Sturgeon did not break ministerial code in Salmond probe, independent inquiry finds

Hello, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling coverage of Brexit and UK politics. Get ready for a busy day at Westminster.

The government will seek to overturn an amendment to the Trade Bill on Monday, which would limit its ability to strike agreements with countries involved in the most serious human rights abuse.

But former Tory leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said MPs can “send a signal” to China and “give hope” to victims of human rights abuses by supporting the amendment instead.

Sir Iain joined the voices of senior Tories who have called for relations with China to be cooled, despite Boris Johnson’s integrated review of security, defence, development and post-Brexit foreign policy published last week calling for a “positive trade and investment relationship” with Beijing in the run-up to 2030.

“The report refers to China as a competitor, when I believe it is, in reality, a growing threat, not just to the UK but to the free world itself,” he wrote in The Times.

“A good place to start would be in passing the Lords amendment today, to send a signal not just to the Chinese government but to those who labour under this terrible oppression that the free world recognises their struggle.

“Genocide is the crime of all crimes and the UK must offer a beacon of hope to those who suffer.”

It comes after Labour appealed to Tory MPs to defy the whips and back the amendment and following a rebellion last month by 31 Conservative MPs.

The rebellion slashed the government’s majority of 80 to just 15 amid accusations of “dirty tricks” by ministers to scupper an earlier amendment by the upper chamber to give the courts a role in deciding whether trade deals can go ahead.

Human rights concerns were largely sparked by China’s treatment of its Uighur minority in the Xinjiang province.

The government’s decision to cut the international aid budget below its legal target was unlawful, a former director of public prosecutions has said.

Lord Macdonald of River Glaven said new legislation would have been required to ditch the target of spending 0.7 per cent of international income on aid. He made the claim in a formal legal opinion commissioned by Conservative MPs campaigning to reverse the cut.

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, one of the MPs in question, said the finding was “not unexpected”.

Our policy correspondent Jone Stone has the full report:

Earlier in March, Boris Johnson faced a major internal rebellion over the Trade Bill’s apparent sanctioning of the UK’s continued trading with countries committing “atrocities” against human rights.

Here’s our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn explaining all that as it happened:

Since then, audio of foreign secretary Dominic Raab was leaked in which he appeared to say the UK should strike trade deals with nations that do not meet European standards on human rights.

The clip was published by the website HuffPost UK, prompting Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg to accuse the journalist responsible, Arj Singh, of “low-quality” reporting.

Mr Rees-Mogg was later slapped down by Mr Johnson who condemned his colleague for using parliamentary privilege to smear a journalist.

You can read our full report on that here:

A Conservative MP, who has signalled she will rebel to back a House of Lords amendment to the Trade Bill on Monday, questioned why the government would want to strike a trade deal with a country accused of committing genocide.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier, Nusrat Ghani said: “I think the important thing to note here is that we are talking about genocide, the absolute destruction of a group of people.

“To assume that countries that are involved in genocide at any point are going to stop to ensure they get a preferential trade deal is a curious way to go about this.

“The interesting thing about this is the government’s own amendment, the (Sir Bob) Neill amendment, will allow many groups of people around the world to come and present their case, but somehow does not allow the Uighur to come forward and make their case.”

She asked why “we have a two-tier system within the government’s own amendment” in the first place.

“I’m going to be asking a minister (about why that is) later today but it is incredibly curious, and that’s what’s concerning a lot of our colleagues, that the whole process began because countries like America and Canada have determined a genocide against the Uighur and we were, of course, anxious that we could assess the data as well,” Ms Ghani said.

“So why would we have an amendment on the floor of the House that the government is pushing that seems to exclude the Uighur?”

Elsewhere, a government minister has said it would be “premature” to book an overseas summer holiday now, adding to the confusion around guidance for booking trips abroad.

“If we were to be reckless in any way, and import new variants that put out risks, what would people say about that?” defence secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News on Sunday.

It comes amid increasing uncertainty about Covid vaccine passports and what they could mean for people hoping to get a foreign holiday in this year.

Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:

Health minister Helen Whately has said Bristol’s “disgraceful” Kill the Bill protest, which took place on Sunday, would not result in any shift on the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Ms Whately told Sky News: “What we’ve seen in Bristol, those protests were completely unacceptable, just disgraceful behaviour in fact.

“It was one of these occasions where, if I understand it right, there was a peaceful protest and then a small minority from that protest then turned it very ugly and we saw those scenes of completely unacceptable violence.”

She added: “Not only the damage and the vandalism of police property but, worse still, injuring police officers, so we’re seeing officers with serious injuries and going to hospital. That clearly should not happen, it is unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Former Bexit secretary David Davis later appeared on the news channel to give his verdict on the protesters.

He said they “did their own cause a great deal of harm” and called the actions of those demonstrating “a disgrace”.

The DUP’s Peter Weir has rejected a suggestion his party is considering pulling down the Stormont institutions in protest at the Northern Ireland protocol.

The education minister was responding to comments from David Campbell, chairman of the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), an umbrella group representing loyalist paramilitary groups.

Mr Campbell claimed DUP leader Arlene Foster had told the LCC that collapsing the Executive was within her party’s “thinking” but only after all other avenues to ditch the protocol had been exhausted. But Mr Weir said the issue was not raised at the meeting between the LCC and the DUP leadership last month.

“I think we’re somewhat bemused by the comments and I think we’re seeking David to clarify the situation, whether he’s misinterpreted,” Mr Weir told BBC Radio Ulster earlier.

“But you know the reality is in terms of the meeting that was held between the DUP and David’s group, we didn’t raise the issue of bringing down the Assembly, it wasn’t discussed, it’s not within our thinking, and I think that would be counterproductive.”

He added: “I think what we are looking to see across the board, across unionism as a whole, is constructive co-operation on an entirely sort of peaceful constitutional manner to see what actions can be taken against the protocol and that’s where the focus of our activities is. We’re not and we haven’t suggested bringing down the Assembly or the Executive nor indeed was it discussed at the meeting.”

Plans to introduce new laws feared to heavily infringe on the nation’s right to protest have been met with violence, as the latest in a series of “Kill the Bill” demonstrations saw police officers injured.

Sunday’s march was initially described by Bristol Live as having a “festival atmosphere”, with thousands – many wearing face masks and socially distancing – gathering typically enough at the city’s College Green, carrying placards opposing a “police state” and warning against the “silencing” of the public.

But a “small minority” eventually attacked the police station in Bridewell Street and were met with mounted officers, police dogs and riot shields. Footage showed rioters smashing the station’s windows, while two heavily graffitied police vehicles were set alight and two officers hospitalised with broken bones, according to Avon and Somerset Police.

My colleague Andy Gregory reports:

Transport for London (TfL) has accepted the government’s offer to extend financial support by seven weeks, as lockdown restrictions continue to significantly impact the network’s performance.

“We have today agreed with the government that our funding will be extended until May 18 on the same terms that have applied to our funding for the second half of 2020-21,” a TfL spokesman said.

“We continue discussions with the government on our need for further financial support and a long-term capital funding deal.

“This is vital for us to support a strong and robust recovery from the pandemic, and to provide confidence to our UK-wide supply chain.”

A £1.8bn funding package agreed in November 2020 by Sadiq Khan, to keep services running, was due to expire next week.