And here the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg again on tonight’s narrow government win on the social care cap, despite an 80 seat majority in the Commons:
More important than any single front page is govt majority down at 26 - lots of tories didn’t vote - not angry enough to vote against the govt, but disappointed enough to stay away - makes it likely that social care plans will be changed in the Lords - problem hasn’t gone away
It appears the PM thought his Peppa Pig lines from his CBI speech earlier so delightful that he recycled them at two other events hours later, according to the FT’s Sebastian Payne:
At tonight Tory party’s Winter Party at the V&A, Boris Johnson delivered his lines about Peppa Pig World for the third time today - first at CBI, then at CPS dinner in the City.
One donor says “it was so much better - he’d obviously practised it. Boris was on form this evening”
The Conservative former cabinet minister Damian Green, who said he abstained on the key vote on social care changes, said it was unclear whether the alteration to the cap for care costs is fair.
He told BBC’s Newsnight:
The party wants to see a proper fair solution to social care that is fair around the country and in all areas of the country.
And to put it as politely as I can, it’s not yet clear that this solution achieves that.
18 Tory MPs voted against the government tonight on NC49, including Esther McVey, MP for Tatton and former minister for housing, Mark Harper, the former Conservative chief whip who had said before the vote he would vote against the proposal, and Kevin Hollinrake, who had challenged the health and social care minister Edward Argar earlier in the Commons on the government’s social care cap proposals.
69 Tory MPs abstained, includingTheresa May, Robert Buckland, the previous Secretary of State for Justice, Sir Ian Duncan Smith, David Davis, Jeremy Hunt, and Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
I’m A Celebrity presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly aimed a jibe at Boris Johnson, making fun of the PM’s much criticised speech he gave to the Confederation of British Industry earlier.
Appearing live from Gwrych Castle, McPartlin asked his co-host where they had bought a cake that featured in a recent challenge.
Donnelly flipped through sheets of paper for more than 10 second saying “Forgive me!” until finding the correct page and exclaiming: “We got it in Poundland in Rhyl”.
Johnson had stumbled through parts of a speech to the CBI and said “forgive me” while he tried to find the correct place in his notes.
Tonight Conservative MPs voted to break their promise that nobody would have to sell their homes to pay for their social care costs and voted to hammer poorer pensions to protect millionaires in mansions.
It’s an inheritance tax on the north and a con, not a social care plan.
A Labour amendment that would have banned private health care firms from being appointed to NHS decision-making boards or local integrated care boards was just defeated. Ayes 192, noes 300.
There is some outrage about the Tories hosting a winter fundraising ball tonight that auctioned off time with cabinet members for donations.
This from Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the Daily Mirror:
Tory MPs rushed back from a Conservative Winter Ball fundraiser charging £35,000 for dinner with Sunak and £22,000 karaoke with Truss to vote for poorer homeowners to sell their homes for social care after paying tax rises.
Ministers attending the Winter Party fundraising ball tonight have been given strict instructions by the whips to leave at 9.30pm so they're back in time to vote for the health and social care bill pic.twitter.com/Cr03nPJ0Ib
Government wins vote on increasing social care costs for the poorest (not compared with status quo but with what was expected) by just 26 votes, much less than its natural majority of circa 80. Big rebellion. Another embarrassment for @BorisJohnson on another bad day for him
And this from the shadow environment secretary and Labour & Co-op MP for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport, Luke Pollard:
🚨Tory majority cut to just 26 in the Commons vote on social care. Sets up a tussle in the Lords and a chance for the Government to u-turn from their latest awful idea. Another broken promise that will hit poorest hardest - the opposite of levelling up.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion