The Queen’s Speech has been rescheduled for Wednesday June 21st, 2 days later than originally planned. This despite no official deal being reached yet between the Conservatives and the DUP.
‘Theresa V Boris: How May Became PM’ Drama Docu Advert
For a minute there, we thought this was another of those incredible edits videos like Harry Potter as a Teen Comedy, but very excited it’s the real deal. Hopefully we’ll get a rare insight into the Tory inner sanctum.
When:9pm, Sunday 18th June
Where:BBC Two (HD)
Radio Times Summary: “Docu-drama telling the story of the Conservative Party’s 2016 leadership campaign, from the day David Cameron resigned to the day Theresa May became Prime Minister. Based on exhaustive research and first-person testimonies, this dramatised narrative goes beyond the headlines to lay bare the politicking and positioning, betrayals and blunders of this extraordinary political time. The programme also features key interviews with people who were intimately involved in the campaigns of the main contenders.”
Hold up, isn’t the Queen’s Speech just a Christmas thing?
This has been a common question today, so if you’ve been wondering the same thing, you weren’t alone! The Queen gives her Christmas speech every year (makes sense, right?) but to get full value for money on the royal family, she’s also brought out after each general election.
Makes sense. So what does she actually talk about?
The post-election Queen’s Speech is a quick summary of all the major policies the party-in-power hope to implement over their term. Not everything will make it in: the past two Tory manifestos pledged to repeal the ban on fox hunting, but the policy never featured in the speech.
When was it meant to happen?
The speech was originally scheduled for June 19th (next Monday). No date has been set yet for when we’ll end up hearing it.
Okay, but why has this one been delayed then?
Right, so this is where it gets a bit more complicated, mostly because at this point we move into the realm of speculation. Never a good thing for an article on politics, y’know?
Theresa May ran on a promise of strength and stability. She was hoping to get a huge majority for the Tories to (a) put Britain in a better negotiating position with the EU and (b) bolster her self-esteem. This didn’t go to plan: we now have a ‘hung parliament’.
All those policies the Tories could have put in the Queen’s Speech suddenly look doubtful to pass a vote in the House of Commons. Right now, senior Tories are going over and over their manifesto looking for the bits and pieces that stand a chance and coming to terms with the policies they’ll have to lose. This is one of the reason’s it’s going to take longer than usual to prepare the speech.
Didn’t the Tories make that deal with the DUP to avoid this sort of thing though?
The DUP agreement is a Confidence and Support deal rather than a full on coalition. What this means is that the 10 DUP MPs in the Commons keep their right to vote against Tory policies if they don’t agree with them.
A good example is triple-lock pensions. This is a promise by the government to increase state pensions each year in line with inflation or wage growth, or by 2.5% (whichever of the three is highest). The Tory manifesto pledged to do away with this, whereas the DUP strongly support keeping the protection. In a Commons vote, the Tories will face a real struggle to secure the majority vote needed to scrap the scheme.
It’s also likely that the delay is partly because of this deal: the DUP will be making some demands of the Tories in exchange for their support that the Tories just won’t be that willing to accept.
So what does this mean for the government then?
As of right now, Theresa May’s Tory party still hold the power. The delaying of the Queen’s Speech has made them look weaker to the public and has potentially put a dent in the timetable for Brexit negotiations (will we even have an official Prime Minister when they’re due to start in 9 days?).
There’s rumour that Corbyn is poised to take full advantage of this perceived instability. Labour are supposedly planning to try and block each and every policy the Tories try to include in their Queen’s Speech. If a speech cannot be agreed upon, then there’s a series of steps that could be followed to give Corbyn a chance to form his own minority government.
That’s only a very remote possibility though!
tl;dr The Conservative Party have delayed the Queen’s Speech as they struggle to edit their manifesto to a more centrist position.
If it sounds like a twisted children’s game, we promise it was only half intentional.
After every general election, the first fun game (after ‘who the heck will the minority government team up with?’) is the building of the cabinet. The Conservative party have decided to set themselves up as the minority government in a ‘confidence and support’ scheme with the DUP, meaning they get first shot at playing the game.
Don’t forget - they haven’t passed the Queen’s speech test yet, so this might not be the government we finish with. There’s talk of Corbyn (backed by almost every non-blue MP) making a bid for power and completely obliterating the Queen’s speech talks. It’s unlikely, but an interesting potential plot twist nonetheless.
So back to The Game.
How does a prospective Prime Minister choose her cabinet? Some, like Amber Rudd and Philip Hammond, are pretty obvious choices. They already held their seats before the snap-election and were very loudly on May’s side even after the polls had closed on a slightly-darker-than-expected day for the Conservative party. Any name not in bold falls into this category.
Then we get to the four newcomers, the ladies and gentlemen getting promoted or demoted in the aftermath of GE17. These are the boldednames in our list (taken lovingly from the BBC live updates page, accurate as of 10pm on June 11th).
First we have Damian Green. Let’s think of him as Theresa May’s best mate. Admittedly, with the Tory performance in a snap election they probably shouldn’t have lost, he maybe doesn’t have so much competition for that role as in April. The fact remains that Damian Green, 61 years old and Oxford educated (like 15% of the 650 MPs elected on Thursday) is now officially Theresa’s righthand man in Parliament.
Green retained his seat in Ashford, Kent, with a 29% majority. He has previously voted against a ban on fox hunting. Generally speaking, he votes along party lines (no rebellion from this staunch Tory man). His most recent role in government was as the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (the benefits department) from July 2016, so a definite promotion this time.
What about the new Justice Secretary, David Lidington? Bucking the political trend, Lidington is not an alumni of Oxford University… he attended Cambridge, earning a PhD in Elizabethan history. This is another man promoted after the 2017 election: his previous role was as Leader of the House of Commons. Perhaps most notably, this CBE honoured 60 year old once claimed over £115,000 in expenses in one year. This included £1,300 claimed for toiletries like toothpaste and vitamin supplements.
The man replacing him in Work and Pensions is David Gauke, the MP for South West Hertfordshire. This is another for the expenses scandal files: Gauke once claimed over £10,000 in expenses for a second flat in London, despite his commute to the city being under an hour by car. A law graduate of Oxford University, all of Gauke’s previous roles in government have been within the Treasury department.
‘What about the women?!’ we hear you ask. There are over 200 female MPs in Parliament now - surely one of them must have been promoted to the top table? Welcome, Liz Truss. Having attended a comprehensive school - and then Oxford University - Truss has been moved from Justice Secretary to Chief Secretary to the Treasury. This is the second most senior position within the Treasury, so a big move for the first woman ever to hold the Justice position.
One name that was only announced afterwe took this screenshot was Michael Gove, the new Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In a shrewd move by Theresa May to block off a leadership challenge from Gove, he has been brought back into government (albeit to the role nobody ever asks for). Michael Gove, while Education Secretary, once faced a vote of no confidence in his policies from all major teaching unions.
So that’s the cabinet as it stands. It’s a who’s-who of Oxford alumni, a Dulux wall chart for a house themed on Whipped Cream Gone Off. Alternatively, it’s a collection of qualified, competent, devout Tory MPs who are now less likely to stab May in the back to try and steal her position as head of the party.
We’ll leave it to you to decide your view on the matter…
Today, two big amendments were put to a vote in the House of Commons.
First was a proposal led by Labour’s Stella Creasy to allow women from Northern Ireland to get free abortions in England. Currently, abortions in Northern Ireland are banned unless in extreme circumstances of poor health, and the women who travel to England for the procedures have to pay around £900. It passed the house and will now come into law.
The amendment - which was backed by more than 50 MPs from across the major parties - means Northern Irish women will now have their abortions in England covered by the NHS. Fairly reasonable, when you consider most of these women pay the taxes that fund the service. It is estimated the amendment will cost approximately £1 million per year.
Second was a Brexit-based amendment led by Labour’s Chuka Umunna. This amendment suggested the UK stay in the single market, which guarantees free movement of goods, services, money and labour within the EU. Jeremy Corbyn called on all Labour MP’s to abstain from the vote and threatened they would be sacked from any ministerial roles if they rebelled. So far we are aware of 3 Labour frontbenchers who have been sacked from their roles for not abstaining.
While parties such as Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats showed unanimous support for the amendment, it was easily defeated due to Labour abstentions.
Then all that remained was the vote on the final Queen’s Speech, the last piece of the puzzle to make Theresa May the undisputed Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. With the support of the DUP’s 10 MPs, the Queen’s Speech passed.
tl;dr Good news for women, bad news for business, great news for Theresa May
The Conservative government have bought power by committing £1bn in extra funding to Northern Ireland. Here’s where that money is intended to be spent.
It’s been the big will-they-won’t-they romance of the summer so far, but Theresa May has finallysnagged her woman. Something the DUP probably wouldn’t approve of in any other circumstances…
Yes,the Tories have reached a deal with the DUP, ending over two weeks of talks.
Firstly, the good news: it is nota coalition. In the UK, coalitions have been very rare - the 2010 Lib-Con coalition was the first for 70 years - but usually they involve the smaller party being allowed to nominate ministers and propose their own bills.
This is not that.
The DUP have entered into a confidence and supply deal with the Tories. In return for £1bn extra funding for Northern Ireland, the DUP have agreed to support the Tories in votes of confidence and in budgetary matters. It is likely the 8 DUP MPs will be allowed to vote with their conscience when other policy issues are debated.
In return, the DUP are allowed a little influence over some Tory policy - the Conservatives have already agreed not to scrap Triple Lock Pensions and to find an alternative to means testing winter fuel tax.
So is there bad news? If you’re a Labour voter, yes. If you’re LGBT, you might think so. If you don’t like seeing a woman embroiled in financial scandal being bought for £1bn, almost certainly. And we’ve yet to see how the Tories will defend their neutrality clause in the Good Friday Agreement…
In the end, it’s what the deal symbolises which is concerning. The Tories have clung to power by spending £1bn of tax payer money that, just a few months ago, wasn’t available for education, the health service or social housing.
For more information on the DUP from out NI reporter, check out our article: Who Are the DUP?
tl;dr Theresa May has finally pulled Arlene Foster, but it’s not a formal arrangement
They’re the focus of every political blogger today: just what is going on with the DUP.
Just last week, they were an unknown fringe party this side of the Irish Sea.
On Thursday, they looked like the most important party in Britain, that final puzzle piece that would give the Tories their majority in Parliament - if some sort of deal could be arranged.
Now? That deal looks very, very shaky.
The Queen’s Speech, after a 2 day postponement, is tomorrow. An official deal with the DUP has not yet been agreed. Without some sort of official deal in place, it will be a lot more difficult for the Tories to pass their laws through the House of Commons.
The DUP say the UK are taking them for granted. At this stage, it looks like one of the major stumbling blocks is the DUP’s demand for the removal of air passenger duty in NI (the tax you pay to fly from UK airports, payable on booking). The Tories are hesitant to consent to this in case it leads to similar calls from Scotland, Wales and England.
It looks like the public will have to wait until tomorrow to see if the DUP deal can be made in time.
Whatever’s going on, it’s certainly nothing strongnorstable.
With Tim Farron stepping down as leader of the Liberal Democrats, it’s time to look for a new leader. Enter: Vince Cable. Yes, the former Business Secretary from those heady coalition days is the first to throw his hat in the ring for Lib Dem leadership.
Which begs the question: exactlywho is Vince Cable?
For a lot of young voters, the 2010 General Election was lost to the stress of school exams and trips to the park with mum and dad. For Vince Cable, it provided a moment of glorious opportunity.
With the election resulting in a hung parliament (not unlike in 2017), the Lib Dems held the power. Cable was instrumental in the coalition agreement between the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. He was rewarded with the role of Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
It was a role he was more than prepared for. Cable studied Economics at Cambridge and earned a PhD in the subject from the University of Glasgow in 1973. He worked in both the public and private sectors before being elected as MP for Twickenham in 1997.
So was he a good Business Secretary?
Cable’s great error (because every top-level MP will have one) was the sale of the Royal Mail, which was considered a right royal cock-up by a lot of people. In the privatisation of the Royal Mail, Cable and his team were accused of undervaluing the company, setting share prices at 38p when within a year they were selling for 70p - this potentially lost the tax-payer billions of pounds.
He did try, at least in the beginning, to curb Tory policies. When it came to the Tory plan to sell laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia, Cable refused to sign off on the deal until he received assurance from the Ministry of Defence that the Saudis would not be allowed to use them on Yemeni civilians. It turned out the MoD were in no position to promise this, but the good intent was there.
It’s also important to highlight his attitudes to big banks: he’s not their biggest fan. Calling bankers a bigger threat to the UK than trade unions (the arch nemesis of the Tories), Cable consistently criticised banker bonuses after the 2008 crash as ‘rewards for failure’.
Too bad it didn’t hold him back from agreeing to 5 years of Conservative-determined austerity and pushing the £9000 uni fee cap through the House…
What do you think? There are many who think the Lib Dems would do better to distance themselves entirely from the vote-killer that was their coalition shambles, but who knows. Could this 74 year old Yorkshireman make a good leader?
He always seemed like a big enough piece of work in more than enough other ways, on the public political front. But yeah, looks like he is indeed likely as major a tool on a personal level.
Basically, the only redeeming feature there is that he really likes dogs, and has actually worked for some sensible animal welfare stuff. As Mr. C was just observing, that is SO FAR from enough.
(Brought to my attention by Mr. C, who wondered why Rosindell was trending when he got on Twitter earlier…and OH.)
A decent sample of political highlights in replies here, btw:
‘We live in one of the richest economies in the world, and the Governments reliance on individual macrophilanthropy and organised charity to patch up the safety net they have deliberately decimated for a decade is an outrage and an injustice’ - Jack Monroe
Let’s fucking scream this from the rooftops.
Okay so I know that the actual best thing to give to food banks is money. Because they have access to huge deals! My mom works at a nonprofit that provides services to the community including hot meals and they can get like 70 pounds of food for $20.
But if you do give money directly to food banks, do they typically just buy essentials with it? Or do they get some treats too? Totally logical if they just focus on essentials, so maybe it’s a good idea to donate money AND some special treats? And don’t forget about pet food, y'all! Ask your food bank beforehand but my understanding is there’s always a need for pet food there!
Yes, money is absolutely one of the best things you can give! From speaking to a volunteer about money vs food she said what ever is easiest for you which I appreciated. My partner has a monthly donation set up, I on the other hand don’t have quite as much disposable income as him so I just donate food when I can.
I’m not sure what it’s like in other countries (would be great if folks added to this) but in the UK a lot of supermarkets have drop off points, my local one does so I’ll add to it when I’m shopping. Mine matches what people donate. They do it by weight though so maybe add nothing but heavy things
It’s super handy if you check what they need, mine is ran by Trussell Trust (the charity Jack mentions) and on their page they post what they need and don’t need:
When the Tories decided they weren’t going to feed children they were asking for a lot of the types of things you’d find in school lunch boxes.
I’ve never been a food bank user and don’t know the ins and outs of how it works but as well as the essentials they ask for, I try to think about what I would want if I was in that situation, so I’ve bought a lot of biscuits and peanut butter over the years
Sorry to mention that I’m vegan in this post but all the stuff I add is vegan friendly, which is hella handy as supermarket’s free from ranges are usually vegan and gluten free. You’ll have folks who are gluten or lactose intolerant, diabetic or have allergies. As mentioned from the previous poster, money might buy the essentials, whereas donations could cover these more niche expensive things.
As well as food and money, volunteer if you can! If anyone is comfortable with it I’d love to hear experiences from volunteers or food bank users. I’m writing all this stuff but I think advice from someone with actual experience rather than an onlooker like myself would be extremely insightful and probably more useful to those who want to help!
Jack has released some clothing and bags and all the proceeds are going to charity. I really want this bag to come back in stock!
Giving this version a reblog as someone reblogged the original and kinda insinuated in their tags that I was an armchair activist because I simply bolded the wrong thing while they themselves didn’t post about ways to help.
As a side note, I know not everyone knows who they are and Jack is a common masculine name but I just want to mention Jack goes by they / she pronouns!
I’m not an economist, I don’t know the ins and outs of this stuff but how helpful is it for the government to hand out chunks of money to people when the cost of living is accelerating?
Initial help is needed because people are suffering but those on benefits need long term help, universal credit clearly isn’t enough to live off in the first place.
And the £400 energy grant is for everyone, regardless of income and still available to those with second homes. Do you really think anyone who owns a second home is struggling right now? Sunak (who’s a billionaire btw) is saying he’s giving his to charity and suggests others in the same position do the same. How about just not giving it to rich people?
Because of the shitty state of the welfare system in this country, I have run out of money five days before I get paid because I have to live on disability. Boris Johnson can spend 10 million redecorating his pad but I get to live below the poverty line and act grateful for it. Urgh.
I rely on UC (welfare) to live, and after spending £10,000,000 redecorating his house Boris thinks it’s ok to cut it by £87 a month, when I already live below the poverty line. How is this acceptable?
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