Markus Andrews

Laurence Fox has launched his campaign to become mayor of London with a promise to “unlock” the capital from all Covid rules and erect hundreds of new military statues and plaques.The anti-woke activist and more than a dozen of his Reclaim Party supporters appeared at a launch event without wearing masks – as the former supporting actor from Lewis ranted against restrictions aimed at protecting public health.Mr Fox told Londoners he wanted to “reclaim” their freedom for them. “We are here to reclaim your freedom and we need to unlock London now,” he said.Describing himself as someone who “used” to be actor, the culture warrior accused current Labour mayor Sadiq Khan of being “ashamed to be British”.Mr Fox told his supporters: “Someone needs to unlock London now, and I can tell you one thing: Sadiq Khant. And Sadiq Won’t. Sadiq Khan is ashamed to be British.”Read more: A confirmed vaccine sceptic, Mr Fox also said on Tuesday that he would refuse to get the Covid jab until after 2023 – when he claims all the tests needed to convince him of its safety would be completed.While Pfizer has given an estimated date of 2023 for the routine monitoring analysis of its vaccine, the Pfizer vaccine and several other jabs have already passed through clinical trials – and been approved by regulators in the UK and many other countries.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday“It’s not going to do me any harm [not having it], is it?” Mr Fox told the Guido Fawkes blog. “I think people should do what they want with their own bodies in terms of vaccinations. It should be private, like voting.”He also promised to erect hundreds of new tributes to military figures across London. “’If elected, every winner of the Victoria Cross or George Cross will be honoured by having a plaque placed on the street that they were born,” he pledged.Statues have become a divisive issue over the past year, after anti-racism protesters pulled down a monument of slave trader Thomas Colston in Bristol. Mr Khan has launched a formal review of statues and street names in the capital to make sure landmarks “suitably reflect” London’s diversity.Mr Fox, who attended a recent anti-lockdown protest in central London, has said he is seeking legal advice after Metropolitan Police officers turned up at his home to ask him to be mindful of current lockdown laws. More

Today’s daily politics briefingDavid Cameron did “absolutely nothing wrong” by lobbying the Treasury on behalf of his employer Greensill Capital, a Tory minister has said.Kwasi Kwarteng’s defence of the former Tory leader comes after Labour called for an inquiry into his relationship with the scandal-hit bank. This follows a report in the Sunday Times suggesting that its owner Lex Greensill had “privileged access” to government departments during Mr Cameron’s time in Downing Street. Labour has suggested that his company Greensill would not have recently collapsed, putting thousands of steel jobs at risk, if the Tories had backed its proposed changes to the Lobbying Act in 2014.Speaking on Monday, Keir Starmer said “there’s got to be an inquiry, we need to get to the bottom of what happened, who spoke to who and what effect did it have”.Up in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has said she could only consider working with her predecessor Alex Salmond if he apologised to the women “he behaved inappropriately towards” during his time in office.In an interview with the Daily Record, the first minister added that Mr Salmond had returned to Scottish politics not to advance the independence cause but rather because he “loves the limelight”. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayShow latest update

1617087720Morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling politics coverage. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 08:021617088095Labour urges inquiry into David Cameron’s relationship with GreensillLabour has called for an inquiry into former prime minister David Cameron’s links to the collapsed financial services firm Greensill Capital. Keir Starmer said “we need to get to the bottom of what happened, who spoke to who and what effect did it have”, following allegations that Lex Greensill was given “privileged access” to government during his friend Mr Cameron’s time in No 10. Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 08:081617088889Minister says former PM did ‘absolutely nothing wrong’ over Greensill lobbying David Cameron did “absolutely nothing wrong” by lobbying the Treasury for state-backed loans for his employer Greensill Capital, a Tory minister has said. Greensill later collapsed, leaving thousands of steel jobs at risk. Kwasi Kwarteng defended Mr Cameron on Tuesday against Labour’s calls for an inquiry, claiming that a lack of transparency was “not a problem in this case”.Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 08:211617090058Starmer to campaign in Hartlepool on Tuesday Labour leader Keir Starmer will travel to Hartlepool on Tuesday to lend his support to Paul Williams, his party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election there.The vote on 6 May will be a litmus test  for the strength of the party in its former industrial heartlands, following the collapse of the so-called “red wall” in the last general election. Mike Hill, the Hartlepool Labour MP who left parliament earlier this month, was first elected with a majority of 7,650 in 2017. However, this margin shrank to 3,600 votes in 2019. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 08:401617091258Thousands of European children in UK face care ‘cliff edge’Thousands of European children living in care in the UK face being left with no legal post-Brexit status, the Children’s Society has warned. The warning comes after it was revealed that 2,500 EU nationals in the children’s care system – around 28 per cent – have not been granted settled status yet. Mark Russell, chief executive of the Children’s Society, said: “No child should ever have to face the uncertainty and limbo that comes with being undocumented but it seems thousands of EU children, who are supposed to be in the care of their local authority, could very soon face this cliff edge. This is simply unacceptable.” Our social affairs correspondent May Bulman reports: Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 09:001617092458No 10 says PM acted with ‘honesty and integrity’ amid Arcuri claims Boris Johnson’s press secretary has maintained that he conducted himself with “honesty and integrity” in his relations with businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri during his time as London mayor. Ms Arcuri, who recently made fresh allegations about the pair’s supposed four-year affair, went on three taxpayer-funded trade missions with Mr Johnson and her companies received £126,000 in public funding. Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has the details: Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 09:201617093658Inside Politics In our daily politics round-up, Adam Forrest looks at the return of Barnard Castle into public view. Last year, the County Durham town became forever linked to Dominic Cummings’ lockdown-breaching escapades. Now, it will be where millions of doses of the Novavax vaccine are bottled after they are manufactured in Stockton-on-Tees. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 09:401617094858David Lammy praised for handling of radio caller David Lammy has been widely praised for his handling of a radio caller on LBC who told him he was African-Caribbean and not English. The Labour MP gave a short history of British colonialism before saying “it’s a myth there’s one English ethnicity” and adding that he is English since he grew up in England and had its sensibilities. Following the exchange, Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, tweeted that it was “disgraceful” how black Britons are made to justify their Britishness or Englishness. “Solidarity with David Lammy who dealt with this impeccably. David is just as British or English as I am and he’s the best of Britain and the best of England,” she wrote. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 10:001617096058Opportunities missed to tackle sex abuse in schools, MPs say An opportunity to root out sex abuse in schools was missed after an urgent report on the issue five years ago, MPs have warned. Their message comes after more than 9,000 young people gave testimony to the Everyone’s Invited website about their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse at school. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 10:201617097258Ten EU countries ban post-Brexit extraditions to UK Ten EU member states have confirmed they will no longer extradite their citizens to the UK following Brexit, according to the Home Office.This was a policy required by the European Arrest Warrant, which the UK left at the end of the transition period. Countries including France, Germany, Poland and Sweden will no longer send citizens wanted in connection with crimes to the UK to stand trial. The Home Office said states would have to refer the cases to their own prosecution services if extradition was refused. Rory Sullivan30 March 2021 10:40 More

Labour MP David Lammy said he has been overwhelmed by messages of support after his encounter with a radio caller who claimed he will “never be English” because he is not white.The shadow justice secretary praised the “warmth” of the British public after many people told the MP the caller in no way represented them.“I had a call yesterday and it was a difficult call,” Mr Lammy said during his LBC programme on Tuesday morning.“Over the last 24 hours the emails, the messages I’ve got … the warmth of this country is extraordinary,” said the MP for Tottenham.Mr Lammy received support and praise from across the political spectrum for his handling of caller Jean on Monday, who told him: “You will never be English, because you’re African-Caribbean.”Read more:Mr Lammy offered the caller a brief history lesson, as well as calmly explaining to her his own upbringing and identity. “Britain, 400 years ago, started going out into the world, colonised and conquered a lot of the world,” he said.“A lot of the world has ended up coming back to the mother country … The truth is there’s a myth there’s one English ethnicity, there’s not.”Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayHe added: “For me, the fact that I was born here and the fact that my sensibilities are English mean I want to claim that heritage as well.”Labour leader Keir Starmer said he had “huge administration” for Mr Lammy, while the party’s deputy chief Angela Rayner said he had dealt with the “disgraceful” comments “impeccably”.Former Tory MP Rory Stewart praised Mr Lammy’s “powerful, eloquent argument on race and nationalism – compressed into four minutes of radio”, adding: “parliamentary oratory may not be over after all”.Lammy responds to caller who says he’s ‘not English’A significant proportion of the public believe the UK has yet to face up to its problem with racism, according to a BMG Research poll for The Independent.It found that close to a third (31 per cent) of ethnic minority respondents think the Conservative party is racist. Some 20 per cent of Britons believe the party to be racist – indicating a meaningful difference in perspectives stemming from life experiences.One in three Britons (32 per cent) think UK police forces are racist, while this number rose (to 42 per cent) among ethnic minority respondents. More

The team behind the beleaguered development of the government’s contact tracing app has turned its attention to vaccine passports, MPs have been told.Cabinet office minister Michael Gove on Monday launched a charm offensive to convince sceptical MPs of the need for the certificates, which are controversial with civil liberties campaigners.Mr Gove, who is leading the government’s review into whether the policy is needed, held a one hour video call with the group as part of a “listening exercise”.But The Times newspaper reports that the minister caused consternation when he revealed that NHSX, the developers behind the contact tracing app, had begun developing a passport system.“At that point lots of people on the call said ‘oh no!’,” one MP told The Times.Read more:The reputation of NHSX suffered during the development of the contact tracing app, whose roll-out faced a number of problems.The original “centralised” concept for the app had to be scrapped after fundamental problems with the approach – which the government had been warned about for months.The finished app has also played a relatively limited role in contact tracing since it was launched.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayMr Gove’s review into vaccine passports is set to report interim findings on 5 April, covering both domestic certification and international travel.Boris Johnson told MPs last week that people could be asked to provide proof they have been vaccinated before they were allowed to visit pubs.The prime minister said the approach would be “up to individual publicans”, though he suggested certificates would not be issued until every adult had been offered a jab.The Department for Health and Social Care did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. More

The Labour MP David Lammy has been commended for calmly explaining to someone that his African-Caribbean heritage, and the fact he is black, does not stop him also being English.Mr Lammy appeared on LBC radio to speak about Boris Johnson’s racial disparity commission recommending the term Bame is “unhelpful and redundant”, and should no longer be used. The long-disputed acronym – which stands for Black, Asian and minority ethnic – “overshadows the fact people from different ethnic groups have varying life experiences and should not be grouped together in one umbrella term”, the commission is set to report.“Thank God they’ve got there,” Mr Lammy told LBC. “I’ve said for ages that the term is lazy, it’s impersonal. I don’t like being described as jargon. I’m not jargon. I’m black, I’m English, I’m British and I’m proud.“I want my identities recognised appropriately … I’m of African descent, African-Caribbean descent but I am English.”Read more:But a caller to the show, Jean, took aim at the MP describing himself as English – appearing to suggest that the very fact Mr Lammy is black meant he could not make such a claim. “You will never be English because you’re African-Caribbean … I can’t say I’m African-Caribbean,” she said.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayMr Lammy countered: “Britain, 400 years ago, started going out into the world, colonised and conquered a lot of the world, a lot of the world has ended up coming back to the mother country … when I took a DNA test, I had Scottish in me.“Here I am, having grown up in this country, born of this country, and actually the truth is there’s a myth there’s one English ethnicity, there’s not.”He continued: “England has always been a country where Huguenots, Danes, all sorts have passed through … for me, the fact that I was born here and the fact that my sensibilities are English mean I want to claim that heritage as well.”Jean ultimately conceded that Mr Lammy is “British but not English”, to which the Tottenham representative politely disagreed.She told him that if she had been born in the Caribbean, she would not describe herself as “Caribbean” but Mr Lammy pointed out there were “significant white Caribbean populations who have been there for hundreds of years”.“They are significantly more Caribbean than I am,” he added.The pair ended their conversation with Jean comparing world migration to “pollution”, insisting “you are your inheritance”, which Mr Lammy, again, rubbished.“Just as you can be in America and be African-American, or you can be Italian-American, or you can be Irish-American, how is it that here in England, you can only claim that Englishness if you are white?”He later tweeted a video clip of the phone call between himself and Jean, writing: “Don’t ever tell me I’m ‘not English’.”Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar shared the clip and tweeted that it was “so well-handled,” from Mr Lammy, “but sad that it still has to be explained. Our children will be less tolerant of racism and more harshly impacted.” And Labour MP Angela Rayner said Mr Lammy had dealt with the “disgraceful” comments “impeccably.” One Twitter user responded by saying: “Wow. I think you responded beautifully. You didn’t *react* like some of us might, you *responded* with care, patience + courage.” And another replied that: “This is so painful to listen to. Mr Lammy you are a SAINT. Thank you for being so kind and patient to talk to this woman.”News that the government would be advised to bin the term Bame first appeared in The Telegraph.The commission’s report also includes research expected to show that the term “ethnic minority” is more popular with people from ethnic minorities than Bame or “people of colour”.Speaking to LBC before his conversation with Jean, Mr Lammy reflected on the history of labelling non-white people and how terms like Bame potentially mask the lived experiences of individual groups.“The problem is, it just groups everyone together and there are very different experiences in Britain if you are Somali in origin … or if you are Pakistani. Very, very big differences in education, in health, yet we’re grouped together.”He also questioned why, having just completed the Census form, he could not tick a box saying he was black and English.Asked about the incoming report on Monday, minister for sport and tourism Nigel Huddleston said while he had not yet seen it in full, the government would “act accordingly” following its findings.“Well, I haven’t seen the full report of the commission, but … we’ve got to be sensitive to treat people as individuals, and sometimes categorisations can be challenging, or indeed offensive, even if they’re not intended to be so,” he told Sky News.“But, as I said, I haven’t seen the full report yet, we’ll see what it has to say and then act accordingly.” More

Opportunities to root out the problem of sexual abuse in schools have been missed since a report called for “urgent” action on the issue five years ago, MPs have warned. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Monday added his voice to calls for an inquiry, after a website gathered testimony from more than 9,000 young people, at both independent and state schools, about treatment that amounted to sexual harassment or abuse, and in some cases rape.But former members of the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee said that in 2016 they produced a report warning that the government had no “coherent plan” for dealing with “deeply troubling” levels of sexual harassment and violence taking place between children and teenagers at schools in England.The government responded the following year with new guidance for schools on how to deal with incidents of alleged sexual abuse by one student on another.But former committee member Jess Phillips – now safeguarding spokesperson on Sir Keir’s front bench – said that ministers had failed to engage with schools to ensure that the guidance was followed.Read more:And she told The Independent she could find little evidence that an advisory group and a research programme promised by ministers in response to the 2016 report have had any effect.Ms Phillips became so concerned about the lack of awareness of the new guidance among headteachers that in 2019 she and another MP produced a video calling on parents to contact their children’s schools and urge them to make its implementation a priority. Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayA survey at the time found that one-third of teachers had no idea the guidance had been updated and only 20 per cent had received training on the issue.“What is the government doing to keep children safe in schools?” said Ms Phillips. “They have written down some words.“The advice, fundamentally, isn’t bad, but it needed to be followed up on and schools need to be assessed on it. We are not short of evidence, we are short of action.”The 2016 report found that sexual harassment and abuse of girls was being “accepted as part of daily life” in schools, with many teachers treating sexual harassment as “just banter”. It detailed evidence that children of primary school age were learning about sex and relationships through exposure to hardcore pornography while parents were left struggling to know how they could best support their daughters and sons.Former minister Maria Miller, who chaired the committee at the time of the report, said that the new guidance produced by ministers in response was welcome in making clear that “peer-on-peer” sexual harassment in schools was not acceptable. And she said that it was positive that the issue was placed within the framework of Ofsted.But she told The Independent: “These things have been clearly on the government’s agenda for at least five years. “They have taken some action, but what hasn’t happened is demonstrable change for young women in schools.”Ms Miller called for a swift report from Ofsted on the information it has gathered on schools’ response to the new guidance, and warned that in cases where schools have failed to safeguard children as they are required to, ministers have powers to shut them down.“What is needed is not new inquiries but getting schools to adhere to the advice that has been issued,” she said. “We need a change of culture that means that young women do not start their lives thinking that sexual harassment is just part of normal life.”As testimonies from alleged victims on the Everyone’s Invited website passed 9,200, Sir Keir backed a call from the Conservative chair of the Commons Education Committee Robert Halfon for an independent inquiry.“I’m really worried about what we are seeing over recent days and I know many parents will be, many school teachers and staff and, of course, young people,” said the Labour leader.“There’s got to be an inquiry and it has got to get going very fast, this is serious.”And Ms Phillips joined with Labour’s education spokesperson Kate Green to write to education secretary Gavin Williamson to demand an urgent inquiry and “swift and decisive action” to tackle sexual harassment across the education system.Their letter said: “The government has resisted calls for a national strategy, failing to take the necessary steps to protect students and support education providers to put robust processes in place.”And it cited previous research which found a third of girls at mixed-sex schools have experienced sexual harassment, while at university an estimated 50,000 incidents of sexual harassment and abuse are taking place each year. Mr Williamson said: “No school – whether an independent school or state school – should ever be an environment where young people feel unsafe, let alone somewhere that sexual abuse can take place. The allegations that I have heard in recent days are shocking and abhorrent.“Any victim of these sickening acts that we’ve seen reported should raise their concerns with someone they trust, whether that’s a family member or friend, a teacher, social worker, or the police. We will take appropriate action.”And a government spokesperson said: “The vast majority of schools, colleges and universities take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously, so it is particularly shocking when allegations of abuse are made in connection with a place of education where everyone should feel secure and be protected.“Working together, the Department for Education, the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs Council are in contact with Everyone’s Invited to provide support, protection and advice to those who are reporting abuse, including on contacting professionals or the police if they wish.“As a government, we are determined to improve outcomes for victims and survivors of all ages and backgrounds.”Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that schools and colleges were “very much focused” on tackling and preventing “abhorrent” sexual violence and harassment, in line with the guidance drawn up by the Department for Education.Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The recent reports of sexual harassment and violence we have seen are shocking and deeply concerning. It is vital that any incident of sexual harassment or violence is reported so that it can be investigated, and the appropriate actions taken.“There is clearly an urgent need to ask ourselves what more we can all do to prevent sexual harassment and violence now and in the future. There is no doubt that schools can and should play a key role in this work but this is a problem that reaches far beyond the school gates.” More

Boris Johnson has appealed for the public to show caution when meeting relatives and friends in the coming days, as his chief medical officer warned that there will be an “uptick” in coronavirus cases due to the relaxation of controls coming into effect today. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the prime minister said that the graphs for infection among the younger age groups were “curling up like an old British Rail sandwich”, three weeks from the reopening of schools in England on 8 March.But Mr Johnson stressed that he had seen nothing in the data to suggest that the government should delay its roadmap towards the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions on 21 June.As thousands across England took advantage of new freedoms to meet in groups of up to six people or two households and take part in outdoor sports, Mr Johnson said it was “inevitable” there would be more infections, hospitalisations and deaths, particularly if the third wave of the virus currently sweeping the continent of Europe reaches the UK. The prime minister confirmed that a deal had been done with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline to provide “fill and finish” capacity for the Novavax vaccine at its Barnard Castle facility to deliver up to 60 million UK-manufactured doses, subject to regulator approval.Despite increasing levels of vaccination in the population, with more than 30 million people having received their first jab, chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance advised against hugging at outdoor family reunions over Easter.Read more:While most elderly people have received their first, if not their second, jab, the vaccination will not be 100 per cent effective for all, they explained. And the virus can still be expected to be circulating among younger people who have not been vaccinated, even if it does not give them symptoms or cause hospitalisation and serious illness.Inside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayInside Politics newsletterThe latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekdayProf Whitty explained: “As there is gradual unlocking in the way the prime minister has described, it is inevitable that there will be some increase in the number of cases because the people who are most likely to catch and to transmit Covid are in that younger unvaccinated group.”It will not be until vaccinations have been given to the people around vulnerable individuals – as well as the vulnerable people themselves – that social-distancing guidelines can safely be phased out, he explained.There were already signs of an increase in infections among children of school age following the reopening of educational establishments in England earlier this month, said Prof Whitty.But he said the impact should be “modest” if people continue to follow social-distancing guidelines.“Yes, there is a high likelihood that there will be some uptick as a result of the relaxations today, and that was anticipated right from the beginning of trying to lay out where the roadmap would go,” he said.“But if people stick to social-distancing rules and they are outside, the risk of transmission is massively lower than if they are very close together and inside.”As the lockdown is gradually relaxed, Mr Johnson said it will be vital for the public to be “sensible” in sticking to government advice, which was today revised to read “hands, face, space, fresh air” in reflection of growing scientific evidence that outdoor contacts are far safer than indoor.Asked if he could “categorically rule out another lockdown”, the prime minister said: “Yes, if everybody continues to obey the guidance with sufficient caution and we continue to work together to keep the virus under control and get it down in the way that we have“And yes, if the vaccine rollout continues and the vaccines continue to be as effective as it looks as though they are. “Those are the two conditions that would have to be to be satisfied.”He added: “I’m hopeful. I don’t see anything in the data right now that would cause us to deviate from the roadmap but we’ve got to remain humble in the face of nature and we’ve got to be prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the British public, which has been our approach throughout.”Mr Johnson said that April will be the “second dose month” as the NHS focuses its vaccine drive on boosting the immunity of the most vulnerable groups who had their first jabs in January and February.“What we need to do is to continue flat out to build the immunity of our population, build our defences against that wave when it comes,” he said.And he added: “We don’t know exactly how strong our fortifications now are, how robust our defences are against another wave. “We have seen what is happening with our European friends. Historically, at least there has been a time lag and then we have had a wave ourselves.“That’s why I stress the importance of everybody maintaining the discipline people have shown for so long.” More

In a tight corner, with few real options open to them and wanting to be seen to “do something” about a bout of unpopularity, political leaders, in government and in opposition, often take the option of “refreshing” their frontbench team. For a prime minister it at least has the advantage that it can be spun as an act of decisive leadership (even though it is more likely to be blind panic), and the new incumbents will at least be in power and in a position to make some real changes. Few, of any, cabinet reshuffles have transformed the fortunes of any government, except perhaps at the margin and offering the gossips some material for profiles of “the next prime minister”. An opposition leader has not even those scant benefits to look to, and the speculation about changes can destabilise an already pressurised team. So it is with the position of the shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds. She set out on Sunday for a five-mile run in support of the Oxford Hospitals Charity with some particularly unkind coverage in the press. She was, apparently, for the chop. Sir Keir Starmer, or his allies, were reported to believe that she was highly intelligent but not as effective as she might be at getting the messages across. The likes of Rachel Reeves and Lisa Nandy were offered up as possible replacements. Yvette Cooper, a former Treasury minister, is another female Labour MP who is qualified for their role. Tempting as it might be, though, it would certainly look a little panicky. With an important round of elections coming up in May, the last thing Labour needs is a fresh round of stories about splits and failing cabinet ministers. Besides, Ms Dodds is hardly responsible for the recovery in the fortunes of Boris Johnson and the Conservatives, relative to Labour. The reason for that is as plain as a needle going into arm – the transformation of the Covid crisis since the arrival of the vaccines, and the (comparative) lack of mass disruption caused by Brexit. In the year since he became leader, Starmer has narrowed the Conservative lead considerably, and overtaken them at times, and has looked like a competent alternative prime minister. More