Profile picture
, 9 tweets, 4 min read
NEW: Boris Johnson's campaign fears an historic NHS winter crisis will dominate the December election

— Tory MPs warned it could be worst for decades
— concerns over Dispatches US trade deal story
— Hancock to meet Simon Stevens weekly during campaign

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Who is running the Tory election campaign?

“Isaac has full grip over the campaign. Dom is in No10 with the Vote Leave team. CCHQ staff are answering to CCHQ not Vote Leave,” a CCHQ insider said

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Two-pronged message you will hear on repeat over the next 43 days:

“Get Brexit done” so the govt can then focus on the things that really matter to voters, be that schools, policing, the NHS, housing, or other issues neglected by Westminster for years

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
The case made to Johnson for a pre- rather than post-Brexit election:

Churchill’s defeat in 1945 election after the Second World War, in which he was not rewarded by voters for delivering victory, and a radical Labour government was elected instead

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Some Tory MPs fear a pre-Brexit election weakens the argument that Parliament blocked Brexit

Johnson passed his Queen's Speech and had majority for WAB but pulled it

Some think voters will see election as a political calculation rather than last resort

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
CCHQ veterans are sceptical whether, despite the vast spending commitments of last few months, the Tories’ new domestic agenda has cut through to the public

“Never has so much been spent on so many policies, noticed by so few”

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Why Johnson decided he will win: Internal Tory polling concluded the public is sick of Brexit dominating the news and, above all else, want it resolved as soon as possible

Tory MPs say the problem is if Corbyn can steer the narrative away from Brexit

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Senior Tories put their chances of forming a govt on Dec 13 at between 50-50 and two-thirds...

— starting well short of a majority
— losing Scottish seats, plus Remain seats to LibDems
— have to gain Labour seats they've never won
— unknown Farage factor

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Logistical concerns

— postal voting likely to be higher, potentially favouring Labour
— Tories will find it harder to mobilise activists, in part because Labour’s activist base is younger and more likely to campaign in the dark and during bad weather

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/bo…
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh.

Enjoying this thread?

Keep Current with Alex Wickham

Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @alexwickham see all

Profile picture
Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
LEAK: Report commissioned by People’s Vote last month urged it to replace key staff to end a “culture of mistrust” and “cronyism”

— “Repeat offenders” accused of being “continually disruptive”
— PV warned it had to sort bullying / harassment processes

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/pe…
Astonishing 83-page independent report titled “Project Root” and marked “do not circulate"

— Damning of People's Vote management under McGrory / Baldwin
— Critical of governance structures under Rudd

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/pe…
Independent report commissioned by People's Vote raised alarm over bullying and harassment processes

"Proper disciplinary processes should be established for inappropriate behaviour, bullying, harassment"

"Decisive action to deal with repeat offenders"

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/pe…
Read 8 tweets
Profile picture
Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
An ally of Roland Rudd hits back at briefings from the James McGrory / Tom Baldwin camp

They claim that Alastair Campbell had a meeting with Rudd last week in which Campbell urged Rudd not to sack Baldwin (his close friend for decades), but said he could get rid of McGrory 😬
Roland Rudd ally says he didn't address staff this morning because he found out Baldwin/McGrory had arranged for 20-30 people to walk out and film it on their phones

Source says Rudd knew he was being stitched up so avoided the meeting
Roland Rudd ally says journalists are being misled by "their mates" in Baldwin/McGrory faction

They say the vast majority of PV staff are on Open Britain contracts and do not support Baldwin/McGrory
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
New People’s Vote boss Patrick Heneghan has given staff the day off. “Pub opens in 20 mins, we are off to get pissed and plot revenge” says one staff member
People's Vote staff have now decamped to a cafe after Tom Baldwin told them they cannot go to the pub. "It's a work day, not a piss up"
Ouch a People’s Vote insider notes that there are zero women involved in this row because there aren’t any women in senior roles at People’s Vote. “This is just men fighting other men for power. I don’t think any of them care about actually winning over the public.”
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Channel 4 Dispatches
@C4Dispatches
THREAD: 1/10 Dispatches has found that secret meetings have taken place between senior civil servants and representatives of US pharmaceutical firms where the price the NHS pays for its drugs has been discussed.
2/10 A source with knowledge of the trade talks told Dispatches that British trade negotiators have already held six official meetings with their US counterparts to talk about what might be in any trade deal.
3/10 Precise details of what has been discussed has been kept strictly confidential. But a Whitehall source has told us that drug pricing has been on the table in all six meetings.
Read 13 tweets
Profile picture
Sebastian Payne
@SebastianEPayne
NEW: @FinancialTimes eve-of-vote analysis suggests Boris has a slender majority of 4 to pass his Brexit latest tomorrow.

Assuming all Tory Brexiters and independents back it, the PM has a shot at getting it through.

Story of today’s whipping operation
ft.com/content/8518df…
After an intense day of lobbying, Downing Street insiders admit the vote will be “fucking close”.

“We are all like children in the dark, wandering around not knowing what happens next.”

The inside story from yours truely, @Laura_K_Hughes @GeorgeWParker ft.com/content/8518df…
Most of No10’s efforts (led by Boris himself) have focused on the ERG Spartans:

“The vast majority are on board. Baker and Francois seem to be OK, which are a marker for the others. I predict maybe three to five are not on board at an absolute maximum.”

ft.com/content/8518df…
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
Jonathan Lis
@jonlis1
Johnson up in Commons. Chamber weirdly half-full and muted - perhaps in deference to John Bercow, who’s lost his voice. Not sure if I can last more than a few minutes of this but here we go
PM says he cares deeply about GFA, even though he once compared a border which killed 3000 people to boundaries of two London boroughs. Then claims he wants to uphold all existing areas of cooperation, even though his proposal junks all-Ireland economy. He doesn’t give a damn.
Says, with a straight face, that he has shown ‘flexibility’, and threatens EU with no-deal if they don’t show such flexibility - as though Northern Irish lives and peace are somehow comparable to Johnson’s desire to strike a trade deal with New Zealand. This is sick.
Read 13 tweets
Profile picture
Channel 4 Dispatches
@C4Dispatches
THREAD: The next UK Prime Minister will soon be chosen by around 160,000 members of the Conservative Party – that's 0.2% of the population. Almost half of the members are now over 65, 71% are male and 97% are white.

[1/8] #Dispatches
To find out more about who they are and their beliefs, Dispatches commissioned a special YouGov Survey of 892 Conservative Party members - this is what we found:

[2/8] #Dispatches
54% of party members thought Donald Trump would make a good Prime Minister.

[3/8] #Dispatches
Read 9 tweets
Profile picture
Ed Davey 🔶
@EdwardJDavey
Let’s talk about Boris

One of most disreputable, toxic, selfish politicians I’ve ever met. As Tories choose between British Trump & ex-Health Sec who’s mission was to destroy health service, let's remember why #Johnson is #UnfitForOffice
[Many threads]
2018: Letterboxes
Wrote that women wearing niqab looked like “letterboxes” & “bank robbers”; triggering attacks on our Muslim community, “letterbox” graffitied on homes, and giving racists new language in hate speech

#Johnson is #UnfitForOffice
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
2008: “Blacks have lower IQs”
As editor of the Spectator he was responsible for - and clearly condoned - this racist drawl. He and his racist worldview has no place in Parliament, let alone @10DowningStreet

#Johnson is #UnfitForOffice
standard.co.uk/news/mayor/bor…
Read 16 tweets
Profile picture
Julie Laumann
@Otpor17
In 2012, Tim Cook announced Apple would make a Mac computer in the US.

But when Apple began making the $3000 computer in Texas, it struggled to find enough screws. By the time the computer was ready for mass production, Apple had ordered screws from China nyti.ms/2HBT2QK
Apple CEO Tim Cook: “The skill here is just incredible. In the US, you could have a meeting of tooling engineers and I’m not sure we could fill the room. In China, you could fill multiple football fields.” (h/t @scottlincicome)
"Caterpillar said costs tied to new US tariffs on foreign goods, including steel and aluminum, were just above $100 million over the 5 months of 2018 that they were in effect.

The company expects more than $200 million in tariff-related costs this year." wsj.com/articles/cater…
Read 140 tweets

Trending hashtags

#Florida #impeachment #UnAmerican #ScientificSocialism #Hungary #Talks #supplychains #History #Comrade #Shoah #VaticanCity #China #Treasuries #NoDealBrexit #Denmark #whistleblowers #Pennsylvania #BoycottStarbucks #SALUTE #BonfireOfTheVanities #VETS #GeneralStrike #sorghum #tradewar #IntellectualDiversity
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!