Markus Andrews

The UK is “backsliding on human rights” and must be stopped, a Council of Europe official has warned.The organisation, which was co-founded by Winston Churchill following the Second World War, took aim at proposals to repeal the Human Rights Act, as well as new protest laws and moves to criminalise asylum seekers crossing the English Channel.Dunja Mijatović, its commissioner for human rights, said: “Legal reforms should not weaken human rights protections in the United Kingdom.”Following a five-day visit to Britain, where she met ministers including justice secretary Dominic Raab, she added: “It is worrying that the proposed legal reforms might weaken human rights protections at this pivotal moment for the UK, and it sends the wrong signal beyond the country’s borders at a time when human rights are under pressure throughout Europe.”Mr Raab has insisted that his planned Bill of Rights would not weaken human rights protections in the UK, but Ms Mijatović said it would make significant changes to how people can enforce their rights. She highlighted that the proposals were part of a “wider context” of laws affecting the freedom to protest and specific groups, such as asylum seekers and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.Ms Mijatović warned that the effective protection of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was a “foundation” to the Good Friday Agreement, warning that attempts to preserve peace in Northern Ireland must not be undermined.The human rights commissioner said new proposals on how to review Troubles-related cases may not be compliant with ECHR standards on independent and effective investigations and “could lead to impunity”. She also raised concerns over the rights of children amid the continued effects of the Covid pandemic and mounting cost of living crisis. “The high number of children living in, or at risk of, poverty is a serious human rights problem affecting every other aspect of their safety and well-being”, Ms Mijatović said.She warned of an “increasingly hostile public discourse, supported by some politicians and by media reporting” towards trans people, adding: “Contrary to what some are trying to suggest, protecting women’s rights and the rights of trans people is not a zero-sum game.“The current discourse is ingraining harmful gender stereotypes, which will negatively affect the protection of the rights of all involved in the long run.”Ms Mijatović’s full report on her visit to the UK will be published at a future date. More

Boris Johnson has watered down his target for higher defence spending made only four days ago, calling it a “prediction” and not a firm commitment.The prime minister raised alarm on the Tory benches when he said it is “likely” the UK will be spending 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2030 – and then hinted it will depend on “the size” of the economy then.Mark Harper, a former Conservative chief whip, told him last week’s announcement had “appeared to be really quite solid”, but no longer did so after his Commons statement.“Is it a commitment? And, secondly, how are we going to pay for it? Because you have to have a credible plan to pay for it. Are we going to put up taxes?” Mr Harper asked.In reply, Mr Johnson pointed to spending announcements already made, including on the Aukus security pact with Australia and the US and a new air-combat system.“This is a straightforward protraction – prediction – based on what we are currently committed to spending,” he admitted.And he added: “Of course much depends on the size of our GDP at the time. Much depends on the growth in the economy.”Mr Johnson said he expected the UK to “pay for it out of steady and sustained economic growth”, despite warnings of a significant hit to the economy from his hard-Brexit trade deal.Following his return from the Commonwealth, G7 and Nato summits, the prime minister also rejected calls for the West to send warships to the Black Sea to lift Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian grain.“No, we are not looking at that. There are alternative solutions that don’t involve the presence of UK or other warships in the Black Sea,” he told MPs.The allies were exploring “using the Danube” to get grain out, or railways “in smaller quantities than we would be able to do with a giant maritime convoy through the Black Sea”, he acknowledged.“We are looking at all the possible options, including smaller packets of grain coming out that way,” Mr Johnson said.He also urged Saudi Arabia to release more oil to help ease the cost of living crisis – having failed to persuade the kingdom to shift on a controversial trip in March.Responding to a Tory MP’s call for action, the prime minister told him: “He’s right about the role of Saudi.“There may be some question about how much more the Saudis could pump out at this particular moment, but there’s no doubt we’re going to need a lot more Opec Plus oil.”Mr Johnson also insisted “not a single person said that the UK was in breach of international law” to him while he was away in Rwanda, Germany and Spain.The UK faces accusations of lawbreaking over its tearing up of the Northern Ireland protocol, deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda and watering down of human right commitments. More

The former Tory MP who resigned for watching porn in the House of Commons said his wife chases him around the kitchen with scissors aiming for “part of my anatomy.” Neil Parish was forced to quit in May after it emerged that he twice watched adult content in parliament in view of female colleagues.The 66-year-old claimed the first time he had accidentally clicked on porn was while looking at tractors, earning him the moniker “tractor porn MP”.The second time was a “moment of madness,” he said.He is now enjoying life away from Westminster and spoke to ITV’s Lorraine Kelly show on Monday about how the scandal affected him and his wife.”She knows I’m no angel,” he said. “In fact she chases me around the kitchen with the scissors going, ‘snipper-snap’ knowing full well which part of my anatomy she’s after.”A shocked looking Ms Kelly replied by saying, “OK,” before Mr Parish added: “She knows what I’m like.”Ms Kelly then suggested that he must have had some “very awkward conversations” with his wife after the reports first came to light.”You’ve said she knows what you’re like, she accepts that I guess, but that conversation must have been very difficult,” she said.Mr Parish said that his wife has supported him throughout his career in Westminster and “she’s done so much with me.”“So naturally, on the morning I decided to resign, it was her advice I took, it was my children, my son and daughter, both very sound advice,” he said.”In the end, do you twist and turn, do you tell lots of fibs, or do you go cleanly? And I decided to go cleanly,” he explained.Mr Parish’s comments came as Boris Johnson dealt with the fallout from another MP, Chris Pincher, facing multiple misconduct claims against him.The former deputy chief whip resigned on Thursday after being accused of drunkenly groping two men at private members’ club for Tories in central London.Since then a string of other allegations have been made against the Tamworth MP, all of which he denies.The prime minister was criticised for promoting Mr Pincher to deputy chief whip given that he resigned from the whips’ office over a similar claim in 2017, also denied by Mr Pincher.Downing Street said initially that Mr Johnson was not aware of any specific claims against the MP.No 10 later on Monday admitted that he “was aware” of some allegations against Mr Pincher. More

Starmer criticises Johnson’s ‘lack of influence’ over NatoBoris Johnson showed “bad judgement” in appointing Chris Pincher to the whips’ office despite knowing of sexual misconduct allegations against him, Sir Keir Starmer said.Downing Street today admitted the prime minister was aware of claims against the now-suspended MP when he made him deputy chief whip in February.Asked about Mr Johnson’s position, Sir Keir told Sky News: “I have got no sympathy with a prime minister who repeatedly makes bad judgment calls.“We have been living with a version of this story for month after month after month. Bad judgment by a man who puts himself above everything. I don’t have any sympathy for him.”Mr Pincher, who was hit with a string of other misconduct claims over the weekend, previously resigned from the whips’ office in 2017 amid claims he made an appropriate pass at a Conservative Party candidate.The scandal has once again brought Mr Johnson’s leadership into question, with senior Tory MP Sir Roger Gale warning his party “cannot go on like this”.Show latest update

1656969379That will be all for The Independent’s live coverage of politics for this evening. Make sure to check back tomorrow for updates.Liam James4 July 2022 22:161656967234Boris Johnson claims Scottish independence could be ‘utterly tragic for the whole world’Boris Johnson has claimed Scottish independence would be “utterly tragic for the whole world” if it caused the UK’s armed forces to be divided.Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith claimed Scottish nationalists would cut defence spending and “unilaterally disarm” if they achieved independence.Mr Johnson replied: “The Scottish contribution to our armed services is immense, everybody knows it, it’s a fantastic thing, it helps to make the UK what it is.“It would be utterly tragic for the whole world if the UK armed services were to face a division of that kind or a loss of that kind.”Defence is an issue that Scots have said is a key benefit of being part of the UK.Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has outlined plans to hold a second vote on Scottish independence on 19 October next year. Mr Johnson said a referendum was not a priority for the government.Liam James4 July 2022 21:401656965749Porn Tory says wife ‘chases him with scissors’The former Tory MP who resigned for watching porn in the House of Commons said his wife chases him around the kitchen with scissors aiming for “part of my anatomy” (Matt Mathers writes).Neil Parish was forced to quit in May after it emerged that he twice watched adult content in parliament in view of female colleagues.Speaking to ITV’s Lorraine today, he revealed his wife’s reaction to the incident: “She knows I’m no angel,” he said. “In fact she chases me around the kitchen with the scissors going, ‘snipper-snap’ knowing full well which part of my anatomy she’s after.”A shocked looking Ms Kelly replied by saying, “OK,” before Mr Parish added: “She knows what I’m like.”Ms Kelly then suggested that he must have had some “very awkward conversations” with his wife after the reports first came to light.“You’ve said she knows what you’re like, she accepts that I guess, but that conversation must have been very difficult,” she said.Mr Parish said that his wife has supported him throughout his career in Westminster and “she’s done so much with me.”Liam James4 July 2022 21:151656964234Jacob Rees-Mogg defends Boris Johnson for promoting grope claim MPJacob Rees-Mogg has defended Boris Johnson’s decision to appoint Chris Pincher to the whips’ office in knowledge of sexual misconduct claims against him.The Brexit opportunities minister told LBC’s Tonight With Andrew Marr: “There were rumours. I think prime ministers have to be just, they can’t just say, ‘I’ve heard a bit of gossip and I think you’ve done something that I wouldn’t approve of’.“You can’t judge people on rumours, that’s fundamentally unjust. There are rumours about all sorts of people that turn out never to come to anything.”Before the latest round of allegations against him, Mr Pincher had resigned in 2017 over claims he groped a Tory activist in 2001. He denied the allegations and a party investigation ruled in his favour.Liam James4 July 2022 20:501656963034Give MPs vote on assisted dying, says Matt HancockMPs should have the opportunity to debate assisted dying in the House of Commons, Matt Hancock said in a Westminster Hall debate on the healthcare question.The Conservative former health secretary said it had been seven years since the last Commons vote on assisted dying.He went on: “I can speak as a former health secretary to say that the medical movement as a whole is changing its view and I think it is appropriate that we raise this question in a voteable manner on the floor of the House of Commons once again.“I can’t see how the minister can argue other than that we need an informed, compassionate debate on the floor of the House of Commons. For 50 years we have had a legal choice over who to love, for a decade we have had a legal choice over who we can marry.“So let’s have an informed debate over when the end is inevitable and when the pain is insufferable, how we die.”In Westminster Hall this evening MPs are debating a petition, which has received more than 155,000 signatures, calling for assisted dying to be legalised for “terminally ill, mentally competent adults”. Liam James4 July 2022 20:301656961834Labour peer reveals nightmare 999 call as wife lay dying in his armsA leading scientist has revealed how he faced a “litany of questions” after calling for an ambulance as his wife lay dying in his arms.The renowned broadcaster and fertility expert Robert Winston said such a “waste of time” was critical when seconds count in dealing with a cardiac arrest.The Labour peer spoke of the deeply traumatic experience as the House of Lords heard that “thousands” of people were dying because of delays to the arrival of paramedics.This has been blamed on hold-ups in being able to hand patients over and getting ambulances back on the road to answer new calls – meaning people calling 999 wait longer than they should.Speaking in the chamber, Lord Winston said: “Some months ago, as my wife lay dying in my arms, I phoned the 999 service. The man answering the call asked me a litany of questions and asked me to count her number of heartbeats per minute. That waste of time is critical. With a cardiac arrest you have only a few seconds … When eventually the man backed down, it was obvious that he had not been trained to ask the right questions.”He added: “Can the minister assure the House that there is proper training for people who answer these calls at these critical times, when they are dealing with someone who may recognise that their close relative is dying, and that the latter can hear what they are saying on the telephone?Thanking the peer for sharing his “very personal story”, health minister Lord Kamall said “clearly, there are too many incidents of this kind,” and promised to take the question to his department.Liam James4 July 2022 20:101656960574Jacob Rees-Mogg says Starmer has copied Tories on BrexitJacob Rees-Mogg accused Sir Keir Starmer of pitching a “half-cock” copy of the Conservatives’ post-Brexit plans for Britain.Speaking ahead of the Labour leader’s speech in which he laid-out the plans for dealing with the EU in future, the Brexit opportunities minister told LBC’s Tonight With Andrew Marr: “I’m fascinated by what he’s got to say, or reports of it … and what he wants to do, by and large, is things either that the Conservatives are doing [because] they want to change the Northern Ireland Protocol, so I hope he’ll support us on our bill.“And he wants recognition of qualifications, which we’ve already legislated for. So you do wonder if he was half asleep last year.“I think all that Sir Keir is going to be saying later on today is that he wants to do what the Conservatives are doing but half-cock, so it’s not much of an announcement by him today.”Liam James4 July 2022 19:491656959447Starmer pitches five-point plan to ‘make Brexit work’Sir Keir Starmer has laid out a five-point plan to “make Brexit work” in a speech to the Centre for European Reform on how a Labour government would chart Britain’s future course in the world.The Labour leader said his party was “claiming the centre ground of British politics once again”, not from a “mushy place of compromise”, but driven by “purpose” and “optimism”.He said he would say more about how it intends to get the country’s economy growing again “in the weeks and months to come”, but the first step is to make a success of leaving the EU.Speaking at the Irish Embassy in London, he said: “There are some who say, ‘We don’t need to make Brexit work – we need to reverse it’. I couldn’t disagree more.“Because you cannot move forward or grow the country or deliver change or win back the trust of those who have lost faith in politics if you’re constantly focused on the arguments of the past.“We cannot afford to look back over our shoulder because all the time we are doing that we are missing what is ahead of us.“So let me be very clear. Under Labour, Britain will not go back into the EU. We will not be joining the single market. We will not be joining a customs union.” More

The European Parliament’s far-right group has tried to stop MEPs from discussing the British government’s breaches of international law on Wednesday. MEPs are due to discuss Boris Johnson’s overriding of the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol later in the week – with the prime minister expected to be blasted from across the EU political spectrum. But the ID group, which represents parties like French National Rally, Italy’s Lega, and the German AfD appears to have come to the UK’s aid and tried to get the debate postponed. In a request submitted this week the MEPs said the debate, which is planned to take centre stage in the parliament on Wednesday, should be postponed and relegated to an unspecified “later part session”.They want the discussion replaced with a debate about the bloc’s aviation industry.The parliament’s presidency is not expected to accede to the demands and the ID group does not have the numbers to force the agenda change through.It is not the first time EU far-right parties have cooperated with the UK government in Strasbourg in recent years.In 2018 Tory MEPs voted to protect Hungary’s right right Orban regime from EU sanctions – putting them up at odds with mainstream centre-right opinion in the parliament. That episode provoked condemnation from Hillary Clinton, who said the Tories had “come a long way from the party of Churchill and Thatcher”.The debate on Wednesday will feature statements from the European Commission and European Council, who are expected to strongly criticise the UK.Brussels is pushing ahead with legal action against the UK, which appears to be disregarding parts of the treaty it signed up to.Boris Johnson is pushing domestic legislation through parliament which will give British ministers powers to effectively override the agreement. But the UK says the changes are necessary because the arrangements it signed up to are disrupting trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. More

Russian leader Vladimir Putin would welcome Scottish independence, the leader of the Scottish Labour party has suggested.Anas Sarwar said it was “pretty obvious” that the Russian president would be pleased at the break-up of Britain – saying the dictator “would support anything which is damaging to his enemies”.The senior Labour figure also claimed SNP chief Nicola Sturgeon “wants to pit Scot against Scot for her own obsession” as he set out his alternatives to independence in a speech on Monday.Asked if the Russian president would welcome the break-up of the UK, Mr Sarwar said: “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? Vladimir Putin wants to damage our role and who he regards as his enemies in the world.”The Scottish Labour leader told reporters: “He wants to damage the institutions that stand up to him, he wants to damage the institutions that help to keep global peace and justice, yes, in Ukraine, but also in the wider world.”He added: “I think he would support anything which is damaging to his enemies.”Speaking at a Fabian Society event in London, Mr Sarwar said he wanted to see the House of Lords scrapped and replaced with an elected senate of nations and regions.Outlining Scottish Labour’s proposed reforms as part of a paper on constitutional change, he said a new, elected chamber would have a mandate to ensure the smallest regions around the UK are not marginalised.Mr Sarwar said Lords “has no place in 21st-century politics” – arguing that it should be replaced with “an institution which better reflects the make-up and the identity of the United Kingdom”.The Scottish labour chief said Sir Keir Starmer agreed with the proposal for a replacement body. Abolishing the Lords was one of the 10 pledges Starmer made at the outset of his campaign to become leader.Elections for the senate would take place at a different time to general elections and votes for the devolved parliaments, with term times being longer than those for MPs, according to the Scottish Labour plan.The Scottish Labour paper on constitutional change also set out plans for “joint governance councils” between UK and devolved ministers with a legal duty to co-operate. More

Tory MP Jeremy Hunt has not ruled out a second run at the leadership of the Conservative Party, saying: “We’ll have to see what the circumstances are.”The former cabinet minister also stood by his view that the Tories will lose the next general election if Boris Johnson remains leader, but stressed that the result would be decided on the economy rather than the Partygate scandal.It comes after the prime minister narrowly survived a confidence vote in June, which severely weakened his authority in the Tory party, and soon after suffered a double defeat in the Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton by-elections.Mr Hunt, who ran against Mr Johnson for the leadership of the party in 2019, has previously hinted he would stand again for the position should Mr Johnson resign or be forced from No 10.Asked again whether he would stand in a future Tory leadership contest, Mr Hunt told an Institute for Government event on Monday: “I think we have to see what the circumstances are and then make a decision on that one.”The former health secretary and foreign secretary under Theresa May also swerved questions on whether he would a win a leadership contest, declining to engage in “hypothetical questions”.Pressed on Mr Johnson’s electoral chances should he remain in position as Tory leader, Mr Hunt said the next general election “won’t be decided on whether or not there were inappropriate parties in Downing Street during the pandemic”.He added: “I think the next election will be decided on the economy. And the core reason that ordinary voters vote Conservative is because they think that we will look after the economy better, and therefore there’ll be better prospects for them and their families.“But at the moment, because of all the global shocks that we’ve had, people don’t feel that confidence. So I think that the biggest single challenge is to get the economy growing again.”Asked about whether Mr Johnson’s government got the “big calls right” during the Covid pandemic – a claim often made by ministers and loyal Tory MPs – Mr Hunt said some things went “badly wrong” in 2020.“And then we got some things spectacularly right,” he added. “In the first half of the pandemic we didn’t follow what they were doing in Korea, in Taiwan, which were so successful in containing the virus.“We ended up having to have a lockdown. Having got ourselves in that position, we took too long to implement it – the virus had really taken hold.“At the very same time, Boris was ordering 400 million doses of vaccines without actually knowing if they would work.“And that meant that we had the best vaccine programme, and the MHRA-approved vaccines, before any other regulator in the world. Unfortunately it’s one of those things it’s impossible to give a clean view on.” More

Boris Johnson “was aware” of previous allegations of sexual misconduct against Chris Pincher when he promoted him this year, No 10 has admitted.The prime minister’s spokesman also did not deny he used the phrase “Pincher by name, pincher by nature” against the former deputy chief whip – who quit and is now being investigated for alleged groping.Last week, No 10 insisted Mr Johnson was unaware of any specific allegations against the MP – but its story has shifted, deepening the latest scandal to engulf Mr Johnson.The spokesman acknowledged he “was aware of media reports” and of “allegations that were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint”, when Mr Pincher was appointed in February.However, he continued to insist that – in the absence of any formal complaint against him – it would not have been “appropriate” to block promotion to a role with responsibility for MPs’ welfare.The spokesman was also unable to say what efforts were made to establish if allegations could be substantiated – and indicated Mr Pincher was not asked about them directly.He also said No 10 has no plan to investigate the process that led to his appointment, amid reports that Downing Street was specifically warned against it.Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former chief aide, has alleged that the prime minister referred to the former deputy chief whip as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature” long before the appointment in February.But the spokesman said: “I’m simply not going to comment on content of what was or wasn’t said in private conversations” – revealing he had not asked Mr Johnson if the claim is true.Mr Pincher was stripped of the Conservative whip after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a Conservative private members’ club in London, last Wednesday.But he remains under pressure to resign as an MP – and is facing the possibility of a police investigation, after several alleged victims of previous assaults came forward.An investigation is underway by parliament’s independent complaints service, which No 10 should proceed rather than any inquiry by Downing Street into warnings apparently not heeded.Asked what advice was sought about the swirling allegations, the spokesman said it would have come from both political colleagues and the civil service.“It was deemed not appropriate to stop an appointment simply because of unsubstantiated allegations,” he said.The spokesman said: “The prime minister was aware of media reports that others had seen over the years and some allegations that were either resolved or did not progress to a formal complaint.”Asked if he regretted appointing Mr Pincher, he said only: “Clearly, we wouldn’t want anyone working in the government to behave in the manner as he is alleged to have done so. That is not the behaviour that you’d want to see in any walk of life.” More