Inside Politics: PM’s ‘levelling up’ speech criticised, Starmer vows to ‘sweat blood’ to regain voters’ trust

PM accused of rambling in big speech, Starmer begins summer tour of Britain, writes Matt Mathers

(BBC News)

Friday is finally upon us and there is some good news to ease you into the day. Stock up on sun cream, this weekend will be a scorcher, with temperatures set to hit the high 20s for swathes of the UK. Boris Johnson is feeling the heat after his ‘levelling up’ speech was criticised for lacking detail. Elsewhere, the Information Commissioner’s Office is lasering in on the Matt Hancock whistle-blower and Keir Starmer is vowing to “sweat blood” to win back the trust of Labour voters.

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Inside the bubble

Coming up shortly:

-Former chief executive of Iceland and Wickes Bill Grimsey on Times Radio Breakfast at 8.15am

-Solicitor general Lucy Frazer on talkRADIO at 8.20am

Daily Briefing

THE RAMBLER: In political terms, the PM has always been a bit of a gambler. He’s now further entrenched the view that he’s also a bit of a rambler too. During a speech in Coventry to set out his vision for ‘levelling up’, Johnson admitted he’s only put together “the skeleton” of a plan of how that agenda can be achieved — despite Downing Street insisting it is “the central purpose of his premiership”. Critics dismissed the speech as light on policy and detail. And Dominic Cummings, the PM’s former aide-turned-pundit, described the address as a “crap speech...supporting [a] crap slogan”. Cummings also hit out on Twitter, describing levelling up as a “vapid SW1 slogan like Global Britain.” Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner suggested the only people getting levelled up during the Johnson era are “Tory donors”. Ouch. The government has made £3.6bn available through the Towns Fund. But the inequalities between the north, the Midlands and the south are deep-rooted and structural. Detractors might say that if the PM is serious about this agenda, then he should be investing more in education, skills training and improved transport links, rather than the superficial refurbishment of high streets and city centres.

FIGHT TALK: Keir Starmer has vowed to “sweat blood” to win back the trust of Labour voters. Speaking to the BBC after taking questions from former voters in Blackpool, the sun-kissed leader accepted the party has a problem with working-class voters in the north of England, but vowed to lead the side into a “new era” following the Corbyn years. It was the first stop in a summer tour of Britain to understand voters’ concerns and to sell Labour’s message, which critics say has been unclear under Starmer. With pandemic restrictions lifting (for now, at least), he has a chance to reconnect with the electorate. Several of those attending the event in Blackpool said they’d never heard of Starmer, highlighting the scale of the challenge the leader faces.

PINGDEMIC: Covid news again dominates today’s front pages, with theMetro,Telegraph,Mail andMirror splashing on different versions of figures showing that 500,000 people were told to isolate last week after being pinged by the NHS app. A joint exclusive byThe Independent and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants face being blocked from booking Covid vaccinations because GPs are refusing to register them – in breach of official guidance.

WHODUNIT? The CCTV footage is clear: it was Matt Hancock in a clinch with his tax-payer funded aide Gina Coladangelo. But what is less than clear is how the film was obtained from the office of a government building in the first place. In its investigation to find the whistleblower, The Information Commissioner’s Office has seized computer equipment and electronic devices from two residential properties in the south of England. “It’s vital that all people, which includes the employees of government departments and members of the public who interact with them, have trust and confidence in the protection of their personal data,” the ICO said in a statement.The Sun, which first broke the story, splashes on the update this morning, describing the ICO probe as a “raid of shame”. If you hadn’t done so already, it’s worth reading Sun editor Victoria Newton’s fascinating diary in the NewStatesman on how the paper got the scoop. The ICO says it’s investigating alleged breaches of the Data Protection Act. The Met Police has not launched its own probe, but Marc Jones, the Conservative police crime commissioner of Lincolnshire, says that there should be an investigation launched if an offence has been committed.

AMNESTY ROW: The fall out from the government’s amnesty plan for Troubles-era prosecutions continues. Amid increasing anger from families and survivors, the Irish government has waded into the row. Foreign minister Simon Coveney says the statute of limitations would break the UK’s international obligations and not be compatible with the European convention on human rights. “In our view, this would be politically and legally unsustainable, and would damage relationships and trust critical to the protection of the achievements of the peace process,” he wrote of the plans. There have also been interventions by the Catholic church and a former police ombudsman, both of whom described the amnesty as a “betrayal” of victims and families. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is to discuss the issue with Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, at a meeting of the Stormont Party Leaders’ Forum later today.

SOCIAL CARE TAX: The PM yesterday gave a hint that he would not back a “snack tax” because it would place an unfair burden on working people. But he is getting behind a new tax to transform social care, according to this morning’sTimes, which is the paper’s lead story. Downing Street is “comfortable with some sort of tax” to cover universal social care, a government source told the paper. The reforms could also include a cap on how much people have to pay for their own care, it reported.

On the record

“In our view, this would be politically and legally unsustainable, and would damage relationships and trust critical to the protection of the achievements of the peace process.”

Ireland foreign minister Simon Coveney on the government’s amnesty for Troubles-era prosecutions

From the Twitterati

“Boris Johnson — the actual Prime Minister — in a speech that was supposed to set out his policies to address regional inequality, asked the public to email him with ideas. Pub landlords and pest control companies must email a separate private address to get government contracts.”

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner on the PM’s ‘levelling up’ speech.

“Genuinely fascinating.”

Hugo Rifkind of The Times responds to an announcement by the free speech-espousing GB News that a contributing presenter breached standards by taking the knee.

Essential reading

• Tom Peck, The Independent: Boris Johnson is proof that Britain must be levelled up
• Cathy Newman, The Independent: Men who complain about the number of women on TV should get over it
• Giles Fraser, Unherd: Some politicians deserve to be mocked
• Annette Dittert, NewStatesman: The politics of lies — Boris Johnson and the erosion of the rule of law