Newslinks for Thursday 6th April 2023
SNP 1) Police arrest Sturgeon's husband and search home
"Nicola Sturgeon said she would "fully co-operate" with the police investigation into Scottish National Party finances after her husband was arrested and officers searched her back garden, shed and garage. The former first minister said she had "no prior knowledge" of the raid on her Glasgow home and has not been invited to attend a police interview. In a dramatic development that casts doubt on her justification for resigning, Sturgeon was collected by a car moments after police arrived at 7.35am.
Officers were seen carrying two spades as they scoured the outdoor area next to her conservatory, having cordoned off the property and erected a blue police tent on the front lawn." - The Times[1]
- How an indyref2 crowdfunder led to Murrell's arrest - Daily Telegraph[2]
- Neighbours watched Sturgeon raid like Line of Duty episode - The Times[3]
More:
- Members 'duped' into backing Yousaf, say Forbes supporters - Daily Telegraph[4]
- First Minister's leadership 'angering many' as party set for 'difficult' times ahead - Daily Express[5]
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Murrell's arrest is yet another body blow to the SNP's old guard[6]
SNP 2) Police face questions over timing of arrest raid
"Police chiefs in Scotland are being urged to reveal whether they faced political pressure to delay the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon's husband until after a replacement was found for the outgoing Scottish first minister... It comes seven weeks after Ms Sturgeon announced she was stepping down as first minister and just one week after her successor, Humza Yousaf, took office. Although Police Scotland denied notifying her in advance, the former SNP leader and force chiefs are now facing "big questions" about the circumstances of her resignation and the timing of the arrest." - Daily Telegraph[7]
SNP 3) Tom Harris: This arrest raises serious questions about what Sturgeon knew - and when
"Exactly two months ago, a little more than a week before her resignation statement, Ms Sturgeon published her tax returns for the previous six years.
This was seemingly the move of a woman in full campaign mode -- voluntarily revealing the details of her personal finances in a bid to bounce the prime minister at Westminster into following her example. Something he did just six weeks later. It was thought that only a politician determined to stay for the long haul would go to such lengths, and it banished at a stroke all the rumours that she was preparing to step down.
And yet, nine days later, Ms Sturgeon announced she intended to resign after all. The reasons she gave were never entirely convincing." - Daily Mail[9]
- SNP could crack under pressure as troubles grow - Alex Massie, The Times[10]
- Power couple on brink of a personal disaster 20 years in the making - Jonathan Brocklebank, Daily Mail[11]
Benton has whip suspended after newspaper sting
"A Conservative MP who reportedly offered to lobby ministers on behalf of the gambling industry and leak a confidential policy document for up to GBP4,000 a month has had the party whip suspended. Scott Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was caught by undercover reporters for the Times posing on behalf of a fake investment fund saying he could "call in favours" from colleagues and get "easy access" to ministers when queueing for parliamentary votes.
Late on Wednesday night, a spokesperson for the Tory chief whip Simon Hart said that Benton had the party whip suspended "whilst an investigation is ongoing". Benton has referred himself to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, the spokesperson added." - The Guardian[12]
Editorial:
Braverman defeats Drummond to contest new electoral seat
"Suella Braverman, the home secretary, won a selection battle on Wednesday night that had pitted her against a Tory backbencher. Braverman was up against Flick Drummond for selection in what will be the new Fareham & Waterlooville seat in Hampshire, which has been created by a boundary change.
Braverman won by 77 votes to 54. If she had lost, she had indicated a second preference for the neighbouring Hamble Valley constituency. Drummond, whose Meon Valley constituency is being absorbed, said that she was "disappointed" by the result but would "carry on being Meon Valley MP and doing the best for my constituents"." - The Times[15]
>Yesterday:
Government publishes plans for post-Brexit border checks
"The UK government has set out proposals to introduce full customs checks on goods entering Britain from the EU by the end of October 2024, more than three-and-a-half years after originally planned. While the new rules are required by Britain's post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU, their introduction has been repeatedly delayed since the UK officially withdrew from the bloc on January 31, 2020, with ministers fearing they could create unacceptable delays at Channel ports and other entry points. The proposals announced on Wednesday were designed to address these concerns, with stripped back plans that included carrying out checks away from ports to avoid causing disruption..." - FT
>Today: Stephen Booth's column: A post-Brexit triumph, a post-Brexit disaster? Neither: the significance of Britain joining CPTPP lies elsewhere.[16]
Migrant barge to remain off Dorset for 18 months
"A barge to house 500 migrants will be docked off Dorset until at least autumn next year, the Home Office has said. The department has signed a lease for the Bibby Stockholm, which will be berthed at Portland Port, near Weymouth.
Migrants are expected to be moved on to the Bibby Stockholm, one of a fleet of barges owned by the maritime accommodation company Bibby Marine, by the end of August... The Conservative-run Dorset council is opposed to the plan and Richard Drax, the Tory MP for South Dorset, has vowed to consign it "to the dustbin"." - The Times[17]
- Sunak says barge is 'fair and will save money' - Daily Express[18]
- Inside first migrant barge housing migrants - The Sun[19]
- Dorset residents unite against plan to moor asylum seekers in port - FT
- Plans for new sites for asylum seekers 'risk humanitarian catastrophe' - The Guardian[20]
>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Abuse and ethnicity. Braverman and Sunak set out to show that being tough on crime is not racist but reasonable[21]
Power showers could be banned in plans to save water
"Power showers that guzzle gallons of water are likely to be banned.
They are facing the axe under a government drive to slash the amount of water people use from 144 litres a day to 122 litres. A five-minute power shower uses about 75 litres of water, while normal ones can use about 45 litres. And that has put them in the sights of ministers as part of a 25-year plan to save water and protect the environment.
Parts of the country are said to be at serious risk of running out of water within 20 years. In response, minimum standards for taps, toilets and showers will be introduced by the end of the year." - The Sun[22] >Yesterday: Sir John Redwood MP's column: Consumer resistance to electric cars - and why it's time for a rethink of the Net Zero timetable[23]
Gove attacks rail pension fund over dangerous cladding at flats
"Michael Gove has launched an stinging attack on one of the country's biggest pension funds, accusing it of failing to fix "life-critical" fire risks at ten buildings it owns with dangerous cladding.
Residents at properties owned by the Railways Pension Scheme (Railpen) have been issued with demands for as much as GBP200,000 per flat to pay for remedial work to their properties while some have moved out because of the acute risk of fire. However, despite the threat of legal action, the pension fund has so far failed to sign up to a government scheme to pay for the cost of removing unsafe cladding on buildings six years after the Grenfell Tower fire in west London, which killed 72 people." - The Times[24] >Yesterday: ToryDiary: Reducing Lawson's achievements to tax cuts alone ignores his fears of Trussonomics, and the importance he placed on controlling spending[25]
Starmer backs rewriting equality law to ban trans people from same-sex spaces
"Sir Keir Starmer welcomes moves to rewrite equality law to ban trans people from same-sex spaces, his spokesman has said as he attempts to draw a line under his party's divisions on the issue.
The Labour leader has "no quibble" with Rishi Sunak's suggestion that the Equality Act could be changed to make clear that sex discrimination refers to biological sex - not the gender a person identifies with. Such a move would allow venues to prevent trans people from entering women's toilets or changing rooms, or from competing in women's sports events." - Daily Telegraph[26]
- Labour welcomes Equality Act review - The Times[27]
- Inside Opposition's war on second home ownership - Daily Telegraph[28]
Comment:
- Starmer's values are still a work in progress - Robert Shrimsley, FT
Punish the FBI to avenge my arrest, Trump tells party
"Donald Trump called on fellow Republicans to defund the US justice department and the FBI yesterday, staying on the offensive a day after pleading not guilty to criminal charges in New York. The day after becoming the first president in US history to be charged with a crime over a hush money payment to the porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump turned his fury on federal agencies who are also pursuing investigations against him.
Trump accused the Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI of meddling in American elections as he tries to retake the White House next year. "Republicans in Congress should defund the DoJ and FBI until they come to their senses," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform." - The Times[29] >Today: ToryDiary: When lawfare consumes politics. The Trump circus is a terrible warning to Britain.[30]
News in Brief:
- More lost jobs shows the very real cost of sky-high windfall taxes - Andy Mayer, CapX[31]
- Misery of parents faced with work-shy, striking teachers - Claudia Savage-Gore, The Critic[32]
- The English major is dead.
- The third great crisis in Christianity - Dan Hitchens, The Spectator[34]
- The fantasy of Britain's liberal elite - Kathleen Stock, UnHerd[35]
References
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Express (www.express.co.uk)
- ^ Murrell's arrest is yet another body blow to the SNP's old guard (conservativehome.com)
- ^ Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ A post-Brexit triumph, a post-Brexit disaster? Neither: the significance of Britain joining CPTPP lies elsewhere. (conservativehome.com)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Express (www.express.co.uk)
- ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
- ^ The Guardian (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ Abuse and ethnicity. Braverman and Sunak set out to show that being tough on crime is not racist but reasonable (conservativehome.com)
- ^ The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
- ^ Consumer resistance to electric cars - and why it's time for a rethink of the Net Zero timetable (conservativehome.com)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Reducing Lawson's achievements to tax cuts alone ignores his fears of Trussonomics, and the importance he placed on controlling spending (conservativehome.com)
- ^ Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ The Times (www.thetimes.co.uk)
- ^ When lawfare consumes politics.
The Trump circus is a terrible warning to Britain.
(conservativehome.com) - ^ CapX (capx.co)
- ^ The Critic (thecritic.co.uk)
- ^ Litverse (litverse.substack.com)
- ^ The Spectator (www.spectator.co.uk)
- ^ UnHerd (unherd.com)