Politics: A Torrid Week for The Tories

First, call a snap election to get a mandate to lead the nation into a beautiful exit from the dastardly EU. Next, keep the Right happy with “Hard Brexit” talk. Then continue to cut police numbers despite the threat of terror attacks while squeezing the NHS and nurses as part of the grind of austerity.

But somehow convince yourselves and your Cabinet that the regular people are going to come along with you for the ride.

So how’s it all working now for the Tories?

Police Pay

The Police Federation has accused Theresa May of lying when she claimed that her Government had fully accepted an independent review body’s recommendation of a 2% pay rise.

Ken Marsh, the chairman of the federation’s Metropolitan London branch, told Felix Magazine that by treating half of that rise as a one-off “bonus” that will not be built into the following year’s wages and will not be reflected in pensions the PM had deliberately misrepresented the treatment of the review body;s recommendation.

The federation’s vice-chair, Calum Macleod also said May lied to Parliament when she said police officers had had a 32% pay rise since 2010.

“That is a joke – and it in fact a downright lie.It shows they have lost touch with reality, if they ever had it, and are clueless as to the demands and dangers officers have to face on a daily basis to keep communities safe. Officers are struggling to keep their heads above water and all we are asking for is fair recognition.

May also ducked a question in Parliament from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on whether police and prison officers numbers could be cut in order to fund the pay rises.

The Parliament Game

Labour frontbencher Valerie Vaz described the Government’s current treatment of Parliament as “jaw dropping”.

The Government lacks a majority in the House of Commons but is moving to grant itself a whole load of new executive powers in the EU withdrawal bill, has stacked the House standing committees with its own members so it could control the progress of the bill through parliament; and has shown little respect for the House by ordering its MPs to abstain in the opposition day debates on NHS pay and student fees.

The SNP’s Pete Wishart went further by calling the Government a “dysfunctional tinpot dictatorship”.

#Moggmentum

A popular candidate among Tory activists to lead the party after Theresa May is Jacob Rees-Mogg. Yes, we kid you not, the guy known as the ‘Minster for the 1930’s has overtaken David Davis as the favourite of activists polled by the ConservativeHome blog.

Dismissed as a joke figure by the more hard-headed Tory strategists, JRM has cranked up his PR efforts and suddenly seems to be everywhere on Twitter, LBC and the Murdoch press.

But right on the heels of his controversial comments opposing abortion and gay marriage, the Tory backbencher suggested that the rapid increase in food banks showed a “rather uplifting” picture of a compassionate country.

Perhaps he should visit one and make a donation from his castle.

Conference Time

The growing appeal of Jeremy Corbyn continues to trouble the Tories.

As all the posturing about who wil replace Theresa May kicks off ahead of the Tory Party conference, Robert Halfon, a Tory stalwart, suggested the Tories needed a “radical, counter-intuitive revolution… if we are to survive”.

“If we don’t radically reform our messaging, our machinery; if we don’t focus on policies that really are there to help the lower paid, which are supported by people in metropolitan areas, I think, we’ll face a precipice. Corbyn will be in No 10,” he warned.

Old Friends

George Osborne, the ex-Chancellor and now thorn in the side of Theresa May, has reminded the Tories that he is still a loud voice around town.

Labour MP Cat Smith accused Osborne, now the editor of the Evening Standard, of descending into violent imagery in his attacks on the PM. “Only this week the former chancellor told colleagues at the Evening Standard that he will not rest until the Prime Minister is, and I quote, ‘chopped up in bags in my freezer’,” the Labour MP said.

Theresa May said she would not comment on Osborn;s plans for his freezer but nasty gets nastier in the Tory world.

New Friends

The Democratic Unionist Party, the saviours of the Tories after their election car crash, showed Theresa May’s party that while they were happy to prop them up in exchange for their £1 billion post-election pay-off agreement, that support does not extend to every issue.

When Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion calling for higher wages for NHS staff and an end to the public sector pay cap, the DUP said it would back Corbyn’s non-binding motion.

Anyone getting nervous in Downing Street?

General Election Time?

And finally just to pop the cherry on top of the Tory’s Torrid Week, along came this headline in The Times: “Labour would win a majority in a general election if it was held tomorrow, a new poll has indicated.”

A YouGov survey indicated that Labour continues to capitalise on a surge in support following the snap election in June. The survey for The Times found that 42% of respondents would vote Labour, compared to 41% for the Tories and 7% for the Liberal Democrats.

Election anyone?

 

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