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Lord Pickles says it's 'delicious' Priti Patel is Home Secretary
CFI chair - and former Tory Party chair - predicts late November election
October 2, 2019 13:40
CFI chair - and former Tory Party chair - predicts late November election
October 2, 2019 13:40Lord Pickles has said Boris Johnson’s government represents “one of the most pro-Israeli administrations we have ever had” and praised the "delicious" appointment of Priti Patel as Home Secretary.
The Conservative Friends of Israel’s chairman told the JC praised Tory ministers such as Sajid Javid and Dominic Raab as “absolutely solid” over the support for the Jewish state, but reserved special praise for Ms Patel’s return into “a top job.”
He said: "For those of us who have been fans of Priti for a long time there has been a delicious feeling of how wonderful it is to see her return to government as Home Secretary.
“When she left the last government I thought it was a sign they were starting to crumble. I feel a lot safer in my bed knowing she is in charge of law and order.”
Saying there has been a “high bar” of Conservative governments' expressing pro-Israeli views, Lord Pickles revealed he intended to use CFI’s influence with Mr Johnson’s administration to “look at our aid budget” particularly with relation to money reaching the Palestinian authorities.
“I want to see money poured into Palestinian organisations, into education – but I want to see that it’s going there,” he said. “And that it’s not being used to fund terrorism and is not being used to pay for the wellbeing of murderers.
“The problems raised over UNRWA and the way it distributes its funds are legitimate concerns. We do need to see fundamental reform.”
Speaking to the JC with the Manchester Convention arena staging this year’s Tory Conference, Lord Pickles accepted that an immediate priority was the “enormous external threat” posed by a Labour Party led by “someone who is soft on antisemitism.”
He added: "We are very close to a general election at which we face an enormous constitutional change. There is a lot at stake.
“The anticipation is that we will be fighting an election sometime towards the end of November.
“I think this is without doubt the most useless pointless parliament we’ve had.
“It’s like a bored a teenager. I don’t like this, I don’t like that. It can’t come to a decision. It’s serving no function – and I think it’s about time we put it back to the British people.”
Lord Pickles, who is also a Special Envoy For Post-Holocaust Issues, said “constant vigilance” was needed regarding not only Mr Corbyn but also his likely successor.
He said he believed Mr Corbyn would not continue as leader for too much longer but said we would then have “a new acceptable face of soft on antisemitism from the Labour Party”.
Lord Pickles ruled out the possibility of a government of national unity to replace Mr Johnson, saying: “I don’t see the possibility of the Liberals putting Jeremy Corbyn into No 10.
“We would slaughter them at the polls, they would be lucky to retain a single seat if they did that.”
Similarly, he argued that Labour would not to put Harriet Harmen or Ken Clarke up as a temporary leader. “That would be like saying yes we would still like you to vote for Corbyn as PM – but not quite yet.”
On Tuesday night CFI held its annual reception at the Tory Party’s gathering. Lord Pickles was joined by a host of senior ministers including chancellor Mr Javid, Environment Minister Theresa Villiers and the Home Secretary Ms Patel.
Queues stretched around the block as Tory activists attempted to gain entry to the event – which is always one of the most popular at the party’s conference.
