Sir Keir Starmer has asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down as shadow education secretary after she retweeted an article in which actress Maxine Peake claimed US police responsible for the death of George Floyd learned their tactics from seminars with Israeli forces.
Meanwhile, the Labour leader suggested Boris Johnson‘s judgement is now “in issue” after backing housing secretary Robert Jenrick, who faces calls to resign after releasing communications pertaining to his approval of a £1bn property development involving Tory donor Richard Desmond.
The 129-page bundle of documents concerning the Westferry Printworks site indicated that Mr Jenrick had personally sought to rush the project through, saving the former Daily Express owner millions in extra taxes in the form of a new Community Infrastructure Levy. While texts show Mr Desmond told the minister to act so that “Marxists” did not get “doe [sic] for nothing”, former Tower Hamlets council leader Andrew Wood has warned that “more will come out” yet.
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It came as several councils across England, including those in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Wiltshire, warned they face effective bankruptcy, urging rapid government intervention, with Liverpool’s mayors describing a “profound crisis” ahead, having previously complained the government’s emergency pandemic funding favoured affluent areas.
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“They are going to get even more difficult on 4 July when the lockdown is eased even further and that’s a big concern to me and policing, and it should be for the NHS and wider because to ease the lockdown – which I completely understand, businesses have to survive and the economy must grow and I accept that – but to announce this easing of lockdown on a Saturday has created almost a countdown to carnival.
“I am deeply concerned we are going to see real big problems on that day when people are trying to get into pubs and bars and restaurants, drinking – alcohol causes an awful lot of problems for us to have to try and pick up the pieces.
“This is on top of the frustration that people are feeling. It is a perfect storm but not in a good way, I have to say.”
A Labour Party spokesperson has said Rebecca Long-Bailey has been sacked from the shadow cabinet after she shared an article containing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, Lizzy Buchan and Ashley Cowburn report.
In a dramatic move, Sir Keir Starmer asked his former leadership rival to step down as shadow education secretary for retweeting an interview with the actress Maxine Peake, in which the actress claimed US police responsible for the death of George Floyd had learned their tactics from seminars with Israeli forces.
The Labour frontbencher shared The Independent article, describing the 45-year-old actress, who was a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn during his leadership of the Labour Party, as an “absolute diamond”.
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said: “This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the Shadow Cabinet. The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
“As Leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it.”
While US law enforcement officials have received training from the Israeli military, there has been no suggestion that this training involved the tactics of kneeling on an individuals neck.
Andrew Wood, who resigned as Tory council leader in Tower Hamlets over Robert Jenrick’s handling of the Westferry project, suspects that “more will come out” on the controversy.
“I suspect there is more information not in the public domain that will hopefully come out … and the new information will make it look worse for him,” Mr Wood told LBC, alleging that that not all documents relating planning controversy have been released – only those that could be retrieved via freedom of information requests.
Claiming to have been one of the first to raise concerns, he added: “I was so shocked by [Mr Jenrick’s] decision and then the ramifications of it, avoidance of community infrastructure levy payment, so I knew that my position was not sustainable.”
He also dismissed claims earlier today by business minister Nadhim Zahawi that the project may not have been viable had the Community Infrastructure Levy had to have been paid – which released correspondence suggests Mr Jenrick sought to help developer Richard Desmond avoid having to pay.
“There is no mileage in that whatsoever because all of the expert evidence available,” Mr Wood said. “The officials working for the minister did a summary of the key issues on the site, they also recommended that the scheme be rejected as well, agreeing with the planning inspector. But not once in that document do they underline concerns of viability.”
He added: “The other interesting thing is there were other sites in the area that were approved last year that delivered 35 per cent affordable housing, that paid still and provided land for schools. But for some reason the Printworks site, although it does provide land for a school, can only deliver 21 per cent affordable housing.”
He said developer Richard Desmond originally offered 35 per cent affordable housing, and dropped it to 21 per cent last year, which he said the council estimated benefitted Mr Desmond by £45m.
“These were appalling scenes. Violence against the police will not be tolerated,” said the prime minister’s official spokesperson.
At least 22 police officers were injured, two of whom required hospital treatment, while four people have been arrested for assault and public order offences, the Metropolitan Police said, after officers moved to disperse a street party.
Several commenters pointed out a strong resemblance to the British Airways fleet.
His constituent, Andrew, had suggested “that we should hold a memorial event for health and social care workers which would take place in Whitehall, much like the events of Remembrance Sunday”.
He added: “I believe this proposal merits serious consideration too and should be taken forward.
“Ultimately, it is of the uttermost importance that this House pursues all avenues, including looking at pay and rewards, in recognising and rewarding the heroism of our health and social care workers, and the selflessness of those who have helped the NHS both in Rother Valley and across the United Kingdom.
“Without them, we would not have been able to pull through this crisis.”
MPs are debating calls to reward health and care workers on the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic following a petition which received nearly 300,000 signatures.
Commons e-petitions which gain over 100,000 signatures may be debated by MPs if they are selected by the Commons Petitions Select Committee.
Labour MP Catherine McKinnell said NHS workers needed a pay rise or for student debt to be written off following their contributions during the crisis.
Meanwhile, Meg Hillier, the Labour chairwoman of the Commons Public Affairs Select Committee, criticised suggestions that NHS staff could receive medals when the pandemic is over.
“Medals don’t put food on the table and there are many people working in our NHS and social care settings who work through agencies and are paid minimum wage or less,” Ms Hillier said.
Rail union leader warns of national strike over social distancing fears
A rail union leader has warned of the possibility of a national strike unless the government keeps social distancing at two metres across the transport network.
“I will now be consulting our members over balloting for a national strike on public transport,” Manuel Cortes, the TSSA’s general-secretary, said.
“We must protect transport workers and the travelling public should the government proceed with this reckless attempt to cut physical distancing to one metre early next month.”
MP expresses fears parliament restoration project could be ‘mothballed and scrapped’
An MP has expressed fears that parliament’s multi-billion pound restoration project could be “mothballed and scrapped” amid the coronavirus crisis.
Damian Hinds, a Conservative MP who speaks on behalf of the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body, said current plans meant MPs and peers would move out of the Palace of Westminster in the mid-2020s to enable the restoration and renewal works to take place.
It had been expected that a business case, with full details of plans and costings, would be approved by MPs in 2021 but the project is under review.
“Is it not the case that these plans are now effectively mothballed and scrapped, and that parliament is not going to proceed to full refurbishment as originally planned?” Ian Paisley, a DUP MP, asked.
Mr Paisley added: “If that is the case, what measures are going to be put in place to maintain this wonderful historic building and keep it safe from fire and from damage?”
Mr Hinds replied arguing that work to keep parliament safe was “vital” but said the government was keen to make sure it was carrying out the project “at good value for money”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, warned last week that the restoration project could not rely on a “bottomless pit” of cash.
Quarter of furloughed workers could be made redundant in September, survey suggests
Millions of furloughed workers are at risk of redundancy as many employers anticipate only half of their staff returning to work when the government’s job retention scheme begins to wind down.
A survey of over 2,000 businesses in the UK found 45 per cent of firms would likely have just half their furloughed staff back in work in July, while a quarter were likely to be kept on furlough as part of the extended scheme.
The research by lender Marketfinance warned the remaining quarter of furloughed staff could “well be made redundant”.
Meanwhile, Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, has accused the government of acting like a “farce” with its defence of Mr Jenrick.
“Here we go again, the untouchables – the old boys network covering for each other. Disgusting!” Ms Rayner wrote on Twitter.
Boris Johnson’s judgement is now in question following the prime minister’s decision to stand by a cabinet minister embroiled in a “cash for favours” row, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Robert Jenrick, the housing secretary, is fighting for his job after explosive documents revealed he rushed through a decision on a contentious £1bn housing development involving a Tory donor.
The Labour leader has called for an investigation by Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, into the incident, arguing the public needs “straight answers” on Mr Jenrick’s conduct.
Our political correspondent, Lizzy Buchan, has the full story below:
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has called on “all government departments” to demonstrate by next year that they are preparing for global warming of a minimum of 2C by 2100 from pre-industrial levels, and to show that they are also considering a 4C rise.
The advisory body’s new progress report to parliament urges the government to “integrate net zero into all policy making, and ensure procurement strategies are consistent with the UK’s climate objectives”.
Plan B – the climate charity which brought successful litigation against the expansion of Heathrow Airport – responded that it was “madness” that the government must prepare for such a world, adding that a rise of 4C implies the loss of billions of human lives.
“In 2008 the CCC advised the government that 4C was the threshold of “extreme danger”, to be avoided at all costs. Today it is advising the government to consider preparing for a 4C world,” its director Tim Crosland said.
“As the leading climate scientist, Professor Johan Rockstrom has recently warned, a 4C world implies the loss of not just millions but billions of human lives, with racially marginalised communities and those in the Global South in the front line. It is madness to prepare for such a world and madness that the Bank of England is financing such an outcome.
“To the contrary the government, along with the G20 and others, must do everything possible to transition our economy to bring it into compliance with the Paris Agreement temperature limit of 1.5˚C, which it is government policy to follow.”
The Court of Appeal found on Monday that the problem may have affected as many as 85,000 people who suffered large changes to their monthly income when the system wrongly recorded them as being paid twice in a month because their regular pay day fell on a weekend or bank holiday, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
Lady Justice Rose said that the Work and Pensions Secretary’s refusal to find a solution to the problem was “so irrational that … no reasonable Secretary of State would have struck the balance in that way.”
Work and pensions minister Will Quince today told the House of Commons that the government would not appeal the decision and will now “assess remedial options” to deal with the issue, but he insisted: “Universal Credit is working and it’s working well.”
Mr Quince said the department was aware of only 1,000 claimants who had disputed their earnings as a result of the glitch in the system, and insisted that many people affected would suffer no financial loss in the long term as their payment would be increased the following month to balance out the reduction.
However, the court found in favour of four working mothers who said that they had fallen into debt or been forced to rely on food banks because of fluctuations in their income.
“It’s an astonishing performance. In essence he threw mud in order to try to distract from his improper decision. I am astonishingly angry,” Mr Biggs says.
He suggests those who broke long-held habits to vote Boris Johnson into power “will need to work out whether they can believe another word he says”, adding: “Maybe if he sacked Robert Jenrick he could begin to look like he understands how outrageous this all is. To act otherwise would be to defend the indefensible.”
The government’s contact-tracing programme failed to reach almost 30 per cent who tested positive for the coronavirus in England last week, Adam Forrest reports.
Only 70 per cent of the 6,923 people who tested positive for Covid-19 were reached by NHS Test and Trace staff between 11 and 17 June, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.
This means that 2,054 people with the virus – and potentially thousands of their close contacts – could not be traced by the new system.
The figures also show only 73 per cent of those who tested positive were reached and asked to provide details of contacts during the first three weeks of the programme’s operation.
Some 24 per cent of people (5,062) who tested positive for Covid-19 during the three-week period and who had been transferred to the system were not reached.
“In just three weeks, NHS Test and Trace has already reached more than one hundred thousand people who may have otherwise unknowingly spread the virus,” said Baroness Dido Harding, who is in charge of the test and trace system, which Boris Johnson yesterday described as “cluster-busting”.
Conservative MP Andrew Selous, in his role as the Church of England’s representative in the Commons, said there will be no cap placed on the number of people attending church services as long as Covid-secure guidelines are met.
But he added singing and chanting are not allowed even at a distance, and there are certain instruments which cannot be used, including brass and woodwind instruments.
“Sadly … singing and chanting are not allowed even at a distance due to the additional risk of infection and woodwind and brass instruments should not be used, but that does still leave many other instruments,” he told the Commons.
“Will he move forward allowing people to participate equally by switching the e-voting system back on and allowing all members to contribute to debates or backwards disenfranchising those that cannot be present physically?”
The Commons leader responded: “I am surprised that [Mr Sheppard] wishes to close down parliament when it’s just opening up the rest of the country. That we are back, we led the way, things are really working extremely well.
“Voting is taking place, next week is a full programme of legislation, it’s a proper parliament, it’s back to work and I’m afraid the fact that the SNP don’t want to come here says more about their politics than it does about the state of the coronavirus.”
Amid warnings that the UK faces growing discontent as the coronavirus pandemic and the government’s response both exacerbate and highlight existing tensions and inequalities, Novara Media co-founder Aaron Bastani suggests the centre and centre-left are ill-prepared for combatting the politics of those who wish to capitalise upon the potential storm ahead.
Highlighting a tweet from former MEP Nigel Farage, in which he appears to diminish anti-racism protests in the UK to the work of an “anti-police organisation”, which he claims fuelled last night’s violence in Brixton with the help of “the media, police bosses and top politicians”, Mr Bastani tweeted:
