It’s hard these days being a teller of truths. So many of the leading lights in British broadcasting have found in recent years that they’re unable to do so in the less-than-lucrative halls of the BBC. Among those who have joined the exodus from the Corporation in recent years was Jon Sopel, who left in early 2022 to take up a role at Global with Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall. There the trio fearlessly dissect issues on which they all agree, on the wildly successful News Agents podcast.

Yet in his haste to stick it to Sunak on the Rwanda Bill, it seems that Sopel has blundered quite spectacularly. Following the Prime Minister’s press conference this morning, in which Sunak turned his guns on Labour peers in the Upper House, Sopel sneered that:

Given Tory majority in House of Lords bit rich for Rishi Sunak to blame Labour for delay to passing #Rwanda Bill. It’s because so many on his own side and crossbenchers reject the legislation

Unfortunately for the former Corporation man, the Tories do not, in fact, have a majority in the second chamber. There are in fact just 277 Conservative peers out of a total of 788 listed on the House of Lords website – or 35 per cent of those who can currently vote. So from where did Sopel obtain his misinformation? Perhaps the fanatically pro-European ‘Best for Britain’ campaign, whose content he shared earlier.

As Lyndon Johnson said, the first rule of politics is to learn to count.

QOSHE - Jon Sopel’s Rwanda Bill blunder - Steerpike
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Jon Sopel’s Rwanda Bill blunder

14 25
22.04.2024

It’s hard these days being a teller of truths. So many of the leading lights in British broadcasting have found in recent years that they’re unable to do so in the less-than-lucrative halls of the BBC. Among those who have joined the exodus from the Corporation in recent years was Jon Sopel, who left in early 2022 to take up a role at Global with Emily Maitlis and........

© The Spectator


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