The latest Conservative attempts to pin the blame for asylum freebies on Labour have instead sparked a bout of Tory infighting.
Leaked messages from the all Tory MP WhatsApp group revealed private anger after the official Conservatives X account posted:
Within hours one MP said the perks “have our fingerprints all over them” and branded CCHQ’s communications “piss-poor”, while another claimed the tweet made the party “look silly”.
Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake admitted migration failures and that he had spoken to Tory staff about the post, but said it wouldn’t be taken down.
Lewis Cocking, the new MP for Broxbourne, wrote bluntly: “This makes us look silly as we gave them all this too which is why we are in the mess we are in today. Completely unacceptable – they should be put in detention centres and deported.”
It prompted a series of shadow ministers to signal their support, with Alicia Kearns, Andrew Rosindell and Paul Holmes, all responding with a thumbs up emoji.
Mr Hollinrake replied: “Agreed. Do message me directly with anything [sic] other ads of concern.”
Ben Obese-Jecty, another 2024 intake MP, piled in by sharing Nigel Farage’s gleeful repost of the Tory graphic – “they should be in hiding” – and added drily, “as predicted.” For Tory MPs nervously eyeing Reform’s polling, the episode is further proof that muddled messaging risks strengthening their rival rather than weakening Labour.
Cocking, pushing for the original post to be taken down, pointed out why it’s especially toxic: “Well I did say and no one seems to listen. I have an asylum hotel and the community is ripping itself apart and it’s okay for everyone that doesn’t. We did this and we must come up with a policy that solves it.” Rosindell, along with fellow 2024 intake MP Peter Bedford, liked the message.
But the party chairman claimed it would be “counterproductive” to remove the post, although he had “spoken to the team about it” and accepted that the message should have been better framed.
“It’s a fine line really,” he told colleagues, “as we’re saying that we’d do stuff now that we didn’t do before on the basis of ‘under new leadership'”.
Obese-Jecty pointed out the obvious flaw: many of the policies being attacked were introduced and maintained under Conservative governments – and still the party has not pledged to scrap housing and food provision, ASPEN cards and access to food banks.
“Most of those perks are ridiculous but some of them have been in place for years and have our fingerprints all over them, so why are we trying to pin them on Labour who can easily point that out?” he asked. “Why would anyone believe we’d scrap them now unless we explicitly state how we would?”
There was some agreement though, over the post not being deleted retrospectively – but only in the sense that it is symptomatic of a bigger problem. “I agree that the tweet can’t be removed, that dinghy has sailed, but it’s yet another example of piss-poor comms from CCHQ that cause unnecessary media embarrassment. This isn’t the first time it’s been raised,” Obese-Jecty added.
Hollinrake’s intervention to CCHQ and attempts to calm tempers suggests an acknowledgement that the party’s attack lines on asylum will have to be re-written – not least because so many of the policies they are attacking can be traced back to successive Tory governments.
But the exchange reveals just how fraught the debate has become inside the party. MPs in seats hosting asylum hotels feel the pressure most acutely, and want actual pledges on detention and deportation. Others fear the credibility gap: after 14 years in power, can the Tories really re-brand as the party to end asylum perks?
This is the dilemma Badenoch’s party is struggling to resolve. Every tough line risks being undercut by the fact of the Conservatives own government policies. Every vague slogan is mocked by Farage as evidence that the Tories aren’t serious.
A Conservative spokesman told ConservativeHome: “Kemi Badenoch has been clear that under her leadership this is a changed Conservative Party.
“She has set out where we failed on immigration, and delivered bold new plans to set it right including our Deportation Bill which would take back control of our borders.
“We will continue to hold Labour to account for their total failure to tackle the small boats crisis.”
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