Aubrey Allegretti
@breeallegretti
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Chief Political Correspondent for The Times. Also: @SPAjournalism trustee, @KXSteelers player and #LFC fan 🏳️🌈
Joined November 2009
"None of us were able to predict" coronavirus would mutate or variants would emerge - Dido Harding, head of the National Institute for Health Protection.
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Harriet Harman appears teary-eyed as Tory MP @Laura__Farris pays tribute to her work and reminds the Commons she took up the role of privileges committee chair not long after her husband died.
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A Tory MP unimpressed with Jacob Rees-Mogg’s latest message to their WhatsApp group: “The man who wants to know which civil servants are in the office doesn’t want people to know which MPs are.”
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Keir Starmer poses with a can of Brewdog's "Barnard Castle Eye Test" on a visit, pulling pints at an east London brewery.
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Despite attempts by some to paint the row over Owen Paterson as a "Westminster bubble story", Tory MPs say they're already getting emails from furious constituents. It's starting to worry some.
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Blimey. Rod Stewart rings into @SkyNews to say: “I personally have been a Tory for a long time but I think this government should stand down now and give the Labour Party a go at it.”
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A Labour source says: "I don’t know if a Tory PM has ever been booed by a crowd of dedicated royalists before, but it feels a lot like he’s lost the dressing room.".
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Dominic Cummings included in this year’s Lewes bonfire parade. Complete with eye test and Barnard Castle sign…
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In 2020, Lee Anderson voted for the Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill - which requires an MP to call a by-election if they defect.
Lee Anderson tells @ChrisMasonBBC he won't be calling a by-election - big difference with when Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless defected to Ukip in 2014.
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Serious fury from a senior NRG source 💥:. They say PM pulling out of conference has "shown a total contempt for colleagues, contempt for members and contempt for the North". They say the group backed him in the recent confidence vote but now "that goodwill is gone".
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An eagle-eyed viewer spots another oddity from Penny Mordaunt's campaign video. Shot of nurses overlayed with voiceover praising "our greatest heroes" appears to be from a Madrid hospital, judging by logo in the top right-hand corner.
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It's only a mini bit of personal news, but after 16 incredible months at The Guardian I'm thrilled to have today signed a permanent contract with them 🙌.
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Ed Miliband rips into the PM for refusing to intervene and counter a point about the Internal Market Bill. "He didn't read the protocol, he hasn't read the bill, he doesn't know his stance."
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A Tory MP on today's Met police statement: . "What people want is justice and the truth - what they expect is a cover up. If that's what happens, we can take another 5% off our standing in the polls. "It’s a massive loss for confidence in the police and damaging for the party.".
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Exclusive: . Rishi Sunak's government has decided to spend up to an extra £90k of taxpayers' money defending Boris Johnson over Partygate. Contract for legal advice during privileges committee probe has been extended until 28 February 2023 and value has gone from £129k to £220k.
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Fury from a Tory MP who says talk of no confidence letters going in is not misplaced. "My colleagues will rule nothing in and rule nothing out," they say. "There will come a time where people have to say ‘I know it’ll make us look chaotic, but we can’t go on like this.".
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Incredible story: . I'm told this came about because the government pays Johnson's legal fees for the Covid inquiry. He handed over diaries to lawyers, and as the client the Cabinet Office got to see them - leading them to refer the issue to the police.
EXCLUSIVE from @hzeffman. Boris Johnson referred to police by the Cabinet Office over visits by friends to Chequers and Downing Street while covid restrictions were in place. Met Police and Thames Valley Police confirm they are considering evidence.
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Keir Starmer says it's "laughably ridiculous" to attack him over his work ethic. He tells @MattChorley: "All I said was that on a Friday night, I tend to try and protect that time for my family. "Of course, I've had to work Fridays in the past, I'll work Fridays in the.
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Exc: Taxpayers are footing the bill for Pannick’s legal advice disparaging the Partygate probe by privileges committee. £129,700 contract for “legal advice” awarded last month and published today. It went to Peters and Peters - who instructed Pannick.
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Rishi Sunak told by a PMQs heckler: "Bring the lettuce back."
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NEW: The curious case of "missing" WhatsApps from Boris Johnson:. Penny Mordaunt claims today she has been sleuthing for over 2 years to understand the "disappearance" of several exchanges she had with the then-PM. She says in May 2021 she "became aware that key WhatsApp
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Exc: Up to a dozen Tory MPs consider resigning over Labour’s second job crackdown.
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Exc: Labour will tomorrow launch a bid to stop PM avoiding replacing Lord Geidt. Starmer's motion says if no replacement in 2 months, PACAC can appoint an ethics adviser that reports to it, rather than govt. Adviser able to initiate inquiries themselves and give report to cttee.
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I’m told that plans to have the England team to Downing Street for a reception this week have been shelved, with attention turning instead to the PM’s levelling up speech in a few days.
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Keir Starmer's retort to PM's 'flip-flop' attacks: "This is the former columnist who wrote two versions of every article he ever published.".
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Wonder how you can square Dominic Cummings making public statement later with this from SPAD code of conduct which is categorical: . "Special advisers must not take public part in political controversy, through any form of.statement whether in speeches or letters to the press."
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Caroline Flint not hiding how hilarious she finds Anna Soubry's claim "the majority of backbenchers on both sides do not want a general election". The motion for a snap election passed by 434 to 20.
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Sources say about a dozen 2019ers met in one Tory MP’s office this afternoon to talk about submitting letters of no confidence - some at different stages than others but am told “wheels are in motion”.
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A Tory MP says the deputy chief whip, Craig Whittaker, just exclaimed as he exited the voting lobby: “I am fucking furious and I don’t give a fuck anymore.”.
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Exc: Liz Truss broke Whitehall rules by publishing her new book without agreement from the Cabinet Office. Former ministers are meant to abide by the 'Radcliffe Rules', requiring them to hand over a pre-publication copy of their memoir for vetting. Truss gave the Cabinet Office.
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Observation from a Tory MP earlier today: “People are in the tea room who aren’t normally there unless there’s a leadership bid.”.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg responds to questions about lack of Brexit business next week:. "I think the answer lies with Sir Percy Blakeney: They seek it here, they seek it there, those parliamentarians seek it everywhere. Is it in heaven? Or is it in hell? That damned elusive Brexit bill."
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Oh dear. Matt Hancock accidentally called Marcus Rashford “Daniel Rashford”.
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A Tory candidate seeking reelection says of Sunak flying back early from D-Day commemorations: . “This is like when Theresa May didn’t meet victims of the Grenfell Tower in 2017. Then it was The Queen who stepped in, yesterday it was Keir Starmer.”. Concerns already being relayed.
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Mick Lynch dismisses claims from a Conservative MP that public support is waning for striking rail workers. He tells the transport select committee: "I'm a more popular person than many of the politicians in this room.".
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Exclusive: Govt has scrapped offer of free train travel for military to attend remembrance services this November. It was seen as “too great a loss to the taxpayer”. But ministers said not to have signed off on decision and are urgently reviewing it.
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A busy night for admin on the Conservative WhatsApp groups…
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I’m told Geidt submitted a “strongly worded letter” to the PM resigning earlier today (that the Cabinet Office does not intend to publish). Feeling is yesterday’s committee session codified in his mind his position was untenable and after a long night of soul searching, he quit.
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A Tory MP says: "The party’s fucked. The public will look at us at the next election and think 'these people haven't learned a thing'. But we’ll probably be doing this again in 18 months anyway.".
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Lee Anderson says ministers should go ahead and “put planes in the air” to Rwanda anyway. When I asked if he was suggesting ignoring the Supreme Court ruling, the Tory deputy chairman said govt should “ignore the laws and send them straight back”.
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Excited to announce some personal news 🚨. I’m joining The Guardian’s lobby team as a Political Correspondent next month. It’s a dream job with a fantastic group of people, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.
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Prof Stephen Reicher, who sits on government's behavioural advice group, tells @KayBurley: . "Millions of people" had "dilemmas" like Dominic Cummings. "If all of us thought primarily can I find a loophole. then we simply couldn’t have got through this crisis together.".
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Woth saying that Harding has used a similar excuse before when she was under-fire for testing capacity battling to reach demand levels in early autumn.
Baroness Harding says "I don’t think anybody was expecting to see the really sizable increase in demand we’ve seen". Comes after Tory MP Greg Clark told her "clearly you didn’t prepare enough" for schools and office workers going back.
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Dire economic forecasts for the year ahead, so where is the chancellor?. I'm told Nadhim Zahawi is working remotely with his family while they are on holiday. Broadcasters have bid for an interview with him but been told he’s not available.
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Hello from a packed PM plane on the way to Washington, which I’m calling “StarmAir”, in the hope it catches on.
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WATCH: @CarolineLucas lays into Jacob Rees-Mogg for his "contemptuous" body language during tonight's emergency debate. "The leader of the house has been spread across around three seats, lying out as if that was something very boring for him to listen to tonight."
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"I’m a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson. Now I’ve supported him, come on Boris - come and support me.". Ironbridge resident Vic Haddock appeals for the PM to visit the flood-hit community in Shropshire.
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One gloomy-faced Tory MP says Keir Starmer was "very effective" at PMQs. They think his pressure on tackling Channel crossings points out a "glaring failure" by the govt, and says it's "nonsense" to try to attack Labour given the govt has such a big majority.
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A Tory MP texts: “We’ve just had a by-election for someone looking at porn. This is surely much worse…”
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Jacob Rees-Mogg responds to Nicola Sturgeon calling him a "tin-pot dictator". "If the PM said Christmas Day was 25 December, Nicola Sturgeon would be outraged and shocked by that, so I wouldn't worry too much about what the Scottish leader has to say.". - @SkyNewsPolitics.
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Silence from Michael Gove but not from one of his neighbours, who called over to us: "Give him hell, he's a total w*nker.".
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Boris Johnson arrives to cast his ballot in the no confidence ballot. Not amused by questions about how he’ll be voting….
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Nervousness grows in CCHQ as Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election approaches. Chief whip has emailed Tory MPs urging them to join a “dawn raid” on polling day and calling for “as many hands as possible”. One says: “They are shitting themselves.”.
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Exc: A "special report" will be published tomorrow by the privileges committee on the issues surrounding their inquiry into Boris Johnson. It's expected to name several of his allies (serving MPs and a peer) who branded the committee a "witch-hunt"/ "kangaroo court".
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Spicy interview on Sky this morning over Keir Starmer’s tickets for Taylor Swift (that he later paid for). Lisa Nandy says “most of Sky News was at these events in these same boxes” but Kay Burley literally kept the receipts
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Exc: I’m told the long-awaited standards report into Scott Benton is set to be published tomorrow. He was filmed by @TheTimes offering to lobby ministers and leak confidential information on behalf of gambling industry investors. Sources say Conservatives are braced for a fresh.
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NEW: Chris Pincher is being investigated by the standards commissioner. Probe opened last Thursday into "actions causing significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its members generally".
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Shared with me by two people from the Tory main WhatsaApp group.
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Fury mounting over Chope objection. A minister tells me: "He has been for many year a jurassic embarrassment - tonight he crossed a line. The man should retire. If he comes into the team room, colleagues would want to say two words to him and the second word would be ‘off’.".
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I understand a Tory MP in the 2019 intake has this afternoon submitted a no confidence letter in Boris Johnson. Douglas Ross also doing the same. Numbers could grow fast. Source says “the mood is that it's just a matter of time”.
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Wes Streeting is on fighting form - telling Tory MPs that Labour is "doing the things they only ever talked about". He lists defence investment, cutting the welfare bill and curtailing state bureaucracy.
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PM Boris Johnson rebuked by Alzheimer's Society after claiming there has been a "palpable improvement" in care homes. Charity says: “We haven’t seen any evidence to suggest that deaths in care homes are slowing down, and any other implication would be dangerously complacent.".
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It turns out Sir Robbie Gibb - former No10 head of comms under Theresa May - had a significant role advising on the media strategy for the race report launch. It was done pro-bono. One source says there’s now a “blame game” underway in government about “why it landed so badly”.
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Jeremy Hunt has been a cabinet minister for 3,873 days (10 years, 7 months, 6 days) out of the last 14 years of Conservative government. In his budget today, he raises the issue of "historic underinvestment" in the regions.
Jeremy Hunt, whose party has been in power for 14 years, most of which time he’s been in the cabinet, announces he wants to turn to “historic underinvestment” in Britain’s regions. #budget.
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Another Tory MP says there was “the most bullying, screaming and shouting” they’d witnessed in the voting lobbies tonight. They claim chief and deputy chief whip had a “full-blown shouting match” in front of the PM. Truss “stormed through the lobbies”, witnesses say.
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Major fallout over @GuidoFawkes story. Tory MP says: "Boris will be opening his little black book and trying to cast aspersions elsewhere. He would burn parliament to the ground around him.". Another says: "We’re not far off him asking Bridgen for his tin foil hat supplier.".
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Exclusive: Govt is planning to extend taxpayer-funded support to help defend Boris Johnson over claims he misled parliament about Partygate.
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Exc: The final fee for Boris Johnson's legal costs during the privileges committee inquiry is £265,522. The Cabinet Office decided to extend the budget by £20,000, to help the PM fight inquiry into his Partygate denials.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg reveals he has *ordered a yard glass* and will be taking it to the pub when it reopens on Saturday.
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Quite the challenge from Tory MP Charles Walker to Priti Patel: "This House criminalised freedom of protest - us, not Dame Cressida, not the Met Police, we did. We are up to our eyeballs in this.".
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BREAKING: Boris Johnson spokesman says all his material - including WhatsApps and notebooks requested by the Covid Inquiry - "has been handed to the Cabinet Office in full and in unredacted form".
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David Davis dropping some bombshell claims in parliament that he says he's been leaked evidence of by a whistleblower. He says they show there was "a concerted effort by senior members of the SNP to encourage complaints" against Alex Salmond.
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NEW: Lisa Nandy has used her first address as culture secretary to staff at DCMS to promsise “the era of culture wars is over”. She said: “For too long, for too many people, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves as a nation has not reflected them, their communities or.
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🧨 . Am told that a Met police announcement could come as early as tonight on first batch of fines being issued over Partygate.
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Exclusive: . Senior Conservative MP William Wragg has admitted his involvement in a ‘honeytrap’ sexting scandal targeting a minster and fellow MPs. The Times approached Wragg after speaking to victims who believed he was involved. Wragg told me he was “so sorry” for providing.
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Exc: Labour MPs say they've been "besieged" by criticism over Tuesday's statement on moves to tackle grooming gangs. Leaked mesages in a Home Office WhatsApp group show the scale of anger over handling of the announcement:. “Headlines like this are not helping.". “An update on.
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Therese Coffey is holding an emergency call for Liz Truss's remaining supporters at 2:15pm - just before the press conference.
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This article is doing the rounds among Sunak-supporting Tory MPs…
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A Tory MP's snap assessment: "I really think it's over and the party will just implode.". It's going to be a long slog until the election. .
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NEW: Three Tory MPs are under investigation by the standards commissioner. Scott Benton and Henry Smith for use of parliamentary facilities + Matt Hancock for “lobbying the Commissioner in a manner calculated or intended to influence his consideration” about a possible probe.
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Britain First have just sent out a press release claiming to have thousands of members who can vote in the Conservative leadership race, and urging them all to vote for Kemi Badenoch
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Exc: Labour MPs confront Liz Kendall over WASPI devision in leaked WhatsApp messages. They voice “shock”, suggest No 10 has failed to learn lessons from pensioners’ winter fuel cut, and seek legal advice the decision was based on. “My integrity is worth more than this,” says
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A protesters is using a blowtorch to set fire to the Brexit divorce deal, while another uses a giant hammer to destroy a massive cardboard version
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I'm told the scale of these events is quite large - revealed in the details of family and friends invited to Chequers when Covid restrictions were in force. In No 10, it was argued those people were government employees. At the PM's countryside retreat, that may be harder.
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John Bercow tells Sky News "the right and duty" to appoint the chair of the ISC committee lie with the committee. "If the PM didn't know the providings of the 2013 Justice and Security Act, that is frankly disturbing. "If he did. that is truly disgraceful.".
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Exc: Police issuing fines to Downing Street staff who partied the night before Prince Philip’s funeral (16/04/21). Revelation is first time Scotland Yard have confirmed Covid laws broken inside No 10 - contrary to PM’s assurance in the Commons chamber.
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Fastest No 10 U-turn yet? . 12:33pm.PM’s spokesman: The PM will this afternoon be visiting a British firm that specialises in automative technology “to hear from the kind of businesses driving UK innovation and growth”. 1:44pm.Downing St tells journalists the visit is off.
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Exc (and free to read this weekend!): . Labour manifesto will commit to introducing an age limit on serving peers. House of Lords will be scaled back by forcing peers to retire at age 80, or at the end of the parliament in which they reach that age. It's part of a two-phased.
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Another Tory MP admits their inbox is in "meltdown" over the move to avoid suspending Paterson today. They said: "I know the usual suspects - the messages I'm getting aren't from them.".
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A Labour MP texts: “I see the Prime Minister has just found the magic lamp from the bottom of the moving boxes.”.
FINAL TORY LEADERSHIP MP BALLOT RESULT:. Robert Jenrick and Kemi Badenoch are through to the final two and the ballot of party members. Cleverly: 37.Badenoch: 42.Jenrick: 41. 120 MPs voted.
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Graham Brady spotted walking out of parliament by the Red Lion. May only be headed to one place…
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Very excited to announce some personal news: . I’m joining The Times as Chief Political Correspondent in the autumn. It’s a cracking team led by the brilliant @Steven_Swinford and I can’t wait to get stuck in!.
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A lot of Tory MPs riled after that Johnson resignation speech:. - “Revolting No humility, shots fired at the parliamentary party, just sums up we were right.”. - “Ridiculous. No self reflection at all.”. - “An absence of any affection for, or loyalty to, the Conservative party.”.
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Harriet Harman reveals she offered to step down as privileges committee chair if government did not have confidence in her after claims of “bias” over Partygate tweets. She says “I was assured that I should continue”. I’m told this was by the then-chief whip.
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Exc with @PippaCrerar: . Privileges committee launches fightback campaign to stop Partygate probe being "derailed". A dossier is being drawn up to rebut attacks in government commissioned legal advice from Lord Pannick.
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Two years ago, the biggest scandal facing the Government was Number 10 photoshopping a poppy onto David Cameron
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Tory MP Will Wragg confirms he's submitted a no confidence letter in the prime minister. Says he will vote as told in tonight's "confidence vote" on fracking because he doesn't want his letter to lapse.
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