Markus Andrews

Priti Patel’s plans for “pushbacks” in the English Channel to deter migrants has been described as “inhumane, unconscionable and extremely reckless” by Labour, as the party posed questions about the legality of the techniques.In a letter to the home secretary, seen by The Independent, frontbencher Nick Thomas-Symonds described the proposals as “appalling” and said the government risked “flagrantly breaking international obligations” and maritime law.In the correspondence, the shadow home secretary urged Ms Patel to sanction the publication of legal advice received by the Home Office and also urged the cabinet minister to disclose the “certain circumstances” the techniques may be used.His letter comes amid warnings this week that the Channel could become a “theatre of human tragedies” amid the controversial plans to turn small migrant boats back around – forcing them to be dealt with by French authorities.It was reported that members of the Border Force were being given special training to handle migrant boats, but would only deploy the “pushback” tactics when deemed practical and safe to do so.The home secretary’s plan, which came in response to orders from the prime minister to curb the crossings, however, sparked a diplomatic spat between Paris and London, with her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin expressing anger and campaigners outraged.“France will not accept any practice that is contrary to the law of the sea, nor any financial blackmail,” he posted on social media.In his letter to Ms Patel, the shadow home secretary Mr Thomas-Symonds wrote: “It is appalling that you have even considered and now granted, the approval for ‘push-back’ techniques for small boat crossings.“These techniques are dangerous, inhumane, unconscionable and extremely reckless: you are putting lives at risk, including those of children.”Contrasting the historic “proud record” of Britain welcoming refugees, including young children on the Kindertransport fleeing the Nazi regime, he said the new proposals were a “sobering reminder of the lack of compassion and competence this government has when dealing with Channel crossings”.In a series of questions to the home secretary, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “It is reported that you have received legal advice about this new technique: in the circumstance, given the risk to life, can you publish it immediately?“It is reported that the ‘push-back’ technique will only be used in certain circumstances: can you please outline what they are?”.In a statement, he went on: “Turning boats around at sea in the world’s busiest shipping channel is dangerous and risks lives.“The home secretary has failed to tackle the vile criminal gangs who are profiting from people smuggling and this should be her focus, along with securing an effective deal with France and safe legal routes.“The that home secretary is even considering these dangerous proposals shows how badly she has lost control of the situation.”Earlier this week, the prime minister’s official spokesperson declined to discuss the new approach, saying: “I’m not going to get into the operational tactics used by Border Force staff.”But they added: “It’s right that our Border Force has the right range of tactics to address this problem. They will make sure it is tested and that it is carried out by trained Border Force staff and that it is safe and legal.”Speaking on Friday, the cabinet minister Oliver Dowden insisted his colleague Ms Patel was “rightly exploring every possible avenue” to address the situation.“We have said that that will include looking at turning migrants back, but that will only be done in accordance with international law, and clearly the safety of migrants is absolutely paramount.”The Home Office has been contacted for comment. More

Boris Johnson has said that while the threat of terrorism persists it has failed to “shake belief in freedom and democracy”, as he paid tribute to the almost 3,000 people killed during 9/11.Marking the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the United States, which led to a 20-year war in Afghanistan, the prime minister insisted that people had refused to live their lives in “permanent fear”.“The fact that we are coming together today — in sorrow but also in faith and resolve — demonstrates the failure of terrorism and the strength of the bonds between us,” Mr Johnson said in a recorded message.Recalling the attack, he said: “Twenty years ago, 11 September 2001 became, in president Roosevelt’s words after Pearl Harbour, a ‘date which will live in infamy’”During the hijackings 20 years ago today, the attacks on the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and United 94, resulted in the deaths of 2,977 people, including 67 Britons. “Each of them a symbol of the eternal friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States,” Mr Johnson said.“But while the terrorists imposed their burden of grief and suffering, and while the threat persists today, we can now say with the perspective of 20 years that they failed to shake our belief in freedom and democracy; they failed to drive nations apart, or cause us to abandon our values; or to live in permanent fear,” he added.His remarks come after western allies faced intense criticism for the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan last month, with desperate scenes at Kabul international airport as thousands attempted to flee the country after the government was seized by the Taliban at a pace British ministers admitted they had not anticipated.Tony Blair, the prime minister at the time of the 9/11 attacks, who has been highly critical of the decision to withdraw, warned on the eve of the 20th anniversary that international community must be prepared to take action against the Taliban insurgency if they allow Afghanistan to become a base of terrorism.“They do need to know they are going to be held to account. They need to know that if they go back to sheltering terrorist groups that are coming up that we are prepared to act against them,” Mr Blair told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.But Mr Johnson said: “Recent events in Afghanistan only strengthen our determination to remember those who were taken from us, cherish the survivors and those who still grieve and hold fast to our belief in liberty and democracy, which will always prevail over every foe.”Sir Keir Starmer also echoed the prime minister’s sentiments, saying that while the consequences of the attacks were “still being felt to this day”, the Labour leader was “convinced our resolve has never been stronger”.“We will continue to fight terror and violence, by promoting our resolve has never been stronger,” he said.Paying tributes to the victims of 9/11, Sir Keir added: “Today we remember and honour them. We show support to our American friends as they mark this difficult time in their history. And we remember those in all corners of the world who have lost their lives to terror.” More

Boris Johnson wants to remain as prime minister for longer than Margaret Thatcher as he seeks a decade in power, his colleagues have said.Mr Johnson is hoping to win multiple elections in order to address the “catastrophic” economic mistakes of the past 40 years and use Brexit to rectify inequalities across the country, according to The Times.“Boris will want to go on and on,” a cabinet minister told the newspaper. “The stuff Dom [Dominic Cummings] was saying about him going off into the sunset was nonsense. He’s very competitive. He wants to go on for longer than Thatcher.”Mr Cummings, a former top adviser to the PM, said earlier this year that Mr Johnson planned to leave office within two years after the next election so he could “make money and have fun”.Setting out his pitch for the 2024 election for the first time, Mr Johnson said voters would be able to see his “great, great project” of levelling up making progress across Britain. “It’s going to take a while, it’s going to take 10 years,” he said.The next general election is scheduled to take place in May 2024 – although the government is planning to abolish the UK’s fixed-term parliament legislation, allowing it to bring forward the date.The report also suggested that Mr Johnson would attempt to frame the next election around Brexit, like he did in 2019, by warning that the UK would return to EU laws and regulations if Labour wins.Mr Johnson was quoted by the newspaper as saying, in an upcoming book by the Financial Times journalist Sebastian Payne: “I do think the risk is if we were to be stopped, if we were to be pushed out, the whole thing will slump back.“We will be back into half of the things of the European Union before we could say it.”It came as Labour recorded its first poll lead since January after the Conservatives slumped to its lowest level since the general election following the announcement of the government’s plan to pay for social care reform by raising National Insurance.YouGov’s latest poll showed that support for the Tories had fallen to 33 per cent, down by five points, while Labour’s share had increased to 35 per cent, up by one point.In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to pursue a strategy of “levelling up every part of the UK” by investing in towns, cities, and rural and coastal areas that have been underfunded in recent decades.However, MPs have criticised the idea for lacking detail and a clear plan, with a senior Commons committee warning in July that Mr Johnson’s government had “failed miserably in translating a political soundbite” into a deliverable programme.A report by the Business, Environment and Industrial Strategy Committee said that the lack of definition to the agenda could lead to “a failure to deliver meaningful change for people across the country”.“As it currently stands, levelling up risks becoming an everything and nothing policy, not owned by a particular minister or department, and without any means in place of evaluating its impact or efficacy as policy in ‘improving everyday life and life chances,” the report said. More

The government is poised to abandon key elements of its “radical and necessary” overhaul of England’s planning laws – which ministers argued would “help us build the homes our country desperately needs” – following a backlash from Tory MPs and voters in the south, according to a report.More than a year ago, the housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced his intention to replace the planning system in use since just after the Second World War with reforms which would “provide secure housing for the vulnerable, bridge the generational divide and recreate an ownership society”.With a target of building 300,000 new homes a year in England, the government had intended in its Planning Bill – first mooted in the Queen’s speech this year – to scrap the planning application process and replace it with a zonal system, denoting land either “for growth, for renewal or for protection”. But The Times reports that the government is now likely to drop proposals for a zonal system, which would have left homeowners unable to object to new developments in person, and plans to introduce mandatory housebuilding targets for councils.The paper pointed to Tory concerns that the proposed reforms played a role in the party’s shock defeat at the hands of the Liberal Democrats in the Chesham and Amersham by-election in June.The Conservative Party co-chair had described the defeat as a “warning shot” to the government, arguing in the Daily Telegraph that voters’ concerns about the Planning Bill and HS2 were “loud and clear”.Leaflets from the Lib Dems at the time attacked the policy and included quotes from prominent Tories such as former prime minister Theresa May and former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith criticising the reforms.Detractors – including more than 350 Conservative councillors – had been vocal in warning that the plans would undermine local democracy by removing the public’s right to be heard in person.One open letter signed by more than 2,000 councillors and campaigners had also warned the zonal system could significantly reduce protections for nature, local green spaces and place pressure on greenfield sites, ultimately harming the government’s bid to tackle the climate crisis.But Mr Jenrick had argued that “the current system excludes residents who don’t have the time to contribute to the lengthy and archaic planning process”, whereas under the reforms he said that local democracy and accountability would “now be enhanced by technology and transparency”.Writing in The Sunday Telegraph last year, he insisted the reforms would place “a higher regard on quality and design than ever before”, drawing “inspiration from the idea of design codes and pattern books that built Bath, Belgravia and Bournville”. Mr Jenrick added: “We are cutting red tape, but not standards.”In addition to concerns about electability, The Times also reported that the need for wholesale reform has been questioned after developers set new records for housebuilding, with the 244,000 homes built between 2019 and 2020 marking a nearly 30-year high.A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said the department would “not comment on speculation”, adding: “Our response to the consultation will be released in due course.”Additional reporting by PA More

Care homes and local councils will “go bust” unless Boris Johnson rethinks his botched NHS and social care rescue plan, Keir Starmer will warn.Voters also face soaring council tax bills because the £12bn-a-year national insurance hike will fund the health service – and not shrunken care budgets – the Labour leader will say.The warnings will come as Sir Keir seeks to counter criticism that Labour has failed to set out an alternative plan for social care, despite a decade of inaction by the government.A series of tests for success – a principle of care at “home first”, a “New Deal for care workers” and support for unpaid carers – will be set out, although not the costed plan demanded by critics.The fiercest criticism of the government’s package is that it will fail to end the day-to-day crisis that has left an estimated 1.6 million elderly and disabled people without the help they need.Only £5.4bn of the £36bn to be raised over three years is for care – and the Treasury admits that is largely for “implementing” the new cap on lifetime costs, plus ensuring councils pay more to private care homes.Ministers have repeatedly refused to say how much will go to councils for expanding care – despite a £6bn funding black hole even before Covid struck.“Let’s be clear what that means,” Sir Keir will say in a speech to Labour local government leaders.“The government is yet again forcing local authorities to put up council tax. This is after £8bn of devastating cuts and the government’s failure to meet its promise to re-compensate local authorities for the extra costs of the pandemic.”Moreover, the plan to hike the fees councils pay to care homes – to bring them into line with the higher bills of “self-funders” – “runs the real risk of breaking already precarious care homes”, Sir Keir will say.“The continuation of pushing more pressures to local authorities runs the risk of pushing more over the edge. If these plans aren’t fixed, it will mean care homes or councils going bust,” he will warn.Labour has declined to say how it would raise the billions needed for the NHS and social care, beyond hinting that wealth would be taxed more heavily in various ways.Attacking the “unfair” NI hike, Sir Keir will say: “The money could have been raised by taxing the incomes of landlords, and those who buy and sell large quantities of financial assets, stocks and shares.”And, on Labour’s plans, he will the hugely ambitious pledge that “every older and disabled person who needs support get it where they need it”.The “home first” principle would shift the focus to prevention and early intervention and people would be given more “choice and control over the support they get”.The legislation to create the new “health and social care levy” – effectively a NI hike of 1.25 percentage points, from next April – will be pushed through the Commons in a single day, on Tuesday. More

Food shortages in supermarkets and restaurants are “permanent” and shoppers will never again enjoy a full choice of items, an industry boss has told Britons.In an extraordinary warning, the head of the Food and Drink Federation said staff shortages – triggered by a combination of Covid and Brexit – had killed off the “just-in-time” delivery model.“I don’t think it will work again, I think we will see we are now in for permanent shortages,” Ian Wright said.But Downing Street rejected the claim of a broken system and, in a potential hostage to fortune, predicted the shortages will be over by the festive season.Pressed on whether the shortages will ease to allow people to enjoy a “normal Christmas”, Boris Johnson’s spokesman told The Independent: “I believe so, yes.”The clash came as the government rebuffs calls to loosen post-Brexit immigration rules – to attract more HGV drivers, for example – insisting businesses must stop relying on EU workers.But the hit to trade from leaving the EU and the pandemic was laid bare by new figures revealing trade with the bloc plunged in July, with exports £1.7bn lower than in July 2018 and imports down £3bn.Worryingly, the UK is on course to fall out of Germany’s top 10 trading partners for the first time in 70 years, data issued by the German government revealed.“The UK’s loss of importance in foreign trade is the logical consequence of Brexit. These are probably lasting effects,” said Gabriel Felbermayr, the president of the Institute for the World Economy.In the UK, McDonald’s, Greggs, the Co-op and Ikea are just some of the big retailers that have struggled to supply products to their customers in recent weeks.The CBI business group has warned the labour shortages behind the gaps on shelves and restaurant menus could last up to two years, without urgent government action.The Food and Drink Federation stepped up that pressure when Mr Wright told a think tank event: “It’s going to get worse, and it’s not going to get better after getting worse any time soon.”He then added: “The result of the labour shortages is that the just-in-time system that has sustained supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants – so the food has arrived on shelf or in the kitchen, just when you need it – is no longer working.”But the prime minister’s spokesman rejected the warning, saying: “We don’t recognise those claims.“We have got highly resilient food supply chains which have coped extremely well in the face of challenges and we believe that will remain the case.”Nevertheless, the fear of creating a bigger crisis is expected to see the government shelve full post-Brexit import controls on imports from the EU, for a second time.The food and drink industry is short of around half a million workers, Mr Wright said, meaning it is short of about 1 in 8 of the total number of people it needs in its workforce.The dearth was partly the result of EU nationals leaving the UK, as a result of both the pandemic and of Brexit.The lack of lorry drivers was partly caused by them moving to online retailers and starting to deliver for Amazon and Tesco – to get better hours and pay, he said.The latest ONS trade figures were seen as a possible indication that the UK is losing its overall competitiveness, within Europe.In July, total exports of goods exports to the EU plunged by £900m – while, at the same time, exports to non-EU countries increased by £700m. More

Conservative MPs opposed to the looming universal credit cut have warned of an “angry backlash” ahead, predicting that the issue will be the biggest political problem for the party this autumn.Tories fear the impact of slashing universal credit payments by £1,040 a year will eclipse outrage over Boris Johnson’s plan to hike national insurance to pay for its social care plan.The warning follows reports of internal government modelling that predicts homelessness and food bank use will soar when the benefit is slashed by £20 a week from October – with one Whitehall official calling it the “disaster of the autumn”.Tory MP Nigel Mills, who urged the government to push back the cut until March, told The Independent: “When people find they can’t make ends meet they will get upset and angry. The backlash and anger will really build when they lose those extra payments.”The MP for Amber Valley in Derbyshire added: “How many fires do the government want burning? They’ve upset everyone with a [national insurance] tax rise. That won’t come until next year. So the [universal credit] reduction will be the next big problem for the government.”Tory unease has been growing over the reluctance of Downing Street and the Treasury to extend the £20-a-week uplift introduced at the start of the pandemic.Six former Tory ministers and dozens of backbenchers in the Northern Research Group (NRG) have urged ministers to think again. Andy Street, Tory metro mayor for the west Midlands region, said on Friday he was “very concerned” about the consequences of the cut on people’s incomes.Conservative MPs have been inundated with emails and calls over the summer from benefit claimants worried about how they will pay their bills once they lose £86 a month from October.John Stevenson, Tory MP for Carlisle, said anger about the end of the uplift was felt by colleagues across the UK – not just in the so-called “red wall” seats in the north of England.The MP told The Independent: “It goes beyond the red wall seats. It will have an impact on a lot of communities, whether north or south or any other part of the country. It’s politically very difficult to take things away from people.”Mr Stevenson added: “There are some people who have only known the benefit at the level it is at, so losing money each month is going to come as a shock to them. I actually think universal credit has been a success, and the additional £20 is part of the success … Why withdraw it at this stage?”A Whitehall official told the Financial Times that the government’s own assessment predicts homelessness, poverty and food bank use will all “soar” when the benefit is slashed. “The internal modelling of ending the universal credit uplift is catastrophic. It could be the real disaster of the autumn.”A Tory minister told the newspaper: “Colleagues are really worried; I think it will definitely eclipse social care as a political problem. It’s not just red wall MPs who are fearing a major backlash from the public.”A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) insisted that it had not carried out any formal impact assessment of the universal credit cut.However, the opposition seized upon the report as evidence of misery to come. Labour MP Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “So the Tory government knows the universal credit cut will be catastrophic for homelessness, poverty, and families going hungry, yet they are still ploughing ahead with it. Truly appalling.”The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned that around 500,000 people will fall into poverty when the 6 million who claim universal credit see payments reduced next month.Earlier this week, universal credit claimants told MPs that the £20-a-week uplift brought in at the start of the Covid crisis had proved to be a “lifeline” in their struggle to pay bills.Around 1.2 million claimants fear they will have to skip meals if Mr Johnson’s government goes ahead with the cut, according to a poll for the Trussell Trust network of food banks.Anthony Lynam, a single parent with two children, said: “Before the uplift was introduced we were already on a knife-edge … The uplift was some relief, and for that to be removed it will leave us with that big question again: do I go hungry? Do my kids go hungry?”A government spokesperson said: “Universal credit will continue to provide vital support for those both in and out of work, and it’s right that the government should focus on our plan for jobs, supporting people back into work, and supporting those already employed to progress and earn more.” More

The UK could deploy lethal drone strikes in Afghanistan if the Taliban allows terrorists to operate in the country again, the defence secretary has suggested.Ben Wallace said on Thursday that he would be prepared to do “whatever I have to do” to protect the UK as he visited RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, where a new fleet of remotely-piloted Protector aircraft will be based.The government is investing £94m to upgrade the RAF station so it can house the drones, which are set to enter into service in 2024.When asked if the UK government would consider launching drone strikes in Afghanistan, Mr Wallace said: “I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect citizens’ lives and our interests and our allies, when we’re called upon to do so, wherever that may be.”His comments follow concerns about the possibility of Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups under the Taliban’s leadership after western troops withdrew from the country last month.On Friday, the head of MI5 warned there was “no doubt” that the chaotic events in the country had “heartened and emboldened” extremists, potentially raising the terrorist threat to the UK.“There is no doubt that events in Afghanistan will have heartened and emboldened some of those extremists and so being vigilant to precisely those kinds of risks [is what] my organisation is focused on along with a range of other threats,” Ken McCallum told BBC Radio 4’s Today show.Mr McCallum said that it would take time for “al Qaida-style” attacks to build but noted that there could be an immediate “psychological boost” for terrorists working independently in the UK or in other countries.“We need to be vigilant both for the increase in inspired terrorism which has become a real trend for us to deal with over the last five to 10 years, alongside the potential regrowth of al Qaida-style directed plots,” he added.The MI5 director-general also said that it was hard to give a “simplistic answer” for whether the UK was safer now than it was 20 years ago, when the 9/11 terror attacks took place in the US, due to the changing nature of global terrorism.“The number of plots that we disrupt nowadays are actually higher than the number of plots that were coming at us after 9/11, but on average they are smaller plots of lower sophistication,” Mr McCallum said.Additional reporting by PA More