All posts tagged: Tories

Badenoch vows to ‘end blanket 20mph schemes’ for drivers as Tories aim to ‘get Britain moving again’

Badenoch vows to ‘end blanket 20mph schemes’ for drivers as Tories aim to ‘get Britain moving again’

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay on top of the latest political news with our View from Westminster newsletter Get the latest political headlines with our free email Get the latest political headlines with our free email Speed limits “widely ignored” by drivers would be raised under a Conservative government, the party has said. The pledge to review 20mph limits is part of a six-point Plan for Drivers announced by the Tories to “get Britain moving again”. This includes a commitment to “end blanket 20mph schemes”, which have been imposed by “Labour and their councils” across “entire towns and cities with no meaningful evidence base”. Schemes to cut speed limits to 20mph are increasingly common across the UK and Europe, often implemented to reduce crashes and injuries. Wales has 20mph as the default in built-up areas, and the Scottish Government committed to implementing the limit on “those roads where it is appropriate to do so”. Charity Living Streets reports 62 of 153 local authorities in England have adopted similar policies. Widespread 20mph speed limits have been blamed by location technology …

We would back Labour to oust SNP, says Lib Dem leader

We would back Labour to oust SNP, says Lib Dem leader

Published by Sam Flores

SNP candidate Maree Todd hit out at the Lib Dem leader’s comments, saying: “Labour has hammered rural Scotland with sky-high heating bills, soaring petrol prices and a crippling family farm tax, yet Alex Cole-Hamilton would give them a leg-up into Bute House – that isn’t putting our Highland communities first, it is a kick in the teeth to families across the region. Source link

Tories win seat from Reform in council by-election in boost for Kemi Badenoch | Politics | News

Tories win seat from Reform in council by-election in boost for Kemi Badenoch | Politics | News

Published by Sam Flores

The Conservatives have gained a seat from Reform UK in a council by-election in the latest sign of a bounce for Kemi Badenoch’s party. The Tories took the Cramlington South West ward on Northumberland County Council with 34.2% of the vote, up nine points. Reform was down 13 points to second place with 26.1% of the vote share. The Liberal Democrats came third with 23%, while the Greens were fourth on 14.3%. It comes as the Tory fightback is underway following their 2024 general election defeat. The research found that 22% of voters backed the Conservatives, up 3% from the previous poll. Meanwhile, Reform’s lead had narrowed with Nigel Farage’s party on 25%, down 5% from the week before. Labour was third on 21%, while Zack Polanski’s Greens were fourth on 13% and the Lib Dems were on 12%. It comes ahead of next month’s local elections where Reform is expected to make major gains, while Labour is facing a drubbing. Source link

The House | Alf Dubs: Labour Is Weakening Refugee Rights – I Had More Success Under The Tories

The House | Alf Dubs: Labour Is Weakening Refugee Rights – I Had More Success Under The Tories

Published by Sam Flores

Lord Dubs (Photography by David Sandison) 11 min read52 min As Lord Dubs leads the charge against the government’s immigration changes, he talks to Sienna Rodgers about his disappointment in Labour, his hopes for rejoining the EU, and why Keir Starmer must step out of his advisers’ shadow Alf Dubs was a 12-year-old boy when the British people, focused on the post-war rebuild, gave Clement Attlee a landslide win. It is one of his earliest political memories. “I was passionately Labour,” he recalls. “I wandered around Manchester looking at the posters and things, because there were no televisions – it was all posters.” His mother had moved to the city, getting a job scrubbing the floors of a restaurant there, after his father died of a heart attack. “My mum had taken me to a boarding house near Blackpool, and the people there said, ‘Go to the town square, the BBC will be broadcasting the results’. So, I rushed off, and the lunchtime score was something like Labour 120, Conservative 30. …

Waitrose employee sacked after tackling ‘Easter egg shoplifter’ should be reinstated, Tories say | UK News

Waitrose employee sacked after tackling ‘Easter egg shoplifter’ should be reinstated, Tories say | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A Waitrose employee who said he was sacked after tackling a shoplifter trying to steal a bag of Easter eggs should be reinstated and handed a bonus, according to the Conservatives. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the supermarket chain had acted “disgracefully” by dismissing shop assistant Walker Smith, a long-standing employee who had worked at London’s Clapham Junction branch for 17 years. Mr Smith, 54, claims he was sacked two days after confronting a shoplifter who was attempting to steal the chocolate eggs, leading to a brief struggle before the shoplifter fled. The employee told The Guardian that after one of the bunnies broke into pieces he picked up a chunk and threw it towards shopping trolleys in frustration, not aiming it at the shoplifter. Mr Smith said he was told off by his manager and apologised, but the issue was escalated. Waitrose has said that reporting of Mr Smith’s case, based on an interview with the newspaper, does not cover the “full facts of the situation”. Mr Smith told the publication he regretted …

Starmer Slams Tories And Reform's 'Utterly Reckless' Iran Plans In Local Election Campaign Launch

Starmer Slams Tories And Reform's 'Utterly Reckless' Iran Plans In Local Election Campaign Launch

Published by Sam Flores

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to the media at the port in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, March 26, 2026 Keir Starmer is expected to make Labour’s decision not to go to war with Donald Trump against Iran central to the party’s local election campaign on Monday. Speaking from the West Midlands, the prime minister is expected to call on the UK to “stand together” amid the turbulence from the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Alongside his cabinet ministers and Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell, Starmer will vow to continue “to fight to earn every vote” and “fight for the country we are building together, a Britain built for all”. He will say: “Because, in the context of everything that is happening in the world, those values – that fairness we stand for – it’s never been more important. “That is the thing about the volatile world we live in now. “It tests, not just our security, our strength on the world stage. It also tests our fairness at home. Our unity.” Starmer will take aim …

Tories face existential challenge from Reform – but electoral pact may not be answer | Politics News

Tories face existential challenge from Reform – but electoral pact may not be answer | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Even when the Conservatives slumped to a historic defeat at the general election, few would have thought that one of the world’s oldest political parties would soon be overtaken in the polls by a young pretender on the radical right. Fast forward two years and the Conservatives are locked in a battle for supremacy with Reform UK which largely defeated them in last May’s local elections and has been securing defections from Tory councillors, former MPs, and even some current MPs. It’s led some to suggest the two parties should unite to take on Labour rather than have a split right risk another left victory. If that happened, it would not be the first time Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, decided not to stand candidates in Conservative seats – his then-Brexit Party did so in 2019 – a year when the Tories enjoyed a comfortable victory. But now, modelling by Sky News and exclusive polling with Ipsos suggest that hopes that an electoral pact might offer a path back to power for the right are misplaced. …

Farage settles for second best in Gorton and Denton — as Tories lose £500 – POLITICO

Farage settles for second best in Gorton and Denton — as Tories lose £500 – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

In the wilderness By contrast, Britain’s Tories, who were running the country in government under two years ago, had a bruising night. They dropped from an already-dire general election showing of 7.9 percent to just 1.9 percent — receiving a paltry 706 votes. By polling under 5 percent, the party’s worst ever by-election result, the Tories lost the £500 deposit all candidates must pay to stand. In the immediate aftermath, Tory figures stressed that the party never had a chance of winning a constituency that has been reliably Labour for decades. Instead, they talked up Reform’s failure to seal the deal. “While last night’s result was disappointing for my party (we had a cracking candidate) it was not really our battlefield,” said former Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell. “The result was, however, very bad for Reform and may mark the beginning of the end of their hegemony.” Tory MP and former minister Graham Stuart said voters cast their ballots differently at by-elections compared to general elections, when they choose the next government. “The public is …