The best gossip from the last week in Westminster (Image: Red Lion)
MPs talk NONCesense
Amid rumours that a senior Tory was set to call on Rishi Sunak to quit last Monday, dozens of MPs were found discussing the factional infighting at a Mayfair party hosted by the Adam Smith Institute.
The discussion was topical, given the ASI had hauled its guests over to 5 Hertford Street, the home-away-from-home for many Tory plotters, not least Liz Truss’s gang.
One MP claimed that the New Conservatives had recently discussed a rebrand to signify their strength within the party – from the New Conservatives to the New One Nation Conservatives.
The story goes the plans were scuppered when one literate member spotted the acronym would read ‘NONCes’…
The New Conservatives depart No. 10 (Image: PA)
Labour tarries to ask the killer question…
Even when measured against their myriad other recent flip-flops, Rachel Reeves’ volte-face over the bankers bonuses cap stands out as one of Labour’s most shameless in recent months.
Going from attacking both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak just months ago for scrapping the limit, to now supporting the policy, opened Sir Keir up to yet more claims of cynical partisanship.
Unfortunately for one Labour MP the u-turn came particularly out of the blue.
None other than Angela Rayner’s ex, Sam Tarry, has submitted the following question for Treasury Orals next week:
“To ask the Chancellor if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses on the financial sector”
One Tory source presumes the question may even have been drafted by Labour HQ, completely unaware of their Shadow Chancellor’s pending policy reversal.
Clearly Tarry didn’t get the memo. Sir Arbuthnot looks forward to seeing whether he asks his question on Monday…
Sam Tarry is set to ask a question about the bankers bonus cap on Monday (Image: Getty)
Labour’s latest luvvie
To misquote the late great US President Abraham Lincoln, you can fool some of the voters all of the time, all of the voters some of the time but you can’t fool all of the voters all of the time.
So Labour’s Kingswood candidate Damian Egan has discovered after his attempts at doing a fake accent in the Gloucestershire seat.
After Express.co.uk revealed the way Egan had a south London accent for his last job as Lewisham’s Mayor and switched it for a west country burr for a video in Kingswood, the contrast has apparently become a talking point on the doorstep.
So much so that the Tories put out an email survey with the two videos asking voters if Egan was a “Lewisham Luvvie” or “Proper Kingswood”.
It turns out that 81 percent of Kingswood voters saw through Egan’s fake accent and voted “Lewisham Luvvie”.
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The Tories set up a poll website for the crucial by-election question (Image: Conservatives)
Suella’s leadership plug
A fundraiser invitation for Tory London Assembly member Keith Prince is doing the rounds on WhatsApp, boasting a couple of star appearances from both Suella Braverman and candidate Susan Hall.
The graphic initially caused Beachcomber’s eyebrows to raise, given Ms Braverman is described as “former Home Secretary and Leadership Candidate”.
Either Mr Prince knows more than the rest of us – and Suella has already fired the starting pistol – or he needs to correct his grammar…
The fundraising invitation raised eyebrows (Image: Keith Prince)
Last order, order…
This week Sir Arbuthnot spotted a job application from the House of Commons, for a bar attendant in Parliament.
While the pay may not be the best, the holiday allowance is decent, you get a free travel card, and the opportunity to become yours truly’s best friend.
One responsibility on the job listing did stand out, however: “Check customers’ IDs to ensure they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages”.
“Attempt to limit problems related to customers’ excessive drinking,”
Good luck, as they say, with that…
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