AceNewsDesk – The smoke clears on our latest League Table to reveal a damaged landscape. Kemi Badenoch, on 63 points, and Penny Mordaunt, on 49.8, are the only Cabinet members who break the half-century barrier. Badenoch, second last month, is now first and Mordaunt, third last month, is now second
The man who then pipped Badenoch to the top spot, James Cleverly, falls from first with 72 points to eleventh from bottom with 10.6 points. It’s fair to say that whatever you think of the new Home Secretary’s performance since he was appointed, pleasing Conservative activists seems to have been just about the last thing on his mind, for better or worse.
But the biggest news is that Rishi Sunak, whose ratings have yo-yoed around during the past few months, hits his lowest trough yet in the table. Last month, in our first survey since the Conservative Party Conference, he was on 7.1 points and ninth from bottom. The month before, in the wake of his Net Zero speech, he was up to 26 points and eighth. Three months ago, he was in the red on -2.7.
Minus 25.4 is a dire rating – though not as lamentable as the tooth-grindingly terrible -51.2 and -53.1 scores racked up by Theresa May and Philip Hammond in April 2019, let alone Chris Grayling’s record -71.6 score in the same poll. The fact is that during the last month every good piece of news for the Government has been followed by bad.
Inflation halved? The Supreme Court’s Rwanda judgement came only a few hours later. Autumn Statement? A day later came record legal migration figures. Many members of the panel will also have clocked the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel a meeting with Greece’s visiting Prime Minister over the Elgin Marbles rumpus. Labour leads by 19 points in Politico’s poll of polls.
“We are in a terrible hole,” Ken Clarke said of John Major’s Government during the mid-1990s. The same might be said of this one now. Compare and contrast this table with the first of this Parliament, returned by much the same panel in January 2020. Then, 17 Ministers broke the 50 point barrier, and Boris Johnson was on 91.6 points.
Five Ministers are now in negative ratings: four of these are familiar faces. Oliver Dowden (back in the red), Andrew Mitchell, Rishi Sunak – and Jeremy Hunt, whose Autumn Statement landed well with the Conservative media, but whose rating rises only from -23 to -13.4. Robert Jenrick is out of negative ratings, recording a lowly 6.6 from -8.9. Richard Holden gets no breathing space, coming in as Party Chairman at 3.6.
And David Cameron? He is welcomed back to the table with a negative score of -4.9. Some of this will be Leave-ish sentiment, some an unease about his record on China, some perhaps a memory of the Greensill saga. All rather unfair, in my view. But who am I to question that of the panel? Our Cabinet League Table question received some 750 replies.
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AceNewsDesk – Eleven months ago, Rishi Sunak set out his five pledges, to not only prove to an electorate that had not returned him that he could still be trusted to deliver for it, but to give it a metric by which to judge his efforts
Still new to Downing Street, the Prime Minister aimed to draw a contrast with his predecessors. “People don’t want politicians who promise the earth and fail to deliver,” he declared. Voters’ top concerns – halving inflation, NHS waiting lists, stopping the small boats, economic growth, and, erm, the national debt – were his own. His solemn promise: “I fully expect you to hold my government and I to account”.
Unexpectedly and unceremoniously, Sunak has now left those promises hanging. In a speech otherwise devoted to scrapping his hitherto Augustinian approach to tax cuts, the Prime Minister introduced five new commitments. That is despite only one of his existing targets having been hit. The other four also look increasingly unreachable. His chutzpah is admirable, if unwarranted.
Sunak only had an hour to celebrate inflation halving last Wednesday before the Supreme Court rendered his Rwanda policy unworkable. Even then, he was largely taking credit for the handiwork of falling global energy prices and the Bank of England. NHS waiting lists are at 7.8 million, an ugly record. Growth is stagnant; a recession looms. The less said about the national debt, the better.
If the Prime Minister considers that a successful record of delivery, I hope he never has to take a job at Deliveroo. Why is he announcing new targets when the originals haven’t been met? If January’s five are already a noose around his government’s neck, why double their number? And why should any voter who even bothers to notice take these pledges seriously if he doesn’t?
His answer? “Political courage.” Comrades, these are not just any old five new pledges. They are, in fact, “five long-term decisions” for the economy. Their major difference is the likelihood that Sunak will never be held accountable for them. Their timescales stretch past next autumn’s electoral event horizon. Nothing fades faster than a vision of the future. Just ask Milton Keynes.
Nonetheless, it’s nice for the Prime Minister to show us what he’s thinking. What are the new and infamous five? Reducing debt – one of the outstanding pledges that remain unmet – alongside cutting taxes, improving our energy security, backing British businesses by encouraging greater investment, and ensuring every child has access to a world-class education. Motherhood and apple pie only just missed out.
All of these are topics on which Sunak has repeatedly opined. Being Peloton’s answer to Nigel Lawson, his approach was always to put reducing inflation before cutting taxes. Increasing business investment was the core of his Mais lecture. He established a Department for Energy Security in March. His only shared interest with Carol Vorderman is an enthusiasm for cramming Maths into every teen in England
Tax cuts took centre stage yesterday. One can query why Sunak chose to upstage his Chancellor if he couldn’t actually say what the cuts would be. But looking a gift horse in the mouth seems fruitless when the tax burden is at a 70-year high. “We will do so seriously, we will do responsibly, but that time is now here,” he announced. His government’s parsimony has brought inflation down. Now enjoy the fruits of his labours. Kwasi Kwarteng, eat your heart out.
Sunak suggests that the Government’s freedom to announce cuts rests on its admirable doggedness in holding against public sector pay increases. Whilst ministers have confounded some expectations on that front, it has more to do with the rinsing of taxpayers via fiscal drag. Any cuts that do come tomorrow – ConservativeHome is batting for Income Tax or National Insurance – will be lipstick on a pecuniary pig.
Sunak has thus established the contours of his election pitch. By plugging away at Britain’s long-term challenges through an admirable willingness to face up to realities he believes other politicians have ducked, he offers a new Jerusalem of slightly lower taxes, a slightly small state, and a few filled-in potholes where high-speed trains should be. My friends, it’s morning in Southampton.
Perhaps this is why yesterday’s speech was so low-key. A college in Enfield, a year out from a general election. Hardly Trump Tower, is it? Little pre-briefing or gossip had emerged from Downing Street, with no great suggestion to broadcasters or hacks that this was something they should be overly interested in. Sunak himself seemed almost keen to just get it over and done with.
Perhaps this comes from a growing sense on the Prime Minister’s part that backbench restlessness, a darkening international outlook, and the increasing futility of his efforts to book a flight to Rwanda might force him into an early election. Hence he might be making another launch speech sooner rather than later. If not, maybe he just plans to be doing this all again in the spring. Who fancies another five pledges?
Or maybe, just maybe, the reasoning is a little more mundane. His party conference speech, the King’s Speech, last Monday’s reshuffle: how many relaunches can one man take in a month? It must be dispiriting to keep telling the voters you are making tough long-term decisions on their behalf, only for each successive announcement to put you further back in the polls. The ingratitude!
As our Editor has often reminded us, elections boil down to “Safety First” versus “Time for a Change”. Sunak tried offering the latter at conference. But shifting the dial from that failed 30-year consensus came a cropper due to a King’s Speech high on vocab but thin on content followed by the unexpected return of that consensus in human form. Plus ça change.
In the absence of a convincing change narrative, Sunak fell back on trying to frighten voters with a Labour government. Yet his efforts centred on their pledge to borrow £28 billion more for Ed Miliband’s various green boondoggles, which is a policy that Rachel Reeves has already kicked into the long grass. Even then, it only served as an unwelcome reminder of Trussonomics.
Sunak will be pleased to hear that he cannot be accused of being a politician promising the earth and failing to deliver. But that is only because his offer has become so thin. “Vote for me and your taxes might be slightly lower than under that other bloke.” It’s not a slogan that even he appears enthusiastic about. An unfortunate day for his poll ratings to reach their joint lowest since he entered Number 10.
If these new priorities are the basis for next year’s election campaign, 2024 is going to be a very long year. I thus look forward to seeing them being scrapped in the run-up to next spring’s Budget, with little to no progress on them having been made.
@acenewsservices Editor says …Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency is not responsible for the content of external site or from any reports, posts or links and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and comment thank you
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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.11: 2023:
#AceNewsDesk – One of the most prominent Indigenous figures in recent Liberal politics says the Voice to Parliament will be hamstrung if it cannot directly advise ministers, saying his former colleagues should have “no reason to be afraid” of the proposal: Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7.30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
Ken Wyatt was beside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the wording of the Voice referendum question was revealed.(ABC News: Mark Moore)none
Speaking publicly for the first time since resigning his membership, Ken Wyatt told 7.30 it had been a “hard decision”.
“I had to weigh up my love of the Liberal Party and its values, and what it stands for, against a stubborn position of not wanting to give Aboriginal people a seat at the table,” Mr Wyatt said.
Mr Wyatt was asked if he thought there was any form of words that would have satisfied the Liberal leadership, to which he replied: “No, I don’t think so.”
Ken Wyatt was minister for Indigenous Australians under the Morrison Government.
He quit the Liberal Party last week, less than 24 hours after Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced the party would campaign for the “No” case in the upcoming referendum to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the Constitution.
In outlining his opposition to the Voice, Mr Dutton expressed concerns about allowing the Voice to advise executive government.
Mr Wyatt said it was essential that the Voice could speak directly to government and was the equivalent to the various stakeholders who routinely lobby ministers during the development of new policy.
“It’s too late after a party room [meeting], it’s too late after it’s been tabled in the parliament,” Mr Wyatt said.
Peter Dutton: Principle or political opportunism?
Asked whether the Opposition leader was acting out of principle or political opportunism in opposing the voice, Mr Wyatt said it was “probably a combination of both”.
Pressed on Mr Dutton’s description of the Voice as bureaucratic and elitist, Wyatt said: “That’s far from the truth … it’s not a Canberra voice. It is not elite. It is people from the grassroots.”
Mr Wyatt’s resignation was followed on Wednesday by the departure of Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, Julian Leeser, from the Coalition’s frontbench.Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Julian Leeser has stepped down from the frontbench to support the Voice.(ABC News: Mark Moore)none
In a press conference earlier on Tuesday, he said: “I believe the Voice can help move the dial on Indigenous education, health, housing, safety and economic development. I believe better policy is made when the people affected by it are consulted.
“Unlike almost any other party in the parliament, the Liberal Party gives backbenchers the freedom to champion the ideas they believe in. I want to exercise that freedom because I intend to campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote.”
Pragmatism and regrets
As a minister in the previous government, Mr Wyatt advocated for introducing the Voice through normal legislation as a compromise, rather than holding a referendum to insert it in the constitution.
Asked by 7.30’s Sarah Ferguson if he regretted that “pragmatism”, Mr Wyatt replied: “I do, in hindsight.”Ken Wyatt was minister for Indigenous Australians in the Morrison government. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)none
“It was about taking the next step, of starting the process,” he said.
“But it was never the intent not to have a national voice.”
Mr Wyatt said he would be “deeply saddened” if the Voice was defeated at the referendum.
Indigenous people, he said, had made a huge contribution to building the modern Australian nation.
“Their contribution to build the foundation of our economy, our country and our way of life should be acknowledged by reciprocating and saying, ‘Hey, we want to give you the opportunity to sit at the table and express your views’.”
Contact 7.30: Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.06: 2023:
#AceBreakingNews – Montenegro’s long-standing leader Milo Djukanovic has suffered a resounding presidential election defeat.
Pro-Western Milo Djukanovic held power in Montenegro for over three decades
The 36-year-old centrist former economy minister, Jakov Milatovic, declared victory on Sunday evening after the presidential run-off.
He will take over from Mr Djukanovic, who has held power as president or prime minister in Montenegro for over three decades.
Snap parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in the summer.
“Tonight is the night we have been awaiting for over 30 years. I wish you a happy victory,” Mr Milatovic told cheering supporters of his Europe Now Movement in the capital, Podgorica.
He promised to lead his small Balkan nation into the European Union within the next five years.
Reuters reported that Jakov Milatovic celebrated on Sunday after the first results of the presidential election were announced in Podgorica
Official results are expected later in the week – but two respected election monitoring organisations are projecting victory for Mr Milatovic.
The Centre for Monitoring and Research polling group said Mr Milatovic had secured 60% of the vote.
Mr Djukanovic was the youngest prime minister in Europe when he took power at the age of 29 in 1991 – the start of the collapse of Yugoslavia. He led Montenegro to independence from Serbia in 2006.
As the scale of Mr Milatovic’s victory became clear on Sunday evening, Mr Djukanovic acknowledged his defeat while wishing Milatovic success as president.
“Montenegro has chosen and I respect that choice,” he told his supporters.
Although the presidential post in Montenegro is largely ceremonial, victory in the election could improve the chances of the winner’s party in parliamentary elections on 11 June.
During the election campaign, Mr Milatovic promised to curb corruption, improve living standards and boost ties with the European Union and neighbouring Serbia.
The 37-year-old received support from parties close to Serbia, Russia and the Orthodox Church.
By Thomas Mackintosh: BBC News
Editor says …Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency is not responsible for the content of external site or from any reports, posts or links, and can also be found here on Telegram: https://t.me/acenewsdaily and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and comment thank you
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Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Apr.05: 2023:
#AceNewsDesk – Mercola Interview with RFK Jr. on His Likely Presidential Run
@acenewsservices
PRESIDENTIAL RACE: Mercola.com reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced he’s considering entering the presidential race if he can garner enough support.
The Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and several other plaintiffs, including me, [Dr. Mercola], are suing the Trusted News Initiative (TNI) for violation of antitrust laws. The BBC has been using its market power and illegal collaboration with other leading market actors to crush smaller news outlets.
The CHD has also led a number of First Amendment cases, including one against Facebook, which censored the CHD, Mercola.com and many other sites.
As a private company, Facebook has the right to censor anyone it wants, for any reason. However, they cannot do it at the behest of the government, and we now have ample evidence that this is precisely what they’ve been doing.
Kennedy believes if he is elected to the White House he can clean out government corruption because he knows where it is, what it stems from and how to correct it…
Kennedy recently announced he’s considering entering the presidential race if he can garner enough support. Considering two members of the Kennedy family have already been murdered, this requires quite a bit of courage. Clearly, there are risks involved anytime you try to change a corrupt system from within. Kennedy comments:
“I haven’t made the decision yet, but I’m leaning towards doing it. It’s going to give me an opportunity, as it makes it much more dicult for them to censor me, [to] talk about all these issues for the first time without censorship and connect them.
I’ve been an environmental attorney and advocate for 40 years, and I saw the impact of agency capture. That’s why I was able to recognize it so easily when I saw it in the pharmaceutical industry. All these agencies are captured. The pharmaceutical industry owns the National Institutes of Health … CDC, FDA. The coal and oil industry and the pesticide industry own the Environmental Protection Agency.
I was on the trial team in the Monsanto case, which ended up with a $13 billion settlement. We had three trials in a row … [and] we did a lot of discovery. We were able to find secret EPA papers that showed the head of the EPA pesticide division for a decade was a man who was secretly working for Monsanto.
So Monsanto was actually directing his movements. In one of the emails we found, Monsanto instructed him to kill a study that was being done by another agency, the Agency for Toxic Substance Control, ATSDR. It’s a smaller agency that focuses just on toxins that’s separate from EPA.
He’d always been able to control the EPA studies and to x them. But now here’s another agency that Monsanto has no control over that’s actually going to do an independent study on the carcinogenicity of Roundup and glyphosate.
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