Could the Scottish Conservatives’ party conference have been timed any better than bang in the middle of the SNP’s implosion? Mr S can only imagine the glee with which Douglas Ross’s party planned its 2023 Glasgow conference, the country’s ruling party having handed their opponents an entire dossier of material to orchestrate their ousting. And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak even managed to fly up from Westminster to help open the two-day affair.
The PM didn’t disappoint the crowds: Sunak milked the nationalists’ downfall for all the comedic value it was worth. ‘Nicola Sturgeon quit Bute House to take up driving lessons!’ he called in faux bemusement at his 300-something audience. ‘Someone’s got to drive that motorhome, after all,’ he quipped.
But while Mr Sunak enthusiastically lauded the SNP as ‘the party of secrets and lies’, his attitude to the free press this morning left a lot to be desired. For it transpired that No. 10 had decided to fiercely dilute the press briefing that followed the PM’s speech. Selective invites were sent around to a mere six ‘centre-right’ papers and, at the last minute, PA – much to the visible outrage of every other journalist there. So much for transparency…
Far from being the quiet, civilised gathering the PM had envisaged, the scheduled meet quickly spiralled out of control. Running past agitated staffers, something of a stampede ensued. Scottish Tory party staff quickly relented on previous instructions: all print journalists could be present but questions were limited and broadcasters needed to leave. The staffers stormed back into the room ten minutes later: no, in fact there would not be time for a print press gathering – but the cameras could get a quick clip of Sunak. The reporters pushed back: if the PM was going to restrict media access then the media would simply boycott him. Talk about a kerfuffle – Mr S has never seen scenes quite like it.
When Rishi Sunak did eventually sit down with reporters, the Prime Minister decided, when questioned, that the best course of action was to deny there had ever been a problem in the first place. ‘Your government [has been] trying to restrict access to you. Why did you try and only speak to a number of hand-picked journalists?’
‘That is absolutely not my understanding of what’s happened,’ Sunak bumbled, perhaps forgetting he was speaking to the journalists who had witnessed the entire thing. ‘That’s completely wrong. Just, just completely wrong.’
But perhaps the PM got the last laugh, as the presser revealed, er, not very much. Deflecting lines of questions on the Richard Sharp report, harking back to the cost of living crisis and telling reporters to watch yesterday’s BBC interview, Sunak kept tight-lipped.
So far, the Scottish Conservatives conference has felt only a little underwhelming. Still, with another day and a half left, the only way is up, eh?
Comments