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Rishi Sunak Launch Video – Instant Verdict
Andrew Sparrow
Rishi Sunak’s launch video is smooth and extremely professional. (It’s also not something that’s being thrown together in a hurry after Sunak resigned on Tuesday night.) The former chancellor has spent a lot of time in the US, where the political consultancy industry is much more advanced than in the UK, and the video has all hallmarks of a premium production based on the best advice money can get.
The technical quality is very good. It starts with Sunak telling a story, and it’s a story about his family’s immigrant background, about hard work, success, and family. “Family is everything to me, and my family gave me opportunities they could only dream of,” he says, in a formula that puts his privileged upbringing (he went to Winchester, one of the most elite private schools in the country), into context of upward mobility. From there follows a love of country and values that Sunak says are “non-negotiable” for him – “patriotism, justice and hard work”. It ends with Sunak saying that “we have enough division” and how he wants to bring people together because “that’s the only way we can succeed.” You could run an ad like this for almost any centrist candidate in a Western democracy and it would probably work. These are messages with broad appeal.
There is no politics in the video and little is specific. But – unsurprisingly – Sunak focused on his record as chancellor, saying he “led the toughest department in government during the toughest times as we faced the Covid nightmare”. This is hard to argue with and it will be at the heart of the campaign.
More intriguingly, Sunak also hints at the approach he will take to expend arguments in the race.
The decisions we make today will decide whether the next generation of Britons also have the chance of a better future.
Are we facing this moment with honesty, seriousness and determination? Or do we tell ourselves comforting stories that may make us feel better now but will leave our children worse off tomorrow? Someone has to seize this moment and make the right decisions.
Although the “comfort tale” may be seen by some as a good description of Brexit (which Sunak supported), here he is talking about the national debt, his belief that too much borrowing is irresponsible, that tax breaks must be paid for and that some of Tory colleagues are wrong to believe that the tax cuts will pay for themselves (a point he made explicit in his Mais lecture).
A curious feature of the video is that it is aimed at the general public. But the general public will not get to vote on who becomes the next Tory leader. This is a decision of Conservative MPs and around 100,000 party members.
That’s all from me for today. My colleague Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
Rishi Sunak Photo: Rishi Sunak
Updated at 17.24 BST
Mark Spencer, the leader of the Whip and another former Tory chief leader, also supports Rishi Sunak.
Mark Spencer:
Rishi is the leader who can unite the party, unite the entire country and win us this fifth victory in the general elections. In serious times we need a person with proven experience. Rishi gets my full support.
— Mark Spencer (@Mark_Spencer) July 8, 2022
Rishi Sunak has led some Tory MPs to already declare their support.
This is from Mark Harper, the former Chief Whip.
And this is by Jacob Young. He is the MP for Redcar and Cleveland.
Lord Greenhalgh has resigned as building safety minister. In his resignation letter, he said he was saddened by the events that led to Boris Johnson’s decision to leave and that he had decided it was time to go too. Greenhalgh worked with Johnson at City Hall when Johnson was mayor. He was deputy mayor for the police.
Rishi Sunak launches his campaign for the Tory leadership
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, launched his campaign for the Tory leadership with a clever video. In it, he emphasized his immigrant heritage, declared that “family is everything to me” and insisted that he would not be a candidate offering “comfort stories”.
It hasn’t been a good week for the Daily Mail. First, Boris Johnson announced he was resigning, although the paper aggressively denounced those who tried to push him out. And then at midday today, Durham Police announced that Keir Starmer had “no case to answer”, despite the Mail running multiple stories earlier this year portraying it as a scandal to rival Partygate.
But they don’t give up easily in Mail (unlike PM). The Mail website led with a version of the story headlined: ‘Another pub clash’: Tory furies like Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner cleared of breaking lockdown rules at ‘Beergate’ gathering.
The title is based on this quote from Michael Fabricant, a Tory MP loyal to Johnson. He said:
I am surprised how Durham Police decided not to fine Starmer and Rayner.
Many people will think that as a QC and barrister, Starmer got away with a conviction while blackmailing Durham Police by saying: “You’ll bring down the Leader of the Opposition if you fine me.”
Many ordinary people will feel that this is another replacement of the establishment.
Updated at 16.37 BST
Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, is about to announce himself as a candidate for Conservative leader, reports Stephen Swinford of the Times. He says Sunak will be a serious candidate for serious times, with fiscal responsibility at the heart of his pitch (which makes him sound like a Tory version of Gordon Brown).
Smashing:
Rishi Sunak is said to be about to formally announce his candidacy for the Tory leadership contest
He will present himself as a serious candidate for serious times
Fiscal responsibility will be at the heart of his presentation to management
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) July 8, 2022
Updated at 16.37 BST
Seven new ministers were appointed
Downing Street announced seven more ministerial appointments.
One appointment includes minister Stuart Andrew, who resigned on Wednesday as housing minister in protest at Boris Johnson staying on as prime minister. After a day out of government, Andrew returns to government as Minister of Justice.
Two government officials were promoted as ministers.
Alan Mack is now Treasury Secretary of the Treasury. He was a whip.
And Sarah Dines is now a joint minister at the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office.
And four from the back bench got jobs.
Richard Fuller is now Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
Rehman Chishti is the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Lia Nici is now a rising minister.
And Brendan Clarke-Smith is now Minister for Education.
Updated at 16.36 BST
Starmer says the Beargate resignation pledge shows how he can restore faith in politics
In his opening statement at the press conference, Keir Starmer sought to link his promise to resign if fined over Beergate to a wider argument for restoring faith in politics. Here is the key passage.
Our country is stuck in a dangerous rut.
Everywhere you look things are broken.
And nothing gets fixed.
People tell me that when they look at those who run the country, they see a group of people completely detached from reality, whose words mean nothing and who put their own interest first.
Who could blame them for concluding that politics doesn’t matter and doesn’t work.
It’s not just about Boris Johnson.
This sense that the policy has failed has not emerged in the last few months.
It’s been simmering for years.
And people completely lost faith that this could change.
That politics can be a force for good.
The reason I made the promise was to change their mind.
Because when politics is done well, when people can believe that politicians’ words mean something.
When the power of government is in the hands of those who are determined to serve the country.
Like when Labor created the NHS.
When we introduced the Equal Pay Act.
And when we brought people together to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
Politics can change lives.
And that is what I will do as Prime Minister.
As an exercise in logic, it didn’t quite work. Starmer’s promise to resign if fined certainly showed he was serious about politicians not being above the law. But ironically, he could only use the promise to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a politician of his word if he were fined and resigned (although people think that’s what he would have done).
But that is not the same as showing that politics can be a force for good. There are politicians of impeccable integrity who have failed to make policies that change lives for the better. And in the past, some policies that did just that were implemented by scoundrels.
However, the Beergate affair strengthened Starmer’s reputation for personal integrity, and he did so in the final passage of his speech.
I won’t fix everything.
I am certainly not perfect and will make mistakes along the way.
But what you will always get from me is someone who believes that honesty and integrity matter.
Someone who will work every day for the good of the country.
And someone who won’t betray the faith you place in me.
Keir Starmer speaks at his press conference. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Updated at 15.21 BST
Starmer has ruled out a post-election coalition with the SNP but not the Lib Dems
Q: Would you rule out a coalition with the SNP and Lib Dems?
Yes, says Starmer.
He says he rules out an alliance with the SNP before or after the election. This is a principled decision. He says he cannot form an alliance with a party that wants to break up the UK.
As for the Lib Dems, Starmer says he wants a Labor government.
But he does not rule out a post-election…
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