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A Green party councillor at the centre of an antisemitism row has apologised “for the upset caused” by his remarks but hit back at “Islamophobic” attacks against him, Eleni Courea reports.
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Good morning. We’re a few days on from the local elections, and the party has got a new leader. But that’s the SNP, not the Conservative party, where the much-anticipated, post-locals leadership challenge aimed at Rishi Sunak never materialised. Today he will take PMQs for the first time since the plotters called off the dogs, and accepted that Sunak will lead the party into the next election.
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But that does not mean the feuding has stopped, and this morning Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is launching a bid to push Sunak to the right on immigration policy. He has written a report with Neil O’Brien, another former minister, and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, with more than 30 recommendations that would slam the brakes on mass immigration into the UK. Jenrick is clearly gearing up to run for the leadership after the general election and, as Sam Blewett argues in his London Playbook briefing for Politico, today’s intervention “has the whiff of something planned a while back by the rebel faction”, when it was assumed that this week Sunak would be facing a no confidence vote.
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The proposals in Jenrick’s report include: raising the salary threshold for people getting health and social care visas, limiting the number of health and social care visas issued to 30,000 a year (last year 146,000 were issued), abolishing graduate visas for students, setting an annual cap on the number of visas issued a year, and recommitting to reducing net migration to below 100,000 a year.
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In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Jenrick says Sunak could implement many of his recommendations before the election. He says the PM should make this a priority, “instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs”, to see off the threat from Reform UK. He says:
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\n
Instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs, the government could use the time left in the parliamentary session to deliver the post-Brexit immigration system voters were promised. We shouldn’t wait to save conservative policies for our manifesto when we are 20 points behind in the polls in an election year – that would be government by posturing and an abdication of duty. The Government has a solid majority and could deliver these today.
\n
The local election results reaffirmed two clear trends, obvious to those of us who spend time on the doorsteps listening to voters. First, Conservative voters feel badly let down and are struggling to find reasons to back us. Second, we are haemorrhaging support to the Reform Party. This is primarily because of mass migration and the allied and growing problem of extremism, although clearly other factors are also at play.
\n
In the precious time we have left before the election, reducing net migration to the 10,000s and delivering the highly-selective immigration system we call for in our report would be the single biggest thing the Government could do to win over these wavering voters.
\n
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It would be surprising if none of this comes up at PMQs.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.30am: John Swinney is sworn in in Edinburgh as Scotland’s new first minister. Later in the day he will appoint his cabinet.
","elementId":"063c1d5c-b775-4ca9-ae6c-07fd9d84d248"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
9.30am: Former ministers Robert Jenrick and Neil O’Brien launch their report, Taking Back Control, calling for tighter immigration controls at an event organised by the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, which is publishing the paper.
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11am: More in Commons holds a briefing with its assessment of the local elections.
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Noon: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.
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2pm: Sunak is hosting a meeting at No 10 for Tory MPs to discuss the results of the local elections.
","elementId":"13485190-cd40-4710-a4f5-4b29fc4347bc"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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Key events
Leeds Green party councillor says sorry for comments about Gaza conflict
A Green party councillor at the centre of an antisemitism row has apologised “for the upset caused” by his remarks but hit back at “Islamophobic” attacks against him, Eleni Courea reports.
Rishi Sunak to take PMQs as Robert Jenrick calls for measures to slash net immigration before general election
Good morning. We’re a few days on from the local elections, and the party has got a new leader. But that’s the SNP, not the Conservative party, where the much-anticipated, post-locals leadership challenge aimed at Rishi Sunak never materialised. Today he will take PMQs for the first time since the plotters called off the dogs, and accepted that Sunak will lead the party into the next election.
But that does not mean the feuding has stopped, and this morning Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, is launching a bid to push Sunak to the right on immigration policy. He has written a report with Neil O’Brien, another former minister, and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, with more than 30 recommendations that would slam the brakes on mass immigration into the UK. Jenrick is clearly gearing up to run for the leadership after the general election and, as Sam Blewett argues in his London Playbook briefing for Politico, today’s intervention “has the whiff of something planned a while back by the rebel faction”, when it was assumed that this week Sunak would be facing a no confidence vote.
The proposals in Jenrick’s report include: raising the salary threshold for people getting health and social care visas, limiting the number of health and social care visas issued to 30,000 a year (last year 146,000 were issued), abolishing graduate visas for students, setting an annual cap on the number of visas issued a year, and recommitting to reducing net migration to below 100,000 a year.
In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Jenrick says Sunak could implement many of his recommendations before the election. He says the PM should make this a priority, “instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs”, to see off the threat from Reform UK. He says:
Instead of banning smoking or regulating London’s pedicabs, the government could use the time left in the parliamentary session to deliver the post-Brexit immigration system voters were promised. We shouldn’t wait to save conservative policies for our manifesto when we are 20 points behind in the polls in an election year – that would be government by posturing and an abdication of duty. The Government has a solid majority and could deliver these today.
The local election results reaffirmed two clear trends, obvious to those of us who spend time on the doorsteps listening to voters. First, Conservative voters feel badly let down and are struggling to find reasons to back us. Second, we are haemorrhaging support to the Reform Party. This is primarily because of mass migration and the allied and growing problem of extremism, although clearly other factors are also at play.
In the precious time we have left before the election, reducing net migration to the 10,000s and delivering the highly-selective immigration system we call for in our report would be the single biggest thing the Government could do to win over these wavering voters.
It would be surprising if none of this comes up at PMQs.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: John Swinney is sworn in in Edinburgh as Scotland’s new first minister. Later in the day he will appoint his cabinet.
9.30am: Former ministers Robert Jenrick and Neil O’Brien launch their report, Taking Back Control, calling for tighter immigration controls at an event organised by the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank, which is publishing the paper.
11am: More in Commons holds a briefing with its assessment of the local elections.
Noon: Rishi Sunak faces Keir Starmer at PMQs.
2pm: Sunak is hosting a meeting at No 10 for Tory MPs to discuss the results of the local elections.
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.