Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson is set to make an emergency visit to Northern Ireland, as the crisis over the protocol deepened with the unionist DUP blocking the election of a speaker at Stormont.Sinn Fein first minister designate Michelle O’Neill said she was expecting the prime minister in Northern Ireland on Monday, when she will tell him to “stop pandering to the DUP”, which is refusing to join a power-sharing executive while the protocol is in place.There was no immediate confirmation from Downing Street that the visit will go ahead. If it does, it is understood that the PM will focus on talks with the Northern Irish parties to try to get power-sharing arrangements back on track, rather than making an announcement on the future of the protocol.It comes amid increasing sabre-rattling from the UK administration over the future of the deal with the EU, which was agreed by Mr Johnson in 2019 in order to keep the border with the Republic open after Brexit, but which he now blames for disruption to trade between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.Ministers are understood to have drawn up legislation to allow the UK to override elements of the protocol, which could be unveiled next week at the risk of triggering a trade war with Europe.London has been accused of “threats and blackmail” by Brussels after foreign secretary Liz Truss told European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday that the UK would have “no choice but to act” if the EU does not give in to demands to scale back customs checks.Ms O’Neill said that Northern Ireland was being used as “a pawn in the middle of a battle between the British government and the EU”, but insisted that the protocol was “here to stay”.She said she will tell Mr Johnson on Monday “that he needs to stop pandering to the DUP” and that his government “need to get on and work with the Commission and find ways to smooth the implementation of the protocol and stop holding us to ransom for their game-playing”.“They are playing a game of chicken with the European Commission right now, and we are caught in the middle,” she said. “That’s not good enough.”The development came as it was confirmed that a delegation of senior members of the US Congress are to visit London, Belfast, Brussels and Dublin next week for talks to highlight American support for the Good Friday Agreement, of which the US is a guarantor.The group will be led by the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, who also chairs the Congressional Friends of Ireland Caucus.“I can confirm that this trip is occurring next week,” a spokesperson for Mr Neal told The Independent. “However, due to security concerns, I cannot comment further.”A White House spokesperson declined to say whether the congressional delegation would carry a message from President Joe Biden, who during a St Patrick’s Day virtual meeting with Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the agreement “cannot change” and called it the “foundation of peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland for nearly 25 years”.The spokesperson said Mr Biden “has long made clear his strong support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement” and said the US “underscore[s] our continued support for a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace”.Ms O’Neill welcomed the congressional visit and suggested that UK hopes of a US trade deal may depend on Mr Johnson being able to reassure Washington that his stance on Brexit is not putting stability in Ireland at risk.“Britain have reneged constantly on international agreements which they are themselves signed up to,” she said. “Before the ink will be dry on the paper, they start to unravel those things, and that’s not good enough.“So if Britain wants to see a future trade deal with the American administration, then they need to honour the Good Friday Agreement and stop messing with it because, quite frankly, that’s what they’re doing right now. “With cross-community consent required under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the largest unionist party was able to use its boycott to prevent the appointment of a speaker, effectively preventing the Northern Ireland Assembly from sitting.Ms O’Neill accused the DUP of “punishing the electorate” by paralysing the functions of government at a time when all other major parties in the assembly wanted to go ahead with the formation of an executive.“The DUP are holding society to ransom for the hard Brexit which they themselves delivered, along with their friends in the Tories,” she said.“I would say to the DUP to get real, to understand the public need a functioning executive, to understand that we need to be in this executive together, working together for the people that have elected us, and that the protocol issues can be resolved alongside that work.” More

Boris Johnson has been accused of “playing politics with children’s health” after a government U-turn on plans to restrict junk food advertising and multibuy promotions.The prime minister announced plans for a crackdown on foods with high fat, salt or sugar content after his own brush with death from Covid in 2020, which he blamed in part on his own excessive weight.But the Department of Health today announced a one-year delay to the proposed ban on buy-one-get-one-free (Bogof) deals for unhealthy foods, as well as a 9pm watershed for TV ads, with rumours in Westminster that the plan will eventually be ditched altogether.Campaigners fear that Mr Johnson has caved in to pressure from backbench Tory MPs, who deride the measures as “nanny state” meddling – and who hold his future in their hands following the scandal over lockdown-busting parties at No 10.They argue that banning Bogof and three-for-two deals will simply increase pressure on families’ budgets during the cost of living crisis.But the Children’s Food Campaign said that there was clear evidence from years of studies that Bogof deals on junk food do not save consumers money, but simply drive up the quantity of unhealthy products bought.The campaign’s Barbara Crowther said: “Obesity is spiking and millions of families can’t afford to put proper food on the table.“Multibuy offers make people spend more on junk and less on healthy food. This delay threatens the UK target to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Boris is playing politics with our children’s health.”And Mr Johnson’s own food tsar, Leon Restaurants founder Henry Dimbleby, told The Independent: “If Bogofs are a solution to the cost of living crisis, God help us.“If food companies want to help with the cost of living they could simply halve the price of junk food. “They do Bogofs because they know that they increase the amount purchased and eaten. They increase household spend. It’s called the ‘consumption effect’ and it is part of the basic training of food marketeers.”Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, described the one-year delay as “a shocking U-turn by the government that will have severe ramifications for children’s health and fatally undermine any further efforts to address health disparities”.With child obesity at a “devastating all-time high”, restricting TV ads for junk food would on its own significantly reduce the number of children with excessive weight, she said. “Big challenges, like child obesity, need bold leadership, not a government that shirks its responsibility and continues to let unscrupulous food companies bombard us with advertising and fake bargains at the expense of our health,” said Ms Cerny. “We urge Boris Johnson to remember the promise he made to make it easier for everyone to be healthier and reverse this abysmal decision.”Announcing plans for restrictions on junk food marketing in 2020, Mr Johnson said: “Losing weight is hard but with some small changes we can all feel fitter and healthier. If we all do our bit, we can reduce our health risks and protect ourselves against coronavirus – as well as taking pressure off the NHS.”He had earlier said that his spell in intensive care with Covid-19 had made him more aware of the need to improve his own diet and to exercise more.But he is known to have been advised since by elections guru David Canzini to “get the barnacles off the boat” by dumping policies which do not fit with the core Conservative message he will offer in the 2024 general election.And the Department of Health today said that a one-year delay on multibuy restrictions, which had been due to come into effect from October, would allow the government to “review and monitor” their impact on the cost of living.The ban on pre-watershed TV ads and paid-for adverts online will also be paused for a year until January 2024 due to “a growing recognition that the industry needs more time to prepare”, said the department.A clampdown on the placement of unhealthy items like sweets at supermarket checkouts and aisle ends will go ahead in October this year as planned.Public health minister Maggie Throup said: “We’re committed to doing everything we can to help people live healthier lives. Pausing restrictions on deals like buy one get one free will allow us to understand its impact on consumers in light of an unprecedented global economic situation.”But Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said that delaying the other policies was “incredibly concerning” and that curbing price promotions was “one of the policies critical to reducing obesity, the second-biggest preventable cause of cancer”.The shadow public health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “Boris Johnson’s desperation to cling onto his job means the ideology of Conservative MPs is being placed above children’s health.“Instead of cutting childhood obesity, preventing ill-health and easing pressure on the NHS, this chaotic government is performing another U-turn.” More

Boris Johnson is on collision course with unions over contentious plans to axe over 90,000 civil service jobs, with one general secretary warning a ballot on strike action is “almost inevitable”.As the proposals emerged, the prime minister was also accused of treating government employees with “contempt” and “throwing them under a bus” in an attempt to distract from intense pressure on the cost of living crisis.It comes after Mr Johnson told cabinet ministers on Thursday to bring forward plans to reduce staffing levels in their departments and return the civil service to 2016 levels – a reduction of 91,000 staff.He suggested the billions saved could be used for tax cuts, saying: “Every point the government pre-empts from the taxpayer is money they can spend on their own priorities, their own lives”.The comments provoked embarrassment at HM Revenue & Customs, with the department’s top official apologising to staff for hearing about the planned job cuts through the media – instead of internal channels.Unions representing civil servants have also reacted with fury, with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) now expected to hold an emergency executive meeting next week to discuss a response.Speaking to The Independent, general secretary Mark Serwotka, said: “We’ve got a conference in 10 days and I think it is almost inevitable we will vote to move to an industrial action ballot early in the autumn. “We were already planning to consult over the question of cost of living cuts. I think the threat now to one-in-five jobs makes that an inevitability.He added: “We’re shocked about the shambolic nature of the announcement. There was no advance notice or consultation.“We take it seriously. We don’t just think this is an announcement made for political purposes – it is clearly that – but we have no doubt they are serious about trying to make the cuts and if they do that that will be devastating.”“We’ve had two weeks of [Jacob] Rees-Mogg moaning about passports being late and driving licences taking ages. His answer is to get rid of one in five of the workforce who are already struggling”.Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, said: “The reason for the civil service’s expansion since 2016 isn’t because the government loosened the purse strings.“The government needed civil servants to deal with the consequences of two unprecedented events: Brexit and the Covid pandemic,” he added.“Without an accompanying strategy, these cuts appear more like a continuation of the government’s civil service culture wars, or even worse, ill-thought out, rushed job slashes that won’t lead to a more cost-effective government”.The Trade Union Congress (TUC) deputy general secretary Paul Nowak also accused the government of treating the civil service with “contempt”.“They deliver vital services, collect taxes, help people back into employment, regulate medicines, negotiate trade deals and thousands of other things that bind society together,” he added.“It is shameful that the prime minister is throwing them under a bus to distract from the government’s failure to deal with the cost of living crisis”.Jacob Rees-Mogg, minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency, defended the plan on Friday, however, saying the job cuts would bring numbers back to 2016 levels after extra staff were brought in to help deal with the pandemic and the “aftermath of Brexit”.He told Sky News: “I know it sounds eye-catching but it’s just getting back to the civil service we had in 2016. Since then, we’ve had to take on people for specific tasks.“So dealing with the aftermath of Brexit and dealing with Covid, so there’s been a reason for that increase, but we’re now trying to get back to normal.” More

Boris Johnson made no apology to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after she told him she had ‘lived in the shadow of his words’ during years in an Iranian jail, her husband Richard has said. Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was meeting the prime minister for the first time since her release in March, and the first time since he wrongly told a parliamentary committee as foreign secretary in 2017 that she had been training journalists in Iran.His words were used by the Tehran authorities when extending her detention as proof that Nazanin was working against the Iranian state at the time of her initial arrest in 2016, rather than visiting her parents in the country as she claimed.Speaking after the hour-long meeting at 10 Downing Street, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s MP Tulip Siddiq said: “She was sitting next to the prime minister and she told him very clearly and categorically that his words have had a big impact on her and that she had lived in the shadow of his words for the best part of four and a half years. “And I had to say the prime minister looked quite shocked when she said that.“I was really proud she did say that because she wanted to make it clear to him that she’s happy now, she’s grateful, she appreciates the fact that she’s home now, but there was a time when his words had a big impact.”Asked whether the PM apologised to Nazanin for his mistake, her husband Richard replied: “Not explicitly.”Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe did not wish to speak with reporters following the meeting, but smiled as she watched with her seven-year-old daughter Gabriella from the steps to No 10.Mr Ratcliffe said his wife had told Mr Johnson that her release from captivity “didn’t need to take six years” and asked him why it had taken so long.He said that Nazanin told the PM: “I just want you to know that the mistaken comments in 2017 had a lasting impact… I lived with that for ages. I know it was a mistake, but it lingered.”She revealed that even on the final day before her release, she was urged by Iranian interrogators to confess, telling her: “Just tell us now, because obviously your foreign secretary – now prime minister – revealed what you’ve been doing. You could tell us what you were really doing, it wasn’t just a holiday”.Ms Siddiq said that it had been “difficult to hear” Nazanin go through the details of her life in custody with the prime minister.She said that the Ratcliffes had urged Mr Johnson to answer questions on the UK government’s handling of hostage-taking incidents before an inquiry being held by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.It would be unusual for a prime minister to give evidence to a committee of this kind, but Ms Siddiq said that he had agreed to “look into that”.Mr Ratcliffe said Nazanin had also raised concerns about new detentions of Western people in Iran, including Briton Morad Tahbaz, a Swedish man on death row and two French people picked up this week, asking the PM to “do what you can” to help them.“Nazanin kept making the point that people who went in quite soon around the time that she went in, they are not home yet and she is home and she feels very guilty about that,” said Ms Siddiq.“She wants them to be back as well and she can’t sit here and enjoy her life knowing there are people going through the same conditions that she went through.”Mr Ratcliffe said there were “lessons to learn” in the handling of his wife’s six-year detention.“It was two years ago that I stood here having seen the Prime Minister and I came out fairly forlorn, in the sense that we were having to battle for longer,” he said.“I stand here now with the battle over for us.“I think there are lessons to learn, there is a wider problem.”But asked if he felt angry about the impact Mr Johnson’s comments had had on his wife’s incarceration, he said that his main emotion was “relief”.“We talked about the mistakes made at the end,” he said. “It was rough at the end, and I think, when Nazanin is ready to talk about it, that is something that we need to go through.“But no, I think, it is not like when this is over that you feel angry. Relief is what I honestly feel.” More

A Conservative MP has blasted the government for its “lack of will” to tackle racial disparities after ministers refused to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting.In February, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee called for legislation to introduce the metric for companies with more than 250 employees, a requirement which has existed for the gender pay gap since 2017.But the government has rejected that call, citing “significant issues” relating to statistics as its primary reason not to adopt it. However, it said it would issue guidance for employers who choose to report their ethnicity pay gaps on a voluntary basis, including offering advice to those in regions with statistically low numbers of people from ethnic minorities.Caroline Nokes MP, chairwoman of the Women and Equalities Committee, said: “In February, we made clear to the government that the necessary systems and structures to report on the ethnicity pay gap are already in place. Introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for larger businesses would set the ball rolling reducing inequalities between different ethnic groups.“The government’s nonsensical response – which claims that gathering the necessary data would be too difficult, and then promptly outlines how this could easily be addressed- is disappointing.“It makes clear that what is lacking in this administration is not resource or know-how, but the will or care to foster a fairer and more equal society.”Companies that employ more than 250 staff are required to report gender pay gap figures and so are “already well resourced” to gather data on ethnicity and pay, cross-party MPs have said.The decision not to impliment the plan comes after analysis by The Labour Party an first reported by The Independent found ethnicity pay gap data would not be widely published by companies in the UK until 2075 unless the government intervened.The government’s new response to the matter discounts its own commitment to mandatory ethnicity pay reporting referenced in a 2018 consultation by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy which stated “the government believes it is time to move to mandatory ethnicity pay reporting”.The rejection comes as experts warned that ministers are failing to take the matter seriously as Sandra Kerr CBE, race director at Business in the Community, told a parliamentary session in January that it has been difficult to engage with politicians on the topic.In the committee’s February report, several incentives were provided for adopting the mandate. For example, research estimates that addressing race inequality in the UK labour market could boost the UK economy by £24 billion a year. The MPs’ report found that the introduction of ethnicity pay gap reporting would be the first step to addressing pay disparities between employees from different ethnic backgrounds. More

The executive committee of Wakefield’s local Labour Party has resigned en masse in protest over the national party’s handling of the selection of a candidate in a forthcoming by-election.In a major bust-up with Labour HQ , the 16-strong body hit out at the lack of a “local candidate” on the shortlist, and decided to quit their positions during a meeting on Thursday evening.They also accused the party of failing abide by the rules, by only allowing one local party member – rather than three – on a panel to draw up a candidate shortlist to go before members.The row follows the resignation of the former Conservative MP for Wakefield, Imran Ahmad Khan, who was convicted last month of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.The date for the by-election is yet to be announced, but it will viewed as a crucial test for Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, in a former Labour stronghold that turned blue at the 2019 general election.Members will vote at a hustings on Sunday which candidate to represent Labour at the vote, with Kate Dearden, the head of research at Community Union, and NHS worker Simon Lightwood, on the shortlist.On Friday, however, the party’s campaign was described as being in “disarray” after the executive members of Wakefield’s Constituency Labour Party (CLP) resigned en masse over the selection process.In a statement, seen by The Independent, they accused the party’s governing body — the National Executive Committee (NEC) — of failing to adhere to the rule book.“We asked for local candidates, but there are none,” they said. “Three prominent council and local Labour candidates, including the deputy council leader, didn’t even make it onto the ‘long-list’.“A shortlist of four was requested by our representative on the panel to give members some choice but the NEC members insisted on just two.”The CLP added: “Representations to party officials at the highest level have got absolutely nowhere with some queries not even answered.“As a consequence, the Constituency Executive (comprised of local branch representatives and constituency officers) decided last night to resign en bloc with effect from the Sunday selection meeting.”Momentum’s co-chair Gaya Sriskanthan accused the party’s leadership of parachuting in “its own choices, excluding popular local candidates”.“Now Labour’s campaign in Wakefield is in disarray, and the blame lies entirely with Labour’s leadership,” she added. “They should obey party democracy and give party members a real choice.”In response, a Labour spokesperson said: “We’re really pleased to have two fantastic candidates on the shortlist with strong connections to the local community.“On Sunday, local members will make the final choice on a candidate who will be a strong champion for Wakefield and represent a fresh start against a backdrop of Tory failure.“Wakefield has been badly let down by the Conservatives and our focus is on winning the by-election and ensuring local people in Wakefield get the representation and the hard working MP they deserve.” More

Boris Johnson promises ‘compassion’ to get people through cost of living crisisThe minister for government efficiency has rejected suggestions of a return to austerity after Boris Johnson tasked his cabinet with cutting around 90,000 Civil Service jobs.The prime minister told ministers on Thursday that the service should be slashed by a fifth, as he moved to free up cash for measures to ease the cost of living crisis with possible tax cuts.Jacob Rees-Mogg defended the plan on Friday, saying the job cuts would bring numbers back to 2016 levels after extra staff were brought in to help deal with the pandemic and the “aftermath of Brexit”.He told Sky News: “I know it sounds eye-catching but it’s just getting back to the civil service we had in 2016 … since then, we’ve had to take on people for specific tasks.”So dealing with the aftermath of Brexit and dealing with Covid, so there’s been a reason for that increase, but we’re now trying to get back to normal.”Show latest update

1652442609Do MPs understand what the cost of living crisis means for people?Conservative MP Lee Anderson caused uproar this week when he claimed there wasn’t ‘this massive use’ for food banks in the UK and that people could really do with a few cooking lessons instead, writes Cathy Newman.Read Cathy’s piece here: Matt Mathers13 May 2022 12:501652441370ICYMI: Boris Johnson is heading for a double drubbing in by-electionsThe prime minister’s unpopularity is about to be brought home to Conservative MPs in dramatic fashion, writes John Rentoul.Read John’s full piece here: Matt Mathers13 May 2022 12:291652440421Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to demand answers on slow release in meeting with PMNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will meet with Boris Johnson today and demand answers as to why it took the government so long to secure her release from detention in Iran.She will be joined by her local Tulip Siddiq. Ms Siddiq said her constituent “deserves to hear directly” from the prime minister.She said: “We will use the meeting as an opportunity to raise the plight of British citizens like Morad Tahbaz who are still being held hostage in Iran and push the Prime Minister to do much more to secure their release.”He has a responsibility to ensure that others do not have to endure the six years of torment that Nazanin was put through.She added: “I will also be submitting evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s inquiry on hostage taking, which I hope will get the bottom of the Government’s abject failure in handling cases like Nazanin’s.“Never again must the government allow British citizens to be taken hostage with so little done to secure their release and so few reprisals for those responsible.”Matt Mathers13 May 2022 12:131652439309Former MP Neil Parish could stand in by-election triggered by own resignationFormer Tory MP Neil Parish who admitted watching pornography in the Commons chamber is taking “soundings” on standing in a by-election triggered by his own resignation.It comes after Mr Parish stood aside in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency in April after becoming the focus of a political storm when two female MPs reported him to party whips.Our politics correspondent Ashley Cowburn reports: Matt Mathers13 May 2022 11:551652438441Foreign Office issues further sanctions against RussiaThe Foreign Office has announced further Russian sanctions, with President Vladimir Putin’s ex-wife, family members and inner circle hit in the latest tranche of measures designed to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.Foreign secretary Liz Truss said: “We are exposing and targeting the shady network propping up Putin’s luxury lifestyle and tightening the vice on his inner circle. More

Rishi Sunak is under fire after an extraordinary claim that “computer says no” forced him to impose real-terms benefits cuts in his spring mini-budget.The chancellor has been strongly criticised for increasing payments to struggling people by only 3.1 per cent last month – far below the inflation rate of 7 per cent and rising.Now Mr Sunak has blamed the government’s antique computer system, despite previously suggesting it would be too costly and that other help is available.“The operation of our welfare system is technically complicated,” he told Bloomberg News.“It is not necessarily possible to [increase benefits] for everybody. Many of the systems are built so it can only be done once a year, and the decision was taken quite a while ago.”Mr Sunak acknowledged that blaming the technology “sounds like an excuse”, but insisted he was “constrained somewhat by the operation of the welfare system”.But the claim was disputed by experts who argued that – while changing so-called “legacy benefits” and pensions is complex – levels of Universal Credit can and have been increased at pace.Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, pointed out that Mr Sunak increased Universal Credit immediately when the Covid pandemic struck in 2020.Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The chancellor is right that it’s very difficult to change benefits outside the usual cycle, particularly for pensions. But these barriers can be overcome.”The Department for Work and Pensions appeared to contradict the chancellor’s claim that the system can only be altered once a year, saying changes take “several months to process.”It said legacy benefits use “complex and inefficient paper-based systems that are slowed further by aging, inflexible IT”, referring only to claimants not yet moved over to Universal Credit.It said legacy benefits use “complex and inefficient paper-based systems that are slowed further by aging, inflexible IT”, referring only to claimants not yet moved over to Universal Credit.Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, poured scorn on the claim, tweeting: “Computer said no? He’s insulting your intelligence.”The effective benefits cuts have sparked warnings that many more people will be forced to go to food banks and that Mr Sunak has turned a “cost-of-living crisis into an emergency”.The Treasury watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, has forecast that Britons will suffer the biggest fall in living standards since records began in 1956.At his spring statement, the chancellor chose instead to raise national insurance thresholds – to partly mitigate the increase in the rate paid – and pledge future income tax cuts.An emergency town hall fund was increased by £500m, but councils have warned that fails to compensate for previous cuts to their assistance schemes. More