Rishi Sunak's 'away day' at posh hotel to unite warring Tories:

March 2, 2023

Rishi Sunak’s ‘away day’ bid to unite warring Tories: PM takes MPs to £400-a-night Windsor hotel where he sealed NI deal with EU for lectures on winning the election and even a pub quiz – and Boris Johnson ‘will be there’ but Liz Truss won’t

Sunak will try to reinvigorate party languishing some 20 points behind Labour
The Tories have booked out the entire £400-per-night Fairmont Hotel tonight

Rishi Sunak bussed Tory MPs out of Westminster for an awayday at the scene of his Brexit victory today as he gears the party up for the next general election.

Boris Johnson is among those expected to attend the 24-hour trip to Windsor that will feature lectures and even a pub quiz, days after his successor secured a deal with the EU over Northern Ireland.

He will try to reinvigorate the party as it languishes some 20 points behind Labour in the polls after a year of three prime ministers and a series of economic and sleaze scandals.

The Tories have booked out the entire £400-per-night Fairmont Hotel for a series of lectures, drinks receptions and a dinner with the PM, where the 355 or so MPs can dine on Hereford beef, Atlantic cod and roast Scottish salmon.

But one of the key figures of that time is expected to be absent. It is understood Liz Truss, who was briefly in No10 last year, will not be attending.

Mr Johnson is expected to travel to Berkshire after he gives a speech in London at lunchtime in which he is expected to talk about Mr Sunak’s Windsor Framework for the first time.

The coach taking MPs to Windsor outside Portcullis House in Westminster earlier this morning, being checked over by police

It comes as Mr Sunak’s deal leads to a minor bounce in the polls. His popularity has risen by 13 points overall, though he is still on -21, according to YouGov.

It is understood Liz Truss, who was briefly in No10 last year, will not be attending. Mr Johnson is expected to travel to Berkshire after he gives a speech in London at lunchtime in which he is expected to talk about Mr Sunak’s Windsor Framework for the first time.

It comes as Mr Sunak’s deal leads to a minor bounce in the polls. His popularity has risen by 13 points overall, though he is still on -21, according to YouGov. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is on -11.

While about as many people have a favourable view of the leader of the opposition (37 per cent) as the prime minister, fewer people dislike him (48 per cent).

There are claims Mr Johnson will be critical of some elements of the Brexit deal in his speech, although he is likely to hold off declaring whether Mr Sunak will have his support in votes expected this month.

The intervention comes as tensions rise in the DUP, after leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he would take time to consider the details of the package – potentially even until after local elections in May.

Ex-leader Peter Robinson said rejecting the deal would put the DUP on ‘perilous ground’, although he suggested ‘a better deal could be attained in the future’.

However, DUP chief whip Sammy Wilson said it was ‘not a great deal’, arguing that the new ‘Stormont Brake’ might never be used to block the introduction of future EU laws in the province.

Former deputy leader Lord Dodds said the pact keeps the border down the Irish Sea and does not guarantee free trade with mainland Britain.

A report set to be published today by a group backed by DUP MP Ian Paisley is also expected to say the agreement does not meet the DUP’s seven tests.

The Tories have booked out the entire £400-per-night Fairmont Hotel, where Mr Sunak met Ursula von der Leyen on Monday.

There will be lectures, drinks receptions and a dinner with the PM, where the 355 or so MPs can dine on Hereford beef, Atlantic cod and roast Scottish salmon.

Mr Johnson has been ‘studying and reflecting on the Government’s proposals’ since the deal was published on Monday.

Downing Street said the two men had had a ‘good discussion’ when the PM briefed Mr Johnson on the outline of the deal at the weekend.

Tory MPs have overwhelmingly backed Mr Sunak’s plan, with a number of prominent Eurosceptics including David Davis, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom hailing it as a diplomatic coup. It claims to remove all trace of a border in the Irish Sea, bring the province back under UK tax rules, and give Stormont powers to block new EU rules.

But the European Research Group of Tory MPs has said its ‘star chamber’ of lawyers will need two weeks to comb through the fine print.

And Unionist sources have suggested the DUP may take months to deliver a verdict. It walked out of power-sharing last year in protest at the impact of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Meanwhile the Government’s net zero tsar has said climate change must be at the heart of the next general election.

Leading green Conservative MP Chris Skidmore warned that the next election would be ‘critical’ for meeting the UK’s climate commitments, with the winner responsible for delivering key decarbonisation policies before 2030.

Speaking at an online event on Thursday morning, Mr Skidmore said: ‘If we want net zero to succeed, it simply isn’t good enough to wish net zero to succeed.

‘We must too continue to work to hold every political party accountable, and to ensure that their manifestos contain the policy commitments that will meet the ambition we have set.’

Mr Skidmore made his comments at the launch of his ‘Mission Zero Coalition’, which is intended to carry on the work of his net zero review published in January.

The review was commissioned by Liz Truss to assess how net zero could be delivered while ensuring economic growth, and Mr Skidmore’s coalition will now provide policy ideas for achieving his recommendations.

But Mr Skidmore will also look to put pressure on all political parties to maintain the UK’s commitment to net zero, even as he stands down as an MP at the next election.

He said: ‘The next general election will perhaps be the most important election for climate policy that has ever been fought.

‘For whoever forms a government, it will be under their stewardship that between 2024 and 2029 we must achieve our 2030 goals. To fail cannot be an option, for the rest of the world is watching.’

Mr Skidmore also called for a ‘national retrofit programme’ to install heat pumps in existing homes and move away from reliance on gas.

He said: ‘The future of home heat, be in no doubt, will be electric.

‘While the net zero review urges the Government to take a decision sooner rather than later on the future uses of hydrogen for home heating, we need to get real that the net zero transition will be above all a transition away from gas of all forms, towards electricity.’

The Government’s current target is to install 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028, but the industry has warned that there may not be enough installers or funding to reach the target, while the Climate Change Committee said the Government should be aiming for 900,000 heat pumps per year instead.

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