UK Parliament is awash with rumours about a sudden election. Election timing is in the gift of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the rumour mongers say that it could come in weeks.
That’s because the governing Conservative party expects terrible results in local government elections across England and Wales on Thursday. Mr Sunak as party leader will be blamed. Even if the idea of an immediate election is wrong – and Mr Sunak himself possibly has not made up his mind – many Conservative MPs are already choosing to jump before they are pushed out by voters.
One MP, Dan Poulter, has quit to join the opposition Labour party, saying that the Conservatives nowadays are a “nationalist party of the right”.
Another MP, Mark Menzies, is embroiled in a sex scandal, details of which are best avoided. What we can say is that Mr Menzies allegedly called an elderly party member at 3am demanding £5,000 (almost $6,300) as a matter of “life and death” because he claimed he needed to pay some “bad people”.
Yet another Conservative MP, William Wragg, was publicly disgraced after admitting that he sent a compromising picture of himself to a stranger on a dating site. This bizarre conduct came from a 36-year-old legislator who calls himself a “Commonsense Conservative”. The unidentified stranger then demanded that Mr Wragg hand over contact details of other MPs. Astonishingly, the “Commonsense Conservative” did as he was instructed.
Beyond these two most recent scandals, a total of nearly 20 Conservative MPs have had the party whip withdrawn. They can sit in Parliament as “independents”, or in Mr Poulter’s case, as a Labour MP, until the general election, and then seek job opportunities perhaps more in tune with their talents.
History suggests that those who wield the knife seldom end up wearing the crown
Beyond scandals and defections, the list of current Tory MPs quitting politics now stretches to more than 60. The mood in the party is funereal. It adds up to about one in six sitting Conservative MPs who no longer wish to, or feel able to, face the voters again.
Politically, the Sunak government appears like The Walking Dead, struggling to find any compelling issue to turn things around. And so why, therefore, amid all this turmoil, might Mr Sunak call, or threaten to call, a general election?
Some believe he understands that things will only get worse if he drags out his time in Downing Street. A more likely possibility is that Mr Sunak knows that rumours of an imminent general election will scare fellow MPs into falling into line and cease their plotting against him.
Yet another party leader being forced out – the UK has had five Tory prime ministers since 2016 – might seem crazy, but that is an adequate description of post-Brexit politics. At least three leading MPs – Penny Mordaunt, Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel – are thought to be positioning themselves for a leadership challenge at some point.
This idea may be energised if Thursday’s local government election results are as bad as predicted.
Those three possible contenders deny plotting. Ambitious politicians always do. But my guess – and it is only a guess – is that Mr Sunak is happy for rumours of a snap election to circulate because fear of a humiliating sudden defeat at the hands of voters will scare his party rebels into silence.
And plotters need to take care. History suggests that those who wield the knife seldom end up wearing the crown.
Mr Sunak’s plan, however, is clearly subject to change by events. For now, it appears he wishes to hang on, as he insists, calling an election only in the second half of 2024. November is mentioned as a possible date. But delay brings with it other problems. A November general election campaign would then coincide with the predictable turmoil of the presidential contest in the US.
The idea of two of the biggest members in Nato simultaneously enduring turbulent elections and potential changes of leadership while conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are unresolved does not seem wise. Perhaps Mr Sunak should quell the speculation by learning from a previous prime minister, Labour’s Harold Wilson, in the 1970s.
Faced with plotters in his own party, Mr Wilson offered a joke, while making a very serious point: “Let me say, I know what is going on ... I am going on. Your government is going on.” But Mr Wilson had a mandate from voters. As party leader, he led Labour to general election victories.
Mr Sunak has never won a general election as party leader. He’s an accidental Prime Minister, not in Downing Street because he is popular across the UK, but because the 2016 Brexit vote divided the country and also divided his party. The moderates – those who used to be called “One Nation Conservatives”, such as David Cameron – lost. The more radical right-wing free marketeers, ideologues and odd-balls such as Boris Johnson rose to the top.
Conservatives used to claim that their secret weapon was party loyalty. Their real secret weapon is actually ruthlessness. We may see that in action very soon.
The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The%20specs
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
THE BIO
Family: I have three siblings, one older brother (age 25) and two younger sisters, 20 and 13
Favourite book: Asking for my favourite book has to be one of the hardest questions. However a current favourite would be Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier
Favourite place to travel to: Any walkable city. I also love nature and wildlife
What do you love eating or cooking: I’m constantly in the kitchen. Ever since I changed the way I eat I enjoy choosing and creating what goes into my body. However, nothing can top home cooked food from my parents.
Favorite place to go in the UAE: A quiet beach.
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
Mental%20health%20support%20in%20the%20UAE
%3Cp%3E%E2%97%8F%20Estijaba%20helpline%3A%208001717%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Ministry%20of%20Health%20and%20Prevention%20hotline%3A%20045192519%3Cbr%3E%E2%97%8F%20UAE%20Mental%20health%20support%20line%3A%20800%204673%20(Hope)%3Cbr%3EMore%20information%20at%20hope.hw.gov.ae%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Results
UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets
Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey
7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The specs: 2018 Renault Koleos
Price, base: From Dh77,900
Engine: 2.5L, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Power: 170hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 233Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.3L / 100km
