Tory management candidate calls Musk’s feedback ‘absurd’ however says he gained’t give up X – UK politics dwell

A former Conservative deputy prime minister who misplaced her seat on the final common election utilized for a job in Labour’s Treasury division. Thérèse Coffey additionally had a stint because the well being secretary and was one among Liz Truss’s fiercest allies when she was prime minister.

Coffey, who’s one among greater than 200 former Conservative MPs forging a brand new profession after Labour’s landslide election victory price them their seats, utilized to develop into the UK director on the European Financial institution for Reconstruction and Improvement (EBRD), the Telegraph reported.

The function Coffey utilized for was marketed on LinkedIn by the Treasury in July, with the posting saying that the place would come with “representing the UK and selling the UK’s pursuits on the EBRD board in a reputable and efficient method”.

Nevertheless, Coffey was unsuccessful. She informed the Telegraph: “It was an attention-grabbing function. I believed I’d apply given my expertise in authorities on worldwide work. I’ve handled these kinds of banks earlier than.”

Learn extra right here: Thérèse Coffey was turned down for Labour Treasury job

In a single day the Liberal Democrats have known as for A-level college students in England and Wales who had their schooling disrupted by crumbling concrete in colleges to have the power to attraction in opposition to their grades.

In a press release calling for a “particular appeals course of”, the social gathering stated “colleges going through points with crumbling concrete have needed to take care of sudden closures, relocations and important disruptions to studying, together with youngsters being taught in portacabins” however identified that pupils “are set to not obtain any moderation of their examination marking to replicate these challenges”.

Liberal Democrat schooling spokesperson Munira Wilson stated:

The earlier Conservative authorities deserted youngsters and oldsters leaving a legacy of crumbling school rooms. The brand new authorities should now guarantee pupils and oldsters impacted by these years of chaos are given the assist they want.

That’s the reason the Liberal Democrats are calling for a particular appeals course of for A-level college students affected by crumbling concrete, to make sure they get the grades they deserve.

Patrick Butler

Patrick Butler is the Guardian’s social coverage editor, and he has this story of social media getting the RSPB into scorching water:

The RSPB has been criticised by the English charities watchdog over social media posts through which it accused named authorities ministers of being “liars” for watering down environmental protections.

The Charity Fee stated the tweets a 12 months in the past have been “inappropriate” in “tone and nature”, they’d not been signed off on the appropriate stage and the RSPB might have completed extra to forestall them going out.

However it stated it could take no additional motion in opposition to the charity, having been glad that the RSPB had taken adequate remedial motion internally to make sure it could not repeat what the regulator known as “social gathering political tweets”.

The posts, printed on X, named the previous prime minister Rishi Sunak, former setting secretary Thérèse Coffey and the previous levelling up secretary Michael Gove, including: “You stated you wouldn’t weaken environmental protections. And but that’s simply what you’re doing. You lie, and also you lie, and also you lie once more.”

Learn extra right here: RSPB criticised by watchdog for accusing politicians of being liars on X

Requested about his management marketing campaign, Mel Stride stated that one of many challenges going through the Conservative social gathering was that the common age of its voters is 63, which he described as “untenable”.

He informed listeners to Instances Radio.

The truth that the common conservative voter is age 63 that’s utterly untenable. It isn’t one thing that you may resolve by leaping on some magical ideological sq.. It’s one thing you resolve by deep, onerous work over a sustained time frame, and I imagine that I perceive that, and I’m the suitable particular person to take that ahead.

Talking on Instances Radio concerning the Conservative management contest, candidate Mel Stride stated he was not shocked by a polling end result which prompt that three in 5 British individuals requested didn’t care about who the following social gathering chief can be, saying many individuals would have thought-about the best way the social gathering had been combating itself “fairly egocentric”.

He informed listeners of Instances Radio:

Not an enormous quantity of shock, as a result of I feel, you recognize, now we have been a celebration that has been combating itself and been introspective in a approach that most individuals from the skin would have discovered fairly egocentric.

With out itemizing any, Stride stated “We did some nice issues once we have been in authorities, completely nice issues,” after which continued:

There are areas the place we didn’t ship. And so now we have numerous work to do now to unite our social gathering and to return ahead with the suitable coverage platform.

To succeed in out each to those who have been drawn by Reform UK, but in addition by no means to neglect that we misplaced individuals to Labour and the Liberal Democrats [too]. And now we’ve obtained 5 years mainly with the intention to assess that coverage platform and to get that proper.

He stated:

We’ve obtained to rebuild our social gathering, and we’ve obtained to get a listening to with the British citizens, and we’re going to try this by unity, and we’re going to try this by numerous listening and numerous onerous work and figuring out the reply to numerous basic and troublesome questions.

Mel Stride, shadow work and pensions secretary and candidate for the Conservative management election, has stated that Labour’s strategy to public sector pay confirmed there are “flashing pink lights across the strategy that they’re taking”, warning that pay settlements might drive future rises in inflation.

Figures printed earlier in the present day confirmed that UK inflation rose to 2.2% its first enhance since December.

Talking on Instances Radio, and requested if the final authorities, that Stride was a part of, have been accountable for the rise, he informed listeners:

The trail of inflation isn’t a kind of good, neat, linear line. So I feel a kind of small uptick to 2.2% from 2%, when the market was anticipating 2.3%, largely as a result of baseline results round the best way through which power costs have moved in the present day in comparison with a few 12 months in the past, isn’t a trigger for alarm bells to be ringing.

Having stated that, I feel what’s regarding is what is definitely within the companies components of inflation, which fell from 5.7% to five.2% which was welcome, however it’s nonetheless excessive. And inside that you just’ve obtained wage inflation.

Now, what this Labour authorities has completed is stepped in and really promptly began paying out a number of pretty hefty wage will increase, together with the junior medical doctors at 22% with none commensurate requirement for productiveness enhancements to go alongside that. And my concern can be that this in itself might drive that companies element of inflation.

The implications of that might be inflation larger and longer than anticipated, and naturally, rates of interest, due to this fact maybe having to remain larger for longer, with knock on results with mortgage holders and companies and so forth.

So I don’t assume we’re totally out of the woods. It’s within the authorities’s fingers, and I feel there are flashing pink lights across the strategy that they’re taking to pay within the economic system.

Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park and the social gathering’s treasury spokesperson, has stated the inflation figures are “a stark reminder that the price of residing disaster isn’t over.”

Talking on LBC information, she stated:

A number of this rise is being pushed nonetheless by power costs, and persons are nonetheless seeing the influence of these elevated costs of their month-to-month payments and on the checkout once they pay for his or her meals store.

And so many individuals are affected by massive will increase of their mortgages because of the rate of interest rises we noticed off the again of the Liz Truss disastrous mini-budget.

She stated the Liberal Democrats have been demanding actual motion from the federal government.

We have to put money into our farmers to convey down meals costs. We have to save households cash by increasing free college meals to all youngsters in poverty.

We need to see a one 12 months freeze to rail fares, as a result of we all know that the inflation announcement in the present day goes to feed by to rail fare will increase in January, and that’s one thing that may concern lots of people already paying eye-watering quantities to journey on the trains.

And we need to see, as effectively, an actual dedication to insulating properties, as a result of that, greater than anything, can assist to convey down individuals’s month-to-month payments, their power prices.

Olney’s line on Truss is more likely to irk the previous prime minister, who has been very strident in public in rejecting solutions that her financial coverage led to mortgage rises, even getting a reference to her mini-budget deleted from the King’s speech.

Darren Jones, Labour’s chief secretary to the Treasury, has responded to these inflation figures, saying “The brand new authorities is below no phantasm as to the size of the problem now we have inherited, with many households nonetheless combating the price of residing. That’s the reason we’re taking the powerful selections now to repair the foundations of our economic system so we are able to rebuild Britain and make each a part of the nation higher off.”

UK inflation rises to 2.2% in first enhance since December

Larry Elliott

Britain’s annual inflation price rose to 2.2% final month – its first enhance since December final 12 months – as home power payments fell by lower than in July 2023.

Figures from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) confirmed that the federal government’s most well-liked measure of the price of residing climbed once more after two months on the Financial institution of England’s 2% goal.

The rise – though anticipated by the Financial institution and the Metropolis – was barely smaller than the rise to 2.3% anticipated.

Costs fell by 0.2% in July – helped by cheaper resort stays – however this was smaller than the 0.4% lower in costs in July 2023, when power payments dropped sharply, which means that the headline price of inflation elevated.

The ONS’s chief economist, Grant Fitzner, stated: “Inflation ticked up a bit in July as though home power prices fell, they fell by lower than a 12 months in the past. This was partially offset by resort prices, which fell in July after sturdy progress in June.”

Learn extra right here: UK inflation rises to 2.2% in first enhance since December

Conservative management candidate Mel Stride has described Elon Musk’s interventions into British politics as “absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful”, however stated that he would proceed to make use of the platform.

Citing Musk spreading a very pretend Telegraph story that rioters have been to be dispatched to the Falkland Islands and the billionaire’s declare that civil warfare was inevitable within the UK, Stride stated:

Elon Musk, look, I feel you recognize his feedback about us sending individuals to the Falklands, which was unfaithful, his feedback suggesting that we’re on the point of a civil warfare on this nation is absurd and deeply, deeply unhelpful.

I’ve issues about X usually, by way of the pretty permissive approach, permissive strategy, ought to I say, to those who are capable of additional all kinds of views, together with conspiracy theories, on that platform.

And I do assume that one of many takeaways from the very, very unlucky incidents which have occurred in latest days and weeks is that we do have to look afresh at social media by way of policing content material, by way of consequence for these platform suppliers that enable a few of these concepts to percolate, as a result of they do have actual world penalties, as we noticed in our streets.

Requested if he himself was contemplating quitting the social media platform on Instances Radio, Stride dominated it out:

Me personally? No, actually not. In the meanwhile, I do know some fellow colleagues throughout the Home even have been debating that, and I feel a few of them may need truly completed that. In my case, I’ll keep on the positioning.

However I do assume we do have to have a protracted and lengthy, cautious, measured take a look at the best way through which websites like X are feeding into points like conspiracy theories, misinformation and violence on our streets.

The shadow work and pensions secretary stated the scenario may be improved by the On-line Security Act launched by the final authorities though, he conceded “the precise tooth of that don’t chew till subsequent 12 months.”

Welcome to our rolling protection of UK politics for Wednesday. Listed here are your headlines …

It’s Martin Belam with you in the present day. You possibly can e-mail me for those who spot typos, errors or omissions – martin.belam@theguardian.com.

Neither Labour or the Conservatives despatched anyone out on the media spherical this morning, and we’re very a lot becalmed in summer time recess. I believe “on diary” home information will likely be skinny on the bottom in the present day, until you’re campaigning to be Tory chief. All I’ll say is in case you are a backbench MP with a bee in your bonnet about one thing, it’d grow to be an amazing week to ship out press releases about it.