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By EMILIO CASALICCHIO
PRESENTED BY
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Good afternoon.
THURSDAY CHEAT SHEET
— The two main parties tried to out-gun each other on their respective sleaze headaches.
— Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives were hit with a barrage of dire polling numbers.
— The U.K. and U.S. announced a heap more sanctions against Iran in defense of Israel.
— Ministers are hoping to beat the Lords in their game of Rwanda ping pong Monday. It could go late.
— SCOOP: Businesses are frustrated that the “ambition” to abolish national insurance won’t include employer contributions.
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TOP OF THE NEWSLIST
WHO CAN SLEAZE ATTACK THE HARDEST? Labour and the Tories are doing their best to swing the sleaze bat hardest against each other.
In the red corner: The opposition has been going in big over the Mark Menzies revelations in the Times this morning. Those who haven’t read all the insane details should do so now and those who don’t have a subscription go out and buy the paper … then finish reading this email. POLITICO has a precis.
In the blue corner: The Conservatives are of course attempting to punt it back on Angela Rayner and the alleged capital gains tax liabilities on the sale of her former council home.
Caught in the middle: Voters who want someone to govern Britain and fix its problems. Maybe tomorrow.
Fanning the flames: Labour Leader Keir Starmer told broadcasters during a visit to a port this afternoon there are “a lot of unanswered questions” over the Menzies allegations, “not least why it seems the Conservative party took so long to act and whether they’ve reported this to the police, who it seems to me should be involved in this.”
Making the wider point: Starmer said the saga showed voters should “turn the page on this shower and have a fresh start with Labour.”
Deodorant can and lighter time: Labour Chair Anneliese Dodds did what any politician hoping to compound a headache for their opponents would do and wrote a letter. She told Conservative chair Richard Holden she was concerned about the “disturbing” allegations against Menzies and asked a number of questions about what action the Tories took about various elements of the tale. Dodds is touring the broadcast studios to put the boot further in right now (timings below.)
Rearguard action: Defense Secretary Grant Shapps insisted the Tories acted as soon as the full information about Menzies came to light. He also sought to calm the speculation. “There is potentially somebody who is quite troubled in the mix here,” he told Times Radio. He added on Radio 4 people “in all walks of life” can “go off the tracks.” Amen.
The government line: Downing Street confirmed Menzies has been stripped of his trade envoy role (an all-but meaningless bauble given to MPs and allowing them to have fun abroad.) Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson added: “The PM has always been clear there is no place for any inappropriate behavior in parliament and MPs should be role models for the rest of society.”
The ironic thing is: Playbook PM spoke to one MP who said Menzies used to revel in telling stories about the misdemeanors of other colleagues on foreign trips.
Right back atcha: As soon as the Starmer clip aired, the Conservatives put out a long dossier of claims and news links about Rayner and her capital gains tax affairs — noting the ongoing police probe into the deputy Labour leader.
What is there to hide? “Labour are still trying to cover up why Sir Keir Starmer hasn’t looked at Rayner’s legal advice,” Holden said. “It’s way beyond time for Sir Keir to show some leadership and instruct Ms Rayner to publish her legal advice.”
Rather not talk about it: In his clip, Starmer said Rayner had answered “no end of questions on this” and insisted he has “complete confidence in her.” He argued the ongoing police investigation, erm, “allows a line to be drawn in relation to this.” Even though it kinda does the opposite.
He still doesn’t know: Shadow Environment Secretary Ed Miliband told Times Radio the Labour boss won’t look at the Rayner legal and tax advice because “he doesn’t want to get into all of these details.”
Don’t expect this noise to end: The political noise will continue as the election draws closer — with various polling numbers in the past few hours showing what’s at stake.
Marmalade dropper: Rishi Sunak’s approval rating has fallen to the same low as Jeremy Corbyn’s did when he was Labour leader — a joint record low for a leader of a major party, according to an Ipsos poll for the Evening Standard. The same poll gave the Tories their lowest overall numbers for the 45 years Ipsos has been polling.
It gets worse: Brits have to be 70 before they become more likely to vote Conservative over Labour — up from 39 at the last election, according to a JL Partners poll for Bloomberg. Alex Wickham shared the details.
No wonder … the Tories have sent out surveys across multiple blue wall seats the Lib Dems are targeting and which include increasing numbers of adults who have moved out of London to start families. The Lib Dems were chuckling at questions asking residents about their priorities and voting habits.
In better news for the PM: YouGov found the Tories two points up and Labour one point down in its latest offering.
And in worse news for the PM: One of his private flight donors had their assets frozen, the i revealed. When it rains it pours.
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MEANWHILE, IN WAR …
IRAN TOWARDS DANGER: The U.K. and U.S. this afternoon slapped sanctions on a further seven individuals and six entities “who have enabled Iran to conduct destabilizing regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel.”
The details: The names include leading Iranian military figures involved in the rocket attack on Israel last weekend and organizations including the navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The individuals are now subject to travel bans and asset freezes, while the entities suffer frozen assets alone, since organizations have no asses (in a literal sense, at least.) The new sanctions add to the more than 400 imposed on Iran so far and will no doubt have ’em quaking in their desert boots over in Tehran. Full writeup from POLITICO’s Andrew McDonald here.
The medicine is working … honest: Rishi Sunak said the package of sanctions in the wake of the attack on Israel (in response to Israel allegedly bombing an Iranian consulate in Damascus) shows the U.K. and U.S. “unequivocally condemn this behavior, and they will further limit Iran’s ability to destabilize the region.” In a clip with Reuters this afternoon, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the sanctions were a “message to Israel” that there’s a “co-ordinated strategy that deals with Iran’s aggression.” Downing Street insisted that didn’t mean sanctions were a bid to prevent Tel Aviv taking massive escalatory action against Tehran.
On a blissful Italian island: Cameron announced the sanctions to his pals at the G7 meeting in Capri, where he has also been holding bilats, including with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, EU rep for foreign affairs Josep Borrell and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. Tonight he’ll meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba ahead of a working dinner. No doubt Kuleba will ask what the next steps are on sanctioning Russia.
Which is just as well because … over in Washington, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is planning to chat Russian sanctions with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, once his G20 finance ministers meeting wraps up, which is scheduled to happen in coming minutes. Hunt wants to discuss what more can be done to seize and use Russian assets for rebuilding Ukraine. After meeting Yellen he’ll chair a pow-wow of the “five finance ministers” (a group comprising the U.K, U.S, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) before an Institute of International Finance reception — his last engagement before heading home.
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STOP THE PLANES!
RED-EYE FLIGHT GAMBIT: The government hopes to force the Commons and Lords to sit late on Monday in a bid to shove the Rwanda deportation bill through its final stages. “Our intention is to get this done on Monday now,” Rishi Sunak’s official spokesperson told hacks at noon. “We don’t want to see any more delay. It’s really important to get this legislation passed so we can get flights off as soon as possible.”
Indeed: Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt announced this morning the bill will return to the Commons Monday, as Playbook PM revealed last night. She also set aside extra time if needed on Tuesday, but whips are negotiating to ensure the second slot isn’t required, meaning the bill could be shunted between the lower and upper chambers multiple times late on Monday night before passing.
Assuming it all goes to plan … the bill should get Royal Assent before the end of the week, allowing the government to finally set a timetable for the first deportation flights.
Spring is what we make it: Downing Street has long ditched its hope of getting flights off before the end of spring — and having been burned once won’t even promise a first departure before the end of summer. “We obviously want to get flights off as soon as possible,” the PM’s spokesperson said as hacks tried their luck for a new deadline.
Not our fault, guv: He rejected the suggestion the government is (at least in part) to blame for not making its “emergency” legislation quite “emergency” enough, what with numerous long hold-ups on the government side. Instead he said it was the fault of peers seeking to frustrate the process, natch.
Labour peers, to be precise: During his morning broadcast round, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps sought to pin the blame on Labour — despite numerous crossbench and Conservative lords being involved in the amendment process too. “I’m very surprised Keir Starmer still sent his Labour peers, the Lords, to go and defeat this once again,” he told Times Radio.
Amendments shamendments: He insisted both current Lords amendments (on an independent panel to ensure Rwanda is safe for vulnerable refugees and on exempting Afghan interpreters from deportation) aren’t needed — the latter because interpreters who reach France to cross via small boats clearly aren’t in danger. Downing Street maintains it won’t consider concessions.
IT’S THE STUPID ECONOMY
SCOOP — NOT SO NIC[E]: Businesses have been left fuming after a Treasury insider confirmed the pledge to abolish National Insurance doesn’t include employer contributions. The ending of what the Tories brand a “double taxation” on workers — which Rishi Sunak has said is an ambition for future parliaments if he manages to win the next election — would apply only to employee contributions and the self-employed.
Indeed: “It won’t be employer contributions too — it’s about ending the double taxation on workers,” a Treasury insider told Playbook PM. “There are better ways to cut taxes for businesses to stimulate growth and jobs. Our full expensing scheme is a good example of that.”
OK, OK … we did kind of know this, but it’s never been confirmed on the record. And the Federation of Small Businesses had been sure abolishing employer contributions was still on the table.
And as such: “This news feels deeply unfair to small businesses, leaving them to carry the ‘jobs tax’ of employer NICs, on their own,” Craig Beaumont, Chief of External Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses, told Playbook PM. “It’s more expensive to create and sustain jobs in this country, so a pro-business move to reduce employment costs would be transformative.”
Not impressed: “Instead of being honest with the public, people are now finding out information on this reckless policy from leaks and briefing,” Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told Playbook PM. “The government have questions to answer about who will be impacted by this pledge and must immediately rule out cuts to the NHS, cuts to the state pension or income tax increases.” A government aide insisted: “The commitment is to end double tax on work.”
DRIVETIME DEBRIEF
NO CASE TO ANSWER: Simon Case and the Cabinet Office appear to be off the hook, after a former civil servant dropped the employment tribunal case Playbook reported on earlier this week. Full details of what it was about here. “These allegations are completely unfounded and the Cabinet Office has always firmly denied all of the claims in this case,” a Cabinet Office spokesperson said. “The claimant has withdrawn all of these claims and we have agreed to that. No payment has been made, including in relation to the legal costs incurred.”
QUOTA-BLE LETTER: Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch revealed she wrote to financial watchdogs warning them against proposals to mandate equalities quotas for financial firms, arguing the move “could be counter-productive.” In the letter, which Playbook PM has seen, Badenoch said “the proposed requirements will be a distraction which will hold back regulated firms from priorities such as delivering economic growth and improving services to consumers.” CityAM has a full writeup. Badenoch also didn’t like the Financial Conduct Authority using the word “gender” rather than “sex” in its equalities language.
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN: Speaking of city firms, the government’s delayed financial regulation on what counts as green investment and tougher climate disclosures for companies risks pushing the City of London behind its EU competitors, POLITICO’s Senior U.K. Finance Reporter Hannah Brenton reports.
STUDENTS OF CHINESE THREATS: As well as announcing new curbs on trade and investment with China in his Chatham House speech this morning, Oliver Dowden revealed he’ll be summoning uni bosses to a meeting next week about hostile states targeting academia. He said the development of sensitive tech at unis “has the potential to become a chink in our armory,” and warned reliance on foreign funding in education institutions must not “become a dependency by which they can be influenced, exploited, or even coerced.” The FT has a full writeup.
A bit late, lads: Shadow frontbencher Pat McFadden said however the government approach to Chinese threats “has been marred by inconsistencies” and left the U.K. vulnerable.
COMING ATTRACTIONS: The much-contested renters reform legislation will be back in the Commons Wednesday. Here’s the “breaking news” graphic from the communities department. A government spokesperson said the bill would “abolish Section 21 evictions and deliver a fairer rented sector for tenants and landlords.”
And on that note … Communities Secretary Michael Gove insisted to the FT ground rents for leasehold properties would still fall to token (or “peppercorn”) amounts over time as part of a transition. Read it here.
IN THE COMMONS: Deputy Speaker Rosie Winterton threatened to clear the public galleries when spectators burst into cheering and applause while MP for misinformation Andrew Bridgen was speaking about Covid excess deaths. Clip here.
SURPRISE SURPRISE: Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt told MPs the government won’t change the rules so that Foreign Secretary David Cameron can be questioned on the floor of the House. She made the announcement after the Privileges Committee called for just that.
BEYOND THE M25: Numerous women have made complaints of violence against Conservative West Northamptonshire Council leader Jonathan Nunn, according to the BBC, which followed up a report about Nunn in the latest issue of Private Eye.
ALSO BEYOND THE M25: The Scottish government confirmed it will ditch a key green commitment on reducing carbon emissions. The SNP blames — let me surprise you — Westminster. My colleagues Abby Wallace and Andrew McDonald have the story.
SOCIAL (MEDIA) AFFAIRS
WRITTEN ANSWERS THAT WERE MADE FOR TWITTER: The snark on this written answer from Rishi Sunak is Playbook levels.
MASSIVE HOLE NEWS: The House of Commons shared a graphic showing how deep a hole drilled under parliament over Easter is. The answer: deeper than the Channel Tunnel. And the internet reception down there is no doubt better than on the Eurostar. The borehole was dug near “Black Rod’s Garden Entrance” (the cobbled bit on the Lords side of the estate) to assess the ground parliament is sat on as part of never ending restoration and renewal assessments.
AROUND THE WORLD
IN AMERICA: Former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ imminent U.S. book tour will be snubbed by one prominent, moderate Republican think-tank, which declined her request to make an appearance — the i’s Simon Marks has the story.
UKRAINE UPDATE: Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the BBC there would be a “third world war” if Ukraine lost its conflict with Russia, and expressed “cautious optimism” U.S. lawmakers would pass a foreign aid bill allocating £49 billion to Ukraine.
IN GERMANY: German authorities detained two German-Russian nationals suspected of plotting sabotage attacks in complicity with Moscow. Targets included U.S. military sites in Germany — my colleague Pierre Emmanuel Ngendakumana has more.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 2016: The European Commission is keen to start talks with the U.K. about a post-Brexit deal improving opportunities for young people to live, work and study abroad — POLITICO’s EU-U.K. Reporter Jon Stone has the details.
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TONIGHT’S MEDIA ROUND
LEADING THE NEWS BULLETINS: Channel 5 News (5 p.m.) leads on police busting a cyber gang … BBC News at Six focuses on suspended Tory MP Mark Menzies.
Tom Swarbrick at Drive (LBC, until 6 p.m.): Labour Party Chair Anneliese Dodds (5.05 p.m.) … Reform UK’s London Mayoral candidate Howard Cox (5.35 p.m.).
BBC PM (Radio 4, 5 p.m.): Tory peer Michael Heseltine … former Tory MP Anne Milton … Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie … Nicola Sturgeon’s former Chief of Staff Liz Lloyd.
News Hour (Sky News, 5 p.m.): Former Committee of Standards in Public Life Chair Alistair Graham (5.30 p.m.) … former Supreme Court justice Jonathan Sumption (5.45 p.m.) … President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili (6.45 p.m.).
Drive with John Pienaar (Times Radio, 5 p.m.): Michael Heseltine (5.05 p.m.) … Anneliese Dodds (5.50 p.m.) … More in Common’s Luke Tryl (6.45 p.m.) … Anne Milton (7 p.m.).
Tonight With Andrew Marr (LBC, 6 p.m.): Labour MP Stella Creasy … Crossbench peer Nick Houghton … former Lib Dem MP Mark Oaten.
Farage (GB News, 7 p.m.): J.L. Partners Director Scarlett Maguire … European Movement UK Campaign Manager Richard Kilpatrick.
Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (Sky News, 7 p.m.): Anneliese Dodds … Green MSP Ross Greer.
Question Time (BBC iPlayer 8 p.m. and BBC One, 10.40 p.m.): Welsh Secretary David TC Davies … Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson … Reform UK Leader Richard Tice … Green Co-Leader Carla Denyer.
Newsnight (BBC Two, 10.30 p.m.): Labour peer David Blunkett … former Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield.
TWEETING TOMORROW’S PAPERS TONIGHT: Neil Henderson.
REVIEWING THE PAPERS TONIGHT: Times Radio (10.30 p.m.): Journalist Owen Bennett-Jones and commentator Benedict Spence … Sky News (10.30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m.): PoliticsJOE’s Ava-Santina Evans and journalist Theo Usherwood.
WHERE TO FIND BOOZE IN WESTMINSTER TONIGHT
HANGING OUT WITH HACKS: It’s the Press Awards at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, with political journo of the year set to be crowned.
ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME DRUNK? Tech firm Tik Tok has invited MP staffers to Walkers for drinks as part of a charm offensive, as per the Speccie’s James Heale.
BOOZING WITH BALDWIN: Keir Starmer biographer has a book launch for a new tome about English myths, from 6.30 p.m. in Tavistock Place. Invites needed.
TOMORROW’S WORLD
WHAT RISHI SUNAK IS UP TO: The PM is expected to deliver a speech on welfare reform.
WHAT ELSE THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Their free childcare rollout.
WHAT LABOUR WANTS TO TALK ABOUT: Housing.
DAVE ON TOUR: Foreign Secretary David Cameron will still be in Capri for G7 foreign minister meetings.
IN THE COMMONS: Die hard MPs are still kicking around to debate backbench bills from 9.30 a.m.
**Global Playbook’s current stop is at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. POLITICO’s Suzanne Lynch is reporting live from Washington, keeping true to the mission of our premier global newsletter of taking you behind the scenes of every major international gathering. Click here to sign up.**
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
PACKED LUNCH OR PALACE LUNCH: Subject to change, here are the lunch menus on the estate tomorrow: The Debate: Cod and haddock tikka curry with rice; chimichurri tempeh and vegetable wrap with toasted cumin seeds, cucumber and tomato salad; penne and oregano turkey with button mushrooms and smoked paprika sauce … Terrace Cafeteria: Fish and chips; cheeseburger; mushroom and sesame chow mein with noodles … River Restaurant: Vegan battered sausages with chips and beans; saveloys, chips and beans; fish and chips.
NEW GIG: Conservative MP Theo Clarke was made a political aide in the Department for Education. Here’s her tweet.
GET WELL SOON: Labour MP Karin Smyth is taking time off to recover after a second operation to treat a melanoma diagnosis, she explained in a thread.
SIMPLE QUESTIONS PLAYBOOK PM CAN’T GET ANSWERS TO: When will Rishi Sunak fill his vacant anti-corruption adviser role? … Did Steve Tuckwell tell constituents, filmed signing a petition about fish and chips, that their data would be used for other campaign spam? … When will Boris Johnson start producing his own GB News content?
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: This Fence magazine dispatch from Bron Maher about how patrons of a Warren Street sex club … plan to vote.
ON THIS DAY IN POLITICS: On April 18 1835 William Lamb became prime minister for the second time after the Robert Peel administration collapsed. On the same date in 2017 Theresa May announced a snap election.
WRITING PLAYBOOK TOMORROW MORNING: Stefan Bosica.
THANKS TO: My editor Rosa Prince, reporters Noah Keate and Andrew McDonald, and the POLITICO production team for making it look nice.
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