Markus Andrews

The Home Office spent more than £370,000 to settle a top civil servant’s tribunal claim after he quit amid allegations of Priti Patel’s bullying, departmental accounts confirm.Former permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam accepted the six-figure sum earlier this year after launching legal action against the Home Secretary.He dramatically resigned in February last year, accusing Ms Patel of a “vicious and orchestrated” briefing campaign against him, claiming constructive dismissal and accusing her of bullying subordinates. An employment tribunal was due to hear his case in September.The Home Office’s annual report and accounts for 2020-21 confirm he received a payout of £340,000 plus legal costs – taking the spend to at least £370,000 plus VAT of an anticipated £6,000.Although the figures were previously reported, neither Sir Philip’s representatives nor the department would publicly disclose the amount at the time.The document, published on Thursday, said: “Sir Philip Rutnam resigned from his post as Permanent Secretary of the Home Office on 29 February 2020 and subsequently began legal proceedings against the department.“On 4 March 2021, the Home Office and Sir Philip signed an agreement to settle these proceedings. As part of this settlement, the Home Office made a special payment of £340,000. A contribution to his legal costs was also made of £30,000 plus VAT.”By Press Association More

Conservative MP Lee Anderson is refusing to abandon his boycott of the England team over taking the knee — but will check his phone to see if they have scored in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday.The MP for Ashfield has faced widespread derision for his decision to refuse to watch Gareth Southgate’s team in protest at their anti-racism stance gesture before matches.“For the first time in my life I will not be watching my beloved England team whilst they are supporting a political movement whose core principles aim to undermine our very way of life,” he said in a Facebook post in June.Southgate backed his players after some adverse reactions to the gesture and booing from some fans, saying that his team were “more than ever determined to take the knee”.Since then the Three Lions have gone from strength to strength and have been cheered on by Mr Anderson’s Tory party colleagues, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel.Despite the country getting to its first major tournament final since 1966, Mr Anderson confirmed in a Facebook video on Thursday that he is sticking to his boycott.Dressed in a Three Lions t-shirt, he said: “I’ve had a bit of a torrid week actually, lots of emails, a bit of abuse – but that’s normal – about my decision not to watch the England matches,” he said.“That’s my decision, I’m not forcing my views on anybody else.“I don’t like the taking the knee business, I think it associates with the Black Lives Matter movement – I know the England players don’t think it does but it does, it does to me.“But that’s their choice to take the knee and it’s my choice not to watch the matches.“But I will be supporting England on Sunday night… I’m going to check my phone for updates to see if they’ve scored and cheer if they have.“I hope they win and I hope it comes home.”Labour have even launched a petition, urging the MP not to watch the game on Sunday claiming he is a “jinx”.The petition states: “Sulky Tory MP Lee Anderson hasn’t been cheering England’s heroes like the rest of us because he doesn’t like their simple act of anti-racism.“As Anderson was born in 1967 we think maybe he’s been the jinx all along. Reaching our first final since before he was born is such a great feeling. But it’s not enough.We want to finish the job on Sunday.“So we’re saying: Anderson, stay away, do the housework, watch Midsomer Murders, anything.And keep up your pathetic one-man boycott for one more game.”However another prominent critic of the England team’s actions has had a sudden volte-face as the final looms large against the impressive Italians.Actor and former London mayoral candidate Laurence Fox previously branded Southgate’s side “millionaire woke babies” and said he hoped that the team would get knocked out of the tournament.However in a series of tweets on Thursday night Mr Fox said: “It’s hard to admit when you’ve made a mistake, but as I tell my kids it’s important to acknowledge it when you think you have. “So here goes. I have always been behind England in any sport and any English team in any competition.”He added that taking the knee was still a “deep insult” but that wanting England to lose for the gesture was a “step too far.” More

The government has formally announced that British forces have finished their mission in Afghanistan ending, along with other international troops, the involvement in a long and contentious war which has divided opinion home and abroad.But the departure comes as Afghanistan faces an uncertain and dangerous future with lethal onslaughts by insurgents taking a rising daily toll of lives, and deep trepidation about the future, especially over the hard-won rights of women, if the Taliban take over once again. The haste with which the withdrawal has been carried out and the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan has raised deep concern about possible consequences in the region and beyond.General Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, the former head of the British military who commanded the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, warned of dangerous times ahead. He could not, he said, see any coherent western strategy to counter what is likely to unfold. Lord Richards told The Independent: “This is a hugely important and worrying time. We have a moral obligation to the Afghan people, but leaving that aside, one needs to look cold bloodedly at the security situation.“A security vacuum, an ungoverned space, will allow some very bad people to plot some very bad things. We should all remember that the intervention in 2001 took place because the 9/11 atrocity was conceived in an anarchic violent Afghanistan.“I do not want to be entirely pessimistic. There is a possibility that with the right balance of financial carrot and punitive stick the Taliban may join in the political process and we may be able to avoid prolonged bloodshed. “But this requires robust and dynamic western support. I see no coherent plan to this effect. Without it, I am not hopeful. We shall have to see what happens.”  More

Jeremy Corbyn is under investigation by parliament’s sleaze watchdog following allegations he did not properly declare financial support given to him for legal disputes related to antisemitism claims.The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has launched a probe into whether the former Labour leader properly declared his interests.Labour MP Neil Coyle wrote to the commissioner in May regarding financial support for legal disputes involving Mr Corbyn – who currently sits as an independent MP after he had the Labour whip withdrawn.In the letter, the Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP, a fierce critic of Mr Corbyn, said he believed his former boss may have broken the code of conduct for MPs.Mr Coyle claimed that the former Labour leader had “received financial support for legal cases involving him in various legal disputes, principally surrounding antisemitism” – and claimed it had not been properly declared.At the time of the letter, Mr Corbyn told Sky News: “I will be liaising with the commissioner in response to Neil Coyle’s correspondence.”On his entry on the register of members’ interests, Mr Corbyn said he was “likely to benefit from a legal fund” set up in October 2020 “to help meet any legal costs which I or my supporters incur in relation to allegations of defamation”.Mr Corbyn said at the time that the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by his opponents and the media – but later said he did not intend to “belittle concerns” about antisemitism.The former Labour leader had the party whip withdrawn in October 2020 following his response to an Equality and Human Rights Commission report into antisemitism during his time in charge of the party.In the wake of Labour’s defeat at the Hartlepool by-election in May, Diane Abbott and others on the Labour left called on Sir Keir Starmer to reinstate the whip and “unify” the party.Mr Corbyn’s office has been contacted for comment on the watchdog’s investigation. More

Health secretary Sajid Javid has cast doubt on the government’s promise to come up with a plan to fix the social care system by the end of 2021 – saying he could not put “an exact date” on the commitment.Boris Johnson pledged in July 2019 to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all – with a clear plan we have prepared.”Downing Street blamed the Covid crisis for the delay, but former health secretary Matt Hancock said in June that the plan would be ready by the end of this year.Mr Hancock’s successor Mr Javid has now raised fears it could be pushed back once again – saying only that he hoped his department would be able outline a “general sense of direction” soon.“I do hope we’re able to come forward with plans,” the minister told the Local Government Association (LGA) conference on Thurday. “I don’t want to put an exact date on it, but the work is intense.”Mr Javid added: “Whilst we may not be able to announce the whole plan that we’ve been working on together, with all the details there. But I think we could set out, quite soon, the general sense of direction in terms of a new offering on social care.”Labour was scathing about Mr Javid’s comments, saying those who work and rely on the ailing sector had “heard enough excuses” from the government.Shadow minister for social care Liz Kendall said: “The government have had over a decade to set out the ‘general direction’ of their social care reforms, yet have repeatedly failed to do so.”She added: “Social care staff, users and their families have heard enough excuses – it’s time to see the plan the prime minister said he had prepared in 2019.”Care bodies and sector leaders had previously warned that spending commitments needed to address the national crisis in social care had to be made this autumn.Andrew Dilnot, who led a major review into social care funding in 2011, warned earlier this year that a failure to outline plans in the autumn public spending review could leave the system unfixed until after the next general election.“If we don’t make decisions this year, it’s very hard to see how they can be implemented before the next election,” he said. “I really do think this autumn is the time.”Addressing the challenges faced by the NHS, Mr Javid warned that the winter’s flu season could be more challenging than previous years due to a low natural immunity during lockdowns.The health secretary said the potential problems from flu underlined the need to lift the curbs in England this summer, rather than risk a wave of Covid cases coinciding with the annual NHS winter pressures.“All the public health officials that we have, the scientists, our epidemiologists, are saying that it’s much better to open up going into the summer, for lots of reasons, than just waiting to do it in the winter.”This winter we see “a much lower level of immunity than we normally have” to flu because of the lack of cases last year, he added.Mr Javid also joked about his predecessor Mr Hancock losing his job after being caught on camera kissing an aide.“I hope my camera is on, is my camera on?” he asked as he dialled in to the LGA conference, adding: “I mean, the one on my laptop – not the one in the ceiling.” More

Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser Dominic Cummings is the subject of a probe into his activities since leaving office, after failing to seek the advice of a watchdog monitoring conflicts of interest.The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) has written to Mr Cummings after he set up a paid-for Substack blog and sought work as a management consultant following his resignation in November 2020.The watchdog is looking into whether his activities breach rules which require former ministers, special advisers and senior civil servants to seek its advice on any business appointment within two years of leaving government.Mr Cummings’ blog, for which subscribers are charged £10 a month, has featured private communications with the prime minister and others within government, as well as frank recollections of life within government and brutal assessments of senior politicians’ characters.He published a text message in which Mr Johnson described then health secretary Matt Hancock as “f***ing hopeless” and a claim that the prime minister “lies — so blatantly, so naturally, so regularly — that there is no real distinction possible with him, as there is with normal people, between truth and lies”. At one point, he offered himself as a management consultant where “fees slide from zero to lots depending on who you are / your project…”Acoba’s guidance states that former special advisers “must not, at any time, draw on any privileged information gained in office” and that they must consult the watchdog over any “longer-term arrangement” of speaking engagements, media appearances, and newspaper articles.The watchdog’s correspondence with Mr Cummings, first revealed by Business Insider, is due to be published next week.Liberal Democrat spokesperson for political and constitutional reform Alistair Carmichael told the website: “Dominic Cummings did not care for the rule of law when he was in government so it’s little surprise he has no care for it when he is outside of government and looking to make money in new and innovative ways.”There was no immediate response from Mr Cummings to a request for comment from The Independent. More

Jacob Rees-Mogg surprised MPs as he recited the John Barnes rap from “World In Motion” in a moment that has been described as “toe-curling” and “horrific”. The Tory minister quoted New Order’s Italia 90 anthem while in the House of Commons on Thursday, before heaping praise on the England team manager Gareth Southgate.The bizarre moment unfolded after Labour shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire said Boris Johnson should spend some time “studying at the Gareth Southgate school of leadership”.Speaking in the Commons after the semi-final win against Denmark, Ms Debbonaire said: “In contrast to the prime minister, Gareth Southgate and the England team value hard work, discipline, and preparation.“The British people seem to appreciate those qualities, so for the sake of our country … I hope the prime minister can spend some time over the next few days studying at the Gareth Southgate school of leadership.”The Labour frontbencher added: “The British people will be asking themselves who they want to lead them – do they want someone who works hard and has a relentless focus on embodying British values, or do they want the current prime minister?”In response, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Everyone, I think, is rejoicing at the football success and I think the line to take is from Mr Barnes: ‘You’ve got to hold and give but do it at the right time. You can be slow or fast but you must get to the line’.”“Can I reassure you, Mr Speaker, that ‘we ain’t no hooligans, this ain’t a football song. Three Lions on my chest, I know we can’t go wrong,” he continued.“Or as another John put it, John Dryden, for they can conquer who believe they can,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.He added: “It is indeed the excellent leadership of Mr Southgate which led to such a good triumph yesterday against Denmark, and let’s hope for the same on Sunday.”The recitation was greeted with some laughter from the chambers but social media users were quick to mock the Somerset MP. More

A former Conservative party treasurer and an ex-adviser to George Osborne are among three peers facing punishment for refusing to take part in anti-bullying training.All MPs and peers, as well as their staff, are required to join the ‘Valuing Everyone’ courses – introduced after Parliament was rocked by bullying and harassment allegations.But Lord James of Blackheath, Lord Kalms and Lord Willoughby de Broke have now been named-and-shamed for ignoring repeated urgings to attend.They will have their access to House of Lords services restricted, if a recommendation is rubberstamped by fellow peers, as expected, in the next fortnight.Lord James was made a Tory peer after conducting a savings review for the party ahead of the 2005 election, before working for Mr Osborne, the then-shadow Chancellor.Lord Kalms, a former boss of the Dixons retail group, was Tory treasurer from 2001 to 2003, but was later expelled from the party after voting for Ukip and is now non-affiliated.Lord Willoughby, a hereditary peer, defected from the Tories to Ukip in 2007, but left the anti-EU party a decade later.A passionate Brexiteer, he introduced a Bill for a referendum on leaving the EU in 2013 – part of the process that led to the Brexit ‘yes’ vote three years later.A fourth peer, Baroness Mone, a Tory who conducted reviews for David Cameron, also breached rules by failing to undergo the training by the 1 April deadline – but later backed down and will not be sanctioned.In 2017, a poll of union members uncovered that around one in five parliamentary staffers believed they had been bullied by their MP or line manager.It was said to reveal a “toxic and dysfunctional relationship” between some MPs and peers, and their junior employees, many of whom reported long hours, unreasonable workloads, stress, anxiety and depression.The courses hit the headlines after two prominent older peers, Lord Heseltine and Baroness Boothroyd, complained of being harangued to take part while recovering from operations.But the Lords authorities insist the courses are “informed by real examples of inappropriate behaviour by members that had previously typically gone unchallenged”.They also insist there is now a robust complaints process, with 18 complaints against peers having been investigated and reported onSome 95 per cent of members who took part said they would recommend it to others, while 92 per cent said they were now better-placed to recognise inappropriate behaviour.The authorities rubbished claims that the course had cost £750,000 as “wildly inaccurate” – but acknowledged a £100,000 bill.The three peers to be sanctioned would still be able to attend the Lords, but would be restricted to “email contact only” when seeking help from key staff. More