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A promised plan to wean the UK off foreign oil and gas is set to be delayed again, apparently because Rishi Sunak is reluctant to provide “any new money”.The hold-up is a fresh embarrassment for Boris Johnson who pledged – almost three weeks ago – that his “energy independence plan” would be unveiled in “the next few days”.The document, to pave the way for an expansion in solar and wind power, but also to approve new controversial North Sea oil and gas licenses, was due to be unveiled this week.But Treasury officials have said the chancellor has demanded more time to scrutinise the plans, one telling The Financial Times: “He doesn’t want to provide any new money.”The plan is now not expected until after MPs leave Westminster for their Easter recess on Thursday, because “policy is still being decided on,” a Treasury source told the PA news agency.It is understood that the plan could still be released next week, as the House of Lords continues to sit until 7 April before taking its Easter break. But after that, publication could be difficult because of the purdah period ahead of 5 May local elections, when public authorities are barred from making announcements which could impact on the campaign.Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, wants to accelerate onshore wind projects – by offering incentives to nearby residents to accept them – but the idea has provoked a cabinet split.Mr Sunak is believed to consider them poor value for money, as he seeks to bear down on spending and build up a war chest for pre-election tax cuts in 2024.The stance has seen the chancellor heavily criticised since last week’s mini-budget which offered little to families facing a cost of living crisis and forecast explosion in poverty.Mr Sunak will face tough questioning over the extent of the help he is offering as energy price cap leaps to as high as £2,800, when he is quizzed by the Commons Treasury committee on Monday.A key battle over the energy security strategy appears to centre on whether tough planning barriers to onshore wind projects, imposed by David Cameron’s government, will be relaxed.Campaigners say they – unlike fracking – could deliver the prize of replacing foreign gas as an energy source, but they are hated by the influential Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Tory MPs.The education secretary Nadhim Zahawi hinted at lower energy bills for people living near onshore wind farms, as well as near planned nuclear power stations.“If we are going to make sure that we carry the will of local people, whether it’s onshore wind or nuclear, we have to learn from how it’s done well in other countries,” he said on Sunday.“It’s right to look at innovation to make sure we wean ourselves off hydrocarbons – we have to do that, we have to do that well. Part of that is making sure we look after the will of the local people.”During a visit to the Gulf on 16 March, the prime minister said the strategy will include a “massive jump forward on renewables, more nuclear, using our own hydrocarbons more effectively”.Mr Johnson said it would be released “next week”, a timetable that slipped to publication before the end of the month – but which now appears to have been hit by a fresh delay.The PM’s official spokesperson told reporters: “It is important we get these things right. It’s a significant piece of work, it takes time to develop and it’s not unusual for processes like this to take the right amount of time before publication. “We will set out plans for publication as soon as possible, but it will depend entirely upon when the work is concluded and signed off.” More

A Conservative MP has backed Will Smith’s decision to slap Chris Rock – and said he would liked to have gone further and “lamped” the comedian. Simon Hoare said Mr Rock’s joke at the Oscars was “tasteless” and that he hoped he would have stepped up to physically confront him.”Regarding the Will Smith incident at The Oscars, I’d just hope if someone thought it in good taste to make a joke at the expense of a medical condition of my wife then I’d get up and lamp him,” the MP for North Dorset said, adding: “The joke was tasteless.”Labour leader Keir Starmer, among politicians to also weigh in on the incident, struck a more equivocal tone.“I was pretty shocked at it,” Sir Keir told LBC Radio when asked. “Anybody who insults family members excites something quite emotional in all of us…”But the opposition leader added: “To go up and hit someone in that way is wrong…”It comes after Mr Rock made a joke from the stage at the 2022 Oscar’s ceremony about Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mr Smith’s wife, having a shaved head.Taking to the stage to present the award for best documentary he had suggested she looked like she was appearing in “GI Jane 2”.Ms Pinkett-Smith has been open about suffering from alopecia, which causes hair loss. Following the comment Mr Smith rushed the stage to confront the comedian, and slapped him – with the footage beamed around the world. More

A plan to stop P&O Ferries undercutting the minimum wage as it recruits new staff, is not enough to “undo” its mass sackings as promised, a union is warning the government.Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is poised to change the law to shut the ferry operator out of UK ports unless it abandons “sweatshop” pay rates as low as £5.15 an hour.He is writing to Peter Hebblethwaite, the firm’s chief executive, urging him to U-turn on the decision to sack 800 workers – with the threat that it must observe the wage floor of £8.91 an hour, rising to £9.50 on 1 April.But the maritime RMT union is saying the move does not go far enough, after Mr Shapps last week, vowed to “undo” the mass sackings and close a “loophole” that allowed them.The transport secretary said: “We’ll be returning to parliament with a package of measures to make sure that situation is undone,” – but No 10 then refused to back up the claim.The Department for Transport is admitting that it is not proposing to change the law to ensure the sacked workers are rehired and merely applying political pressure.Alex Gordon, of the RMT, said P&O must be forced to go further, by ensuring the dismissed seamen’s existing employment contracts are honoured – not simply pay the minimum wage.The union is planning to step up protests, targeting the maritime agencies involved with recruiting new workers including Clyde Marine Recruitment in Glasgow.Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secretary, said on Sunday: “There will be more protests, more campaigning and more political pressure this week as we ratchet up the fight.”Keir Starmer has demanded tougher action, including against P&O’s parent company DP World, which is poised to receive “£50m as one of the freeports”.The Labour leader also said they are unanswered questions about the warning the government received the night before the redundancies were announced 11 days ago.Sir Keir called the “pre-recorded video” alerting staff to their sackings “absolutely shocking” – as was Mr Hebblethwaite admitting P&O had “decided it was better to break the law”.Labour had warned of the loophole in the law, Sir Keir said, adding: “Had that loophole in the law been closed two years ago, they would not have lost their jobs in the way they did.”Last week, a government official admitted it had “no powers” to take P&O to court – despite the firm admitting it broke the law by sacking the 800 workers without consulting them.However, the stakes were raised by Boris Johnson insisting the controversy will go to court and telling MPs: “P&O clearly aren’t going to get away with it.”Mr Shapps then made his promise, last Thursday, saying his law changes would “make sure that situation is undone”. More

Keir Starmer has criticised Joe Biden for saying Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, after the comment sparked an international row.Washington has been forced to deny that the US president was calling for regime change in Moscow, after the ad-libbed remark was attacked by the Kremlin and alarmed Nato leaders.The Labour leader agreed the comment was unwise, calling it “not helpful to say something, to row back”, adding it was a “big thing to say for obvious reasons”.The criticism came as Sir Keir, in a radio phone-in, also:* Attacked the government’s “DIY package” for Ukraine refugees as failing – while suggesting his family is unable to accept any “for practical reasons”.* Accused ministers of failing to act on Labour warnings that a rogue employer would be able to act as P&O ferries has done, in sacking 800 workers for cheaper staff.* Criticised the use of a 1950s Land Rover to drive Prince William in Jamaica as “a bit odd” because it “harked of the past”.* Declined to say whether “a woman can have a penis” as the wrong way to discuss trans rights – as the issue divides Labour supporters.* Said Will Smith was “wrong” to slap comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars – even if insults of family members “excites something quite emotional in all of us”.Mr Biden appeared to commit another gaffe and to play into Moscow’s hands when, on his visit to Poland, he called Putin a “butcher” who “cannot remain in power”.Emmanuel Macron issued a rebuke, warning against verbal “escalation” when the priority is “achieving first a ceasefire and then the total withdrawal of troops by diplomatic means”.A White House official was forced to row back on the president’s remarks, saying: “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”Speaking on LBC Radio, Sir Keir stepped up his attack over the government’s response to the refugee crisis, saying: “They’ve still got this DIY package really, which is all over the place.“We hear the refugees who were supposed to be on their way here still haven’t got visas and clearance.”Sir Keir, who has clashed with children’s author JK Rowling for saying “trans women are women”, said sporting bodies should “decide for themselves” whether they can compete alongside women.He said he is “an advocate of safe spaces for women”, but suggested he meant in refuges rather than changing roomsAsked if a woman could have a penis, the Labour leader said: “I don’t think that discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.”He called for a “discussion to find a way through this”, adding: “Too many people – in my view – retreat or hold a position which is intolerant of others.”On the royal trip to Jamaica, he said Prince William was right not to “apologise” for slavery, but suggested he “could have gone further” in his remarks. More

Rejecting a CV because of a typo is “out of date” and penalises neurodiverse job candidates, former health secretary Matt Hancock has said. Mr Hancock, who has dyslexia, is pushing for a new government strategy to change the way the learning difficulty is seen and dealt with in Britain. Speaking to an audience at the 2022 Dyslexia Show in Birmingham, he said that bosses should look at “someone’s real capability of doing a job, not a proxy for it”. Mr Hancock added: “People often use your straightline writing as a proxy for capability. Of course, there is a category of jobs for which that is critical, but there are other jobs where what you need is a creative brain and the computer can do the spell check.“It is out of date to throw a CV in the bin because of a typo.”The former government minister said that the failure to diagnose dyslexia was a “quiet social scandal” and caused a “massive, unaffordable waste of economic potential in the country”. The British Dyslexia Association estimated in 2019 that 80 per cent of dyslexic children leave school undiagnosed. This was the case for Matt Hancock, who was only diagnosed with dyslexia when he reached university. “I always knew there was a problem because I found reading difficult,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “The letters would jumble around, and still do, but I just thought that I wasn’t very good at language.”He said that his abilities in maths “got me to Oxford” and that it was a tutor at the university who spotted that his writing wasn’t up to standard. He was screened and “re-learnt how to read” with specialist help. More

Poorer pupils will be left behind by the government’s new plan for schools because of the failure to offer adequate funding and ambitious ideas, experts and teachers have warned.Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced on Monday that all pupils will be offered targeted support as part of the long-awaited white paper on schools. But the plan was criticised by educational leaders for being too “vague”.The vision for England’s schools over the next decade includes a “parent pledge” that guarantees extra support for pupils falling behind in English and maths, such as small-group tutoring sessions. But the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank described the white paper as “disappointing”. It said the plan was “not well-funded enough” to help disadvantaged pupils catch up after the pandemic and close the inequality gap.Adding to the criticism was the National Association of Head Teachers union (NAHT), which said the proposals “fall short” of the ambition required. “Commitment to adequate funding, access to support services or detail on how these bold ambitions will be achieved is sadly missing,” said general secretary Paul Whiteman.The white paper said the government would aim for the national average GCSE grade achieved in English and maths to rise from 4.5 in 2019 to 5 by 2030. Schools will also have to offer a 32.5-hour school week by 2023 as part of a push to increase teaching hours, and Ofsted will be asked to inspect every school by 2025.But the EPI criticised the failure to set out a clear plan to reduce the disadvantage gap leaving the poorest pupils behind. The institute said disadvantaged pupils in England – the 1.74 million children eligible for free school meals – will still be 18 months of learning behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSEs. “This gap had stopped closing before the pandemic and is now significantly wider,” said EPI executive chair David Laws.“If the government wishes to meet the white paper aims, it may well need a further education recovery package, targeted on the pupils, schools and local areas which have missed out most,” the former Liberal Democrat minister added.Meanwhile, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the plan lacked “big ideas”, describing the proposal for boosting pupils’ literacy and numeracy targets as “vague”.“There is little recognition of the wider societal factors which affect those outcomes, such as the fact that nearly a third of children in the UK live in poverty,” he said. “It is hard to learn when you are hungry, cold, poorly clothed and live in inadequate housing.”Labour accused the government of making a “smoke and mirrors” announcement, saying that developing good reading, writing and maths skills should be fundamental and not just an “add-on”.Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the strategy is “distracting from the business of teaching with yet more tinkering with school structures whilst offering nothing to change children’s day-to-day experience in the classroom”.And Conservative MP Robert Halfon, chair of the Education Committee, said he hoped that “increasing parental engagement through the ‘parent pledge’ will help break down long-standing and often complicated barriers that exist to help increase attendance”.Mr Zahawi said the white paper was “levelling up” in action. It also includes a pledge for all schools to join a “strong” multi-academy trust by 2030, and a commitment for Ofsted to inspect every school by 2025.Councils will be able to establish and run their own academy trusts, which it is hoped will encourage more primary schools to become academies. Councils will also legally be able to request for their non-academy schools to join a trust.And where schools have received two consecutive Ofsted judgements below “good”, the government plans to help them to join strong trusts – with an initial focus on schools in the 55 education “cold spots” identified in the levelling up paper.The NAHT said the decision to change school structures was likely to be “controversial”, warning it could prove distracting unless the government presented a “compelling case” for the changes.Among the white paper’s other announcements is that 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities would be introduced, and a commitment to raise starting salaries to £30,00 was affirmed.However, Mr Zahawi indicated that senior school teachers would not be receiving a pay rise, saying that the public sector had to “exercise restraint” as inflation levels soar. The education secretary told Times Radio: “For more senior staff, we’re looking at a 5 per cent increase over two years … inflation is running ahead of that, of course.”He was also grilled over findings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) showing that the gap between private and state school spending has doubled in just over a decade. The education secretary blamed a period of “tightening our belts” after the financial crash. “The important thing is to continue that investment now and deliver,” he told Sky News.Mr Zahawi also defended the “deserved” awarding of a knighthood to Sir Gavin Williamson – who oversaw the exams fiasco in 2020 – but said the closure of schools during the pandemic was “a mistake”. More

Defenders of the prime minister claim he has shown leadership in responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine independently of the European Union, and that the British response has been all the stronger for our being outside the EU.Volodomyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, certainly seems to regard Boris Johnson as his closest ally, speaking to him nearly every day by phone, and addressing the House of Commons by video. On the other hand, the British government’s claim to be “leading the world” in its welcome for refugees appears to many to be unconvincing.More broadly, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s appointment as minister for Brexit opportunities has provoked debate about what the upsides of Brexit might be. The consensus among economists is that the costs of leaving the EU will exceed the possible benefits for a long time if not indefinitely. But are there intangible benefits of having the freedom to act on the world stage? Do the British people value the principle of being able to control immigration more than the economic costs of making trade with the EU more difficult?Join The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul and a panel of experts, including Anand Menon (Director of UK in a Changing Europe), Naomi Smith (Chief executive of Best For Britain) and Jon Stone (Policy correspondent), to discuss these questions. This event will be shaped by not only the ever-changing news cycle but by you, the audience, so feel free to submit your questions ahead of time. You will also be able to ask questions via a Q&A box during the event.Our event will be hosted on Zoom on 6 April at 6.30pm BST. It is free to attend, all you need to do is sign up for a ticket. Click here to find out how. If you are interested in the fallout from Brexit and what could happen as a result of it in the coming years sign up to our free weekly Brexit newsletter by putting your email into the box at the top of this article. More

Rishi Sunak is “making things worse” when it comes to the UK economy, the senior Conservative MP David Davis has warned in a stinging attack on the chancellor.The former cabinet minister said Mr Sunak and his Treasury team had “no strategy” to deal with the mounting cost of living crisis, following the chancellor’s heavily-criticised Spring Statement.“What you’re seeing is a Spring Statement driven by headlines. My view of the Treasury’s economic strategy is that there isn’t one,” Mr Davis told LBC on Sunday.The senior backbencher added: “The chancellor said: ‘I can’t solve everything’. Actually, what the chancellor is doing is making things worse.”Mr Davis said “quite a lot” of his fellow Tory MPs felt the same way. “The truth is a lot of them will be getting problems pushing back from their own constituents [on the cost of living].”The senior Tory said that extra government borrowing taken on during the Covid pandemic should be treated as a “war loan” – arguing that the chancellor should look to balance the books over the longer-term.Amid a growing backlash over his Spring Statement, Mr Sunak is reportedly weighing up a further rebate on council tax bills in a new multi-billion-pound package after No 10 made clear its “panic” over the cost of living.“We’ve already looked at this and concluded that council tax is the best way to do it,” a Treasury source told the Sunday Times. “You’ve got an existing mechanism … It would make sense to do it like that again.”Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi hinted that Mr Sunak is planning further help with living costs in the months ahead. “I think he will continue to keep an eye on this, it’s only right,” he said on Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday.He added: “It’s irresponsible for me to say ‘job done’ because energy prices are volatile, inflation remains high, so it would be absolutely irresponsible to say ‘job done’.”Meanwhile, opposition parties claimed that a “swindle” means around 1.3 million eligible families may miss out on Mr Sunak’s previously-announced £150 council tax rebate.They pointed to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) prediction that 20 per cent of those who do not pay their council tax by direct debit will not take up the rebate – potentially saving the government £195m.Local authorities warned they have not been given any extra resources to deliver the rebate to those who don’t pay via direct debit – leading to fears that some of the poorest and most vulnerable will not receive the tax cut.Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey said: “It is staggering that over one million families are set to miss out because of this Conservative government’s half-baked plans.”Rishi Sunak confronted by mother who can’t afford to heat her homeSir Ed added: “Rishi Sunak must confirm that anyone that misses out on the rebate will get their £150 cheque in the post. No-one should go without the help they need because of this Conservative government’s incompetence.”Boris Johnson and his team are said to be “panicking” about the impact of the rising food and energy bills ahead of May’s local elections.Downing Street special advisers have reportedly seen private polling showing that the cost of living is now the number-one public concern for the British public – surpassing the NHS and healthcare.Vicky Pryce, former head of the Government Economic Service, said there was “huge tension” between No 10 and the Treasury on how to handle the cost of living crisis.She told LBC on Sunday that despite calls to provide more help, the chancellor “would like to be seen as someone that brings the finances back to some sort of normality”.Labour branded the chancellor “Mr Tax” on Sunday, accusing him of “acting in his own interest” rather than those of the British people. Shadow work and pensions secretary Jon Ashworth gave him the nickname while warning that pensioners have been “cutting back on hot meals” and “forgoing hot showers” as they cannot afford the cost.Labour analysis of the Office of Budget Responsibility figures found that average households would be hit with rises of £3,000 by 2026/27.Mr Ashworth told Sophy Ridge On Sunday on Sky News: “Rishi Sunak absolutely had more room for manoeuvre in this Spring Statement and mini-budget, but rather than acting in the interests of the British people, he was playing games.“He was acting in his own interest because he thinks by offering an income tax cut in two years, that will help him politically with Conservative MPs if there’s a leadership contest, or that’ll fit the Tory election grid.”The government will uprate benefits by 3.1 per cent in April – though inflation is expected to average nearly 8 per cent over the year. Mr Ashworth said it amounted to a “very severe real-terms cut”.Labour also said analysis showed that hard-pressed pensioners face the biggest cut to the state pension in half a century with real-terms losses of up to £427 next year. More