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MPs must not hide behind excuses about long hours and work pressure as an explanation for misogyny and misbehaviour in Westminster, Keir Starmer has said.His comments came as cabinet minister Kwasi Kwarteng insisted that parliament was a safe place for women to work, saying that problems were limited to a few “bad apples” who cross the line in what is a “really intense” workplace.The Labour leader welcomed the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish, who quit on Saturday after being spotted watching pornography on his phone in the Commons chamber.But he said that parliament needed a “culture change… led from and modelled from the top.”Sir Keir was speaking amid fresh allegations of misbehaviour in the Commons, with reports of incidents such as MPs licking researchers’ faces. More than 50 MPs are said to be under investigation by parliament’s complaints procedure over sexual harassment.The Labour leader told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “There’s a cultural issue we have to get to grips with and culture change has to be led from and modelled from the top.”The government had shown repeatedly that, when a Tory colleague gets into trouble, ministers’ “first instinct is to push it off into the long grass, hide what’s happening,” said Sir Keir.And he added: “That’s a political problem because the fish rots from the head…“I’ve dealt with cultural change before – I had to do this within the Crown Prosecution Service. I learned that it has to be led from a model from the top.“You look to the political leadership, see what approach they’re taking. And without that, I think it’s very difficult to bring about change.”Mr Kwarteng denied there was a general culture of sexism in Westminster, but said that the pressures of the job drove some MPs to step over the line.“I don’t think there’s a culture of misogyny,” Mr Kwarteng told Sophy Ridge.“I think the problem we have is that people are working in a really intense environment. There are long hours. I think, generally, most people know their limits. They know how to act respectfully, but there are some instances where people don’t frankly act according to the highest standards.”But Sir Keir said that this view was challenged by female MPs with whom he had discussed the issue over the past few days.“We can’t run this argument about this `high pressure culture’,” he said. “Take responsibility.“Neil Parish chose to watch porn in parliament. Tory MPs chose to make disparaging comments about Angela Rayner. They’ve got to take responsibility.”Mr Kwarteng insisted that parliament is a safe place for women to work despite a few “bad apples”.He told the BBC’s Sunday Morning show: “I think it is. I think we’ve got to distinguish between some bad apples, people who behave badly, and the general environment.“There are some bad apples, there are people who have acted very badly, and they should be held to account.”He said it would be “excessively puritanical” to shut down parliament’s bars in the hope of ending sexual misconduct and sleaze.The business secretary told Ridge: “No, they shouldn’t all be shut, I don’t think we should have an excessively puritanical severe regime in that regard.”Mr Kwarteng also did not back all-women shortlists for parliamentary candidates, saying: “I’ve never been a fan of quotas but I think we should do all we can to encourage more women to come into politics and from diverse backgrounds.”He said that the complaints system set up in 2018 following the Pestminster scandal “needs time to really get going”, but said it was clear that currently it ”isn’t working sufficiently well”. More

Cabinet divisions over the cost-of-living crisis have burst into the open, as business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng set his face firmly against an “arbitrary” windfall tax on energy firms just days after Rishi Sunak indicated he was ready to consider the move.Mr Kwarteng’s comments came as inflation and the cost of living emerged as the key issue for crunch local elections across Britain on Thursday, with opposition parties arguing that a windfall tax could help ease the burden of soaring gas and electricity bills on families.Liberal Democrats today issued a demand for an emergency tax cut in the 10 May Queen’s Speech, cutting £600 a year from the tax burden on the average family by cutting the main rate of VAT from 20 to 17.5 per cent for the next 12 months.Meanwhile, Asda boss Stuart Rose said that the government and Bank of England had been “slow” in recognising the threat from inflation and taking action to counter it.Lord Rose said that supermarkets were facing a “new level of costs” because of factors like the war in Ukraine – which produces a large share of the world’s vegetable oil and feed for chickens – and the near-shutdown of areas of China impacted by Covid, and said there was more the government could do to “cut out every extra cost” by streamlining regulations.It was clear that increased prices “won’t go down” over the coming years, Lord Rose told BBC1’s Sunday Morning, adding: ““What we are now going to have to think about is, is that going to have a long-term effect on inflation – because then will we have a wage spiral – or won’t we?“The converse side of that is we could end up, if we have no growth in the business, having stagflation. They are both evil and the government has got a very difficult and tricky road to navigate.”Mr Kwarteng dismissed calls for an emergency budget to implement a new package of immediate help for struggling families – though he stressed that the decision was for Mr Sunak to take.The chancellor last week signalled support for a windfall tax on energy firms if they failed to use their profits – hugely inflated by the current high price of oil and gas – for the benefit of the UK.“If companies aren’t going to make investments in our energy security, of course that’s something I’d look at,” he told the Mumsnet website.But Mr Kwarteng – who has written to the companies urging them to reinvest profits in the UK economy – today set his face firmly against a tax.“I’ve never been a supporter of windfall taxes,” he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday. “I’ve been very clear about that publicly. I think they discourage investment.”And he later told the Sunday Morning programme: “We want to encourage investment in the North Sea, we want to have domestic sources of supply, and if you are asking a company to invest in North Sea gas, which we need for new technologies as well, it doesn’t make much sense to me to then hit them with a windfall tax which is arbitrary and unexpected.“I don’t think that is the right way.”However he acknowledged that he could not rule out the chancellor opting for a windfall tax as he comes under growing pressure to help families increasingly struggling to cope with power bills.“He has to have a much wider view of the entire economy,” said Mr Kwarteng. “Every chancellor that I can remember has always said every option is on the table. That’s a reasonable thing for a chancellor to say.“He and I talk about these things all the time, he’s always been a pro-investment conservative. I’m not ruling out what the chancellor is or isn’t going to do in an October budget – that isn’t my job. As he said, he’s responsible for the budget and he’s going to look at all the options.”Labour leader Keir Starmer said that a one-off tax on oil and gas “super profits” could deliver an immediate £600 reduction in average annual energy bills.“We are not talking about taxing the profits they expected to make,” Sir Keir told Sky News. “This is the profits they didn’t expect to make.“I tell you this – £600 help with energy bills for those that need it will be desperately needed and welcomed across the country.”Sir Keir said the cost of living has been the “number one issue” on the doorstep while campaigning for the local elections, adding that the Conservatives have said “absolutely nothing” about it.Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said that the spike in prices meant the Treasury was forecast to take in £39bn more in VAT over the coming four years than had been predicted last year.He urged Mr Sunak to put £600 into ordinary families’ pockets by cutting the rate of the purchase tax in “a cost-of-living Queen’s Speech”.“Rishi Sunak is raking in billions in extra tax because of soaring prices,” said the Lib Dem leader. “He could cut people’s taxes at the stroke of a pen, so there is no excuse for him not to act.“People are facing a cost-of-living emergency, and they need an emergency tax cut now.” More

A former Conservative minister warned a newly elected Scottish MP which “predatory” men to avoid in parliament.It comes after Tory backbencher Neil Parish resigned after admitting that he had been watching pornography in the Commons.Anum Qaisar, who was elected SNP MP for Airdrie and Shotts in May 2021, said she was told by opposition MPs which male politicians to avoid. She told Sky News that a former Conservative minister approached her at a parliamentary event after noticing she was uncomfortable with a male politician being “too cavalier”.

I started to feel really uncomfortable because he was being far too over-cavalierAirdrie and Shotts SNP MP Anum QaisarShe said: “Despite the fact we have this horrific, toxic culture in Westminster, it’s women looking after women.“Since I joined parliament, I’ve been taken aside by female MPs to warn me about some male MPs who say ‘Actually, Anum, you’re probably better off staying away from X, Y and Z’.“In my situation, I was at a parliamentary event and a certain male MP made a beeline for me. I started to feel really uncomfortable because he was being far too over-cavalier.“It was actually a Conservative MP – a former minister – who took me aside and said ‘Look, it seems like you feel uncomfortable. Do you want to stay with me? You’re probably best just to stay away from that person’.”Her comments follow the resignation of Mr Parish, who confessed to watching pornography twice in parliament.The Tiverton and Honiton MP told reporters it was a “moment of madness” which he will have to live with for the rest of his life. More

Minister denies culture of misogyny in parliamentA minister has denied there is a culture of misogyny in parliament despite reports more than 50 MPs are facing allegations of sexual misconduct.Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng suggested the issue was people “working in a really intense enivronment” with “long hours”.Asked about reports 56 MPs are allegedly facing allegations of sexual misconduct that have been referred to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, he said it was “extraordinary” but insisted he had “never seen any of it” in parliament.It comes following the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish after he admitted watching pornography in the House of Commons in what he described as a “moment of madness”.The Tiverton and Honiton MP claimed he looked at adult material twice, the first time stumbling on a porn website while looking for tractors online, but returning deliberately on the second occasion.Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has called for “radical” reform to working practices in parliament, suggesting staff should no longer be employed by the parliamentarians they work for.Show latest update

1651415412Nicola Sturgeon ways she will not ‘shy away’ from dealing with misconduct in SNPNicola Sturgeon has said she will “not shy away” from dealing with issues of misconduct within her party.Appearing on Sky News, the first minister was asked about sexual misconduct allegations within her own party, as SNP MP Patrick Grady is investigated over claims he groped two male researchers.She said she did not know the status of the investigation, adding: “I’ve seen what has been reported, as I understand it the process is under way. I have not seen any findings.”Ms Sturgeon stressed she was not trying to “dodge” the issue and said the claims should be fully investigated.She added: “I’m not trying to dodge this. It’s important that the process is allowed to proceed.”When I do know whether … finally things have been upheld, I’m happy to come on and talk to you about that.”Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 15:301651414683PM’s ‘anti-woke’ agenda fuels sexism in parliament, says senior Labour womanBoris Johnson’s “anti-woke agenda” has helped fuel the rise in misogynistic behaviour in parliament, one of Labour’s most senior women MPs has said.Margaret Hodge’s comments came after the resignation of Tory MP Neil Parish for watching porn in the Commons chamber, and amid a flood of complaints about women at Westminster being groped, objectified and belittled because of their sex.Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full story:Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 15:181651412804‘Anti-woke culture driven from top’ allows sexual misbehaviour to be seen as norm, says veteran MPVeteran Labour MP Margaret Hodge has claimed an “anti-woke culture driven from the top” has allowed behaviour like that of a politician caught watching porn in the Commons chamber to be seen as the norm.Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend as 56 MPs reportedly face allegations of sexual misconduct, she said: “What’s it all about? I think it’s partly the MPs think of themselves as special and important and therefore it’s ok for them to behave like that and I also think it’s something about the culture led from the top.“We have had Boris Johnson sort of creating a culture where it’s OK to break the rules and we’ve got a sort of anti-woke culture being driven from the top.“Before I came on the programme, I looked at Liz Truss’s Twitter account – she hasn’t commented on this and yet she’s minister for women. She ought to have done and it’s sort of that anti-woke culture has also I think allowed this sort of behaviour to be seen as the norm.”Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 14:461651411155Greens still seek UK’s exit from Nato despite Ukraine war, says leaderThe Green Party would seek to move the UK out of Nato in the long-term once the conflict in Ukraine is over, its co-leader has said.Adrian Ramsay told Sky News he did not want to “change structures in the middle of a conflict”, but believes the UK should leave the military alliance in the future.Asked on Sky News whether the Greens’ position on Nato had changed as a result of the Ukraine conflict, Mr Ramsay confirmed it had not.He said: “We have a long-term policy about reviewing what structures we need to have to build peace in the world and we have to remember this conflict has happened at a time when we are part of Nato, when we are still seeing nuclear weapons dominate.”Of course we are not about changing structures in the middle of conflict and what we need to do at the moment is focus on how Ukraine can be supported in a wide variety of ways.”Mr Ramsay suggested the UK needs to focus on “peacekeeping and getting the parties to the table” as well as “stronger economic action”.Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 14:191651409754Sir Keir Starmer says he will not ‘hug any previous Labour leader’ in hi style of leadershipSir Keir Starmer has said he will not “hug any previous Labour leader” in his style of party leadership.But he did pay tribute to former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, who has endorsed Sir Keir in a campaign video ahead of the local elections.Asked by Sky News if he felt closer to the leadership of Sir Tony or Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir repeated a claim he made ahead of his election as Labour chief that he would not have “the name of some previous Labour leader tattooed on my forehead”.He added: “Let me just tell you what I said at the time, which was I am not going to hug any previous Labour leader because I don’t believe that you go backwards to go forward.”I will learn from any Labour leader, I will talk with any Labour leader and if it is Tony Blair who has won three elections, Gordon Brown who won it with them, then I will happily take their advice and talk with them.”Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 13:551651408614PPE storage costing taxpayers nearly £500k a day, claims LabourPPE storage is costing the taxpayer nearly half a million pounds a day, Labour has claimed, as the cost-of-living crisis begins to bite.The government has revealed that storage of personal protective equipment (PPE) related to Covid is estimated to be £3.3 million a week.Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, who requested an estimate of the costs, has claimed this equates to £471,429 being spent every day on storing PPE.She said struggling families would be “outraged” to learn how much is being “frittered away” on PPE storage costs.Labour also claimed its analysis shows government “waste” on PPE over the course of the pandemic would be enough to save each household in the UK more than £310.The written question from Ms Rayner also revealed that £5.8 million of taxpayers’ money had been spent on PPE storage in China at the end of 2021.Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 13:361651407599Tensions over cost of living surface, as Kwarteng sets face against ‘arbitrary’ windfall tax on energy firmsCabinet divisions over the cost-of-living crisis have burst into the open, as business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng set his face firmly against an “arbitrary” windfall tax on energy firms just days after Rishi Sunak indicated he was ready to consider the move.Mr Kwarteng’s comments came as inflation and the cost of living emerged as the key issue for crunch local elections across Britain on Thursday, with opposition parties arguing that a windfall tax could help ease the burden of soaring gas and electricity bills on families.Andrew Woodcock has the full story:Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 13:191651406424Call to make watching porn in public place a criminal offenceWatching pornography in a public place should be made a criminal offence in the UK, the author of a keystone new report on misogyny told The Independent.Eminent barrister and peer Helena Kennedy said that had been a dramatic and alarming increase in recent years in men viewing hardcore porn on trains or buses when seated next to women they do not know or showing women graphic pictures in workplaces, pubs and clubs, apparently getting a thrill from the discomfort and distress they cause.More on this from our political editor Andrew Woodcock:Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 13:001651405524Business secretary unclear on ‘emergency budget’ to tackle cost-of-living crisisBusiness secretary Kwasi Kwarteng suggested there will not be an “emergency budget” to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, before walking back the comments.He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “There won’t be an emergency budget…”Questioned further, he said: “I’m not ruling out, it’s not in my power to do that.”You know as well as I do, and many of your viewers, that budgets are for the Chancellor. All I’m saying is that there’s been considerable amount of support already.”Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 12:451651404624Cabinet rift appears over prospect of windfall tax on oil and gas profitsBusiness secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has voiced firm opposition to a windfall tax on oil and gas companies despite Chancellor Rishi Sunak raising the possibility.The cabinet minister was adamant it would be a “disincentive” to investment by energy giants despite his colleague in the Treasury using the threat to encourage spending, as their profits soar along with customers’ bills.But Mr Kwarteng did not rule out that the move, long called for by Labour, is being considered by the Government as a measure to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis.He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I’ve never been a supporter of windfall taxes – I’ve been very clear about that publicly. I think they discourage investment.”And he said on the BBC’s Sunday Morning show “it doesn’t make much sense to me to then hit them (energy firms) with a windfall tax which is arbitrary and unexpected”.Chiara Giordano1 May 2022 12:30 More

Britain remains the “world leader” in hiding dirty money despite recent efforts to crack down on oligarchs’ illicit wealth, a leading sanctions expert has told The Independent.Bill Browder urged Boris Johnson’s government to get to grips with the “enabler community” of lawyers and accountants in London suspected of helping kleptocrats from Russia and elsewhere protect their assets.The Vladimir Putin critic – who campaigned for the “Magnitsky” human rights sanctions introduced by many western governments – said the UK government must now force so-called enablers to share more information with the authorities. More

Parliament is facing a reckoning to improve its reputation after a senior Tory admitting he twice watched pornography in the Commons capped a series of scandals.Neil Parish bowed to pressure to say he would resign as MP for Tiverton and Honiton after viewing the material in the chamber in what he called a “moment of madness”.The 65-year-old select committee chair, who is a farmer by trade, said he first accidentally viewed porn after looking at tractors online before later acting deliberately.Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is calling for “radical” reform to working practices after a series of bullying and sexual misconduct offences involving MPs. More

Information warfare is being waged from an old arms factory in St Petersburg where trolls are targeting Boris Johnson and spreading support for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, research suggests.The new study details how the Russian president’s regime is trying to manipulate public opinion on social media as well as in the comments sections of major media outlets.Online operatives were found to be ordering followers to target Western media outlets and politicians, according to the research funded by the UK Government, which plans to share it with major platforms.These include the social media accounts of the Prime Minister, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. More

Liberal Democrats were today rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of a by-election in Neil Parish’s Tiverton and Honiton seat, which strategists feel may offer the possibility of a repeat of last year’s stunning victory in North Shropshire.The east Devon constituency has been Conservative since its creation in 1997, and returned Mr Parish at the last election with an overwhelming majority of more than 24,000, making it on paper one of Boris Johnson’s safest seats in the country.But North Shropshire’s 23,000 Tory majority was overturned in December on a sensational 37 per cent swing to Lib Dems, following the disgrace of long-serving MP Owen Patterson who quit after a report found him guilty of paid advocacy on behalf of two private companies.And Lib Dem insiders today said the party will be “going for it” in Tiverton and Honiton, in a bid to repeat the historic upset in the traditional rural Tory heartlands which they describe as the Blue Wall.No date has yet been set for the by-election triggered by Mr Parish’s resignation, with June or July thought likely months. It will come hot on the heels of another awkward by-election for Mr Johnson, in Wakefield, where Labour will be bidding to snatch back a Red Wall seat after the conviction of Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan for sexual assault on a teenage boy.As in North Shropshire, Labour took second place in Tiverton and Honiton in the 2019 election, comfortably ahead of Ed Davey’s party in third.But one Lib Dem source said that the party was hopeful that its tradition of being the main challenger to Tories in the West Country would help it leapfrog into contention in the race to find Mr Parish’s successor.Lib Dem candidates regularly took second place in the constituency until 2015, missing out on seizing the seat by just 1,653 votes in 1997.In North Shropshire, Lib Dems campaigned hard on the issue of poor ambulance availability in the constituency, and their hopes of success in Tiverton and Honiton may rest on identifying a local issue of similar resonance.A party source said: “Right now we are completely focused on the local elections. But the Lib Dems have already shown we can take rural seats off the Conservatives.“People across the West Country have a strong tradition of voting Liberal Democrat as the main opposition to the Conservatives.“As we saw in North Shropshire, there is a real backlash against Boris Johnson from rural communities who are fed up of being taken for granted.” More