Madhan Street reflects on the language used to talk about Robert Jenrick’s defection and Dr Anthony Isaacs calls for cooperation to counter a Conservative/Reform alliance It was striking to read about Kemi Badenoch’s dismissal of Robert Jenrick from the Conservative party, which included quotes attributed to Westminster insiders ( ‘Not so clever after all’: how Robert Jenrick was ejected before he defected, 15 January ). “We knew we had to act immediately. If we challenged him first, there was a risk of him going straight out and doing it anyway”; “Badenoch left it to her chief whip, Rebecca Harris, to phone Jenrick, a move which one ally described as ‘delicious’”; “Jenrick’s clever-dick people, they’re not so clever after all”; “She’s blown him up with his own grenade, very decisive, no pissing about, fair play to her”. Continue reading...