Markus Andrews

Secret plans to withdraw hospital care from over-70s in the case of a catastrophic pandemic have been branded “totally unacceptable” by charities representing older people.Confident documents produced following a pandemic planning exercise in 2016 proposed a “triaging” system to be put into operation if healthcare resources were exhausted, under which people in nursing homes could be offered “end of life pathways” instead of medical assistance.The government said the proposals related to “hypothetical scenarios” and had never been adopted as official policy.But Age UK charity director Caroline Abrahams told The Independent that Britain had come “perilously close” to an approach of this sort at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.And she said that the government and NHS should be clear that treatment decisions must always be based on clinical need.The documents on “NHS surge and triage” and adult social care in the case of a pandemic, labelled “confidential” and “official sensitive”, were obtained by an NHS doctor under freedom of information legislation and published on Saturday by the Daily Telegraph.Written in 2017 and 2018, they suggested that in the case of a serious flu outbreak which overwhelmed the NHS’s ability to respond, patients could be “triaged” – or prioritised for treatment – based on their “probability of survival” rather than “clinical need”.In a severe pandemic, the health secretary could authorise medics to prioritise some patients over others and even stop providing critical care altogether, the documents suggested.Ms Abrahams expressed deep concern that the approach had even been considered.“Whatever the status of this planning document may be, we know from other reports that during the early part of this pandemic we got perilously close to triage approaches being introduced in hospitals that took age heavily into account,”she said.“If they had been put into practice the result would have been that a relatively healthy 70-year-old would not have got access to the intensive treatment they needed – they would effectively have been written off.“At that time there was huge uncertainty and fear, as doctors struggled to cope with a virus that was threatening to overwhelm the NHS.“However, we said at the time and repeat now that there is no place for treatment decisions based on age in a civilised society. Whatever the pressures, these decisions should always be based on clinical need.“To do otherwise is blatantly ageist and totally unacceptable.”Prof Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent providers of adult social care, told The Independent: “The NHS should not have blanket policies and every single person should be assessed on the basis of need.“The NHS should be available to all citizens and any scenario planning for a pandemic should focus on the needs of citizens, not the needs of organisations.”Dr Moosa Qureshi, who obtained the plans, said it was “unprofessional” that they were not given to medics.“The Information Commissioner held that clinicians must be supported by a clear framework when allocating care during a severe pandemic, and that the framework needs public debate,” he said. “The NHS triage paper provides real guidance for front-line staff if NHS services are overwhelmed. Why did the Department of Health, NHS England and BMA keep it secret from healthcare professionals?”An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS was asked to produce this discussion document based on a specific and extreme hypothetical scenario to inform the Government’s pandemic flu preparedness programme rather than for operational use and it did not form the basis of the NHS response to coronavirus.”A government spokesman said the reports were “historical draft briefing papers that include hypothetical scenarios which do not and have never represented agreed government policy”. More

The number of children spending the summer holidays in temporary accommodation could fill more than 4,500 classrooms, councils have warned.As pupils have broken up from school, 119,830 children in England will be living in temporary accommodation during the end-of-year break, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).The cross-party organisation, which represents the majority of councils in England, is calling on the government to let local authorities build back locally by giving them the powers and resources to deliver a social housing building programme of 100,000 new homes a year to help address the housing shortage.With previous LGA analysis showing council housing waiting lists could double as a result of the pandemic, the national body says giving councils these new powers would help the government meet a third of its annual housing target and reduce homelessness.The LGA is calling for further reform of the Right to Buy scheme so councils can retain 100 per cent of receipts, have flexibility to combine Right to Buy receipts with other government grants and be able to set the size of discounts locally.It says doing this would help councils begin building homes more quickly.The LGA said there are 1,350 households with children in bed and breakfasts this summer.Earlier this month, it revealed rising demand for homelessness support was forcing councils to spend more than five times as much on bed and breakfast accommodation as they were 10 years ago.Councillor Darren Rodwell, LGA’s housing spokesperson, said: “Having a safe, secure, permanent home is the bedrock of any child getting the very best start in life, so it is tragic that thousands of children face having to spend their summer holidays living in temporary accommodation.“This is a sad reflection of the lack of housing in this country and demonstrates the urgent need to build more social homes.“This won’t happen overnight, but it is vital that councils, working with government, are given the powers to get building homes again at a scale that drastically reduces homelessness, as we look to build back the nation following the pandemic.”A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The number of children in temporary accommodation has fallen this year and cutting it further is a priority – that’s why we are investing over £750 million next year to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.“We have also given councils more freedom on how they spend the money from homes sold through Right to Buy to help them build the homes needed in their communities and are investing more than £12 billion in affordable housing over five years, with half for affordable and social rent.” More

Boris Johnson is at risk of losing several seats in Conservative “blue wall” heartlands, a new poll suggests.YouGov conducted research in 53 constituencies in the south and east of England currently held by the party, which voted Remain in the 2016 EU referendum and have a higher-than-average concentration of university degree holders.It said vote intention in the “blue wall” stands at 44% for the Conservatives, 24% for Labour, 18% for the Liberal Democrats, 9% for the Greens, and the rest for other parties.YouGov research manager Patrick English wrote: “The Conservatives could be set to lose up to 16 seats in their ‘blue wall’ heartlands if an election was held tomorrow.”On the vote intention findings, he noted: “That represents a change of minus eight for the Conservatives from their 2019 performance in these constituencies, plus four for Labour, a surprising six-point drop for the Liberal Democrats, and a sizeable seven-point gain for the Greens.“The Conservatives are falling almost twice as fast in the blue wall as they are nationally, with the latest YouGov poll showing them five points down on their 2019 general election showing.”Concerns over the Government’s handling of Brexit and the need for people to have a say on local housing developments were among the issues to feature in the responses of those surveyed.Mr English also said the research suggested the Conservatives’ by-election defeat in Chesham and Amersham was “no isolated incident”.The Tories held the Buckinghamshire seat with a majority of more than 16,000 in 2019 but the Lib Dems won it by 8,028 votes last month.Mr English added: “If the swings were uniform across all constituencies, Labour would be set to gain a total of nine blue wall seats and the Liberal Democrats three.“While it would not be anywhere near enough to offset the party’s losses in the so-called red wall in 2019, Labour punching holes in traditional Tory foundations will send alarm bells ringing across Conservative Associations and MPs in the south.”YouGov polled 1,141 adults between July 20 and July 28. More

As employers brace for a cut in government support for furloughed workers, chancellor Rishi Sunak was today facing union demands to keep on the scheme beyond its planned conclusion at the end of September.From Sunday, government support for staff unable to work because of coronavirus will be cut from 70 to 60 per cent of wages, with employers expected to top them up to 80 per cent, up to a maximum of £2,500.The move has prompted fears that some of the estimated 1.9m workers still receiving furlough payments will be made redundant, as employers respond to the demand to contribute more towards the salary bill without necessarily getting any additional economic activity.Now the Unite union is calling on Mr Sunak to rethink his plan to end the scheme altogether on 30 September, which it warns will otherwise be a “very bleak day” for low-paid workers already facing the loss of the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit that day.Instead, the chancellor should adapt furlough into a German-style short-time working scheme, able to protect specific jobs and industrial sectors from collapse due to temporary vagaries in the markets.The union’s assistant general secretary Steve Turner said a short-time working scheme would create a “fantastic legacy” from the emergency response to the pandemic, which at one point was paying the wages of 11m UK workers whose jobs were rendered untenable by public health restrictions.Mr Turner warned that ending the scheme in a cliff-edge way at the start of October would “pull the rug from under the feet” of businesses and workers struggling to restore economic vitality after 18 months of restrictions, denting the confidence needed for investment and expansion.“When we negotiated furlough, I said to the government that it would more than prove its value by protecting jobs, incomes and skills, especially for strategic sectors like manufacturing, something which has demonstrably been the case,” said Mr Turner.“It is far better to retain workers through temporary crises, dips in demand and technological transformation – such as we are seeing now with the greening of our economy – than to lose them altogether, along with the skills and knowledge they possess, and allow unemployment to rise.“That’s why I am calling on the government not to scrap the scheme altogether but to adapt it. “Reform it into a short-time working scheme, like they have in Germany and many of our competitor countries, to support critical sectors like manufacturing through peaks and troughs, serious supply-chain problems and the transition to a greener future that’s now underway.”Mr Turner warned: “We’re not out of the woods yet with this pandemic and the autumn could see another rash of cases and further disruptions. “That’s why I am urging ministers not to waste the good work that’s been done or to miss a fantastic legacy that can develop from furlough. “To pull the rug from under the feet of business and workers now will dent the confidence needed for businesses to invest and adapt operations at this critical time as we try to recover and rebuild the economy.“It is hard to comprehend the motivation for or sense in ending both the furlough scheme and snatching back £20 a week from hard working people on Universal Credit on the same day.  It’s a double whammy and could make 30 September a very bleak day for workers, their families and communities.”The Resolution Foundation has warned that the pace of workers leaving furlough has been slower than expected, despite the gradual reopening of economic life over recent months.The low-pay thinktank detected signs that older workers were being “parked” on the scheme while younger colleagues return to the workplace. The share of under-18 workers on furlough dropped from 13 to 7 per cent between May and June, and from 10 to 6 per cent for 18-24 year-olds, but one in 10 workers aged over 65 remained on the scheme.HMRC data has highlighted how some sectors are still struggling to reopen, with around half of all staff in air passenger transport and travel agencies still on furlough.Resolution Foundation economist Charlie McCurdy said: “The number of furloughed employees has fallen below 2 million for the first time as the economy continues to reopen. But that is higher than many expected, and a cause for concern as the scheme is wound down.“With employer contributions to furloughed staff doubling from this Sunday, and the scheme ending completely in just two months’ time, it’s vital that as many furloughed staff as possible return to work soon, in order to limit the rise in unemployment this autumn.” More

Lawyers expect a wave of legal action against UK companies over attempts to make sure staff are double-vaccinated against Covid, amid growing fears of draconian “no jab, no job” policies in the workplace.Trade unions have criticised the government for encouraging the idea of mandatory vaccination for office staff – after transport secretary Grant Shapps said it was a “good idea” for companies to insist staff are double-jabbed.Tech giant Google has said mandatory jabs for US employees will later be rolled out to staff in 40 countries where it operates, and Mr Shapps said he expected some British firms will soon “require” full vaccination.Employment lawyers told The Independent that British companies had been in touch to explore their options on putting Covid vaccination requirements in place.“We’re definitely going to see a lot of employment tribunals on this,” said Elissa Thursfield, head of employment lawyer and a director at Gamlins Law – predicting a wave of vaccine-related discrimination claims in the months ahead.Lawyers and union chiefs warned that a blanket approach to making jabs mandatory could breach the Equality Act by discriminating against some groups, including those with disabilities or certain religious beliefs.“Having a blanket policy is almost always dangerous – it’s fraught with legal difficulties,” said Ms Thursfield. “For existing staff, if you don’t have a clause in your contract that says you can receive mandatory instructions on health, which is rare, that’s potentially a breach of contract, as well as the discrimination claims.”She added: “If the government pushes any further on this, in terms of encouraging employers, they are going to start getting into hot water.”Charlie Thompson, an employment partner at law firm Stewarts, also predicted legal action against companies that don’t consider their vaccine policy carefully enough.“If you’re not able to go back to your existing job, or you’re denied a job, and the employer’s justification [for vaccination] doesn’t stack up, then I can see legal claims,” he said.Responding to Mr Shapps’ encouraging remarks about companies asking staff to get the jab, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he did not think “no jab no job” policies were wise. “I don’t agree with that,” said Sir Keir.“For day-to-day routines, access to the office, access to health services or dentistry or even food – I don’t agree with vaccine passports for day-to-day access,” said the Labour leader.Downing Street has made clear the government has no plans to bring legislation to make full-vaccination mandatory for entry into offices.Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said the government should not be encouraging any form of “coercion” when it comes to employees getting the vaccine before returning to work.“Only with widespread take-up can the virus be defeated,” she said. “Achieving this requires persuasion and encouragement – not compulsion and coercion. Forcing people can only lead to needless confrontation at work and legal cases that could drag on for years.”Unite’s national health and safety adviser Rob Miguel said Covid vaccine compulsion would be a “bad” way for companies to encourage a return to work, and is “embroiled with issues such as equalities, human rights, privacy and ethical breaches”.Goldman Sachs raised alarm bells last month when it sent a memo to UK staff saying the company “strongly encouraged” them to report their Covid vaccination status before returning to the office – before clarifying vaccination was not compulsory.In the US, companies are beginning to be more severe in their demands. Google, Netflix, Facebook, along with Delta and United airlines, have said full vaccination will be mandatory for staff.The Independent understands leading UK companies are examining how they can make sure staff are double-jabbed, despite potential legal difficulties.Some keen on getting offices fully-staffed say employees have told them they are uncomfortable about returning to the office until all their colleagues are vaccinated.Others have said they would not try to enforce any rules about the Covid vaccine. Imran Hussain, director at Harmony Financial Services, said it would be “ridiculous” to try to draw up a policy about vaccination.“The whole idea is highly undemocratic and draconian,” he said. “People should be allowed to make their own decisions and if they wish to take the jab, that’s great.”The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned against blanket mandatory policies on vaccination.A spokesperson for the CBI said: “The bar for compulsory vaccination is high, and there will be few industries where this approach would be appropriate.“However, in some sectors it could prove necessary. Wherever possible, businesses will be approaching questions like this trying to bring their staff with them.” More

Boris Johnson has been urged to step up efforts to secure agreement on stemming global warming, amid concern in some corners of Whitehall over a lack of urgency ahead of a crucial international summit he will chair in November.With less than 100 days to go to the Glasgow conference, there were warnings that hopes of a landmark deal may be unravelling.And Mr Johnson’s independent climate change adviser warned it was time for him to use “every diplomatic lever” to secure pledges from fellow leaders on cutting emissions of greenhouse gases and financial support to help developing countries adapt.One Whitehall insider said the government’s response to the climate crisis would have been deadly if it had been applied to the pandemic, warning: “If we had the same approach on Covid, we would still be debating which groups would get the first vaccine trials. We are out of time.”A spokesperson for Alok Sharma, the minister Mr Johnson has appointed president of the Cop26 summit, insisted that progress was being made – with countries accounting for 70 per cent of world GDP now committed to net zero emissions or carbon neutrality. But the spokesperson acknowledged: “There is more to do.”A poll for The Independent found that a majority of UK voters do not trust Mr Johnson to reach a deal. And despite the prime minister’s claims to have put Cop26 at the heart of his agenda for 2021, some 50 per cent of those surveyed by Savanta ComRes said they knew little or nothing about the summit or its goals.The United Nations summit, co-hosted with Italy, will – Covid restrictions permitting – bring up to 30,000 people from 200 countries to Glasgow with the aim of improving on the breakthrough Paris Accord of 2015, which committed the world to keeping warming below 2C.Nations that are party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have been urged to come armed with ambitious 2030 emission reductions targets that align with reaching net zero carbon by the middle of the century and keeping a maximum 1.5C increase in temperatures within reach.And richer countries are under pressure to finally make good on an unmet promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020 to help the developing world adapt and prepare.But lack of progress at last month’s Johnson-hosted G7 summit in Cornwall has already sparked alarm, with UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa declaring in its wake that the world was still “very far away from being fully confident of having a full success at Cop26” with no clear sign on when the financing pledge will be fulfilled.While the UK, EU, US and China have announced new and ambitious emission reduction goals, more than 90 countries are yet to set out new targets and others – like Brazil, Russia and Australia – have offered only minor adjustments their Paris promises.Today’s poll confirms strong public support for action on climate change, with almost three-quarters (73 per cent) rating the aims of net zero emissions by 2050 and a 1.5C limit to warming as very important. Some 60 per cent voiced confidence that action now could rein in heating, compared to just 10 per cent who thought mankind could do little or nothing to halt rising temperatures.And majorities said they were ready to make – or have already made – climate-friendly changes to their lifestyles, such as limiting themselves to one return flight a year (62 per cent), halving their clothing purchases (73 per cent) and cutting use of electronic devices (61 per cent).But just 42 per cent said they trusted Mr Johnson to get a deal on global warming, against 51 per cent who said he would not. Mr Sharma was trusted to get a deal by only 21 per cent, with 27 per cent saying they did not expect him to succeed and 51 per cent saying they had never heard of him. Only US president Joe Biden was trusted by more than half (53 per cent) to deliver.The chair of the government’s independent advisory Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben, told The Independent the UK must apply “the strongest possible leadership” to push for a positive result at Glasgow.“It is encouraging to see the British public recognise the urgency and show willingness to take actions to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change impacts,” said the Conservative peer, who served as John Gummer in the Thatcher and Major governments“The Glasgow Cop26 summit is absolutely critical to delivering on global climate action.“It is essential that the UK applies the strongest possible leadership from the very highest level of government and continues to set an example to other countries. We need to bring forward clear policies across all sectors to deliver our world leading targets, and use every diplomatic lever available to secure firm and ambitious commitments on emissions reductions and climate change finance.”Ed Miliband, who leads on Cop26 for Labour, said the lack of faith shown by voters in Mr Johnson’s ability to get a deal was “entirely justified”.He told The Independent: “Our credibility on the world stage rests on the example we set at home. And the example Boris Johnson is setting is being off track on our climate targets, failing to deliver a green recovery, and cutting the Green Homes Grant and vital overseas aid spending.“Cop26 is not the international photo opportunity the prime minister seems to think it is. It is a complex negotiation to achieve meaningful global action to prevent climate disaster, which requires commitment at home and hard diplomacy. In the less than 100 days left to Cop26, he must step up.”But a spokesperson for the UK’s Cop26 presidency insisted that Mr Sharma was putting in the diplomatic work to get results.“The Cop president-designate is working to ensure the summit is a success and all countries come to Glasgow prepared to commit to action which will limit global temperature  rise to 1.5C, enable communities and natural habitats to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and work together to deliver action,” said the spokesperson.“We are seeing progress. Countries representing around 70 per cent of the world’s economy have now committed to reaching net zero emissions or carbon neutrality. When the UK took the role of incoming Cop presidency in December 2019, coverage was just 26 per cent of world GDP.“There is more to do. We will continue to work tirelessly to raise climate ambition around the world and ensure Cop26 is successful, inclusive and protects our planet for future generations.”Greenpeace UK senior climate campaigner Ariana Densham said today’s poll showed that “the public aren’t being fooled, and neither will other world leaders”. “Unless a barrage of plans, policies and cash for meeting our climate commitments is provided over the next three months, there’s a risk that the government’s lack of credibility as chair of the talks means it’ll all unravel in Glasgow,” she said.“People are overwhelmingly concerned about climate change and there’s a clear public mandate for bold action to slash emissions, so what’s the government waiting for?”Connor Schwartz, climate lead at Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s no wonder people are confused about what this government wants from the climate summit. The government tells other countries to reduce emissions, while investing $1bn in a gas mega-project in Mozambique. It says the rest of the world should ditch coal power, yet hasn’t pulled the plug on a new deep coal mine in Cumbria.“This polling shows that people know we are facing a climate crisis. They understand what’s at stake, and they want the most powerful person in the country to act, not just talk.” More

Labour MP Apsana Begum has been cleared of fraud charges in a court case in London.The Poplar and Limehouse MP faced three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information relating to a council housing application between 2013 and 2016.Ms Begum, 31, collapsed and wept in the dock as jurors found her not guilty of all three charges.During the trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, she told how she had fled her family home in 2013 after an argument during which her brother claimed she was “possessed”, leading her to fear honour-based violence.Speaking after her acquittal, she described herself as a survivor of domestic abuse subject to “vexatious” allegations. And she revealed she had been the victim of sexist, racist and Islamophobic abuse online in the 18 months since the case against her began.Ms Begum made clear her intention to continue serving as MP for the east London seat, where she was first elected in December 2019.The not guilty verdict lifts the threat to Keir Starmer of a potentially awkward by-election in a seat where it was thought that George Galloway might make another attempt to seize a traditionally solid Labour constituency with a large Muslim electorate.Ms Begum was accused of withholding information about her living circumstances to jump the queue for a council house. Tower Hamlets Council, which is bringing the prosecution, alleged it cost the local authority £63,928.The court heard she first applied to go on the council’s social housing register in 2011 and was placed on the priority housing list after claiming to be living in an “overcrowded” three-bedroom house in Poplar with five members of her family and without her own room.The prosecution said that forms submitted by her mother and aunt showed that their were in fact four bedrooms in the property and that she had failed to tell the council that byJanuary 2013 there were only four people living at the address after her father died and her aunt moved out.Ms Begum said it was a period of turmoil during which she was struggling to come to terms with her father’s death and her Bangladeshi-heritage family’s disapproval of her relationship with her former partner, Tower Hamlets councillor Ehtasham Haque.Ms Begum’s defence lawyer, Helen Law also claimed that the complaint which triggered the investigation of Begum, made in 2019 by Sayed Nahid Uddin – Mr Haque’s brother-in-law – after the couple split was “false”.In a statement after her acquittal, Ms Begum claimed the case against her had been driven by “malicious intent” and had caused her “great distress”.She said: “I would like to say a sincere thank you to all my legal team and all those who have shown me solidarity, support and kindness.“As a survivor of domestic abuse facing these vexatious charges, the last 18 months of false accusations, online sexist, racist, and Islamophobic abuse, and threats to my safety, have been exceedingly difficult.”She added: “I will be consulting and considering how to follow up so that something like this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”The court heard she left the property in May 2013 due to her family’s growing hostility towards her desire to marry Mr Haque, who was seven years her senior and twice divorced.Giving evidence during the trial, an emotional Ms Begum said she had visited a police station to make a report about her brother following her to work and said she feared becoming the victim of honour-based violence.She told the court she returned home on the same day and was locked in the living room by her brother, who said he thought she should visit an imam because he believed she was “possessed”.Ms Begum said she managed to call 999 and fled the house with only her handbag. Days later she was told to pick up her belongings, which had been put in black bin bags outside the house.Ms Begum and Mr Haque then were married in an Islamic ceremony before she moved in with him.Additional reporting by Press Association More

Boris Johnson says stop and search policy is ‘kind and loving’David Cameron has become embroiled in yet more lobbying allegations, after official transparency records showed he and representatives of a private health firm which he advises met with vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, two months before the US firm won public contracts worth up to £870,000.Meanwhile, new research showed the Conservatives are receiving donations worth £17,500 a day from property developers, prompting Labour to accuse the government of siding with them over planning law and workers’ rights.Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner published analysis indicating that gifts to the Tories from companies directly linked to property development have totalled just over £10m since the start of 2019, as she separately suggested Mr Cameron’s behaviour showed that the rules intended to regulate lobbying are “completely unfit for purpose” and require a radical overhaul.It came as Priti Patel was warned of “shocking” conditions at a facility housing asylum-seekers in Kent, with MPs on the Home Affairs Committee raising “immediate” concerns about overcrowding, the length of stays and the “clear risk” of a Covid outbreak.Show latest update

1627656655Apsana Begum cleared of housing fraud chargesApsana Begum has been found not guilty of housing fraud.The Labour MP was cleared on all three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information relating to her council housing application, during three periods between January 2013 and March 2016.Commenting on her acquittal, Ms Begum said: “As a survivor of domestic abuse facing these vexatious charges, the last 18 months of false accusations, online sexist, racist and Islamophobic abuse, and threats to my safety, have been exceedingly difficult. “I will be consulting and considering how to follow up so that something like this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”Andy Gregory30 July 2021 15:501627655736Speaking to OpenDemocracy, which uncovered the fresh details of David Cameron’s lobbying efforts, Angela Rayner said: “David Cameron’s behaviour is evidence that the rules that are supposed to regulate lobbying are completely unfit for purpose and need a radical and urgent overhaul.“There appears to be nobody in government who the former prime minister has not lobbied in an effort to enrich himself and his clients during this pandemic.”Andy Gregory30 July 2021 15:351627655560‘Window of opportunity’ to fix NI Protocol, first minister saysThere is a “window of opportunity” to resolve the issues caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, the country’s first minister Paul Givan has said, during a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council.“The European Union has now suspended its litigation and there’s recognition that the protocol is causing harm, that there needs to be constructive engagement between the UK government and the European Union,” Mr Givan said.“Obviously the Irish Government have a very important role in influencing how the European Union conducts its approach to addressing those issues.“Nobody should be under any illusion as to the implications that the protocol has had, the manner in which it was foisted upon the Unionist community and the way in which there was engagement for the European Union, where we had photographs of border posts being bombed in the 1970s in order to get the European Union on side when it came to this protocol.”Irish premier Micheal Martin described the meeting as “good, relaxed, engaged and pragmatic”, and suggested that the issues can be ironed out and resolved if the “political will” exists.Andy Gregory30 July 2021 15:321627654319Priti Patel urged to ‘get a grip’ over asylum accommodationSNP MP Stuart McDonald – another MP on the Home Affairs Committee, which visited Kent Intake Unit this week – said: “It appears the home secretary has learned nothing from the Napier and Penally barracks scandals, and is continuing to treat vulnerable people appallingly, ignore public health advice and put people in danger – the very people she is tasked with looking after.“It is beyond time for Priti Patel to get a grip when it comes to accommodating vulnerable asylum seekers. We have had scandal after scandal under her watch and it cannot continue.”Andy Gregory30 July 2021 15:111627653375UK ‘needs to get on with it and fast’ in resettling Afghan interpreters, prominent Tory MP saysThe Tory chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat, has urged UK to expedite its resettling of Afghan interpreters who served alongside British armed forces.“I very much welcome the efforts that the government has made. But there are always going to be bureaucratic glitches, there are always going to be things that need ironing out, and up until a month or so ago we had the time to do it,” Mr Tugendhat told the BBC’s World at One programme.“Well, now we don’t, because we are withdrawing and that means that everybody is in much greater risk than they were only a few weeks ago, and so we need to get on with it and fast.”He added: “Because the reality is anybody who did work for us who is left behind, if they are found by the Taliban it won’t just be them who is killed, it will be their children and their families.”Andy Gregory30 July 2021 14:561627652373David Cameron met vaccines minister shortly before award of contracts to company he advisesDavid Cameron met Nadhim Zahawi with representatives of a private health firm which he advises, two months before the US company won public contracts worth up to £870,000, our political editor Andrew Woodcock reports.The meeting, uncovered by Open Democracy, is listed in official government transparency records as taking place between Mr Zahawi, Mr Cameron and Illumina on 1 March 2021 “to discuss UK genomics sequencing”. Read the full story here:Andy Gregory30 July 2021 14:391627651246Angela Rayner calls on Tories to repay £580k spent on political pollingAngela Rayner has urged the Conservative Party to repay the £580,000 of taxpayers’ money it handed to a firm founded by a former Vote Leave comms director to carry out political polling when the coronavirus crisis struck. In a letter to Cabinet secretary Simon Case, reported by The Guardian, Labour’s deputy leader said: “Conservative ministers have abused taxpayers’ money for their own party political interests and the Conservative party needs to repay this money immediately.“Taxpayers’ money is not the personal cashpoint of Tory ministers to do as they please with. We need a fully independent inquiry into how much taxpayers’ money has been abused in this way and which rules were broken by the ministers and special advisers who authorised it.”Former No 10 aide Dominic Cummings has said the polling was necessary to explore the idea of using non-Tory figures to deliver essential public health messages to those who may not listen to Conservatives.Andy Gregory30 July 2021 14:201627649458Home Office ‘not taking people’s welfare seriously’, Amnesty International allegesHere’s more criticism of Priti Patel’s Home Office, this time from Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, who alleges that forcing people to live in squalor is a “repeated scandal” for the department.“If the home secretary truly wished to fix the UK’s asylum system, she would start by ending this repeated scandal of holding people – including women, children and babies – fleeing torture and terror in wholly unsuitable conditions and squalor,” said Steve Valdez-Symonds.“But her energies and government resources continue to be directed to vilify and deny safety to people seeking asylum – further dismembering the system that she is responsible for.“It is abundantly clear that far from taking the welfare of people seriously – as the department routinely claims – they are instead discouraging people from exercising their right to seek asylum in this country with their oppressive response to the relatively few people who do.”Andy Gregory30 July 2021 13:501627648915Salmond trial blogger will ‘go to jail with a clean conscience’Former diplomat and blogger Craig Murray has said he will “go to jail with a clean conscience” ahead of his eight-month jail term for contempt of court.The former ambassador to Uzbekistan is due to start prison time imminently after judges ruled his blog coverage of former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond’s trial could identify women who made allegations against the former first minister, who was acquitted of all 13 charges including sexual assault and attempted rape in May last year.Protesters will gather outside St Leonard’s Police Station in Edinburgh this afternoon, with the Craig Murray Justice campaign group saying his conviction “sets a dangerous legal precedent for freedom of speech and equality before the law”.At a virtual sentencing in May, Lady Dorrian said Murray knew there were court orders giving the women anonymity and he was “relishing” the potential disclosure of their identities.Andy Gregory30 July 2021 13:411627648521Following the release of figures showing drug-related deaths in Scotland have risen for a sixth consecutive year to a new record high, #ResignSturgeon is trending on Twitter.Some of those critical of the first minister are re-sharing this 2019 interview, in which ITV News’ Peter Smith reminded Ms Sturgeon that she had been warned several years previously that cutting funding for drug treatment programmes would cost lives.Andy Gregory30 July 2021 13:35 More