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Tag Archives: Graham Brady
Why has the number of letters of ‘no confidence’ in Theresa May apparently FALLEN?
Theresa May: A confidence vote from her backbenchers is the least of her worries. Her alliance with the DUP is falling apart and she no longer has the ability to pass legislation. Her government is a lame duck.
What the blazes is going on in the Conservative Party?
We have been told – for months now – that disgruntled Conservative backbenchers have been sending letters demanding a vote of ‘no confidence’ in Theresa May to the chairman of their 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, and that a vote against her would be triggered if her received 48 such letters.
All the indications were that more than 40 such letters had arrived by the middle of last week, when Jacob Rees-Mogg put his own letter in and appealed for others to do so.
But today the headlines are full of the failure to reach the required number and the humiliation of the Brexiteers of the Tory European Research Group (ERG) that wanted it.
And while Nadine Dorris on the BBC’s Politics Live thinks 46 letters have been submitted, other reports suggest only 24 are in Mr Brady’s possession.
What’s going on? Why are we hearing that the number of ‘no confidence’ letters has fallen?
Is somebody lying?
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Theresa May might not last as PM until the end of the week – and it’s Thursday
Jacob Rees-Mogg: He doesn’t have a moustache to twirl villainously, so he had to adjust his glasses instead.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has supported his harsh words in Parliament with hard action – he asked why he should not write to the chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee indicating no confidence in Theresa May and, having clearly received no good answer, he has done so.
And he published the letter, so we can all see his reasons.
He wrote: “The draft withdrawal agreement presented to parliament today has turned out to be worse than anticipated and fails to meet the promises given to the nation by the prime minister, either on her own account or on behalf of us all in the Conservative party manifesto.
“It is of considerable importance that politicians stick to their commitments or do not make such commitments in the first place. Regrettably, this is not the situation, therefore, in accordance with the relevant rules and procedures of the Conservative party and the 1922 committee this is a formal letter of no confidence in the leader of the party, the Rt. Hon. Theresa May.”
After Rees-Mogg, it seems likely 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady will receive a deluge.
Already Conservative MP Henry Smith has submitted his letter to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, requesting a vote of no confidence in Mrs May.
As I write this, commentators on the BBC News channel are saying the number of “no confidence” letters will top the 48 needed to trigger a vote.
Mrs May might not last as Prime Minister until the end of the week – and it’s Thursday.
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Conservative corruption: Theresa May tries to cement herself in as leader by BRIBING MPs
Cheats prospering: Theresa May and 1922 committee chairman Graham Brady, to whom she has awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours, for no reason at all.
How utterly repellent.
Weakling prime minister Theresa May knows she cannot expect her MPs to support her leadership – because she is a failure – so she is trying to bribe powerful Tories into propping her up.
She has given honours to half the ruling board of the Conservative Party’s 1922 committee – the organisation that represents backbench Tory MPs.
Two of them get knighthoods, while a third is made a dame.
Notably, all three are Brexiters. But then, none of the ruling committee support remaining in the European Union – all have voted against it. Former Treasurer (until he was kicked out of Parliament in June) Stewart Jackson, responding to a tweet criticising the Leave campaign for lying to the public, is famous for writing, “Suck it up”. What a nice chap! And he is now special advisor and chief of staff to David Davis at the Department for Exiting the European Union.
Graham – now Sir Graham – Brady distinctly lacks the necessary qualifications for being a knight of the realm. Take a look at the list of his misbehaviours, courtesy of Vice.com:
“When he’s not influencing the government, you may find Brady leading opposition to the legalisation of weed or taking a £8,600 fact-finding trip to the Cayman Islands. In 2011, it was revealed that Brady still employed his wife, Victoria, as a senior parliamentary assistant on a salary of over £40,000 a year. This is despite the fact that, in 2009, the Committee on Standards in Public Life recommended banning the practice of employing family members, describing it as “not consistent with modern employment practice designed to ensure fairness in recruitment, management of staff and remuneration”.”
Cheryl Gillan “was also embarrassed during the 2009 expenses scandal. Amongst other things, Gillan charged the taxpayer £4.47 for dog food; claimed more money for her gas bill than it was actually worth; and over-claimed £1,884 on her mortgage.”
Christopher Chope, also knighted, also a Brexiter, and also mentioned in the extract below, is well known to readers of This Site for filibustering private members’ bills. He notably talked out a bill to outlaw “revenge evictions” – because it is not in his interest as a private landlord. He repeatedly blocked a bill that would ban the use of wild animals in circus performances. He also talked out a bill to end hospital parking charges for carers. He refers to House of Commons staff as “servants”.
His knighthood, awarded “for political and public service”, is nothing less than a garish and vulgar insult to the people of the United Kingdom – as are the honours to the other MPs mentioned in this article.
Theresa May might think she is buying support – but she is also providing ammunition to those of us who would be rid of her corrupt, inept and unforgivable dictatorship.
Theresa May has moved to shore up her future as Tory leader by giving top honours to half of the ruling board of the Conservative party’s influential 1922 committee.
Three of the committee’s six-strong board have received senior honours: Graham Brady, the chairman, and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the honorary treasurer, are knighted; while Cheryl Gillan, a vice chairman, is made a dame.
The support of the 1922 committee is vital for Mrs May to deliver on her promise to serve a full five year term as party leader.
Sir Graham is listened to closely by the leadership and would play a crucial role in any future leadership contest, which would be triggered if 15 per cent of the party’s MPs – 48 at present – write to him requesting one.
All three backed Leave in the European Union referendum, as did a fourth Conservative MP to be honoured, veteran former minister Christopher Chope who receives a knighthood.
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Ask not for whom the clock ticks, David Cameron
Here are a couple of items on the Guardian website that are worth putting side-by-side:
John O’Farrell, Labour’s losing candidate in the Eastleigh by-election, has written about how uncomfortable it was to be subjected to the “two-minute hate” on the social media – and David Cameron has been given a two-month warning by members of his party.
If he doesn’t revive their fortunes in the budget or the May local government elections, he could be out on his ear.
“And not a moment too soon!” I hear you cry, as the One Nation that Ed Miliband wants to build.
Apparently it will take 46 letters to Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative Party’s backbench 1922 committee, to trigger a leadership contest.
Already, according to tweets by Tory vice-chairman Michael Fabricant, there are rumblings from the lower ranks. “The Conservative voice is muffled and not crisp,” he tweeted. “It does not clearly project Conservative core policies or principles.”
Those of us who follow developments in social security legislation would probably agree, adding that they seem more like Nazi core policies (I make this point for a twofold purpose – firstly because it’s accurate; secondly because it really riles right-wingers who think Coalition benefits policy is a good idea). The trouble with that is, we can be sure as mustard that Mr Fabricant would urge a move to the right.
What is more right-wing than a Nazi?
Don’t bother trying to answer that – Mr Fabricant is likely to be about as significant to future Tory policy as a snowflake is to the temperature on the sun. He has undermined the Tory plan to play down the significance of being beaten by UKIP and the comedy Prime Minister’s insistence that he will not leave (what he seems to think is) the centre ground.
Of course, the budget is not Gideon George Osborne’s strong suit – let’s face it, the economy isn’t his strong suit and he’s supposed to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer – so the immediate future isn’t looking good for Call-Me-(Please)-Dave. Mr 0 was scraping the barrel with the pasty tax last year, and after his ideologically-based economic tinkering forced the nation into the longest depression in decades, it seems unlikely he will have anything revolutionary to pull from that famous red briefcase.
That leaves the local elections in May. Mid-term local elections – and, as the Tories told us within the past 24 hours, sitting governments rarely do well during mid-term elections.
Tick, tock, Tory boy.