Markus Andrews

A failure to carry out checks before scandal-hit Greensill Capital joined a government backed loan scheme – putting £335m of taxpayers’ cash at risk – has been criticised by a watchdog.Fast-tracked accreditation, at the start of the Covid pandemic last year, failed to “identify the risks” laid bare when the lender collapsed in May this year, the National Audit Office (NAO) says.The decision has become hugely controversial, with the Treasury accused of giving the doomed firm special favours because of fierce lobbying by David Cameron, who was employed by it.Meanwhile, Greensill is being investigated after six of seven loans made under the large business coronavirus scheme went to the business empire of metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta.It was only authorised to provide £50m to a single company, sparking fears at the state-owned British Business Bank, which approved Greensill, that rules had been broken. The firm denies any wrongdoing.In its report, the NAO says it is to the Bank’s credit that it “quickly picked up the loans allegedly in breach of the scheme rules”, in October last year.But Gareth Davies, the head of the watchdog, said: “Had it applied a different accreditation process it is possible that this situation could have been avoided.”And Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, which shadows the NAO, said: “It is clear that some of this mess could have been avoided with more thorough due diligence on Greensill upfront.“As with many of the decisions made during the pandemic, there are important lessons for the government about the trade-off between speed and accuracy in its emergency response.”By October 2020, Greensill had loaned £418.5m, which – with the government guaranteeing 80 per cent of the value – means it “could lose almost £335m”, the NAO notes.Its report, Investigation into the British Business Bank’s accreditation of Greensill Capital, states that the Bank “performed less due diligence compared with the standard accreditation process” – and “accepted at face value the accuracy of key information provided by Greensill”.It told the NAO that the purpose “was not to conduct a detailed assessment of Greensill’s financial position”.The report also states that due diligence amounted to only whether “lenders could reliably deliver money” – while UK Export Finance rejected an application for a guaranteed loan from Greensill having applied tougher criteria.It adds that loan default rates, exposure to specific borrowers, business model and ethical standards should have been scrutinised – all of which “were the subject of press reports prior to accreditation”.But Catherine Lewis La Torre, the Bank’s chief executive, said tougher checks when the crisis struck would have meant “fewer businesses would have received the critical finance they needed”.The NAO stressed it had not investigated the Greensill lobbying scandal, which is the subject of an inquiry by lawyer Nigel Boardman, appointed by Boris Johnson. More

Boris Johnson’s ministers and members of the royal family should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing unless China allows UN investigators to examine alleged human rights abuses, Labour has said.Foreign secretary Dominic Raab and culture secretary Oliver Dowden have been urged to announce a political boycott if Beijing refuses to allow a thorough investigation into alleged atrocities in Xinjiang province.Beijing has strongly denied international claims about the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, despite reports indicating that more than a million people have been arbitrarily detained.Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy and shadow culture secretary Jo Stevens have written to their counterparts arguing a political response is needed to deny China a “PR coup” next year.“We are now calling on you to use the occasion of the games to press the case for unfettered UN access to Xinjiang to conduct a full, transparent and independent investigation,” the Labour MPs said.“If this is not granted, the UK government should not send ministers, royal family members or senior representatives to participate in any official duties or ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.”They added: “The Chinese government will want the games to be a diplomatic success. A political boycott by the UK and other states would send a strong signal of the deep global concern with the plight of the Uyghur and prevent the games being a PR exercise for the Chinese authorities.”In February, the Liberal Democrats called for a sporting boycott of the Winter Olympics. Leader Sir Ed Davey urged Mr Johnson to send a clear message about the “genocide happening in front of our eyes”.But the prime minister rejected calls for a sporting boycott, and the British Olympic Association (BOA) said it “fully supported” No 10’s position.Labour stopped short of calling for a sporting boycott – arguing that that would not be fair on Team GB competitors who have trained for four years for the chance to take part, or on the Chinese people who are not responsible for the situation. More

Boris Johnson’s decision to drop mandatory face-masks and social distancing from 19 July in England could condemn thousands of young Britons to years of debilitating sickness with long Covid, those who study the illness have warned.Experts told The Independent that as many as 10,000 people a day could be struck down by the condition over the coming weeks, with around 20 per cent of sufferers remaining unable to work, study or carry out normal daily activities for a year or more.Long-Covid campaigners wrote to health secretary Sajid Javid urging him to reconsider the lifting of restrictions such as the requirement for masks on public transport and in shops. They said that people with the condition had become “an afterthought” in the government’s response to the pandemic, while the chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on coronavirus described sufferers as the “collateral damage” of Mr Johnson’s reopening strategy.And there were concerns over the impact on the economy, with long Covid disproportionately hitting younger age groups – people in their 20s and 30s – who form the backbone of industries such as hospitality and retail, which are hoping to rebuild after months of restrictions and closures. One survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses, conducted by insurance firm Unum, found that 35 per cent reported having at least one member of staff off work because of the condition.Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said he expected “a significant amount more long Covid” in the period after 19 July, particularly among younger people who have not been fully vaccinated. And he warned that it was not yet proven whether vaccines provide protection against the condition, characterised by extreme fatigue, “brain fog”, and physical problems such as muscle weakness.Prof Whitty said the challenge from long Covid “is not going to be trivial”, and that the UK must go “hell for leather” to drive down infection rates and complete the vaccination programme in an effort to limit the number of people who develop the condition.Official figures show that an estimated 2 million people have already experienced long Covid in the UK, with 385,000 – including TV presenter Kate Garraway’s husband Derek Draper – suffering for 12 months or more. Of these, only 9 per cent, or 35,000, were hospitalised when they were first infected with Covid.Mr Javid warned MPs that the UK would enter “uncharted territory” when restrictions were lifted, with the potential for infections caused by the virulent Delta variant of coronavirus to soar to 100,000 a day from the current level of 28,773. And Imperial College London professor Neil Ferguson said the daily figure could hit 200,000.While vaccines have brought fatality rates down from around one in every 100 infections to one in 1,000, Exeter University healthcare expert Dr David Strain said there was so far no evidence of a decline in the 10-17 per cent of coronavirus cases estimated to develop into severe long Covid.Dr Strain, who speaks on Covid for the British Medical Association, told The Independent: “Around two-thirds of those developing long Covid say that their ability to carry out normal daily activities is affected for 12 weeks or more, and many of them will go on to have symptoms for 12 months or more.“If Covid cases increase exponentially as restrictions are removed, the best-case scenario is that we will have something like 3,000 people a day becoming incapable of working for three months or longer. In the worst case, that could be 10,000 a day or more.”Long Covid could be “the sting in the tail” of the pandemic, with the decision to drop restrictions risking thousands more people suffering for years to come, said Dr Strain.“One of the real worries is that with chronic fatigue syndrome or ME, we see people left with hugely debilitating symptoms for many years,” he said. “We don’t know for certain if long Covid will behave in the same way, but all the markers suggest it is likely that those who haven’t got better after 12 months may not be getting better for years or decades.”Professor Christina Pagel, of University College London, told The Independent: “Going ahead with 19 July in this way is a pretty crazy thing to do when cases are so high and rising. They seem to be saying we are trying to infect people in the summer to give us a bit more immunity in the winter. It doesn’t make much sense to me.”Meanwhile the Royal College of Occupational Therapists warned that staff treating long-Covid sufferers are “at breaking point” from the additional workload. With waits as long as 100 days for assistance, and the availability of treatment across the UK being a postcode lottery, spokesperson Lauren Walker said that a £100m one-off boost to funding from government is unlikely to be enough to relieve pressure on rehabilitation services.“There were gaps in resources for rehabilitation before the pandemic came along,” she said. “The £100m is very welcome, but the government and the NHS need to pay very close attention to whether or not that is actually enough, because staff are at breaking point and burnt out from the initial waves of the pandemic. To then say you are going to have thousands more needing support, without more funding to support that, is really concerning for our service.”In a letter to Mr Javid, advocacy group LongCovidSOS said the decision to allow the virus to rip through communities will condemn “thousands of predominantly young, active people … to prolonged ill-health and disability every day” and have “serious implications” for the health service, which must also contend with a backlog of millions of patients with non-Covid health issues.LongCovidSOS acknowledged that there “may not be a perfect time to lift all restrictions”, but added: “The time is certainly not now.”The group said: “As well as putting considerable pressure on the NHS, [victims’] reduced capacity to work will further contribute to the impact long Covid is already having on society and the economy, through reduced output and tax revenues, and increased sick pay and benefits claims.“Long Covid has not only been ignored in policy-making decisions, and barely mentioned in the roadmap out of lockdown – it has been almost completely absent from the government’s public messaging. We have been an afterthought in the government’s response.”Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, the chair of the APPG on coronavirus, told The Independent: “There are huge numbers of people who are now being affected by this and it sounds like the government is just not going to address it. They are going to be the collateral damage of the government’s approach.”As well as measures to drive down Covid infections, such as mandatory face-masks and better ventilation, the APPG is calling for regular publication of data on long Covid, sustained investment in clinics and rehabilitation services, and ongoing support for patients who are no longer able to work.Labour health spokesperson Jonathan Ashworth said: “Allowing infections to rise as high as 100,000 as an inherent part of government policy risks leaving thousands with serious chronic health problems. We all want to see the economy open up, but we should maintain mitigating precautions such as mask-wearing for now, enforced ventilation standards and enhanced sick pay, to drive down infections while doing all we can to drive up vaccination rates in areas where take-up remains low.”A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The government rapidly provided specialist care for acutely ill Covid-19 patients at the start of the pandemic and we’ve matched that speed and scale in our support for people with long Covid.“To help people suffering the debilitating long-term effects of this virus, we have opened more than 80 long-Covid assessment services, and in June NHS England published a £100m plan, including £30m to help GPs improve diagnosis and care for patients with long Covid.“At the same time we are backing our exceptional scientists, with over £50m for research to better understand the long-term effects, to ensure the right help and treatments are available.” More

The health minister, Lord Bethell, is under investigation for sponsoring a pass to give Matt Hancock’s aide and lover the ability to roam Parliament.It is alleged the arrangement for Gina Coladangelo – whose embrace of the former health secretary breached Covid regulations, forcing his resignation – broke the rules because she was not working for the peer.Lord Bethell, a close ally of Mr Hancock, was already facing calls for his dismissal over his use of private emails for official work, something No 10 first denied and then admitted.Now the Lords Commissioners for Standards has announced that the minister is under investigation over his “use of facilities” in relation to Ms Coladangelo.A House of Lords spokesperson confirmed the probe centred on a “complaint regarding Lord Bethell sponsoring a pass for Gina Coladangelo”.Peers are allowed to sponsor passes for secretaries and research assistants, but only if they “genuinely and personally” fulfil those roles for him or her, signing a declaration to that effect.Passholders enjoy free access to the Palace of Westminster, where they can mingle with ministers and MPs and use the estate’s facilities such as bars, restaurants and a gym.Lord Bethell has also been in the spotlight for appointing the head of Portland – the lobbying firm he used to work for – as an unpaid media adviser, taking part in daily strategy calls. Meanwhile, Lord Feldman, the former Tory party chairman turned lobbyist, was secretly made an adviser on procurement, helping to secure a government contract for a client of his own company.Ms Coladangelo, a long-time friend of Mr Hancock, was made his unpaid adviser before being appointed as a £15,000-a-year non-executive director at his department.The pair were caught embracing on leaked CCTV footage. Mr Hancock resigned a day later, despite Boris Johnson giving him a vote of confidence.Ms Coladangelo is no longer listed as a member of staff for Lord Bethell on his parliamentary web page.But an online archive showed she was listed as a staff member in May last year as “Mrs Gina Tress”, a marketing and communications director for Oliver Bonas – the retailer founded by her husband, Oliver Tress.Last month, leaked minutes showed a top health department civil servant had warned about both Mr Hancock and Lord Bethell’s use of private emails for government business.The peer “routinely uses his personal inbox and the majority of [approvals for contracts] would have been initiated from this inbox”, the documents obtained by The Sunday Times revealed.Official guidance states that all “substantive” government information must be “accessible” by, for example, “copying it to a government email address”.The Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has revealed she is weighing up an investigation, arguing there is genuine public concern that vital information was concealed. More

Boris Johnson’s government is attempting to push through electoral reforms to give wealthy Tory donors living abroad a “free ticket” to bankroll the Conservative Party, Labour has claimed.Keir Starmer’s party fears the Elections Bill will scrap safeguards on donations from overseas and allow rich British expats – including those living in tax havens – to donate large sums to the Tories.Cat Smith, shadow minister for democracy, told The Independent that the plans threaten the integrity of the UK’s elections by allowing “foreign political donations to flood our system”.The Labour MP added: “This is all about changing the rules to benefit the Conservative Party with overseas donors able to legally donate to bankroll their campaigns from their offshore tax havens or luxury second homes.”Under current rules, political parties cannot accept donations from Britons who have been living overseas for more than 15 years, since they are not allowed on the electoral roll.But the Elections Bill – introduced in parliament on Monday – will scrap the 15-year-limit and allow any British expat to join the electoral roll and become a permitted political donor.“This is yet another example of the Conservatives bending the rules to benefit themselves, making it legal for rich Conservative donors living overseas to bankroll the Conservative Party,” said Ms Smith.On Monday the Cabinet Office claimed measures in the bill would safeguard the UK’s elections from foreign interference.The department said the law would be changed so that only UK citizens “or otherwise eligible sources with a genuine and legitimate interest in our elections” can spend money campaigning in our elections.Responding to Labour criticisms, constitution minister Chloe Smith said: “Our commitment to scrapping the arbitrary 15-year limit to overseas voting rights is a promise to citizens across the political spectrum.“This is best exemplified by 99-year-old veteran campaigner, Harry Shindler, who also happens to be the oldest serving member of the Labour Party.”The minister added: “British citizens living overseas have an ongoing interest in politics in the UK and in our increasingly digital world, people living overseas are able to be more connected to their home country. It is only right that they are able to have their say in our democracy.”The idea of scrapping the 2002 rule preventing citizens from donating if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years was originally part of a private members’ bill, before it was backed by the government.The Electoral Reform Society previously warned of the dangers in allowing “unfettered donations from abroad”. And Lib Dem peer Lord Rennard said it would make it harder to “trace where the money is actually coming from”.Election Bill could disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters, minister warnedAnother part of the Elections Bill, the legal requirement for people to have photo ID in order to vote, has proved highly controversial.Labour said the government’s plan amounted to US-style “voter suppression” that would make it harder for people from ethnic minorities and those on low incomes to vote.Experts also warned that Mr Johnson could “accidentally disenfranchise” many of the Tory voters he needs in the north of England if he chooses to push ahead with plans. More

Hundreds of groups have urged the UK to leave a treaty that allows energy companies to sue states for taking action against the climate crisis.Environmental organisations, charities and campaigners have called on the British government and other European countries to “prioritise climate policies” and to “stick to their climate commitments”. More than 400 groups said political leaders should “therefore initiate withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)” by the UN climate change conference Cop26 at the latest. “European countries aim to be at the forefront of the climate fight, with strong climate commitments from the EU and the UK hosting Cop26,” a joint statement said. “Yet, they are part of a treaty that protects investments in fossil fuels and allows energy companies to sue states before corporate courts for taking necessary climate action.”It adds: “Strong scientific consensus tells us that continuing with fossil fuel exploitation is incompatible with good conditions of life on earth in only a few decades.”The statement – signed by charities including WWF, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth – say countries “cannot have their hands tied” as they go into this year’s Cop26 conference, due to be held in Glasgow this autumn.“Affording protection to energy sources that need to be phased out is simply incompatible with the ambitions set in the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5C,” it says.Jean Blaylock from Global Justice Now said the Energy Charter Treaty was “designed by and for big polluters to protect their dirty investments”. “It makes a mockery of international climate commitments in a year when the UK hosts a crucial climate summit,” she said.“Boris Johnson and Alok Sharma need to break free of the shackles of this treaty before November if they want to make any serious progress in Glasgow towards tackling the climate crisis.”Cornelia Maarfield from Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe said: “The power and influence of fossil fuel firms must drastically reduce to make the energy transition a success, and quitting the Energy Charter Treaty is a vital step.”A UK government spokesperson said: “The Energy Charter Treaty promotes investment in the energy sector and fosters international cooperation on energy, including in the development of renewable energy worldwide.”They added: “We support the Treaty, and the current work to modernise it, and we will seek to ensure it helps deliver key climate change goals. These include our target to eliminate our contribution to climate change by 2050, and a global transition to clean energy.” More

The school bubble system is to be dropped and in-person teaching will remain at universities, Gavin Williamson has confirmed. The education secretary said the bubble system – which has kept pupils and teachings in groups to minimise mixing amid the Covid pandemic – and isolation is “causing disruption to many children’s education”. On Tuesday the government reported that levels of school absence linked to Covid-19 was at its highest level since March.More than eight per cent of state school pupils in England did not attend school last Thursday due to Covid-related reasons, including for confirmed Covid cases and being identified as a close contact. Concerns have been raised in recent weeks about the interpretation of rules which have resulted in large groups of pupils being sent home for 10 days if another pupil in their bubble tests positive for Covid-19.Mr Williamson told parliament on Tuesday that “key restrictions” would be dropped for schools from Step 4 of England’s roadmap out of lockdown, which is planned for 19 July. “Though keeping children in consistent groups was essential to control the spread of the virus when our population was less vaccinated, we recognise that the system of bubbles and isolation is causing disruption to many children’s education,” the education secretary said.“That is why we’ll be ending bubbles and transferring contact tracing to NHS test and trace system for early years settings, schools and colleges.”Geoff Barton from the Association for School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the scrapping of the bubbles system “should remove some of the current barriers to offering children and young people a full timetable of lessons and return school life to something which seems much more normal”. Mr Williamson also told MPs also said there would be “no restrictions on in-person teaching and learning in universities” unless students are told to self-isolate or affected by local outbreaks.But some universities have already confirmed they will be offering blended learning – a mix of online and in-person teaching – at the start of the next academic year.Mr Williamson told MPs on Tuesday: “I do not think it is acceptable that children should face greater restrictions over and above those of wider society, especially since they have given up so much to keep older generations safe during this pandemic.”As well as scrapping bubbles and schools having to do contact tracing themselves, the education secretary said another change would be children only needing to isolate after a positive Covid test, which would come into force from 16 August.Mr Barton from ASCL said this would “remove the main reason for current Covid-related pupil absence”. New government figures show around 561,000 children in England were self-isolating last Thursday due to possible contact with a Covid-19 case. This was on top of 34,000 pupils out of school with a suspected Covid case and 28,000 with a confirmed Covid infection.Around 8.5 per cent state school pupils did not attend class for Covid-19-related reasons on 1 July – up from 5.1 per cent from the week before, which was the highest level since March before being overtaken by the latest figures. Nick Brook from the school leaders’ union NAHT, said the latest figures “make for grim reading” and show the “huge impact” the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid is having on schools. “Whilst the government might argue that scrapping bubbles and changing rules around self-isolation will reduce the number of pupils missing education, we should be equally worried about the significant rise we have seen in confirmed and suspected cases in a single week,” the union’s deputy general secretary said. Speaking about the changes announced by Mr Williamson, Mr Brook said:“No school leader wants to have restrictions in place any longer than are needed, but there will be a sense of real concern amongst many that the worsening situation they see before their eyes is at odds with the government’s narrative of relaxation and return to normality.”“Schools have seen a near doubling of children contracting Covid-19, with 28,000 confirmed cases reported in the last week alone. “He added: “School leaders and parents alike will want more reassurance than has been given so far that removal of restrictions are supported by scientific evidence, not driven by political convenience.” More

Sajid Javid opposes fans booing England team for taking the kneeMatt Hancock’s resignation as health secretary made Boris Johnson look weak and the government sleazy in the eyes of voters, according to a poll.The Savanta ComRes survey for The Independent found the public was not convinced by the prime minister’s suggestion that he had forced Hancock out after he was caught on camera breaking social distancing rules with a married aide.Meanwhile, the new health secretary Sajid Javid has said he is opposed to football fans booing England’s national team over their decision to take a knee in protest against racism before Euro 2020 matches.On Tuesday morning, Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that it was “up to the players” how they wanted to express themselves on the issue after home secretary Priti Patel dismissed the act as “gesture politics”.“I can understand why some players choose to do that, it’s completely up to them but what I don’t understand is those people in the crowd that then boo them or shout at the players for doing that,” the health secretary said.Show latest update

1625582532Repealing Fixed-Term Parliaments Act will ‘keep faith with democracy’, Gove claimsThe UK government is “keeping faith with democracy” in proposing to repeal the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (which controls when elections can be held), Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has claimed.Speaking in the Commons, Mr Gove told MPs: “This Bill contains within it provisions to ensure that we supersede the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act with appropriate, democratic and timely reform, in order to ensure that we restore this place and to the people an opportunity to ensure that the government that governs in their name can command the confidence of this House and the confidence of the public.”The minister added that repealing the Act was a manifesto promise of both the Conservatives and Labour in the 2019 general election.“In making sure that we return to a situation where we don’t have the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act we’re keeping faith with democracy,” he said.Conrad Duncan6 July 2021 15:421625581333Border Force officers could be allowed to turn away migrants at sea under new lawsBorder Force officers could be given powers to turn migrants away from the UK while at sea, under laws proposed as part of a series of changes to Britain’s asylum system.As part of the Nationality and Borders Bill put forward by home secretary Priti Patel, there are provisions to set up offshore processing centres and allow asylum seekers to be sent away from the UK while their claims are determined.The legislation has been described as an “anti-refugee Bill” by campaigners as it intends to make it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK without permission.It means that, for the first time, how someone enters the UK – legally or “illegally” – will have an impact on how their asylum claim progresses and on their status in the UK if that claim is successful.According to documents setting out the proposals, Border Force would be given the power to intervene at sea to tackle people-smugglers and turn migrant boats away from the UK – so long as they have the agreement of other states to push them back into foreign waters.The documents also suggest officers may be able to use “reasonable force, if necessary”. More