cambridgeshire. Sure, there's an Electoral Calculus poll doing the rounds suggesting that if the swing in Runcorn was applied nationally, it would see Reform gain 427 seats, Labour lose 255 seats and the Conservatives wiped out to just four. But we are talking about a working-class constituency where the sitting Labour MP, Mike Amesbury, punched a constituent in the face. The same rules don't apply to seats in the South West and the Home Counties. On this, the mayoral votes are telling. The combined Reform and Tory vote would have been enough to obliterate the combined Labour/Liberal Democrat/Green vote in Doncaster (58 to 37 per cent), Greater Lincolnshire (68 to 24 per cent) and North Tyneside (50 to 44 per cent). But in the West of England, the Left massively outgunned the Right with a 59 per cent vote share compared to 39 per cent for Reform and the Tories. Unlike Boris Johnson, who could reach parts that other politicians couldn't, huge swathes of the Blue Wall still elude Farage. And this isn't simply because they are inhabited by 'wet' Tories. Just as there are plenty of Thatcherites out there who no longer support the Tories, there are plenty of others who still can't bring themselves to support Farage, considering him to be a political spiv. Their worst fears about 'untried and untested' Reform are immediately confirmed by Andrea Jenkyns celebrating victory in the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral race with the suggestion that migrants should be 'housed in tents instead of hotels'. Amid growing resentment towards Labour – and with Sir Ed Davey hobby horsing around – the Tories could well mount a comeback in these constituencies in three years' time with a bit of hard work. Farage lacks Blue Wall appeal and Badenoch lacks Red Wall appeal but together they appeal to both. Righties currently finding the idea of voting for either unpalatable would strangely be more comfortable with a mash-up of Farage keeping the Tories honest, and the Tories keeping Reform from going off the reservation. This is a huge electoral strength that must be capitalised upon. The facts of life, as Margaret Thatcher once put it, remain conservative. Additionally, Labour could not be more unpopular now, even among the 33 per cent of a 60 per cent turnout who voted for them last year. Sir Keir Starmer is on the ropes, but conservatives, both small and big C, must box clever. What's truly astonishing about these two Right-wing parties is their comparative lack of electoral nous compared to the Left. Sure, the Conservatives are alleged to have played some dubious games. Jenkyns, who defected from the Tories to Reform last November, claimed to have been 'smeared' by her old party, which she said 'called the police on me and implied I slept with political friends'. At one point, her opponents tried to remove her from the ballot. But similar dirty tricks have been used by the parties of the Left for years. I don't condone it, but rather than getting mad with each other, the Right should get even on its real enemy: the so-called progressives hell-bent on destroying Britain. 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
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
If Kemi and Nigel want to stop clueless Keir destroying Britain, they need to do a deal
'Tories won't work with Reform despite election drubbing', read The Telegraph headline, in a predictably Conservative reaction to yet another electoral bloodbath. Asked about the prospect of local or national co-operation between the Tories and Reform following their disastrous local election results, which saw Nigel Farage's party make huge gains, Nigel Huddleston, the Tory co-chairman, declared: 'I can't see why we'd do that ... Reform's golden strategy is the destruction of the Conservative Party and they don't share many of the values and principles that we hold.' He added: 'We've done deals in the past on a council level where it's to implement Conservative policies and Conservative principles. 'We are under new leadership now. We're using our time in opposition wisely, we're developing a whole new set of principles and policies because we need to present ourselves as an alternative government. 'Not a protest party, not a populist party that will go around saying that we've got simple, straight answers to really complex questions. That's not a credible long-term proposition.' It might not be a 'credible long term position' but it's working for Reform, and the Conservative Party pretending otherwise is an insult to its own electorate. A 17.4 point swing to Reform in Runcorn and Helsby, one of the safest Labour seats, isn't a protest. It's a revolution. Moreover, who are the Tories kidding when they say Reform 'don't share many of the core principles and values that we hold'? They're a low-tax, low-immigration, anti-woke party that wants to slash government waste. If those aren't Conservative values then the Tories truly are finished. Quite a few Conservatives would rather nationalise steel than import it from China, too. Similarly, Farage calling the idea of a pact with the Tories 'revolting' also lacks credibility, for precisely the same reason: he is a former Conservative being propelled to power largely by former Conservatives. I can think of far more revolting things: a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition with a side order of Greens being chief among them. Both parties can pretend they have nothing in common until the cows come home – but voters on the Right will never forgive them if they allow their differences to bring about more of the same come 2029. Yes, Reform are more Right-wing than the Tories, as evidenced by the socialists protesting outside polling stations on Thursday shouting 'racists' and accusing the party of 'demonising' migrants. Yet the reason for Reform's success also threatens to be its failure. This is why a pact has to happen, if not before the next election, then immediately afterwards. Yes, the Tories may be on their knees right now. Voters certainly haven't woken up to the party being 'under new leadership'; according to YouGov, one in five British adults have never even heard of Kemi Badenoch. But the local election results, while horrific, are not the extinction level event Reform claims them to be. They've lost a great many seats from the high watermark of 2021, and they've been pushed into second place by Reform even in places like leafy Goffs Oak in Hertfordshire. But they've not been wiped out completely. They've even won the mayoralty in Cambridgeshire. Sure, there's an Electoral Calculus poll doing the rounds suggesting that if the swing in Runcorn was applied nationally, it would see Reform gain 427 seats, Labour lose 255 seats and the Conservatives wiped out to just four. But we are talking about a working-class constituency where the sitting Labour MP, Mike Amesbury, punched a constituent in the face. The same rules don't apply to seats in the South West and the Home Counties. On this, the mayoral votes are telling. The combined Reform and Tory vote would have been enough to obliterate the combined Labour/Liberal Democrat/Green vote in Doncaster (58 to 37 per cent), Greater Lincolnshire (68 to 24 per cent) and North Tyneside (50 to 44 per cent). But in the West of England, the Left massively outgunned the Right with a 59 per cent vote share compared to 39 per cent for Reform and the Tories. Unlike Boris Johnson, who could reach parts that other politicians couldn't, huge swathes of the Blue Wall still elude Farage. And this isn't simply because they are inhabited by 'wet' Tories. Just as there are plenty of Thatcherites out there who no longer support the Tories, there are plenty of others who still can't bring themselves to support Farage, considering him to be a political spiv. Their worst fears about 'untried and untested' Reform are immediately confirmed by Andrea Jenkyns celebrating victory in the Greater Lincolnshire mayoral race with the suggestion that migrants should be 'housed in tents instead of hotels'. Amid growing resentment towards Labour – and with Sir Ed Davey hobby horsing around – the Tories could well mount a comeback in these constituencies in three years' time with a bit of hard work. Farage lacks Blue Wall appeal and Badenoch lacks Red Wall appeal but together they appeal to both. Righties currently finding the idea of voting for either unpalatable would strangely be more comfortable with a mash-up of Farage keeping the Tories honest, and the Tories keeping Reform from going off the reservation. This is a huge electoral strength that must be capitalised upon. The facts of life, as Margaret Thatcher once put it, remain conservative. Additionally, Labour could not be more unpopular now, even among the 33 per cent of a 60 per cent turnout who voted for them last year. Sir Keir Starmer is on the ropes, but conservatives, both small and big C, must box clever. What's truly astonishing about these two Right-wing parties is their comparative lack of electoral nous compared to the Left. Sure, the Conservatives are alleged to have played some dubious games. Jenkyns, who defected from the Tories to Reform last November, claimed to have been 'smeared' by her old party, which she said 'called the police on me and implied I slept with political friends'. At one point, her opponents tried to remove her from the ballot. But similar dirty tricks have been used by the parties of the Left for years. I don't condone it, but rather than getting mad with each other, the Right should get even on its real enemy: the so-called progressives hell-bent on destroying Britain.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Double decker buses scrapped from park and ride
Double-decker buses are to be removed from a Kent park and ride scheme due to struggling post-pandemic passenger numbers. The Stagecoach buses in Canterbury will be swapped with single-deckers and hopper buses as the city council aims to cut financial losses from the service. The city's three park and ride sites were used about 20,000 times in February of this year, compared to 30,000 times in February 2020 shortly before the Covid-19 lockdowns. A Canterbury City Council overview committee meeting was told the service currently loses more than £30,000 a month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Councillors have backed the move to replace the double decker buses, with one remarking the existing buses are often seen with only "two people, a dog and a driver" onboard. Just 17% of journeys in February were at the Sturry Road facility, which had been mothballed by the previous Conservative administration in 2022 but brought back by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition after the April 2023 elections. The site currently loses £28,735 a month – the majority of the council's £32,366 monthly shortfall from the service. Other changes discussed included reducing the number of buses serving the Sturry road site from three to two. Canterbury City councillor Andrew Flanagan said changes to the service were "a sensible approach to take" while Conservative councillor Jeanette Stockley expressed concerns over the effect of reducing the number of buses in Sturry Road. The committee voted unanimously to recommend downsizing the fleet across all three sites, and replacing Sturry Road's buses with hoppers, but members were split on reducing the Sturry Road service. A final decision on the changes will be taken by the city council's cabinet on 23 April. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Park and Ride loses £30k per month Parking hike plans scrapped amid business fears Canterbury City Council Local Democracy Reporting Service
BBC News
06-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Canterbury to scrap double decker buses from park and ride
Double-decker buses are to be removed from a Kent park and ride scheme due to struggling post-pandemic passenger Stagecoach buses in Canterbury will be swapped with single-deckers and hopper buses as the city council aims to cut financial losses from the city's three park and ride sites were used about 20,000 times in February of this year, compared to 30,000 times in February 2020 shortly before the Covid-19 lockdowns.A Canterbury City Council overview committee meeting was told the service currently loses more than £30,000 a month, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Councillors have backed the move to replace the double decker buses, with one remarking the existing buses are often seen with only "two people, a dog and a driver" 17% of journeys in February were at the Sturry Road facility, which had been mothballed by the previous Conservative administration in 2022 but brought back by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition after the April 2023 site currently loses £28,735 a month – the majority of the council's £32,366 monthly shortfall from the service. Other changes discussed included reducing the number of buses serving the Sturry road site from three to City councillor Andrew Flanagan said changes to the service were "a sensible approach to take" while Conservative councillor Jeanette Stockley expressed concerns over the effect of reducing the number of buses in Sturry committee voted unanimously to recommend downsizing the fleet across all three sites, and replacing Sturry Road's buses with hoppers, but members were split on reducing the Sturry Road service.A final decision on the changes will be taken by the city council's cabinet on 23 April.
