The next Tory leader must either open his Red Box or win over the Red Wall Steve Hawkes Six years ago on the eve of the Brexit Referendum vote, I was given the job of following Boris Johnson around the Yorkshire town of Selby. He landed at a former WWII airfield joking that the helicopter pilot should have put on “Ride of the Valkyries” – (think Apocalypse Now) – as he came into [...]
Sajid Javid needs real bravery to even begin to confront NHS inefficiency Steve Hawkes A few years back a No10 aide rang me at The Sun to offer an exclusive: Theresa May’s team had decided to save Frosties’ icon “Tony the Tiger”. It was sold-in as a big victory against nanny state campaigners who wanted cartoon inducements wiped off the face of the earth to tackle childhood obesity. Unfortunately [...]
Starmer could hardly ask for a stronger position – but he’s still squandering it Steve Hawkes You couldn’t open Twitter on Sunday without seeing the name – Tony Blair. Sunday marked 25 years since New Labour trounced John Major’s broken Conservative Party at the 1997 General Election. Mr Blair handed the Tories – riddled with sleaze and incompetence – their worst drubbing since 1906. Less than a year before, the die [...]
Balancing the budget won’t win voters hooked on Sunak’s years of spending April 20, 2022 On a balmy September day eight years ago, Ed Miliband strode onto the stage at Labour Party Conference and proceeded to deliver a marathon 66-minute speech without notes. Unfortunately for the then Labour leader, he managed to forget a key chunk of his prepared remarks – the bit about tackling the deficit. Cue glee from [...]
Once-fearsome Unions have let P&O off lightly as their political capital unravels March 30, 2022 A penny for the thoughts of Sir John Prescott as P&O Ferries plants itself at the top of the tree of corporate bad guys with its sacking of 800 British crew members. The Labour heavyweight and former Hull East MP started out, let’s remember, as a steward on the Cunard line at the age of [...]
First we need to cut fuel duty, then we must redesign our road taxes entirely March 8, 2022 In early 2011 at The Sun, I pestered the editor for long enough about rising petrol prices that he decided the newspaper should be doing something about it. A campaign to freeze fuel duty was born – with all the old-school trimmings. We even took post bags full of petitions signed by readers up Downing [...]
Johnson wanted to build a bridge to Ireland but can’t build enough homes February 24, 2022 Of all the mistakes made during the Referendum campaign by Team Remain, former Chancellor George Osborne was guilty of a whopper in May 2016. A month before people cast their vote, the Tory numbers man warned that Brexit could knock 18 per cent off house prices. At least one younger commuter on the train home [...]
Britain must finally decide on the fate of the Northern Ireland Brexit border February 9, 2022 Pity Liz Truss. Sharp-suited Chancellor Rishi Sunak fired the starting gun on the Tory leadership race last week with his put down of party-king Boris Johnson. He’s immediately seen as the favourite. Liz? Well, fresh from a bout of Covid, the Foreign Secretary has the small matter of trying to catch the Chancellor while sorting [...]
Calling time on Boris’ leadership could bear fruit for the Tories – if they grasp it January 26, 2022 How despondent are the Tories? One MP was beyond glum the other day. Quizzed who they’d like as leader, they replied: “We could have Arthur the bloody Great and it wouldn’t make any difference.” Labour has been cock-a-hoop as opinion polls have consistently given the party double-digit leads. But things can change. Just ask Sir [...]
Boris Johnson’s rudderless levelling up plan must be anchored in business January 12, 2022 It was Winston Churchill who famously stunned a waiter by asking them to take back his pudding. “There’s no theme!” he bellowed. One man undoubtedly aware of this is Boris Johnson – the Prime Minister who wrote an effusive biography of Britain’s wartime leader before trying to emulate him in Downing Street. It comes to [...]
