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TUESDAY CHEAT SHEET
— Home Secretary Suella Braverman said it was “dangerous” to brand those with concerns about global migration “bigots” as she argued for global rules on refugees to be torn up.
— Ed Davey delivered his core message about the blue wall as he closed the Lib Dem annual conference.
— Ex-Conservative leader William Hague was damning about the failures around HS2.
— Labour is having a row about conference rule changes … again.
— We have an exclusive extract on the Liz Truss fracking vote chaos from a new book about the Tories launching tonight.
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TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
IT’S THE ECONOMY MIGRANTS, STUPID: Home Secretary Suella Braverman insisted there is a “disproportionate allowance” being made for economic migrants to be classed as refugees, after a speech that rattled campaigners, legal experts and some of her own Conservative colleagues.
Music for hard border lovers: Braverman told the American Enterprise Institute during a Q&A in the past hour that the definition of refugee has “expanded beyond what is a reasonable and sustainable approach.” This kinda stuff is like Clair de Lune for the Conservative right.
As trailed: Braverman called in her 4,500-word speech for the decades-old U.N. Refugee Convention and the ECHR to be ripped up, so nations can work out new rules to help them deport unwanted arrivals without being branded racists.
The crucial line: She argued the international community had “collectively failed to explore any serious reform of the global asylum framework,” in part because of the “fear of being branded a racist or illiberal.”
Also as trailed: She said refugees were seeking access to places like the U.K. to avoid “discrimination” in their home nations, rather the persecution she accepted was a serious issue.
Oh and … she said “Western culture” could be at risk without harder borders. “If cultural change is too rapid and too big, then what was already there is diluted,” she said. “Eventually, it will disappear.”
Thinking emoji: It’s not too clear how Western culture is being defined, but no doubt the New Conservatives gang will be injecting this stuff into their veins.
The problem is … Other Conservative colleagues who fear the movement is being dragged to the right were less impressed. “I thought we’d sunk to a low point on immigration with the ‘go home’ vans but Suella clearly wants to lower the bar further by forcing the party to turn its back on anyone facing discrimination anywhere,” a One Nation Conservative told Playbook PM.
One-man audience: Another said Braverman was “attention seeking” aimed at “reminding her base she exists. Her base is John Hayes.”
Legal eagles weigh in: Barrister Colin Yeo noted in a Twitter thread that telling France or other nations to stop refugees reaching Britain means them doing even more than now (bearing in mind those nations already do far more than Britain.) He said it would also mean European nations having to detain refugees or prevent them from entering Europe in the first place — not a simple task while we sit and watch.
Meanwhile: Fellow barrister Adam Wagner attacked as a “paper tiger” the suggestion discrimination is being used to claim refugee status.
But but but: Braverman ain’t for turning. “Dismissing as idiots or bigots those who express legitimate concerns is not merely unfair, it is dangerous,” she insisted. Nile Gardiner from right-wing U.S. group the Heritage Foundation told GB News her speech was “one of the most important by a British official on US soil in many years.”
DAVEY DEBRIEF
GOODBYE BOURNEMOUTH: Ed Davey closed the Lib Dems annual conference — the first stop of conference season — with a speech that stayed largely on the big blue wall message, POLITICO’s Andrew McDonald writes in from Bournemouth.
Money pls: The Lib Dems’ fundraising team took advantage of the slightly fuller auditorium for Davey’s speech to hold a whip round before the big moment. Stewards wandered the hall with buckets while onstage Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper and Party Treasurer Tilly McAuliffe talked about election strategist Dave McCobb’s “Christmas dream.” The Sun’s Jack Elsom snapped a pic of the weirdness.
Song choice: The leader walked out to ABBA’s Take a Chance On Me. No Theresa May dancing though, sadly.
Justice for clowns: Davey started his speech by apologizing to the “whole clowning community” for his clown-themed cannon stunt. Apparently a party member — who is an actual clown — got in touch to complain about being compared to the government. “He’s got a point. Clowns didn’t crash our economy and send interest rates soaring,” Davey said. “I used the wrong C-word.” Decent gag — though he did insist he was meaning “Conservative” and not, y’know, the other one.
Tree-hugging: Reflecting what the Lib Dems see as an opportunity to win over climate concerned Tory voters, Davey turned his fire on Rishi Sunak’s net zero shift. “Frankly instead of delivering that speech, Rishi should have torn it up and thrown it away,” he said. “If he’s got seven bins, he might as well use them!”
Bit of Europe: Davey did get on to the EU — and got the biggest clap of the speech when he suggested the Lib Dems want to “fix our broken relationship with Europe.” He didn’t go much further than suggesting fixing the relationship, and didn’t really dwell on the topic. The vibe very much suggested the hall would have erupted if he’d said he wants to go back into Europe eventually — but he didn’t. As Andrew wrote in a piece this morning, the party is trying to avoid banging on about Brexit.
Instead: He largely focused on healthcare, and his own personal story of losing both of his parents to cancer while young. He spoke movingly about the impact caring for his mum before she died had on his childhood. He came armed with a new policy: a legal right for cancer patients to start treatment within two months of an urgent referral.
Before finishing with … An election rallying call and a slice of Labour-bashing to go with the much more prominent attacks on the Tories. Davey said Keir Starmer’s party has been “half-heartedly opposing what the Conservatives are doing,” and then saying they’d “pretty much do the same thing.” He was much more enthusiastic when getting stuck into the Tories, declaring it was time to “smash [the blue wall] for good.” And then that was that, as Davey walked off to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up.
Back atcha: The Tories were mocking Lib Dem MP Layla Moran for arguing China is “ahead” of Britain on net zero. One pointed out emissions in China are up 300 percent since 1990, quipping that “life must be fun on planet Lib Dem.”
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
DRAGGED THROUGH A HAGUE: Former Conservative Leader William Hague told Times Radio the HS2 mega-row had become a “national disgrace” that should have been cancelled “a few years ago when it was clear that the whole thing was out of control.” Hague added that Rishi Sunak needed to transform the future management of such projects “because we’re not good at managing infrastructure.” True dat.
But but but: Richard Bowker, a former Strategic Rail Authority boss, told BBC Radio 4 scrapping the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester would be “stupid” while failing to build it into central London would be “utter madness.” The Beeb has a writeup.
Something to look forward to: HS2 Ltd Chair Jon Thompson will address the Railway Industry Association conference on November 1, it was announced this afternoon.
LABOUR LAND: The Labour ruling executive this afternoon passed new rules aimed at limiting the range of subjects that can be raised at conference, preventing members from supporting independent candidates (translation: Jeremy Corbyn and Jamie Driscoll) at elections and limiting the number of officers in local parties. The Labour conference in Liverpool will still need to nod the proposals through, and the debate rules won’t take effect until the next get-together in 2024. More details from Labour List here. The Momentum campaign group branded the proposals “another attack on the rights of Labour members from a Starmer leadership.”
Also Labour land: In the latest New Statesman, diarist Kevin Maguire reckons Keir Starmer could hand opposition peerages to Labour stalwarts, aging rockers and … major ex-footballers. His list includes past and present MPs Margaret Beckett, Luciana Berger, Michael Dugher, Harriet Harman, Margaret Hodge, George Howarth and Ivan Lewis, business leader Iain Anderson, Labour’s General Secretary David Evans, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, Spurs and England legend turned MOTD crisp muncher Gary Lineker, former adviser Deborah Mattinson, Undertone turned clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey and John Lewis boss Sharon White. Michael Crick has been tweeting about it.
WATER PISTOL: Labour blamed the Conservatives after water regulator Ofwat ordered firms to refund customers over missed targets. “The Conservatives cut back enforcement and monitoring against water companies releasing this filth, and are now failing to prosecute them when they are blatantly breaking the law,” said Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed. But Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey blamed the water firms, arguing there is not enough work going on to clean waterways and invest in infrastructure. More from the BBC.
COURT CIRCULAR: Former Labour MP Jared O’Mara has failed in his bid to appeal a sentence for fraud.
CHAOS WITH ED MILIBAND, OR …
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Telegraph Pol Ed Ben Riley-Smith tonight launches his book The Right to Rule: Thirteen Years, Five Prime Ministers and the Implosion of the Tories (details in the booze section.) As a celebration of all things Conservative implosion, BRS has shared an extract with Playbook PM detailing the drama of *that* fracking vote during the short-lived Liz Truss administration … the one where the chief whip and deputy chief whip quit and MPs descended into chaos in the voting lobbies.
Get the book: We don’t have space to reproduce it in full, but here are some fun tidbits.
Bold message: “This is not a motion on fracking. This is a confidence motion in the government,” read a text BRS saw from Deputy Chief Whip Craig Whittaker to Conservative MPs, when Downing Street realized a gambit from Labour could bring down Truss’s troubled administration. The bolding was Whittaker’s. “We cannot, under any circumstances, let the Labour Party take control of the order paper and put through their own legislation and whatever other bits of legislation they desire.”
But but but: Minutes before the vote, there was fear in No. 10 it would be lost regardless. So Downing Street aide Iain Carter texted minister Graham Stuart, who was winding up the debate in the Commons, urging him to state from the despatch box it was not, in fact, a confidence vote. “Quite clearly, I was ordered to light the touch paper so I did,” Stuart told BRS.
Another but but but: Chief Whip Wendy Morton had not signed off the U-turn and believed the vote would be won. She had been undermined. BRS writes: “At 6.59 p.m., just as the division bells were ringing, the chief whip fired off two texts to Liz Truss: ‘I resign.’ And then: ‘With immediate effect’.” The author adds: “The chief whip is meant to be the prime minister’s iron fist and enforcer of decisions. That night, the roles were reversed. It was Liz Truss, in full view of colleagues, who chased after Morton, pleading with her to stay in post.”
Painful grovelling: Although Greg Hands had been lined up as a new chief whip, Truss met Morton and Whittaker that evening in her House of Commons office for a “shouting match.” The pair made her thank the entire whips’ office for their work and issue a statement blaming No. 10 for the confusion, before agreeing to remain in post. No doubt the real culprits, however, were the OBR.
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SOCIAL AFFAIRS
ANOTHER DAY ON FACEBOOK: Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom had to battle online with locals who wondered if she’d been using her phone to take a photo while driving. She insisted the driver didn’t take the photo.
HS2 IS THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG: This fake ad about how wonderful the British rail network is triggered a few smirks.
TWITTER LOVES IT: Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone and the Speccie’s James Heale posted a pic after their egg and spoon race in Bournemouth. The shell situation gives an idea who won.
AROUND THE WORLD
IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH: An explosion at a fuel depot used by civilians fleeing breakaway region Nagorno-Karabakh killed at least 20 people and left hundreds more injured — my colleague Gabriel Gavin has further details.
IN RUSSIA: Russian Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov appears to have taken part in a video call with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu despite Ukraine saying Sokolov had been killed in a cruise missile strike in occupied Crimea last week — the Times has more.
IN AMERICA: Joe Biden will become the first sitting U.S. president to appear on a picket line, addressing striking members of the United Auto Workers union in Michigan — via the Guardian.
ALSO IN AMERICA: Joe Biden’s son Hunter sued former U.S. President Donald Trump’s ex lawyer Rudy Giuliani and lawyer Robert Costello alleging they violated computer fraud laws to disseminate potentially damaging material — my Stateside colleagues have more information.
IN THE WEST BANK: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Naif bin Bandar Al Sudairi officially visited the West Bank for the first time, as the U.S. government seeks to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel — Bloomberg has a writeup.
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TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) leads on Suella Braverman’s migration speech … BBC News at Six has an exclusive story about the safety of vaping compared to cigarettes … Channel 4 News (7 p.m.) leads on the reaction to Braverman’s speech.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Representative to the U.K. Vicky Tennant (5.05 p.m.).
BBC PM (Radio 4, 5 p.m.): Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine (5.30 p.m.) … former U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland.
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, 5 p.m.): Justice committee Chair Bob Neill (5.05 p.m.) … Christine Jardine (5.50 p.m.) … the Spectator’s Isabel Hardman and the New Statesman’s Rachel Cunliffe (both after 7 p.m.).
The News Agents (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Writer Naomi Klein.
Sky News Daily (Podcast, drops at 5 p.m.): Lib Dem MP Sarah Dyke.
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Campaigner Peter Tatchell … Naomi Klein.
Farage (GB News, 7 p.m.): Tory MP John Redwood.
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Shadow DSIT Secretary Peter Kyle … Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper … former Tory adviser James Starkie … British Future’s Sunder Katwala.
Cross Question with Iain Dale (LBC, 8 p.m.): Former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch … Policy Exchange’s Sophia Gaston … former Tory adviser Alex Crowley … commentator Jo Phillips.
First Edition (TalkTV, 10 p.m.): John Redwood.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: Neil Henderson.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: TalkTV (10 p.m.): Labour’s Jess Phillips and the Sun’s Ryan Sabey … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): Broadcaster Ali Miraj and the Guardian’s Rowena Mason.
WHERE TO FIND BOOZE IN WESTMINSTER TONIGHT
BLOTTO PAPER: Telegraph hack Ben Riley-Smith launches his book about the Conservative government since 2010 from 6.30 p.m. on a riverside roof terrace. Invites needed.
BOOZING AT HOME: Don’t forget the first episode of the Matt Hancock SAS show airs on Channel 4 at 9.30 p.m. Drink each time he winces? Universal invite.
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TOMORROW’S WORLD
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: A funding allocation for disadvantaged kids to access outdoor learning.
SUELLA ON TOUR: The Home Secretary’s U.S. trip continues, including meetings with senior Washington officials.
DON’T EXPECT A LONG TERM PLAN: Social Care Minister Helen Whately addresses the NHS Confederation from 11.15 p.m.
ROAD RAGE: Government officials discuss the upcoming electric vehicle tariff cliff edge with the EU, from 1 p.m.
THE BROWN SOUND: Former PM Gordon Brown speaks at the London School of Economics at 7 p.m.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
PACKED LUNCH OR PARL LUNCH: The lunch menu listing is taking a break while most of Westminster is shut down for conferences. Get some steps in and check the menus outside each cafeteria.
NEW GIG: Channel 4’s Senior Foreign Producer Dani Isdale has been appointed Westminster News Editor, taking over from Darryl Murphy. Congrats!
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: Conservative MP Chris Skidmore penned a piece for the Guardian attacking Rishi Sunak’s plan to slow down green targets. And speaking of the Guardian, Peter Walker has a detailed look at the Lib Dem targets for the next election.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On September 26 2006 Tony Blair delivered his final Labour Party conference speech as prime minister. The Tides of History Twitter feed has a clip.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Eleni Courea.
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince, Playbook reporter Noah Keate and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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Emilio Casalicchio
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