Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson’s controversial social care bill will “undoubtedly” be amended in the House of Lords, as peers urge MPs to think again about the “Robin Hood in reverse” cap on care costs, The Independent has been told.Peers said that the Upper House will be “emboldened” in revising the prime minister’s plans both by the size of the Conservative rebellion in Monday’s vote and by the fact that crucial details of the cap’s operation were released only days before the legislation cleared the Commons, giving MPs almost no time for scrutiny.And a former Tory deputy leader said Mr Johnson should prepare for defeat in the Lords on the bill, which completed its passage through the Commons on Tuesday.Conservative peer Ros Altmann said there were concerns over how the cap – which threatens to force pensioners with assets of £106,000 or less to sell their homes to pay for care while protecting the property of wealthier individuals – fits in with the prime minister’s professed aim of “levelling up” the country.Both Baroness Altmann and Tory former health secretary Andrew Lansley are understood to be considering amendments which could force MPs to reconsider the last-minute change announced last week, under which local authority contributions will not be included towards the proposed £86,000 lifetime maximum for spending on care.Former pensions minister Lady Altmann told The Independent: “Undoubtedly there will be amendments. I am hoping that the government might address some of the problems that have arisen from this bill, particularly relating to the way it may be very good for the well-off, but not at all for middle and working-class families across the country. If we are committed to levelling up, I’m not sure this fits in.“These changes have happened far too fast, given their importance. The fact that it was rushed out days before MPs were asked to vote will only make peers more ready to ask the Commons to reconsider.”Professor of palliative medicine Ilora Finlay, who sits in the Lords as a crossbencher, said there was “disquiet” among peers not only about the cap, but also about the failure of the legislation to deal with long-standing problems about the integration of health and social care and the status of care workers.“Health and social care are treated as separate because they have different budgets, but it is the same person that requires health care and social care if something goes wrong,” Lady Finlay told The Independent.“There are financial silos and service commissioning silos and the result is that patients find themselves in hospital and can’t be discharged to social care because the facilities are not there and that causes backlogs.“Government after government has kicked this into the long grass. At least this government is trying to do something. What we need to do is see whether there is something here in the bill that we can build on. I would expect the Lords to do what they do well, which is to scrutinise every line of the bill and debate what needs to be debated to improve it.”Lady Finlay said there were potential problems with the detail of Mr Johnson’s proposed care costs cap, which effectively treated people differently depending on the increase in the value of their homes since they bought them decades previously.“If you bought a home in the north of England 40 years ago, it will have increased in value by far less than if you had bought it in Surrey, and that will affect the outcome under the design of this cap,” she said. “There is a risk of widening disparities, which is a potential problem.”The Health and Care Bill is unlikely to receive its first reading in the Lords much before Christmas, with any crunch votes not expected until February, giving peers a long time to build coalitions behind amendments.Labour’s leader in the Lords, Angela Smith, said she expected opposition parties to seek cross-party co-operation, building on the widespread concern among Tory peers about the cap plans.“One of the things that emboldens the House of Lords to act is where there is a sense that public opinion feels the Commons has got it wrong,” she told The Independent. “People have had very little time to find out about this, but I think over the coming months we will see pennies dropping across the country. If Tory MPs are being contacted by their constituents about concerns, they will be in touch with Tory peers and that will help shape thinking.“There are clearly already tensions because of the scale of the rebellion, and because of the government’s history of U-turns, Tories can’t be confident that the government isn’t going to change its mind under pressure. That will also shape thinking.“People are already talking formally and informally about how changes could be made. There are a lot of people in the Lords with a background and expertise in social care or experience of social care. They can now give the government the opportunity to do the right thing.”Former Tory deputy leader Peter Lilley said Mr Johnson must expect to see his plans defeated in the Lords.Speaking to Times Radio’s John Pienaar, Lord Lilley said: “The government normally does get defeated in the Lords. This is what nobody realises, the rare occasions we win a vote the chief whip sends us an email rejoicing in this rare fact. So it’s normal for the government to be defeated. It will probably be defeated on this, and send it back to the House of Commons.” More

Boris Johnson unexpectedly dragged Peppa Pig onto the national stage on Monday by recounting his recent visit to a theme park devoted to the children’s TV favourite during a spectacularly confused address to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Annual Conference.The prime minister had attended Peppa Pig World in the New Forest on Sunday as a family day out with his one-year-old son Wilfred and wife Carrie Symonds and unexpectedly launched into a shower of praise for the resort before a roomful of baffled executives in South Shields. “Yesterday I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World,” he told the gathering of wizened corporate leaders, who had arrived hoping to hear a positive spin on the future of an economy faced with post-Brexit trading uncertainty, a stubborn pandemic and relentless supply chain chaos.“I loved it. Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: it has very safe streets, discipline in schools, heavy emphasis on new mass transit systems…” the PM joked, having already imitated a revving car engine and paused, lost his place and had to thumb frantically through his notes while desperately trying to recover his equilibrium.Senior Tories from William Hague to Jeremy Hunt have since expressed their horror at this latest bungled display from a man they have continued to back throughout myriad similar crises and blunders in the firm belief that the British voting public will never tire of precisely this brand of buffoonery – the perpetually ruffled hair, the sub-Wodehouse turns of phrase, the zipline pratfalls – no matter how dire the state of the nation.Remaining rather more dignified throughout this latest episode was, of course, Peppa Pig herself, a beloved figure to toddlers across the UK and around the world, her eponymous programme broadcast everywhere from Portugal to Taiwan.She is also, importantly, a heroine to frazzled parents everywhere, who are only too happy to fire up Netflix and surrender their phones into grasping, greasy fingers to avert a raging tantrum in Pizza Express.Peppa was created by animators Neville Astley and Mark Baker and first aired on Channel 5 on 31 May 2004 (she was never offered to the BBC, as the PM falsely claimed in his CBI speech), going on to become nothing short of a cultural phenomenon, akin to such classics of British animation as The Magic Roundabout, Paddington or Wallace and Gromit.Her show is now into its Sopranos-rivalling seventh season, with no fewer than 329 five-minute episodes in the can and a range of books, albums, video games and live events on the go, each building on the wholesome adventures of Peppa, her brother George, Daddy Pig and their extended animal family as they traverse a bright 2D world of blue skies and lush green grass.That show’s genial nature has not stopped it falling victim to culture wars narratives among absurd adults, however.Peppa Pig has been criticised for its characters’ setting a poor example to children by failing to wear seatbelts and bicycle helmets, accused of pushing “a weird feminist line” by one attention-seeking Australian newspaper columnist and even attacked by former Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb for failing to incorporate an openly gay character.Bizarrely, Peppa herself has also become an ironic cult figure on Chinese social media, used to satirise corruption among the wealthier classes.But worst of all for Mr Johnson, Peppa Pig, whom he insulted as resembling a “Picasso-like hairdyer”, is a Labour supporter, having nailed her colours to the mast early when she backed Gordon Brown’s Sure Start initiative ahead of the 2010 general election.“Crumbs!” to quote the prime minister. More

The culture secretary has told a parliamentary committee that her own children are “lefty snowflakes”.Nadine Dorries claimed she did not regularly use the insult, and that it was a “general term”.Asked what a “snowflake lefty” was, the Cabinet minister told MPs on the culture committee: “Probably my kids.” In a follow-up question she was asked what an “Islington lefty” was and replied: “Again, one of my kids.” Ms Dorries had previously claimed such people were “suppressing free speech”The culture secretary, who is known for her prolific posting online, used her appearance to criticise a decision by the Brit awards to abolish separate award categories for men and women.Artists like Sam Smith and Will Young had previously called for the change to be more inclusive to non-binary artists.The culture secretary said she had not heard of the policy change until she was asked about it at that committee hearing, and so would not comment. However she quickly appeared to change her mind, branding it “sad” and arguing it would undermine the representation of women.”I have to say it’s the first I’m aware of it but I think it sounds quite a sad decision. I would like to see how that would work in terms of fair gender representation,” she said.”Again, I can’t give an opinion on that because hearing it from you is the first I’ve heard of it. Women have been used for a very long time to being… if you wanted to look at who used to win awards for novels and many things in the past, men have always dominated. “My concern would be that women weren’t fairly represented moving forward. I would just be concerned on the gender balance issue. “Whereas we’re going to get best female artist, best female producer, I’d be concerned that in the future women won’t be fairly represented in those awards.”Throughout the hearing Ms Dorries repeatedly charged her critics with being motivated by misogyny. She claimed that those in the arts sector who had expressed concern at her appointment were “wholly male” and “all from the left”. More

Nicola Sturgeon has urged the Scottish public to use Covid lateral flow tests before socialising and shopping in crowded places to stop “inadvertently passing the virus on”.Making the “vitally important” request, the first minister minister pleaded with Scots that on “any occasion that you are socialising with others”, including for drinks, dinners, and shopping, “please take a test before you go”.“And if it is positive, do not go. Instead get a PCR test and self-isolate while you wait for the result,” she added. “This way, you are minimising the risk of inadvertently passing the virus on even if you don’t have symptoms.” The Scottish first minister also announced, however, that the Covid passport scheme will not be extended to more venues — despite the situation north of the border remaining “precarious”.It comes after she revealed last week that the cabinet had been discussing expanding the programme to include cinemas, theatres and pubs, in response to a gradual increase in transmission.Under the current system those over the age of 18 are required to demonstrate they have had both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in order to gain entry to nightclubs, adult entertainment venues, unseated indoor events with more than 500 people, unseated outdoor events with more than 4,000 people, any any event with more than 10,000 people present.But in her statement on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said it would “not be proportionate” to extend the use of Covid passports “at this stage”.“We were also mindful of the need over the coming weeks of getting across the message that it is important to be vaccinated and tested ahead of socialising in any setting — including in homes and shopping centres, for example — not just in those that might be covered by a certification scheme,” she said.From December 6, the first minister said, however, proof of a negative lateral flow will also be used to access nightclubs or large events — rather than just proof of a Covid-19 vaccine. She also confirmed there will be no further changes to remaining regulations, such as mask-wearing and home-working.Amid a surge in case in some parts of mainland Europe, Ms Sturgeon said “we can see very clearly that the Covid situation is deteriorating again” with some government’s reimposing restrictions. “All of this is a stark reminder that the threat of the pandemic is not yet behind us,” she added.“Covid is continuing to force governments everywhere to take really difficult decisions. This is also true here in Scotland. While, thankfully, we are not at this stage seeing the rapid rise in cases that others are experiencing, the situation does remain precarious.”As the festive period approaches, she went on: “People will be socialising and mixing more than normal. So even though our position now is relatively stable compared to some other countries, we must continue to take care and not allow ourselves to be lulled into any false sense of security.”It comes as first minister Paul Givan said the Northern Ireland executive was “very much united” in urging the public to play its part in slowing the spread of Covid-19.Speaking to the media following an agreement to reinforcedCovid measures, Mr Givan said they had considered a number of papers from Health Minister Robin Swann.He said: “We are all very much united in asking the public to play its part along with us as politicians, that we can take every effort to try and minimise the transmission rate of the coronavirus.“So we appeal again to redouble our efforts when it comes to trying to minimise some of those contacts, whenever it comes to having good ventilation, where you are meeting indoors try to meet outdoors more often.“And we are emphasising that need to work from home where you can and for employers to support that.“We recognise that in some circumstances that isn’t possible and practically people do need to be in their workplace.”He added: “There is hope that we can come through this period over the next number of weeks by making that collective effort and taking personal responsibility seriously.”Later, when asked if Boris Johnson would follow the lead of Scotland and Northern Ireland by advising people in England to work from home, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “There are no plans to do that here. “That would be potentially one of the measures we could introduce under the plan B that there is nothing in the data to suggest that it is required.“While cases have slightly increased in recent days, we’re still seeing hospitalisations and deaths decline, which is pleasing. But we won’t be complacent and that’s why we still want people to come forward and get their booster jobs and anyone who still hasn’t had the first and second doses to take them up.”The spokesperson said that official guidance in England had been updated last week to say that people “may wish to take a lateral flow test” if they are expecting to be in a higher risk situation, such as prolonged contact with others or visiting a vulnerable person. But he said the government was not being “prescriptive” about whether this might apply to situations such as Christmas shopping.“It’s a sensible common-sense approach to managing your own risk in order to protect others around you,” he said. “We have free testing available, we encourage people to use it.” More

French fishermen have warned of the “imminent” resumption of disruptive protests in the English Channel, as talks over licences to operate in UK territorial waters drag on without resolution.The chair of the Northern France Regional Fisheries Committee, Olivier Lepretre, said that sailors were ready to “cut off” UK access to European markets, but refused to spell out how this would be done.One French fisherman awaiting a licence suggested it could involve an attempt to block British vessels’ access to French ports from Friday this week.Stephane Fournier told the Reuters news agency: “All trans-Channel traffic (and) all freight in all the ports of France will be blocked.”London and Paris have been at loggerheads for months over how many licences should be allocated to French vessels under the terms of the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).France’s president Emmanuel Macron has accused the UK of failing to grant permission to operate to enough small boats, which have traditionally fished for scallops and other seafood around the Channel Islands.But Britain insists it has approved 98 per cent of applications for licences, rejecting only those which failed to provide evidence of past operations in the same waters.Mr Lepretre said that fishermen were getting tired of waiting for a political solution, warning: “Action is imminent.”“Britain wants to get access to the European market? They should give us the licences. If not, we will cut their access,” he said.Any action was not intended to harm British fishermen, who are “simple fishers like us,” he added.In April, French fishermen blocked trucks carrying fish from UK waters to processing centres in France. And in May the Royal Navy sent two patrol boats to monitor a blockade of St Helier port in Jersey by French trawlers.Earlier this month, Paris withdrew a deadline for unilateral action on the licence issue, which one minister warned could include disruption to electricity supplies to the Channel Islands.The Jersey government declined to comment on the latest French threats.Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the UK was “monitoring the situation”.The spokesperson added: “We are simply enacting the rules as they have been agreed in the TCA. Our position remains that vessels must provide evidence of historic fishing activity in UK territorial waters.“We are not negotiating over changing our approach.”The UK has recently awarded an additional licence to a French vessel measuring less than 12 metres on receipt of further evidence about its past operations, he said. More

A suspended Tory councillor has apologised to Jeremy Corbyn and agreed to pay him “substantial damages” for a tweet containing a fake photograph of the former Labour leader at the scene of the Liverpool terrorist attack.Paul Nickerson, who sits on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, was suspended by his Conservative group last week for the doctored image of Mr Corbyn laying a poppy wreath by the burning taxi – accompanied with the caption “unsurprisingly”.In a statement posted on social media on Tuesday, Mr Nickerson said he accepted “full responsibly” for the “false defamatory statement” that was published on his Twitter account and that he had agreed to pay “substantial damages and legal costs to Mr Corbyn”.“The false photograph, captioned by the word ‘unsurprisingly’, gave the completely untrue impression that Jeremy Corbyn supports terrorist violence, including suicide bombings, which, without any hesitation, I wholly accept he does not,” Mr Nickerson said.He added: “Without reservation, I fully withdraw any suggestion or inference that Jeremy Corbyn is a supporter of terrorist violence. The tweet was wrong and I retract it.“I unreservedly and sincerely apologise to Mr Corbyn for the hurt and distress that has been caused to him by the tweet. I entirely accept that the posting of the message the day after Remembrance Sunday aggravated the hurtful nature of the defamatory tweet.”Mr Corbyn’s had instructed his solicitor to bring legal proceedings for libel after the tweet was posted on 15 November, and revealed he would be donating the damages to charity.“The bomb attack on Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday was a horrific crime, which could have killed or maimed countless victims, including new mothers and their babies,” the former Labour leader said in a statement.He added: “Councillor Paul Nickerson’s photoshopped Twitter post about me failed to understand the seriousness of the threat and did a disservice to all those affected by the attack and their loved ones.“So I welcome his decision to apologise for his defamatory post, to agree not to repeat the tweet which he has deleted and to pay substantial damages and legal costs. This substantial settlement will be used to support charities that are close to my heart: including one in Liverpool and one in my constituency.”Last week, Jonathan Owen, the Conservative leader in East Riding, said Mr Nickerson’s doctored image was “inappropriate and offensive” and therefore had had suspended him while an investigation was underway.“All people in public life, irrespective of politics, should be united in condemning the terrorist attack that took place outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday,” he added.“It is not the time for inappropriate remarks, however intended, and they will not be tolerated in this Conservative Group. Residents should expect their elected representatives to act in an appropriate manner at all times.” More

Councils across the UK will be forced to take child asylum seekers who have arrived in the country without parents or guardians in new plans announced on Tuesday by Priti Patel’s Home Office.Ministers are writing to more than 200 local authorities telling them that the voluntary National Transfer Scheme (NTS) is to become compulsory.The move means that young people will be moved out of hostels on the south coast, where they arrived, and into permanent accommodation across the rest of England.The changes come as the home secretary faces growing pressure from No 10 and senior Tory MPs to stem the flow of people making the treacherous journey across the Channel in search of a better life. aidRecord numbers of people are entering Britain from France. According to Home Office data, the number of people who have made the journey in small boats this year is now three times the total for the whole of 2020.At least 886 people succeeded in reaching the UK on Saturday, bringing the total for the year to more than 25,700, while 8,417 people crossed the Dover Strait in 2020.Over the weekend, Labour accused the home secretary of “dangerous” failures, claiming she is more interested in “diplomatic spats” with the French government than finding workable solutions.After reports surfaced that Downing Street is to send an additional minister to the Home Office to deal with the issue, Boris Johnson’s spokesperson on Monday twice declined to praise Ms Patel’s strategy.The government has repeatedly vowed to crack down on crossings and pledged millions of pounds to aid French authorities to tackle the issue. But maritime laws mean that it is a difficult problem to solve. Ms Patel told MPs in the House of Commons on Monday that councils around the UK needed to “play their part” in offering accommodation to asylum seekers.The home secretary, whose party has been in charge of immigration policy since 2010, said there “is no silver bullet” to tackling the migrant issue, adding: “The only solution is wholescale reform of our…system.”Councils such as Kent on the south coast are disproportionately affected by the issue because they are ports of entry for asylum seekers.Earlier this year, Kent refused to take more unaccompanied child migrants after warning that its services were at breaking point for the second time in 12 months.Speaking as the changes were due to be announced, councillor James Jamieson, chairman of the Local Government Association, said the majority of local authorities had stepped forward voluntarily to offer help and that councils will want to work “closely with government to ensure the rights and needs of children are at the heart of these new arrangements”.He added: “These need to enable local partners to give children the help they need, including mental and physical health support and appropriate education.”Councils continue to face challenges in finding appropriate homes, with ongoing issues around centrally-led age assessment and delays in decision-making adding uncertainty for both councils and young people.”These new arrangements must continue to swiftly take into account existing pressures in local areas, with greater join up across government to improve engagement with councils on all the programmes that support new arrivals to start new lives in the UK.”Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Children who arrive in the UK on their own seeking safety are highly vulnerable. They must receive local authority care immediately, a responsibility that must be shared equitably by all local authorities in the UK.”This important decision should reduce the unacceptable delays in vulnerable children, who have often experienced great trauma, getting the vital care they need and is a very welcome move.”Kevin Foster, the minister for safe and legal migration said: “It’s right we do all we can to protect unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, many of whom have gone through dangerous journeys and been exploited by despicable people smugglers.“I am grateful for the continued, and invaluable, support of local authorities across the country who have provided crucial placements to vulnerable young asylum-seekers. “This decision has not been taken lightly but it is in the best interests of these children to make sure they receive the support they need.”*This article was updated at 14:40 on 23 November to include comment from Kevin Foster, the minister for safe and legal migration. Councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will also be asked to take unaccompanied child asylum seekers rather than those just in England, as the original version stated. More

Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson is well, after his stumbling delivery of a speech to the CBI prompted questions over whether he was suffering the effects of stress or ill-health.The prime minister was asked if “everything was OK” in a TV interview following his shambolic address.And a Tory MP told The Independent that the PM’s demeanour during the speech – when he fell silent after losing his place and stumbled over words – “very worrying”.“He seemed to have lost the plot,” said the MP. “He has obviously been under a great deal of stress for the last fortnight, and I think he needs a break. There’s only so much one human being can stand.”Asked whether Mr Johnson was suffering from ill-health or exhaustion, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The prime minister is well and he is focused on delivering for the public.”And challenged over whether the PM has “got a grip”, the spokesperson replied simply: “Of course.”The spokesperson played down the significance of the difficulties experienced by Mr Johnson during his address, pointing to the warm reception it had received in an official statement released later by CBI director general Tony Danker.“The prime minister briefly lost his place in a speech,” the spokesperson said. “He has given hundreds of speeches. I don’t think it’s unusual for people on rare occasions to lose their place in a speech.” He added: “The prime minister is very much focused on delivering for the public.”The spokesperson refused to be drawn on BBC reports of an anonymous “senior Downing Street source” saying that there was a “lot of concern inside the building” about the PM. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg quoted the source as saying: “It’s just not working. Cabinet needs to wake up and demand serious changes otherwise it’ll keep getting worse. If they don’t insist, he just won’t do anything about it.”Mr Johnson’s spokesperson said he was not aware of any inquiry into the source of the anonymous quote, after speculation that it may have come from chancellor Rishi Sunak’s team in 11 Downing Street rather than from anyone in No 10.“The prime minister, as you have seen from cabinet, is focused on the issues that we face as we come up to the winter months and delivering on important changes like social care,” said the spokesperson. Asked whether Mr Johnson had a core group of ministers around him to offer advice, the spokesman said: “The prime minister has an entire cabinet to draw on who provide advice, as you would expect.” More