DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why the Tory right must come together
One thing became clear from last night’s third round of voting in the Tory leadership election. Barring one catastrophic event, Rishi Sunak will be one of the two names on the final shortlist.
It is not yet clear who will join him there. As Rishi’s momentum increased, Penny Mordauntwent to the opposite, receiving fewer votes this time than last time.
However, despite serious doubts about her competence and radical views on gender identity, she remains in second place.
Liz Truss closed the gap but hoped to do better. She didn’t because the traditionalist Tory vote is dangerously divided between her and her Kemi Badenoch.
Liz Truss is the obvious choice given her strong track record and she is best placed to overtake Miss Mordaunt
Both women benefited equally from the redistribution of support from Attorney General Suella Braverman, who lost in the last ballot. If those centre-right votes had all gone to Miss Truss, she would now be neck and neck with Miss Mordaunt with the wind in her sails.
Instead, it’s possible that Miss Mordaunt is still holding on, leaving membership with two Social and Economic Liberals and no true Tory blue to choose from.
Traditionalist MEPs need to become smarter and back a candidate. Miss Truss is the obvious choice given her strong track record and she is best placed to overtake Miss Mordaunt.
If members are denied the opportunity to vote for a true Conservative with low taxes and small states, they will sense a cynical Westminster fix. And they will be right.
Peerless Boris
The morning after Boris Johnson’s defenestration, our front-page headline asked: What the hell have they done?
Yesterday, as he smashed his puny critics with his usual wit and eloquence in what may be his last appearance as Prime Minister in the Commons, many voters asked themselves the very same question.
The Conservative Party has cowardly betrayed its most charismatic and eligible leader since Lady Thatcher. We can only pray the price isn’t a catastrophic Starmer-led government in 2024.
Hot under the collar
A two-day heat wave and the country goes into blind panic. Trains are cancelled, schools are closed (as if the kids haven’t lost enough education already) and nannies telling us to stay indoors.
Listening to apocalyptic climate experts and the BBC, you’d think Britain would spontaneously burst into flames.
On Radio 4, presenter Katya Adler’s first question to a confused minister was: “Do you agree with the UK health authority that thousands could die?”
In two days? It is true that the temperature is surpassing 40C for the first time today, but it has been 38.7C before without such carnage.
And if you look at the BBC’s weather forecast for southern Britain, the temperature will drop tomorrow and not rise above the mid-20s Celsius for the rest of the month.
Parts of Tuscany, Andalucia and Provence will be in the 40C every day for the next week, but British tourists will no doubt still be flocking there. Will they stay in their rooms all week?
Of course, most of those who want to lock down during hot spells are in the public sector. Unlike private companies and employees, they continue to be paid.
Of course, we shouldn’t be happy about great heat. But the risk must be kept in mind. Our summers can be hot – sometimes very hot.
Bringing the country to a standstill every time the mercury spikes is a wild overreaction.
With sensible precautions, plenty of fluids, shade, and sunscreen, there’s no reason people should be dying — and certainly not by the thousands. What happened to keep calm and move on?
