Markus Andrews

Grant Shapps defends scrapping of HS2 Leeds extensionBoris Johnson has ordered a government review of the migrant crisis. The prime minister is said to be “exasperated” by the lack of a policy to reduce the number of people crossing the channel and has told his MPs it is now a priority to come up with one.He has asked for their support if he chooses to adopt more “challenging” solutions, according to The Times.Former chancellor George Osborne predicts Mr Johnson will U-turn on plans to scale back rail improvements in the north of England.Mr Osborne, the chancellor who spearheaded the Northern Powerhouse project, said he thought the prime minister would change his mind come election time.His remarks came after ministers removed funding and powers from Transport for the North, in what Labour described as a “Whitehall power grab”, over their furious response to the Integrated Rail Plan.Want us to report on an issue that matters to you? Contact us by clicking hereShow latest update

1637395337Boris Johnson strips northern transport body of powers and fundingThe government has removed powers and funding from the umbrella transport authority for the north, following the body’s furious reaction to cuts to the flagship Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project.In a letter to TfN chief executive Martin Tugwell, the Department for Transport said it would be taking sole responsibility for directing future work on the project.Labour described the change as a Whitehall “power grab”. Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: “It was clear that once Transport for the North found its own voice and came up with a Northern Powerhouse Rail plan the government didn’t support, it would meet its end.”Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said it was clear Whitehall did not want the north to have a strong voice. He said he would “fight” for the survival of TfN.Liam James20 November 2021 08:021637396685‘Exasperated’ Boris Johnson orders review of migrant crisisThe prime minister has ordered a Whitehall review into the migrant crisis and drafted in Stephen Barclay, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to oversee government attempts to find viable policies to stem figures.Mr Johnson told front and backbench Tory MPs the issue was a priority and asked them for their support if he decided to adopt more “challenging” solutions, The Times writes.“Boris is exasperated,” an unnamed, senior government source told the newspaper. “He sees this as one of his biggest priorities and he’s concerned that after two years there are still no viable solutions.Liam James20 November 2021 08:241637398193Up to £335m of public money at risk due to ‘woeful’ checks on Greensill bank‘Woefully inadequate’ checks by a state-owned bank on collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital have put up to £335m of taxpayers’ money at risk, a parliamentary report has found.The Commons Public Accounts Committee found that both the independent British Business Bank (BBB) and Kwasi Kwarteng’s Business Department (BEIS) – which owns 100 per cent of the institution – “struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting taxpayer interests” when Greensill was cleared to offer government-backed loans during the coronavirus pandemic.Full story from Andrew Woodcock here:Liam James20 November 2021 08:491637399273Former border force chief backs offshore processing of channel migrantsKevin Saunders, former chief immigration officer for the UK Border Force, says channel migrants must be processed offshore to enable officials to turn away failed asylum claims.He told Times Radio: “The most effective way would be to take all the people who have arrived in the UK to an offshore processing centre and deal with it offshore.“That is the only way you will stop people from coming into the UK. We’ve seen trying to do it with the French on land, on the Channel, nothing works.”Asked why it had to be offshore, he said: “People will still come to the UK, because they know we are not going to be able to remove them from the United Kingdom when their asylum claim fails.“How many was it that we removed this year, was it five? Some 30,000 arrived and we removed five – not very good really, is it?“They know that once they’re in the UK they’ve won the jackpot.”Liam James20 November 2021 09:071637399813Migrants ‘know they’re not going to be removed’Kevin Saunders, former chief immigration officer for the UK Border Force [see last post], said migrants crossing the channel “know they’re not going to be removed”. He told Times Radio: “The problem is that the UK is just too attractive, so people will continue to come while we’re very, very attractive.“People know that they’re not going to be removed, this is why they destroy all their documentation.“It’s a real worry because we don’t know who people are, because they destroy all their documents, they don’t give us their right names, where they come from, or anything along those lines.“The biggest draw is these people know everything in the United Kingdom is free, they are going to get education, medical treatment, money, accommodation, it’s all a big, big draw.”Liam James20 November 2021 09:161637400773Boris Johnson will U-turn on rail plan, predicts former chancellorFormer chancellor George Osborne predicts Boris Johnson will U-turn on plans to scale back rail improvements in the north of England.Mr Osborne, the chancellor who spearheaded the Northern Powerhouse project, said he thought the prime minister would change his mind come election time.Speaking to the Financial Times’s Payne’s Politics podcast, he said: “Frankly, I don’t think high speed rail in the east of England, up to Yorkshire, is dead yet.“You’ve had the Labour Party commit very quickly to build it, I think the pressure will grow on the Conservatives because, actually, there are quite a lot of marginal seats around Bradford and Leeds.“I think the politics of that over the next two years, we’ll see – and it wouldn’t be for the first time – our Prime Minister execute a U-turn and come back to promising an eastern leg of HS2, just over a longer period of time.”Liam James20 November 2021 09:321637402624Stanley Johnson must be investigated over sex harassment ‘just like Joe Bloggs’ say shadow ministers | ExclusiveStanley Johnson must be investigated over allegations of sexual harassment “like Joe Bloggs” would be, and his response to the claims shows he has no remorse, two prominent Labour women have said.The prime minister’s father is accused by Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the House of Commons, of forcefully smacking her on the backside at the Conservative Party conference in 2003.Ms Nokes’ decision to come forward prompted political journalist Ailbhe Rea to allege she was “groped” by the 81-year-old at the same even in 2019.But while some have sought to excuse or downplay the allegations – such as GB News presenter Isabel Oakeshott, who said Mr Johnson was “handsy” but “charming” – two Labour figures insist he must be held to account.Read the full story from Maya Oppenheim here:Liam James20 November 2021 10:031637404054Labour pledges tougher sentences for hate crimesLabour has said that if elected it would change the law to ensure tougher sentences for hate crimes driven by sexual orientation, transgender identity, or disability.The party has said the changes to existing laws would help make the system more equitable and would help keep LGBT+ and disabled people safer.Shadow women and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds said the latest Home Office statistics revealed police recorded hate crimes based on sexual identity and transgender identity have doubled in the last five years.Liam James20 November 2021 10:271637405453UK government ‘mulling diplomatic boycott’ of Beijing Winter OlympicsThe UK government is reportedly mulling a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing amid concerns over China’s record on human rights, writes Ashley Cowburn.It comes after the US president, Joe Biden, revealed this week he was “considering” staging a similar move with a final decision on attendance at the games expected before the end of November.While the move would inevitably inflame tensions with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, a political boycott would also be a tool to protest the well-documented abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority in the country’s Xinjiang province.Liam James20 November 2021 10:501637406833Shamed Tory MP now claiming universal creditA former Tory MP who was jailed for sexually assaulting two women said he has claimed universal credit and cannot afford to pay a court ordered fine.Charlie Elphicke spent a year in prison on three counts of sexual assault and was ordered to pay £35,000 towards the costs of the prosecution.After he was summoned to court on Friday over failing to pay, he told magistrates he found himself in a “very difficult and embarrassed position”.He said: “I have no job. I have no career. I am long-term unemployed.“I am working with the job centre and my probation officer to find a new career.“I have made a claim for universal credit. I am separated from my wife who has filed for divorce. I have had to find a new place to live.”Liam James20 November 2021 11:13 More

Stanley Johnson must be investigated over allegations of sexual harassment “like Joe Bloggs” would be, and his response to the claims shows he has no remorse, two prominent Labour women have said.The prime minister’s father is accused by Caroline Nokes, chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the House of Commons, of forcefully smacking her on the backside at the Conservative Party conference in 2003.Ms Nokes’ decision to come forward prompted political journalist Ailbhe Rea to allege she was “groped” by the 81-year-old at the same even in 2019.But while some have sought to excuse or downplay the allegations – such as GB News presenter Isabel Oakeshott, who said Mr Johnson was “handsy” but “charming” – two Labour figures insist he must be held to account.“The rule of law should apply equally,” Tulip Siddiq, shadow minister for children and early years, told The Independent. “If Stanley Johnson has acted inappropriately, he has to be treated in accordance with the rule of law like Joe Bloggs.”Jess Phillips, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, hit out at Mr Johnson’s response to the allegations.Approached by Sky News for comment, Mr Johnson said: “I have no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all – but there you go. And no reply … Hey ho, good luck and thanks.”Ms Phillips said: “His reaction – he said ‘hey ho’ – is not the reaction of a man taking this seriously, in my opinion.“When I spoke to Caroline about it, she said she wants to speak up about these things so people feel they can speak up and it won’t be tolerated.”She said sexual harassment and assault occurs in all walks of life, from the shop floor to the corridors of Westminster.“People grope people a lot in parliament,” she said. “It is absolutely staggering. Lots goes unreported. People are scared to come forward. But this is less so now. People are more likely to come forward.”She said she was speaking to a male MP recently, who asked her to pass him the milk before saying “Am I allowed to talk to you anymore? What am I allowed to say?”.“I said: ‘You can ask me to pass you the milk, just don’t grope my tits’. Legislators should not go around saying they can’t talk to women when half the population is women.”Ms Siddiq, who is MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, recalled an incident years ago where she was grabbed by a man on the street in Kings Cross in central London.“I was on my way from uni,” she said. “It was not late, it was about 6pm. But there was no-one around. This man came out of a restaurant. He came and grabbed me from behind. I managed to run away.”Speaking in a Sky News cross-party discussion with other female MPs about how to tackle violence against women, Ms Nokes said: “I can remember a really prominent man – at the time the Conservative candidate for Teignbridge in Devon – smacking me on the backside about as hard as he could and going, ‘oh, Romsey, you’ve got a lovely seat’.”Ms Nokes was in her thirties at the time and the prospective parliamentary candidate for what is now her constituency before the 2005 general election.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the allegations should be “fully investigated”.Boris Johnson’s spokesperson previously said: “I’m not going to be drawn into specific allegations against a private individual. Of course, we would want anyone in any circumstance who feels they have been a victim of any kind of harassment to come forward and report them to the appropriate authorities.”A representative for Stanley Johnson has been contacted for comment. More

‘Woefully inadequate’ checks by a state-owned bank on collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital have put up to £335m of taxpayers’ money at risk, a parliamentary report has found.The Commons Public Accounts Committee found that both the independent British Business Bank (BBB) and Kwasi Kwarteng’s Business Department (BEIS) – which owns 100 per cent of the institution – “struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting taxpayer interests” when Greensill was cleared to offer government-backed loans during the coronavirus pandemic.Greensill was granted permission to provide CBILS and CLBILS loans, 80 per cent backed by government guarantee, to help companies weather the storm of the Covid crisis.The move came shortly after former prime minister David Cameron unsuccessfully lobbied ministers for Greensill inclusion in a separate Covid loan scheme, but Mr Cameron’s involvement with the company was not mentioned in the new report.The BBB acted as administrator for the CBILs and CLBILS schemes on behalf of BEIS, and was responsible for accrediting Greensill, a supply chain financing company founded by Australian entrepreneur Lex Greensill.Greensill lent its maximum allocation of £400m under the CLBILS scheme for larger businesses and £18.5m under the CBILS programme for small companies.But concern was raised when it emerged that Greensill had lent a total of £350m of the cash to GFG Alliance, owner of struggling Liberty Steel.The sum was way in excess of the £50m maximum for loans to a single group under the rules of the scheme, today’s report found.The PAC expressed “extreme concern” in the report over the fact that BBB said it was “very surprised” by the apparent contravention of its rules.Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier said: “The British Business Bank only had to read the papers to be aware of serious questions about Greensill’s lending model, over-exposure to borrowers, and its ethical standards – yet it didn’t really start to delve into those issues until the problems were clear and hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money was already at risk.“It professed itself ‘very surprised’ to discover where these taxpayer-backed loans had gone on its watch, in contravention of its own lending and accreditation rules.”The PAC found that BBB has been “insufficiently curious” about where the taxpayers’ money lent by Greensill has ended up.“The Bank is unable to confirm how the £350m Greensill loaned to GFG Alliance companies was used, or in which country the money was spent,” said the report. “The Bank believes the money has gone into a ‘central treasury function’ within the GFG Alliance.“The Bank is relying on the work of Greensill’s administrators to identify where the loans have gone and, by extension, where the taxpayers’ exposure potentially lies… Without knowing where the money has gone it will be impossible to say whether the objectives of the schemes to support UK businesses has been fully met, or whether taxpayers may be exposed to risks in the future.”The report described the Bank’s approach to due diligence in accrediting Greensill as “woefully inadequate”, noting that it placed “too much reliance” on checks carried out by other bodies, including Greensill’s own auditors.And it voiced “concern” that Greensill was able to approach different parts of government over various Covid support schemes, with decision-makers arriving at conclusions in isolation and without engaging with officials in other departments.“The Bank’s accreditation of Greensill has highlighted wider lessons about Government’s response to the pandemic, including the need to balance delivering at speed with managing risk,” said the PAC.The BBB declined to comment on the report, while a government spokesperson said: “The government was not involved in the decision to accredit Greensill. The decision was taken independently by the British Business Bank, in accordance with their usual procedures.” More

The prime minister has asked his MPs for their support in doing more to reduce the number of Channel crossings, according to a report.Boris Johnson – said to be “exasperated” by the issue – has reportedly ordered a cross-Whitehall review into the migrant crisis and drafted in Stephen Barclay, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to oversee government attempts to find viable policies to stem figures.More than 23,000 people have entered the UK via small boats this year, almost three times the total of around 8,500 last year.Mr Johnson told front and backbench Tory MPs the issue was a priority and asked them for their support if he decided to adopt more “challenging” solutions, The Times writes. “Boris is exasperated,” an unnamed, senior government source told the newspaper. “He sees this as one of his biggest priorities and he’s concerned that after two years there are still no viable solutions. “He’s told ministers to redouble efforts to fix this, no matter how difficult it is. If it looks bad now, it’s going to look much worse in spring when it’s warmer.”It comes amid reports the home secretary, one of Mr Johnson’s closest cabinet ministers, is planning a “Greek-style crackdown” on crossings, with migrants set to be held in new purpose-built reception centres where they will have to obey strict rules or risk losing their right to claim asylum.The centres will be based on asylum seeker camps being built by Greece, according to The Telegraph, where migrants face routine checks on their movements along with curfews to stop them escaping.“If they breach the rules, it could affect their asylum claim,” a government source told the paper. “You would be told that you would have to be in by this time. That’s fair rules for operating if you provide food and accommodation. The Greeks have things like timings.”The Home Office has attempted several strategies to curb sea arrivals to the UK, but the department was accused on Thursday of “underestimating the intelligence of voters” by brandishing “macho-sounding” and “unworkable” policies – including processing asylum seekers offshore, despite claims the policy would not work in practice.Two former government ministers were among those who told The Independent that Priti Patel is “making it up as she goes along”.A newly set-up committee is posed to meet next week to organise a coordinated approach to tackling the crisis, with initial efforts reportedly being focused on identifying what is going wrong.The committee – to be comprised of members from the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office – will take on the responsibility of overhauling Britain’s asylum system with the Nationality and Borders Bill, which is currently going through the House of Commons.The bill, which will seek to create a two-tier asylum system whereby those who come to Britain illegally will be denied the same privileges as people who arrive through legal routes, received criticism this week after it was discovered it would give the Home Office powers to strip individuals of their British citizenship without notice. Migrants who cross the Channel in small boats will also face up to four years in jail under the new legislation.In July, Ms Patel signed a £54m deal with France to increase police patrols on beaches. While the French authorities have intercepted 18,000 migrants trying to cross this year, that works out to around 40 per cent of all attempted crossings.The crisis has led to increased tensions between the UK and France, amid an already fractious relationship on account of an ongoing post-Brexit bureaucracy row over fishing rights.French president Emmanuel Macron accused Britain on Friday of swinging “between partnership and provocation” over the migrant crisis. Speaking to reporters on a visit to northern France, he also went after Mr Johnson’s government for failing to meet its commitments on fishing licences, insisting France would not yield on the matter.“We did not get what we wanted. They are playing with our nerves,” Mr Macron said. More

Ministers have removed funding and powers from the umbrella transport authority for the north, in what Labour described as a “Whitehall power grab” following the body’s furious reaction of swingeing cuts to the flagship Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project.The chair of Transport for the North (TfN), Louise Gittins, branded the government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) “woefully inadequate” on Thursday, after it massively scaled back the NPR project linking Manchester and Leeds and ditched the bulk of the HS2 high-speed track extension from Birmingham to Yorkshire.One industry source said that the removal of TfN from responsibility for developing NPR was intended by ministers to reduced scrutiny and accountability and “hide their own mismanagement”.Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the move was clear proof of opposition in Whitehall to the north having a strong voice.TfN, which is overseen by a board of northern mayors and council leaders, had proposed a £36bn scheme for a new rail line between Manchester and Leeds, with a stop in Bradford.But the government announced on Thursday that it would green-light only a small section of new track, with most of the route running on an existing trans-Pennine route via Huddersfield, bypassing Bradford.TfN had been the co-client on the project alongside Grant Shapps’s Department for Transport (DfT) and was responsible for instructing infrastructure manager Network Rail. But in a letter to TfN chief executive Martin Tugwell, the DfT said it would be taking sole responsibility for directing future work on the project.David Hughes, director of the DfT’s Rail Infrastructure Group, said that the department intended to take “full and immediate responsibility” for developing NPR’s strategic outline case. TfN would then be relegated to an advisory role, becoming only a “co-sponsor” of the project.The letter said the DfT expects staff will have to leave TfN and that the change will have “significant impacts for staff currently working on the programme”.It also adds: “Northern leaders will continue to be able to shape the NPR programme through direct, regular access to the secretary of state in the Northern Transport Acceleration Council (NTAC).”Mr Burnham said: “It’s worrying. There’s clearly a number of people in Whitehall who don’t like the idea of the north having a stronger voice. They want to dictate rather than work in partnership.“The minute the north starts to come up with solutions and positive interventions, it tries to rein us in. Not only did we lose out on infrastructure, we got silenced as well.”Mr Tugwell defended TfN’s “demonstrable track record” and said it was “essential” that the body continues to shape Northern Powerhouse Rail.“TfN is in discussion with DfT officials about the best possible way of moving the NPR programme forward in an efficient and inclusive manner,” he said.“TfN has a demonstrable track record in developing evidence-led, cost effective solutions that reflect the needs of the north’s communities.  It is essential that the NPR programme continues to be shaped by the knowledge, insight and constructive challenge that underpins TfN’s work.”Mr Burnham said he would “fight” for the survival of TfN.“This is the one formal structure in the British machinery of government that allows the north to come together with one voice,” he said. One industry source told The Independent: “The DfT want to take the NPR programme away from the limited scrutiny and accountability it currently has to hide their own mismanagement, as the only reason why these rail projects are behind schedule is because it took so long for them to agree the IRP.”The source dismissed the NTAC as “just a talking shop, with Shapps on it when he can be bothered to turn up and fronted by (former TfN chair) John Cridland, who is his stooge”.“The only thing it has accelerated is press releases,” said the source. “If it was talking about private aviation, then the secretary of state might show an interest.“They are hitting TfN as it’s the only STB (surface transportation board) that has a voice, because of its mayors. The DfT officials and ministers hate that.“The IRP showed the government are not serious about investing in the north, they are just hoping Red Wall voters don’t look beyond the spin.”Labour described the change as a Whitehall “power grab”. Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said: “It was clear that once Transport for the North found its own voice and came up with a Northern Powerhouse Rail plan the government didn’t support, it would meet its end.”A spokesperson for the Department of Transport, said: “As we deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail, as part of our £96bn investment into the railway, we must ensure there is clear accountability and oversight which provides significant benefits for passengers as quickly as possible. “As with all major projects, the programme will be managed by the government.” More

The UK’s most vulnerable families and pensioners face an 18-month-long squeeze on incomes as benefits fail to keep pace with a surge in the cost of living, economists have warned. The speed of price growth is set to peak at close to 5 per cent in spring next year and remain high for the next two years according to the Bank of England and government spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility. It means people on benefits will have to wait for the lagging state pension and universal credit to catch up with surging inflation. As pressure grows on the chancellor to ease the burden, Baroness Altmann, Conservative peer and former pensions minister, said the pressure would be felt disproportionately by the less well-off.“I do worry that the lives of older people who don’t have huge wealth don’t seem to matter,” she told The Independent. “Policies have been introduced that seem to favour those older people who are already well-off and have taken money away from those who can least afford it.”She added that pensioners were especially exposed to inflation, as poorer retired people spend a greater share of their income on “basic essentials” which have shot up in price.This year, the 3.1 per cent increase in benefits planned for next spring is in line with the consumer price index’s (CPI) reading in September, despite the most recent data for October showing that inflation was at 4.2 per cent. This now is also the case for the state pension, after the government said it would break the so-called triple lock, which would have increased it by whichever was highest out of earnings, inflation or 2.5 per cent. Mr Sunak has been urged to use part of the saving made from cutting the £20-per-week universal credit uplift to address the energy-induced crisis in the cost of living. Mike Brewer, chief economist and deputy chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “He could spend some of the money he saved from £20-per-week on energy-specific measures, whether that be the warm homes discount or cold weather payments.“We’re also in a for a year or several months of stagnating real wages too.”Guaranteeing the triple lock was a key Conservative manifesto pledge, but was put on hold in September for a year.Analysis by the Liberal Democrats suggests the move could leave pensioners £2.6bn poorer in real terms next year if the Bank of England’s forecasts for the rate of price growth prove correct, meaning that those on the basic state pension will be £208 a year worse off, while those on the new state pension will be £273 worse off.Households have already faced months of rising costs and near-stagnant benefits. The inflation-linked increase to universal credit and some other benefits was 0.5 per cent, far below the rate experienced by households in the 12 months to October.And a slowdown in wage growth throughout 2022 is expected to only be a growing problem for Rishi Sunak, according to the Resolution Foundation. Even in-work households who draw on benefits will feel a squeeze on their budgets through to next winter, as inflation eats through pay growth.Added to this sorry picture is rising energy bills, said Mr Brewer, with soaring gas prices being one of the biggest drivers in price growth in recent months. They are set to continue to push up households’ costs. The energy price cap, designed to limit the level at which energy providers can increase bills, could rise by as much as 30 per cent in April next year, according to analysts at research company Cornwall Insight.Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds told The Independent: “This Conservative-made cost of living crisis is set to hammer those who can least afford it. “The government’s actions should be making life easier, not harder for people this winter, yet instead they have pressed ahead with universal credit cuts, tax hikes and a broken promise on the pensions triple lock. Labour would ease the burden by cutting VAT on energy bills to bring bills down immediately.”Jonathan Cribb, senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies told The Independent that the crisis will just “get harder if inflation climbs further”.Unexpected inflation spikes are particularly bad for those on fixed incomes, he added. The chancellor said in response to Wednesday’s inflation rise that many countries were experiencing higher inflation, and that the government was helping people to improve job prospects by allowing universal credit recipients to earn more money before losing some of their benefits. “We are also providing more immediate support, including through the £500m household support fund for the most vulnerable families, fuel and alcohol duty freezes, and the energy price cap,” Mr Sunak said. More

Boris Johnson has delivered a slap down to culture secretary Nadine Dorries after she complained that she cannot air her right wing views on social media without being challenged. In an interview with the BBC Nadine Dorries said social media platforms had been “hijacked” by left-wingers.She urged people to stop voicing their judgements and engaging in criticism, arguing being challenged was making people “afraid”.But asked about her comments, a Downing Street spokesperson said that the prime minister believes that freedom of speech is a “non-negotiable” part of the UK’s democracy.Ms Dorries who has previously lashed out at “left-wing snowflakes”, told the broadcaster: “I think we just need to tone down the condemnation and the judgement, and evaluate and engage a little bit more than we do. I think social media probably contributes a lot to this,. “People are afraid because of the amplification in the echo chambers of social media.”She added that many posts online were aimed at people “on the left who have hijacked that space”, contrasting them with people who “do want to talk about these issues seriously”.Asked for the prime minister’s response, the No 10 spokesperson said: “You have heard the prime minister talk before about the importance of freedom of speech and the fact that it is one of the pillars of our democracy.“The prime minister supports the idea of independent thinking and intellectual freedom, and that that should be non-negotiable.”Downing Street later said that the spokesperson’s comment was not intended as a rebuke of the culture secretary but as a defence of the right of people of all shades of opinion to express their views.Ms Dorries’ appointment as culture secretary in September was met with shock and derision, on account of her record as MP.In the last week the culture secretary was caught publicly ticking off the BBC’s political editor for reporting criticism of the government.In a message to Laura Kuenssberg posted on Twitter Ms Dorries, who is currently negotiating the broadcaster’s funding settlement, branded reporting of criticism of the prime minister as “ridiculous”.Asked in the Commons whether she was using her financial powers to pressure the public broadcaster to change its coverage, Ms Dorries said: “I did not rebuke Laura Kuenssberg, someone who is maybe the best in the business … Some members opposite seem to have difficulty understanding a composition of 240 characters. The tweet was completely misinterpreted, I was not rebuking Laura Kuenssberg and never would.” More

An influential House of Commons committee has demanded that Rishi Sunak come clean about the inequalities created by the government’s controversial plans to water down a proposed cap on social care costs for the elderly, ahead of a crunch vote next week.The Treasury Committee heard evidence on Thursday from care funding expert Sir Andrew Dilnot, who warned that poorer pensioners – including anyone with assets of less than £186,000 – will lose out from the scheme announced on Wednesday, compared to the plans which he drew up for the government following a major inquiry.And Sir Andrew said that the surprise changes unveiled by care minister Gillian Keegan would favour the affluent south of England over the north, because of the wide variation in house prices.With the government’s Health and Care Bill due to complete its passage through the Commons on Monday and Tuesday next week, MPs have only days to consider the implications of the decision to include only individual contributions and not any means-tested benefits when assessing whether an £86,000 lifetime maximum for care costs has been reached.The Treasury Committee wrote to the chancellor asking him to provide a full break-down of the impact of the new scheme on different regions of the country and pensioners with different levels of financial assets.Committee chair Mel Stride, a former Treasury minister, told Mr Sunak that the last-minute changes would alter the outcomes for many pensioners, compared to the design of the cap announced by the government in September.He said: “Given the potential impact on household assets against the original announcement in September, I would therefore ask that the Treasury (in cooperation with other departments) provide distributional and costings analyses of the impact of these reforms.“The distributional analysis should consider the impact by household and individual income and wealth. Any information on the impact by region would also be welcome.“The committee would also welcome an indication of the expectations of the number of people who may still have to sell their primary residence to fund their care… and also an indication of the number of households whose housing wealth is potentially at risk as a result of the changes proposed.”Speaking to the committee on Thursday, Sir Andrew said that the change meant about 60 per cent of older people who end up needing social care will lose out, compared with the plan he proposed.He said it would “hit people in regions of the country with lower house prices, so there is a north-south axis to this”.And he added: “The people who are most harshly affected by this change are people with assets of exactly £106,000. But everybody with assets of less than £186,000 would do less well under what the government is proposing than the proposals that we made and the proposals that were legislated for. That was a big change announced yesterday. It finds savings exclusively from the less well-off group.”Under the government’s proposals, lifetime care payments will be capped at £86,000 from October 2023, to allow homeowners facing “catastrophic” care costs, due to conditions such as dementia, to pass on their properties to their children.No one with assets below £20,000 will pay any social care costs – but, although there is a “floor” of £100,000, people with assets between £20,000 and that amount will contribute on a sliding scale. More