Rishi Sunak has hinted there may be help for families battling the cost of living crisis in next week’s mini-budget.
Hard-pressed Brits are being squeezed by rising energy bills, sky-rocketing petrol prices and an increase in national insurance contributions. The chancellor told Tory activists at the Conservative conference in Blackpool today: “Where we can make a difference… I’m always going to do that.”
It come as the government has ditched plans to limit MPs’ earnings from second jobs in a major rethink over the issue which sparked a sleaze scandal at Westminster, prompting Sir Keir Starmer to accuse the PM of “breaking his promise yet again”.
Meanwhile, from Friday, Ukrainian refugees without family members in the UK will be able to apply for visas under the new “Homes for Ukraine” scheme.
More than 150,000 Britons have registered their interest in taking in Ukrainians, and the government is currently working with a number of charities and NGOs to work out the best way to match people with host families.
Tory rebels plot fresh revolt over Priti Patel’s plans to send asylum seekers abroad for processing
Tory rebels will stage a fresh revolt over Priti Patel’s plans to send asylum seekers abroad for processing, believing the Ukraine tragedy has shifted the public mood.
The Bill that would see refugees sent to far-flung countries to make applications – Rwanda and the island of St Helena have been mooted – returns to the Commons next week.
A group of Conservative MPs plan to stage another fight over the policy, former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell branding it “a moral, financial and practical failure”.
Rob Merrick has more:
Ukraine crisis provides opportunity for Conservatives to roll back ‘wokery’, says Jacob Rees-Mogg
The Ukraine crisis has given Conservatives an opportunity to roll back “wokery” and sweep away the “fluff” of Partygate, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
The Brexit minister told a meeting of Tory activists that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine had created a “new seriousness” which made “woke” arguments about the use of language look like “nonsense”.
And he said Conservatives should take advantage of the situation by taking a “robust” approach and refusing to accept the use of “socialist” vocabulary, like saying chair rather than chairman or Beijing rather than Peking.
Andrew Woodcock has more:
Majority of Scots feel second referendum should be put on hold due to Ukraine situation
A majority of Scots feel discussions over when a second independence referendum will take place should stop due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a poll has found.
Some 59 per cent said talks on the timing of indyref2 should stop, with only 29 per cent saying discussions should continue.
The same poll revealed that support for a No vote is at 52 per cent, while support for Yes is at 48 per cent. This is when the “don’t knows” are removed.
Savanta ComRes polled 1,008 Scottish adults between 10 and 16 March.
Manchester mayor says government should think about nationalising P&O
Speaking at the protest at the Port of Liverpool, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said that the government should consider nationalising P&O.
He said: “I say to the Prime Minister: you have to step in and you have to deliver on your commitment to strengthen employment law so this kind of gangster practice can’t be allowed to happen any more.”
Open door for Ukraine refugees could lead to ‘devastating’ terror attack on UK, Tory minister claims
Dropping security checks on Ukrainian refugees could lead to a “devastating” terror attack on British soil, a cabinet minister has claimed.
Conservative Suella Braverman on Thursday defended the government’s policy of making those fleeing the Russian invasion deal with Home Office bureaucracy.
Britain stands isolated in Europe in not giving free entry to Ukrainians fleeing the invasion – an approach which has been accused of lacking humanity by other governments.
Jon Stone has more:
Rishi Sunak hints at new help for families struggling to pay bills in cost-of-living crisis
Rishi Sunak has hinted at help at next week’s mini-budget for households struggling with the cost of living crisis, telling Tory activists: “Where we can make a difference… I’m always going to do that.”
The chancellor is coming under intense pressure ahead of Wednesday’s spring statement to extend his earlier £9bn package of support for energy bills, which has been dwarfed by the scale of inflation in bills for heating, petrol and food facing consumers in the coming months.
But speaking to the Conservative conference in Blackpool, he gave no pledge to deliver more help and no details of how he might help households with bills.
Our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.
Government bows to pressure to investigate whether P&O broke law with mass sackings
The government is investigating whether P&O broke the law by sacking 800 workers on the spot, after criticism that it was washing its hands of the controversy.
Ministers had described the move as a “commercial decision” – but Downing Street said the insolvency service is now exploring whether the firm flouted redundancy rules.
‘We are looking very closely at the actions this company has taken, to see whether they acted within the rules,” Boris Johnson’s spokesman said.
Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has the details.
Labour and Tory rhetoric on workers’ rights doesn’t match action
Some 800 P&O seafaring workers are waking up this morning with no jobs after the ferry operator announced, without warning and via a video call, that it is replacing its employees with cheaper agency staff.
Not only has the move raised questions about whether or not the redundancies are legal, but it has also sparked outrage on all sides of the Commons and reignited the debate around “fire and rehire” employment practices.
Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, described the move as “disgusting” while Downing Street said the workers’ treatment was “wholly unacceptable”.
Both the Tories and Labour will today try to make political hay out of the crisis, but the truth is neither party can claim that its hands are entirely clean when it comes to the subject of workers’ rights.
Matt Mathers has the details.
UK four-day week trial to cover 2,000 workers
At least 30 UK companies covering nearly 2,000 employees have signed up to trial a four-day working week from this summer.
The pilot programme, which will start in June, is set to be the largest of its kind in the UK and will be partly overseen by researchers from Oxford and Cambridge universities.
It will see workers at the companies involved given one extra paid day off a week, with no loss of earnings.
Jon Stone reports:
P&O Ferries ‘undermining capitalism’, says Rees-Mogg
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the way P&O have behaved was “very damaging, very foolish and very improper” and risked “undermining” capitalism.
He told the Tory party’s spring conference: “I believe in a Labour market which is flexible but employers have duties to behave well and properly and considerately to their employees and P&O failed in that.”
Mr Rees-Mogg added: “P&O ought to be very careful in behaving this way because it risks undermining the capitalism and free markets which are essential to our prosperity.”
