London Playbook: Whack-a-mole politics — PMQs at
noon — Meanwhile in DC
BY ELENI
COUREA
DECEMBER 7,
2022 8:00 AM CET
POLITICO
London Playbook
By ELENI
COUREA
SCOOP —
FROM PINK TO BLUE: The Financial Times’ Whitehall Editor Seb Payne is leaving
journalism to become the new director of conservative think tank Onward. After
12 years as a hack — seven of them at the FT — Payne will head up the
center-right think tank, proven to be deeply influential in Rishi Sunak’s
administration. Onward’s founding director Will Tanner became deputy chief of
staff at No. 10 last month and at least two more people have since left to join
government.
Moving
onward: Payne, who is the author of two books on Labour’s 2019 collapse in the
Red Wall and on Boris Johnson’s fall from power, told Playbook he’s been a
“huge admirer of Onward.” “For the first time in some years, politics is
thankfully focusing on policy and ideas and Onward is perfectly placed to
inject some real pep and fresh thinking into the debate,” he said. “Its
groundbreaking research on regional inequality, levelling up and the
post-Brexit alignment has been a huge inspiration for my books and journalism.
Onward’s values are my values and I can’t wait to take up the mantle from the
outstanding work done by Will and Adam [Hawksbee, the deputy director].” He
starts early in the new year.
Good
Wednesday morning. This is Eleni Courea, writing Playbook for the rest of the
week.
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DRIVING THE
DAY
WHACK-A-MOLE
POLITICS: Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head with Keir Starmer for PMQs at noon
after seeing off his second fledgling Tory rebellion of the week — at the cost
of another U-turn, this time on onshore wind.
Where we
are: Sunak announced last night he would hold a consultation on dropping the
ban on new onshore wind turbines — a ban which he endorsed during the
leadership contest in an interview with the Telegraph. The compromise,
ultimately designed to incentivize areas to approve wind farms with cheaper
bills through a yet-to-be-defined system of local consent, appears to have
satisfied both rebel leader Simon Clarke and his chief opponent John Hayes.
Here’s the FT write-up.
How we got
here: Playbook readers won’t be shocked to hear that Sunak’s summertime
endorsement of the ban on onshore wind appears to have been a bid to sweeten
Tory members up rather than based on any genuinely-held personal belief. And
from what Playbook hears, voters’ views were as key to the change in policy as
the threat of a Tory rebellion. A BEIS survey in March found that public
support for onshore wind was 78 percent and opposition just 5 percent. A No. 10
source told Playbook: “This is a government that listens, that works with
colleagues and considers policy in the round to reach pragmatic solutions.”
On that
note: The Guardian’s Fiona Harvey and Helena Hornton report the government is
also softening its stance on solar panels. At a committee hearing yesterday,
Thérèse Coffey rowed back from Sunak’s tough line over the summer and Mark
Spencer, the farming minister, has now told the paper he is pretty relaxed
about the whole thing.
As it
happens… The decision on whether to approve the U.K.’s first new coal mine in a
generation is expected today. Government officials were silent last night amid
whispers Michael Gove was poised to green-light the new mine outside Whitehaven
in Cumbria. Without wanting to seem cynical it all looks to Playbook like a
case of parcelling up bad news with the good (a source tells the Times’ Steve
Swinford and Oli Wright that the new mine is “quid pro quo” for relaxing
restrictions on onshore wind, which Team Gove denies). The Guardian’s Jess
Elgot previews the row this sets up.
Taking a
step back: No. 10’s strategy for dealing with the threat of major rebellions —
including on tax rises in the Autumn Statement, the Online Safety Bill’s “legal
but harmful” clauses and two-headed revolt over housebuilding, and onshore wind
in the planning bill — has been to engage and triangulate into an acceptable
middle ground. Insiders argue this yields sensible policy results while
bringing the majority of the party along — but among others there are grumbles
that No. 10’s approach is too cautious and meek. “They have more power than
they realize,” one Tory MP told Playbook this week.
SCOOP —
CRASH CRUNCH: While ministers have been busying themselves with concessions on
the planning bill, a rebellion has been brewing over access to free cash in
remote areas as banks and the Post Office shut their branches. An amendment to
the Financial Services and Markets Bill drafted by Labour’s Siobhain McDonagh
with consumer group Which? has amassed Tory backbench support ahead of a vote
today. Playbook counted 21 Tory MPs on the paper after three additions late
last night, with names from all wings of the party and including Priti Patel,
Danny Kruger, Anne Marie Morris, David Mundell and Iain Duncan Smith.
Call to
arms: One Tory rebel told Playbook: “HSBC have just announced they’re closing
branches … Banks are taking the piss in rural areas and we have no option but
to sign this and push the government to act.” Rocio Concha, the director of
policy and advocacy at Which?, said the amendment aimed “to ensure those who
want to use cash aren’t cut further adrift.”
Crunching
the numbers: 21 Tories — assuming no more join, and also assuming those who
signed the amendment actually back it — isn’t enough to overturn the
government’s working majority of 69 but would send a clear message if it came
to a vote. In a letter sent to MPs on Monday and seen by Playbook, Treasury
minister Andrew Griffith effectively restated the government position on the
bill, saying he recognized “the considerable interest of colleagues in the
matter of free access to cash in relation to the government’s legislation” but
the government believed it was a matter for the FCA and that “access to cash
remains extensive in the U.K.” It suggests ministers are holding firm… at least
for now.
MEANWHILE
4,000 MILES AWAY: Liz Truss is hobnobbing with other has-been center-right
politicians at the International Democrat Union gathering in Washington D.C.
(where she was snapped by one keen-eyed local). Her spokesman told Playbook she
was invited to attend by IDU chairman and former Canadian prime minister
Stephen Harper.
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TODAY IN
WESTMINSTER
WINTER OF
DISCONTENT: Mark Harper is up in front of the transport committee at 9.30 a.m.,
as Christmas travel chaos looms with the RMT digging its heels in over planned
strikes. The Times, Mail, Telegraph and Express all splash on strikes in some
form after thousands of ambulance workers voted to walk out on December 21.
Times Radio’s Dominic Hauschild has crunched the numbers and reckons more than
a million workers across different sectors are preparing to strike this month.
And
speaking of discontent: Sunak is now under pressure from his MPs to grip the
problem by accelerating anti-strike legislation — while senior government
figures are considering how to tighten rules further, the FT reports in a big
piece on the industrial action. “If the Christmas Eve strike goes ahead, we
need to crack on with the anti-strike laws early in the new year,” a minister
tells the paper. The FT estimates that these disputes threaten the worst
disruption to the British economy since the summer of 1989. The Mail leader
warns that “the government has put up embarrassingly little resistance” and
that the PM “needs to be seen to be taking charge.”
SOMETHING
ELSE TO MONE ABOUT: Tory peer Michelle Mone lobbied ministers including Matt
Hancock to try and secure COVID contracts for a company that was actually a
secret entity of her husband’s family office, the Guardian’s Henry Dyer and
wider investigations team report in a cracking scoop. A departmental source
tells the Guardian that Mone was “in a class of her own in terms of the sheer
aggression of her advocacy” on behalf of the firm, LFI Diagnostics. Mone and
her husband did not respond to the Guardian’s allegations. The Times has a good
profile of her.
The saga
continues: Mone said yesterday she would take a leave of absence from the Lords
to try and clear her name over allegations she profited from government
contracts for another company recommended by her, Medpro. She denies any role
in that company or profiting from the contracts. Ministers will now have to
release papers, correspondence and advice relating to Medpro after Labour’s
humble address yesterday.
LABOUR IN
BUSINESS: Multiple sources have passed Playbook the agenda for Labour’s
schmoozy business day in London this Thursday — which is sponsored by HSBC and
Mastercard among others. The agenda lines up top company bosses including Aviva
chief exec Amanda Blanc, HSBC chief exec Ian Stuart, Microsoft UK chief exec
Clare Barclay, Tesco chairman John Allan and M&S board member Justin King
for introductions and speeches. They’ll get the opportunity to hobnob with
Labour shadow Cabinet figures including Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves — with the
party hoping it’ll be more of a success than the Tory conference business
dinner.
NEW TOY: A
deal through which the U.K. will team up with Japan and Italy to build a new
stealth fighter plane capable of flying unmanned and dodging radar by 2035 is
expected to be finalized by the end of the week, the Sun’s Harry Cole reports.
Incidentally:
Labour matched the Tories for donations in the third quarter of this year,
according to just-published Electoral Commission records. The Times has a
write-up.
PESTMINSTER
UPDATE: Recent stories in the Sun have renewed attention on the vexed question
of how to deal with MPs who are accused of sexual misconduct. While it’s still
a pretty high bar to meet, a consultation opened this week (as first revealed
by my POLITICO colleague Esther Webber) on proposals to ban MPs charged with
serious criminal offenses. Under the plans, a risk assessment would be carried
out by a small panel of senior parliamentary officials, and any ban would need
to be approved by a second panel composed of two deputy Speakers and a
non-executive member of the House of Commons Commission.
The terms
of a ban: An MP who met the criteria would be banned from the parliamentary
estate but would be able to take part in any virtual proceedings, while their
pass would be suspended. They would be excluded from any domestic or foreign
travel funded by the Commons, including select committee travel, but would
still be free to attend their constituency office and go on APPG trips.
Over to
you: The Commission is seeking the views of MPs and staff until January 31 at
this address.
Zooming
out: Given the number of hoops that parliamentary authorities need to jump
through just to place a ban on an MP who’s actually been *charged* with a
sexual or violent offense, it doesn’t bode well for any potential sanctions
against someone facing complaints that are serious but have not been taken to
the police for whatever reason.
SUPPORT
SERVICE: The MoJ is launching a 24/7 support line for victims of rape and
sexual abuse to contact from today. It will be operated by Rape Crisis.
RAAB
LATEST: Asked about bullying allegations against him, justice sec and deputy PM
Dominic Raab told ITV’s Anushka Asthana yesterday that civil servants never
raised concerns with him personally.
PETROL
PRICES: Playbook hears that business sec Grant Shapps was passed evidence by
the CMA yesterday suggesting that supermarkets were failing to pass on falling
wholesale petrol prices to consumers, and has instructed the watchdog to look
into it. A Whitehall source said that “Grant isn’t very ‘shappy’ with petrol
retailers or energy suppliers right now. Forecourts are only too quick to hike
prices when the wholesale cost goes up, but not the other way round and it’s
just not on.”
Also on the
BEIS agenda: Graham Stuart, the energy minister, will pressure energy suppliers
to ensure consumers with prepaid meters get the £400 vouchers of government
support they are entitled to.
IF EU HAVE
ONE, SO CAN WE: The government has unveiled an energy security partnership with
the U.S. along similar lines to the EU’s energy security taskforce with
Washington. The U.K.-US “joint action group” — which Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden
laid the ground for at the G20 summit in Bali — will be led by senior U.K.
government and White House officials and work on promoting clean energy and
efficiency plus promotion of nuclear energy, including small modular reactors.
WONK WATCH:
Policy Exchange has a paper out today arguing that Church leaders such as
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby — who has secured a Lords debate on this
on Friday — have intervened in the debate on Channel migrants without having
thought it through properly, and have wrongly ended up embracing open borders.
II: And
while we’re talking about energy, the Social Market Foundation is publishing a
report at 9.30 a.m. which says the U.K. will run out of mechanics trained to
maintain and repair electric cars by 2030.
III: The
Institute for Government has a report out today arguing Whitehall departments
need more targets and guidance on diversity, as it finds that civil servants
feel they have faced barriers to progression at work because of their class,
ethnicity or other factors.
HOUSE OF
COMMONS: Sits from 11.30 a.m. with Attorney General questions — Michael Ellis
at the despatch box klaxon — followed by PMQs at noon … After any UQs or
statements, the main business will be the remaining stages of the Financial
Services and Markets Bill.
COMMITTEE
CORRIDOR: Education Secretary Gillian Keegan faces her first grilling from the
education committee (9.30 a.m.) … As does Transport Secretary Mark Harper at
the transport committee (9.30 a.m.) … Rising numbers of asylum claims from
Albanian nationals will be examined at the home affairs committee, which will
question Albanian Ambassador Qirjako Qirko (9.45 a.m.) … and journo at the
Athletic Joey D’Urso appears at the Treasury committee’s inquiry into the
crypto-asset industry (2.15 p.m.). Full list here.
HOUSE OF
LORDS: Sits from 3 p.m. with questions on the cost of plane travel from GB to
NI, the Scottish government’s paper on the economy of an independent Scotland
and on strikes over Christmas … and then the main business will see peers
scrutinize the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill at report stage.
BEYOND THE
M25
FLYNNING
HERE: Stephen Flynn was crowned as the SNP’s new leader in Westminster last
night … and will get straight to work with his first PMQs outing at noon today.
After that he’ll get to work on picking his new front bench team. Expect a
ruckus if he goes ahead with briefed plans to clear out allies of Ian Blackford
and replace them with his buddies in the “Tuesday club” of beer-drinking SNP
blokes. Playbook’s Andrew McDonald has a write-up here of Flynn’s eventually
comfortable victory over Alison Thewliss.
Not joining
the front bench: Marmite figure — and persistent Sturgeon critic — Joanna
Cherry last night poured cold water on speculation she was in line for a return
to the front bench. Cherry tweeted that she is committed to chairing the joint
committee on human rights.
THEIR MAN
IN BELFAST: Joe Biden will imminently appoint an envoy to Northern Ireland, a
position that’s been left vacant since the days of Donald Trump, Bloomberg’s
Alex Wickham reports. The timing is significant as London and Brussels step up
talks to try and resolve the impasse over the Northern Ireland protocol in time
for the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Easter. A U.K. official
tells Wickham the hope is that the U.S. will encourage the EU to agree to make
changes to the text of the protocol (good luck with that!).
DREAMING
BIG: This evening is the big reveal of POLITICO’s 28 power list of the top
political movers and shakers in Europe. On Tuesday we revealed our nominees in
the Dreamers category, with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at no.2.
Disruption
ahead: Nominees in the final category of disrupters will be announced by noon
today. Check here to see them when they drop. And you can also sign up at the
same link to watch the live unveiling of the audience choice and POLITICO’s
pick for the most powerful person in Europe.
**What does
the future hold with the newly published European Commission’s voluntary
framework for certifying carbon removals? POLITICO Live is bringing the answer
to you as we are hosting a spotlight “The EU’s carbon removal gamble” today.
Register now!**
INVESTIGATION
— FRENCH PRIVACY CHAMPION TURNS: POLITICO has published an investigation by
Elisa Braun with Jules Darmanin on how France’s onetime champion of digital
privacy has changed his stripes and gone head-first into the shady world of
cyber surveillance instead.
Dreams of
an ethical search engine: Eric Leandri was one of France’s top digital
entrepreneurs and his privacy-focused Qwant search engine, flush with investor
cash and hyped up by the likes of Emmanuel Macron and Margrethe Vestager as a
European competitor to Google.
From super
to snooper: Now Qwant is struggling, having recently been bailed out by China’s
tech giant Huawei. After Leandri left the company in 2020, he founded a new
startup with a very different take on privacy. Altrnativ, his new firm, has won
prestigious contracts in the murky underworld of cyber surveillance, and
prepared commercial pitches offering cyberweapons to African countries with
histories of human rights abuses. A trove of 4,000 documents seen by POLITICO
shows how Leandri’s new venture has been contracted by defense companies and
French big-name brands to track people down.
All’s fair
in love and competition? Leandri’s journey symbolizes Europe’s struggles to
create technology champions that can keep up in a landscape dominated by
Silicon Valley, Israel and Asia, Elisa writes. “My fight today is the same as
it always was: The only way to protect [Europeans] is with tools developed by
Europeans,” the entrepreneur told Elisa. “Sure, I may not be perfect son-in-law
material. More like a usual suspect. But aside from that, I don’t see what we
do that’s wrong other than bring sovereignty back home.”
And here’s
the spooky part: After POLITICO contacted Leandri, someone made dozens of
attempts to hack into the online accounts of a reporter working on this story.
UKRAINE
UPDATE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops at the frontline in
Donetsk last night, as fierce fighting continues over eastern bits of Ukraine
that Russia took control of right back at the start of the war. The BBC has
more here.
Don’t
mention NATO: Western officials and politicians are refusing to touch the topic
of Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, POLITICO’s Lili Bayer writes in a great
piece on the West’s nerves about any further eastward expansion.
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