David Lidington arrives at 10 Downing Street, 2018 (Alamy)

3 min read45 min

David Lidington, who served as Theresa May’s de facto deputy prime minister during his almost three decades as a Tory MP, argued that a future Conservative victory will require the party to step out of its electoral comfort zone.

Speaking on this week’s episode of PoliticsHome podcast The Rundown, which will be published on Friday (14 August), Lidington said the current generation of Conservative MPs should look at how electorally successful leaders like Margaret Thatcher “departed massively from a lot of political assumptions that had dominated politics”.

Lidington, now a member of centre-right campaign group Prosper UK, said his party’s “big challenge” as it looks to rebuild under leader Kemi Badenoch is “to look beyond our own core support, which is the over-65s at the moment, and really make inroads into the support of younger age groups”.

“We need policies certainly on the economy and economic growth but also on things like housing policy, that are going to offer hope to young people with aspiration,” he said.

“And you say to older people, ‘This is about building the right country for your kids and your grandkids.’ I think, you present the argument in that way, and people will buy into that, even if those policies are not directed purely to people my age.”

Asked specifically whether he would reform the triple lock, he said: “I’m a beneficiary of the triple lock. I’m over pensionable age. I would scrap it. I would go to a straightforward earnings link.”

Under the existing policy, introduced by the Coalition government, the state pension is guaranteed to be uprated every year by whichever is highest – inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent.

Critics warn that rising life expectancy and falling birth rates, combined with periods of high inflation, mean the commitment is not sustainable in the long term, and will only worsen intergenerational inequality at a time when young people face significant economic challenges.

Earlier this year, the Tony Blair Institute think tank called for the triple lock to be replaced, describing it as “increasingly unaffordable” and belonging to a “different era”.

Speaking on The Rundown, Lidington said: “At a time when young people can work every hour God gives them and still struggle to get on the first rung of the housing ladder… People 18 to 25 living with their parents. When you’ve got real issues about how technology is shaping up the job market for school and college leavers. People are delaying having children later and later in life.

“We need to give those people hope.”

The former Conservative MP said he would link reduced pension spending to funding a reformed social care system as part of a “new intergenerational bargain”.

“We can’t just load ever more tax and borrowing onto the shoulders of young people, onto the shoulders of your children, your grandchildren, who are going to have to pick up the tab if we don’t make changes,” he added.

“There are ways in which to sell such a policy, but I do think those hard choices need to be faced up to.”

In the forthcoming episode, Lidington also said Badenoch is “absolutely right” to reject a pact with Reform UK, warning that a deal with Nigel Farage’s party would be “deeply, deeply damaging” for the Conservatives, and said it was “contemptible” for Reform’s Zia Yusuf to call former Tory defence secretary Ben Wallace a “traitor”.

This week’s The Rundown is presented by Adam Payne, and is produced and edited by Ewan Cameron for Podot

• Click here to listen to the latest episode of The Rundown, or search for ‘PoliticsHome’ wherever you get your podcasts.

Andy Burnham visits The Hub cafe in Derbyshire as part of his tour of the UK. (Alamy)

2 min read14 min

Burnham said on Tuesday that he had asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to find ways of exempting more of the most serious criminals from the government’s early release scheme.

Speaking in Derbyshire this morning, the PM said: “I don’t want to see a single prisoner released early, and that’s the spirit that I’ve brought to the first three weeks that I’ve served as Prime Minister, and I’ve always worked like that.

“I’m confident that there’s more that can be done, and will be done to address public concern.”

Burnham has said that options on the table to create additional space in the prison system include quicker removal of foreign national offenders, releasing lower-risk prisoners serving indefinite sentences, and making better use of Britain’s prison capacity, including using female prisons for male offenders.

“I have spent recent days considering in depth all of the issues involved and the range of advice I have received. I have been pushing for further progress. I have not accepted that it is impossible to do more,” said Burnham. 

Norris is expected to present proposals to Parliament in early September.

The new Labour government is coming under pressure to ensure that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers are not released early as part of efforts to relieve pressure on prison capacity.

The pair, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, were due to be freed in January after serving around half of their sentences.

“I’ve heard the depth of concern felt across the country about the potential release of the killers of PC Andrew Harper. I feel for the family and the anguish that they’re going through,” Burnham has said.

The government has already announced that murderers, rapists and child sex offenders, including grooming gang perpetrators, would be exempt from the scheme. 

However, the Harper case has put pressure on ministers to go further, following criticism from his relatives and friends.

At the same time, the government is trying to make sure that prisons in England and Wales do not run out of space amid recent warnings that the estate is close to reaching full capacity.

Britain’s high streets have faced increasing pressures in recent years (Alamy)

3 min read14 min

The government announced on Monday night that it will also tighten the definition of a vape shop to prevent owners from getting around current rules by describing themselves as a general convenience shop or retailer. 

There will also be new measures targeting large betting shops and what ministers describe as rogue businesses, with the PM saying that previous governments “stood by” while high streets suffered.

“Local councils will be given the powers they need to rein in unwanted shops and bring town centres back to life,” the Prime Minister said.

The government highlighted research by the Centre for Social Justice think tank showing that the number of vape and tobacco shops has risen by more than 2,000 nationwide since 2016, while the number of pubs and bars has diminished by nearly 1,800.

High streets have come under intense pressure in recent years with rising costs and customers switching to online shopping. Research shared with PoliticsHome last year found that support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK had been rising most in areas that had seen the most acute high street decline.

The government has announced that it will revoke the Gambling Act’s “Aim to Permit” rule, which currently restricts the ability of councils to refuse new betting shops and 24-hour slot machine shops even where there are strong local concerns.

Ministers will also work with councils to improve the appearance of high streets and help restore pride in local town centres, pointing to “poor-quality shopfronts, garish neon signs, and oversized logos”, which have prompted complaints from local people and contributed to high streets feeling less welcoming.

In addition, there are plans to double the maximum length of closure orders from six months to a year –  under which a business or premises can be closed while it is investigated – to allow police and local authorities more time to look into premises linked to organised crime, pursue prosecutions, and prevent rogue businesses reopening before investigations are complete.

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, said: “These problems have built up over years, but this government won’t leave councils and communities powerless to crack down on everyday eyesores that blight our high streets. 

“That’s why we’re giving local leaders the power to say no to what doesn’t belong on their high street, and the tools to fix it themselves.”

Burnham added: “For many people, the high streets they grew up with have been hollowed out and become unrecognisable over decades of decline. The rise of vape shops, betting shops and rogue operators have replaced the shops, services, and community spaces that people are crying out for. 

“That’s not on. I said we would improve Britain’s high streets, and that’s exactly what we are starting to do. We’re putting communities back in control and giving local people a real say over what opens on their high street. Local councils will be given the powers they need to rein in unwanted shops and bring town centres back to life.”