Lord Frost says he wants prime minister to stop making “factually false statements”
Lord Frost, a former Brexit minister, said he would like Boris Johnson to stop making “factually false statements”.
Speaking six years after the EU referendum, at an event hosted by the UK think tank in a changing Europe, he said Brexit was working, but called on Brexit supporters to be “honest” about compromises in leaving the EU.
Asked about the prime minister’s claims that there are now more people at work than before the pandemic, which was criticized by the National Statistics Office, the former Brexit minister said:
I wish he didn’t say things that are obviously not true, making factually false statements.
But in the end, the party and deputies of the prime minister must decide how they want to do things or not.
He denied that Brexit had eroded confidence in UK policy.
Britain’s exit from the EU should be seen as a “door” to a “broader national renewal project” for the United Kingdom.
“The UK’s ‘political elites’ have ‘forgotten how to govern’ in the EU,” he said, “but that will improve over time.”
He said:
The task now is to draw up a meaningful program of supply-side reform aimed at increasing the productive capacity of the economy and to move on.
But, he warned, the government will have to “raise its game en masse” if Brexit is to make “visible economic gains”.
If Brexit is still being discussed in the same way in five or six years, he said, it would be “proof of failure.”
On the honesty of the compromises, he said:
I think it would be much better to be honest about these things and show where there really is an opportunity to make things better, instead of pretending that nothing is happening.
Updated at 10.42 BST
The Prime Minister is visiting Rwanda while voting in important by-elections
Boris Johnson visited the president of Rwanda this morning as voting began in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton, where the Conservatives are facing two important additional choices.
The prime minister is in Kigali, where he visited Paul Kagame in his office after harsh criticism of his deportation policy in the East African country.
Last night, before boarding his plane, he called on critics to stop their “condescending” attitude towards Rwanda.
Tomorrow, he faces a potentially awkward “cup of tea and catch-up” with Prince Charles in Kigali after the heir to the throne criticized the government’s plan to fly there with a one-way ticket as “terrifying”.
After arriving by car at the entrance to the president’s office, the PA reported, he climbed the red carpet stairs and shook hands with the president.
They then went to the next room in the President’s Chamber, where they sat in white armchairs in front of the Union flag and the Rwanda flag.
Mr Johnson said: “How are you? I am very happy to see you. What an exciting time to be here in Rwanda. Congratulations on taking over the presidency. That will be absolutely great. “
Mr Kagame said: “It is a pleasure for me. Thank you.”
The media were then asked to leave the room.
In the UK, meanwhile, both seats were held by the Tories before additional elections were called after the resignation of two disgraced lawmakers. Labor is the clear favorite to win in Wakefield, and the Conservatives are in close competition with the Liberal Democrats in Tiverton and Honiton.
Polling stations, which opened at 7 a.m., will close at 10 p.m., and results are expected overnight.
As Peter Walker, the Guardian’s political correspondent, said this morning, the results will be seen as an extremely important verdict for Boris Johnson’s prime minister. A double defeat is expected to resume speculation about a new leadership challenge from his party.
These are the 15 candidates standing in Wakefield, including Conservative Nadezhda Ahmed, Labor Labor Simon Lightwood and Jamie Needle for the Liberal Democrats.
There are eight candidates in Honiton and Tiverton, including Richard Fourd of the Liberal Democrats, Helen Herford of the Conservatives and Liz Paul of Labor.
Walker writes:
The by-elections were called after the relevant deputies resigned in disgrace. Imran Ahmad Khan retired to Wakefield after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager, while Neil Parish left in Tiverton and Honiton after watching pornography in the City Hall.
The seat in West Yorkshire was safe for Labor before Khan took over for the Conservatives in 2019, and Labor is the clear favorite to win on Thursday. The Devon constituency, in contrast, is seen as a door-to-door between conservatives and liberal democrats, although its various forms have been strongly tori for more than a century.
Parish won in 2019 with a majority of more than 24,000. If the Liberal Democrats win, it is considered the largest majority ever abolished in this way, although there are higher percentage fluctuations.
The loss of Tiverton and Honiton is likely to worry Conservative MPs in particular, given not only the size of the majority, but also the fact that it will be another Brexit-oriented rural Tory stronghold to be transferred to the Liberals in less than six months. In December, the Liberal Democrats seized North Shropshire, overturning a majority of the Tory of nearly 23,000 after former MP Owen Patterson resigned over a lobbying scandal.
Today I will look at the political blog of the United Kingdom. For all strike-related news, please follow Rachel Hall’s following development here:
If you have any advice or suggestions, please contact: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated at 10.50 BST
Add Comment