Markus Andrews

The Conservatives have “run out of excuses for their negligent inaction” on the cost-of-living crisis that is “hammering families across Scotland”, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Speaking ahead of Thursday’s local elections, the first minister also claimed that voting for the SNP would “put Boris Johnson under real pressure to act now and help families out” as the crisis continues to spiral.Ms Sturgeon made the comments from the party’s campaign bus which was set to arrive in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the final day of campaigning.“The only thing that will make the Tories sit up and take notice is when they think their own jobs are on the line – and that’s why this election is so important,” she said.“While all this is going on, the Tories are neglecting the spiralling cost-of-living crisis – while the SNP are focused at all levels of government to support households through tough times.“Every SNP councillor elected this week will stand firm against the Tories, ready to lock them out of power. Our priority will be supporting families through the cost-of-living crisis – not just in words but in action – working tirelessly for local communities and local services.“Every SNP vote this Thursday will have that impact. Together we can put Boris Johnson under real pressure to act now to help families out.” More

Every Covid fine issued should be overturned after prime minister Boris Johnson defended his attendance at a lockdown-busting Downing Street party, a lawyer has argued.Penalties written up for more than 20 businesses in the gym sector have been waived in recent months.Lucinda Nicholls, who successfully represented the 23 firms and is still fighting on behalf of seven more, said evidence presented against her clients was seriously deficient.The validity of the penalties – issued to at least 100,000 individuals and about 900 businesses – has also been called into question after Mr Johnson claimed in his Partygate defence that he was confused by his own government’s rules, she added.Ms Nicholls, a lawyer from the London-based law firm Nicholls & Nicholls, said: “Boris Johnson said he found the regulations confusing. Considering they changed about 12 times, it is understandable someone might be confused.”“In the context of Partygate, the government should be overhauling all of the Covid fines issued to individuals and businesses,” she added.“If the government that brought in the legislation had difficulties with regard to the exemptions and the defences, then that demonstrates that there is clearly going to be confusion among the local authorities and the police in relation to enforcement.”Police in England and Wales issued 877 notices under business regulations while more than 100,000 were imposed on people over various other allegations, data released by the National Police Chiefs Council in March showed. Local councils have also issued similar fines.Gainz Fitness & Strength, an independent gym in Bedford, was one of the firms Ms Nicholls has represented. The gym’s owner, Alex Lowndes, risked being fined £10,000 when he decided to stay open in November 2020 after rules ordering gyms to be closed had come into force. More

Ministers have abandoned plans to send the first asylum-seekers to Rwanda this month as promised, prompting accusations that they are blaming legal challenges rather than admit that the idea is “unworkable”. When the multi-million pound deal was announced last month, Boris Johnson said the first flights would take off within “weeks” – but his spokesperson on Tuesday said it would now be “a matter of months”.No 10 has blamed legal challenges against the policy but also insisted court action would not put the controversial project “on hold”.Charities and lawyers said the delay indicated that ministers had accepted that the challenges of implementing the policy were “far greater than it had anticipated”, and that there was now a likelihood that it could “easily unravel” because the logistics have “simply not been thought through”. Meanwhile, one Home Office source believes the government “actually wants” legal challenges so that ministers can “point to their frustration at being blocked by the courts and push for more power over court decisions.”The source told The Independent that the current policy “will be difficult” to implement, but added: “I don’t think politically they will abandon the idea though, it will carry into the next election manifesto I would guess.”Experts had questioned Mr Johnson’s claim that the scheme – which he has said will see tens of thousands of people deported there after arriving in the UK via irregular means – could start almost immediately, with some doubting whether any refugees would ever be sent to Rwanda.The prime minister’s spokesman acknowledged that the legal action was not “unexpected” and described it as only “one of the variables” affecting hopes for the scheme.“We are working to get the first flights moving – I don’t know definitely what timescale that will be,” he added.An analysis by the Refugee Council last month found that fewer than 200 asylum seekers would be deported to the east African country under existing immigration rules, casting doubt over the prime minister’s claims.Enver Solomon, chief executive of the charity, said: “The government’s desire to treat people as human cargo and expelling them to Rwanda is not only appallingly and unprincipled – it also unworkable.“The government now seems to be accepting that the challenges of making it a reality are far greater than it had anticipated. There’s a likelihood that it could now easily unravel and certainly never be on a scale the prime minister said it could be.”Sonya Sceats, chief executive at Freedom from Torture, a charity bringing one of the legal challenges, said: “It is obvious that ministers are hiding behind court cases rather than admit that this inhumane plan is unworkable.“Critical operational considerations have simply not been thought through, including the risks of sharing sensitive data about refugees with a repressive state known to practice torture.”Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said the “cruel” plan was “rapidly turning into yet another expensive mess”, adding: “It isn’t deterring people from crossing the Channel, and it’s already mired in predictable delays. “Everything the Conservatives have done has only made this problem worse. It’s time they realised that the best way to prevent the crossings, and combat the smuggling and trafficking gangs, is to provide safe and legal routes to sanctuary for refugees.”Around 550 people have crossed from France in small boats in the last two days following an 11-day pause, casting doubts over claims by some Conservative MPs that the Rwanda threat is already acting as a deterrent.The government has argued legal powers already exist to allow asylum-seekers to be sent to Rwanda, but critics argue it breaches both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Geneva Convention.Toufique Hossain, director of public law at Duncan Lewis, which is representing the civil service union (Public and Commercial Services Union) and two charities in a court challenge against the policy, said the delay “could suggest that the home secretary has finally worked out what most people already know – the plans are unworkable, unlawful and a huge waste of tax payers’ money”. Immigration lawyer Alasdair Mackenzie echoed his remarks, saying: “Legal challenges will undoubtedly – and rightly – happen, but they’d be a convenient smokescreen for the fact that the practical mechanics of the Rwanda plan – who qualifies, where will they live, how do you stop them coming back, etc – have blatantly not been thought through.”A Home Office spokesperson said: “This world-leading Migration Partnership will overhaul our broken asylum system, which is currently costing the UK taxpayer £1.5bn a year – the highest amount in two decades.“It means those arriving dangerously, illegally or unnecessarily can be relocated to have their asylum claims considered and, if recognised as refugees, build their lives there.“Our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda fully complies with international and national law. We will defend any legal challenge robustly.” More

Boris Johnson said he has not received a police questionnaire in relation to claims of a rule-breaking leaving party for a former communications director.The Metropolitan Police sent people more than 100 questionnaires earlier this year in relation to allegations of law-breaking parties in government buildings while pandemic-related restrictions were in place.Mr Johnson received a questionnaire then and has since been fined in relation to a gathering on his birthday in June 2020.But he has now been pressed on reports that some government staff have received new questionnaires from the Met in relation to a leaving party for the prime minister’s former communications director, Lee Cain, on November 13, 2020.Asked by Times Radio whether he had received a Metropolitan Police questionnaire about the event, Mr Johnson said: “I am not commenting on this stuff generally, but the answer to that is no, not so far, or certainly not to my knowledge.“All of this will become clear with the end of the investigation.”He added: “I have been very clear with people, I don’t want to give a running commentary on the thing, so let’s wait until it is all concluded and then I will have plenty more to say.”The prime minister also said he wanted to “focus on the stuff” for which he was elected.Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain earlier in the day, Mr Johnson insisted he is an “honest” politician, saying he was “inadvertently” wrong in his comments to parliament about the Partygate row.And he said he should not resign over Partygate because he is “getting on with the job that I was elected to do”.Mr Johnson is now facing an investigation over misleading parliament after he told the Commons that no laws were broken in Downing Street.In response to a suggestion that some people believe he is a liar, Mr Johnson said: “If you are talking about the statements I’ve made in the House of Commons, I was inadvertently… I was wrong, and I’ve apologised for that.”Later he said: “I have apologised for the things we got wrong during the pandemic,” as he was asked about breaking the law.Further pressed on the issue, he said: “With great respect, I’m going to have to ask you to wait until the end of the investigation.”He added: “I will make sure that as soon as I’m able to say something on the conclusion of the investigation, you will have a lot more on it.”Asked why he should not resign, as Matt Hancock did as health secretary and Allegra Stratton did as Downing Street press secretary, the prime minister said: “I’m getting on with the job that I was elected to do and discharge the mandate that I was given and I’m proud of what we have been doing.”Asked on BBC Radio Wiltshire why he wants to continue as prime minister, Mr Johnson said: “Because I have a massive mandate to deliver and I was elected with an 80-seat majority to take the country forward, to unite and level up.”His comments come despite ongoing calls for his resignation from opposition MPs as well as his own backbenches, he after he and his wife Carrie Johnson, along with the chancellor Rishi Sunak, were fined last month for breaking Covid laws.MPs have since approved the Privileges Committee launching an inquiry once the police have finished their own investigation into the gatherings.So far the police have announced they have issued at least 50 fines as part of their investigation. More

Universities failing to take tough action on sexual misconduct should risk losing their official status, ministers have said. Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi and Universities minister Michelle Donelan have told the higher education regulator it should become a sanctionable offence to not follow its recommendations on tackling sexual violence, The Independent can reveal.This could involve a range of penalties, with the worst or repeated breaches potentially resulting in a loss of university status. Last April the regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), set out a list of recommendations aimed at helping universities to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and misconduct on campus. These include introducing sound processes for reporting incidents, support for those involved in investigations and governing bodies making sure approaches to tackling sexual misconduct are “adequate and effective”. At the time, the regulator said it would consider giving these more weight by making them a “condition of registration”.This would give it powers to issue sanctions for breaches but a year later that has yet to be introduced.The OfS recommendations were made in the wake of the Everyone’s Invited campaign, which saw current and former students share thousands of testimonies of abuse. The website, as well as the murder of Sarah Everard, had also sparked campus protests calling for tougher action on sexual violence. Students have told The Independent they felt let down by universities after experiencing sexual assault, saying there had been a lack of support or they were put off reporting in the first place.Jo Grady, the head of the University and College Union, told The Independent there needed to be a “strong stance” from the university regulator to tackle “endemic” sexual violence on campuses.“Although the sector is waking up to the issue, the pace of change remains slow and far too variable in places,” she said.Education ministers say they made clear in a letter published online late March they wanted regulatory powers to cover sexual misconduct policies as soon as possible. “The Office for Students – which regulates universities – has published a statement of expectations on how universities should handle cases sexual harassment and misconduct,” a Department for Education spokesperson told The Independent. “In March the education secretary and Minister Donelan wrote to the OfS making clear his view that this should be made a condition of registration, meaning the regulator would have very real powers to penalise universities which are failing victims of sexual harassment and assault. “In our view, the OfS should include this in a condition of registration as soon as possible.”John Blake, the OfS director for fair access and participation, told The Independent last week: “We are now examining how universities and colleges have responded to the statement of expectations, and this work includes listening to the views of students and students’ unions.“Once this work is complete, we will consider what steps to take next including whether to connect the statement directly to our conditions of registration.”The regulator says universities would likely be given an opportunity to “improve performance” before anything else in the case of breaches.If they fail to do so, they could face further escalating intervention. Among the lighter sanctions are fines, while tougher ones include revoking the use of “university” in its name.“The consequence of this approach is that the OfS would be willing to use its power to deregister a provider that continues to breach conditions, or where an initial breach was judged to be sufficiently serious,” the OfS says online.“Such providers would therefore no longer be able to operate within the regulated higher education sector.”The Independent has approached OfS for comment about the education ministers’ letter. More

Boris Johnson has questioned his own past “attitudes” towards women, as controversy rages over misogyny at Westminster.The prime minister has been criticised for joking that voting Tory can “cause your wife to have bigger breasts” and for admiring “semi-naked” volleyball players “glistening like wet otters”.The remarks were raked up when he condemned the behaviour of Neil Parish, the Conservative MP forced to quit for watching porn at parliament as “totally unacceptable”.Quizzed on the Tory record on women, Mr Johnson was asked: “Do you ever look back on your own conduct towards women and regret any past attitudes?”“I’m sure every human being looks back over episodes in their lives and wonders whether they might have done things differently,” he told Times Radio.The comment came as the prime minister revealed he had “not so far” received a questionnaire from the Metropolitan Police for a leaving party in No 10, held for his outgoing director of communications Lee Cain.There are reports that some Downing Street staff have received questionnaires about the event, held on the same November 2020 night as the ‘Abba’ party in his own flat.No 10 has not denied a claim that Mr Johnson effectively turned it into a leaving party by making a speech and by “pouring drinks for people and drinking himself”.Asked if he had received a questionnaire, the prime minister said: “I’m not commenting on this stuff generally, but I can tell you the answer to that is no – not so far, or not to my knowledge.”He declined to back calls for the Conservative candidate in Tiverton and Honiton, the Devon seat vacated by Mr Parish, to be a woman, arguing that is “a matter for the local association”.But he argued: “I think the Conservative Party can be incredibly proud of what we’ve done to promote women in politics.“We’re the only party to produce any female prime minister – we’ve actually produced two.“If you look at the current Conservative government it has got women at every level, brilliant women at every level. And I think two of the four top jobs in government are currently held by women.“Things have changed massively. When I came in, in 2001, it was very, very different, the atmosphere. We’ve come on in leaps and bounds.”The accusation of misogyny has also been levelled at Mr Johnson for a criticism made of his great Tory rival that changes to working practices at the Commons were “introduced by girly swot Cameron”.In the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics, he said: “There are semi-naked women playing beach volleyball in the middle of the Horse Guards Parade immortalised by Canaletto.“They are glistening like wet otters and the water is splashing off the brims of the spectators’ sou’westers.” More

Parliament’s independent watchdog has said around 15 MPs are being investigated for alleged bullying or sexual misconduct. The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) previously confirmed there were 15 cases opened between July 2020 and June 2021, and that it was seeing ‘a similar trend in disclosure’ so far this year. It comes after the the Conservative MP Neil Parish was referred to the body, before resigning at the weekend after admitting watching porn in the Commons chamber in a “moment of madness”. More

A data breach affecting more than 400 students at the University of Essex is being treated “very seriously”, the institution said.Law firm Hayes Connor, which is representing some of those affected, said an email from an external partner of the university accidentally included a spreadsheet containing personal information.The message from facilities management was to request payment for repairs to a broken door at an accommodation block and was sent on March 23.The spreadsheet contained more than 400 residents’ information, including student IDs, dates of birth and contact details, Hayes Connor said.Christine Sabino, the legal specialist at Hayes Connor representing those affected, said it was a “particularly worrying” data breach.“The spreadsheet included on this email contained all kinds of crucial data on hundreds of people, so the seriousness of the issue should not be downplayed,” she said.“Through our work, we have seen how breaches of this kind can have a big impact on those affected.“It should also be remembered that many of the individuals involved here are young adults living away from home for the first time.“Some may be very worried about this or unsure what to do next.“The individuals we have spoken to are desperate to know how this happened.“They are also keen to understand what is being done to prevent more issues in the future.“When individuals provide data to organisations of any kind, they trust that the information will be handled in a secure and proper manner.“Issues like this only serve to undermine that trust, so we are determined to help our clients get the answers they deserve.”A University of Essex spokesman said: “We are taking this issue very seriously and ensuring our delivery partners understand our high expectations about the management of data.“We’ve contacted all individuals involved to offer advice and support.” More