Markus Andrews

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has been “inviting people to vote for a vacuum” and has to stop being “so timid” in order win over voters, according to a leading elections expert.In a post-election analysis, professor Sir John Curtice offered a scathing assessment of the party’s recent strategy, suggesting it “seemingly has virtually nothing to say about anything”.It comes after the Labour suffered a series of disappointing results at the local elections in England — losing 327 councillors — and suffered a historic defeat at the Hartlepool by-election to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives.Speaking at an event hosted by the UK in a Changing Europe organisation, professor Curtice said of the Labour Party: “It’s just got to stop being so timid. It’s not just keep schtum on Brexit, it has seemingly had virtually nothing to say about anything.“If one were to parody the structure of many of Labour contributions to the Today programme in the last 12 months: Labour shadow spokesperson comes on and says ‘the government is failing to do this, it’s messing up on that’. Question from Today presenter: ’So what would the Labour Party do?” ‘The government keeps messing up and is still failing to do what it should on this’”.The professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde added: “It’s not coming up with virtually anything in the way of alternative proposals. “At the end of the day the art of effective opposition is not just simply pointing out the weaknesses in what the government is doing, but it is then to link that with a message of how you would do things better.”“With one or two rare occasions about particularly willing to call for a national lockdown in England in October before the government eventually did so, the Labour Party has just not been willing to say anything about what its position would be.“To that extent at least therefore it has been inviting people to vote for a vacuum, and inevitably that’s not very attractive.”However, professor Curtice stressed that Labour did not need to win a majority at the next election — currently expected in 2024 — for the party to form a government.“The other thing we tend not to talk about is the fact the Conservatives are uncoalitionable with,” he said.“Once we reach a point where the Conservatives are significantly below 326 [seats] they will be out on their ear because there is no way that either the Liberal Democrats or the SNP are going to allow the Conservatives to run a minority administration if they can throw them out — even if they are the larger party.“So to that extent at least the contest is asymmetric, yes, Labour winning an overall majority very, very difficult given the situation with Scotland. Labour getting back into power an awful lot easier, albeit along the way probably having to agree to a referendum in Scotland.”Professor Curtice also suggested the recent elections to Holyrood were evidence of Scotland being “evenly divided” and “deeply polarised” on the constitutional question of independence.Despite falling just short of an overall majority at the vote earlier this month, the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she would press ahead with plans to negotiate a second independence referendum once the pandemic had receded.Speaking on Monday, however, professor Curtice suggested the country was “divided down the middle” on the issue and “in a situation where roughly speaking wants to be independent and half wants to stay inside the UK”.“What the election itself confirmed I think was two related things: first, Scotland is indeed as the polls have been suggested pretty evenly divided on the question of its constitutional status between those who want to remain inside the UK and those who wish for the country to become independent,” Sir John said. “And also is now deeply polarised on that question.” More

Boris Johnson has dropped a promise to reveal this month whether social distancing will end, blaming the “new threat” from the Indian variant of Covid-19.Only a week ago, the prime minister said he expected to scrap the “1 metre-plus rule” – and pledged to give couples planning weddings plenty of notice if the restriction will be lifted on 21 June.But his spokesman pulled the deadline for setting out plans by the end of May, saying: “We can’t be definitive at this point, because of the variant that has been identified.”More time was needed to “look at the data” because of “this new threat that we have from the variant,” he added.No 10 also admitted there is no date for the ‘Team UK Covid summit’, Mr Johnson proposed with the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The spokesman said local leaders in variant-hit Bolton should not – as reported – be offering jabs to people as young as 17, saying: “We don’t want anyone to move beyond the rules set out.”And, asked if people should be travelling to hotspots such as the town, replied that it was matter of “personal judgement”.Last Monday, at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson promised the public would “hear a lot more by the end of this month” about what he called “the end of social distancing”.But, his spokesman refused to say the commitment stood, adding: “We need time to assess the latest data on the variant first identified in India – I’m not going to give a set time for doing that.”The rowback comes amid extraordinary confusion about whether the fourth and final step of the roadmap for lifting restrictions will go ahead, as planned.On Friday, the prime minister warned of “disruption and delay” – but, on Monday, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng insisted he was “very confident” the country remains on track.Matt Hancock, the health secretary, prompted suggestions that the country is being held back by people who have refused vaccines, when he said “the majority” in hospital in Bolton fell into that category.But No 10 said there were also fears that older and vulnerable people who have received a jab could be at risk from the new variant.“Those “who have had the first dose, or those who have had two doses but for whom vaccine efficacy is reduced” were also a concern.“That would then lead to increased hospitalisations and put unsustainable pressure on our NHS. That’s the situation we are attempting to avoid here,” the spokesman said.And, asked about the return of local lockdowns, he called it “hypothetical”, adding: “We don’t want to rule anything out. And I think, until we have more data and more evidence, we won’t be making those judgments.” More

Rishi Sunak is withholding support for Joe Biden’s minimum global business tax rate ahead of discussions about the issue at the G7.The new US president is pushing for a 21 per cent rate as part of a plan to crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies like Amazon.But the UK is resisting the proposal, set to be discussed at a meeting in Cornwall when leaders meet for the G7.The British government instead wants reforms to focus on making multinational companies pay more tax in the countries where they make sales and operate.Officials reportedly believe that Mr Biden’s proposal would disproportionately benefit the US and simply see firms end up paying the higher rate in California.The question of where tax is due has become more vexed with the rise of the digital economy, with companies operating out of low tax jurisdictions like Luxembourg and Ireland while selling to consumers in Britain.The issues are being discussed at both G7 and OECD level.An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “The UK has been proactive in pressing for an international solution to the tax challenges posed by digitalisation of the economy for a number of years. And the Chancellor has made it a key priority of the UK’s G7 presidency.“We welcome the US administration’s renewed commitment to reaching a solution to these challenges through the OECD. It’s also crucial that any agreement includes changes to ensure digital businesses pay tax in the UK that reflects their economic activities.”The UK has separately introduced its own digital sales tax, which the Treasury estimates will raise around £500m per year from big US tech companies by financial year 2024-25.The Financial Times reports that Mike Williams, the Treasury’s director of business and international tax, told an online conference for Oxford university’s Centre for Business Taxation: “The core UK proposition is that we’ve got to solve the digital tax issue, which we’ve been working on for years.“It’s not primarily about a minimum tax. Minimum taxes might help — so long as they work — to ensure businesses pay tax, but it matters as well where tax is paid.He added: “In terms of providing schools for the children of Coventry, it is not actually tremendously helpful if more tax is paid in California when it ought to be paid in the UK.”Both the UK and US governments have signalled the end of the era of low corporation tax rates, announcing substantial hikes. The UK rate is set to rise from 19 per cent to 25 per cent by 2023, while Mr Biden wants to raise the US rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent. More

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon and her deputy John Swinney have condemned the actions of the Rangers fans who rampaged through the streets of Glasgow in celebration at the club’s title victory.Mr Swinney said some fans had expressed “vile anti-Catholic bigotry” and breached Covid rules in a “loutish and thuggish fashion” on Saturday.“I’m limited as to what I can say this morning because there’s an ongoing police investigation but the conduct … was absolutely reprehensible,” the SNP minister told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Monday.“Some of them went on to behave in a loutish and thuggish fashion in George Square – devastating property, circulating and expressing vile anti-Catholic bigotry in the centre of the city of Glasgow.”Around 15,000 Rangers fans defied Covid warnings against large gatherings and massed in George Square to celebrate their team lifting their first Scottish Premiership trophy since 2011.Images showed George Square strewn with hundreds of broken bottles and spent flares, after flag-draped fans had been seen launching missiles at lines of riot gear-clad police officers.Ms Sturgeon said she was “utterly disgusted” by the scenes on Saturday, which led to five police officers being injured and 28 fans being arrested.In a series of tweets on Sunday, the SNP leader also condemned the “vile anti-Catholic prejudice” on display.Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), tweeted images on Sunday night of some of the injuries sustained by officers – including broken bones and lost teeth.He described the scenes as “horrific”, also telling Good Morning Scotland: “There are almost no polite words left to describe how bad the events (were) in Glasgow at the weekend.“Many of the officers who are quite long in the tooth have probably quite rightly described it as some of the worst violence that they’ve experienced in over 20 years of police service.”Commentators in Scotland were highly critical of the policing effort in March, when Rangers’ title victory was confirmed and similar scenes played out in George Square.“People being critical of the police, that’s nothing new, and those that don’t have an appreciation and understanding as to what’s involved in the policing tactics are rarely shy in holding back their points of view,” Mr Steele.“The notion that the very limited resources of the police service would go into a crowd of that size to enforce the dispersal, without any consideration of the inevitable consequences of such action, I think shows just how narrow the thinking of those that are critical of the police in those circumstances are.” More

Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng has urged people not to travel to countries on the amber list, as the government lifted a blanket ban on overseas holidays.The cabinet minister minister also insisted that people shouldn’t be “too exuberant” as Covid measures are relaxed more generally, with people allowed to meet with others inside in groups of six for the first time this year in England.As part of the relaxation of restrictions, the biggest step out of country’s third national lockdown, ministers have eased rules governing travel with the traffic light system — rating countries green, amber and red — coming into force.On Monday morning, British holidaymakers begun checking in for some of the first flights, including to the popular destination of Portugal, which gave the green light for inbound passengers just last week.Speaking at the weekend, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, however, stressed that people should “certainly not” go on holiday to countries on the amber list, including Spain, Italy and France.Under the new rules, people arriving back in England from an amber list country must quarantine at home for a period of 10 days and take a Covid-19 test on or before day two and on or after day eight. Those travelling from green list countries are not required to self-isolate, but must still take Covid tests.Pressed on the health secretary’s comments, Mr Kwarteng told Sky News: “I think what he says makes sense — again, people are allowed to do things, but it doesn’t mean everybody should be going away at the same time. I think the urge for caution makes sense.“I think what Matt is saying is yes you can go to another country but it would probably be advisable at this stage not to.”Quizzed on whether it would have been more sensible to ban travel to a country not on the green list, he replied: “There’s a balance between opening things up, urging people to exercise caution and openings things up safely. That’s a good balance I think.”Mr Kwarteng also insisted he was “very confident” the country would be able to fully re-open on 21 June — the last stage of the government’s roadmap — but also stressed that he could not give a guarantee.As the country entered Stage 3 of the roadmap on Monday, Boris Johnson urged people to use a “heavy dose of caution” as the increase in cases of the variant first identified in India caused alarm.Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, echoed the view of his colleague on Sunday that restrictions may have to be reversed if the new variant “escapes” protection afforded to people by the Covid-19 vaccines.Sir Jeremy, who said he would not meet indoors “at the moment”, despite the rules now allowing him to do so,  added: “The new variant that has come, the B.167, is becoming dominant in parts of the UK.“Yet vaccination across the country has been extraordinarily successful.I think we will see an increase of cases and infections over the coming weeks as some of the restrictions are lifted, but I think the key question is whether we have decoupled increased transmission and number of people who do get infected from the number of people that get ill and need to go into hospital or with long Covid.“If we’ve decoupled them, then I think the country can cope with a marginal degree of an increase in transmission.“So that is the key question and to be honest, we don’t know that today and that is why I think a very careful lifting is reasonable, but we may have to reverse that if there is escape from the vaccine.” More

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has been condemned for spreading “hateful racism” after he described pro-Palestine protesters in London as “primitives”.The MP for Lichfield tweeted a video of clashes with police outside the Israeli embassy on Saturday and added the comment: “These primitives are trying to bring to London what they do in the Middle East.”The tweet immediately sparked a storm of protest, including from the anti-racism campaign Hope Not Hate.Mr Fabricant should be suspended from the Tory Party, Hope Not Hate said, adding the backbencher was spouting “hateful racism that stirs up division”.“The tense situation requires steady leadership from people who want to bring communities together, not hateful racism that stirs up division. The Conservatives must suspend Michael Fabricant for this disgraceful comment.””The 70-year-old deleted the tweet after the fierce backlash on social media, but this did not mollify his critics.The director of the thinktank British Future, Sunder Katwala, tweeted: “Anybody who realises that it is racist to hold British Jews responsible for Israeli policy should also be able recognise the racism here in Michael Fabricant’s tweet.”Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Fabricant tried to justify his remarks by explaining that “attacks on the British police as shown in the video are disgraceful”.”It is primitive behaviour by people who preach antisemitism or racism of any kind, whether they be Jewish, Christian or Muslim.”And the sort of antisemitism displayed by Hamas in the Middle East must not be repeated here in the UK.”The MP, whose father was a rabbi in Brighton where he grew up, has previously been accused of Islamophobia.Following the then-chair of the Conservatives, Baroness Warsi’s, resignation during the 2014 war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, Mr Fabricant tweeted he was sad she had quit but knew she had “strong views on Muslim issues”.He later insisted he had not intended to characterise the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a “Muslim issue”, but was criticised again in 2018 when he tweeted an image which portrayed a giant pig blimp having sex with the Muslim Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. More

Sadiq Khan has called on the government to be “nimble” in the vaccine rollout and offer jabs to younger people in areas of London where the new variant first detected in India is more prevalent.The London mayor said he had asked both the health secretary, Matt Hancock, and the vaccines minister, Nadhim Zahawi, for the “flexibility to give younger people the vaccine in those parts of London concerned about the strain”.Health chiefs in Greater Manchester have already requested permission from government to vaccinate everyone over the age of 16 in Bolton where armed services personnel have been deployed to aid mass testing.In some areas of Glasgow, where the Scottish government is in charge of the vaccine rollout, people living in “affected areas” between the ages of 18 and 39 are set to be offered a jab earlier than planned, possibly as soon as next week.Mr Khan’s remarks come after the number of people who have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine passed the 20 million milestone — over 38 per cent of the adult population.Last week, the NHS begun the process of inviting under 38-year-olds for a jab in the next stage of the rollout, with eligibility expected to be extended further again this week.However, amid concern over the spread of the new variant first detected in India, the London mayor told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “roughly” 400 cases of the strain had been detected in the capital.“We’re doing test and trace and we think roughly speaking 100 of them are involved in travel and what I’m saying to the government is there are five boroughs in particular where there are a number of these cases.”He added: “What we’d like to see is the vaccine being accelerated in these areas with younger Londoners receiving the vaccine sooner than other parts of London because the early evidence… it does appear if you receive the vaccine, particularly both doses, you may be less likely to catch it, the spread is less so, but also the consequences should you test positive are less serious as well.”In a separate interview with Sky News, the London mayor urged the government to be “nimble in those pockets where we know there is an issue, let’s use the vaccine sensibly”.He suggested there should be a “hyper-local approach” in affected boroughs which should include “those who are younger, who would have to wait a few weeks, to have this vaccine now to avoid the strain spreading”.But professor Adam Finn from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises government on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, said that while he understood the mayor’s desire, added: “The two issues with that are that, first of all, we’re really not quite sure how well the vaccines will interrupt transmission, particularly for this new variant.“We do know they protect people against getting sick and that’s something we can hold on to and use as a strategy.“The other thing is, that after a first dose of these vaccines, it does take two/three weeks at least before that protection begins to emerge, so what you do now is not really going to have much influence over what happens over the next couple of weeks.“So for those two reasons we do need to think strategically about what we do with the vaccine doses that we’ve got at the moment over the next two weeks right around the country, in order to minimise the chances of this new variant causing a very major third wave.” More

Friends will meet up to hug and huge swathes of the UK economy reopen on Monday – but there are growing fears the spread of the Indian Covid-19 variant could delay the end of lockdown next month.Government ministers and officials have shared their fears that a “small but significant” minority of people are declining to get the coronavirus vaccine when offered.One unnamed minister told the Politico website that vaccine refusers were the “principal threat” to the planned lifting of further lockdown curbs on 21 June.“If even quite a small number of people don’t take the vaccine, a variant with high transmissibility can easily cause a lot of deaths,” the minister said. “The risk is that a small number of idiots ruin it for everyone else.”On Sunday health secretary Matt Hancock warned the Indian variant could “spread like wildfire” among unvaccinated groups, Ministers are now considering local lockdowns in variant hotspot areas like Bolton.The warning comes as government advisers and independent scientists urged people to continue to meet up outdoors – despite Monday’s lifting of curbs on indoor gatherings.Groups of up to six people, or a maximum of two households, are now allowed to meet up in each other’s homes across England. In Scotland, six people or up to three households are allowed to mix inside.Sir Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome Trust director and member of the government’s Sage panel, said that he would not meet up with others indoors “at the moment”.He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it is reasonable to just be sensible about knowing where transmission is occurring, mostly indoors, mostly in larger gatherings indoors with lots of different people, … and I would just restrict that at the moment personally.”But Prof Farrar added: “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to lift the restrictions – we do need to lift the restrictions at some point, we’ve been in restrictions now for a very long time.”Boris Johnson has called for a “heavy dose of caution” as indoor socialising resumes, sharing his own concerns about the Indian Covid variant. He and his ministers are set to decide whether the 21 June easing can go ahead on 14 June.Mr Johnson’s cabinet is said to be split between the “hawks” who believe vaccine refusers should not hold back next month’s reopening, and the more cautious “doves” who are worried about the rapid spread of the variant.Professor Adam Finn, from the government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), suggested there was a possibility the 21 June easing would be pushed back.“You lay down plans and then something changes, and I think we’re still in a place where that is perfectly likely to happen,” he told Sky News on Monday.“I really hope that these current concerns around this variant evaporate, that everything goes to plan, but I think we just have to accept the possibility that we’re in for another big wave and that we will have to change what we’re doing.” More