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When will the bottom of the barrel be scraped no further? Only the Tory party can decide

On the news round:

” … Johnson was dialling in from a farm just over the Devon border, where he was campaigning and simultaneously hiding over the weekend in the run-up to a by-election in one of the safest Tory seats in the country, which he looks set to lose after one of his MPs was caught watching porn in the House of Commons chamber. 

If he loses that, it could be the end of him, but it’s not up to us. Only the Tory party gets to decide when the bottom of the barrel can be scraped no further, and you wouldn’t like to bet how far down the U-bend they’re prepared to follow their leader. …”

www.independent.co.uk  (extract)

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As by-election gets closer, expectation management grows

A couple of contrasting articles published in the past few days caught Owl’s eye:

Tory gloom deepens as Lib Dem poll rating spikes before crucial Tiverton and Honiton by-election

www.dailymail.co.uk (extract)

….Tory gloom around losing the upcoming Tiverton and Honiton by-election next week will have deepened after a new poll showed support for the Liberal Democrats spiking.

With nine days to go until voters head to the polls in the Devon constituency, there is a growing expectation that the Conservatives will lose a seat they have held ever since it was created in 1997.

The Lib Dems are eyeing a hat-trick of by-election victories after their recent successes in Amersham and Chesham, and North Shropshire.

Their hopes will have been boosted by a Redfield and Wilton Strategies survey, which revealed the Lib Dems have climbed to 15 per cent support in a poll of national voting intention.

This is two percentage points higher than last week’s poll.

A downbeat Conservative source told MailOnline that punters shouldn’t be betting against bookies, who have installed the Lib Dems as favourites in Tiverton and Honiton.

Meanwhile, a separate poll revealed that more than two in five (43 per cent) of rural Conservative voters – such as those found in the Devon constituency – thought the party took rural communities for granted…

….Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘This Conservative Government simply doesn’t care about rural parts of the country.

‘Conservative MPs and candidates ignore these communities at their peril.

‘There is a growing revolt at a Conservative Party which allows rural health services to be cut to the bone and fails to save people from the cost of living crisis.

‘Rural areas are being hardest hit by this financial crisis as petrol prices spiral and no help is given for those relying on heating oil.’

Are the Lib Dems in danger of being over-hyped (again)? – UK in a changing Europe

Chris Butler ukandeu.ac.uk Lecturer in Politics at the University of Manchester and a former Campaigns Staffer for the Liberal Democrats between 2007 and 2015. (extract)

The Liberal Democrats’ short betting odds in Tiverton and Honiton seem to be based on two heuristics. Firstly, that the Liberal Democrats are traditionally strong in South West England. Second, that the Lib Dems are proving to be electorally successful in rural areas as evidenced by their sensational by-election victory in North Shropshire last year.

Let’s deal with these two points in turn. Whilst the South West of England was indeed a strong area for the Liberal Democrats between 1997 and 2010, since nailing their flag to the mast over Brexit the basis of Liberal Democrat support has migrated to affluent well-educated areas in the Home Counties.

In Cornwall, where the Liberal Democrats won all six Parliamentary seats in 2005, the party now holds just 13 of 87 seats on the unitary authority and only came second in two of the parliamentary seats in 2019.

Of course, last autumn’s sensational victory in North Shropshire showed that the party did have the potential to win in leave-voting Leave areas and it is this that has primarily led to the expectation of Liberal Democrat victory in Tiverton and Honiton.

The potential for Conservative defeat is aided by the tacit electoral alliance of Labour and the Liberal Democrats acting as a pincer movement on the governing party with the former focusing on Wakefield and the latter on the Devon seat. Issues over payments to farmers and ambulance waiting times provide fruitful issues for the Liberal Democrats to campaign on.

But the party’s success in North Shropshire was also helped by the Conservatives’ complacency. They clearly under-estimated the Liberal Democrats’ potential to win in rural leave-voting areas and lazily selected a ‘lawyer from Birmingham’; a mistake they haven’t repeated this time around….

……..To win in Tiverton and Honiton the Liberal Democrats would require a 22.8% swing, smaller than what they achieved in last year’s by-elections in Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire but still a tall order. There is a possibility that if the Liberal Democrats pull off an enormous swing, but one not quite enough to win, this will change the narrative for Boris Johnson, given how much Conservative defeat in Tiverton & Honiton is assumed by commentators……

…..The perennial problem for the Liberal Democrats in trying to gain multiple parliamentary seats at an election is simply one of capacity. Unlike the larger parties, Liberal Democrat parliamentary success relies disproportionately on a strong local ground campaign to overcome problems of credibility.

To encourage tactical and switch voting Liberal Democrats need to convince voters that they can win in their area and they achieve this through a strong poster campaign, personal contact with voters and an emphasis on the local context. This requires boots on the ground and is much more difficult to scale up than the Conservatives’ usual tactic of national direct mail and social media advertising.

Focusing on the local context also means that the party’s most effective messages are covered by the more restrictive constituency spending limits. Whereas parties such as the Conservatives who wish to focus on a national message are able to take advantage of the far more generous national campaign spending limit……

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“Bust up at top” – Paul Arnott responds

Owl reported the original story, East Devon Council bust up at top, and two comments: a correspondent on bust up at top and bust up at top the context speaks volumes. 

Now Paul Arnott responds, within the limits imposed by the need, under “Part B” confidentiality, to protect a former employee.

This raises the questions again about who broke confidentiality and leaked the original story, and why? – Owl

East Devon leader responds to critical report

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk 

East Devon District Council’s leader has responded to criticisms in a Radio Exe article, based on an independent report commissioned by the council about the circumstances relating to the redundancy of a member of staff.

Cllr Paul Arnott, who leads the council as part of the Democratic Alliance, last week joined the Liberal Democrats nationally in order to throw his support behind its candidate for the Tiverton & Honiton by-election Richard Foord.

The report was highly critical of issues which arose after the current administration took over from the Conservatives. As part of its conclusions, it said” It cannot be stated strongly enough the damage that has been done to the council, its reputation, its officers and members and its ability to reach its potential.”

Mr Arnott has politely asked to respond to the content of Radio Exe’s article, and we are publishing his comments in full here.

He writes: “Because this leaked report was made to a Part B meeting [the confidential part of a council meeting] – in order to protect the former employee – there is a limit to what I am able to state. However, I am able to correct with thanks to the editor that which was stated in the article which I have already reported at Council in Part B.

“First, this is framed as a dispute between me as the leader and the CEO. This is simply wrong.

“At every meeting discussing the matter I had four other senior councillors with me, the majority of whom did not consider this was a redundancy matter after a number of meetings. Unfortunately, the report claims to have interviewed one of the three councillors who were also statutory consultees and simply the authors did not do so.

“I have no doubt that if they had they would have not written the report as they have.

“Second, it is said that when the new administration came in back in May 2020 we declined Local Government Association (LGA) advice. The opposite is the case. With other senior councillors I had many meetings with the most senior possible LGA officers both before this matter, during it, and after it.

“Third, the report offers a view, paradoxically, that my involving the UK’s most senior LGA employment officer in attempting to settle this matter was “inappropriate”. This is a subjective view which I do not accept.

“Fourthly, as to any costs to the council, I am not personally responsible for a penny of that. I did not choose or commission legal advice taken by officers, and any costs of the report were agreed by full council cross-party.

“Finally, some concerns are raised about the working relationship of me as the leader and the CEO. It is very common when such a seismic political change as the Conservatives losing power at EDDC for the first time in 45 years for this relationship to require careful nurturing.

“This work has been fully done, ironically with the good offices of the LGA, and the people and members of East Devon can be assured that the council is firing on all cylinders.”

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BoJo spotted in Seaton in bullish mood

According to reports in today’s Western Morning News:

The Prime Minister says he is “confident” in the Conservative candidate contesting the forthcoming by-election in Tiverton & Honiton.

Speaking on a visit to Cornwall yesterday to launch the Government’s new food strategy, Boris Johnson said he had been in the Devon constituency over recent days and “attracted a good deal of support” while visiting Seaton on the coast.

A by-election is being held on June 23, following the resignation of Conservative MP Neil Parish, who admitted watching pornography in the House of Commons.

The constituency has been Tory since it was created in 1997 and in the 2019 general election Mr Parish won the seat by 24,000 votes over second placed Labour, with the Liberal Democrats nearly 3,000 votes further back.

However, the Lib Dems have billed themselves as the “real challengers” in the by-election, while polls suggest Labour could take back the Wakefield seat in Yorkshire from the Conservatives in another by-election being held on the same day.

Asked by the WMN whether he was anxious about the possible outcome of the Tiverton & Honiton by-election, Mr Johnson said: “It takes an awful lot to make me anxious about anything.

“We are very confident that we have a fantastic local candidate in Helen Hurford, and she would be a wonderful MP for Tiverton & Honiton. I was there all weekend and it struck me there was a very positive mood.”

.

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13 Jun 2022

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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 30 May

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Lib Dems face ‘challenge’ to topple Tories in Devon despite anger at the PM, Ed Davey warns

As Sir Ed speaks, Ms Hurford was sitting down for tea and cake at a nearby farm with the Prime Minister, who had snuck in and snuck out of the constituency on his way back from the Cornwall Show. Again, no chatting to the voters, and no media presence.

[Why is Helen Hurford usually described as a “former headteacher” seldom as “beauty salon owner”? – Owl]

By David Parsley inews.co.uk 

The Elsie May’s café in Tiverton loves a blast of pop classics from the 1980s and, so it transpires, does Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

Following a day on the by-election campaign trail with his Tiverton and Honiton candidate Richard Foord, Sir Ed is re-energising ahead of an evening rally with a hot chocolate, accompanied by the likes of Aha, Eurythmics, Toto and the soundtrack to Flashdance.

“Oh, I like this one,” says Sir Ed to his advisor. “I went to a Tears for Fears concert when I was a teenager.”

Perhaps Sir Ed has more in common with his nemesis in No 10 after all. While a young Boris Johnson pronounced he wanted to be “king of the world”, one of Sir Ed’s favourite ditties turns out to be the beat combo’s “Everybody Want To Rule The World”.

“Oh, you heard that, did you?”, he says. “They were great, weren’t they?”

Sir Ed’s focus, though, is not so much on world domination. Among Liberal Democrats, everybody wants to rule this piece of Devon after the by-election on 23 June.

Sir Ed has already been to this “winnable” Tory stronghold three times the past few weeks, and he’s going to be around the constituency all weekend.

Despite a Tory majority of 24,239, the bookies have the Lib Dems as big odds-on favourites to take this seat for the first time since its creation in 1997. So, Sir Ed must be brimming with confidence. Not really.

“Well, I don’t believe the bookies,” he says. “We’re not the favourites. We’re the underdogs. It’s a huge challenge. It’s even bigger than the challenge we faced in North Shropshire.”

Of course, the Lib Dems do not want to be seen as the favourites here in farming country. It would look somewhat cocky to assume victory in such a seat, but Sir Ed is a by-election specialist.

Yet, he knows his party is still recovering from the 2010 coalition with David Cameron’s Conservatives. As a Cabinet member in that government, he is all too aware of the damage that collusion with the enemy did to his party.

At the 2010 General Election, Sir Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats won 57 seats in the House of Commons. After a period in power that saw the party ditch its policy on university tuition fees and vote through Tory austerity measures, supporters deserted the party, leaving it with a mere eight MPs at the next election in 2015.

It didn’t get much better in the December 2019 election, when then-leader Jo Swinson launched the party’s campaign claiming she could be the next Prime Minister. She ended up winning just 11 seats and losing her own seat to the SNP.

But after years in the political wilderness, an onslaught of damaging headlines for the Conservatives have helped spark something of a Liberal Democrat resurgence.

By-election victories last year in Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire have, according to Sir Ed, given his party a renewed momentum.

Now, thanks to the resignation of Neil Parish, the Tory MP who watched pornography on his phone in Parliament, the Lib Dems have another unexpected opportunity to capitalise on that momentum.

“What was good here is that while we were third in Tiverton and Honiton in 2019, we were considered the main challengers from day one,” he says.

“My overall sense is that we are catching up. The challenge is persuading enough Tories who are pretty upset with Johnson, and the Conservatives more broadly, that they can switch to us. We’re having some success in that. The question is, can we keep the momentum going to polling day?”

Referring to odds that place the Lib Dems as firm favourites, he cautions: “I just think it’s still quite an ask. Don’t get me wrong. I think we were really competitive. I just think the bookies’ odds are, well, not a reflection of the challenge we have here.”

One issue for the Lib Dems is that the Conservatives are actually taking this by-election seriously.

Last June, neither the bookies nor the Tories considered them a threat in Chesham and Amerhsam, but they overturned a 12,000-vote Tory majority to claim the seat with an 8,000-strong majority of their own.

Still, back in the Westminster village, Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) seemed equally unphased when the rural constituency of North Shropshire went up for grabs.

After all, there was a comfortable 22,949 majority to defend this time and, thought Mr Johnson, not even the by-election bandits could turn that around.

But turn it around the Lib Dems did, and now sit on a reasonably comfortable near-6,000 majority of their own. That result finally grabbed the attention of CCHQ and, despite an even larger majority here in Tiverton and Honiton, the Conservatives are throwing everything at it.

While the Tory candidate has, so far, declined to talk to the national media and tends to film her campaign videos in safe and easily controlled locations away from voters, her campaign is bombarding the doormats of the 75,000 residents in his part of Devon. In particular, one leaflet has caught the eye.

It is yellow and asks constituents: “Thinking of voting Liberal Democrat?”. It goes on to accuse the Lib Dems of having, among other things, a policy to re-join the EU, voting against border controls, and being committed to putting up energy and road taxes.

Conservative party candidate Helen Hurford has been accused of negative campaigning after sending a flyer in Lib Dem colours to the voters of Tiverton and Honiton (Photo: Supplied)

Conservative party candidate Helen Hurford has been accused of negative campaigning after sending a flyer in Lib Dem colours to the voters of Tiverton and Honiton (Photo: Supplied)

At the very bottom of the page, and in the smallest print permitted by the Electoral Commission, there’s the legal bit that concedes this has been produced on behalf of Conservative candidate Helen Hurford. The Tories are going negative, and Sir Ed admits it will work on some voters, despite denying every point bar one on the not-so-cunningly disguised flyer.

“It is not our policy to re-join the EU,” he says. “We’ve said that the issue in front of us today is the awful trade deal that they’ve done, which is damaging farmers. It’s damaging to businesses and that’s the trade deal we voted against in the House of Commons.”

On the point of the Home Secretary’s border bill, Sir Ed claims it has “a huge number of flaws in it”.

“Let me give you one example,” he adds. “The borders bill means that a Ukrainian refugee who comes here is considered a criminal. I don’t think women and children trying to escape Putin’s bombs should be seen as a criminal. I don’t think Priti Patel should pass a law to make them a criminal.”

As for slapping more taxes on households during the cost of living crisis, Sir Ed says that’s “just a nonsense”.

“I proposed a cut to VAT on fuel, and that would reduce energy bills, not increase them. They can try and make out stuff, but I’ll tell you what our policy is. I’m the leader of the party.”

He then points to a quote on the flyer that Ms Hurford believes will gain her votes. It’s from the Lib Dems’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper.

“We would want to play a role in ousting this Conservative government, that’s our number one priority,” it says.

Sir Ed believes Ms Hurford is doing his candidate’s work for him.

“I tell you what, I want to get Boris Johnson out of 10 Downing Street, and I think the fact that the Tory candidate supports Boris Johnson so much will be an issue for her on polling day.”

As Sir Ed speaks, Ms Hurford was sitting down for tea and cake at a nearby farm with the Prime Minister, who had snuck in and snuck out of the constituency on his way back from the Cornwall Show. Again, no chatting to the voters, and no media presence.

There’s also yet to be any sign of the photo of Ms Hurford and Mr Johnson together on either her website or social media. Perhaps, she agrees with the theory among many local Tories that her boss is more of a liability than an asset in these parts.

After all, she has not hesitated to post pictures and videos with other Tory heavyweights such as Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Oliver Dowden.

“It’s up to voters to decide what they think of that leaflet,” says Sir Ed. “I’m more worried about the fact that the Conservatives are taking this constituency for granted.

“Whether it’s promising forever to reopen train stations and never doing it, or promising investment into Tiverton High School and never doing it, or promising a relief road around Cullompton and never doing it.

“They have made all these promises, and what people are saying, is that they’ve promised these things over the years, but they’ve never made good on them.”

Sir Ed believes “many traditional Tory voters are moving against Johnson” and claims the people of Tiverton and Honiton know they are being “taken for fools” when they “are ignored when it comes to the Government’s levelling up policy”.

“It’s not just because the way Boris Johnson has lied that has led to voters here turning against him,” he says. “It’s also because the Conservatives are not speaking up for the people of Tiverton and Honiton.”

Despite a confidence that the Tories are turning towards his party, Sir Ed claims he is not convinced enough of them will turn in time for when the polling stations open in 12 days’ time.

“If this was a two-month campaign, we’d win without a shadow of a doubt,” he says. “But it’s not. It’s in less than two weeks’ time, and we still have to convince a lot of people here in that short period of time.

“The transition with voters in a by-election campaign goes from ‘oh is there an election?’. That’s the first week or two. Then it goes ‘we’re not very happy with the Tories, Johnson has behaved appallingly and taken us for granted’.

“Then there’s a realisation that, ‘oh, the Liberal Democrats could win here, and I may vote for you’. That’s the journey we’re on, and some people will join that journey really fast, but for a lot of people it’ll take four or five weeks.

“The question is, can we take them on the journey fast enough? The evidence from North Shropshire is we have proved we can do it, but every constituency is different.”

While even the thought of the Lib Dems turning around a 24,239 majority in a true blue rural constituency would have been a ludicrous one a year or so ago, no one here is ruling it out in this crazy political climate.

After all, as Sir Ed knows, Tears for Fears once told us it’s a Mad World.

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National park authority defends wild camping rights on Dartmoor

Alexander Darwall, a City fund manager, and his wife, Diana, own 2,784 acres in south Dartmoor. They have filed a case questioning the legal basis of the authority’s bylaws, which allow for responsible backpack camping, where campers leave no trace in permitted areas of the national park.

Tom Wall www.theguardian.com 

Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) has vowed to defend wild camping on the moor, following a case brought by a wealthy landowner.

The huge moorland in Devon is one of the few places in England which legally allows wild camping in certain areas. DNPA fears the case, which seeks, according to the complainants, to clarify the law governing wild camping in the park, could throw into doubt popular overnight events such as Ten Tors and the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.

Alexander Darwall, a City fund manager, and his wife, Diana, own 2,784 acres in south Dartmoor. They have filed a case questioning the legal basis of the authority’s bylaws, which allow for responsible backpack camping, where campers leave no trace in permitted areas of the national park.

Papers lodged by the Darwalls’ lawyers in the high court claim there is no legal right to camp on Dartmoor, as the Dartmoor Commons Act, which gives the park authority the power to make bylaws, does not allow for camping without a landowner’s consent.

According to the documents, the couple argue: “There is an additional requirement that the camping regulated by the defendant [the park authority] must only take place in areas where the landowners consent and subject to whatever additional conditions and requirements the landowners may stipulate in return for their consent.”

The park’s chief executive, Kevin Bishop, said the authority would not give in to pressure from the Darwalls. “We will defend the right to responsibly wild camp on the moor because national parks exist to both conserve the environment and to create opportunities for public enjoyment and understanding of nature,” he said. “The Darwalls’ claims lack substance. Done properly wild camping is not, as suggested in this claim, a threat to the environment nor a significant risk of wildfires.”

Bishop told the Guardian that section 10 of the Dartmoor Commons Act does give the public right to access the moor for the purposes of outdoor recreation. “We believe this includes wild camping, provided it is done properly,” he said. “This means you carry all you need in a rucksack, stay for no more than one or two nights, and leave no trace.” He said the authority was already working with landowners and the police to clamp down on “fly-camping”, where campers light fires and leave a mess.

A spokesperson for the Darwalls said they were not challenging the park’s existing bylaws but “just asking the Dartmoor National Park Authority to cooperate with those who are responsible for looking after the land and the environment”. The spokesperson added their action would not put events at risk: “I am sure that in all circumstances wild camping could continue on Dartmoor, though it depends in part on the DNPA.”

A Cambridge graduate and former Goldman Sachs analyst, Alexander Darwall is the chief investment officer of Devon Equity Management. After purchasing Blachford Estate on Dartmoor in 2011, the couple soon came into conflict with ramblers by terminating a permissive agreement allowing people to park near the New Waste area of the moor. A petition against the move, which was signed by more than 500 people, claimed the car park had given families, school groups, walking clubs, horse riders and locals access to a “truly beautiful part of Dartmoor”, with a rich prehistoric and industrial history.

Mark Horton, who helps run the 3,800-strong Dartmoor wild camping Facebook group and the Dartmoor access group, said thousands of people, including increasing numbers of women and families, camped responsibly on Dartmoor every year. He accused landowners of looking for any excuse to prevent wild camping. “It’s people with money restricting other people’s pastimes because they want it all to themselves,” he said. “The majority of wild campers should not lose out because of the action of a tiny minority who pitch up next to roads and leave a mess. The fact is cattle and quad bikes used by farmers and landowners cause more damage on the moor than wild campers.”

On the page, there are posts this month from parents taking their sons and daughters out for their first wild camping experiences. All members must leave a photo showing how they left no trace of their visit. Horton, a local builder, who started wild camping on geography field trips in the 1980s, added: “I’m out there camping on Dartmoor all the time. People of all walks of life do it to get away and switch off for a night or two. On the jubilee weekend, I met an electrician, an air-con guy and a doctor out camping.”

Bishop fears that if the Darwalls are successful, the decision could put an end to young people camping on the moor as part of the gruelling Ten Tors challenge, where 2,400 young people from across the south-west aim to reach 10 checkpoints over two days. “If we lose this case there is a risk that campers would need permission from landowners and/or wild camping will be banned from certain areas,” said Bishop. “It could put events like the Ten Tors at risk, which give so many young people a taste of adventure for the first time and opens their eyes and minds to national parks.”

“Backpack camping is an important part of how some people experience Dartmoor every year. It enables people to enjoy the more remote parts of the park and enjoy the moors’ special qualities, dark night skies [and] the sun setting and dawning over the Tors,” he added.

The spokesperson for the Darwalls said it “was not true” they were trying to restrict other people’s pastimes, adding that the Darwells “are simply trying to clarify (not challenge, as you put it) the meaning and extent of s.10(1) Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, given their responsibilities as land managers”. They added that the action would not put the Ten Tors and Duke of Edinburgh’s award at risk: “I don’t believe that there is any risk in any realistic circumstances and I don’t believe anything Mr and Mrs Darwall are doing puts these at risk.”

The spokesperson added the Darwalls closed a permissive car park on farmland due to the presence of cattle and important biodiversity: “There is no access restriction to New Waste and there is no access restriction to Stall Moor.”

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NHS: “Safe in their hands”?

Paramedics ‘quitting in droves’ as ambulance wait time soar to record highs

By CIMA www.thelondoneconomic.com 

The number of calls for an ambulance in England have nearly doubled since the Tories came to power, amid warnings that record pressures on the NHS are causing paramedics to quit in their droves.

Ambulance calls have risen by ten times more than the number of ambulance workers since 2010, according to analysis of NHS data.

An increase in people seeking emergency treatment, GPs unable to cope with the demand and cuts to preventive care have all been blamed for the shocking figures.

The analysis, undertaken by the GMB union, found that there were 7.9 million calls in 2010-11. By 2021-22, the number had risen to 14 million – an increase of 77 per cent.

Pressure on services

In the same period, the number of ambulance workers has risen by just seven per cent, indicating the extreme pressure on staff.

Ambulance workers are staging a demonstration on Sunday outside the GMB’s annual congress in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, to highlight the pressures they are facing.

The average response time for serious ambulance calls was 51 minutes in April 2022, compared with 20 minutes a year before.

And GMB said more than 1,000 ambulance workers have left their jobs since 2018 to seek a better work-life balance, more pay, or to take early retirement.

Paul, a paramedic and GMB deputy branch secretary, told the Observer he had recently seen a crew waiting ten hours between arriving at hospital and transferring a patient to care.

“They arrived at the hospital at 20.31. They then cleared from the hospital at 05.48 in the morning. The impact of the lack of resources is affecting the ambulance service.

“We are also seeing people become aggressive to the ambulance crew, because they’ve waited hours upon hours in an ambulance.

“We used to have crew we called ‘lifers’ – you join and you’re there for the rest of your life until you retire. But now we are seeing people do two or three years and then going to better jobs – maybe a GP practice or become a university lecturer. There are no nights, no weekends; you’re in a nice, clean environment.”

‘Unbelievable stress’

GMB national officer Rachel Harrison, said: “Ambulance workers have faced more than a decade of cuts while demand has almost doubled.

“It’s no wonder they are leaving in droves while the service itself is teetering on the brink of collapse.

“The explosion in demand is due to savage cuts to essential services since 2010. GMB members tell us the pressures they face are the worst they have ever experienced.

“Our members face unbelievable stress and even abuse while they do their best to administer care and save lives.

“We need urgent investment across the health and care services, otherwise we risk an unprecedented crisis.”

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Michael Gove’s planning reforms will ‘erode’ public’s ability to object to developments, legal advice warns

Campaigners accused levelling up secretary Mr Gove of a “power grab” and warned poor quality developments would be built against the will of those forced to live beside them.

Kate Devlin www.independent.co.uk 

Michael Gove is facing calls to tear up his flagship planning reforms after a former adviser to Boris Johnson warned homeowners will not be able to object to nearby developments under the proposals.

Ministers announced the legislation in a flurry of publicity over new “street votes” on loft conversions and conservatories last month.

But a new legal opinion, which has been seen by The Independent and will be published by the Commons levelling-up committee next week, warns that the bill will actually “substantially erode” the rights of local people.

Campaigners accused levelling up secretary Mr Gove of a “power grab” and warned poor quality developments would be built against the will of those forced to live beside them.

The Town and Country Planning Association said that, in the wake of the legal advice, the government should amend the bill.

Paul Brown QC, who advised the prime minister on planning when Mr Johnson was the mayor of London, wrote: “The bill introduces a new mechanism to allow the secretary of state to grant planning permission for controversial developments, bypassing the planning system entirely. There is no right for the public to be consulted as part of this process.”

He adds: “Overall… the bill radically centralises planning decision-making and substantially erodes public participation in the planning system.”

Naomi Luhde-Thompson, director of climate change organisation Rights Community Action, which commissioned the legal advice, said: “This advice is devastating about the impact these proposed laws have on people’s voice in the decisions that matter to their communities. It’s cutting people out of decisions, when we need all hands on deck to deal with crises we face.  Involving people and communities in the development and change of places is a foundation for building places for everyone.”

Fiona Howie, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, said the plans go against the government’s levelling-up agenda “which has emphasised the importance of empowering local leaders and communities”. She added: “We hope, therefore, that the government will take the legal opinion on board and seek to amend the bill as it passes through parliament.”

Under the government’s “street votes” plan, people could be given the right to vote on proposed property extensions as well as new homes.

But Crispin Truman, chief executive of countryside charity the CPRE, said that far from strengthening local democracy, the levelling-up bill “is a cleverly disguised power grab by the government”. He added: “As written currently, ministers would have unprecedented power to overrule local plans and, based on the government’s track record, it could mean more poor quality and inappropriate developments being imposed on people against their will.”  

He also warned the bill would leave local councils less able to “deliver affordable homes on small sites, new nature reserves or on renewable energy generation in new housing developments”.  

Rebecca Murray, from Friends of the Earth, said the government’s levelling-up agenda “was meant to give communities the power to regenerate their local areas and ensure that planning decisions are made democratically – yet this bill is set to do the exact opposite”.

Dr Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said public participation in planning was important as it gave people a voice in protecting nature and responding to climate change. “If ministers are allowed to drown out these voices then significant environmental concerns could go unheard,” he said.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “The levelling-up bill will put power back in the hands of communities and local leaders, simplify the planning system and end outdated, bureaucratic practices that slow down regeneration.

“Under our reforms, local people will be in charge of planning, not big developers or national diktats, and communities will have greater say in local plans, giving them more opportunity to shape what happens in their area and stronger grounds to resist unwanted development.”

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Exeter brownfield site could provide new ‘waterside community’ for 14,000

The housing potential for this brownfield site is greater than the grade 1 agricultural land “sacrificed” by farmers to build Cranbrook. Makes Owl wonder whether the GESP provided too soft an option for too long.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

Plans are to be unveiled to turn a once thriving Exeter industrial centre into a ‘vibrant new waterside community’ that has the potential to house around 14,000 people. The proposals could see brownfield land at Water Lane, between Marsh Barton and the Exeter canal, turned into new homes alongside shops, offices, restaurants and many other facilities.

Historically, it was once the home of a thriving industrial centre and Exeter gasworks, but for decades the site has been described as ‘underused’ and has been identified for many years by the city council as suitable for a major redevelopment in its Liveable Exeter vision. That vision states a desire to create an enterprising, self-sustaining community and a place to work as well as to live where day to day needs can be met without the use of a car.

Over the last years, many of the plots, including a former meat rendering plant, have been acquired by the Water Lane Development Management Company (DMC). Now the project team are preparing to invite feedback on proposals for a mixed-use community.

Exact details of the proposals won’t be revealed until Friday, June 24, when a drop-in exhibition will be held at Haven Banks Outdoor Education Centre from 10am to 7pm. The exhibition will also be on view the following day, Saturday, June 25, from 10am to 4pm, and will also be available online. Exeter residents are being invited to shared ideas to help before finalised are submitted to Exeter City Council’s planning department.

Richard Clarke, of Water Lane DMC, said: “Although the proposals are at an early stage, we would like to start a conversation with neighbours, and people living and working right across the city of Exeter, to help refine our vision of a low-car, low-carbon community, well connected to the city, but also a place where people will be able to live, work and spend their leisure time.

“Exeter is a fantastic city with a great environment, surrounded by some amazing countryside. If it’s to continue to thrive and grow in a way that protects that environment, we must make the best use of underutilised land within the city’s boundaries.”

Water Lane is one of nine sites identified in the city council’s Liveable Exeter programme which promotes a vision for sustainable mixed communities, close to the heart of the city. Richard added: “We want Water Lane to be a low-car, low-carbon community, which will help meet the challenges of climate change. It’s already a well-connected site. Parts of it are only a 15-minute walk from Exeter High Street, and less than five minutes from Marsh Barton, and yet the beauty of the canal and the Riverside Valley Park are also on the doorstep.

“The new Marsh Barton railway station which is opening soon will also help connect Water Lane with the rest of the city, and we have been discussing with Stagecoach how we can make the best use of electric buses to serve the new residents – as well as existing ones nearby.”

Water Lane DMC is working closely with Co-Cars, which are already prominent and popular in the city, to develop electric car, van and bike-sharing hubs that are embedded within the design concept of the development, to provide genuine alternatives to private car ownership.

Richard said: “If we’re to meet net-zero carbon targets in the fight against climate change, we will all need to change the way we live. We can make this as simple as possible by designing a community that’s fit for the future, with all the necessary infrastructure.

“In addition to promoting sustainable travel, we’re designing an energy centre to make the best use of solar electricity generated on site, with the aim of being reliant solely on sustainable energy.”

Richard added: “We’re some way off submitting any planning application but it’s important that the local community, and people in Exeter, have an opportunity to be involved in the design of this new and highly sustainable community. We’ll be asking what sort of facilities might be needed, what kind of homes and how best to turn a brownfield site into a green community, with a focus on improving the natural and cultural environment.

“It’s a large area, and like any brownfield site it has its challenges. We look forward to inviting the people of Exeter to help shape the proposals.” The exhibition material will be available online at www.waterlaneexeter.co.uk from Friday, June 24.

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Washfield Village Jubilee Scarecrow competition (near Tiverton). Winner of people’s choice announced.

On a grass verge down a long, winding country lane, where the hilltop views stretch across much of mid-Devon, there is evidence of rural disquiet in the peaceful village of Washfield.

www.theguardian.com (Extract)

A slumped figure with blond straw hair, his tie askew and suit dishevelled, sits on the roadside next to a table with wine and cheese, and a sign saying “Time’s up Boris”.

“He won the people’s choice vote in the village scarecrow competition,” says David Elston, who lives opposite and is proud to have constructed the winning entry with his wife, Marion.

“The competition was part of our platinum jubilee celebrations,” adds Elston, a retired engineer who comes from a long-established local farming family.

While he sees the funny side, as he poses next to the winning scarecrow, Elston is clear that it also carries a message. He thoroughly disapproves of the real Boris Johnson both for the damage he believes the prime minister and Brexit have done to the rural economy and for his habit of partying in Downing Street during the pandemic.

David, who says he has voted Tory in the past, and Marion will decide which party to put their crosses by in the much bigger “people’s vote” – the Tiverton and Honiton byelection on 23 June – when they attend a hustings this coming Thursday. But it doesn’t seem likely to be the Conservatives.

“His big Brexit deal is a mess, really,” says David. “A lot of price rises have been caused by the increased bureaucracy. The cost of fertilisers and feed have shot up.”

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Boris Johnson says everyone wants to live and have second homes in Cornwall

Are any of Boris Johnson’s children working and looking for housing in Cornwall?

There are approximately 3.7 million households in the South East. There are approximately 277,000 households in Cornwall. If just 7.5% of households in the South East exercised their “right to a second home” they would create a demand equal to the current housing capacity of Cornwall.

Can Cornwall really build, build, build its way out of this on “brownfield sites” as BoJo seems to think?

[Cranbrook is built on Grade 1 agricultural land] – Owl

Evie Townend www.cornwalllive.com

Boris Johnson has said that Cornwall’s “trouble” is its growing popularity as more people chose to live and holiday in the county. The Prime Minister was interviewed about the housing crisis when he joined Prince Charles and Camilla with a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show on its second day today (June 10).

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Johnson spoke about the “imaginative” measures that Cornwall Council are implementing to address the inadequate and insecure housing situations faced by many. However, he was interrupted by the interviewer when he said the “trouble” is that more and more people are wanting to reside and visit the county.

He said: “Of course the trouble is everyone wants to live in Cornwall, everyone wants their second homes in Cornwall.”

This was met with the interviewer commenting that people who live in Cornwall already were struggling to live in the county. She said: “Yes, but the people who live in Cornwall want to be able to live in Cornwall.”

In the interview, Mr Johnson spoke about the need for local people to be supported buying and owning properties by ensuring the tax system differentiates and supports them. He said: “Yes that’s exactly right. I’m sorry to say we’ve got to look at ways of differentiating and making sure that we use the tax system to support people growing up in Cornwall so that they have a right to buy and own here as well.”

He also spoke of the housing development schemes that are already under way in Cornwall, speaking of the council’s “balanced” approach in ensuring that brownfield sites are developed, rather than using further greenfield sites.

Boris said: “Cornwall Council has got some very imaginative schemes to help local people get the housing they need by supporting them – Conservative run-Cornwall Council. But what we’re also trying to do is make sure there’s a balance in the way we approach it.

“I’ve seen some fantastic developments here in Cornwall, on disused brownfield sites, real opportunities for developments without destroying green field sites. But what we have to do is make sure local that people have the chance to own that and to buy.”

Moving on to the topic of farming, he said that it was important for the farming community to be supported “in everyway possible” as the UK gets to grips with live outside the EU.

“What I want to see, in this time of uncertainty, is us producing more of the food that we eat certainly in our own country and eating more of the food we produce.”

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Boris Johnson faces rural fury over post-Brexit food strategy

John Wescott, a beef and sheep farmer from Bampton, near Tiverton, told the Observer that “most farmers would be voting against the Conservatives not because they wanted to for the long term, but because their policies were not doing anything to help them and were harming their businesses”.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Boris Johnson’s hopes of surviving as prime minister have been dealt a serious blow after farmers and environmentalists condemned his government’s post-Brexit food strategy as a disaster for people in the countryside – with less than two weeks to go before a key rural byelection.

In an interview with the Observer, the president of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters, said ambitious proposals to help farmers increase food production, first put forward last year by the government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, had been “stripped to the bone” in a new policy document, and meant farmers would not be able to produce affordable food.

Batters said she had told the PM on Friday that farmers – including those in the West Country seat of Tiverton and Honiton, where a crucial byelection will be held on 23 June – were furious with post-Brexit policies that they believed would make them poorer and leave them unable to compete with foreign producers.

The byelection, caused by the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish for watching pornography on his phone in the Commons, is seen as critical to Boris Johnson’s chances of remaining in Downing Street, after he suffered a bruising revolt by 148 Tory MPs in a confidence vote last week.

The Liberal Democrats are trying to overturn a Tory majority of 24,239 in the seat in what would be one of the biggest byelection shocks of recent times. If the Conservatives were to lose the election to the Lib Dems, and Labour to retake Wakefield from them on the same day, many Tory MPs believe Johnson will be unable to survive as prime minister.

Last night farmers in the West Country seat said the agricultural community would be voting en masse against the Tories. This was because they were facing a combination of loss of income from subsidies and pressure to prioritise the environment over food production, when the country needed to become more self-sufficient in food.

A rural revolt on a large scale in the byelection would compound the prime minister’s problems over Partygate and the cost of living crisis, which are already hitting Tory support.

Commenting on the new government food strategy, leaked to the Guardian on Friday, Batters said she was “pleased to see a commitment on food security” but added that the original strategy had been “stripped to the bare bones” and that there was no plan left on how to implement its overall aims.

“We want to be eating more British and more local food but again I just ask how,” she said, adding: “It’s all very well to have words but it’s got to have really meaningful delivery and we aren’t seeing that yet in this document.”

Batters said she met Johnson on Friday and told him that farmers wanted to be supported to produce food, as well as help the environment. “I said that is what farmers in Tiverton want to see. Farmers want the detail.” She said that at present there was no clear policy.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it would not comment on the strategy document until it is released on Monday.

Farmers have become increasingly disenchanted, having been promised that their previous EU subsidies would replaced in full after Brexit. Instead they are being gradually phased out, with basic payments being cut by 20% this year. In addition they say the scheme intended to pay them for adopting green policies such as planting new trees and hedges and building new ponds (known as rewilding) remains vague and confusing.

Jake Fiennes, a sustainable farmer and author of Land Healer: How Farming Can Save Britain’s Countryside, said: “It’s a rather weak 27-page document that says nothing. I see the farming sector disappointed, I see the environmental ambition down, I see a very shortsighted view. Food security and environmental resilience are the challenges of this generation and it is so depressing.”

John Wescott, a beef and sheep farmer from Bampton, near Tiverton, told the Observer that “most farmers would be voting against the Conservatives not because they wanted to for the long term, but because their policies were not doing anything to help them and were harming their businesses”.

Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader and now the party’s rural affairs spokesman, described the new strategy as “timid” and representing “no real change”.

Henry Dimbleby was commissioned by the government to produce a review which would tackle the obesity crisis as well as the affordability of healthy food. He was also asked to show how this could be done in an environmentally friendly way.

But his ambitious recommendations, including expanding free school meals, a 30% reduction in meat and dairy consumption and giving strong protection to British farmers by not undermining them in trade deals with other countries, have not been adopted.

His method was hailed by organic farmers as a blueprint to make Britain self-sufficient in food without compromising on the environment, and helping farmers to transition from intensive farming.

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‘Worse than half-baked’: Johnson’s food strategy fails to tackle cost or climate

Johnson’s food strategy obviously formed the backdrop to his visit to Devon and Cornwall yesterday which was largely confined to farming communities.

Henry Dimbleby’s recommendations get kicked down the road. “Big Dog” is running out of ideas. – Owl

The strategy was described as “bordering on preposterous” by Labour over its lack of concrete proposals on food prices and “worse than half-baked” by the environmental campaign group Greenpeace.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Boris Johnson’s new food strategy for England contains virtually no new measures to tackle the soaring cost of food, childhood hunger, obesity or the climate emergency, a leaked version of the white paper shows.

The strategy, seen by the Guardian and due to be published on Monday, was supposed to be a groundbreaking response to recommendations from the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, who wrote two government-commissioned reports on obesity and the environment.

Dimbleby made a number of high-profile suggestions, including the expansion of free school meals, increasing environment and welfare standards in farming, and a 30% reduction in meat and dairy consumption.

But the slim 27-page document makes few recommendations, and declines to address the contribution of food prices to the cost of living crisis or address calls for consuming less meat and dairy.

Among its few policy proposals are the suggestion there could be more fish farming, which is environmentally controversial, and an increase in the use of “responsibly sourced wild venison”.

The strategy was described as “bordering on preposterous” by Labour over its lack of concrete proposals on food prices and “worse than half-baked” by the environmental campaign group Greenpeace.

Johnson recently delayed measures to tackle obesity and has come under fire for failing to do enough help families with the cost of living, with inflation running at 9%.

Although the white paper accepts food prices are a major part of the squeeze facing many families, and that many people on low incomes struggle to afford to eat, it suggests this is not the business of a government food strategy.

The white paper instead focuses on “longer-term measures” to support the food system rather than “duplicating work on the cost of living” – citing the Treasury’s £15bn support package focused on lowering energy bills. It sidesteps growing calls from teachers and others for an extension of eligibility for free school meals to an extra 1 million children in poverty, although it says the idea will be “kept under review”.

It boasts it “has made it easier” for young low-income families to apply for and use the Healthy Start fruit and vegetable voucher scheme – though it ignores Dimbleby’s critique of the scheme’s inadequacies, his call for it to be expanded, as well as overlooking recent problems with the digital part of the scheme.

“The government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes, helping them to enter and progress in work and lead fulfilled lives,” it says.

The white paper also ignores Dimbleby’s proposals for a tax on sugar and salt used in processed foods as a way of escaping what he called the “junk food cycle”. Dimbleby insisted bold regulatory measures, rather than relying on educating consumers and voluntary agreements with the food industry, were needed to tackle the huge and growing market for unhealthy foods.

But while the white paper accepts that obesity is prevalent, with 64% of adults and 40% of children overweight, it makes clear there is no great desire for state intervention, and insists on the importance of individual responsibility and choice in influencing demand for healthy foods.

Experts had also urged the government to cut meat and dairy consumption in order to improve land use and tackle the climate emergency. Dimbleby called for a 30% reduction, and Greenpeace a more ambitious 70%. In his executive summary, Dimbleby stated: “Careful livestock farming can be a boon to the environment, but our current appetite for meat is unsustainable: 85% of farmland is used to feed livestock. We need some of that land back.”

However, the government makes no such commitment, instead opening a consultation about new technologies to help cattle produce less methane. There is also a focus on regenerative livestock farming, which uses more land than intensive farming to produce less protein.

It says: “Sustainable sources of protein do not have to be new or novel or displace traditional sectors. Regenerative farming will also provide a more sustainable production of traditional protein sources. Using livestock to benefit the environment in balance with food production is already being championed by many small-scale farmers.”

One new announcement made in the white paper is regarding animal welfare. Ministers plan to make it easier for countries to trade with the UK if they have strong animal welfare legislation.

The report also mentions an expansion of aquaculture – fish farming – to potentially replace some meat in the diet. This is despite fish farming being found to be often very damaging to the environment.

Deer stalkers will also enjoy a boon from the report, as one of the few new announcements it makes is that the government will “look to increase the use of responsibly sourced wild venison, which would have otherwise been disposed of, in the food chain”.

Environment experts who fed into the strategy said it was “worse than they expected” – and they did not have high expectations.

There are also fears that the report signals a watering down of the environment land management scheme (ELMS) as there are no targets for land use change mentioned.

Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, was heavily critical of the leaked strategy. “The UK is in a cost of living crisis with food prices spiralling, real wages falling, growth plummeting and taxes up. It is clear now that the government has absolutely no ambition to fix the mess they have created,” he said.

“A food strategy is of vital importance, but the government has dithered, delayed and now failed to deliver. This is nothing more than a statement of vague intentions, not the concrete proposals to tackle the major issues facing our country. To call it a food strategy is bordering on the preposterous.”

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat spokesperson on environment, food and rural affairs, added: “The Conservatives’ food strategy has no solution to solve the cost of living crisis and nothing for the millions of people struggling to put food on the table.

“By failing to do anything to help farmers across the country the government are all but guaranteeing a generation of higher food prices.”

Louisa Casson, the head of food and forests at Greenpeace UK, said: “The government’s food strategy isn’t just half-baked, it’s flatter than a pancake and missing most of the crucial ingredients needed to truly ensure our long-term food security. Instead of listening to the warnings from climate scientists on the urgent need to reduce meat production, ministers seem to be goading UK farmers into producing even more of it.”

Ben Reynolds, the deputy chief executive of the food and farming charity Sustain, added: “Our understanding is that the government’s food strategy white paper will acknowledge the many issues facing our food system but fall short on strong policies, underpinned by legislation, needed to make wholesale change.

“The Dimbleby review generated considerable understanding and appetite for change. Health campaigners, businesses, food enterprises and investors have all called for government intervention to help avert the health, climate and nature crises caused by our food system. We would welcome any mandatory responsibilities on industry and the public sector that help make healthy and sustainable diets the norm, but if the government publishes a white paper with little more than reheated commitments, consultations and reviews, this will just kick the can further down the road.”

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Boris Johnson’s benefits for mortgages plan ‘totally detached from reality’

“But our engines – the great, supercharged, ultragreen marine propulsion units of the UK economy – are stronger, we will get through it.” [Boris Johnson from his Housing speech/ramble – ( your pick) – Owl]

Ashley Cowburn www.independent.co.uk 

Boris Johnson’s plan to allow low-paid workers to use housing benefits to pay for mortgages is unworkable and “totally detached from reality”, experts have claimed.

The scathing assessment came as the prime minister attempted to refocus MPs’ attention on domestic issues after narrowly surviving a no confidence vote with his political authority severely weakened.

In a speech on Thursday, Mr Johnson also announced an extension of Margaret Thatcher’s flagship Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants — but the plan was immediately derided as “baffling”.

Attempting to enable more people to “get on the property ladder”, Michael Gove, the Levelling Up secretary, confirmed that people in receipt of housing benefits will be able use payments to securing mortgages.

The prime minister later told an audience in Blackpool the money would be better spent helping people buy their own home than on paying their rent – in a policy he described as “benefits to bricks”.

He said: “It’s neither right nor fair to put ever vaster sums of taxpayers’ money straight into the pocket of landlords.”

“We are going to look to change the rules on welfare so that the 1.5 million working people who are in receipt of housing benefits – I stress working people – and who want to buy their first home will be given a new choice: to spend their benefit on rent, as now, or put it towards a first-ever mortgage.”

But Miatta Fahnbulleh, the CEO of the New Economics Foundation think-tank, said the policy was “totally detached from reality”, warning those on benefits were already struggling in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

“Social security has been cut so much that those receiving benefits can barely feed their kids, let alone save for a deposit or afford a mortgage when house prices are sky high,” she said.

Ms Fahnbulleh added that Right to Buy is a “relic of a policy has fuelled our housing crisis for decades”, warning an extension would be “completely nonsensical”.

Polly Neate, the chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, said the government had failed to release “any clear proposals on how people receiving housing benefit will be able to take out a mortgage”.

“Instead we’re left scratching our heads thinking how on earth can this work in practice.”

She added: “Under the current system to qualify for universal credit you cannot have more than £16,000 in savings, so how are people meant to afford a deposit – it’s a classic Catch-22.

“And even if someone managed to by-pass the savings issue, these plans essentially encourage people who are already struggling to make ends meet to take on large amounts of debt.

“Much like the rest of the prime minister’s latest housing plans this is unworkable as it stands. Rather than far-fetched and fanciful schemes the government just needs to build more secure social homes with fair rents tied to low incomes. These are the type of homes people need.”

Another campaign group, Crisis, also described the Right to Buy extension as “ill-concieved”, warning that for decades social hoising stock has been “stripped bare”.

Director of policy and external affairs Kiran Ramchandani added: “The reality is that with housing benefit currently frozen, it’s barely enabling anyone to rent as it is.

“To suggest this money can now be used to secure mortgages without a costly investment to the benefits system is an utter fallacy.

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman earlier admitted that anyone seeking to buy a home in this way would still have to find a way to pay their rent.

He said: “Yes,” adding: “If they were able to save money per month, over a number of years, they would then be able to save money towards a deposit.

“And then they would have a monthly mortgage payment, a proportion of which would be provided through housing support.”

The spokesperson said the change would allow somebody receiving universal credit to put money into an ISA – so they would not be hit by the current £16,000 cap of savings, above which they cannot claim UC.

But he admitted sky-high property prices in places such as London might mean a house purchase would still be unaffordable, saying: “I think it will vary per area.”

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Boris Johnson accused of ‘hiding away’ during Tiverton and Honiton by-election campaign visit

Did he venture further afield than “Ditchetts Farm” ? Was Alison Hernandez “stood up” by BoJo? Where are the adoring throngs of voters? – Owl

[He also got a “mixed reception” reception at the Royal Cornwall Show, a member of the staff said:  “I think on balance there was still more cheering than booing…..”]

Ashley Cowburn www.independent.co.uk 

Boris Johnson has been accused of “hiding away from people” during a brief visit to Tiverton and Honiton, as the Conservatives fight to hold on to the seat at the upcoming by-election.

The Liberal Democrats criticised the prime minister’s low-key visit to the Devon constituency after he was spotted meeting party candidate Helen Hurford and a small group of farmers for tea.

Tory officials shared a photo of Mr Johnson at Ditchetts Farm in Tiverton, and the National Farming Union (NFU) said the PM had discussed food security with local officials.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The fact is he’s not talking to ordinary people. No one seems to know where he is. He’s hiding away from people and I think that says it all. He’s taking this constituency for granted.”

Earlier on Friday, Mr Johnson received a mixture of cheers and boos during a surprise visit to the Royal Cornwall Show near Wadebridge in Cornwall.

One member of the show staff said Mr Johnson had received a “mixed reception”, but added: “I think on balance there was still more cheering than booing… I don’t think he minded; he’s got a hide like a rhinoceros.”

Mr Johnson was pictured at the show alongside the environment secretary George Eustice, just hours before the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were due to arrive.

Tory MPs and No 10 officials have shared concerns that the seat could fall to the Lib Dems when voters head to the polls on 23 June, despite posting a huge majority at the 2019 general election.

The by-election was triggered after the resignation of the former Conservative MP Neil Parish, who became the focus of a political storm after admitting watching pornography on his phone in the Commons chamber.

Despite the largely rural seat voting overwhelmingly for the Tories at the 2019 election – the party’s majority was over 24,000 – officials are concerned the seat could fall to Davey’s party in a fortnight.

The Lib Dems are seeking to capitalise on the ongoing concern over the prime minister’s precarious position and deep anger over the Partygate scandal, which resulted in Mr Johnson being fined by the Metropolitan Police.

With Mr Johnson’s position in No 10 under the spotlight after Monday’s confidence vote, a defeat in Tiverton and Honiton in 13 days’ time could reignite calls for his resignation.

Earlier this week the Tory candidate for Tiverton and Honiton refused to say how she would have voted in the no-confidence ballot on Mr Johnson’s leadership had she been an MP.

Ms Hurford, a former headteacher, described the question as “irrelevant”, saying she was not “in Westminster” and adding that it was time to “move forward” after the prime minister narrowly survived the vote on Monday.

On the same day, another by-election will be held in Wakefield – triggered after the resignation of a Tory MP found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old.

The former Labour stronghold voted for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election, but is widely expected to be regained by Sir Keir Starmer’s party on 23 June.

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Lib Dem candidate “will bang the drum for Devon”

“Honestly, it feels like representatives in parliament from Devon are not a very vocal bunch. It doesn’t feel like Devon is getting that voice in parliament that really we ought to have. And my sole intention would be to speak up for this part of the world, to speak up for people who live here.”

Ollie Heptinstall, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

The Liberal Democrat candidate for the Tiverton and Honiton by-election has dismissed claims from his Conservative rival that he would go to Westminster to “cause disruption.”

Ex-army major Richard Foord is bidding to overturn a 24,000 Tory majority in the seat previously occupied by disgraced former MP Neil Parish.

Mr Parish resigned in April after admitting to watching pornography in parliament.

Earlier this week Tory candidate Helen Hurford said: “Do you want a candidate that is focussed solely on delivering for Tiverton and Honiton, [who has] a six-point plan to deliver for your needs … that will work with the government.

“Or do you want the candidate whose only intention is to go to Westminster and cause disruption?”

In response, Mr Foord said he would “bang the drum for Devon” if he is victorious in the poll on Thursday 23 June.

“My intention would be to go to Westminster to speak up for my neighbours, to speak up for the people amongst whom we live here in our part of Devon.”

He added: “Honestly, it feels like representatives in parliament from Devon are not a very vocal bunch. It doesn’t feel like Devon is getting that voice in parliament that really we ought to have. And my sole intention would be to speak up for this part of the world, to speak up for people who live here.

“I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by putting one more Conservative MP on the benches where there are already hundreds who have, before now, not changed very much around here at all.”

Mr Foord is aiming to become the first Lib Dem MP in Devon since Sarah Wollaston, who defected from the Tories in 2019 to the short-lived Change UK and subsequently the Lib Dems.

She lost her Totnes seat to Conservative Anthony Mangnall at the general election in December that year.

North Devon and Torbay were represented by Lib Dems as recently as 2015, when they fell to the Tories.

Referring to Ms Hurford publicly backing Boris Johnson following Monday’s confidence vote, Mr Foord said the 148 Conservative MPs who wanted to remove their boss “might differ and disagree with her.”

“There’s often no better critic than the critic who’s on the inside, seeing it up close and personal, and I couldn’t express it any better than those 148 Conservative MPs who’ve expressed no confidence in this prime minister.”

Eight candidates – including from each of the main parties – are vying for the Tiverton and Honiton seat:

  • Jordan Donoghue-Morgan – Heritage Party
  • Andy Foan – Reform UK
  • Richard Foord – Liberal Democrats
  • Helen Hurford – Conservative
  • Liz Pole – Labour
  • Frankie Rufolo – The For Britain Movement
  • Ben Walker – UK Independence Party
  • Gill Westcott – Green Party
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LoPro BoJo booed at Royal Cornwall Show – staged photo in Tiverton

Normally keen to have the cameras follow his every move, and to offer a soundbite, he tried to keep an uncharacteristically low profile. At the Royal Cornwall Show earlier, the closest he came to meeting the public, he was yet again booed and heckled about Partygate. In the end, he did some staged photos in Tiverton with Hurford and, you guessed it, a cake.

link.news.inews.co.uk

“There’s been a democratic vote, he has had a third mandate now, let’s move forward.” In the wake of Boris Johnson’s narrow no-confidence vote, those were the words not of a Tory MP, but a would-be Tory MP.

But for all her apparent support, Helen Hurford, the party’s candidate for the Tiverton and Honiton by-election in Devon, notably refused to say whether she would have herself voted to keep Johnson in post. “It’s irrelevant, it’s happened, he’s here,” she told Radio Exe.

Hurford’s not exactly ringing endorsement of the Prime Minister is perhaps unsurprising given his deep unpopularity over both his dissembling about Partygate and his sluggish response to the cost of living crisis.

What was striking too was that Johnson’s own visit to the Devon seat today was very different from his usual made-for-TV trips outside London. Normally keen to have the cameras follow his every move, and to offer a soundbite, he tried to keep an uncharacteristically low profile. At the Royal Cornwall Show earlier, the closest he came to meeting the public, he was yet again booed and heckled about Partygate. In the end, he did some staged photos in Tiverton with Hurford and, you guessed it, a cake.

(No selfie with Alison Hernandez and a police station. These photos could be anywhere away from the public eye – Owl)

With the Conservatives facing another possible by-election defeat at the hands of the Liberal Democrats later this month, it’s no wonder that Hurford and Johnson are nervous. Despite the Tories’ huge 24,000 vote majority from 2019, the bookies have already installed Lib Dem contender Richard Foord as the favourite.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey was on his fourth visit to the constituency today, with a not-so subtle photo-op of his own, focusing on calls to stop the Tories allowing sewage to be pumped into local rivers and beaches. In a by-election triggered by an MP caught watching porn in the Commons, and with a backdrop of Sue Gray’s findings of a red wine-stained and vomit-flecked No 10 during lockdown law-breaking, the message to voters to clean up British politics was unmistakable.