Tory infighting breaks out after former minister calls on Sunak to go with Labour saying it’s ‘like an episode of The Traitors’
Senior Tories have lashed out at a “reckless and selfish” former minister after he called on Rishi Sunak to step down to avoid being “massacred” at the election.
Former ministers urged colleagues to put their duty to the country ahead of “tribalism” following a challenge to the prime minister launched by Sir Simon Clarke.
While Sir Simon appears to be a lone voice at the moment, the infighting has been likened to an episode of BBC’s hit psychological reality show The Traitors – in which traitors must be rooted out and “banished” by faithfuls.
Politics Live: Tory infighting breaks out after Rishi Sunak faces call to quit
Writing in The Telegraph, the former levelling up secretary insisted “extinction is a very real possibility” for the party if Mr Sunak leads it into the election this year.
However former defence minister Tobias Ellwood told Sky News: “It’s not only dangerous, reckless, selfish, it’s also defeatist because what the electorate want to see, they want to see leadership, they want to see a good manifesto within it, but they also want to see unity.
“That is what will win a general election. And to do this months away from the next general election is absolutely shocking.”
Mr Ellwood was the latest senior figure to join the pile on, with many Conservatives coming out last night and this morning to criticise their colleague.
Claudia Winkleman hosts The Traitors. Pic: BBC/David Emery
Home Secretary James Cleverly said it would be “foolish” to have further dissent within the party, arguing that it would leave the door open to Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer.
Former Brexit secretary Sir David Davis said: “The party and the country are sick and tired of MPs putting their own leadership ambitions ahead of the UK’s best interests.”
Former home secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Engaging in facile and divisive self indulgence only serves our opponents, it’s time to unite and get on with the job.”
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Former prime minister Liz Truss, who gave Sir Simon a cabinet position after he backed her leadership bid, also does not back his intervention, it is understood.
However a Tory source told our political editor Beth Rigby that Sir Simon is only saying “what everyone knows but won’t say out loud” and “scores of MPs privately agree”.
And a senior MP on the right of the party has also said that two by-elections next month could be a “watershed moment”, adding: “If we get slaughtered, the herd might well panic.”
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Will Rishi Sunak meet his five election pledges?
Sir Keir Starmer seized on the divisions during PMQS, saying the Tories were “fighting each other to death” and calling it “the longest episode of Eastenders ever put to film”.
Lucy Powell, the shadow leader of the House of Commons, earlier compared the row to “an episode of The Traitors”, telling Sky News: “I can’t keep up with who’s a ‘traitor’ and who’s a ‘faithful’ and who is going to be ‘banished’ and who isn’t.”
Sir Simon’s intervention comes amid a number of struggles for the prime minister, including falling approval ratings and unhappiness within his party over the stalled Rwanda deportation plan for asylum seekers.
Last week he was one of 11 Conservative MPs to vote against Mr Sunak’s bill to revive the scheme. Dame Andrea Jenkyns, one of the other rebels, has previously called for the prime minister to go and told Sky News on Monday she stood by that view.
Meanwhile, a Tory rebel source said that “several” letters of no confidence in Mr Sunak had now been submitted. A minimum of 53 would need to be sent in to trigger a leadership contest.
But former deputy chairman Lee Anderson, who resigned in protest over the Rwanda bill last week, played down reports Mr Sunak could be replaced before the next election.
Postal minister Kevin Hollingrake also denied there was a “plot” to oust him, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the party is united “in many aspects”.
Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.
As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.
The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.
Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
Politics
Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands
Small boat crossings have passed 10,000 in 2025 at the earliest point in a year since records began, Sky News understands.
Analysis of previous Home Office numbers and footage of people arriving today show the number of people crossing the Channel continuing to rise.
The issue has become a lodestone for political parties across the spectrum, with Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “Stop The Boats” falling well short.
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Sir Keir Starmer promised to clear the backlog of asylum applications and “Smash The Gangs” of people smugglers upstream, but critics say he has failed to do this almost a year into his stint in Number Ten.
Reform’s Nigel Farage has made the issue key to his party’s pitch to voters.
The 10,000 figure is understood to have been passed on 28 April. Official figures only go until 27 April at the time of writing, with 9,885 people detected crossing the Channel by the UK government at this point
This compares to 7,167 by the same date in 2024, 5,745 in 2023, 5,352 in 2022, and 1,796 in 2021. Data only started to get collected in 2018, and for the first three years fewer than 1,000 people were observed crossing the Channel before 28 April.
Fine weather conditions are known to lead to an increase in people crossing the Channel, with some efforts earlier this year stymied by heavy winds.
Sir Keir scrapped the Conservative’s Rwanda deportation plan when entering office. In March, the prime minister said his government had “returned” 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK.
Read more:
Why more people cross on the weekend?
Gusty conditions halt small boat crossings
Starmer: 24,000 people returned
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Britain’s borders are being torn apart under Labour. This year is already the worst on record for small boat crossings after over 10,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain, but Labour just sit on their hands.
“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even started, flung open the door to extremists and criminals, and handed the bill to hardworking taxpayers.
“Under new Conservative leadership, we are serious about tackling this crisis with deliverable reforms, but Labour continue to block these at every turn. Labour’s open-door chaos is a betrayal of the British people, and we will not let them get away with it.”
Mr Philp was part of previous Conservative governments, which also failed to reduce crossings.
Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Farage said: “If this carries on at this rate, by the end of this Labour government another quarter of a million people will have come into this country, many of whom frankly don’t fit our culture or cost us a fortune.”
He claimed that Reform is “the only party” saying that “unless you deport those that come illegally, they will just continue to come”.
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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.
“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.
“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security and Asylum Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”
The Stacks Asia DLT Foundation has become the first Bitcoin-based organization to establish an official presence in the Middle East, aiming to promote institutional Bitcoin adoption through expanded educational initiatives.
Stacks Asia has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — one of the world’s fastest-growing financial centers — in a move that could boost the adoption of its Bitcoin (BTC) layer-2 (L2) solution in the Middle East and Asia.
The new partnership will play a “pivotal role” in shaping the future of Bitcoin’s “programmability and adoption” in these regions through educational programs and support for Bitcoin builders, according to an April 28 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
Through the collaboration, Stacks and the ADGM aim to make it easier for institutions and investors to participate in the growing Bitcoin economy and help set “new standards for regulatory clarity and technical growth” for the rising global Bitcoin capital, according to Kyle Ellicott, executive director at Stacks Asia DLT Foundation.
Related: Crypto options desk QCP Capital wins Abu Dhabi license: Report
“Stacks and ADGM are a powerful combination for accelerating Bitcoin adoption across the Middle East and Asia,” Ellicott told Cointelegraph, adding:
“ADGM has established itself as a world-class global financial hub at the heart of the United Arab Emirates, known as the ‘Capitol of Capital,’ where capital and innovation are brought together to shape the future financial landscape.”
“We’ll be working to enable the launch of educational programs, regional developer communities, and create opportunities for the real-world adoption of Bitcoin-powered applications,” he said.
Starting in May, the foundation will host a series of live and virtual events to “empower institutions” with the knowledge to integrate Bitcoin into their operations and learn about the “opportunity of productive Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott added.
Related: Nomura crypto arm Laser Digital bags Abu Dhabi license
Stacks Foundation pushing for a “progressive” regulatory environment worldwide
As the leading Bitcoin scalability solution, Stacks is also pushing for progressive global regulations that will cement Bitcoin’s role in the future of the financial landscape.
“We’re not just focused locally — our team is engaged in global conversations, advocating for frameworks that balance decentralization, security, innovation, and compliance surrounding the unlocking of Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott said.
A key part of the strategy involves knowledge sharing with local regulatory bodies to build understanding among government officials about Bitcoin’s characteristics and potential economic impact.
The foundation is also developing the Bitcoin Capital Activation Framework, described as a comprehensive policy blueprint to help regulators enable Bitcoin utility in their jurisdictions.
The Stacks Foundation will also launch the Bitcoin Policy Bridge in May, a working group uniting regulators from all key jurisdictions across the Middle East and Asia.
In February, ADGM signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to advance the development of distributed ledger technology.
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