Jack says claim he won £2,100 on election wager ‘was a joke’ as Labour candidate suspended
“The Westminster betting scandal intensified after claims that a cabinet minister said he had won £2,100 by backing a July election and a Labour candidate admitted placing a wager against himself. Alister Jack…allegedly told the BBC that he made the windfall by betting on June and July election dates…He subsequently said that his comments were a joke and issued a statement insisting that he “did not place any bets on the date of the general election during May”. However, Jack later confirmed he had placed £20 bet…on the election being held between July and September… Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer…was forced to suspend one of his candidates after it emerged that he had placed a bet on his Conservative rival.” – The Times
- Could Tory ‘betting scandal’ candidates be prosecuted? The rules explained – The Times
- Labour suspends candidate who bet against himself – The Daily Telegraph
- Why Tory ministers are wrong to claim they can’t talk about betting scandal – The I
- Sunak may have made the biggest electoral mistake in British history – Philip Johnston, The Daily Telegraph
- The Tories’ worst bet was backing Sunak – Isabel Hardman, The I
>Today:
- Patrick English’s Column: How the proportionality of swing can turn a big Conservative defeat into a wipeout
- John Redwood’s Column: This election has failed to grapple well with the major concerns of voters
- Miriam Cates’s Column: Voters are unhappy with politics. But many are still making up their minds.
- Jennifer Powers in Comment: Whatever the election result, CCHQ must overhaul the candidate selection process
- Video: Betting: ‘We shouldn’t take a genuine serious allegation and turn it into a broader slightly hazy moral panic.’
>Yesterday:
- Andrew Lilico in Comment: The Conservatives are being punished for letting down right-wing voters
Badenoch brands Tennant a ‘rich, lefty, white male celebrity’ in trans row
“Kemi Badenoch has criticised David Tennant after the actor said he wished she “did not exist any more” because of her views on women’s rights. The Doctor Who star said he wanted Mrs Badenoch, considered a front-runner in a future Tory leadership contest, to “shut up” as he collected an accolade for being a celebrity ally at the British LGBT Awards…for his support for the trans community. But Mrs Badenoch, who has said she wants to ban trans women from women’s toilets and defend single-sex spaces, accused him of being a “rich, lefty, white male celebrity” who attacked her even though she was the only black woman in government… Gender has become an election battleground, with the Conservatives accusing Labour of putting women’s rights at risk.” – The Daily Telegraph
- The Doctor Who actor, a Labour supporter, said he wished for a world where the minister “doesn’t exist anymore” – The Times
- Fears Labour could hastily outlaw gender conversion therapy in first 100 days of new government – The Daily Mail
- Labour has lost women’s trust over trans issues, admits Streeting – The Daily Telegraph
- Starmer suggests he wants to talk trans issues with Rowling – The Daily Mail
- This must be Labour’s most disturbing policy yet – Miriam Cates, The Daily Telegraph
Hunt ‘challenges Labour’ to rule out tax rises in first budget
“Jeremy Hunt has challenged Rachel Reeves to rule out tax rises in Labour’s first budget as he promised £6 billion of immediate tax cuts if the Conservatives win. the general election. The chancellor said that he would introduce five tax cuts promised in the Tory manifesto from April next year and promised no other taxes would rise if he remained in office to deliver an autumn budget. In a letter to his shadow, he asked Reeves to “confirm that, should Labour win the next general election, in your first fiscal event you will not include any tax rises beyond those set out in your manifesto”. Labour refused to do so, dismissing the request as “nonsense”. Sir Keir Starmer has promised not to raise the rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT, but has repeatedly ruled out raising a range of other taxes.” – The Times
- He ‘throws down the gauntlet’ with five major tax cut promises in first Tory budget – The Daily Mail
- Reeves draws ‘unlikely inspiration’ from Osborne and Cameron’s partnership – The Financial Times
- Net Zero is a recipe for economic catastrophe – a Labour U-turn is inevitable – Editorial, The Sun
- An electoral battle for the supply side – Andy Haldane, The Financial Times
Farage: Zelensky should seek peace ‘or risk losing every young Ukrainian man’
“Ukraine should agree to a peace deal with Russia or run the risk that every young Ukrainian man will be killed, Nigel Farage has said in an escalation of his views on the war. The Reform UK leader said that in the interests of peace, President Zelensky should rethink his ambition to reclaim all territory lost to President Putin’s invasion. Farage also launched a fresh attack on Boris Johnson for rejecting the prospect of a peace deal…Johnson has championed Britain’s support for Ukraine and remains close friends with Zelensky. Farage said greater efforts were needed to broker negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and that Britain and other western allies were being unrealistic in their support of Zelensky’s goal to drive the invading forces back into Russia.” – The Times
- Reform backers ‘could return to Tories’ over Farage Russia remarks – The I
- A candidate ‘praises Putin’ in city hit by Novichok – The Daily Telegraph
- Farage says the Royal Marines should take migrants back to France – The Times
- A candidate is branded ‘more of a fruitcake than Farage’ as it emerges he was once arrested for ‘attempted murder’ – The Sun
- Reform’s overreach – Editorial, The Daily Telegraph
- Reform puts British people first – how is that a wasted vote? – Allison Pearson, The Daily Telegraph
Starmer ‘denies Labour will lurch to the Left’ if party wins election…
“Sir Keir Starmer has denied that the Labour Party will lurch to the Left if it wins the general election. The Labour leader insisted that he was “not going to be deflected” in his pursuit of “wealth creation” – despite winning the leadership in 2020 by making an array of Left-wing policy promises such as vowing to increase income and corporation tax, abolish universal credit and axe tuition fees. His pledges to Labour members also included a promise to “defend free movement as we leave the EU”, nationalise the railways, water and energy, and abolish the House of Lords. The Conservatives have warned voters that giving Sir Keir a “super majority”…would put Britain in a “dangerous” place… Sir Keir took aim at the suggestion that he would adopt a range of socialist policies…” – The Daily Telegraph
- Britain’s big election will be the one after this – Janan Ganesh, The Financial Times
- What Starmer can learn from Swift about the power of vulnerability – Kate McCann, The I
- Here’s the Starmer I’ve known for decades – Daniel Finkelstein, The Times
- Voters must ask themselves this one question before thinking of voting for Starmer – Bim Afolami, Daily Express
…as Jewish support for the party ‘bounces back’ under his leadership…
“Support for Labour among Jewish voters has rocketed to 46 per cent under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, up from a record low of 11 per cent when Jeremy Corbyn was in charge, polling shows. Support for Labour among Britain’s Jews fell from 31 per cent in 2010 under Gordon Brown’s leadership to 22 per cent before Ed Miliband led them into the 2015 election. It then plummeted to record lows at the 2017 and 2019 election — 13 and 11 per cent respectively — amid accusations that antisemitism was rife within the party. A new survey of 2,717 Jewish people, commissioned by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), has recorded a huge recovery in support under Starmer’s leadership, finding that 46 per cent of British Jews intend to vote Labour in the general election…” – The Times
- Combined support for Labour and Tories hits lowest since 1918 – The Financial Times
- Labour and Lib Dems accused of ‘secret pact’ over target seats – The Daily Telegraph
…as Cooper and Lammy back ‘changing the law to officially declare Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group’
“Labour wants to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group by changing the law if it wins the election, The Telegraph understands. Both Yvette Cooper and David Lammy, who are set to become home secretary and foreign secretary respectively if the Labour Party takes office next week, are backing the new approach. The Tories have been considering proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for more than a year but declined to act after splits between the Home Office and Foreign Office over how such a move would damage diplomatic ties with Iran. Proscription is a mechanism that allows a government to formally declare a group a terrorist organisation, after which it is a criminal offence to belong to the group or encourage support.” – The Daily Telegraph
News in Brief:
- Will Starmer have the courage to stand up for women’s rights? – Lara Brown, The Spectator
- The very eccentric birth of Labour – Boyd Tonkin, UnHerd
- You can’t beat the left at its own game – Ben Sixsmith, The Critic
- The Berlin Airlift’s lessons for Taiwan – Elisabeth Braw, Engelsberg Ideas
- On Ukraine, Farage is at a moral and political dead end – Daniel Freeman, CapX
- Pounding pavements – Tim Chapman, J’Accuse
The post Newslinks for Wednesday 26th June 2024 appeared first on Conservative Home.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: ConservativeHome
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, http://www.conservativehome.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.