The Conservatives have stretched their lead to 11 points in the polls following a week that saw them survive in-party revolts over cuts to foreign aid and racism rows.
Boris Johnson narrowly swerved a humiliating defeat in the House of Commons after MPs voted by a majority of 35 to back the reduced level of aid funding from 0.7 per cent of gross national income to 0.5 per cent.
Theresa May voted against the cuts to the aid budget – becoming the first ex-prime minister in 25 years to vote against a Conservative three-line whip.
In an impassioned speech she said: “This isn’t about palaces for dictators and vanity projects. It’s about what cuts to funding mean.
“Fewer girls will be educated, more boys and girls will become slaves, more children will go hungry and more of poorest people in world will die.”
Racism
Meanwhile, several high-profile politicians came in for criticism after England’s Euro2020 final defeat to Italy was mired by racism.
Tyrone Mings took to Twitter to point the finger at home secretary Priti Patel after she called taking the knee “gesture politics”, saying:
“You don’t get to stoke the fire and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against happens,” after she posted her outrage at the racist abuse.
Gary Neville also called out top government officials during an interview.
He said: “It starts at the very top and so for me, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that I woke up this morning to those headlines.
“I expected that the minute the three players that missed miss. The fact of the matter is there is an issue obviously in football there is an issue in society where we feel it’s acceptable basically to criticise players for sporting actions because of the colour of their skin.”
Mercer
Johnny Mercer became the latest Conservative petition to speak out about the party’s role in stoking the fire in Britain’s culture war on the back of the accusations, backing Mings’ criticism of Priti Patel and saying he can’t stay silent on the matter.
Baroness Warsi also spoke out, calling on her Conservative colleagues to consider their role in feeding racism in the UK, saying:
“If we “whistle” and the ”dog” reacts we can’t be shocked if it barks and bites.
“It’s time to stop the culture wars that are feeding division. Dog whistles win votes but destroy nations.”
Polls
Luckily for the Tories, neither controversy seems to have impacted their standings in the polls.
Indeed, they have improved their numbers, as Labour’s chase is slashed by three percentage points.
Westminster voting intention:
— Britain Elects (@BritainElects) July 13, 2021
CON: 43% (+2)
LAB: 32% (-3)
LDEM: 9% (-1)
GRN: 6% (+1)
via @Survation , 05 – 13 Jul
Chgs. w/ 26 Jun