Keir Starmer tells LBC campaign group Just Stop Oil are “arrogant” and “wrong”

“I think they’re wrong, I think their action is wrong.”

He says Labour would pursue a renewable, clean energy policy incl. nuclear - with no new oil and gas sites opened.

He made that kingmaker run without even running

Manager merry-go-round at Spurs!

apple.news/ArSBF8dMAQ9Go5…

Giving it 101%

Withdrawal ‘will propel Penny Mordaunt over the line’

thetimes.co.uk/article/8008f4…

Joint statement from 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇫🇷 rejecting the “transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory”.

I am going to paraphrase to remove expletives, but as one Johnson ally put it: If the argument was Boris had the 2019 victory as a mandate to return, what the hell does it say that the options are now two people no one had heard of in 2019?

They are, also, fuming at Johnson

Essentially, large swathes of the Conservative party have admitted to themselves in the past 24 hours that they simply cannot govern.

Today may have felt like a bizarre circular shoot off, but the ramifications for whoever takes over are really stark. This has been a really significant moment in the future of the United Kingdom.

At 0024, here's what I understand
Johnson's withdrawal hasn't done anything for Tory unity
The now-assumed coronation of Sunak has left Johnson supporters expecting electoral wipeout
Mordaunt supporters are furious that it looks obviously like a coronation
Majority in name only

If I were a publisher I simply would not commission a book on Rishi Sunak just yet.

The thing is, Boris Johnson has done this all of his life: get people to basically put everything the line for him and then leave them hanging. Think about all the ministers who would go out to defend him only to face U-turns hours later.

Exhibit A

Boris Johnson pulling out will leave a bitter taste in a lot of MPs mouths who have been running the anti-Sunak attacks for months. They no longer have any skin in the game and sincerely believed Johnson was the only path forward.

If Johnson gets on ballot and if vote goes to members, there’s the suggestion from many quarters that he walks it.

But surely one major (& underpriced) benefit for Sunak is that he’ll have crucial member data & an organisational set up (phonebanks etc) from his summer campaign?

Boris Johnson has told his supporters that Rishi Sunak would be dogged by the 'partygate' probe too. Story by Camilla Turner. telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/…

Smol park friend

Watching Arsenal play this year has at times felt like watching the Attitude era when Vince let Shane referee matches.

What’s remarkable about this (admittedly very short) leadership race is that despite the fact the situation for the country is so grave, nearly all of it is seen and articulated through prism of the future Conservative Party itself. Almost no discussion of wider policy at all.