Cast your mind back four years to spring 2019. Prime Minister Theresa May has been drained of almost all authority after failing repeatedly to get her Brexit deal through a divided parliament. In news coverage of the Westminster drama, one acronym keeps popping up: ERG – the European Research Group, the hardline, eurosceptic faction of the Conservative Party. In the hung parliament of 2017-19, they had outsized power and influence, eventually bringing down Theresa May and replacing her with Boris Johnson, achieving an almost mythical status within the party.
Now things are very different. The ERG’s most recent rebellion flopped and its would-be leadership contender is all but finished. In this week’s Slow Newscast, Tortoise’s political editor Cat Neilan tells the story of the ERG’s decline. Listen to ‘Yesterday’s Men: The Brexit hardliners’ last stand’ on the Tortoise website or in our app today.
Tomorrow at 6.30pm London time we’re asking what more the West can do to isolate Russia commercially, financially and culturally and punish Vladimir Putin for his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Then on Thursday evening it’s Tortoise Lates: Truth. Tickets have now sold out, but let us know if you’d like to be put on the waiting list. The evening’s events will be available to watch on YouTube shortly after.
Have a great week,
James Wilson
Assistant Editor