Boris Johnson’s government’s response to the cost of living crisis is to “take more than they give”, Keir Starmer has claimed.
The Labour leader criticised ministers’ decision to press ahead with a rise in national insurance contributions as the cost of fuel, food and energy increases.
Speaking at the launch of his party’s local elections campaign in Bury, Mr Starmer said: “Living standards are at their lowest since the 1950s while tax is at the highest level for 70 years.
“What’s their response [ to the cost of living crisis]? To take more than they give.”
Earlier, a second cabinet minister admitted that government officials broke Covid laws at the height of lockdown.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, said “that’s right” when asked if the rules had been breached.
Ms Trevelyan’s comments to Sky News on Wednesday morning came after Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, conceded the law had been broken.
But the PM still refuses to accept that the Met Police’s decision to hand out 20 fines to staff showed that lawbreaking had taken place at the heart of his government.
We’re finishing up our live politics coverage for the day.
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Rees-Mogg says Sun readers have ‘brilliant’ ideas for Brexit red tape bonfire
Boris Johnson’s government is “building up the kindling wood” of a post-Brexit bonfire of red tape, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
The minister for Brexit opportunities had issued a plea to readers of a tabloid newspaper to help him identify ways to scrap EU regulations.
Asked about his planned “bonfire” of EU regulation, Rees-Mogg told MPs: “We are building up the kindling wood thanks to the readers of the Sun who are sending in their brilliant suggestions.”
SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said the idea of Brexit opportunities was a “mirage” – and highlighted the plight of touring musicians choked by Brexit red tape.
“Many of our performers are now having to rely on the charity Help Musicians for a £5,000 grant so they can afford to take their performances to Europe. So why do our performers now require charitable help?”
Cabinet Office minister Mr Rees-Mogg replied by referencing “Acts that were passed by the illegitimate Cromwellian parliament and burned them” in 1661 – saying he wanted to do the same to EU regulations.
Reprieve for capping fracking wells as government considers its energy strategy
The UK’s only shale gas wells will not be sealed up at the end of June after regulators lifted an order for them to be capped.
Fracking firm Cuadrilla had been under instruction to plug its wells in Lancashire by the end of June 2022.
But the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the firm now had until the end of June 2023 to evaluate options for the Preston New Road and Elswick sites.
The move comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s delayed energy strategy, with Boris Johnson under pressure from Tory MPs to end a moratorium on fracking.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan said: “I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary for seeing the light and realising – just in time – how absurd it would have been to force us to pour concrete down Britain’s only two viable shale gas wells in the middle of an energy crisis.
“But this suspension will have a cul-de-sac ending unless we now reverse the moratorium preventing us from using the wells (and others like them) to get shale gas out of the ground and flowing into British households.”
UK soldiers pitch in to pack helmets destine for Ukraine
British soldiers have taken up the unusual challenge of sorting and packing 84,000 surplus helmets bound for the Ukrainian military.
Thirty members of the Rutland-based 2nd Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment are in the second week of a push to pack up all the helmets before the weekend at Shropshire’s MoD Donnington logistics hub.
Working from morning until night, the Cottesmore-based troops are toiling away in a huge warehouse, where the surplus kit has been sent to from other military stores around the UK.
The task includes physically stripping the helmets of any British Army webbing or identifying badges and packing them in crates each holding 100 pieces of headgear.
Sergeant Oliver Church, a platoon Sgt from the regiment’s A Company, who is co-ordinating the work at Donnington, said: “The lads are more than happy to help the cause.
“Hopefully what we are doing will be going to help our military counterparts in Ukraine, providing them with the vital protection they really need at the moment.”
Rishi Sunak pledge to match Ukraine donations funded by cutting aid to other countries
The government’s pledge to match money donated to the Ukraine disaster appeal is being funded by taking cash from other parts of the aid budget, ministers have admitted.
Labour accused the government of feigning an “act of generosity” by moving money around and told Rishi Sunak to open his wallet instead of “balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable”.
Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports:
Home Office ‘runs risk of another Windrush’ if it doesn’t transform culture, independent reviewer says
The Home Office runs the risk of another Windrush scandal if it doesn’t implement further “systemic and cultural” changes, an inspection report has found.
Independent expert Wendy Williams said that the department was at a “tipping point”, between making the changes necessary and losing focus.
Commenting on her findings, Ms Williams added: “It may only be a matter of time before it faces another difficult outcome.”
My colleague Holly Bancroft reports:
PM can’t comment on Covid law breaking while Partygate probe ongoing, No 10 insists
The Prime Minister’s “position” in the so-called partygate investigation prevents him from commenting on whether coronavirus laws were broken in Whitehall, Downing Street has said.
Two Cabinet ministers have now said the fact the Metropolitan Police have issued fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in the probe indicated laws had been broken.
But Boris Johnson has so far dodged the question, refusing to be drawn into the discussion until the investigation has finished.
Boris Johnson leaving 10 Downing Street (Aaron Chown/PA)
” height=”726″ width=”982″ layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> Boris Johnson leaving 10 Downing Street (Aaron Chown/PA)
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Thursday that “the facts are not in dispute” after International Trade Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan agreed with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab that rules had been breached.
But “given the Prime Minister’s position, it is right that we do not comment in the middle of an investigation, we comment at the end of it”, he said.
Asked what he meant by the PM’s position, he added: “Clearly this is something that’s been centred on both No 10 and the Cabinet Office in the main – and we’ve confirmed that the Prime Minister has received a questionnaire – but I think it was simply the Prime Minister’s view that while there is an ongoing live investigation, it wouldn’t be right for him to give his response at that point.”
Ministers told to delay new Brexit checks in July to prevent ‘collapse’ in trade
Boris Johnson’s government has been warned that some forms of UK trade will “collapse” if further post-Brexit checks are introduced in July.
The Independent revealed earlier this week that the government is exploring a delay to new controls on imports from the EU because of growing alarm over the cost of living crisis.
The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks coming into force on 1 July will see inspections on imported agri-food and plant products, adding an estimated £1bn to the costs of trade.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of the Cold Chain Federation, said the checks would be a “nightmare” for small businesses – calling for the government to push them back.
Our politics reporter Adam Forrest has more below:
Labour calls for EU security pact and end to ‘petty diplomatic spats’ after Ukraine war
Labour is calling for the UK to agree a security pact with the EU following the wake-up call of the Ukraine invasion, as part of its drive to “make Brexit work”.
Our deputy politics editor Rob Merrick reports:
‘Absolutely bizarre’: Dismay from climate campaigners as PM comes out against onshore wind farms
Boris Johnson has come down against onshore wind farms in the cabinet row which has delayed the publication of his energy security strategy.
His comments dismayed environmentalists who believe that the development of onshore wind power is a vital part of the UK’s move towards net zero carbon emissions by the 2050 target.
My colleagues Andrew Woodcock and Saphora Smith report:
