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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to “come clean” over whether his household benefits from any Russia-related interests.The chancellor has faced questions over his wife, Akshata Murthy, 0.91 per cent stake in the IT and services giant Infosys — a company founded by her father, Narayana, and which continues to operate in Russia.Mr Sunak yesterday hit out at the scrutiny, saying it was wrong and “very upsetting” for people “to try and come at my wife” and the “attempted smearing” of his father-in-law.But in a series of interviews on Friday, Sir Keir insisted that the chancellor, who has told British businesses to “think carefully” about making investments that would benefit Russia, had questions to answer.Speaking on Sky News he said: “So far as the chancellor’s wife is concerned, there’s just a fundamental question of principle, is their household benefitting from money made in Russia when the government has put in place sanctions?“That is in the public interest for us to have an answer to — I’m not attacking their family I don’t agree with that way of politics.“But I do want to know if the chancellor’s household is benefiting from money from a company that’s investing in Russia when the government is saying quite rightly that nobody should be doing that”.He added: “I would have thought the chancellor would actually want to come clean on this and say ‘actually I can be very, very clear that my household doesn’t benefit from any money that’s come in any way from Russia during this invasion of Ukraine.“It’s a simple question, I think he should just answer it. It would actually help his wife if he just answered the question”.A spokesperson for the chancellor told The Independent: “Ms Murthy is one of thousands of minority shareholders in the company. “It is a public company and neither her nor any member of her family have any involvement in the operational decisions of the company.”Asked about Infosys – which has four offices in the UK but has reportedly kept offices in Moscow – Mr Sunak told Sky News earlier this month: “I have absolutely no idea because I have nothing to do with that company.”Pressed on whether his family was “potentially benefiting from Putin’s regime”, he added: “I don’t think that’s the case. I’m an elected politician and I’m here to talk to you about what I’m responsible for. My wife is not.”Addressing the situation again last night on BBC Newscast, the chancellor also attempted to compare attacks on his wife to the Will Smith Oscar’s slap scandal. More

Boris Johnson has reversed a plan to keep so-called gay conversion therapy legal after fierce backlash from campaigners and MPs, according to reports.The U-turn comes just hours after it emerged the prime minister had decided against making it a crime to seek to change someone’s sexual orientation.Though the government will now outlaw the gay “therapy”, No 10 said the equivalent practice for trans people will remain legal, reports from ITV News and Sky News said.The Conservative Party pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies which seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.The government had sought to justify Thursday’s short-lived departure from the pledge by saying it had decided to review “how existing law can be deployed more effectively” to stop the practice.The spokesperson said the government would also “explore the use of other non-legislative measures” to stop abusive practices.A Downing Street briefing document leaked to the press earlier on Thursday suggested that the U-turn could be blamed on the need to prioritise government legislation from May, given the Ukraine war and cost of living crisis.It reportedly warned officials there would be a “noisy backlash from LGBT groups and some parliamentarians when we announce we do not intend to proceed”.The warning proved prescient. Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland, said: “We’ve had time to vote that lobsters have sentience – tell me how that is more important than telling gay and trans people that they deserve to be loved.”Dehenna Davison, an LGBT Tory MP, said the decision to drop the ban was “fundamentally wrong” and needed “to be reversed immediately”.Labour said the “outrageous decision” shows the prime minister could not be taken at his word on LGBT+ rights.ITV News journalist Paul Brand, who first reported the dropping of the ban, said sources suggested that 60 MPs lobbied Mr Johnson to change course. More

Five million households will be forced to spend at least 10 per cent of their budget on energy bills after Friday’s price cap hike, according to the latest analysis.The prediction comes as the limit on bills leaps by 54 per cent, adding an average of £693 a year to the cost for those on default tariffs.A number of major energy suppliers websites crashed Thursday as customers raced to submit meter readings ahead of the increase. Users reported being unable to access the websites of energy giants such as British Gas, SSE, E.ON, and EDF.The price rises will double the number of households in “fuel stress” – a term for those spending 10 per cent or more of their income after housing costs on energy bills – overnight from 2.5 to 5 million in England alone, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank. The figures account for chancellor Rishi Sunak’s recent intervention to ease the impact.With the price cap expected to rise sharply again later this year, the think tank said a further 2.5 million households could fall into “fuel stress” in the autumn unless more support is provided, bringing the total to 7.5 million. This is based on an estimated £500 increase in the price cap on 1 October.Shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, hit out at the prime minister and Sunak for not doing more to help. “On the day when energy bills rise by record amounts for millions of families, it is shameful that Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are refusing to go further to support the British people facing a cost of living crisis,” he said.“It tells you everything you need to know about this government that they stand by whilst working people, families, and pensioners suffer.”In early February, Mr Sunak announced a support plan worth £350 – via a £150 council tax rebate and a repayable upfront £200 discount – for each of “the vast majority of households” to take the “sting” out of the rise.But there are mounting concerns among some Tory MPs that the chancellor’s lack of fresh measures for the poorest households could take a toll in May’s local elections.“There’s such a profound problem of seeming tone deaf when you’re out trying to drum up support,” one senior Conservative MP said. “People are starting to see their neighbours tighten their belts, and the demand build on local charities,” they added.“The spring statement failed to help the most needy,” another Tory MP told The Independent. “It also failed to keep taxes down, too. The fuel duty cut’s been swallowed up as well, judging by most drivers’ experience. No one feels like a winner when they’re trying to sell high taxes and little [financial] support.”The 1 April is the crest of the “acute” cost of living wave, according to the Resolution Foundation, as the price cap rise combines with other cost pressures in the economy to push inflation to a 40-year high.Mr Sunak’s efforts to assist the economic shock from energy bills via council tax rebates will miss out more than half a million of the poorest households, it was warned.Jonathan Marshall, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Another increase in energy bills this autumn hastens the need for more immediate support, as well as a clear, long-term strategy for improving home insulation, ramping up renewable and nuclear electricity generation, and reforming energy markets so that families’ energy bills are less dependent on global gas prices.”Johnson told MPs on 9 March that he would be setting out an energy independence plan for this country in the course of the next few days. However, an energy strategy has yet to emerge and it is unclear when it will be published. The Treasury has reportedly resisted some of the long-term cost implications.Ofgem, which regulates gas and electricity markets in Great Britain, announced on 3 February that the energy price cap – designed to prevent firms from making excessive profits – will increase for approximately 22 million customers from 1 April.The regulator calculates it means the average household on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see a £693 increase to £1,971 per year for gas and electricity. There will be an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017 a year for the average prepayment customer. Ofgem has said the increase is “driven by a record rise in global gas prices over the last six months”.Freezing temperatures are due to hit as the price cap rise kicks in. Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “People will wake up [on Friday] to temperatures just below freezing, -1 or -2 across most of England and Wales for example, but by the afternoon we’ll see temperatures at 8 or 9C.”He added: “Once again, on Friday night we’ll see temperatures widely fall below freezing across the whole of the UK and in the early hours of Saturday morning, possibly down to -4, -5C even in the south of England.”The government is “in no doubt” that rising energy prices “will be a significant challenge for a majority of the British public”, No 10 said on Thursday.The prime minister’s official spokesman highlighted the support offered by the government and said: “We would encourage anyone that is concerned to make sure that they are availing themselves of the support that is available to them.” More

A Tory MP has been called an “anti-science extremist” and accused of trumpeting a “discredited conspiracy theory” over claims on Covid vaccines made to parliament. Sir Christopher Chope has been shut down by MPs, campaigners and experts over comments made on Thursday, which were branded “ridiculous” and “offensive”. The Convervative veteran said in parliament: “Does my Right Honourable Gentleman accept there is another NHS treatment disaster in the making in the fact there may be 10,000 or more people who have suffered serious injury or even death as a result of adverse reactions to the Covid-19 vaccinations?”He called for “justice for these people immediately”. The House of Commons speaker responded by saying Sir Christopher was “normally better than than” and calling it a “poor effort”.Martin McKee from Independent Sage group of experts told The Independent: “The speaker’s response said it all. This comment is so ridiculous that it doesn’t justify a comment.”Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats health spokesperson, said there was “absolutely no reliable evidence” backing up claims tens of thousands have suffered damage or died from the Covid jab. “This is dangerous misinformation based on the Yellow Card Scheme of self-reported symptoms that is often used by anti-vaxxers to discredit the Covid-19 vaccine,” she said. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, also dismissed the claims. “This is baseless offensive and wrong. Why do the Conservatives tolerate these anti-science extremists in their party?”A spokesperson for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group told The Independent: “Every loss from either Covid-19 or the vaccine is a complete tragedy, however the ‘10,000’ figure Mr Chope cites is a discredited conspiracy theory.”“Vaccines have moved us out of the worst of the pandemic and saved countless lives, so to make these comments when cases are rising and vaccine take up is falling is extremely irresponsible. Frankly, it’s terrifying to hear in the House of Commons, where life and death public health decisions are being made.”More than 52 million people in the UK have received one vaccine dose for Covid, while 49 million have received a second and 38.8 million a booster. The British government says vaccination is the “single most effective way to reduce deaths and severe illness” from Covid.In the first two years of the pandemic, around 187,000 people in the UK have Covid on their death certificate. Sir Christopher has been approached for comment by The Independent. More

Boris Johnson is ditching a plan to ban so-called gay conversion therapy despite his previous promises to end the “abhorrent” practice.The Conservative Party pledged in 2018 to end “conversion” therapies which seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.But a Downing Street briefing document leaked to the press states: “The PM has agreed we should not move forward with legislation to ban LGBT conversion therapy.”The briefing warned officials that there would be a “noisy backlash from LGBT groups and some parliamentarians when we announce we do not intend to proceed”.The Conversion Therapy Handling Plan document also says “the LGBT sector will read this decision as a signal the government is uninterested in LGBT issues”.A government spokesperson confirmed the U-turn, telling The Independent: “Having explored this sensitive issue in great depth the government has decided to proceed by reviewing how existing law can be deployed more effectively to prevent this in the quickest way possible.”The spokesperson said the government would also “explore the use of other non-legislative measures” to stop abusive practices.Jayne Ozanne, a former government adviser who quit last year, said she was “livid” with Mr Johnson and his “betrayal” of the LGBT+ community – arguing that it would put lives at risk.“The prime minister has shown scant regard for the lives of LGBT+ people in this callous decision, which leaves us with little option but to conclude that his word cannot be trusted,” said the Ozanne Foundation director.Ozanne also warned: “This decision will leave countless LGBT+ people completely undefended from degrading abuse … and will embolden perpetrators to continue their horrific acts with impunity.”Labour said the “outrageous decision” shows the prime minister could not be taken at his word on LGBT+ rights.“A government that believes conversion therapy is acceptable in 21st-century Britain is no friend of the LGBT+ community,” said party chair Anneliese Dodds. “Labour will never abandon the fight to ban this insidious practice forever.”Lib Dems equalities spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP added: “This is not just yet another U-turn from the Tories, but giving the green light to a form of torture in the UK. This is an utter betrayal of the LGBT+ community.”Legislation aimed at banning conversion therapy was announced in last year’s Queen’s Speech. Senior cabinet minister Liz Truss had vowed: “There should be no place for the abhorrent practice.”In October, Ms Truss, minister for women and equalities, launched a consultation process on the plan to make “coercive” conversion therapies illegal in England and Wales.But the leaked document reportedly warned that some involved in the legislation had not yet been told about No 10’s change of policy – including Ms Truss.“While Liz is not ideologically committed to the legislation, she is likely to be concerned about owning the new position, having personally committed to delivering the bill”, the briefing stated, according to reports. More

Boris Johnson’s government has been accused of “abandoning” its own workforce after the announcement of an average pay rise for civil servants of less than a third of inflation.The civil service pay remit guidance released by Cabinet Office minister Heather Wheeler authorises annual increases averaging up to 2 per cent, with departments able to make the case for an additional 1 per cent on top in exceptional cases.The guidance comes on the eve of massive hikes in energy prices and council tax, at a time when CPI inflation stands at 6.2 per cent and is forecast to peak at 8.7 per cent later in the year.The general secretary of senior civil service union the FDA, Dave Penman, said ministers had taken a decision to “ignore the unprecedented cost of living crisis that is already eroding civil servants’ spending power”.After a decade of pay restraint following the 2008 financial crash and two years of emergency conditions during the Covid pandemic, the below-inflation rise will hit morale and make it more difficult for the civil service to recruit and retain talented people, he warned.”On Monday, the governor of the Bank of England predicted that we will see a ‘historic shock’ to incomes in the UK this year, unprecedented since the 1970s,” said Mr Penman. “The Office for Budget Responsibility last week suggested that UK household real income this year would contract at the sharpest rate since records began in the 1950s.”Against this backdrop, the government has decided to abandon its own workforce and make no attempt to soften the blow to civil servants, who have spent the last two years helping the country through the health and economic emergencies. “Ministers are running around with their fingers in their ears trying to pretend it’s business as usual.”The new guidance will see civil service salary levels fall even further behind the private sector, he warned.And he added: “Unfortunately, ministers have completely failed to see the damage this will do to morale and the civil service’s ability to attract new talent required to deliver high quality public services.”In a statement to the Commons, Ms Wheeler insisted that the government wanted to “reward hard-working staff fairly”.But she added: “We must also balance pay settlements with our macroeconomic objectives and the need to invest in high quality public services.”She said that civil servants enjoy access to a generous pension scheme and said the rise would ensure “broad parity” with the private sector.Departments and quangos are to be allowed to go beyond the 3 per cent limit in order to fulfil legal requirements to pay at least the national living wage, which increases by 6.6 per cent to £9.50 per hour from April. More

Rishi Sunak said criticism of his wife over her family company’s failure to end ties with Russia had been “upsetting” – as he compared the attacks to the Will Smith Oscars slap scandal.Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast podcast, the chancellor said he had a difficult week and joked: “Someone said, ‘Joe Root, Will Smith, and me – not the best of weekends for any of us’.“But I feel, on reflection, both Will Smith and me having our wives attacked – at least I didn’t get up and slap anybody, which is good,” he told Laura Kuenssberg.Mr Sunak added: “You know, I think it’s totally fine for people to take shots at me. It’s fair game. I’m the one sitting here and that’s what I signed up for.”The chancellor has been forced to deny his family is profiting from Vladimir Putin’s regime following reports about his wife’s financial investments.He has come under pressure over his wife Akshata Murthy having a 0.91 per cent stake in IT and services giant Infosys – a company founded by her father which continues to operate in Russia. He told the BBC: “Actually, it’s very upsetting and, I think, wrong for people to try and come at my wife. And you know, beyond that actually, with regard to my father in law, for whom I have nothing but enormous pride and admiration for everything that he’s achieved.”The chancellor added: “No amount of attempted smearing is going to make me change that because he’s wonderful and has achieved a huge amount, as I said, I’m enormously proud of him.”Labour and the Liberal Democrats say Mr Sunak still has “serious questions” to answer over Ms Murthy’s reported £690m stake in Infosys.And Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko has warned that companies retaining ties to Russia are helping Putin “to buy the bullets that are killing Ukrainian children,” adding: “You have to live with the fact it’s bloody money.”Mr Sunak has previously told British businesses to “think carefully” about making any investments that would benefit Mr Putin’s regime.Asked whether Infosys – which has four offices in the UK but has reportedly kept offices in Moscow – was sending such a message, Mr Sunak told Sky News: “I have absolutely no idea because I have nothing to do with that company.”Meanwhile, the chancellor also admitted to the BBC that his approach to the cost of living crisis had been unpopular and “difficult for people to hear”.Despite criticism of his Spring Statement from the opposition, charities and some Tory MPs, Mr Sunak said he remained “confident in what we’ve done” to support people struggling with rising bills.In a Newscast interview due to be released later on Thursday, the chancellor said “not going to deviate” from fiscal restraint in favour of “some short-term popularity gain”.Mr Sunak said: “I know it’s tough for people. We’re facing a very difficult situation with the price of things going up and I want to do what we can to ameliorate some of that – but I’m also honest with people that we can’t ameliorate all of it, sadly.”He added: “That’s difficult for people to hear, and the toughest part of this job is not being able to do everything that people would like you to do. Because we’re already borrowing quite a large amount of money, and I don’t think borrowing lots more would be sensible.”Mr Sunak admitted some of the moves he has made are “certainly unpopular”, adding: “But they’re responsible and will help us in the long-term and I’m not going to deviate from that just for some short-term popularity gain.”Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith became the latest figure to criticise the Spring Statement, telling LBC that Mr Sunak would need to “come back” with fresh measures on tackling the cost of living crisis. The senior Tory warned that the UK risks “1970s stagflation”. More

Keir Starmer says ‘cynical’ Tories are putting ‘re-election’ over helping British people pay billsBoris Johnson’s government’s response to the cost of living crisis is to “take more than they give”, Keir Starmer has claimed.The Labour leader criticised ministers’ decision to press ahead with a rise in national insurance contributions as the cost of fuel, food and energy increases.Speaking at the launch of his party’s local elections campaign in Bury, Mr Starmer said: “Living standards are at their lowest since the 1950s while tax is at the highest level for 70 years.“What’s their response [ to the cost of living crisis]? To take more than they give.”Earlier, a second cabinet minister admitted that government officials broke Covid laws at the height of lockdown.Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international trade secretary, said “that’s right” when asked if the rules had been breached.Ms Trevelyan’s comments to Sky News on Wednesday morning came after Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, conceded the law had been broken.But the PM still refuses to accept that the Met Police’s decision to hand out 20 fines to staff showed that lawbreaking had taken place at the heart of his government.Show latest update

1648735367We’re finishing up our live politics coverage for the day.Thanks for reading and join us again soon for all the latest updates from Westminster and elsewhere.Have a good afternoon.Matt Mathers31 March 2022 15:021648735005Rees-Mogg says Sun readers have ‘brilliant’ ideas for Brexit red tape bonfireBoris Johnson’s government is “building up the kindling wood” of a post-Brexit bonfire of red tape, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.The minister for Brexit opportunities had issued a plea to readers of a tabloid newspaper to help him identify ways to scrap EU regulations.Asked about his planned “bonfire” of EU regulation, Rees-Mogg told MPs: “We are building up the kindling wood thanks to the readers of the Sun who are sending in their brilliant suggestions.”SNP MP Brendan O’Hara said the idea of Brexit opportunities was a “mirage” – and highlighted the plight of touring musicians choked by Brexit red tape.“Many of our performers are now having to rely on the charity Help Musicians for a £5,000 grant so they can afford to take their performances to Europe. So why do our performers now require charitable help?”Cabinet Office minister Mr Rees-Mogg replied by referencing “Acts that were passed by the illegitimate Cromwellian parliament and burned them” in 1661 – saying he wanted to do the same to EU regulations.Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:561648734488Reprieve for capping fracking wells as government considers its energy strategyThe UK’s only shale gas wells will not be sealed up at the end of June after regulators lifted an order for them to be capped.Fracking firm Cuadrilla had been under instruction to plug its wells in Lancashire by the end of June 2022.But the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) said the firm now had until the end of June 2023 to evaluate options for the Preston New Road and Elswick sites.The move comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s delayed energy strategy, with Boris Johnson under pressure from Tory MPs to end a moratorium on fracking.Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan said: “I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary for seeing the light and realising – just in time – how absurd it would have been to force us to pour concrete down Britain’s only two viable shale gas wells in the middle of an energy crisis.“But this suspension will have a cul-de-sac ending unless we now reverse the moratorium preventing us from using the wells (and others like them) to get shale gas out of the ground and flowing into British households.”Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:481648733478UK soldiers pitch in to pack helmets destine for UkraineBritish soldiers have taken up the unusual challenge of sorting and packing 84,000 surplus helmets bound for the Ukrainian military.Thirty members of the Rutland-based 2nd Battalion of The Royal Anglian Regiment are in the second week of a push to pack up all the helmets before the weekend at Shropshire’s MoD Donnington logistics hub.Working from morning until night, the Cottesmore-based troops are toiling away in a huge warehouse, where the surplus kit has been sent to from other military stores around the UK.The task includes physically stripping the helmets of any British Army webbing or identifying badges and packing them in crates each holding 100 pieces of headgear.Sergeant Oliver Church, a platoon Sgt from the regiment’s A Company, who is co-ordinating the work at Donnington, said: “The lads are more than happy to help the cause.“Hopefully what we are doing will be going to help our military counterparts in Ukraine, providing them with the vital protection they really need at the moment.”Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:311648732835Rishi Sunak pledge to match Ukraine donations funded by cutting aid to other countriesThe government’s pledge to match money donated to the Ukraine disaster appeal is being funded by taking cash from other parts of the aid budget, ministers have admitted.Labour accused the government of feigning an “act of generosity” by moving money around and told Rishi Sunak to open his wallet instead of “balancing the books on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable”.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:201648731935Home Office ‘runs risk of another Windrush’ if it doesn’t transform culture, independent reviewer saysThe Home Office runs the risk of another Windrush scandal if it doesn’t implement further “systemic and cultural” changes, an inspection report has found.Independent expert Wendy Williams said that the department was at a “tipping point”, between making the changes necessary and losing focus.Commenting on her findings, Ms Williams added: “It may only be a matter of time before it faces another difficult outcome.”My colleague Holly Bancroft reports: Matt Mathers31 March 2022 14:051648731027PM can’t comment on Covid law breaking while Partygate probe ongoing, No 10 insistsThe Prime Minister’s “position” in the so-called partygate investigation prevents him from commenting on whether coronavirus laws were broken in Whitehall, Downing Street has said.Two Cabinet ministers have now said the fact the Metropolitan Police have issued fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in the probe indicated laws had been broken.But Boris Johnson has so far dodged the question, refusing to be drawn into the discussion until the investigation has finished. 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