London Playbook: Night at the museum — Strike 1 —
Right old Carrie-on
BY ESTHER
WEBBER
June 21,
2022 8:07 am
POLITICO
London Playbook
By ESTHER
WEBBER
Good
Tuesday morning. This is Esther Webber. Annabelle Dixon and Eleni Courea will
be here to take you through the rest of the week.
NIGHT AT
THE MUSEUM
OFF TO THE
V&A: Boris Johnson and his entire Cabinet headed to the V&A in South
Kensington last night for a lavish evening at the Tory summer ball. The
atmosphere at the outset was dampened somewhat by the members of the museum’s
PCS branch picketing the front entrance together with former Shadow Chancellor
John McDonnell, and from what Playbook hears it didn’t pick up much from there.
Inside the
dinner: Playbook’s Eleni Courea texts in with a scoopy, fun-filled readout from
the evening, which began with around 250 government ministers, mega-rich
donors, Tory apparatchiks and various hangers-on filing into the museum at 7
p.m. for drinks. After speeches from the PM and party Co-Chairman Ben Elliot,
prizes started being auctioned off on screens as guests were served a starter
of salmon tartare followed by beef with asparagus mash — which frankly sounds
grim — and finished off with passionfruit meringues for dessert.
It gets
better: A band wearing jazzy outfits performed songs by ABBA. “It was like a
school disco band. There were one or two people making slightly boogie-looking
moves but no one was fully committed to dancing,” Playbook’s mole said. “If
there’s one thing the country thinks the Tories do well it’s throwing parties —
and ironically this wasn’t much of one. It felt almost cultish.” Another
attendee said simply: “I’ve had better Monday nights.”
That
election strategy in full: After guests had finished their starters and
withstood a speech by Michael Gove, there came what must have been the most
bizarre moment of the night. Former Tory Treasurer Howard Lee, who is raising
money for the Conservative Party’s plan to hold onto 80 marginal seats and win
a further 20 at the next election, asked people to “stand up to donate £500” to
the effort. Quite a few people did get up (though Eleni hears the mics weren’t
great and it’s not quite clear how many of them were just heading to the
bathroom) … only to sit quickly back down when Lee asked them to “stay standing
to donate £1,000.”
**A message
from Lloyds Banking Group: Today’s Global Gender Gap report has revealed many
areas in Britain has got a long way to go until equality. Not least in
pensions, where research from Scottish Widows has shown the baby boomer
generation of women face retirement with pots half of those of a man. Find out
more here.**
Brace,
brace: The grand prize at the auction was a dinner with Boris Johnson, Theresa
May and David Cameron — yes, all together — which went for around £120,000. One
guest present said, “I suspect it’s the kind of thing CCHQ auctions off but
never actually happens.” If you’ve been missold dinner with a former Tory Party
leader, please get in touch.
What you
could have won: Other prizes were an African safari trip sold for £65,000 … a
shooting weekend for £37,000 … wine tasting for £30,000 … and Chelsea vs.
Arsenal tickets for a comparatively measly £5,000. Playbook would attempt a
joke about ministers’ hangovers but it sounds like most of them had legged it
home by 10.30 p.m. so as to be fresh to discuss the cost of living at Cabinet
this morning.
DRIVING THE
DAY
STRIKE 1:
Never has *driving* the day felt more appropriate, as 40,000 railway workers
walk out on the first of three strike days this week. Tens of thousands of
journeys to work, school, hospital appointments and social occasions will be
abandoned as passengers are told not to bother traveling by train until Sunday.
Boris Johnson is officially back in the hot seat to condemn the action at a
Cabinet meeting this morning after a sinus operation yesterday under general
anesthetic which meant handing the reins to Deputy PM Dominic Raab for 24
hours. As well as slamming the unions, ministers will talk public sector pay at
Cabinet, fully aware that other professions could follow suit with strikes of
their own after details of their pay offers are revealed this week.
Who’s
affected: About 4,500 services — down from 20,000 normally — will be running
this week, and they’ll start later and finish much earlier than usual. There
will be no passenger trains running north from Glasgow or Edinburgh, and in
London, there will be “very little service” across most of the Tube network
today. Many of those on strike from the 15 train companies are guards, cleaners
or track maintenance workers. Train driver members of the Aslef union are due
to strike over pay at Greater Anglia on June 23 and July 2.
Reminder:
RMT members are going on strike after talks with train operators and Network
Rail broke down. The union is calling for a pay rise of at least 7 percent but
says employers have offered 2 percent with the potential of 1 percent more, on
the condition that workers accept proposed job cuts and changes to working
practices. As ever, the BBC’s Ros Atkins has a pretty neat explainer.
Those cross
words in full: Speaking ahead of Cabinet, Johnson is expected to accuse the
unions of “harming the very people they claim to be helping … by driving away
commuters who ultimately support the jobs of rail workers.” He will add: “Too
high demands on pay will also make it incredibly difficult to bring to an end
the current challenges facing families around the world with rising costs of
living.” On the RMT line that fares would pay for the kind of deal they’re
seeking, he says: “We are not loading higher fares on passengers to carry on
paying for working practices that date back in some cases to the 19th century.”
Latest from
the RMT: Assistant General-Secretary John Leach told TalkTV’s Tom Newton Dunn
last night: “What we can’t do is settle for something that’s nearly 8 percent
behind inflation — that is absolutely intolerable … We regret the inconvenience
this causes and that’s why they need a pay rise too … Our members deserve a
reasonable pay rise to be able to keep up with the cost of living crisis in
this country.”
Cold
comfort: These fresh blows in the war of words between the government and the
unions will be of little comfort to all those passengers who have had to change
their plans this week. Which is after all the point of a strike.
Worth a
read: This analysis for City AM by former Sun man Steve Hawkes, who frames the
confrontation in the wider context of the government’s plans for the railways.
He reports that insiders at train companies say they have been told by the
government to model a scenario where passenger volumes will only return to 80
percent of their pre-COVID heights, while some in the industry believe Johnson
is “spoiling for a fight” with the RMT — the last trade union with real
nationwide muscle. A No. 10 official denied this was his motivation.
What can
the government do? Labour is continuing to call on ministers to get involved in
negotiations, while the government continues to insist it’s not their place to
do so. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed the scoop by Henry Zeffman
in yesterday’s Times that ministers are preparing to scrap laws against hiring
agency workers to stand in for strikers. He tweeted: “Repealing these 1970s-era
restrictions will give businesses the freedom to access skilled, temporary
staff at short notice. Legislation is on its way.” It won’t make a difference
to the current strike, but it’s expected to have i’s dotted and t’s crossed
today in order to come before parliament later this week.
Instrument
of torture: Labour confirmed it would oppose the move, with Shadow Business
Secretary Jonathan Reynolds saying: “Agencies themselves have said this is
unworkable and don’t want it to happen. The government is willing to ride
roughshod over businesses to provoke this dispute rather than act like
grown-ups and actually resolve it.” But with the change being made via
statutory instrument, the scope for challenge is limited. A Labour Party
official told Playbook the opposition will look at ways to block it, depending
on the type of SI used.
Further
down the track: In his statement to the Commons, Transport Secretary Grant
Shapps recommitted the government to bringing in minimum service requirements
on the railways, which would insulate the networks from complete shutdown amid
strike action. However a government official admitted these were “quite a way
away” as the proposal requires primary legislation and could take months.
It’s just
not picket: While No. 10 has denied using strikes as a “wedge issue,”
Conservatives certainly seem to think it is one to hammer their opponents with
by accusing them of backing a “summer of chaos.” Labour had reached a stable,
if not altogether comfortable, line to take by saying only the government
actually has the power to act and avert the disruption. But Labour gonna
Labour, and the party could not let the opportunity for some infighting pass it
by. PoliticsHome’s Sienna Rodgers has a cracking scoop, revealing that Labour
frontbenchers have been ordered not to join striking workers on the picket line
in order to “show leadership.”
How’s that
going down? Like a bucket of cold sick with left-wing Labour MPs and union
leaders. Kate Osborne, aide to shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Kyle,
was straight out of the blocks, tweeting: “Come what may, I will be on a picket
line supporting workers tomorrow.” Unite’s General Secretary Sharon Graham
said: “You don’t lead by hiding. No one respects that. It’s time to decide
whose side you are on. Workers or bad bosses?” Ouch.
But enough
of that: Regardless of whether the Labour Party makes it through the week in
one piece, there are bigger questions ahead. Henry Zeffman, Ben Clatworthy,
Nicola Woolcock and Kat Lay report in the Times that teachers want to see pay
rises of up to 12 percent while nurses have demanded 5 percent above inflation,
which is forecast to reach 11 percent this year. Teachers are preparing to
begin strike proceedings if they do not receive a significantly improved pay
offer by Wednesday, they report, while NHS staff should also be told their pay
award this week.
Gulp: Pay
demands by doctors and nurses could wipe £4.8 billion off the money raised by
the National Insurance rise, according to analysis by the Telegraph, which also
puts civil servants and posties on strike watch.
Not in a
generous mood: All this sets the government up for a clash with public sector
workers on multiple fronts, with the prime minister and chancellor set to
emphasize at this morning’s Cabinet their belief in the importance of pay
discipline and restraint in order to manage inflationary pressures downwards.
They will “look to” the Independent Pay Review process, in some delightfully
obscure language, and have committed “consider” their recommendations. In more
pre-released words ahead of Cabinet, the PM said: “It is right that we reward
our hard-working public sector workers with a pay rise, but this needs to be
proportionate and balanced. Sustained higher levels of inflation would have a
far bigger impact on people’s pay packets in the long run, destroying savings
and extending the difficulties we’re facing for longer.” Insert grimace emoji
here.
Wages of
sin: Playbook won’t be the first to point out that it was less than a year ago
at the last Conservative Party conference that talk of a “high wage economy”
was all the rage, with both the PM and chancellor making extensive reference to
the salaried sunlit uplands in their speeches. When your Playbook author spoke
to the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Ben Zaranko on precisely this issue ahead
of the last budget, he pointed out that even though, in a tight labor market,
wages are rising in what would normally be thought of as healthy cash terms,
it’s obviously not enough to match inflation — and that puts the government in
a tight spot. “We can’t rule out strike action and a lot of backlash among the
NHS, education, prison and police officers,” he said back then.
It’s not
all bad news: If you’re a banker, that is. The i’s Paul Waugh has got hold of a
letter from Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay — also the PM’s
chief of staff — to Rishi Sunak in which he outlines plans to “remove
restrictions on director (and specifically NED) remuneration,” as proposed by
the London Stock Exchange. The move is proposed as part of the government’s
drive to demonstrate the benefits of Brexit, but doesn’t exactly chime with the
spirit of “restraint” ministers are calling for in the public sector.
What BEIS
says: The business department notes this was in a release it put out last month
on audit reform, while the government is understood to have no intention to end
the EU cap on banker bonuses. Waugh counters, however, that Johnson has come
under pressure from U.S. and other foreign banks to do just that.
Nice Brexit
you’ve got there: Don’t miss the FT’s big read from George Parker and Chris
Giles on Brexit’s economic fallout. They write: “As the sixth anniversary of
the UK’s vote to leave the EU approaches, economists are starting to quantify
the damage caused by the erection of trade barriers with its biggest market,
separating the ‘Brexit effect’ from the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
They conclude that the damage is real and it is not over yet.” Downing Street,
meanwhile, has insisted it is “too early to pass judgment” on whether Brexit
was having a negative impact on the economy.
TODAY IN
WESTMINSTER
RIGHT OLD
CARRIE-ON: If Downing Street was hoping to turn the page on the mysterious tale
of the disappearing Times story, it doesn’t seem as though that’s going to
happen just yet. You know, the one where the Times printed a story that Boris
Johnson as foreign secretary tried to hire his then-girlfriend Carrie as chief
of staff — then deleted all trace of it. The PM’s spokesman confirmed at
Monday’s lobby briefing that No. 10 had spoken to the newspaper about the offending
article but specified the prime minister had not personally intervened, while
reiterating that the claims in Simon Walters’ original piece were untrue.
Bang on
cue: An exclusive from the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar, who reports Johnson suggested
two other cushy jobs for Carrie — as an ambassador for the COP26 climate
summit, and as spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Earthshot
prize. Johnson’s closest advisers were said to have vetoed both suggestions,
Crerar says, warning that it could undermine his wife’s status as a private
citizen. No. 10 has again denied the claims, saying: “The PM has never
recommended Mrs Johnson for a government role or one as part of the Earthshot
Prize” — although they have not explicitly denied that he ever discussed the
matter with aides. More fodder for Lobby today.
Do the
Geidt thing: It seems we haven’t heard the last of Christopher Geidt after his
rather odd resignation as Johnson’s ethics adviser last week. He’s popped up to
tell the Telegraph’s Tony Diver that the PM’s alleged other job as his wife’s
career adviser is “ripe for investigation.” Now, if only there was someone
around to do it.
Speaking of
which: The Guardian’s Aubrey Allegretti (who’s deservedly just been given a
permanent gig at the paper) found out that Labour will attempt to pile pressure
on Johnson today to replace his ethics adviser within two months, or face
having a potentially more hostile candidate installed. It follows the news last
week that No. 10 would not necessarily pick a replacement for Geidt but
reevaluate the role altogether. Keir Starmer has put down a motion saying that
if the role is not filled by August 16, then a parliamentary committee should
be able to appoint somebody to effectively carry out its duties.
Red Wragg
to a bull: The committee in question is the public administration and
constitutional affairs committee, which is of course chaired by one of
Johnson’s most vocal critics, William Wragg. There are a few Conservatives who
take a dim view of leaving Geidt’s post vacant, one of whom tells Aubrey: “If
he chooses not to replace Lord Geidt, this shows them just how little his
promises are worth.” However, it’s unlikely to be the scene of a big rebellion
with many MPs away from Westminster due to rail strikes and a final push by
campaigners ahead of the two by-elections this week.
Great
expectations: The expectation management game continues ahead of Thursday’s
contests in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton. Well, in the latter seat
anyway. A Conservative loss in Wakefield now seems widely accepted, an
impression which can only be further bolstered by the Tory candidate’s latest
intervention. Nadeem Ahmed tells the New Statesman’s Anoosh Chakelian in her
excellent color piece, on the subject of Johnson’s leadership: “I do not see
Labour councillors or Labour MPs calling out Tony Blair. I hold him responsible
for the deaths in Iraq, the innocent lives, nobody’s talking about that.” For
what it’s worth local Tory sources don’t have much sympathy. “We’re all cringing,”
one told Playbook. “Not sure how the answer to that question wasn’t rehearsed
to death.”
Where’s
Boris? The PM, who leaves for Kigali later this week, is running out of time to
show up in Wakefield. He swerved a visit to Doncaster last week, which might
have fitted in nicely, to go to Kyiv. At this rate we can start a handy list of
foreign capitals he’d rather visit than West Yorkshire. Rooting around, it
seems his last appearance there was a stop-off on the way to the Batley and
Spen by-election this time last year — so he does know where it is after all.
Meanwhile
in Tiverton: The Lib Dems are keen for us to know — and it gets a write-up from
the i’s David Parsley — that internal polling puts the party neck and neck with
the Conservatives with two full days of campaigning left. Health warning: it’s
not a representatively weighted poll, but based on canvassing data. A
Conservative Party official dismissed it as, er, the “same old crap” from the
Lib Dems, accusing them of “desperately trying to row back” after an anonymous
former MP was quoted as saying they were going to win by 5,000 votes. Not to be
outdone, Tory MPs have been bold enough to brief Aubrey Allegretti at the
Guardian that the party will hold on to Tiverton and Honiton “but with a significantly
reduced majority of around 2,000.”
Gold-star
treatment: Regardless of your allegiances, you’d have to try very hard not to
enjoy this dispatch from Honiton by Tanya Gold for Unherd. Come for the
devastating pen portraits of the candidates, stay for the news that “the
Honiton Conservative Association, a few doors down, is shuttered. There is a
rumour, which I cannot confirm because it is shuttered, that the officers of
the Honiton Conservative Association are voting Liberal Democrat. There is a Liberal
Democrat sign on the Honiton Conservative Association, but I cannot say who put
it there. I think it is a joke.”
Leveling up
latest: NationalWorld’s Ethan Shone has got hold of Cabinet Office data which
shows Johnson only held direct meetings with four out of 10 metro mayors
throughout 2020 and 2021. One regional leader claimed the prime minister was
avoiding them because he doesn’t have a grasp of the detail and is concerned he
will be “found out.”
Feel the
burn: Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is hanging out with the
Institute for Government today in Manny, as they launch a new paper endorsed by
Burnham, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and Metro Mayor of the Liverpool
City Region Steve Rotheram. It says the government must devolve fuller powers
and greater flexibility over spending to metro mayors so that these local
leaders can help level up England.
Getting a
pass: The House of Commons has confirmed it will erase data showing how many
times MPs have been on the parliamentary estate, following a backlash from
ministers. The row started when Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted that “thanks to a lefty
Freedom of Information request it turns out I attended the Commons on over 100
percent of sitting days in a year, 159 attended vs 154 sitting days,”
PoliticsHome’s Alain Tolhurst reports. Unhappy parliamentary staff have been in
touch with Playbook to raise concerns that the Commons will therefore lose data
which could assist in investigating misconduct complaints, while Garry Graham
of Prospect trade union told us: “Given the run of MPs found guilty of serious
offences, perhaps it is time to completely rethink processes such as this so
that we can protect MPs’ privacy while ensuring staff are protected and that
necessary security information is recorded.”
SNP SLEAZE
LATEST: An SNP MP who was heard offering full support to Patrick Grady in a
leaked recording obtained by the Sun and Mail has apologized, as pressure grows
on the SNP’s handling of the harassment case involving Grady. Amy Callaghan
called for an overhaul of the party’s harassment procedures in the wake of the
scandal, which has seen Westminster leader Ian Blackford and other SNP MPs
accused of rallying around a colleague found to have committed sexual
harassment while offering little support to the victim, who still works for the
SNP. In her statement, Callaghan refers to a “complainant who has been let down
this week by my words and by my party.” The other MPs heard in the recording
are yet to publicly offer support or apologize to the victim, who has said in
multiple recent interviews that he feels abandoned by the SNP. Since the
recording emerged, Blackford is yet to comment publicly at all.
Also
weighing in: The SNP MP Joanna Cherry — a persistent critic sacked by Blackford
last year — said the party has “significant problems” in how it tackles
complaints. Cherry has previously criticized her own party for provoking abuse
and threats from activists toward her.
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