Latest editorial
General view of the International Convention Centre in Birmingham ahead of the Conservative Party Conference, September 29, 2024
FORMER immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been forced to defend his decision to cover up cartoon murals at a processing centre for lone child migrants.
The Tory leadership hopeful was reported to have said the images, which included Mickey Mouse, were too “welcoming” when he served in the role and ordered them to be removed from the facility.
Asked if the reports were true by an audience member at a Conservative Party conference fringe event today, Mr Jenrick instead sought to justify his tough stance on migration.
Once derided by Farage as a ‘fraud,’ Jenrick has defected to Reform, bringing experience and political ruthlessness to the populist right — and raising the unsettling prospect of a Farage-led movement with a seasoned operative pulling the strings, says ANDREW MURRAY
KEITH FLETT traces how the ‘world’s most successful political party’ has imploded since Thatcher’s fall, from nine leaders in 30 years to losing all 16 English councils, with Reform UK symbolically capturing Peel’s birthplace, Tamworth — but the beast is not dead yet