Markus Andrews

A review is to be launched into whether MPs should be allowed to take their babies into the Commons after Labour MP Stella Creasy was told not to bring her three-month-old into the chamber.The Walthamstow MP and former shadow minister was emailed by authorities about rules prohibiting children in some areas of the estate after bringing son Pip into a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday.Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, has requested a review after admitting he was unaware Ms Creasy had fallen foul of the rules. Ms Creasy received the warning in an email from the private secretary to Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing and was referred to the section of the MPs’ rulebook, which was updated in September, stating they “should not take your seat in the chamber when accompanied by your child”.Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, said the rule is “absurd” and “absolutely needs to be challenged”, adding that babies are “far less disruptive than many braying backbenchers”.However, not all MPs were supportive. Tory MP Scott Benton, who represents Blackpool South, tweeted: “Parents who get paid a fraction of what you do pay for childcare and juggle responsibilities so they can go to work. What makes you so special?”.Where do you stand on the issue? Should MPs be free to take their babies with them into Westminster debates? Let us know what you think in our poll below. More

Keir Starmer has taunted Boris Johnson by asking “is everything OK prime minister?” after his troubled week of gaffes and U-turns.The Labour leader also branded the watered-down social care plans a “working class dementia tax” – reminding worried Tory MPs about the failed policy that derailed Theresa May’s 2017 election campaign.“He has picked pockets of working people to protect the estates of the wealthiest,” Sir Keir alleged, at a rowdy prime minister’s questions.After his much-ridiculed stuttering through a CBI conference speech on Monday, Mr Johnson faced the indignity of a TV reporter asking if all was well.Echoing the clip in the Commons, Sir Keir claimed the chancellor is “getting wise” to No 10’s failings and that Tory backbenchers consider recent episodes “embarrassing”, adding: “Is everything ok prime minister?”But Mr Johnson defended his care plans as a big step forward – claiming he is “delivering for working people” and “fixing the problems” Labour governments had ignored.The clashes came with Conservative frustrations about the prime minister’s poor performance in recent weeks threatening to boil over.There are calls for a shake-up of a misfiring Downing Street’s operation – while Treasury sources have revealed Rishi Sunak’s concern about a succession of blunders.The integrated rail plan sparked anger across the north, by ditching previous promises, while scores of Tory MPs refused to back the diluted care proposals in a vote on Monday.The period of turmoil began with the botched attempt to fix Commons anti-sleaze rules to save the disgraced Owen Paterson, which ended in a humiliating retreat.Sir Keir said: “Strip away the bluster, strip away the deflection, strip away the refusal to answer the question, there’s a simple truth and this is why the prime minister won’t address it: people will still be forced to sell their homes to pay for care.”“It’s another broken promise, just like he promised that he wouldn’t put up tax, just like he promised 40 new hospitals, just like he promised a rail revolution in the North.“Who knows if he’ll make it to the next election, but if does how does he expect anyone to take him and his promises seriously?”In response, Mr Johnson denied a care U-turn, claiming he is “fixing something Labour never fixed in all their years”.“Most important of all, by putting the huge investment that we are making now in health and social care, we are allowing for the first time the people of this country to insure themselves against the potentially catastrophic, otherwise catastrophic cost of dementia, or Alzheimer’s.”On rail, he added: “Three new high-speed lines, £96bn, nothing like it for a century.”Turning on Sir Keir, the prime minister said: “It turns out that [he] actually campaigned against HS2, said it would be devastating and said it should be cancelled.” More

Several British politicians demanded a change in parliamentary rules on Wednesday after a lawmaker was told she couldn’t bring her 3-month-old baby into the House of Commons chamber.Labour Party legislator Stella Creasy said she had received a letter from House of Commons authorities after she took her son Pip to a debate. She said she had previously taken both Pip and her older daughter to Parliament without problems, but had been told the rules had changed in September. Members of Parliament are now advised that they “should not take your seat in the chamber when accompanied by your child.”Creasy said the rule undermined efforts to make politics more family-friendly.“There are barriers to getting mums involved in politics, and I think that damages our political debate,” she told the BBC.Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab a Conservative, said he has “a lot of sympathy” for Creasy, but said the decision is for the House authorities to make.“I think we do need to make sure our profession is brought into the modern world, the 21st century, and can allow parents to juggle the jobs they do with the family time that they need.” Raab said.Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas said the baby ban was “absurd.” She said babies were “far less disruptive than many braying backbenchers.” More

Prime minister Boris Johnson faced a shrinking majority in the Commons on Monday after a number of MPs rebelled and more abstained on a vote over the government’s social care reforms.The set back was just one of a string of problems that have been fast-bowled at the government, and the Johnson premiership, in recent weeks.The Owen Patterson lobbying row, a debate about Tory sleaze, and a betrayal on HS2 were topped off by a rambling speech from the prime minister on Monday.The speech, which included a tangent on Peppa Pig and Johnson impersonating a car engine, fell flat with the Tory faithful and prompted a behind the scenes briefing war.One Downing Street source reportedly told the BBC that there was “a lot of concern inside the building about the PM… it’s not just working.” They added: “The cabinet needs to wake up and demand serious changes otherwise it’ll keep getting worse.”A Tory MP told The Guardian that the performance “was the most embarrassing by a Conservative prime minister since last week’s PMQs. Someone needs to get a grip. He is losing the confidence of the party.”But is this all a “Westminster bubble” story? Tory MP Jeremy Hunt has said that he does not expect people to remember the prime minister’s faltering Peppa Pig speech.He said: “In politics you have speeches that go well, that don’t go well. I mean, you’re talking to someone who as the foreign secretary called his Chinese wife ‘Japanese’ and I managed to get through that.“So I don’t think in the grander scheme of things people will remember that particular speech.”But what do you think? How do you feel about the current government? Will the growing number of problems end up sticking or is this another issue that Boris Johnson can emerge from unscathed? If you think the government’s made mistakes, what are they?What have been the most egregious and will any of them be remembered?Let us know what you think in our poll below More

Boris Johnson’s deputy has insisted the prime minister is “on great form” despite reports that Conservative MPs have written to their party asking for him to be replaced.A dozen Tory MPs are said to have written to the chair of the Tory backbench committee, with one senior MP telling The Sun newspaper: “There is real anger. He has until Spring to get back on track or he will be in real trouble.”Under Conservative party rules a leadership contest is triggered if 15 per cent of sitting Conservative MPs write a letter to the chair of the 1922 committee demanding one – a figure which currently equates to 54 letters.Meanwhile Tory whips told the Telegraph there was an “assumption” that no confidence letters had been written, while another suggested “the usual suspects” were calling for the PM to go.”It will not get anywhere near the 50 letters you would need, but it does cause angst,” the whip told the newspaper.On Wednesday morning Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, defended Mr Johnson’s approach, despite criticism over a botched speech to business leaders and the mishandling of issues like corruption. “The Prime Minister is on great form. The reality is people speak about speeches in the Westminster village, the gossip and all the rest of it,” he told BBC News – referring to Mr Johnson’s Monday speech to the CBI.”It’s the job of Westminster commentators to pick up on one anonymous source from wherever they found it to criticise the Government of the day, that’s fine.”Mr Raab insisted the Prime Minister was “focused on the job at hand”, adding? “The Prime Minister is an ebullient, bouncy, optimistic, Tiggerish character and he livens up his speeches in a way that few politicians past and present have done but actually there is a steeliness to him as a Prime Minister and indeed his team, and we work as a team.”The prime minister’s deputy said reports about the chaotic speech were only “Westminster tittle tattle” and said he approved of Mr Johnson’s “glowing references to Peppa Pig”.Under Tory rules letters of no confidence are handed confidentially, so no accurate tally of how many are submitted is available. Stories to have rocked confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership include his speech to the CBI, a rebellion over social care, clashes over the government’s rail plan, and two weeks of bad headlines over sleaze and corruption. More

Families of Covid victims are accusing Boris Johnson of breaking a pledge to involve them in choosing the head of the planned public inquiry, after weeks of silence.In September, the prime minister finally met with the families – after refusing to do for almost 400 days – and agreed to give them a “clear role” in both the inquiry’s terms of reference and in selecting its chair.Mr Johnson also vowed the chair would be in place by Christmas, a move seen as crucial to the probe getting underway next spring, when it will already be two years since the pandemic struck.But the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group says it has heard nothing from Downing Street in the eight weeks since, prompting mounting anger among its members.The clock is now ticking, with just three weeks until parliament packs up for the Christmas and New Year break, on 16 December.Lobby Akinnola, the group’s spokesperson, said: “We met with Boris Johnson less than two months ago and he looked us in the eye and promised us that a chair would be appointed by Christmas and that we would be consulted.“So why is the prime minister ghosting us? Christmas is such a difficult time for those of us who have lost loved ones to the virus.”

Why is the prime minister ghosting us? Christmas is such a difficult time for those of us who have lost loved ones to the virusLobby Akinnola, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for JusticeThe failure to consult is the latest controversy surrounding the inquiry, which Mr Johnson has repeatedly refused to launch since calls were first made in the summer of 2020.He argued it would distract officials from the task of keeping coronavirus under control – even though all legal restrictions were lifted in England in July and none have been reimposed.The prime minister has been accused of trying to delay what are expected to be the inquiry’s highly critical findings until after the next general election, which could be as late as 2024.Even if the inquiry does begin in the spring, that is merely the deadline for the process to get underway – meaning actual evidence hearings are further off.Earlier this month, it was revealed that a private firm running the much-criticised test and trace system has been handed a government contract to prepare “evidence” for the inquiry.Mr Akinnola urged Mr Johnson to do “the decent thing” by talking with the group now, adding: “With Christmas now just a month away, the government needs to consult with us immediately.” In May, Mr Johnson finally dropped his opposition to setting a timetable for the inquiry, telling MPs it would get underway – but not for another year.It would be fully independent and have “the ability to compel the production of all relevant materials and take oral evidence in public, under oath”, he pledged.But he added: “We must not inadvertently divert or distract the people on whom we depend in the heat of our struggle against this disease.“I expect that the right moment for the inquiry to begin is at the end of this period, in the spring of next year, spring 2022.”Because it is being set up under the 2005 Inquiries Act, the government has control of the appointment of the panel and its chair, including whether that person is a judge.However, in September, when Mr Johnson met the families, he “explicitly acknowledged the importance of ensuring that bereaved families are at the heart of learning lessons”, they said afterwards.Their statement read: “The prime minister must appoint a chair as soon as possible and he must stick to his commitment to bereaved families having a role in deciding the chair and the terms of reference.“We hope that we can accept the prime minister’s commitments in good faith and, going forward, that there will be ongoing and meaningful dialogue with bereaved families.”The prime minister also described the wall of 150,000 hand-drawn red hearts, opposite the Houses of Parliament, as a “strong candidate” to become the pandemic’s official memorial, the group said.Downing Street has been asked to respond to the claim that it is failing to consult with the group, as promised.Opposition parties want the inquiry to explore the puny financial support for people forced to isolate because of Covid, the handing out of lucrative contracts to firms run by Tory allies and the test and trace failures.An inquiry by two Commons committees found, last month, that delaying lockdown and failing to protect elderly and vulnerable people in care caused thousands of avoidable deaths. More

The Home Office should be stripped of responsibility for compensating victims of the Windrush scandal, MPs on an influential parliamentary committee have said.A report by the Home Affairs Select Committee said Priti Patel’s department had presided over a “litany of flaws” and that an independent organisation should take over.They found that, as of the end of September, only 20.1 per cent of the initially estimated 15,000 eligible claimants had applied for compensation, and just 5.8 per cent had received any payment.Twenty-three people are also thought to have died without receiving compensation from the scheme.The MPs said the design of the compensation scheme contained the same “bureaucratic insensitivities” that led to the Windrush scandal in the first place.And they said the latest evidence of its failures was a “damning indictment of the Home Office”.“The treatment of the Windrush generation by successive governments and the Home Office was truly shameful,” the committee said.“No amount of compensation could ever repay the fear, the humiliation and the hurt that was caused both to individuals and to communities affected.”In a report released on Tuesday, the committee said it was “deeply troubling” that the Home Office’s handling of claims “has repeated the same mistakes which led to the Windrush scandal in the first place”.Among problems are claimants facing a “daunting application process”, “unreasonable requests for evidence” and others being “left in limbo in the midst of inordinate delays”.“Too often, injustice has been compounded rather than compensated,” the MPs said. “This is unacceptable and must not continue.”MPs said reforms introduced in December 2020 to improve the system had not gone far enough.The committee’s Labour MP chair Yvette Cooper, said: “It has been four years since the Windrush scandal emerged and it is truly shocking how few people have received any compensation for the hardship they endured at the hands of the Home Office.“It is particularly distressing that 23 individuals have died without receiving any compensation. Urgent action is needed to get compensation to those who have been so badly wronged.”A Home Office spokesperson, said: “The home secretary and the department remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that members of the Windrush generation receive every penny of compensation that they are entitled to.“The home secretary overhauled the scheme in December to ensure more money is paid more quickly – since then the amount of compensation paid has risen from less than £3m to over £31.6m, with a further £5.6m having been offered. There is no cap on the amount of compensation we will pay out.“We are pleased this report welcomes the changes made to the scheme in December and we continue to make improvements, such as simplifying the application process, hiring more caseworkers and removing the end date.“We firmly believe that moving the operation of the scheme out of the Home Office would risk significantly delaying vital payments to those affected.” More

Power has been drawn away from parliament during coronavirus and Brexit, with the government ruling “by diktat” at times, peers have warned.Reports by two cross-party House of Lords committees found that laws were being enacted without due scrutiny as ministers have made use of procedures which “effectively bypass parliament’s role in the legislative process”.The peers said the government’s power grab was enabled by a shift to using secondary legislation and other technical measures.Secondary legislation — powers afforded to ministers which require less input by MPs and peers about legal alterations — has been employed in the past few years to accomodate for the vast changes to UK law after Brexit and the need to respond quickly to the emerging threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.But the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) and the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (DPRRC) have warned in both their respective reports published on Wednesday against the practice.They said, as a result of the divergence from using primary legislation, the “balance of power between parliament and government has for some time been shifting away from parliament”.They both said: “A critical moment has now been reached when that balance must be reset: not restored to how things were immediately before these exceptional recent events, but reset afresh.”Lord Hodgson, chair of the SLSC, said that, while it was understandable that the Covid outbreak meant speed was required in introducing restrictions, “government by diktat must not become the norm”.He said that “hundreds of laws are being imposed on all of us” without effective scrutiny by parliament.“Increasingly the government has made use of secondary legislation, regulations and orders which are subject to a much lower level of scrutiny than primary legislation,” he continued. “Given this, it is not surprising that the executive can be tempted to put as much of the law as possible into regulations.”Lord Blencathra, chair of the DPRRC, said it was imperative the powers of parliament and government be “rebalanced”.The reports condemn the growing use of so-called skeleton bills that give ministers sweeping powers to make secondary legislation that can be passed with “little or no consideration” by the two chambers.They recommend that skeleton bills be used only in the “most exceptional circumstances” in future, along with a published justification for their use.Peers also want the Cabinet Office’s Guide To Making Legislation to be amended to emphasise that when ministers choose to use such delegated law-making powers, that their decision is based on the “principles of parliamentary democracy and not political expediency”.Additional reporting by PA More