London Playbook: Playbook Awards 2022 — Labouring
away — China COVID alarm
BY ELENI
COUREA
DECEMBER
29, 2022 8:05 AM CET
London
Playbook
By ELENI
COUREA
Good
Thursday morning. This is Eleni Courea. Esther Webber is writing Friday’s
Playbook.
DRIVING THE
DAY
LONDON
PLAYBOOK AWARDS 2022: As the end of the year approaches, it’s time to sit back
with a cup of tea (or large glass of wine) and try to process what we’ve all
been through. London Playbook has seen some things since launching in 2017, not
long after Theresa May’s snap election had obliterated her majority and set
British politics careening onto the crazy obstacle course it has been on since.
There have been unprecedented parliamentary scenes, a redrawing of the
electoral map and wild lockdown-breaking parties at the heart of government,
but the drama reached a crescendo in 2022 when Britain chewed up and spat out
two prime ministers and endured a self-imposed economic crisis. Fully in the
knowledge that this is an invitation to fate, Playbook will say now: There
won’t be another year like this for a long, long time.
A note of
thanks: It’s also been a big one for Playbook, now nearing 90,000 subscribers.
Thank you for all your tip-offs, spotteds and angry complaints — which no doubt
this awards list will generate more of.
(PRIME)
MINISTER OF THE YEAR: Rishi Sunak. A special honor, given the unusually high
number of people who have had a go in 2022. Since the sprightly new chancellor
stood next to Boris Johnson in the early days of the pandemic and made a
suspiciously leader-like speech, many believed he was destined for the top.
Less than three years later, having survived a scandal about his wife’s tax
affairs, brought down Johnson and lost the ensuing contest to Liz Truss, Sunak
finds himself installed in No. 10 (even if he can’t quite believe it himself).
What does he want to do there? 2023 is the year we find out.
BACKBENCHER
OF THE YEAR: Charles Walker. Ordinarily for MPs who exercise influence from the
back benches, but in a year where the only campaigns that mattered were
leadership ones, Playbook is going a different way. Charles Walker’s
evisceration of his Conservative colleagues live on the BBC was one for the
ages. “All those people who put Liz Truss in No. 10: I hope it was worth it,”
he said. “I hope it was worth it for the ministerial red box, I hope it was
worth it to sit round the Cabinet table, because the damage they have done to
our party is extraordinary.” It’s the kind of raw emotional honesty for which
he has come to be known and loved in SW1.
LEADERSHIP
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR: Boris Johnson. Having watched (and helped) Liz Truss win
the contest to succeed him and then blow up her premiership within weeks, Boris
Johnson realized he quite fancied another go as top dog. He leapt off his sun
lounger, began ringing round allies and caught the next flight back from the
Caribbean, all of which caused a weekend of uncontrolled panic in SW1. Johnson
didn’t stand in the end, but that’s not to say his political career is over.
Plenty of people have lost money betting against the former PM and his
chameleon-like ability to reinvent himself.
SACKING OF
THE YEAR: Liz Truss vs. Kwasi Kwarteng. Liz Truss’ decision to dispense with
her chancellor was the moment the spool began to unravel at alarming speed.
Revealed (like so many things) in Steve Swinford’s Twitter feed, Kwarteng’s
departure (and speedy replacement with arch-establishment figure Jeremy Hunt)
made it clear that Trussonomics was dead and that Trussocracy couldn’t be far
behind. One of the most dramatic political moments of 2023.
RESIGNATION
OF THE YEAR: Sajid Javid. Javid’s exit — incidentally the second time he quit a
Boris Johnson Cabinet — set off the domino effect that ousted the PM. Javid’s
move forced Sunak’s hand, and as a pair they led dozens of ministers, PPSes and
other government appointees in a historic mass resignation that made it
impossible for Johnson to stay in post.
SPEECH OF
THE YEAR: Boris Johnson’s tribute to the queen. One of the great ironies this
year was Boris Johnson making what was his probably best-ever speech from the
back benches: his tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who died days after he left
office. “Perhaps it is partly that she has always been there,” he said. “A
changeless human reference point in British life; the person who — all the
surveys say — appears most often in our dreams; so unvarying in her pole-star
radiance that we have perhaps been lulled into thinking that she might be in
some way eternal.” Undoubtedly one he would have liked to deliver from the
despatch box, but such is life.
SPAD OF THE
YEAR: Jason Stein. Having served briefly as an adviser to Prince Andrew before
that fateful Newsnight interview, Stein is no stranger to sticky situations.
This year he was rewarded for helping run his old boss Liz Truss’ leadership
campaign with a job in No. 10, where his stint was again short but certainly
eventful. In early October, Stein was blamed for anonymous newspaper briefings
describing Michael Gove as a “sadist” and Sajid Javid as “sh*t.” Javid
threatened to use his PMQs slot to expose the government over the row, and
Stein was suspended. Less than 24 hours later, Truss resigned (and Stein was
reinstated the next day).
FRONT PAGE
OF THE YEAR: Which wet lettuce will last longer? Playbook was tempted to hand
this gong to the Mail’s “At last! A true Tory budget,” but that would have been
an injustice. The Daily Star’s front page, inspired by a cutting line from an
Economist leader (name a more iconic collab) was the most ingenious tabloid
splash of 2022 and started an international sensation. The Star combined its
series of Lettuce Liz splashes with a YouTube livestream of a slowly decaying
vegetable. “Bring back the lettuce!” as someone shouted recently in PMQs.
SCOOP OF
THE YEAR: The Independent/the Sun. It’s a toss-up between Anna Isaac’s
incredible scoop that Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty had non-dom status
allowing her to avoid U.K. tax, and Noa Hoffman revealing that Chris Pincher
had to resign as deputy chief whip after colleagues reported him for inappropriate
behavior toward men at the Carlton Club. A cracking year for Lobby women.
BROADCAST
ROUND OF THE YEAR: Simon Hart. It was unfortunate for Boris Johnson that Simon
Hart was the man dispatched to breakfast studios on the morning after Chris
Pincher’s resignation. Playbook had just revealed Johnson knew of sexual
misconduct allegations against Pincher before he made him deputy chief whip,
and Hart saw which way the wind was blowing, telling Sky he knew “what he would
like to see happen” and that “we might be having a very different conversation
as the day goes on.” It was the first hint of the mass ministerial revolt that
had begun to brew and would defenestrate Johnson days later.
INTERVIEW
OF THE YEAR: Golwg360 with Guto Harri. No. 10 directors of communications never
give interviews — and no wonder. Welsh-language news site Golwg.360’s Q&A
with Guto Harri on his first day in the job was quite the coup, and saw Harri
utter the famous words that Boris Johnson is “not a complete clown.” A sign of what
was to come.
EXCUSE OF
THE YEAR: Neil Parish’s Dominator tractor search. With his claim that Boris
Johnson was “ambushed by a cake” at his illegal surprise birthday party, Conor
Burns nearly swept up this award in the first month of the year. But his ex-colleague
Neil Parish’s explanation for why he was caught watching porn in the Commons
blows that out of the water. Parish said his search for “Dominator” combine
harvesters brought up “another website that had a very similar name.” Easily
done.
GAFFE OF THE
YEAR: King Charles III. Caught on camera saying “Back again? Dear, oh dear,” as
he welcomed Liz Truss to Buckingham Palace, the new king captured the mood of
the nation.
CAREER
CHANGE OF THE YEAR: Matt Hancock. The former health secretary turned animal-genitalia-guzzler
started life in Rishi Sunak’s premiership with the hope he would return to the
Cabinet. A few disappointing months and three surprisingly successful weeks in
the Australian jungle later, he is now mulling a very different future. Amid whispers
that his fledgling career in showbiz (which he denies pursuing) has hit the
rocks, it looks like Hancock is open to offers. Playbook looks forward to
seeing what comes next.
ICONIC
OUTFIT OF THE YEAR: Theresa May’s revenge dress. Theresa May’s decision to
shimmy up committee corridor in a glittering midnight blue ball gown to cast
her vote in the Boris Johnson confidence motion inspired artist’s impressions
and generated international headlines. She had a function to go to afterwards
(at least that was what she said.)
TWEET OF
THE YEAR: 1922 exec stays cool. Liz Truss’ promise to “hit the ground from day
one” as she became PM would have been the obvious choice, but for Playbook this
top trolling from the 1922 committee exec — which organized not one but two
leadership contests in the year it celebrated its centenary — takes the
biscuit.
And a few
more end of year reviews … The BBC’s Chris Mason has a lovely piece looking
through behind-the-scenes photographs of politicians taken this year … Sky’s
Sophy Ridge sets out her predictions for 2023 in the i and argues that strikes,
migration and trans issues will decide who wins the next election … Rishi Sunak
(best status dresser) and Kemi Badenoch (best Westminster wardrobe) represent
SW1 in the Telegraph’s best-dressed list … and ICYMI, Boris Johnson pipped
Rishi Sunak in a ConHome poll on the minister of the year (which Ben Wallace
won comfortably).
TODAY IN
WESTMINSTER
PARLIAMENT:
Nope.
LABOURING
AWAY: A couple of major wins today for Labour spin-doctors and
number-crunchers, who’ve clearly been busy preparing the dream Christmas grid.
The Times splashes on a Labour vow to make combating antisocial behavior a
central part of its offer, pitching itself as the “party of law and order” (on
which the paper runs a supportive leader). Shadow justice sec Steve Reed says
he would increase the use of community sentences and launch a review into
putting prevention at the heart of the justice system. Separately, a Labour
story about civil servants getting £30 million worth of high street vouchers
from the government, effectively as a form of consolation while pay is frozen,
makes the Sun splash (and is also in the FT).
And note …
That’s the second Labour story to splash the Sun in a row, after Wednesday‘s
crime stats on the 1 million burglaries that went unsolved last year (which
also got a good showing in the Mail among other places). They’ll be popping
open the Champagne at the new Labour HQ.
TAX ATTACK:
It’s not much better news for the government on the front of the Mail today,
which demands to know whether the Tories have “given up on cutting tax.” Jason
Groves reports that ministers have quietly ditched the plan to review the
U.K.’s tax system announced by Kwasi Kwarteng during his short stint as
chancellor.
PREVENT
DISSENT: Lots of chatter has followed Wednesday’s story by the Times’ Matt
Dathan about a Cabinet row delaying publication of a review of Prevent. The
Telegraph’s Charles Hymas and Edward Malnick have nabbed the prize today with a
leaked draft of said review. The report will warn that taxpayers’ money has
been handed to groups promoting Islamist extremism, they write, warning that
“these findings raise serious questions about whether Prevent is knowingly
taking this approach.” Their story splashes the Tel.
STRIKES
GALORE: New TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak has given interviews to several
papers including the Guardian, Indy and Mirror, warning ministers that strikes
could last until the summer unless they negotiate over public sector pay. The
Mirror’s Dan Bloom and the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar both have his comments,
which also make the Indy splash. Meanwhile, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka
warned on Wednesday it was a matter of time before unions joined forces for a
“coordinated, synchronized and escalating” wave of industrial action. The
Times’ Chris Smyth has a write-up.
BORDER
FARCE: A Border Force official in Dover has been arrested on suspicion of
immigration offences, according to the Sun. The individual is accused of having
lied about his country of origin to stay in the U.K.
APPG
UPDATE: Rishi Sunak thinks allegations of drunken and sexual misbehavior by MPs
on overseas visits uncovered by POLITICO are “very concerning,” his official
spokesman told reporters Wednesday. Read the investigation so far here.
HANCOCK
WATCH: Matt Hancock has denied ever wanting to hire an agent to pursue a
showbiz career and says he instead wants to make documentaries about serious
issues such as dyslexia and assisted dying. The Times has a write-up.
BITING
BACK: Edwina Currie’s neighbor has denied that his dog caused her to trip over
and break her hip — insisting instead that she tripped over her own dogs — and
is refusing to pay her any compensation. MailOnline has that story with all its
twists and turns.
BEYOND THE
M25
CHINA COVID
ALARM: The U.S. and Italy are introducing mandatory coronavirus testing for
travelers arriving from China, which has just lifted its longstanding travel
quarantine rules and where cases of the virus are surging, sparking concern
about potential new variants. Japan, India, Malaysia and Taiwan have also
introduced travel restrictions, while the EU’s Health Security Committee will
meet today in an urgent bid to get all member countries on the same page, this
morning’s Brussels Playbook reports. The Telegraph’s Charles Hymas says
officials from the Department for Transport, Home Office and Department for
Health and Social Care are expected to assess today what the U.K. should do.
TICK TOCK
ON TIKTOK: Members of the U.S. Congress have been ordered to delete TikTok from
mobile phones issued to them by the House of Representatives due to security
concerns. The House’s cybersecurity unit said TikTok poses a “high risk to users
due to a number of security risks” with fears the app, owned by Chinese tech
company ByteDance, is used as a surveillance tool by Beijing. This month, the
Senate passed a bill banning TikTok from government-owned devices, which
President Joe Biden will soon sign into law. The Times’ Hugh Tomlinson has the
story.
AFGHAN
WOMEN’S RIGHTS: There is faint hope the Taliban may relax its ban on women
working for the non-government aid agencies in Afghanistan following the
15-member U.N. Security Council condemning the ban in a rare show of unanimity.
Patrick Wintour has more in the Guardian.
EXXON TAX
ROW: U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil is suing the EU over its bid to impose a
windfall tax on oil and gas firm profits. The lawsuit argues the proposal is a
tax, a right reserved for national governments, and challenges the use of an
emergency procedure, which excludes the European Parliament, to enact the
legislation. POLITICO’s America Hernandez has the details. The story splashes
the FT.
SCOTTISH
NHS PRESSURE: The NHS in Scotland cannot survive in its current form with staff
“exhausted, burnt-out and broken,” the Scottish chairman of the BMA, Iain
Kennedy, told the BBC Wednesday. He said the number of vacancies was the worst
he had seen in his 30 years as a doctor. Here’s the write-up.
BORIS
ARCHIVES: Boris Johnson favored a “hard egg” approach to the Northern Ireland
peace process in 1996 while he was deputy editor of Daily Telegraph, according
to declassified documents. In a confidential note from an Irish diplomat to the
Irish government, Johnson was quoted as saying “let them use the bomb and the
bullet, we shouldn’t give in and we will beat them eventually.” The Guardian’s
Rory Carroll has more details.
MEDIA ROUND
Today
program: Guest edited by Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ.
LBC: Shadow
Attorney General Emily Thornberry takes charge between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.,
sitting in for James O’Brien.
Times Radio
Breakfast: Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols (7.05
a.m.) … TUC General Secretary-designate Paul Nowak (8.05 a.m.) … Former top
diplomat Peter Ricketts (8.15 a.m.).
Reviewing
the papers tonight: Sky News (10.30 p.m.): Author and broadcaster Jenny Kleeman
and former policy adviser to the queen and royal household and former Tory MP
Mary Macleod.
TODAY’S
FRONT PAGES
(Click on
the publication’s name to see its front page):
Daily
Express: Rishi’s pledge to make Britain’s streets safer.
Daily Mail:
Have Tories given up on cutting tax?
Daily
Mirror: 1,000 new heart kits to save lives.
Daily Star:
Puss in boot.
Financial
Times: Exxon sues Brussels in effort to block €25 billion windfall tax on oil
companies.
i: Unions
poised to boycott pay talks as strike row deepens.
PoliticsHome:
The Asylum Claim Backlog Explained In Six Charts
POLITICO
UK: How Musk’s Twitter takeover is playing out worldwide.
The Daily
Telegraph: Extremist groups funded by taxpayer.
The
Guardian: Dementia patients’ families warn of ‘horrific’ crisis in care homes.
The
Independent: Union chief — UK could face year of strike chaos.
The Sun:
Sneaky Nando’s.
The Times:
Labour vow to combat antisocial behaviour.
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