Markus Andrews

Conservatives jeered at Sir Keir Starmer over the so-called Beergate saga, as a Tory MP joked that the Labour leader was suffering from “karma” over his Partygate attacks.Backbencher Graham Stuart put the boot into over the Durham Police probe into the takeaway curry eaten at event last April – telling Starmer “the only thing opening up for him in the north is a police investigation”.Mr Stuart also joked that “never in the history of human conflict has so much karma come from a korma” –prompting further laughter from the Tory benches.The Tory MP added: “Free beer and cash were the electoral controversies then, as opposed to say, beer and curry today.”Starmer was seen grinning at the remarks, but deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner did not smile and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy shook her head.It followed a terse exchange between Boris Johnson and Starmer as they walked into the Lords chamber together for Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech.The prime minister appeared to taunt the Labour leader by saying “nice weekend?” – an apparent reference to renewed pressure on Starmer over the takeaway eaten with Labour staff while campaigning in Durham.Mr Johnson and his opposite number were filmed smiling and engaging in apparent small talk as they walked side by side in a procession of MPs on Tuesday.It comes after Sir Keir said on Monday he will do the “right thing” and quit if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice in relation to a gathering in Labour offices.At the weekend, the Mail on Sunday published a leaked memo indicating the dinner had been planned as part of Sir Keir’s itinerary for a day of campaigning, and no further work was scheduled afterwards.Starmer’s move has been viewed as a bold gamble, with the opposition leader placing his future in the hands of Durham Police after it was announced last week officers would reopen an investigation into the event, where he drank beer and ate curry.The Labour party has sought to contrast Sir Keir’s actions with those of the PM – who has refused to quit after being fined by the Met Police over a gathering in No 10 in June 2020 to mark his 56th birthday.In his response to the Queen’s Speech, Starmer congratulated Mr Johnson on becoming the “first resident of Downing Street” to be resident of a Labour council, after the Tories lost Westminster at the local elections.In her own post-Queen’s Speech comments, Conservative Fay Jones welcomed the Online Safety Bill “which will protect the unsuspecting farmer from nefarious internet videos” – a joke about departing Tory MP Neil Parish being caught watching porn. More

A Brexit Freedoms Bill in today’s Queen’s Speech promises to “seize the benefits” of EU withdrawal by making it easier to relax regulations – but gives no examples of Brussels rules the government would scrap.Six years after the UK voted to leave the EU and two years after its formal withdrawal, Boris Johson’s government has yet to deliver the bonfire of Brussels red tape promised by the Leave campaign.Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg was reduced to appealing to newspaper readers for ideas on what rules and regulations could be reformed or abolished.The Bill unveiled today promises to “seize the benefits of Brexit by ensuring regulation fits the needs of the UK, which in turn will enable economic growth”.But there is no mention of business concerns that deviation from EU regulation may in many cases increase the burden of red tape by forcing firms to comply with two separate – and possibly conflicting – regimes.The head of consumer research at international delivery company ParcelHero, David Jinks, warned: “Companies trading oversees will not want to see any divergence between UK and EU regulations which would mean their products can’t be sold in Europe.“It is fine in principle that the new Brexit Freedoms Bill ‘will enable law inherited from the European Union to be more easily amended’. However, where that means significant divergence from EU law for products, packaging or online services, businesses will not want to have to meet two different sets of regulations.”More than 1,400 pieces of EU-derived law were transferred into UK law as part of the Brexit settlement, in order to prevent a chaotic “legal black hole” in the immediate aftermath of withdrawal.The new bill will allow the amendment or repeal of many of these measures to be rushed through by using “secondary legislation”, which can be enacted by ministers without full parliamentary scrutiny. Government sources said this would save “decades of parliamentary time”, but critics fear it hands too much power to the executive to institute changes with potential profound implications.The legislation will also remove the principle of supremacy of EU law, which still applies to 2,376 acts of parliament passed before Brexit.Government sources said this would “assert the sovereignty of parliament” and ensure that “there is no higher law than an act of parliament”.Mr Johnson said the bill would allow the UK to “get on with growing our economy by making the most of our Brexit freedoms” and would “attract business and investment and encourage innovation by making the UK the best regulated economy in the world”. More

Boris Johnson is to fly to Finland and Sweden to discuss the Nordic countries’ ambitions to apply for membership of Nato.The visit will be seen as a red rag to Moscow, after Russian president Vladimir Putin used fears of an expanded Nato alliance as a justification for his invasion of Ukraine.Finnish president Sauli Niinisto is expected to confirm his country’s stance on membership on Thursday, while an announcement is expected from Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats on Sunday following consultations over the weekend.Mr Johnson will meet his counterparts in Stockholm and Helsinki during a one-day trip on Wednesday, taking questions from the press in both countries.After decades of neutrality, the question of Nato membership was thrust to the top of the political agenda in both Sweden and Finland by the invasion of Ukraine in February, which threw a harsh spotlight on the vulnerability of Russia’s neighbours to aggression from Moscow.A formal application to join Nato could be made at the alliance’s June summit in Madrid and is likely to be fast-tracked, though getting the signatures of all 30 alliance members could take up to a year.Setting out the UK’s position ahead of Mr Johnson’s visit, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We support countries’ democratic capability to decide on things like Nato membership.“We understand the positions of Sweden and Finland and that is why the prime minister is going to discuss these broader security issues.” More

Boris Johnson’s government will push ahead with legislation to allow the gene editing of animals and crops in a bid to improve Britain’s agricultural productivity.The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill outlined in the Queen’s Speech is aimed at promoting “efficient” farming and food production – stripping out rules inherited from the EU after Brexit.Gene editing is considered to pose less of a risk that genetic modification (GM) since it does not involve the introduction of DNA from another species.But the practice is still controversial, with campaigners warning about potential animal welafre implications from a “high-tech free-for-all”.The use of technology has been restricted by a 2018 ruling from the European Court of Justice that determined it should be regulated in the same way as GM.Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has been keen to find ways to ditch EU rules so the UK can increasingly diverge from Brussels.The government hopes that simplified regulation will allow gene editing to increase disease resistance in crops, which can in turn reduce the use of pesticide – as well as boosting production.Gene editing makes changes to the traits within a species of plant or animal much more quickly and precisely than traditional selective breeding, used for centuries to create stronger crops and livestock.Plans for the bill include two notification systems where breeders and scientists will need to notify Defra of precision-bred organisms. The information collected on precision-bred organisms will be published on a public register.The World Animal Protection group said the legislation had the “potential for catastrophic welfare implications” – urging the government to consider animal welfare when it comes to drawing up the bill.Lindsay Duncan, the group’s farming campaign manager said gene editing “does not take into consideration the severe welfare impacts selective breeding has already had on millions of farmed animals in the UK.”GM Freeze, an umbrella group of organisations seeking to highlight concerns about the impact of genetic modification, also argues that not enough is known about gene editing.The group said the government “appears to have decided that what we don’t know does not matter and that we should take our chances with potential adverse effects on people, animals and the environment”.Separately from the gene editing bill, a Brexit Freedoms Bill in today’s Queen’s Speech promises to “seize the benefits” of EU withdrawal by making it easier to relax regulations. More

A package of measures unveiled by Boris Johnson today with a promise to get Britain “back on track” after the Covid pandemic contained no new support for households struggling with the cost of living.Announcing his legislative programme for the year ahead, the prime minister acknowledged that families are “anxious about the future” and promised to monitor the situation over the coming months and help “where we can”.But he poured cold water on any further imminent steps to ease the burden of skyrocketing inflation – predicted to top 10 per cent before the end of 2022 – warning that any such measures will have to be balanced against the need to keep public finances on a “sustainable footing”.Mr Johnson attempted to use the Queen’s Speech to draw a line under Covid and the Partygate scandal and reset his premiership on a more positive course for the general election due by 2024 at the latest.He said it would focus on the government’s three top priorities – “growing the economy, safer streets and supporting the NHS to clear the Covid-19 backlogs”.The 38 bills announced by the Prince of Wales – standing in for the Queen after the 96-year-old monarch pulled out due to “mobility problems” – included measures to regenerate disadvantaged areas through “levelling up” and to develop the UK’s green energy capacity.Six years on from the EU referendum and two years after the UK left the 27-nation bloc, it included a Brexit Freedoms Bill, which Mr Johnson said would allow the removal or revision thousands of pieces of Brussels-derived law still on the statute book.He claimed that this would “lighten the burden” of regulation on UK businesses, many of which are currently reeling under the additional load of red tape created by Brexit.The package featured highly controversial plans to scrap the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, and replace it with a British Bill of Rights which lawyers warn will put Britain on collision course with Strasbourg.A Transport Bill will create a new Great British Railways governing body, while a Media Bill will pave the way for the highly contentious sell-off of Channel 4.A Genetic Technology Bill risks furious debate over plans to allow the “precision breeding” of animals and plants through futuristic gene-editing techniques.A Schools Bill will aim to get 90 per cent of primary school children to expected standards in reading, writing and maths by 2030. And a Conversion Therapy Bill will introduce a criminal offence of attempting to “convert” people away from homosexual orientation – but will controversially not cover transgender people.New measures will protect Army veterans from prosecution for alleged crimes committed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. And a National Security Bill promises “the biggest overhaul of state threats legislation for a generation” updating official secrets legislation dating back a century in order to bring it into the modern world of cyberattacks and online disinformation.But there was no place for promised animal welfare legislation to ban imports of fur and foie gras, reportedly ditched for being too “un-Conservative”.And despite sabre-rattling from foreign secretary Liz Truss, there was no promise of legislation to override Mr Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol, which has disrupted commerce in the province since its negotiation by the prime minister as part of his Brexit deal.Unveiling the package, Mr Johnson made clear he hoped to revive the spirit of optimism which he deployed in the 2019 general election but which has been dealt heavy blows by the pandemic and the failure so far to deliver on ambitious promises to “level up” the country.“This is a Queen’s Speech to get our country back on track and ensure that we deliver on the promises we made at the start of this Parliament,” said the prime minister.“Together, these measures make this Queen’s Speech one that will help us meet today’s challenges. They will ensure we can continue building back a better Britain after the pandemic, boosting our growth and recovery so that every part of our country can thrive.”He said that the government had already provided £22bn to help with cost-of-living pressures in 2022/23, including a £200 loan to cover heating bills and a £150 discount on council tax for poorer households.But he continued to set his face against calls for an emergency budget to deliver more assistance, instead offering to unleash “ingenuity and compassion and hard work” in response to rising prices.“After two years of Covid-19, I know that the last thing people need are further challenges,” said Mr Johnson. “I know people are struggling with their bills, and that they are anxious about the future.“But we will get the country through it just as we got through Covid-19, with every ounce of ingenuity and compassion and hard work.“While we must keep our public finances on a sustainable footing – and we cannot completely shield people from the fallout from global events – where we can help, we will.“And over the coming months we will continue examining what more we can do to ease the pressures on hard-working people and families.” More

The government has confirmed at the Queen’s Speech that trans people will not be covered in a long delayed ban on “abhorrent” conversion therapy practices.And the ban on homosexual conversion therapy will cover all attempts to induce children to switch their sexual orientation, but will apply to over-18s only if they do not consent to the process or are forced or coerced into undergoing “therapy”.It comes after Boris Johnson was forced to partially U-turn on leaked plans to drop a legislative ban on the discredited practises, which seek to suppress or change an individual’s sexuality or gender identity, entirely.After a major row with LGBT+ campaign groups, the prime minister swiftly recommitted to a legislative ban on conversion therapy for gay and bisexual people, but not for trans individuals.As expected, the Queen’s Speech makes clear a Conversion Therapy Bill, will be introduced seeking to “ban conversion therapy practices intended to change sexual orientation” which cause “extensive harm”.The government said the move will “protect people’s personal liberty to love who they want to love”.But despite describing the practice as “abhorrent”, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “If you are over 18 you can consent to conversion therapy.” The principle of consent would not apply, however, where practices are deemed to cause “serious harm” to the subject of the supposed therapy.A document produced by the government said it would strengthen existing criminal law to ensure “violent conversion therapy is recognised as a potential aggravating factor upon sector”.A criminal offence will also be introduced “banning non-physical conversion therapies to complement existing legislation which protects people from act which inflict physical harm”.It will also ensure those found guilty of “conversion therapy offences have any profit they obtained from those crimes removed” and “strengthening the case for such individuals” from holding senior charity roles.Making clear trans conversion therapies won’t be covered by the proposed legislative ban, the document added: “Recognising the complexity of issues and the need for further careful thought, we will carry out separate work to consider the issue of transgender conversion therapy further”.The move — first unveiled last month — was met with dismay from LGBT groups, including over 100 organisations that pulled their support from the government’s long-touted international LGBT conference.Jayne Ozanne, a former government LGBT+ adviser, said that while she was “relieved” ministers were still pledging to ban the practice “they are creating so many loopholes and leaving so many people unprotected”.She added: “The government’s own research shows that trans people are twice as likely to be offered “conversion therapy” and it is an utter disgrace that they have purposefully omitted them from the ban. “The government’s duty is to protect the most vulnerable from abuse, not to side with the abusers. By creating a loophole of consent, the government continues to ignore the advice of legal experts and survivors like myself, who know that this will continue to put many lives at risk.” More

Charities have said they will “see the government in court” after it published official guidance for selecting asylum seekers to send to Rwanda.A flurry of legal letters in recent weeks had demanded details of who will be eligible for removal under Priti Patel’s new scheme.The Home Office has made guidance for individual cases public but refused to confirm if specific groups of people are affected, saying the information could be used by people smugglers. More

Boris Johnson’s government has revealed its controversial plan to bring in legislation to end the prosecution of veterans over Troubles-related killings and other legacy cases.The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech is aimed at making sure former soldiers are given immunity from criminal prosecution.It will also see a new, independent commission set up to help families find out what happened to loved ones in cases involving former members of the security forces and ex-paramilitaries.The government says veterans involved in hundreds of cases will be expected to provide information to the new commission – leaving open a route to prosecution if individuals do not cooperate.Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis first revealed the intention to end prosecutions last year – arguing it would help unionist and nationalist communities move “further along the road to reconciliation”. It was met with widespread outrage from all sides in Northern Ireland. Bereaved relatives who lost loved ones during the three decades of violence made clear their opposition to an “blanket” amnesty.However, the Republic of Ireland’s deputy premier welcomed the announcement that immunity for Troubles-related offences will depend on individuals co-operating with the information-retrieval body.“I think it’s good news that they’ve abandoned plans for a blanket amnesty for British soldiers and terrorists who may have been involved in crimes in Northern Ireland and elsewhere,” Tanaiste Leo Varadkar told RTE radio on Tuesday. No 10 said the plans was to introduce a system where immunity is guaranteed to individuals as long as they cooperate with the new commission. There will also be an “oral history” initiative allowing people from all communities to share their stories.Mr Johnson’s official spokesman said: “The previous approach was not working. We believe that this will help with effective information recovery which provides answers for families and delivers on our commitments for Northern Ireland.”The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) currently has a caseload of more than 900 Troubles-related cases involving 1,200 deaths. The PSNI has estimated it would take 20 years to work through the cases.The Queen’s Speech did not contain any move to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol unilaterally, but the government has made clear it will take steps to ditch checks if the EU does not agree soon.Foreign secretary Liz Truss will reportedly move to discard large portions of the protocol – checks on all goods being sent from Britain to Northern Ireland – after giving up on Brexit negotiations with Brussels. More