MAY FACES TRIPLE REVOLT
On eve of conference, mutinous MPs demand she acts on energy prices, benefits and migration
‘Can’t go hell for leather’ ‘We need a spring in our step’
THERESA May was hit by a revolt on three fronts last night as she urged MPs to use the party’s annual conference to focus their fire on Labour.
Conservative politicians brushed aside calls for unity by issuing a string of warnings on immigration, benefits and energy prices.
The Prime Minister also faced renewed pressure over Brexit, which looks set to overshadow the Tory gathering when it begins tomorrow in Manchester.
Speaking ahead of the four-day event, Mrs May urged her party to take the fight to Jeremy Corbyn and find new ways to attract younger voters. But last night she was facing pressure from within her own ranks over a string of issues, including:
A dozen Tory MPs backed by former troubled families tsar Louise Casey called for a halt to the rollout of the Government’s flagship universal credit benefit;
Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke criticised the PM’s target to cut net immigration to under 100,000 as ‘a mistake’ in some circumstances;
72 Tory MPs backed a cross-party call for Mrs May to honour her pledge to cap energy bills, amid growing fears it could be watered down;
Former ministers Owen Paterson and David Jones urged her to ‘walk away’ from the EU rather than offer any further concessions to Brussels.
Mrs May has struggled to assert her authority over the party since surrendering her Commons majority in the snap election in June. Speaking ahead of the conference last night, she acknowledged the party had suffered a ‘disappointing election’ and pledged to listen to the concerns of the public. The Tory leader, who is expected to unveil new plans to tackle the housing crisis, said the party had work to do to reconnect with younger voters tempted by Mr Corbyn’s manifesto giveaways.
‘Yes, we have to get the best Brexit deal,’ she said. ‘But we must also take action here at home to make this a fairer place to live for ordinary working people.’
The PM urged her party to take the fight to Labour, saying: ‘For people considering the alternative, we have a clear message too. The Labour Party is simply not fit to govern – and have already gone back on their promises about things like student debt.
‘They don’t have the balanced economic approach our country needs and we know from last time where that leads. Costs rack up and working people – the very people who can least afford it – pay the price with higher taxes and fewer jobs.’ After delivering a major speech on Brexit in Florence this month, Mrs May hopes to drag the agenda back to domestic matters this week. But yesterday’s developments highlight the difficulties she faces on that front.
In an interview with London’s Evening Standard yesterday, Mr Gauke became the latest senior minister to cast doubt on the Tory pledge to slash net immigration to the ‘tens of thousands’, saying it should be more flexible. ‘If you found yourself in circumstances where we had a very buoyant jobs market, and other parts of Europe didn’t, trying to go hell for leather to meet that target would be a mistake,’ he said. The PM also faced pressure over the rollout of the flagship universal credit scheme, which replaces six benefits with a single payment. A dozen Tory MPs have written to the Government calling for a ‘pause’ in the scheme because of concerns that some adults could be left destitute for weeks during a changeover period.
Former Government adviser Louise Casey last night called for the policy to be halted to allow time for a new ‘safety net’ to be put in. She told Radio Four’s PM programme that the implementation of the scheme ‘makes my hair stand on end’, adding: ‘If it means that we are looking at more and more people that are ending up homeless, or ending up having their kids taken away, or ending up in more dire circumstances, that cannot be the intention.
‘At a time like this when the country is fraying at the edges, where we have more homeless people than we’ve had for decades on the streets, we need to be kinder to people, we need more kindness.’ Privately, however, ministers say the poorest families can apply for cash advances to tide them over during the changeover. Dozens of Tories have backed a cross-party letter calling for legislation on Mr May’s energy price cap pledge.
Ministers have asked regulator Ofgem to examine the issue, but MPs fear that failure to legislate will let the energy firms off the hook. Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg last night said the PM needed to use the conference to re-energise a demoralised party.
‘We need a good conference because Jeremy Corbyn has just had an excellent one,’ he said.
‘We need to leave Manchester with a spring in our step.’
The PM yesterday indicated she wants to hold on and fight the next election, telling the BBC she is ‘not a quitter’. But in a poll for the ConservativeHome website, 81 per cent of activists said they preferred Boris Johnson’s vision of Brexit.