Markus Andrews

Only 4 per cent of Britons think that Brexit has gone “very well” since the end of the transition period, a new YouGov poll has suggested.A total of 6546 people responded to the pollster on Wednesday, answering the question of whether Britain had fared “well or badly” since 31 December last year.While 14 per cent of respondents believed things had gone “fairly well”, 21 per cent of those asked said the effects of Brexit had been neither positive nor negative.On the other hand, 21 per cent of those polled believed the post-Brexit period had gone “fairly badly”, with another 32 per cent judging it to have turned out “very badly”.The remaining 8 per cent who were surveyed said they were unsure whether Brexit had been beneficial or detrimental so far.The survey comes amid the fuel crisis, which has been blamed in part on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.The bloc’s former chief negotiator Michel Barnier, now a French presidential hopeful, blamed Britain’s lack of HGV drivers on its decision to end the freedom of movement of people and to leave the single market.“It is a direct and mechanical consequence of Brexit,” he said earlier this week.Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats party won the German election last week, also hinted that Brexit was the cause of the crisis, while the British transport minister Grant Shapps acknowledged that it was “no doubt” a factor.Labour leader Keir Starmer agreed Brexit was a “contributing factor”, telling BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme: “Whether you voted to leave or remain, it was obvious that if we were to leave the EU we would have less HGV drivers than we would otherwise have.“I think the British public should be angry and frustrated. This is a total lack of planning. It was predicted and predictable.”As well as the petrol crisis, there have been warnings that some products could be in short supply over Christmas due to staff shortages related to Brexit.Kate Martin, from the Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey Association (TFTA), said a lack of workers could mean there are fewer turkeys on supermarket shelves this December.“This year it’s looking like there is a national shortage of turkeys when we’re talking about supermarket shelves, rather than buying direct from your farm,” she said. More

Young people are “right to be angry” about the climate emergency because “your future is being stolen” Boris Johnson has told youth activists.In his strongest comments yet on global heating, the prime minister laid bare the devastating consequences of the world failing to agree action at the looming Cop26 summit.“It will be the people in the audience, it will be your generation, young people, who are left to deal with the consequences if we should fail,” he told the event in Milan.“Because a child born in 2020 will endure seven times as many extreme heatwaves and twice as many droughts as their grandparents.“Hundreds of millions of you are facing rising seas, failing crops, burning forests and ever-more ferocious storms. Daily challenges that lead to lost opportunity.“Your future is being stolen before your eyes. I saw the protestors earlier on – and, frankly, you have every right to be angry with those who aren’t doing enough to stop it.”However, Mr Johnson insisted it was not too late for the world to pull back, adding: “We know what needs to be done, we just have to get on with it.“It’s a big task, one that will ask a lot of absolutely everybody. But change on the scale we need is perfectly possible.”At Cop26, from 1 November, the government hopes to “keep alive” the ambition, in the 2015 Paris Agreement, to keep the post-Industrial Revolution temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, to avoid runaway climate change.That requires almost halving global carbon emissions by 2030 – yet a United Nations report last month said the planet is currently on track for a 16 per cent increase.However, Mr Johnson has been boosted by Joe Biden’s increase in funding to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and lower their own emissions.And China – although it is yet to announce a carbon-cutting target for 2030 – has announced it will no longer fund coal-powered energy generation abroad.Mr Johnson painted a rosy picture of change underway in the UK, although his own climate advisers have warned he is way off track on attempts to achieve ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050.“When I was a child, something like 80 per cent of the UK’s electricity was generated by burning coal,” he said, in a video message.“Even as recently as 2010, we got 10 times more electricity from fossil fuels than from renewables.“Yet today, as I speak to you, most of the electricity consumed in the UK comes from clean green sources. Our carbon emissions are barely half what they were in 1990.“And coal, which was once the undisputed king of our energy mix, now accounts for less than two per cent of our electricity – a number that will hit zero within the next couple of years.” More

Related video: Boris Johnson says fuel crisis is ‘stabilising’ and urges drivers to fill up as normalFormer Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has warned that Rishi Sunak’s new £500m package of grants for vulnerable households shows the chancellor knows there is a problem with the rising cost of living.“It shows me there is a realisation there is a problem – but the scale isn’t understood,” Sir Iain reportedly said.Labour has branded the package, designed to help up to 4 million people, “a sticking plaster”.Meawnhile, with the government’s furlough scheme ending, a minister has admitted it is “impossible” to know how many people will lose their jobs this winter.Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, added: “Obviously there will be a variety of outcomes… People’s jobs will be created just as some have very sadly been lost, that is part of the process of ending this crisis and going back to normal.”Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that almost a million workers are expected to be still receiving support at the end of the month, while economists have warned unemployment is likely to rise.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned this week that workers in London were likely to be hit hardest by the end of the programme, with employees in the capital in the “most precarious position”.Show latest update

1633013305Following Labour’s annual conference this week, YouGov has shared some polling on the popularity of various figures in the party – crucially, with the added detail of how many people have actually heard of them…Ed Miliband and Sir Keir Starmer come out on top, both in terms of popularity and name recognition, while Angela Rayner is the only other MP polled who was known by more than 50 per cent of respondents.You can find the full results below:Conrad Duncan30 September 2021 15:481633011741ICYMI: ‘Impossible to know’ how many people will lose jobs as furlough endsEarlier today, a minister admitted that it was “impossible” to know how many people could lose their jobs this winter as the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end.Chief secretary of the Treasury Simon Clarke also suggested on Thursday morning that job losses were “part of the process” of the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic.Our political correspondent, Ashley Cowburn, has the full story below:Conrad Duncan30 September 2021 15:221633010736An independent investigation into “violence against women and girls within the police service” must be launched following the murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer, Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper has said.The Labour MP said that the murder had been “deeply damaging” for women’s trust in the police service as vetting and safeguarding systems had failed.“The Home Office must ensure urgent action, including independent investigation of violence against women and girls within the police service itself – how system failed in this terrible case but also other allegations/cases of domestic abuse, harassment, sexual offences,” Ms Cooper said.“Backdrop is failure across criminal justice system to tackle epidemic of violence against women and girls or to keep women safe. “Police forces and Home Office need to recognise how serious the damage to confidence is if they don’t act.”Conrad Duncan30 September 2021 15:051633009936Johnson warns more work is needed on climate action ahead of Cop26Boris Johnson has warned that more work is needed to tackle climate change as the world faces a “critical moment” ahead of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow next month.“We are fast-approaching a critical moment for our planet and our people, when – in just one month’s time – world leaders will gather in Glasgow for the long-awaited Cop26 climate summit,” Mr Johnson said.“We need everyone to bring their ambition and action, so we can limit rising temperatures and set the world on the right path to net zero emissions. “That means bold commitments on coal, cars, cash and trees: to drive forward our green industrial revolution with clean energy and electric vehicles, close the gap on the climate finance promised to developing nations, and halt devastating deforestation.”He added: “We’ve seen positive progress so far, but it isn’t enough. I look forward to meeting with leaders – from big emitters to climate vulnerable nations – to make sure Cop26 counts.” More

The chief of the Metropolitan Police should step down in the wake of the killing of Sarah Everard, a senior MP has said.Harriet Harman, who chairs parliament’s joint human rights committee, said in a letter to Cressida Dick that it was “not possible” for her to stay in post as “women’s confidence in the police has been shattered”.Ms Harman, a former interim Labour leader, said a number of actions were required to rebuild confidence and that they could not be carried out with Dame Cressida in post as Met police commissioner.In a separate letter to the Home Secretary Priti Patel Ms Harman spelled out a seven-step plan to reform the police in the wake of the killing, which was carried out by a serving police officer, reportedly with the aid of his warrant card and handcuffs.She said that all serving police officers against whom there was an allegation of violence against women should be suspended, and that this should become routine.Ms Harman said any officer who admitted or was found guilty of such an offence should be immediately dismissed from the force, that all recruits should be pre-screened for their attitudes towards women, and that officers who transfer between forces should face checks.She also called for all serving officers to be given a training course asking them to examine their own attitudes to women, and that anyone who failed to report an officer for an allegations of violence against women should be dismissed from the police service. The MP’s call for Dame Cressida to go follows a call on 9 September when figures including Baroness Lawrence, Lady Brittan, and Alastair Morgan – high profile victims of police injustice – also said she should step down. Ms Harman’s call is a break from her party’s position, as Keir Starmer as repeatedly defended the Met Commissioner and said she should not be replaced.He had told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme earlier on Thursday: “I have worked with Cressida Dick over many years in relation to some very serious operations when I was director of public prosecutions. I was pleased that her contract was extended and I support her.”Sir Keir called for a new victims’ law that would “better provision in relation to violence against women and girls in law”.Following Ms Harman’s comments, a spokesperson for Sir Keir’s office confirmed the leader was not calling for Dame Cressida to resign, and said: “Keir has said that there has to be a review to get to the bottom of how this individual was able to be in the position he was. There were signs and evidence of past behaviour that should have been looked into properly and this needs to be investigated. To ensure this never happens again, we need systemic change.” Wayne Couzens, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder, abducted the 33-year-old as she walked home from visiting a friend’s house in south London on 3 March this year. The officer was sentenced on Thursday to a whole-life prison term as a judge said he had displayed “no evidence of genuine contrition”.“There have been many warnings about perpetrators of male violence against women within the police force, which she has not acted on, and she has not heeded,” Ms Harman told BBC News.“It was on her watch that Wayne Couzens’ offences, that he’d carried out, sexual offences, a few days before, were swept under the carpet, by his colleagues and not investigated. So, she also responded by saying he was a ‘bad ‘un’, like it was one bad apple. I think she showed that she is not the person to be the change that is necessary.”She added: “I think the Home Secretary will ask herself: does she as Home Secretary need to make absolutely certain that that precious bond of trust between women in London, and the police is absolutely secure as Home Secretary, she is found to know that that is her responsibility. She’s bound to know that there needs to be dramatic, and immediate action and she will also know that she will not be able to rely on Cressida Dick to take these forward with determination. And therefore, I think that she will want to ask Cressida Dick to resign.”Speaking to broadcasters, Ms Patel was asked whether the Commissioner should resign, and replied: “There are important questions and questions that I’ve been asking, and challenges: we have to be honest about this in particular to this case, but also the conduct of that serving officer and conduct of policing more broadly. So, I will continue to work with the Metropolitan Police and the commissioner to hold them to account as everybody would expect me to do, and I will continue to do that.” Meanwhile Yvette Cooper, the chair of parliament’s home affairs select committee, called for an inquiry. She said the “full, independent investigation” should look into violence against women and girls in the police service. More

A minister has admitted it is “impossible” to know how many people will lose their jobs this winter as the government today ends the furlough scheme 18 months after it was introduced.Simon Clarke — the chief secretary to the Treasury — added that job losses were “part of the process” , but stressed that at “some point” the emergency measure which has supported millions of jobs had to end.Introduced in March 2020 by the chancellor Rishi Sunak, the furlough scheme originally paid 80 per cent of workers’ wages to a maximum payment of £2,500 each month, with the support being wound down over the summer.It comes amid warnings the country faces a “tidal wave” of job losses as the scheme closes, while other support, such as the universal credit £20-per-week uplift, supporting low-income families, also ends.Uncertainty remains for the future of around one million workers who were expected to be still receiving support through the financial scheme at the end of September, according to the latest Office for National Statistics estimates.Asked on Sky News how many job losses there would be, Mr Clarke said: “It’s impossible to put an estimate on. Obviously there will be a variety of outcomes, I don’t have an estimate with me today.“There will be some job losses, but there are also vacancies in the labour market for people to move towards and a huge range of support to help them do that.“Furlough has protected 11.6 million jobs in total during the course of its time — at some point you have to end these emergency measures, they are extraordinary and they are extraordinary for a reason.He went on: “People’s jobs will be created just as some have very sadly been lost, that is the part of the process of ending this crisis and going back to normal.”According to new research published last night by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) workers in London are in the “most precarious position”, having been more likely to be furloughed over the summer than other parts of the country.Coupled with higher rates of redundancy and lower rates of re-employment, the fiscal watchdog said: “These challenges compound to heighten the risk of longer-term unemployment in the capital.”The IFS said employees in the capital accounted for 16 per cent of the redundancies made during the pandemic while 44 per cent of those who lost their jobs found new work within six months – compared with 58 per cent of workers for the rest of the country.Mr Clarke also defended the imminent cut to universal credit, describing it as an “enormously expensive mechanism”, adding: “Had we maintained this uplift, we’d be talking a penny on income tax”. More

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed a £500 million package of grants to help vulnerable households this winter with essentials such as food, clothing and utilities, amid warnings of a cost of living crisis.With an imminent cut in universal credit saving the government £6 billion per year, the end of the furlough scheme, rising energy prices and a looming increase in national insurance contributions, the support, however, was immediately labelled a “sticking plaster”.According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which has faced intense criticism for pushing ahead with plans to end the £20-per-week uplift in universal credit, the £500m “households support fund” will be distributed to councils in England from October.The plans — first reported by Bloomberg — will replace the Covid local support grant, which ends on Thursday and enabled local authorities across England to support those struggling with costs, including for food, energy, and water bills during the pandemic.“Everyone should be able to afford the essentials, and we are committed to ensuring that is the case,” Mr Sunak said in a statement.“Our new households support fund will provide a lifeline for those at risk of struggling to keep up with their bills over the winter, adding to the support the government is already providing to help people with the cost of living.”The department added that the new fund will run over the winter and will complement the warm homes discount which provides rebates on energy bills each winter to 2.2 million low income households.Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow work and pensions secretary, however, said: “Conservative choices have created a perfect storm this winter, leaving working people facing tax hikes, an energy crisis and cuts to universal credit.“Temporary and inadequate sticking plasters are no substitute for a proper social security system that offers security to families in hard times.The Liberal Democrat’s Treasury spokesperson, Christine Jardine also compared the support as “some crumbs off the table”, claiming that the chancellor is “kidding himself if he thinks this will be enough to prevent the looming winter of discontent”.“This will be cold comfort for struggling families seeing their universal credit slashed and facing the risk of eviction,” she added.The Joseph Rowntree Foundation described the measure as an “11th hour attempt to save face as the government presses ahead with an unprecedented overnight cut to universal credit next week”.The organisation added: “The support available through this fund is provided on a discretionary basis to families facing emergency situations. It does not come close to meeting the scale of the challenge facing millions of families on low incomes as the cost-of-living crisis looms.“By admitting today that families will need to apply for emergency grants to meet the costs of basis like food and heating through winter, it’s clear the chancellor knows the damage the cut to universal credit will cause.”The work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey added: “Over the last year, we have helped millions of people provide for their families. Many are now back on their feet but we know that some may still need further support.“Our targeted household support fund is here to help those vulnerable households with essential costs as we push through the last stages of our recovery from the pandemic.” More

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing eleventh-hour demands to extend furlough for certain sectors of the economy after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that workers in London were likely to be hardest hit when the scheme ends today.The flagship economic policy – introduced at the onset of the pandemic – has supported millions of jobs during the pandemic, originally paying 80 per cent of workers’ wages to a monthly limit of £2,500.But the closure of the scheme on Thursday has prompted warnings of a “tidal wave” of job losses and the country facing a “coronavirus Black Thursday”.Mr Sunak, who announced at the Budget in March the scheme would come to an end in the autumn after being wound down over the summer, has previously rejected pleas to extend the state intervention beyond 30 September.According to the IFS, workers in London are in the “most precarious position”, having been more likely to be furloughed over the summer than other parts of the country.Coupled with higher rates of redundancy and lower rates of re-employment, the fiscal watchdog said: “These challenges compound to heighten the risk of longer-term unemployment in the capital.”Publishing new research today, the IFS said employees in the capital accounted for 16 per cent of the redundancies made during the pandemic while 44 per cent of those who lost their jobs found new work within six months – compared with 58 per cent of workers for the rest of the country.Author of the report, Adam Salisbury, said of the capital: “It is the highest-paid region, and had a considerably higher employment growth between 2007 and 2019 than the national average.“But despite the protection of the furlough scheme, the pandemic has hit London hard. London had higher-than-average furlough rates this summer, higher redundancies and lower chances of finding new work after redundancy.The Liberal Democrats have demanded in a letter to Mr Sunak that the scheme, introduced in March 2020, be extended to the 10 sectors hardest hit by the disruption caused by Covid-19, including passenger air transport, travel agencies, musical instrument manufacturers and retail sale via stalls and markets.Removing the support now, the party argued, would be “devastating for countless families already facing a winter of spiralling bills and cuts to working benefits”.Christine Jardine, the party’s Treasury spokesperson, said: “The withdrawal of furlough risks having a devastating impact on countless families already facing a winter of soaring energy bills. The government needs to rethink its approach or the country could face a coronavirus Black Thursday.”“The Liberal Democrats are demanding that furlough is extended for the industries that are being hardest hit by the pandemic, to prevent a tidal wave of job losses in the coming weeks,” she added.“Thousands of people are relying on furlough are worrying about their livelihoods at a time when the impact of the pandemic is far from over. Supporting them and their families is both the right and responsible thing to do.”The warning also comes as an analysis of government data from the homelessness charity Crisis suggests that more than 100,000 renters on universal credit are at risk of eviction as ministers prepare to remove the £20-per-week uplift – another key economic support measure introduced at the onset of the pandemic.Chief executive of Shelter, Jon Sparkes, said: “For many struggling renters this cut could be the final blow that forces them from their homes.“We know that when people have somewhere stable to live, they are in a better position to find work, build their careers and contribute to the economy as it reopens. Taking this vital lifeline away risks undermining all of this.“If we are truly serious about levelling up the country and rebuilding our economy so it works for everyone, then the UK government must change course and keep the £20 uplift so people don’t needlessly lose their homes this winter and we have a fighting chance at recovery.” More

Ministers should transform the UK’s towns and cities by turning flat roofs into wildlife havens and creating “green” walls, say conservationists.Experts are urging the government to launch a raft of climate measures, including writing into national planning policy that all flat roofs in new developments be made nature-friendly or solar roofs.Their report also calls on ministers to support tree-planting in cities and to set targets to retrofit buildings with green roofs.The researchers want all four governments of the UK to “unleash the power of nature” to protect homes and farmland from floods, droughts and heatwaves brought on by the climate crisis.They say harnessing nature’s power for the changes will save taxpayers’ money in the long run.Last month more than 200 scientists for the UN issued a “code red for humanity”, warning such emergencies will become more frequent, but said catastrophe can be avoided if world leaders act quickly.The new report, Nature-based Solutions in UK Climate Adaptation Policy, commissioned by the RSPB and WWF, points out the government needs to act much faster on expert advice about using nature to help society adapt to the effects of climate change.Earlier this year, the government unveiled a plan to plant 44,000 large trees in towns and cities, as part of an ambition to reach at least 12 per cent of England covered by woodland, from 10 per cent now.But the researchers say far more funding and support is needed to promote a nature-first approach to flood control, also calling for measures such as making artificially straightened rivers meander again, restoring peatlands and planting trees in cities and on farms.Planting hedgerows across slopes at field boundaries helps to reduce flooding and soil erosion and improve water quality, the document explains.Olly Watts, RSPB climate change policy officer, said: “As our leaders prepare to meet at Cop26, we are sending a message that investing in nature restoration will not only help save some of our most iconic and well-loved species – including seahorses, otters, hedgehogs, bats, bees, butterflies, frogs and farmland, wetland and garden birds – but it will benefit people too, cooling our cities during heatwaves, filtering polluted air, protecting our homes and businesses from flooding, and our coastal communities from rising sea levels.”The report, researched by Oxford University’s Nature Based Solutions Initiative, says the government could harness the potential of nature to improve quality of life for UK residents, with long-term savings when all costs and benefits are counted. Isabella O’Dowd, Head of Climate at WWF said to slow down climate change and restore the planet for the next generation, “it’s critical that the government keep every climate promise they’ve made, including to drastically cut emissions and restore nature”.“Ahead of Cop, we have to see ministers’ words turn to action with a solid and ambitious climate and nature plan led by public investment,” she added.More than 2,500 deaths were linked to heatwaves in England last year, and this summer flash flooding submerged London Underground stations and forced hospitals to cancel operations as patients were moved.The RSPB says green walls and roofs, with wildflowers and insect-friendly features such as old logs, have blossomed in London boroughs after being made part of local planning policy.Flat green roofs with a thick layer of soil cool buildings in summer by as much as 12C, a 2019 report found, and insulate them in winter, reducing flooding risks by soaking up water and filtering air.South-facing green walls can be up to 32C cooler than others, Spanish research has found, save 59 per cent of energy, and provide sound insulation.In seas and rivers, restoring kelp forests and seagrass meadows would help otters and seahorses and reduce the height and force of waves, preventing coastal flooding, according to the report authors.A Department for Environment spokesperson said the Environment Bill would create further incentives for developers to include green roofs, walls, trees and other green infrastructure in their development plans, adding: “Our Environment Bill will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth and drive forward action to protect nature and improve biodiversity, supported by a legally binding target to halt species decline in England by 2030.“This is alongside our guaranteed £640m investment in the Nature for Climate Fund for woodland creation and peat restoration, plans to treble tree planting before the end of this parliament, and increased protections for England’s waters through pilots of Highly Protected Marine Areas.”The government says its National Planning Policy Framework includes green infrastructure standards. More