Sunday Crunch: Boris doubles down — Period of
adjustment — Fiscal meteorite
BY
ANNABELLE DICKSON
October 3,
2021 2:38 pm
3 THINGS TO KNOW
BORIS
DOUBLES DOWN: Boris Johnson’s dealing with crises on several fronts as his
party meets for its annual conference in Manchester today.
In his
conference interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the prime minister insisted
the public should trust the police after the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard
by a serving officer. He doubled down on the need for a post-Brexit “period of
adjustment” as the fuel crisis continues — and refused to rule out more tax
rises as he faces big questions about the public finances.
1. NO
INQUIRY: Johnson faced down calls for an independent inquiry into the Everard
case, insisting it’s the Independent Office for Police Conduct which needs to
get to the bottom of what happened. Details to emerge this weekend include
claims a chat group which included Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens swapped
misogynistic and racist messages. Couzens was given a whole-life sentence
Thursday after kidnapping 33-year-old Everard under the guise of an arrest.
Cultural
shift: Johnson was keen to talk about the wider issue of how rape, sex crimes
and domestic violence are handled, promising to “stop at nothing to make sure
we get more rapists behind bars.” He insisted the situation is “more complex”
than funding, when Marr pointed out that Tory cuts to the criminal justice
system might just be a factor in some of the issues the PM was decrying.
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Not going
away: Former Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Parm Sandhu, who has been
a vocal critic of police culture, told Sky’s Trevor Phillips that individuals
may have raised issues about Couzens that weren’t acted on because there wasn’t
the drive to take it further.
Wrong
track: Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, touring the studios this morning,
told Marr he was in favor of an independent inquiry. But the Labour mayor
refused to be drawn on Sky News on whether Met Commissioner Cressida Dick
should go. The much-criticized suggestion from the Met that women concerned
about a police officer should just wave down a bus is, he said, “going down the
wrong track.” He said he’s going to personally run a public education campaign
aimed at men and boys.
Outraged:
Conservative chairman Oliver Dowden, appearing on Sky, said he was “outraged”
by North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Allott’s claims women
should be “streetwise” about their rights, and learn more about the legal
process. “It was a stupid thing to have said,” Dowden added — but he could not
guarantee Allott won’t be standing again.
In Old Palace
Yard: Former Conservative Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan warned against too much
focus being placed on revelations in the Sunday Times that Couzens, a
diplomatic protection officer, regularly policed the Houses of Parliament. “I
really hope we do not make this about parliament, because actually this is
about the safety of women and girls across the country, many of whom don’t work
in a very protected place like parliament and Westminster,” she said.
2. PERIOD
OF ADJUSTMENT: On the other big crisis — fuel shortages at petrol stations,
Johnson doubled down on a refusal to turn to migrant labor in any substantial
way. He said the country is going through a “period of adjustment” to a
higher-wage economy after Brexit. “The way forward for our country is not to
just pull the big lever marked ‘uncontrolled immigration,'” Johnson told Marr,
in rhetoric likely to please his base.
On the
campaign trail? After insisting the whole thing is a global issue, Johnson
later appeared to acknowledge it could be just a little bit Brexit-related.
“When people voted for change in 2016, and when people voted for change again
in 2019, as they did, they voted for the end of a broken model of the U.K.
economy that relied on low wages and low skill and chronic low productivity — and
we’re moving away from that,” Johnson said.
Christmas
shortages: The big question of course is how long that period of adjustment
might take. Asked about Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s interview with the Mail on
Saturday in which he didn’t rule out goods shortages continuing until
Christmas, Johnson said: “Rishi is right invariably in all he says. It depends
how you interpret why he is saying.” Crunch will let you draw your own
conclusions on that one.
Porkies:
The most extraordinary exchange came when Johnson was asked about a potential
large scale cull and incineration of pigs because of labor shortages. “I hate
to break it to you … but I’m afraid our food processing industry does involve
killing a lot of animals,” Johnson eventually told Marr. And he added, not
especially reassuringly: “Let’s see what happens.”
Staffing
crisis: You know the problems are real when they hit hardworking journalists.
Sky’s Trevor Phillips challenged Dowden over his inability to get pastries from
his favorite café in Manchester this morning — plus a lack of paper for a
receipt so he could claim back his breakfast. The Observer was ahead of the
game and has already looked at the “huge shortages of pivotal workers in
hospitality,” which means many venues serving the Tory faithful this week will
be short-staffed.
3. TAX ROW
BREWING: Marr also set the Conservative conference up for a nice tax hike barny
just weeks after Johnson hurriedly pushed through his health and social care
levy. Johnson, who may face some pretty grumpy grassroots members over the
move, defended the tax rise, and blamed the “fiscal meteorite” of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Wriggle
room: “If I can possibly avoid it, I do not want to raise taxes again, of
course not,” Johnson said. And he later added: “I can tell you that you have no
fiercer and more zealous opponent of unnecessary tax rises than me.”
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