Budget news – live: Sunak ‘to extend furlough’ as No 10 refuses to deny ‘charity plan’ to renovate PM’s flat

Boris Johnson has denounced as “completely unacceptable” a blacklist of Irish surnames drawn up by Pontins to keep supposedly undesirable guests out of its holiday camps.

The list, distributed to the company’s call handlers, said that people with names like Boyle, Delaney, Gallagher, McGinley, McMahon and O’Donnell were “unwelcome” and should not be allowed to book holidays.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has more details:

Foreign office minister James Cleverly has repeatedly refused to say whether MPs will be given a vote on a multi-billion pound cut to the UK’s aid budget after being grilled by senior Tories.

The row comes after the government reneged on a manifesto commitment to maintain overseas aid spending at 0.7 per cent of national income, cutting the budget to 0.5 per cent — around £4 billion per year.

Politics correspondent Ashley Cowburn has more details below:

Boris Johnson would be abusing his position as prime minister if he set up a charity to help pay for a renovation of Downing Street’s flat, a former standards chief has warned.

Reports suggest Mr Johnson is trying to set up a body similar to those used by US presidents to help cover the cost of expensive refurbishments of the White House.

It would be funded by wealthy Tory party donors, according to reports.

But Sir Alistair Graham, a former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said the alleged plan was “monstrous”, adding that charitable donations are not designed to enhance “living standards for the prime minister and his wife.”

He told The Times: “It would seem to me an abuse of his position as prime minister. I cannot believe how it crossed his mind. If there is a need to do certain things in terms of maintenance, that should be paid out of government funds.”

Downing Street has not denied the plan, first reported by the Daily Mail.

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has refused to comment on reports that the prime minister is considering setting up a charity to pay for the refurbishment of his official flat.

It was reported in the Daily Mail that the scheme – based on one used by the White House – could be funded by wealthy Tory benefactors. The paper claimed it followed reports that Mr Johnson had complained the cost of refurbishing the flat over No 11 by his fiancee Carrie Symonds was “out of control”.

Speaking on the matter today, the PM’s spokesman said: “Matters concerning any work on Downing Street, including the residences, are covered in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. That is where we set out the details of what has happened.

“Downing Street is a working building, as has been the case under successive administrations, refurbishment and maintenance are made periodically.”

Here is deputy political editor Rob Merrick’s report on the claims from earlier:

Boris Johnson has denounced as “completely unacceptable” a blacklist of Irish surnames drawn up by Pontins to keep supposedly undesirable guests out of its holiday camps.

The list, distributed to the company’s call handlers, said that people with names like Boyle, Delaney, Gallagher, McGinley, McMahon and O’Donnell were “unwelcome” and should not be allowed to book holidays.

An investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that the company had been using the blacklist as part of a policy of refusing bookings by Gypsies and Travellers to its holiday parks.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full report:

No 10 has revealed what Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak hope to achieve when the new Budget is announced on Wednesday.

“It is a challenging time for the public finances but what they want to be doing is unleashing growth and supporting jobs,” the PM’s press secretary Allegra Stratton told reporters earlier.

It comes following reports the chancellor is set to extend furlough support for jobs to keep workers in employment as the economy begins to reopen.

The job retention scheme – which pays up to 80 per cent of wages for staff who would otherwise be laid off – is due to expire at the end of April, but Mr Sunak is coming under intense pressure to prolong it as many businesses will still be closed at that point.

Trust in ministers has “eroded” due to the government’s nonchalant attitude towards diluting food and animal welfare standards in post-Brexit trade deals, an official report is warning.

An independent commission – which trade secretary Liz Truss agreed to set up – demands that protections are maintained and calls for them to be enhanced, in the years to come. It also chastises ministers for casting doubt on bans on low-quality products such as chlorinated chicken.

“With busy lives, people often don’t have the time to scrutinise what they buy and expect the reassurance that the government has this in hand,” it states.

Deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:

Tens of thousands of EU nationals living in the UK could lose their right to remain here after being forced to return to their home countries due to the pandemic, a new report has warned.

After as many as 1.3 million foreign workers left the UK last year – the largest exodus since the Second World War – campaigners fear that many may have intended to return to homes and jobs in Britain, but have lost their rights because they felt unable to come back within six months, at a time when Europe was under public health restrictions and travel ground to a virtual halt.

Official Home Office guidance states that an absence of more than six months from the UK as a result of the coronavirus outbreak will “not necessarily” affect a claim for “pre-settled status”, but guarantees this only for individuals whose return was delayed because they were personally ill with Covid-19, in quarantine or studying.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has more:

The Scottish government has said it will “go further” after new figures showed 1,560 children waited longer than a year for specialist help with mental health problems by the end of 2020.

The number of young people waiting 52 weeks or more for an appointment with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) is up from 589 at the end of December 2019 – a rise of 164.8 per cent.

Campaigners at the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) complained that the figures were the worst on record as it was revealed some 11,166 children and younger people were waiting to be seen by CAMHS in December.

Scotland’s mental health minister Clare Haughey said there had been a “significant increase” in performance in the most recent quarter, describing this as “encouraging”.

But she added: “We want to go further as long waits are unacceptable.”

Public Health Scotland’s latest waiting times report explained that the rise in the number of youngsters experiencing long waits was “potentially due to a combination of school closures, some CYP (children and young people) not having access to a safe/confidential space to engage in digital appointments, or have a desire to wait for an in-person appointment”.

But the SCSC, an alliance of organisations working with vulnerable youngsters, branded the latest figures as “deeply troubling”, adding that they “point to a highly challenging environment for both our young people and our mental health services”.

“Our mental health services must receive the funding they vitally need or we face having a lost generation of vulnerable children and young people,” a SCSC spokesman.

Ms Haughey said a number of actions had been set out to “progress improvement on access to CAMHS and psychological therapies, backed by significant investment”.

She continued: “The £120m we have announced for our Mental Health Recovery and Renewal Fund is the single largest investment in mental health in the history of devolution.

“It will prioritise our ongoing work to improve specialist CAMHS services, address long waiting times, and clear waiting list backlogs.

Furlough support for jobs will be extended in Wednesday’s Budget to keep workers in employment as the economy begins to reopen, chancellor Rishi Sunak has indicated.

The job retention scheme – which pays up to 80 per cent of wages for staff who would otherwise be laid off – is due to expire at the end of April, but the chancellor is coming under intense pressure to extend it as many businesses will still be closed at that point.

Political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full report: