Monday, January 01, 2024
Desperate Measures
The revelation that Dominic Cummings and Rishi Sunak held top secret meetings over general election strategy, as reported here in the Independent, shows just how desperate this Tory government is getting.
The paper says that the Prime Minister reportedly asked Boris Johnson’s ex-chief aide for advice on winning over the public as he pushed for a “secret deal” with Mr Cummings to help the Tories “smash” Labour in 2024:
Mr Sunak was branded “weak and desperate” by Labour and the Liberal Democrats for “secretly begging” Mr Cummings to return to No 10.
The Tory leader, whose party is trailing behind Labour in the polls, apparently decided against the plan after two meetings and after Mr Cummings made a series of demands about government priorities.
Mr Cummings urged Mr Sunak to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000, the Sunday Times reported.
He also reportedly advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as part of the Rwanda deportation plan.
No 10 has not denied Mr Cummings’ account of secret meetings in July and December 2022, but said no job offer was made.
A Downing Street source said: “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning, no job was offered.”
Surely, it is time to put this government out of its misery.
The paper says that the Prime Minister reportedly asked Boris Johnson’s ex-chief aide for advice on winning over the public as he pushed for a “secret deal” with Mr Cummings to help the Tories “smash” Labour in 2024:
Mr Sunak was branded “weak and desperate” by Labour and the Liberal Democrats for “secretly begging” Mr Cummings to return to No 10.
The Tory leader, whose party is trailing behind Labour in the polls, apparently decided against the plan after two meetings and after Mr Cummings made a series of demands about government priorities.
Mr Cummings urged Mr Sunak to abandon his cautious economic approach, hold an emergency budget, settle the NHS strikes and double the threshold at which people pay the 40p rate of income tax from £50,271 to £100,000, the Sunday Times reported.
He also reportedly advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as part of the Rwanda deportation plan.
No 10 has not denied Mr Cummings’ account of secret meetings in July and December 2022, but said no job offer was made.
A Downing Street source said: “It was a broad discussion about politics and campaigning, no job was offered.”
Surely, it is time to put this government out of its misery.
