Tory Leadership Race Is Giving Us A ‘Wealth Of Material’, Labour Party Says

Labour today said the bitter Tory leadership race was providing them with a “wealth of material” ahead of the next election.

Shabana Mahmood, Labour’s national campaign coordinator, said they would “fulsomely” take advantage of the Tories “trashing their own record”.

She described both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss as “continuity Johnson” and said she was “happy” to face either at the next general election.

The MP for Birmingham Ladywood said she will be able to tell voters on the doorstep to just listen to the Tories criticising their own record.

In an exclusive interview with HuffPost UK, Mahmood said: “They are giving us a wealth of material, we are obviously using some now and we’ll have plans for more later as the contest progresses and as we gear up for the next general election – whenever that might be.

“We would prefer an earlier election because Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are proving every day that they are just more of the same.

“Neither has the answers that the country needs to move forward post-pandemic, neither has the answers on the economy.

“They are just brutally exposing – not just each other – but 12 years of Tory government that has led us to this moment.

“As far as we’re concerned bring on an early general election. As soon as this contest is done they should seek a fresh mandate.”

The vicious battle for No.10 has even prompted Tory grandees to warn the Conservatives they risk being called the “nasty party” again and losing the next election.

“I’ll be able to say to people on the doorstep ‘you don’t have to take my word for it anymore folks just listen to them’. The trashing of their own record, I think that you’d expect us to take advantage of that which we will be doing so fulsomely.”

– Shabana Mahmood

Earlier in the contest Truss and Sunak pulled out of a Sky News debate amid concerns about the damage they were doing to the party’s reputation, forcing the other candidates to follow suit.

But, despite warnings, the unedifying public slanging match has continued between the final candidates and their campaign teams.

Asked if she thought Tory infighting would help Labour win the next election, Mahmood said: “We’re going to be ready for that election whenever it comes.”

However, she said it was on the Labour Party to persuade the public to switch their votes and that they had to show the public they had “changed” and had the answers on the economy and cost of living crisis.

“The Tories are doing an even better job of trashing their own record than we could do or get a hearing on,” she added.

“They’re taking primetime broadcast slots to tear lumps out of each other.”

Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner, leader Keir Starmer and national campaign coordinator Shabana Mahmood.
Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner, leader Keir Starmer and national campaign coordinator Shabana Mahmood.

JUSTIN TALLIS via Getty Images

Mahmood said the “vicious infighting” brought back memories of some of Labour’s rowing in recent years.

But she added: “The public never appreciates it and they never reward it at the polls either.

“The Labour Party learnt that lesson in the hardest of ways in 2019, we don’t propose to go there again.”

Mahmood said just pointing to the Tories would not be enough and they did not take the electorate for fools: “We know we’ve got to win their trust back.”

She said Labour was earning the right to be heard again, adding: “It’s on us to seal the deal with the electorate.”

Lord Fowler, who served under Margaret Thatcher and is now a crossbench peer, described Monday night’s BBC debate as “a bad night for the Conservatives”.

He told Times Radio the only people who might have been happy with the outcome would have been the Labour Party, adding: “They’ve got enough clips from that programme to last them through to the next election.”

Yesterday culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who is backing Truss, criticised Sunak for wearing a £3,500 suit and £450 Prada shoes.

Dorries said Truss “will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire’s Accessories”.

The comments prompted veterans minister Johnny Mercer to warn that the party was putting success at the next election in jeopardy.

“The puerile nature of this leadership contest is embarrassing,” he said. “Time to raise the standards.”

The Labour party is already weaponising quotes, viral clips and images from the Tory leadership debates on their social media accounts.

They include a “Tory leadership bingo” card that cites “shaking the magic money tree” and “Thatcherite cosplay”.

They also created an advert in which they spliced together clips of Tory leadership candidates tearing strips off of each other over their record in government.

“All your bills, every week, every month, they’re going up and up and up,” Sunak says in one part of the video.

“Under your plans, we are predicted to have a recession,” Truss tells Sunak in another clip.

Labour leader Keir Starmer even quoted leadership candidates at Boris Johnson during their final prime minister’s questions.

He said: “She [Liz Truss] also said the former chancellor’s 15 tax rises are leading the country into recession and [Penny Mordaunt] was even more scathing.

“She said ‘our public services are in a desperate state, we can’t continue with what we’ve been doing because it clearly isn’t working’.

“Has the prime minister told her who’s been running our public services for the last 12 years?”

Last night’s showdown saw the two rivals trash each other’s economic plans and Sunak even accused by allies of Truss of “mansplaining”.

Sunak claimed there is “nothing Conservative” about Truss’s approach to cutting taxes and pumping up borrowing, arguing it would give the party “absolutely no chance” of winning the next election.

Foreign secretary Truss, in turn, suggested her rival would lead the country into a recession and criticised him for increasing taxes to the “highest rate in 70 years”.

During the debate a spokesman for Truss told The Times that Sunak was not fit for office, adding: “His aggressive mansplaining and shouty private school behaviour is desperate, unbecoming and is a gift to Labour.”

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Sadiq Khan Accuses Tory Leadership Candidates Of ‘Ignoring’ Climate Change

Sadiq Khan today accused the Tory leadership candidates of “ignoring” climate change as Britain sizzles in record temperatures.

The mayor of London said the country needed a “brave generation of politicians” in parliament, in an interview with HuffPost UK.

“This heatwave is directly linked with the consequences of climate change,” Khan said as the UK hit its hottest temperature on record of 40.2C at Heathrow.

“So rather than tiptoeing around this issue and ignoring it, as those running to be the Tory leader have done, we should be talking about it more with a sense of urgency.”

The criticism falls as the Tory leadership debate has focused on tax cuts and culture war issues, rather than the climate.

Cabinet minister Alok Sharma, who led last year’s landmark Cop26 UN climate summit, intervened in the Tory leadership race, suggesting to The Observer he might resign if the incoming PM fails to commit to a strong agenda on the climate crisis.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan with Rosamund adoo-kissi-debrah, CEO of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan with Rosamund adoo-kissi-debrah, CEO of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation.

James Manning – PA Images via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Chris Skidmore has suggested Tory party members care little about hitting “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050 “because 90 per cent of them will be dead”.

Skidmore admitted a survey which put the climate emergency at the bottom of the list for the people who will choose the next prime minister is “rather depressing” in the Independent.

Leadership candidate Kemi Badenoch has previously branded the 2050 net zero commitment “unilateral economic disarmament” and vowed to axe it if elected.

At a hustings event on Monday she appeared to reverse her view before performing another U-turn on TalkTV that evening suggesting there were “circumstances” she would delay it. The three other remaining leadership candidates have all backed net zero.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella was nine years old when she suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2013 linked to severe air pollution, has also criticised Conservative leadership hopefuls for dismissing green issues.

Khan added: “I break down politicians into three areas: climate change deniers, climate change delayers and climate change doers.

“And this heatwave should make us all want to be climate change doers, rather than delayers or deniers.”

He added: “This heatwave, caused by climate change, should be a wake up call for all of us – including those running to be the leader of the Conservative Party.

“It’s heartbreaking, in my view, to see the Tories being in denial about this issue.

“I mean, just to think about one of the candidates talking about 2060, 2070, the other candidates being lukewarm at best about the issue of tackling climate change. That is not the sort of leadership we need.”

He added: “It was Conservative politicians in the 1950s during the Great Smog who made the brave decision to close down power stations in the centre of our cities – think of Battersea Power station, think of the Tate Modern, because then you could see the poison.

“The problem is you can’t see the invisible killer, but you can feel the heat.

“What we want to see is a brave generation of politicians in parliament now, tackling climate change and air quality.”

The mayor made the comments as he hosted a climate solutions summit in London’s City Hall.

A woman use portable fan as heatwave hits London, United Kingdom on July 18, 2022.
A woman use portable fan as heatwave hits London, United Kingdom on July 18, 2022.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Transport for London released figures that show the expansion of Khan’s ultra-low emission zone appears to have reduced toxic air levels in the suburbs.

They found that roadside levels of nitrogen dioxide in central London were now 44 per cent lower than they would have been had the Ulez not been introduced.

However, the Evening Standard suggested the bulk of the benefits were attributable to the original central London zone which launched in April 2019.

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Boris Johnson’s Account Of Partygate Was ‘More Fictional Than Reality’ – Tom Tugendhat

Tom Tugendhat today said Boris Johnson’s account of partygate was “more fictional than reality”.

The Tory leadership hopeful skewered the prime minister over his account of the scandal that led to the downfall of his administration.

However, the MP for Tonbridge and Malling dodged a question about whether he would serve in the cabinet of a prime minister who had broken the law.

In the first TV debate on Friday night, Tugendhat received a round of applause when he flatly said Johnson was not an honest man.

It set him apart from his rivals who were unable to give a straight verdict on the prime minister’s integrity.

Asked what Johnson had been dishonest about on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show, Tugendhat said: “We wouldn’t have been having that debate on Friday night had the others not agreed with me.

“We know very well the others agree with me because otherwise they wouldn’t have resigned from his government, they wouldn’t be standing as leadership candidates.”

Pressed on what Johnson had been dishonest about, Tugendhat replied: “It’s perfectly clear that the alignment of stories that he came to on the partygate scandal seems to have been rather more fictional than reality.”

Asked if he would work for a prime minister who broke the law, Tugendhat said: “I’ve been very clear about my policies on all of this. I think that what we need to be doing is making sure that we bring about integrity into politics.

“And that’s why I’ve spoken about bringing back a ministerial standards commissioner.”

Pressed on the matter, Tugendhat suggested presenter Sophie Raworth was trying to “have a go” at Rishi Sunak who received a partygate fine.

Pushed again, he replied referring to the current prime minister: “Well, I haven’t worked for this one.”

His critics say Tugendhat cannot get the numbers to be PM and is instead in the running for a cabinet position in the next administration.

It comes after the government was accused of hiding how much taxpayers spent on legal advice for officials accused in the partygate scandal.

The Government Legal Department – an in-house legal organisation – has refused to even confirm or deny if their lawyers advised those being investigated by the police.

Meanwhile, Johnson has been told to hand over a huge number of documents including his diaries to MPs investigating whether he lied to parliament over partygate.

Tory MPs hope to have reduced the search for Johnson’s successor, due to be announced on September 5, to two possibilities in the coming days.

Monday will see the third round of voting with the aim of whittling down candidates to the final two by Thursday, before the summer recess.

The final two will then go forward to a postal ballot of party members.

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Grant Shapps Vows To Create A ‘Tory Campaigning University’ If Made PM

Grant Shapps has vowed to create a “Tory campaigning university” if he is made prime minister.

The transport secretary has written to Conservative MPs as part of his pitch to replace Boris Johnson.

In his letter, the senior cabinet minister set out his “campaigning promise” to MPs, including the establishment of a Tory “centre of excellence”.

He added: “A sort of Tory campaigning university, where we can all learn from each other and from the latest developments internationally.

“I will give all colleagues significantly improved access to polling, and to a database of statements, facts and achievements to help you win arguments.”

His campaign has so far centred on promises to help Tory MPs hold on to their seats at the next election.

Shapps has sought to differentiate himself from the other candidates by stressing his experience as a “successful campaigner and organiser”.

“If you choose me to be your next prime minister, I will not be the sort to just sit behind my desk,” he wrote.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Leon Neal via Getty Images

His promise includes the creation of a “campaign strike force” that would see polling, media and other experts travelling from seat to seat to devise localised campaigns.

Shapps said MPs would have the “very best resources” with more central funding for local campaigning and access to the latest techniques and technology.

He also vowed to create a larger political operation in No.10 and promised to brief MPs ahead of major announcements.

Shapps added: “As prime minister I will visit every single seat held by a Conservative MP. We have all experienced how much a ministerial visit can galvanise our local associations and volunteers, as well as local media. I will get out of Whitehall to come and campaign for you.”

Shapps is one of at least 11 MPs who have thrown their hat in the ring to replace Johnson.

The Johnson loyalist set up his stall by vowing to end “tactical government by an often-distracted centre”.

The grammar school educated MP for Welwyn Hatfield suggested his own leadership would bring a return to a more traditionally Conservative approach to state, pledging to curb taxes.

The 53-year-old, who has three children, said tackling the cost-of-living crisis and strengthening the economy to become the biggest in Europe are top of his agenda.

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