Alliances for Brexit
The Conservative Party received a huge boost this week with Brexit leader Nigel Farage announcing on Monday that he will stand down candidates in the 317 seats won by the Tories in the last election. Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to getting Brexit done, and has said that leaving the EU will herald “growth and prosperity” and would allow the UK to focus on combatting the climate crisis. It seems the Conservatives and the Brexit Party do not only share similar views about Brexit. Home Secretary Priti Patel has confirmed that the Conservatives will seek to reduce immigration through a new Australian-style points system. The Conservatives branded Labour’s policy, announced at its Party Conference, to maintain and extend free movement rights, as “extreme, dangerous and out of touch with the British people.”
Question Time
The Twittersphere erupted on Thursday evening after a Brexiteer and a Remainer found themselves in a heated clash. The debate ensued after the young Leave voter championed the Conservative Party as the only party to “represent the will of the people”. On finishing his impassioned speech, however, another audience member disagreed. She said: “I find that very frustrating you say we voted to leave, in Brighton and Hove – 68 percent of us voted to Remain.” Admitting that the country is too divided, she suggested that “the only option is to go to a second referendum.”
Following the broadcast, #ToryBoy was trending on Twitter as many were quick to mock the young Conservative’s views, while #Remoaner saw a sudden spike at the same time. Ironically, this trolling serves only to further demonstrate Britain’s extreme political divisions.
Lib Dems tackle crime and gender disparity
The Liberal Democrats have echoed Labour’s commitment to improving lifelong learning by announcing a pledge to give every adult in England £10,000 to spend on education and training throughout their life. The Lib Dems have pledged to tackle knife crime by investing £500 million in youth services and adopting a public health approach to youth violence. The Lib Dems have also pledged to expand measures to tackle the gender pay gap by obliging bigger companies to publish data on employment levels by gender, as well as for BAME and LGBT staff.
BoJo on the Radio
Boris Johnson appeared on Radio 5 Live’s first ‘General Election 2019 – Your Questions Answered’ series today. Viewers took turns to ask the Prime Minister their questions and perhaps unsurprisingly, Brexit dominated the interview. He made some bold promises. He said that under his Brexit there would be no checks on goods from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK and some taxes that “we currently can’t change” would be eradicated, including tampon tax. He went on to pledge the creation of a “controlled immigration system” based on Australia’s points-based system and to expand stop and searches across the UK.
Bye Bye BT?
Labour have today detailed their plans to part-renationalize BT and provide free broadband to every household and business by 2030. As part of wider nationalisation proposals, the party has pledged to set up a British Broadband public service to deliver fast and free full-fibre internet to millions. Labour intends to bring parts of BT into public ownership under plans it said will result in a massive upgrade in the UK’s internet infrastructure. Jeremy Corbyn will make the announcement in Lancaster on Friday. Reacting to the announcement, Nicky Morgan, outgoing Conservative Culture Secretary, called the proposal a “fantasy” that “would cost hardworking taxpayers tens of billions”. “What reckless idea will be next?” she asked.
The Whitehouse team are experts in the potential impact of Brexit, providing political consultancy and public affairs advice to a wide range of clients, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union. More information about our Brexit experience can be found here, or, if you have any questions, please contact our Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.