Markus Andrews

It may seem surprising, but it is perfectly possible, that is to say legal, for the government to directly intervene in the operation of a local authority, and indeed the power to do so by central government has pretty much always existed, one way or another. The earliest example of such a battle of wills occurred a century ago, in Poplar, east London, when a working-class socialist council refused to put the rates (council tax) up and risked going to prison as a result. The spirit of what was then called “Poplarism”, usually pitting Labour councils against Tory governments, remains in certain quarters to this day. Yet the most important thing about the appointment by the government of commissioners to oversee Liverpool City Council, apart from its impact on the city and its people, is that it is not really a political, or at least a party political move. There are many examples of such politicking, especially in Liverpool, but here it arises from police investigations and the arrest of five men, including the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, in relation to city council matters. As a result of that, Robert Jenrick, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, decided last December to exercise the powers granted to him under the Local Government Act 1999, and ordered Max Caller to carry out an inspection of the authority’s compliance with its “best value duty”. More

France may “very soon” be added to the red list of countries with the toughest coronavirus travel restrictions, Boris Johnson has indicated.His warning came days ahead of the expected imposition of Covid-19 tests for lorry drivers arriving in the UK from the country.It is understood that ministers are set to announce a new requirement for fast-turnaround lateral flow tests by the end of this week – just as Paris lifts a similar restriction on truckers crossing the Channel in the other direction.Pressure is mounting on Mr Johnson to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers from France and other European countries, amid fears over the current upsurge in coronavirus cases on the continent.Chief medical officer for England Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam reportedly told the prime minster that tougher border controls are needed to avoid the danger of new variants of the disease being imported.Read more:The red list system bans all travellers from high-risk countries from entering the UK, except for British and Irish nationals and people with residence rights – who must quarantine for 10 days in a hotel – and certain occupations, such as drivers of goods vehicles.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 weekdayBut few of the 35 countries currently on the list have significant travel links with the UK, so adding France would represent a major escalation of the scheme.Giving evidence to the House of Commons Liaison Committee, Mr Johnson came under intense pressure from Labour’s Yvette Cooper, who said that 20,000 people a week were coming from France to the UK without any requirement for testing or quarantine.Ms Cooper demanded to know why lorry drivers were not being tested at a time when France is suffering up to 3,000 new cases a day of the South African variant, which is believed to be more resistant to vaccines.The PM warned that any tougher measures would impose “very serious disruption” on trade flows which account for 75 per cent of the UK’s medicine supplies and 50 per cent of food. But he added: “I think we now in seriousness need to look at the situation at the Channel. I’m afraid that we can’t rule out tougher measures and we will put them in if necessary.”Mr Johnson said that he was ready to take a decision “no matter how tough” to tighten controls, “if we think that it is necessary to protect public health and to stop new variants coming in”.And he warned: “It may be that we have to do that very soon.”His comments came a day ahead of a crunch vote in the House of Commons on Thursday on extending cororanvirus regulations in the UK until October, expected to be opposed by as many as “a few dozen” rebel Tory MPs.Labour’s shadow immigration minister Holly Lynch said the government was “recklessly putting at risk progress being made by the vaccine by refusing to take action to secure our borders against Covid”. Calling for hotel quarantine for arrivals from all countries, she said: “Rather than the prime minister waving a white flag and saying a third wave from Europe will inevitably ‘wash up on our shores’, the UK government should be urgently introducing a comprehensive hotel quarantine system, to help guard against new variants.”But Mr Johnson resisted the extension of red list provisions to travellers from anywhere in the world.“I’m not certain that that is something that the UK economy or the UK public will understand and accept,” he told MPs. “Because you’re doing something to prohibit movements or stop movements when you don’t actually know the risk that you are trying to mitigate.”The Road Haulage Association (RHA) said preparations for testing of lorry drivers coming into the UK had been under way for “many weeks” and could be introduced without any disruption to the flow of goods.Haulage companies were “awaiting clarification” from the government, said an RHA spokesperson.Sarah Laouadi, European policy manager at Logistics UK, said: “It is vitally important to protect the UK’s highly interconnected supply chain from the threat of new Covid-19 variants, and rapid testing of drivers on arrival in the UK will provide additional confidence for those whose businesses they supply.“However, it is worth remembering that drivers are, by the nature of their jobs and thanks to contactless delivery procedures, a very low-risk category – as has been borne out by the testing carried out on drivers since the start of the pandemic. Any testing regime must be proportionate.”France has seen coronavirus cases soar to as many as 35,000 a day over the past week as the country fights its worst spike in the illness since November. March has also seen rising infections in EU countries like Germany and Italy, while daily numbers in the UK have dropped below 6,000 for the first time since September as vaccinations forge ahead.Asked if tighter restrictions can be expected, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have strong measures in place at the border and the vast majority of people coming into this country must quarantine and take two mandatory PCR tests – on day 2 and day 8 of their 10-day isolation period, as well as proving they have tested negative before travel.“Specific and limited exemptions are only in place where necessary, for example to allow for food, medicines and other products to be delivered into the UK.“We are carefully monitoring the increase in cases in Europe and will keep all measures under review as we cautiously remove restrictions.”The Department for Transport said it had no comment to make on the introduction of tests on incoming truckers or the possible expansion of the red list.France introduced a 48-hour ban on travel from the UK in December in response to the emergence of the virulent Kent variant of coronavirus, later permitting trucks to cross the Channel only after drivers have tested negative for the disease. More

Boris Johnson calls proposed Covid inquiry ‘irresponsible diversion’Boris Johnson has said a swift public Covid-19 inquiry would be “irresponsible”, describing it as a “diversion” under the current circumstances.Labour has repeatedly called on the prime minister to launch an inquiry this summer so that lessons are learned from the government’s mistakes. Meanwhile, Robert Jenrick announced proposals for government commissioners to be sent in to Liverpool to run “certain and limited function” of the city’s council for the next three years amid allegations of corruption.Also in the Commons today, Priti Patel announced her “overhaul” of the immigration system, which she has described as “firm but fair”. Under the home secretary’s proposals, those who reach the UK illegally will be denied an automatic right to asylum and will be regularly assessed for removal from the country. Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the plans would not stop dangerous crossings and “risk withdrawing support from desperate people, such as victims of human trafficking”.Mike Adamson, the British Red Cross’ chief executive, called the proposals “inhumane”, while Sonia Lenegan, of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, said the measures are “cruel”.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

1616597332‘Difficult day for our organisation’Liverpool’s acting mayor councillor Wendy Simon and chief executive Tony Reeves said in a joint statement: “This is a difficult day for our organisation and we take the report findings extremely seriously.“The inspector’s report has highlighted several failings but there is a collective commitment from both councillors and officers to learn from these mistakes.They added: “We would like to reassure all residents and businesses that we will take action to address all of the issues highlighted. We know we need to rebuild your trust.“It is reassuring that the inspector believes we have made progress in starting to deliver the wholesale changes needed. A detailed improvement plan is being drawn up and will be implemented in full.”Zoe Tidman24 March 2021 14:481616596358Proposals for ‘whole council elections’ in LiverpoolIn parliament earlier, Robert Jenrick announced proposals for Liverpool city council to move to “whole council” elections from 2023 and have a reduced number of councillors elected on single member wards.He said the forthcoming elections will proceed as planned in May.Additional reporting by PAZoe Tidman24 March 2021 14:321616595811‘This is not a Tory takeover,’ shadow minister saysLabour’s Steve Reed said after Robert Jenrick’s statement the party accept the report into Liverpool city council “in full”. “The council will respond to the secretary of state’s letter in detail, but we support his intention to appoint commissioners – not at this stage to run the council as he says – but to advise and support elected representatives in strenthening the council’s systems,” he said.He added: “I want to reassure people in Liverpool that this does not mean government ministers are coming in to run their city directly. This is not – as some would put it – a Tory takeover.” Zoe Tidman24 March 2021 14:231616595079Labour to launch review following Liverpool city council reportSteve Reed, the shadow minister for communities, said in the Commons: “Given concerns raised in the report, the general secretary of the Labour Party intends to appoint a senior figure to lead a review and reassure the people of Liverpool that the Labour Party takes these concerns seriously, and will take action against anyone in our ranks who is involved in wrongdoing of any kind.” Zoe Tidman24 March 2021 14:111616594817BREAKING: Government officials to run ‘certain functions’ of Liverpool council amid corruption claims, Jenrick announcesZoe Tidman24 March 2021 14:061616594270Proposals for Liverpool city councilRobert Jenrick has announced he is proposing to appoint commissioners to run some aspects of Liverpool City Council for the next three years.“Expressed in formal terms, I am satisfied that the council is failing to comply with its best value duty. Therefore, I need to consider exercising my powers of intervention to secure compliance with the duty,” the minister said.He added: “I am writing today to the council asking them to make representations both on the Inspectorate’s report and on a proposed intervention package.”“This package is centred on putting in place commissioners who I will appoint to exercise certain and limited functions of the council as required for a minimum of three years.”Additional reporting by PAZoe Tidman24 March 2021 13:571616594080‘Pervasive culture seemed to be rule avoidance’Robert Jenrick said the report found the council “consistently failed to meet its statutory and managerial responsibility”. It also found the “pervasive culture seemed to be rule avoidance”, the minister said. Zoe Tidman24 March 2021 13:541616593771Jenrick statement on Liverpool city councilRobert Jenrick is now giving a statement on Liverpool city council in the Commons.Watch here:Zoe Tidman24 March 2021 13:491616593519Government will not order takeover of Liverpool City Council, report suggests The government will not send commissioners to run Liverpool City Council following allegations of corruption, a report has suggested. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick will give a statement on the issue shortly, and is expected to announce that commissioners will be sent to help elected officials but not to run the council, according to Sky News’ Joe Pike. Rory Sullivan24 March 2021 13:451616593253Tougher EU vaccine export controls could hit UK Brussels has insisted that export controls are needed to stop vaccines leaving the bloc, which faces a third wave of the virus. European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said new conditions would be imposed on manufacturers because of “very serious epidemiological situation”. Although matters will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, the UK could be affected by the policy. Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Rory Sullivan24 March 2021 13:40 More

Government commissioners will be sent in to Liverpool to run “certain and limited function” of the city’s council for the next three years amid allegations of corruption, Robert Jenrick has announced.The communities secretary said a report into the running of the council — commissioned last year — “paints a deeply concerning picture of mismanagement” and identified “multiple apparent failures”. He said the report was “unequivocal” that Liverpool city council has “failed in numerous respects to comply with its best value duty”, adding that “radical” change was rapidly needed.“It concludes that the council consistently failed to meet its statutory and managerial responsibilities and that the pervasive culture appeared to be rule avoidance,” Mr Jenrick said.It comes after inspectors were sent in to the council in December after the arrests of five men, including the elected Labour mayor Joe Anderson, who was held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit bribery and witness intimidation. Mr Anderson denies wrongdoing and has stepped down from the position as mayor — paving the way for his successor to be elected in May.Updating MPs, Mr Jenrick said: “Expressed in formal terms, I am satisfied that the council is failing to comply with its best value duty. Therefore, I need to consider exercising my powers of intervention to secure compliance with the duty.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“To that end, in line with the procedures laid down in the Local Government Act 1999, I am writing today to the council asking them to make representations both on the Inspectorate’s report and on a proposed intervention package.“This package is centred on putting in place commissioners who I will appoint to exercise certain and limited functions of the council as required for a minimum of three years.”More follows More

Boris Johnson today claimed that a swift inquiry into his government’s handling of the Covidpandemic would be “irresponsible”. The prime minister told MPs that he would hold an inquiry to learn lessons from the outbreak, but insisted that it would be wrong now to divert officials away from the priority of fighting the disease.He was responding to a Labour MP who had lost his mother, father and mother-in-law to the virus and called for a full public inquiry “as soon as current restrictions are lifted”.Labour and Liberal Democrats are pushing to prevent the PM from kicking an inquiry into the long grass, with Sir Keir Starmer pushing for it to start as soon as the roadmap out of lockdown ends on 21 June.And epidemiologist Prof Neil Ferguson yesterday said an inquiry should start “in the next few months”, warning that delay would make it “less likely to actually effect real change”.Read more:But Mr Johnson told the House of Commons that the government would hold an inquiry “as soon as it’s right to do so, as soon as it wouldn’t be an irresponsible diversion of the energies of the key officials involved”.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 weekdaySpeaking at prime minister’s questions, he added: “We are of course committed to an inquiry to learn the lessons, to make sure that something like this can never happen again.”Mr Johnson was responding to Manchester Gorton MP Afzal Khan, who told the Commons: “A year into this crisis and more than 126,000 lives have been lost. Behind this staggering figure are millions of grieving loved ones. “In my family, we have lost an entire generation. I couldn’t hold my mum’s hand as she lay dying and I recently lost both my father and mother-in-law within just days of one another.“Grieving families like mine want and deserve to understand what happened, and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy.”Mr Khan called on the PM to commit today to “launching a full public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic as soon as current restrictions are lifted”.Mr Johnson offered his “sympathies and sorrow” for Mr Khan’s loss, adding: “His experience is one, as he rightly says, that has been shared by far too many families up and down the country and that’s why we’re of course committed – as soon as it’s right to do so, as soon as it wouldn’t be an irresponsible diversion of the energies of the key officials involved – to an inquiry to learn the lessons, to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again.”But Sir Keir said a full public inquiry was needed “as soon as restrictions lift”, telling MPs: “That is the only way we can get to the bottom of the many mistakes that were made during the pandemic and find justice for those who suffered so much.”England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam last week said that an imminent public inquiry would be “an extra burden that wasn’t necessary” for medics and experts involved in the pandemic.“Would an inquiry be an unwelcome distraction for me personally, at the moment, when I’m very focussed on the vaccine programme and the vaccine programme we might need in the autumn? Who knows? I think it would be an extra burden that wasn’t necessary,” he told a Downing Street press conference on 17 March.“Is looking back on what you did and whether you could do things better a function of medicine, in terms of the clinical audit that happens in every GP surgery and every NHS trust up and down the land? Yes, it is.“Will lessons be learned in due course? I am sure lessons will emerge.”But Prof Ferguson suggested yesterday an inquiry should start “in the next few months”.“It is probably better to get initial conclusions from it sooner rather than later,” he said. “An inquiry which lasts three years – the risk is in three years’ time people’s concerns will have moved on and it’s less likely to actually effect real change”. More

Brussels has said export controls are necessary to stop European pharmaceutical companies sending their vaccines abroad when they are needed in Europe.Citing the “very serious epidemiological situation” on the continent and possible third wave, European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said new conditions would be imposed on manufacturers. Mr Dombrovskis said one firm, AstraZeneca has “only delivered a small portion of its agreed contractual commitments” with the EU while continuing to export to Britain.And he declined to rule out blocking shipments to the UK, stating only that “concrete decisions will be taken on a case by cases basis” with individual shipments. It comes after 29 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine thought to be bound for Mexico and Canada were blocked from leaving Italy.Read more:The Commissioner said the EU had exported at least 43 million doses of the various vaccines to 33 countries since the end of January despite Europe’s own troubles with the virus – and often got few doses in return.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”Continued shortfalls in production are not distributed fairly across different contracting countries”, Mr Dombrovskis said, in an apparent reference to the export of jabs to the UK.The commissioner said the EU “continues to export vaccines to countries that have production capacities of their own but when these countries do not export to the EU there is no reciprocity”.It also “continues to export significantly to countries whose epidemiological situation is less serious than ours or whose vaccination rollout is more advanced than ours”.As a result, the Commission would look at blocking exports “if a country of destination which has a large production capacity restricts its own exports of vaccines or substances – either by law or other means”.He also said a country’s “epidemiological situation, its vaccination rate and the existing availability of Covid-19 vaccines” would be taken into account before approving exports. Asked about possible exports to the UK being blocked, Mr Dombrovskis said: “Concrete decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis.

Continued shortfalls in production are not distributed fairly across different contracting countriesEuropean Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis”These adjustments to the regulation which we are presenting today do not describe a specific situation or a specific decision which is to be taken by member states and confirmed or objected [to] by the European Commission. Those decisions will be taken on a case-by-case basis.”He said the new restrictions were “necessary to achieve our objective of ensuring timely access of COVID-19 vaccines for EU citizens”.Initial reports in the Italian press that the vaccine doses stopped form leaving Italy were destined for the UK have been contradicted by both UK and EU sources. Mr Dombrovskis said of 381 requests for vaccine exports made under the export control system introduced earlier this year, 380 had been approved.He added: “Europe has taken every step to act fairly and responsibly, mindful of our global leadership role, since the start of the pandemic. The EU remains the biggest global exporter of vaccines.”A UK government spokesperson said of the issue: “We are all fighting the same pandemic – vaccines are an international operation; they are produced by collaboration by great scientists around the world. And we will continue to work with our European partners to deliver the vaccine rollout.“We remain confident in our supplies and are on track to offer first doses to all over 50s by April 15th and all adults by the end of July. Our plan to cautiously reopen society via our roadmap also remains unchanged.”Updating reporters on the unfolding possiblity of a “third wave” in Europe, EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: “The revision of the export transparency mechanism really does come at a time with the situation remaining alarming in many member states.”We are starting to see more most concerning circumstances. This is evidenced by the fact that 19 countries are now reporting increasing case numbers, 15 member states are reporting increased hospital and ICU admissions, while eight member states are now reporting increased numbers of deaths. “The R number is still broadly around one or slightly above, indicating for the moment a fairly stable rate level of transmission. But, of course, the situation is concerning.”She added that the more virulent UK variant had now become “the dominant strain circulating in the EU and EEA and has been identified in all in all but two countries”, representing up to 80 per cent of sequenced strains.EU leaders are due to discuss the question of vaccine exports at an EU summit kicking off on Thursday. More

Sir Keir ridiculed Mr Johnson’s claim not to be making cuts, telling him: “Only this prime minister could suggest a reduction from 82,000 to 72,000 is somehow not a cut.”And he pointed to the words of Tobias Ellwood – the Tory chair of the Commons defence committee – who had warned Conservatives would oppose the move, given the chance.Mr Ellwood had said the cuts “if tested by a parliamentary vote, I do not believe would pass”, he pointed out, adding: “Not me – his own MPs.”Read more:Mr Johnson told MPs the true size of the Army would be 100,000 “including reservists”, part-time soldiers who also hold down other jobs.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 weekdayAnd he appeared to dispute a warning by a former chief of the defence staff that the UK would “almost certainly” be unable to recapture the Falklands – Sir Keir accusing him of responding “rubbish”. The prime minister was also rebuked by the Commons Speaker for accusing Labour MPs of being “out on the streets” at so-called ‘Kill the Bill’ demonstrations against the crackdown on protests.Lindsay Hoyle intervened, saying: “I genuinely mean this, I do not believe any Member of Parliament would support that ‘Kill the Bill’.” In lively exchanges – following the defence command paper released on Monday – Mr Johnson was put on the spot over a 2019 pledge not to cut the UK’s armed forces in “any form”.He replied: “That was because what we were going to do was actually increase spending on our armed services by the biggest amount since the Cold War.”That would amount to “£24bn modernising our armed forces, with no redundancies, keeping our Army at 100,000 if you include the reserves”.He attacked the Labour leader for trying to elect Jeremy Corbyn, “a man who wanted to pull this country out of Nato” – but Sir Keir hit back, saying: “He’s fighting the last war.”Later, Mr Johnson stuck to his refusal to start the promised “independent inquiry” into his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it “an irresponsible diversion”.The Labour MP Afzal Khan said he had lost an “entire generation” of his family, saying: “I couldn’t hold my mum’s hand as she lay dying and I recently lost both my father and mother-in-law within just days of one another.“Grieving families like mine want and deserve to understand what happened, and if anything could have been done to prevent this tragedy.”But the prime minister said: “We are of course committed – as soon as it’s right to do so, as soon as it wouldn’t be an irresponsible diversion of the energies of the key officials involved – to an inquiry to learn the lessons, to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again.” More

The home secretary was asked twice how the controversial new rule would be enforced – but appeared to admit that had not been decided, despite MPs backing the tough legislation.She also claimed the public had voted for the crackdown when it elected the Conservatives at the general election and declined to say she was “happy” that protests will be allowed again next week.In a BBC interview, Ms Patel was asked “how will the police decide when a demonstration becomes too noisy”, but deflected the question.“The police will make judgments and they’ll have guidance on frameworks around the impact of noise had, not just on one individual but across communities.Read more:“And these are important changes that, you know, will be discussed and consulted upon as this bill passes through parliament. The police, of course, are working with us in the development of this particular piece of legislation.”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 weekdayThe easing of the lockdown will permit demonstrations to take place from next Monday – after the home secretary stripped out the exemption last autumn.She replied: “Peaceful protest is totally different from obviously what we’ve seen in Bristol.“We live in a democracy, and obviously we uphold the right to protest, but we are in a pandemic and I would urge everybody to continue to follow the rules and guidelines, and just continue to be incredibly conscientious.” With just five days until the current protests ban is lifted, Ms Patel was warned that the Police Federation was in the dark about the how rules should be enforcedIts chairman, John Apter, had warned the police are doing “a near-impossible job”, the presenter pointed out, adding: “He’s asking you for clarity, he says the police need clarity on the job that they’re doing.”Ms Patel suggested guidance would follow, but added of the police: “They are operationally independent on the government in terms of how they bring in the rules and the regulations.“And of course, every time the guidance changes from government, the public are informed about this.” The Policing Bill will expand police powers to allow them to stamp out protests that cause “serious unease” and create new penalties for people who cause “serious annoyance”.Critics see it as mechanism to put the current Covid regulations – which the home secretary used to impose an outright ban on demonstrations – on a permanent footing.”Peter Fahy said it was wrong to “rush legislation” just because ministers are angry about the demonstrations staged by Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion last summer. More