Boris Johnson has been told to stop “picking fights” and “demote himself” in response to a reported row with Rishi Sunak over a leaked letter, during which the PM allegedly threatened to relegate his chancellor to the position of health secretary.
With an Opinium poll placing the prime minister’s approval ratings at an all-time low of -16 percentage points, following his inflammatory quip about Margaret Thatcher’s coal mine closures, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told The Independent: “After the calamity of the past two years, the prime minister should look in the mirror and demote himself before worrying about the rest of them.”
Meanwhile, amid questions of sleaze, lobbying and “cash for access” at the top of the Tory Party, analysis of Electoral Commission data by The Independent reveals that some 25 per cent of donations to the party since Boris Johnson took office have come from just 10 wealthy donors.
The Electoral Reform Society suggested the revelations showed “just how concentrated donor power is in UK politics”.
Pro-Starmer candidate ‘quietly confident’ of winning leadership of Labour’s biggest union
Gerard Coyne, the candidate who narrowly failed to beat Len McCluskey four years ago, is “quietly confident” of winning the leadership of Unite, Labour’s largest affiliated union, our chief political commentator John Rentoul reports.
Mr Coyne, who is Sir Keir Starmer’s favoured candidate in the election, told The Independent in an interview that he would maintain Labour funding and that he wouldn’t “purge” his opponents in the way that Mr McCluskey purged him.
Priti Patel’s Official Secrets Act overhaul dubbed ‘chilling’ by recent No 10 comms director
Priti Patel’s proposed overhaul of the Official Secrets Act – which critics say could see journalists jailed for 14 years for handling leaked documents – is “chilling” and “profoundly damaging”, a recent Downing Street director of communications has warned.
James Slack, who served under Boris Johnson until March and is now deputy editor-in-chief at The Sun, told journalism.co.uk this week: “Every journalist I have spoken with at The Sun and elsewhere is appalled that the government is even considering doing something so draconian, and which could have such a profoundly damaging impact on the public’s right to know.
“… The lack of public interest defence would have a chilling effect on the media’s ability to report wrongdoing, hypocrisy, and criminal negligence.”
He added: “The prime minister said that he does not “for one minute” want to handicap the ability of a free press to expose the hypocrisy of Matt Hancock and other scandals. In which case he needs to step in and insist that, if whistleblowers and journalists can prove that the disclosure of confidential information was carried out in the public interest, a prosecution would fail.”
Exclusive: Fake Home Office website targeting asylum seekers probed by Information Commissioner
In case you missed it yesterday, the information watchdog has opened an investigation into a Home Office website accused of misleading asylum-seekers and hiding its government links.
The Information Commissioner warned that organisations must be “clear, open and honest with people” about who they are after The Independent revealed who was behind the On The Move website.
Our home affairs correspondent Lizzie Dearden has the story:
Amid the reports of a bust-up with the PM, Rishi Sunak’s allies have insisted he remains focused on his job at No 11.
The chancellor is preparing for a tough spending review later this year as he attempts to repair the public finances following the Covid crisis, which could put him on collision course with a prime minister who has promised there can be no return to austerity.
Meanwhile, as the challenge of securing commitments on carbon from foreign nations at the Cop26 climate summit looms, the Treasury’s review into the costs in achieving the “net zero” target by 2050 has reportedly been delayed because of concerns that the government’s plans could hit taxpayers and cost the Tory Party votes.
Boris Johnson told to ‘demote himself’ amid Rishi Sunak row
Opposition parties have urged Boris Johnson to stop “picking fights” and “demote himself” in response to a reported row with Rishi Sunak, in which he allegedly threatened to relegate the chancellor to the position of health secretary.
Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “The Covid pandemic continues, tens of thousands of livelihoods are still at risk, the climate crisis threatens our planet, but he’s busy picking fights with his own government and threatening to sack the chancellor. It’s completely disgraceful.”
And Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey told The Independent: “After the calamity of the past two years, the prime minister should look in the mirror and demote himself before worrying about the rest of them.”
My colleague Adam Forrest has the full story:
John Rentoul: Keir Starmer is an unconvincing Blairite with an authenticity problem
Our chief political commentator John Rentoul writes for Independent Voices:
“Keir Starmer is tiptoeing a little more boldly towards the forbidden ground of the Labour tribe, the part marked “Tony Blair woz ere”.
But, he adds:
“The problem with Starmer embracing Blairism is that he is not a Blairite. He is in the uncomfortable position of Neil Kinnock, a firebrand of the radical wing of the party who found himself crabbed and confined by the demands of leadership.”
Scottish Tories accuse SNP of ‘abject failure to match rhetoric with reality’
Writing on the front page of the Scottish Mail on Sunday close to 100 days after the Holyrood elections, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has accused the SNP of an “abject failure to match rhetoric with reality”.
Mr Ross, whose party matched their best ever performance in a Scottish election in May, securing 31 of a possible 129 seats, alleged that the nationalists are “on course to break roughly a dozen promises across health, education, the environment and several other crucial areas”.
These looming targets include a pledge to vaccinate all adults by mid-September – the wording of which was recently contested by Ms Sturgeon, the publication of an NHS Recovery Plan to cut treatment times and remobilise the health service, and a Scottish-specific Covid inquiry.
UK not doing enough to support those escaping Hong Kong, campaigner says
The UK is not doing enough to support people fleeing Chinese repression in Hong Kong, a campaigner has warned.
Julian Chan, the director of the Hongkongers in Britain group, told The Guardian that many people arriving in the UK were being denied equal access to housing, education and jobs, and that – despite Dominic Raab’s clear desire to appear supportive of those fleeing Chinese oppression in the former British colony – ministers were not doing enough to support them.
“The UK risks providing Hongkongers with a country to live in, but almost no life to actually live when they get there,” Mr Chan said.
Homeless people evicted from hotels and denied housing – despite ministers’ claim emergency support is ongoing
Homeless people are being evicted from emergency housing and denied support – despite government claims that a scheme to keep people off the streets introduced at the start of the pandemic is ongoing, our social affairs correspondent May Bulman reports.
A number of local authorities are facing legal challenges after vulnerable individuals, who cannot access state benefits due to their immigration status, were told to leave emergency housing or turned away when asking for homelessness support in apparent breach of government guidance.
Labour sets three education ‘tests’ for government to meet by September
Labour has set a series of tests on education for the government to meet by the end of the month.
These include a “next step guarantee” for pupils to move forward after their results, a functional appeals system and support for teachers and education leaders.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “This abject refusal of Boris Johnson to get a grip has created huge extra stress for students and baked unfairness into the assessment process.
“Young people and our dedicated education staff have worked incredibly hard, but they have been let down time and time again by Boris Johnson’s failure to stand up for their futures.
“No young person should lose out because of Conservative chaos, which is why we are calling on the prime minister to fix this mess his education secretary has created and deliver on our three tests so all young people can move on to the next stage of their lives.”
