#NEW Gordon Brown has warned in the @guardian that Boris Johnson is planning to "legitimise straightforward bribery" by "filling" the House of Lords "with his cronies".
The ex-PM has seen a leaked document from CT Group - run by key Johnson adviser Lynton Crosby... Thread 👇
According to Brown, the draft plan would see "39 to 50 new Tory peers" added to the Lords.
It "includes an extraordinary requirement that each new peer sign away their right to make their own judgment on legislation that comes before them".
The leaked paper suggests that a "useful cover from any media backlash" would be to claim that the aim is to redress the north-south balance in the Lords - where the South East is overrepresented.
Gordon Brown ends with:
"The abolition of the current House of Lords was one of the 10 commitments Keir Starmer made when assuming the Labour party leadership. Now Boris Johnson and Lynton Crosby have handed him the strongest possible case for long overdue reform."
#BREAKING Rishi Sunak attacks Equality Act 2010, calls it "trojan horse" of "woke nonsense".
In a speech tomorrow, Sunak will vow to ensure "sex means biological sex", protect "mothers" and "women" from "erasure" - as well as "shield children from inappropriate material."
In substance, Sunak will commit to
👨👩👧 Reviewing the Equality Act
❤️ Strengthening guidance on Relationships and Sex Education
💬 Amending the Public Sector Equality Duty to ensure "public sector organisations are open" - putting a stop to no-platforming.
1. 👨👩👧 Reviewing the Equality Act
Sunak will call the Act "a Trojan horse that has allowed every kind of woke nonsense to permeate public life. It must stop."
The review would ensure sex meant "biological sex" and would "block biological men from competing in women’s sport."
#BREAKING Tom Tugendhat has backed Liz Truss for leader.
Writing in the Times, Tugendhat stresses that being PM "demands resolution, determination, and passion. These debates have shown a different side of both candidates. Only one has convinced me she's ready."
Tugendhat further notes that Truss' plan for the economy is "founded on true Conservative principles of low tax, a lean state and bold supply-side reform."
Tugendhat's backing is significant for Truss; Tugendhat is extremely popular amongst members and the grassroots - and a major figure in the One Nation caucus.
🚓 The Metropolitan Police strip-searched between 500 and 800 children each year from 2018 to 2021, according to new research.
Between 100 and 200 had "intimate parts" exposed in the process.
The revelation come amid increased scrutiny after the case of Child Q.
The case of Child Q relates to a 15 year old black girl who was strip-searched by officers after being wrongly suspected of being in possession of cannabis at school. Child Q was menstruating at the time.
A safeguarding report found the search was in breach of the rules.
📞 Tens of thousands of BT and Openreach workers have begun a two day strike - the first national telecoms strike in 35 years.
Members of @CWUnews voted to strike after rejecting a £1,500 per year pay rise offer from BT.
@CWUnews The second day of strike action is planned for Monday.
"This dispute sits squarely at the feet of BT Group CEO Philip Jansen and the Board. They represent everything that needs to change about big business in Britain", @CWUnews deputy general secretary Andy Kerr said.
@CWUnews The strike comes a day after BT announced that its revenues increased by 1% to £5.1bn for the three months to the end of June.
BT say the £1,500 pay rise was the "best award" they could make and that they won't reopen the pay review.
#BREAKING Sam Tarry has been sacked from Labour's frontbench for joining a picket line of striking railway workers.
Labour: "This isn’t about appearing on a picket line. Members of the frontbench sign up to collective responsibility. That includes media appearances being approved and speaking to agreed frontbench positions."
continued... "As a government in waiting, any breach of collective responsibility is taken extremely seriously and for these reasons Sam Tarry has been removed from the frontbench"