19 of the worst things the Tories have done this year (so far)

2023 has barely begun but the Tory government is already doing the most to mess it up.

While their intentions are doubtless good, over the last few weeks we've seen silly policy suggestions, strikes, no sign of the cost of living crisis abating and behaviour from MPs that is enough to make you gasp.

It's not ideal, to put it mildly, but the onslaught of bad news may soon turn voters off the party - even if they are rumoured to get tax breaks (more on that later).

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So - if you can stomach it - fasten yourself in and learn more about what the last few weeks of politics have done for Britain.

1. Rishi Sunak's maths policy fails to add up

The new year started and the prime minister excitedly announced he had a new policy to kick things off with a bang. What could it be? An improved NHS? A solution to the cost of living crisis?

Ah, no.

Sunak's big idea is that he'd quite like everyone to study maths until they are 18. Currently, people are subjected to the subject until they are 16.

Talk about tidying deckchairs on the Titanic...

2. And his big first speech of the year doesn't excite

With that policy going down like a cup of sick, he made a speech to set out his big vision for the year ahead. But it didn't go down any better and people were pretty unimpressed with his vague promises about economic growth and reducing debt.

3. Nadhim Zahawi shoots himself in the foot

The prime minister was attracting criticism, then, so Zahawi took one for the team and turned attention towards him instead when he criticised Labour leader Keir Starmer for "rebranding" by appearing to purport slightly different political views in his own new year speech.

The problem? Zahawi himself "rebranded" several times this year when he initially backed Boris Johnson to return as leader of the Tory party when Liz Truss resigned, only for Johnson to pull out of the race and for Zahawi to then announce he was backing Sunak instead.

Those in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones but we would soon learn that this was the least of Zahawi's problems this year...

4. Prime minister's healthcare comes under scrutiny

Particularly because if you throw stones they might hit someone and they might get injured and have to go to the hospital. This clumsy segue brings us back to Sunak and his healthcare arrangements which made headlines throughout January.

The PM refused to confirm or deny whether he used private healthcare as the NHS stumbled along until he awkwardly admitted his past use of private healthcare during the first session of PMQs this year.

People were pretty peeved about him dodging the questions initially, and being responsible for running a health service but appearing to not think it is good enough for him to use himself isn't a great look.

5. Nadine Dorries mocks random Twitter user

While Sunak was defending his healthcare, backbencher Nadine Dorries was doing what she loves best - fighting with random people on Twitter.

The former culture secretary couldn't help herself when she was criticised by a user of the social media platform and rather than engage appropriately, she mocked him for having 15 followers.

In doing so, she amplified the account which now has over 48,000 followers at the time of writing.

Swing and a miss.

6. MP chews on his nails during key speech

Another member of the Tory party doing his best to keep up his own personal PR is Jonathan Gullis who guzzled on his nails and fingers during a speech last week. Safe to say it revolted people on social media.

7. Sunak flies a very short distance

People were also annoyed at the prime minister (again) because he chose to fly to Leeds for a healthcare visit rather than take the train.

Not the best use of taxpayers' money, and not the best decision for the environment...

8. Partygate rears its ugly head again

However, Sunak taking a plane definitely didn't cause as much of a scandal as Partygate which still keeps making headlines as fresh allegations about Boris Johnson's conduct during the infamous Downing Street events recently emerged.

The then prime minister joked to Downing Street staff “this is the most unsocially distanced party in the UK right now”, during a boozy Number 10 leaving do, ITV claimed.

9. Tory MP makes unacceptable vaccine comments

Covid caused an MP to become unstuck for another reason recently. Andrew Bridgen lost his whip because of comments he made about coronavirus and the Holocaust - of all things to compare.

He tweeted that the Covid vaccine is “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”.

Simon Hart, the government’s chief whip, said Bridgen had “crossed a line” which caused “great offence in the process”.

“As a nation, we should be very proud of what has been achieved through the vaccine programme. The vaccine is the best defence against Covid that we have.

“Misinformation about the vaccine causes harm and costs lives. I am therefore removing the whip from Andrew Bridgen with immediate effect, pending a formal investigation.”

10. Lee Anderson puts his foot in it again

Anderson is another plonker in the party who could do with having his whip removed for the mere crime of winding everyone up the whole time. Despite earning the moniker "30p Lee" because of previous bad takes about the cost of living crisis, Anderson shared a picture of a value pack of ‘wheat biscuits’ cereal from Tesco on Twitter, seemingly in a bid to show how easy it is to eat for cheap during the cost of living crisis.

“Again for the doubters,” he wrote.

“6p each, just chuck on 10p worth of milk. Milk at Tesco £1.65 for 4 pints. Wait for the denial.”

Later in January, he put his foot in it AGAIN by using a member of his staff to make a political point.

11. Tories float the worst policy proposal ever

With the maths policy failing to excite voters, Sunak went back to the drawing board and it was reported that the treasury is considering a scheme to give over 50s tax breaks if they return to work.

A senior government source reportedly told The Times, who first reported the news: "The biggest challenge we are facing is how to get people back into the workforce.

"There’s a discussion in the Treasury about how to use the tax system, whether people could be given a bigger tax allowance during the first few years they are back in work."

Because older people don't get enough perks...

12. Suella Braverman's terrible choice of words

Never one to shy away from a PR disaster, Braverman attracted criticism after she had a tense interaction with a survivor of the Holocaust who challenged her on her language used around immigration.

Back in October Braverman was accused of “putting lives at risk” with claims of a “migrant invasion” – especially given there was a firebomb attack on a Dover immigration centre the day before.

"When I hear you using words against refugees like ‘swarms’ and an ‘invasion’, I am reminded of the language used to dehumanise and justify the murder of my family, and millions of others," the unnamed woman said.

“Why do you find the need to use that kind of language?” she asked.

Braverman responded by saying she “won’t apologise for the language that I’ve used” to “demonstrate the scale of the problem” around immigration.

And footage of the conversation circulated on Twitter, with people condemning Braverman for her choice of language

13. Zahawi's tax affairs give everyone a headache

Zahawi again and what a pickle he's in. It all started after sources reportedly speaking to the Sun on Sunday, said the former chancellor has agreed to pay several million pounds in tax to the authorities after a dispute over his use of an offshore company to hold shares in the polling firm YouGov.

The more than £20m shares were held through Balshore Investments, a Gibraltar-registered family trust, from which he has previously denied benefiting, and sold by 2018 to an unknown recipient.

Zahawi confirmed he had made a payment to settle a dispute with HMRC but didn't say how much he coughed up.

Since then, the row has grown and Sunak has asked his independent ethics adviser to look into Zahawi's tax affairs, saying there were "questions that need answering" over the case.

14. Tory MP's food bank comments leave people reeling

Gareth Bacon was the latest politician to come out with divisive rhetoric about food bank users in January.

Speaking on Politics Live, when asked to explain reports that working people use the services, he said: "People will say they don't have enough money but... sometimes people will have to look at how they manage their personal finances and there's nothing wrong in that, that is not in anyway a criticism of anyone and it's not patronising to say so."

"People have to look after their personal finances, that's perfectly true," he added.

15. Sunak gets punished by the police... again

Not content with getting a fixed penalty notice for his role in Partygate, the prime minister found himself in trouble with the police in January when he was filmed in a car not wearing a seatbelt.

"After looking into this matter, we have today (Friday, January 20th) issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty,” the force said in a statement.

The PM’s spokesman, meanwhile, said it was a “mistake”.

16. And Boris Johnson gets in trouble too

The former prime minister isn't doing much better either. Boris Johnson has found himself under fire over a report in The Times that he recommended Tory donor and ex-Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp for the role of BBC chairman while PM after he helped Mr Johnson with arranging a loan guarantee.

The BBC said it “plays no involvement in the recruitment of the chair”, Sharp said “there is not a conflict” and a spokesperson for Johnson branded the allegations as “rubbish”.

17. Liz Truss spends public money really wisely

And let us not forget the in-between PM, Liz Truss, either. We learnt that the podium she used to deliver speeches during her short stint in Downing Street cost taxpayers £4,175.

Money well spent...

18. More Dominic Raab bullying allegations emerge

Adding to reports last year about the MP's behaviour, further reports have emerged that claim Raab has been the subject of formal bullying complaints by at least 24 civil servants.

19. Tory MP makes tasteless comments about asylum-seeking children

Nail-guzzling Gullis returned to the news at the end of January for making a pretty grim comment about missing asylum-seeking children.

During PMQs, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq raised a query after it was revealed 200 children have gone missing from Home Office hotels.

She asked Sunak: "Ministers have admitted that they no idea of the whereabouts of these children. Does he still think the UK is a safe haven for vulnerable children?”

Gullis heckled in response: "well they shouldn't have come here illegally."

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