Time to take the gloves off, Rishi! We need a fighter

THIS week sees Rishi Sunak mark his 100th day as Prime Minister. Given the disastrous mess he inherited from his predecessor Liz Truss, the arrival of the milestone could be counted as some kind of achievement.

- Leo McKinstry

But there will be no celebrations in Downing Street. Sunak may have survived but he has not flourished. His leadership remains dangerously vulnerable, his party deeply unpopular.

Amid continuing economic malaise, the Tories now consistently languish at least 20 points behind Labour. Fearful of a landslide defeat and fatigued after almost 13 consecutive years in office, his MPs are in a sullen, fractious mood.

The sense of crisis is exacerbated by the stench of sleaze that hangs over the Government. A relentless series of scandals, such as the epic fraud in the supply of protective equipment during the Covid pandemic, feeds the negative image of the Conservatives as driven by greed, insulated by wealth and devoid of integrity.

Only yesterday, the Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi was forced out of his post after a damning report into his tax affairs from Sir Laurie Magnus, Number 10’s new ethics adviser.

FOLLOWING explosive allegations that Zahawi had been required to pay a £1million fine to the tax authorities in addition to an outstanding £4.8million bill, Sir Laurie’s investigation found the party chairman was guilty “of a serious failure to meet” the standards required of Ministers.