What’s happening?
You might have thought things had been falling to pieces for a while, but today marks the formal dissolution of parliament and the official start of the general election campaign. With local and mayoral elections tomorrow, expect things to get even snarkier very soon.
As in, right now: a new ad poster for the Conservatives pictures Jeremy Corbyn with a bomb because – wait for it – they say he doesn’t like bombs, but he loves a tax bombshell.
Labour dismissed the ad as “desperate”:
Labour’s policies are fully costed and properly paid for. Our plans will be set out in our manifesto.
But will Diane Abbott’s mathematical malfunction on policing costs contribute to the party’s economic credibility deficit? (On that note, Labour expects to spend less than half as much as the Tories on this campaign, which readers can interpret either as a lack of donors or an acknowledgment that spilling £19m in six weeks is on the gluttonous side.) Labour insists its shadow home secretary will still be a key player in the campaign, not least because some other politician – of whatever hue – will soon enough say something foolish or eat something in a peculiar manner.
Theresa May’s chips aren’t quite it, according to my official sardonic-eyebrow-ometer of political embarrassment. Hiding from voters and reporters scores a bit higher, though. Claims that the “ordinary, real, honest-to-goodness, gawd-love-em” people rounded up to gaze at the PM are in fact party activists continue to dog the Tory campaign, not least because the Tory campaign keeps stacking the PM’s events with party activists.
She might be bloody difficult to find, but the PM (or Lynton Crosby and co) has found a canny fresh use for that “bloody difficult woman” phrase Ken Clarke originally bumbled about her. Keen to cast that chilly Brexit dinner as one at which British steadfastness won out against the euro-meanies, May has embraced the description to “warn” Jean-Claude Juncker that the divorce negotiations won’t be going his way. It might be bloody difficult to hide today’s Financial Times – which leads on analysis suggesting the breakup bill could be an upfront payment of up to €100bn. But it’s tomorrow’s fish and chips paper, right?
At a glance:
- Labour will pledge today an immediate halt of hospital closures.
- Liberal Democrat membership has topped 101,000 – its highest ever – with more than 14,000 signing up since the snap election was called.
- A man who campaigned against the cut in widowed parent’s allowance has died. Alan’s family is entitled to £50,000 less than if he had died before 5 April.
- Government agrees to publish air pollution strategy in next week – and could include handouts for diesel drivers to scrap their cars.
- Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed claims her deputy Angus Robertson could lose his seat to the Tories.
- Nominations in Northern Ireland reveal pan-unionist electoral pact.
- And from the BBC: Yscir, the unrepresented ward in Wales where nobody is standing for election on Thursday. (Wales also has 92 uncontested council seats.)
Poll position
A Guardian/ICM poll has the Tories down one point on last week, and Labour up one. But the gap, though trimmed, is still a yawning 19 points:
- Conservatives 47% (-1)
- Labour 28% (+1)
- Lib Dems 8% (-2)
- Ukip 8% (+1)
- Greens 4% (+1)
What’s the headline of the #GE2017 campaigns so far? A strong and stable lead for the Conservatives in ICM’s tracker, of course pic.twitter.com/OTEcnpVfnt
— ICM Unlimited (@ICMResearch) May 2, 2017
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of those polled thought the Tories would win a majority. A quirky 17% plumped for a hung parliament; 10% said Labour would form the next government. Find the poll nitty gritty here.
Diary
- At 9.30am, chancellor Philip Hammond and Brexit secretary David Davis lead a Conservative campaign event in Westminster.
- From 10am, Tim Farron’s Lib Dem battle bus pulls up in Oxford West.
- At the same time, the European commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, holds a press conference to set out EU plans.
- At 3pm, Theresa May is off to the palace to mark the dissolution of parliament with the Queen.
Talking point
Life after you’ve been fired from Theresa May’s cabinet can be a mixed bag. Michael Gove learned about Twitter hashtags, interviewed Donald Trump, and last night admitted the PM was right to elbow him out:
I think it showed very good judgment actually. I think that after the European referendum Theresa needed to have a clearout and she needed to appoint her own people. I think that in those 11 months we have seen the Conservative Party governing the country in a way which not only reinforces that strength and stability at the heart of power, but also shows calmness and competence.
A toughened-up GCSE A-grade for that original twist on “strong and stable”, Mr Gove.
George Osborne, the former “long-term economic plan” sloganiser who now edits the London Evening Standard, used his first leader column to caution the Conservatives against asking for “a blank cheque” or running a campaign amounting “to no more than a slogan”.
In a transparent attempt to out-ironise the ex-chancellor, May hit back:
First of all, can I wish George all the very best … What I am doing is giving a very clear message at this election.
Do they want that strong and stable leadership in the national interest with the conservatives or a coalition of chaos headed up by Jeremy Corbyn?
Read these
In the New York Times, Katrin Bennhold’s take on the tabloids and Brexit is worth a full read. It’s her exchange with former Sun editor – and currently suspended columnist – Kelvin MacKenzie that is likely to grab attention:
I asked what headline he would like to see in the paper were he still in charge. ‘I think the fake news headline that would give this country the most joy,’ he replied cheerfully, ‘would be “Jeremy Corbyn knifed to death by an asylum seeker”.’
Mr Corbyn is the leader of the Labour party. Mr MacKenzie’s fake news headline inevitably brought to mind the murder of Jo Cox, a pro-Remain Labour lawmaker who was killed by a man with far-right leanings a week before the referendum. Her death prompted a lot of soul-searching over whether the tone of the campaign had encouraged hate crimes.
(The next morning, I got a text message from Mr MacKenzie: ‘Hi Katrin, Can you change that perfect headline from “Jeremy Corbyn knifed to death by asylum seeker” to “Jeremy Corbyn defrauded by asylum seeker”. In the light of Jo Cox murder mine is in tol [sic] poor taste.’)
Stephen Bush, in the New Statesman, says a decision by David Cameron in 2005 to withdraw the Conservatives from the centre-right European People’s party grouping has rebounded on his successor:
The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk – who is responsible for chairing meetings of the elected leaders of the EU member states – is a member of the EPP. When he looks around the room, the most influential person is Angela Merkel, a member of the EPP. On issues affecting the day-to-day running of the EU, Tusk will consult [Jean-Claude] Juncker, a member of the EPP. The president of the European parliament, Antonio Tanjani, is also a member.
The regular meetings of the EPP are an opportunity for the bloc’s members to get to know one another and reach agreement in a more collegiate atmosphere. If the Conservative MEPs still attended, it would be an arena where the two sides could come together and understand one another better. It would be an important source of intelligence for Theresa May on what her counterparts are thinking, and vice versa.
And here’s an English translation of the Frankfurter Allgemeine article on the May-Juncker dinner.
Revelation of the day
Ukip’s Paul Nuttall scored lowest of all party leaders in polling by ICM for the Guardian. That’s not the revelation. After reports of Labour candidates distancing themselves from Corbyn – deputy leader Tom Watson chimed in yesterday, saying: “Sometimes the most important question isn’t what makes the best PM. It’s who makes the best MP” – Ukip’s candidate for mayor in Doncaster, Brian Whitmore, went a hop and skip further:
To me, Paul, he’s got a big mouth, he can be heard at the back of the room without a microphone, but at the end of the day I don’t think he’s as fast in his political nose as what Farage was…
I must say he’s the wrong bloke to be leader.
The day in a tweet
Ed Miliband in a dead heat with Ed Miliband for today’s prized tweet slot. In the end, the bacony hand of friendship won out over tweet evidence that the former Labour leader yesterday mowed a potential voter’s lawn.
And another thing
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