Paul Waugh Profile picture
Apr 22 6 tweets 3 min read
"It's not the crime, it's the cover up" has become such a hackneyed assessment of scandals since Watergate.

But on Partygate, it really IS the crimes, not the cover up, that matter more to many voters.

The latest #WaughOnPolitics:

inews.co.uk/opinion/voters…
Yes, voters do care about truth in politics. But on Partygate I suspect they're not interested in the minutiae of what @BorisJohnson said and when.

The most important fact is that he broke the laws he wrote and which he demanded others follow. Everything else is a detail.
That's why the Privileges Committee probe matters. Even if it finds he inadvertently misled Parliament, it keeps the focus on the law-breaking. And when multiple fines are confirmed, no amount of apologies/excuses will bury them.
But Tory MPs' real fear is the PM's claim he's 'getting on with the job' isn't matched by concrete evidence of delivery.
Minister tells me: “The party is losing patience. They look at Electoral Calculus, they look at the clock, they want us to get moving”

inews.co.uk/opinion/voters…
"Whether there was cake or not, let's not fetishise on that." Govt minister and devout Johnson loyalist @ConorBurnsUK tells @NickFerrariLBC.

He admits his famous line that the PM was 'ambushed by cake' will probably end up on his political obituary.
.@ConorBurnsUK tells @BBCr4today that @BorisJohnson "apologised 42 times by the way, in just over an hour and half [on Tues]"

But isn't that the problem? The PM seems to think the quantity, not quality, of the apology matters. Plus his repeat offending means repeat apologies.

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More from @paulwaugh

Apr 24
Just discovered that one of the Tory candidates in my ward in the local elections is....the guy in this photo in the red patterned braces lying on the ground, with a wine glass in hand.
The only reason I know is because a LibDem leaflet highlighted it.

Clearly Mr Mallet and the local Conservatives really do think the voters want to "move on" from Partygate. Image
As it happens, rising taxes (national and local) and cost of living may prove more important issues.

🗨Tories campaigning hard against the highest council tax in England.
🟨Libdems countering Tory govt is hiking up taxes as prices rise. ImageImage
Read 9 tweets
Apr 24
.@Keir_Starmer told @sophieraworth his priority is the cost of living, not Partygate.
.@OliverDowden also told @sophieraworth his priority is the cost of living, not Partygate.

No wonder this @IpsosUK poll is the one most worrying some Tory MPs
ipsos.com/en-uk/59-perce… Image
The @GfK consumer confidence index plunged again this week. An ominous sign for any economy [and sitting govt] that relies on consumption. Image
But as @OliverDowden says Tory councils 'cost you less', it's precisely 'the cost of the Conservatives' nationally - through higher taxes/energy bills/prices - that is Labour's big local elections push. Image
Read 5 tweets
Apr 23
It’s Saturday, the perfect time to look back at another momentous week in politics.

@theipaper Weekend has got you covered, with exclusives, analysis and behind-the-scenes features.

Just £1.30 from your newsagent or subscribe online inews.co.uk/subscribe

Here’s a taste 🧵 Image
“People are starting to tire of eating shit,” one minister says.

One MP on the May 5 local elections: “There will be an avalanche of fines after that...That has to be the time when we move against him.”

@RichardVaughan1 @HugoGye @singharj

inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
.@HugoGye reveals that @BorisJohnson demanded a change of helicopter in India after he was offered a trip in a Russian-made chopper

inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
Read 11 tweets
Apr 22
This latest @UKLabour leaflet is getting traction on the doorstep, according to Labour MPs (some low tax Tory MPs admit that too, tho they are v irritated by it) ImageImage
It features in tonight's #WaughOnPolitics.

Tax attacks do work in elections, which is why @BorisJohnson ought to be worried.

And 'prices, what prices?' may be the 2020s equivalent of the 'crisis, what crisis?' of the 1970s.

inews.co.uk/opinion/tory-t…
Update: The website FullFact says that the Labour leaflet is based on unreliable assumptions and fails to include benefits changes.
Which is a handy reminder of something that many people forget...

fullfact.org/economy/labour…
Read 4 tweets
Apr 16
It's Easter Saturday and after another unprecedented week in British politics, @theipaper Weekend is packed with exclusives, analysis and long reads.
Just £1.30 from your newsagent. Or subscribe online inews.co.uk/subscribe

Here's a taste.🧵
The inside story of the week that @BorisJohnson was found to have broken the Covid laws he wrote.
Lots of colour, intel and quotes from the PM's allies and critics alike.

inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
The No10 defence if more fines come:
“If you’re caught speeding at 35mph four times, that doesn’t mean that you were speeding at 140mph. It doesn’t mean that you really endangered life because the cumulative effect of all your speeding in 30mph zones amounts to 140pmh, does it?”
Read 13 tweets
Apr 15
The Wakefield by-election will indeed be a key test for Labour as much as the Tories.

But with no date yet set, it's the May 5 local elections that are @Keir_Starmer's next test. And it's places like Newcastle-under-Lyme that will be worth watching.

inews.co.uk/opinion/keir-s…
In fact, Staffordshire as a whole has seen a big shift from Labour.
Under Blair, Labour ran the county council. Now it has 4 seats.
Under Blair, Labour had six of the 12 Staffs MPs (all 3 Stoke, plus Cannock Chase, Tamworth, Newcastle-u-Lyme). Now it has none.
Stoke-on-Trent city council has gone from 2 Tory cllrs in 2011 to 22 today (and now runs it with a Tory majority for the first time in its history).
No Staffs CC or Stoke CC elxns in May. But Newcastle-under-Lyme council (went Tory control for 1st time ever recently) is all-out.
Read 5 tweets

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